At Ruyi Sword Sect, He Xijin, Wu Zichou, and Zhang Shujiu gathered together, also flipping through ancient texts.

Wu Zichou said, “What kind of demonic cultivation technique is that guy practicing? The three of us have been searching for days without a single clue.”

Zhang Shujiu said, “He would attempt to assassinate Arang, which means his position is definitely opposed to the imperial court. And being able to escape from our hands, he must certainly be a formidable figure. When did the Immortal Sects produce another expert of this caliber?”

He Xijin said, “Push, push push the time, time timeframe back, back back further, further further.”

“Push even further back?” Zhang Shujiu continued flipping through texts while muttering to himself, “If we keep going back, we’ll reach the founding of Yuhu Xuanzong itself.”

While the three great sages were busy with their work, Jianzheng arrived at a small village with Li Lu and Baowu.

In the village, the daughter of a schoolteacher had also gone missing. Since then, the man drank daily, and the woman washed her face with tears until she had cried herself blind.

Di Yiqiu walked through the village with his hands behind his back.

He saw a group of young children running past, the children playing and frolicking without a care in the world.

“With so many children in the village, why did only this one family lose theirs?” Jianzheng suddenly said. Then, inspiration struck him as he said, “It seems all the missing children were deeply cherished by their parents.”

As soon as he said this, Li Lu had a flash of insight and said, “That’s right! If someone really wanted to abduct children, wouldn’t those who play outside every day be easier targets? But the children who actually went missing were almost all the apple of their parents’ eyes—either they didn’t go out, or they had servants following them.”

Only on the side, Baowu said, “What’s so strange about that? Maybe this monster eats people and prefers children raised delicately with tender skin and flesh.”

Deputy Supervisor Li gave him a sidelong glance. Di Yiqiu, however, said, “Among the missing children, there were also those born to hunters, not exactly tender in skin and flesh.”

Master Bao argued, “Maybe occasionally this monster also eats something with more chew to it.”

“Deputy Supervisor Bao,” Li Lu could only say weakly.

Di Yiqiu pondered for a long time before suddenly saying, “Perhaps our direction has been wrong.”

Li Lu said, “What?”

The Supervisor said after a moment, “Tonight, we’ll keep watch here.”

“But the child has already gone missing. If we keep watch now, I’m afraid…” Li Lu didn’t think this had any meaning, but Di Yiqiu was his superior after all. He could only say, “It wouldn’t hurt to observe.”

That night, the three gathered together. Fearing they might alert their quarry, they didn’t bring many constables.

While idle, the Supervisor pulled out an item from his storage magical artifact. Deputy Supervisor Li looked down and discovered it was actually an embroidered piece. The embroidery was woven with golden thread—thread finer than a strand of hair, so thin it appeared almost translucent. And now, the Supervisor was stitching golden dark patterns onto it, one stitch at a time.

“Supervisor, this is…” Deputy Supervisor Li asked suspiciously.

The Supervisor casually said, “My wife labors in the fields year-round. I’m making her a pair of gloves.”

—These gloves, for working in the fields?

Both deputy supervisors were simultaneously choked by this display of affection, stretching their necks.

As night deepened, the lamp in the schoolteacher’s home had long been extinguished.

All around was silent, with only occasional barking of dogs and chirping of insects.

Everything seemed normal.

The two deputy supervisors also began to doze off. Honestly, after so many years of investigating cases, they had never heard of monitoring the victims themselves.

The Supervisor kept his head lowered, still focused on embroidering these gloves.

Li Lu said, “Supervisor, rest for a moment.”

With a mortal body that couldn’t endure much, he had truly been exhausted these past days.

But Di Yiqiu only said, “No matter.”

As the two were speaking in low voices, Baowu suddenly said, “Silence!”

Li Lu and Di Yiqiu held their breath at the same time. In the darkness, Di Yiqiu couldn’t see very clearly. However, Li Lu immediately protected him while Baowu seemed to be chasing something, moving away in a crouch.

Master Bao was a martial artist, but his combat prowess ranked among the top in the entire Immortal Sects.

His eyes were sharp as torches as he pursued a wisp of black mist in the darkness.

On such a quiet mountain village night, the black mist was almost naturally invisible.

If not for his level of cultivation, ordinary people truly couldn’t detect it.

