The carriage drove to South City Gate. Xie Zhifei jumped down from the carriage and looked up to see Zhu Qing waiting at the gate.

Xie Zhifei walked over. Zhu Qing handed over the reins. The two mounted their horses and headed straight for the office.

Returning to the Military Justice Bureau, Zhu Qing closed the door, tapped his foot on a chair, leaped up to the rafters, and pulled out a bundle.

Xie Zhifei was slightly startled. “Are the case files in hand?”

“Master, they’re all here.”

Zhu Qing landed steadily, placing the bundle on the desk. “Should I deliver them to Miss Yan right now?”

Xie Zhifei was silent for quite a while.

“It’s been three days since the Water Moon Nunnery incident. I estimate Third Madam and the others should be calling today, so let’s hold off on this matter for now.”

Zhu Qing was puzzled. “A few days ago Master was urging so urgently. Now that we have the materials, why the leisurely pace?”

“She only has one head and two hands—she didn’t grow three heads and six arms. She can’t handle everything at once.”

Xie Zhifei patted the bundle. “Find the most secure place and store this for now.”

“Yes!”

“Zhu Qing, sit down.”

Without any pause, Xie Zhifei continued, “Find someone in the underworld who can take the fall for Li Buyan.”

Zhu Qing asked, “Master intends to…”

Xie Zhifei nodded. “As long as their conditions aren’t excessive, agree to everything. This needs to be fast—the Xu family will make their move within days.”

“I’ll handle it immediately.”

Zhu Qing fastened the bundle to himself and efficiently pushed the door open to leave.

Xie Zhifei leaned back, legs propped on the desk, his eyes full of distant coldness.

Huairen placing him and Pei Xiao—one at the Military Justice Bureau, one at the Buddhist Registry—had actually taken great pains.

The Military Justice Bureau dealt with all sorts of people from three religions and nine schools. Among these people were both humans and demons, both good and evil—it all depended on how you utilized them.

As for Pei Mingting…

Xie Zhifei smiled coldly.

His usefulness wasn’t limited to showing off at Guanyin Zen Temple.

There was much more use for him!

…

Lord Pei, who had “much more use,” hadn’t even reached the Buddhist Registry when he was intercepted.

Those who intercepted him included Lady Ning and Ji Hui, plus an additional gray-robed old nun.

Lord Pei wasted no words, ordering Huang Qi to turn the carriage around and head straight for the Xie residence.

Butler Xie saw Lord Pei leading a nun to find Yan Sanhe—his legs involuntarily began going weak.

Heavens!

Another heart demon at the door.

But…

Weren’t nuns supposed to have severed the six roots of perception? How could they have heart demons too?

Butler Xie harbored intense curiosity. “All four of you, please follow me.”

The group headed straight for Quiet Contemplation Residence.

Reaching the courtyard gate, Butler Xie was about to call “Miss Yan” when he looked up—Miss Yan stood beneath the eaves with hands behind her back, two black eyes glinting coldly.

Beside her, Li Buyan leaned lazily against the door, her face wearing a half-smile.

Butler Xie put on an ingratiating smile. “Miss Yan, they…”

“I anticipated you’d come today. Please, enter!”

Yan Sanhe’s gaze never swept toward Butler Xie as she turned and walked into the inner room.

Pei Xiao followed. Reaching the doorway, he instinctively glanced at Li Buyan.

He would never forget—last time this person had barred him at the door, not even letting him cross the threshold.

But this time, Li Buyan didn’t reach out to stop him. Instead, she smiled brilliantly showing white teeth—a smile that made Young Master Pei’s heart somewhat uneasy.

Lady Ning followed behind Pei Xiao. Just as one foot was about to cross the threshold, Li Buyan’s arm extended.

“Third Madam, please wait. Sixth Miss, please wait.”

Li Buyan’s gaze fixed on the old nun. “You may enter.”

“Amitabha!”

The old nun pressed her palms together and stepped across the threshold.

After she entered the room, Li Buyan turned to close the door, then leaned against it with a half-smile, looking at Butler Xie.

Butler Xie felt this maid’s smile conveyed a message—Fat man, this isn’t your business, go cool off somewhere.

…

Inside the main hall, ice basins were placed in all four corners.

After Pei Xiao sat down, he felt a chill rise from the soles of his feet, cold enough to make him shiver involuntarily.

Yan Sanhe sat in the upper seat, one arm resting on the table, coldly examining the old nun in the lower seat.

She appeared to be just under sixty, with ordinary features, taller than average women, dark complexion, and nasolabial folds extending to the corners of her mouth.

She wore a stern expression—neither joy nor anger on her face.

Weren’t people who left home supposed to be kind and benevolent?

Why did this old nun’s physiognomy appear so severe?

As Yan Sanhe examined the old nun, the old nun also examined her, her gaze equally cold.

Those who left home only believed in gods and buddhas, not in ghosts and spirits.

If not for Third Madam Ji desperately dragging her here, she wouldn’t have come on this trip at all.

This girl looked so young—could she be a fraud the Ji family hired?

The atmosphere was somewhat stagnant.

Pei Xiao smiled apologetically. “Let me introduce you both. This is Yan Sanhe, this is Master Huiru.”

Huiru turned sideways. “Amitabha!”

Yan Sanhe inclined her head slightly.

The atmosphere stagnated again.

Hey!

Pei Xiao glanced at the old nun, thinking: My wife is aloof, what’s your deal?

“Master, speak!”

The old nun seemed not to hear. After examining Yan Sanhe, she began observing her nose with her eyes, her heart with her nose—assuming the meditative state of an old nun.

Pei Xiao smiled apologetically at Yan Sanhe.

Wife, with someone so impervious to reason, let’s not stoop to her level. When she suffers misfortune, she’ll have plenty to cry about.

Wife clearly hadn’t grasped the deeper meaning of this smile.

She stood up, walked before the old nun, said nothing, only extended a finger and pressed it to the old nun’s brow.

Old Nun Huiru felt only a chill at her brow, then her vision abruptly went dark.

“Crack—”

A beam of light fell, landing on a woman’s body.

That woman walked barefoot in the desert, taking slow steps one by one.

Overhead burned the scorching sun.

Tears continuously poured from her eye sockets but couldn’t even reach her cheeks—the moment they emerged, those tears evaporated.

Her feet were scalded and bloodied by the hot sand. Each step felt like walking on knife points.

Yet she felt nothing, as if intending to walk through this desert until the end of time.

Huiru felt something pierce viciously into her chest, pain roaring forth.

The chill at her brow suddenly vanished. As she came to her senses, the prayer beads in her hand dropped to the floor with a “snap,” and large cold sweat beads emerged from her forehead.

Pei Xiao was dumbfounded. How could my wife’s one finger make this old nun seem like a different person?

“She was laid in state for three days. All the nuns of Water Moon Nunnery chanted rebirth sutras for her for three days and nights. Her coffin cracked after burial.”

Yan Sanhe’s voice carried no emotion whatsoever.

“The coffin cracked, the tomb then collapsed, the standing gravestone split accordingly, breaking in two halves—left side three inches wide, right side three inches narrow.”

Huiru raised her head, profound shock showing in her eyes. “How… how… how do you know this?”

That’s right!

Wife, how do you know?

Every hair on Pei Xiao’s body stood on end.