And this wisp of strange black mist traveled a familiar route, quickly floating into the window of the victim’s home!

Baowu followed stealthily, only to see that inside the room, the victim couple had already gone to sleep. The black mist lay on top of them, sucking out more black mist from their bodies like drawing blood.

At this moment, it was like a mosquito that had grown from a mere wisp into a whole cloud.

Looking vaguely, it resembled a skeleton!!

Once no more dark energy emerged from the couple, this skeletal black mist left them.

Baowu, guarding outside the window, had seen everything clearly and had been waiting for a long time!

As the black mist floated out, he slashed at it with his blade!

The black mist seemed alert and scattered in escape!

Since it wanted to flee, the three naturally had to pursue!

Through the flash of Baowu’s blade, the Supervisor also clearly saw what this thing was!

He quickly pulled out a small bottle from his storage magical artifact and scattered its contents onto the black mist. Immediately, the entire black mist began emitting a pearlescent glow. In the darkness, it looked like a giant firefly!

This made tracking far too easy.

Deputy Supervisor Bao laughed, “Our Supervisor is truly…”

Deputy Supervisor Li saved his dog life with one sentence: “Hurry and chase it!”

However, this black mist ran all the way back to the foot of Yuhu Xuanzong’s mountain and then disappeared.

Yuhu Xuanzong’s mountain gate stood imposingly. The faces of those below the gate gradually grew solemn.

At Ruyi Sword Sect.

He, Wu, and Zhang pushed the timeline back and flipped through various demonic cultivation technique records in the history of the Immortal Sects.

Finally, He Xijin said, “Found, found it!”

Several people crowded over together. Everyone craned their necks to look and saw recorded in the demonic text a type of technique—Demon Spirit Ghost Scripture!

“This…” The three changed color in shock!

Zhang Shujiu said, “Demon Spirit Ghost Scripture…” He flipped through the demonic technique and read aloud, “A technique created by the Heavenly Demon Leiyin Daji, cultivated using the resentment and suffering of living beings. After achieving mastery, resentment takes physical form, shaped like a skeleton… none can oppose it.”

The three listened with their scalps tingling. Wu Zichou said, “Leiyin Daji—how many years ago was that?”

Zhang Shujiu said, “Three thousand years ago. Which of the younger generation in the Immortal Sects now has even heard this name?”

He Xijin said, “I, I, I have have have never, never, never…”

The other two already understood his meaning. Zhang Shujiu continued reading, “Because Leiyin Daji practiced demonic texts, he was captured by Yinian Shenbu, but though captured, he could not be killed. Yinian Shenbu then forged the Soul-Binding Bone-Setting Needles to imprison him. Since then, the demonic technique has been lost.”

“Soul-Binding Bone-Setting Needles…” Wu Zichou looked at He Xijin.

With the name of this torture device out, everyone would naturally think of one place—Yuhu Xuanzong.

Zhang Shujiu continued, “Yinian Shenbu achieved merit in vanquishing demons and was supported by the Immortal Sects, thus establishing Yuhu Xuanzong. For a time, many pledged allegiance. Yuhu Xuanzong became the foremost of the Immortal Sects.”

“If that’s the case, I’m afraid we need to make a trip to Yuhu Xuanzong!” Wu Zichou said.

But He Xijin shook his head, saying, “Wait, wait! Go, go go to Si Si…”

Zhang Shujiu finished, “Si Tianjian.”

As he spoke these words, the three exchanged glances, all sighing.

Wu Zichou said, “Xijin’s consideration is sound. If this technique has truly reappeared in the mortal world, I fear Yuhu Xuanzong can no longer be trusted. But the imperial court’s current combat strength, I’m afraid, is willing but unable.”

He Xijin said, “The, the, the court has, has has money!”

“Exactly right!” The three immediately set out for Si Tianjian!

At Yuhu Xuanzong.

Xie Hongchen and Xie Shaochong regarded each other wordlessly.

An almost abandoned, completely unremarkable scroll had stirred up the mystery of his origins.

If he wasn’t a child abandoned by refugees, then who was he?

Who would possess such heaven-sent talent and unparalleled bone structure?

“This Sect Master will make another trip to Si Tianjian,” Xie Hongchen said.

Xie Shaochong frowned, “Si Tianjian?”

Xie Hongchen said, “She certainly has more to say. I need to ask again.”

So on this day, Si Tianjian received two waves of distinguished guests.

In the study, He Xijin and the others had just sat down, and Huang Rang was pouring wine when someone outside said, “Supervisor, Madam, Sect Master Xie has come to visit.”

“Xie… Xie Xie Hongchen?” He Xijin said. Wu and Zhang also furrowed their brows.

But Huang Rang said, “Please show him in.”

Before long, Sect Master Xie arrived.

As four people sat down in total, he saw He, Zhang, and Wu and was obviously surprised.

Di Yiqiu looked at the guests seated below. Several looked at him. No one was willing to speak first.

Huang Rang could only say, “If Sect Master Xie refuses to speak first, I’m afraid the others cannot trust Yuhu Xuanzong.”

Zhang Shujiu asked, “What does Sect Master Xie wish to say?”

Because Huang Rang was He Xijin’s niece, they had grown accustomed to including her among their own. The Supervisor was no exception.

Xie Hongchen could only say, “As Miss Arang said, I went to examine the scroll and discovered that my origins are indeed questionable.”

He laid out all the doubts about his background, also as a gesture seeking trust.

However, upon hearing this, He, Zhang, and Wu each felt their scalps tingle.

Zhang Shujiu immediately felt that even the wine in his cup had lost its appeal. He said, “We discovered that on that day at the Five Grains Altar, the assassin who tried to kill Arang used a technique from the Demon Spirit Ghost Scripture.”

“Demon Spirit Ghost Scripture?!” These four words might be unfamiliar to others.

But Xie Hongchen was all too familiar with them.

Three thousand years ago, the founding ancestor of Yuhu Xuanzong, Yinian Shenbu, was supported by the Immortal Sects and established Yuhu Xuanzong precisely because he had vanquished Leiyin Daji.

“Back then, the technique practiced by the Heavenly Demon Leiyin Daji,” Xie Hongchen murmured.

Even for him, this was something he had only heard about.

Three thousand years—even for the Immortal Sects, that was too long ago.

“Precisely!” Zhang Shujiu said.

The Supervisor, understanding clearly, suddenly asked, “Does the Demon Spirit Ghost Scripture require absorbing resentment and suffering to cultivate?”

This time, Xie Hongchen answered, “Precisely. But this demonic text has long been lost. Even in Yuhu Xuanzong’s forbidden pavilion, it is not recorded.”

Zhang Shujiu said, “Perhaps someone happened upon it by chance.”

Di Yiqiu said, “To be frank, yesterday we were investigating a case of missing children. We discovered someone secretly collecting the victims’ resentful energy. We tracked them all the way to the mountain gate of Yuhu Xuanzong.”

His words undoubtedly added fuel to the fire of all these events.

Everyone’s gaze focused on Xie Hongchen.

He Xijin asked, “Xie, Xie, Xie…”

Zhang Shujiu said, “Does Sect Master Xie truly have no clue about this matter?”

Xie Hongchen looked toward Huang Rang. Huang Rang met his gaze and after a long time said, “Everyone. On that day when I fought the assassin, I discovered their technique was… quite similar to Ancestor Lingbi’s.”

She couldn’t definitively accuse Xie Lingbi, because these people had no memories from outside the dream. If she didn’t let them investigate and verify themselves, how could she explain with no evidence?

“Xie Lingbi?” Several people said in unison.

Xie Hongchen pondered for a long time before saying, “I will search Anlei Peak.”

Zhang Shujiu said, “Speaking of which, if Leiyin Daji truly is as legend says, imprisoned by the Soul-Binding Bone-Setting Needles, then is he still in Yuhu Xuanzong now?”

Everyone’s gazes immediately became fervent. Such a legendary figure, even if a Heavenly Demon—if they could see him even once, it would probably be enough to excite them for several nights.

Xie Hongchen said, “All those punished with the Soul-Binding Bone-Setting Needles are in Luofu Hall.”

He looked toward Huang Rang, remembering what she had told him not long ago.

—She said that she too had been subjected to the Soul-Binding Bone-Setting Needles torture by Xie Lingbi, imprisoned for a full ten years.

He slowly said, “I will enter and search to give you all the truth.”