Inside the old Zhang family residence.
In the small courtyard.
Li Hao was still drenched in cold sweat, lingering fear gripping his chest.
His year working in the Inspectorate had not been in vain. Had this happened back when he was still at the Silver City Ancient Academy, Li Hao might never have been able to put on such a seamless act without blinking an eye, pulling the wool over the enemy's eyes.
"I need to search quickly and leave right away, before they double back!"
"Black Panther!"
Li Hao turned his gaze to Black Panther. He knew the old Zhang house well, but the more familiar one was with a place, the harder it often was to find what one was looking for.
Bringing Black Panther along this time had indeed been partly for this purpose.
Black Panther looked up at Li Hao.
Li Hao glanced around, lowered his voice, and pointed to the jade sword at his chest. "Help me search. There should be something similar to this here. You've got a sharp nose, so sniff around."
Indeed, Black Panther might be able to find it.
Earlier, the moment Black Panther saw Li Hao's jade sword, it had been deeply enticed.
Moreover, Li Hao suspected that when Black Panther first wandered to his doorstep, it might have been drawn there by the jade sword in the first place.
Of course, Li Hao had never taken the jade sword out before, so Black Panther had never had a chance to lick it.
It was only today that Black Panther had finally caught the opportunity.
If that was the case, could Black Panther catch the scent of the stone saber?
The Zhang family had lived here all along. Li Hao believed that if the stone saber was still around, it ought to be somewhere in the house rather than taken away; nobody would casually carry a stone when going out.
There was another one?
Black Panther understood!
Instantly, the dog perked up.
As for the scent, Black Panther hadn't caught it yet; it could only smell a trace of it from very close by.
Without knowing, it might have missed it.
Now that it knew, Black Panther immediately became invested. Its nostrils twitched, and with its forelimbs crouched low, it pressed its snout to the ground and began to sniff inch by inch.
If Li Hao found another one, maybe a certain dog could reap some benefits too.
While Black Panther searched diligently, Li Hao did not remain idle either, beginning his own search around the courtyard.
The corners of the walls, the ground...
The Red Shadow's side had certainly searched these spots, but Li Hao figured they didn't know what the stone saber looked like. They might not have the faintest idea that the Zhang family's saber was actually a piece of stone.
Just like Li Hao himself—if he told anyone that the cross hanging from his neck was the Li family's sword from the folk rhyme, hardly anyone would believe him either.
A cognitive blind spot!
The Li family's sword, the Zhang family's saber—just listening to the rhyme, people would likely imagine them as treasures that could cut through iron like mud, perhaps radiant with light, undeniably ferocious and overbearing.
Yet in reality, the Li family's sword was merely a tiny jade pendant, and the Zhang family's saber was an even more inconspicuous stone.
...
Ten minutes, twenty minutes...
Li Hao grew somewhat anxious. He couldn't find it.
Was it gone?
Had the Red Shadow's faction found it, or had the Zhang family truly lost it? Not only had he turned up nothing, but Black Panther had sniffed a full circle without finding anything either.
If Black Panther got close enough, it ought to be able to catch a whiff, right?
"Nothing!"
Li Hao couldn't stay here forever. Scaring off the opponent earlier didn't mean they wouldn't return. Besides, he couldn't keep searching here indefinitely, or someone would eventually discover he had an ulterior motive.
He stood in the center of the courtyard, glancing between the master bedroom and the side bedroom, pondering: if he were Zhang Yuan's father, where would he have put that stone?
Only by putting himself in Uncle Zhang's shoes could he perhaps figure it out.
"Back then, Uncle Zhang didn't care about it at all and tossed it aside so casually. Later when I visited, I didn't pay attention to whether the stone saber was on the ground, but in all the times I came over afterward, I never seemed to see it again. If it was still out, I should have spotted it over all those years."
"Nine times out of ten, Uncle Zhang wouldn't have locked it away in a safe place. Otherwise, he wouldn't have acted with such indifference back then, throwing it away so carelessly."
He rapidly cast his mind back to the past, even though the memories had grown somewhat hazy.
Thinking about it now, he could still vaguely recall a few details.
"Little Yuan took a beating and didn't come out to play with me for two or three days. After that, when I visited again... it might have already been several days later. Was the stone saber taken away by Uncle Zhang during that time?"
"What would he do with a stone?"
"It's very likely the stone saber vanished during that period, or else I would have seen it again over all these years."
Li Hao lightly thumped his head.
He had been too young back then to remember clearly.
What had happened during those intervening days? Or had Uncle Zhang simply thought the stone was in the way and tossed it out?
If it was truly thrown out... then there would be no way to find it.
A mere stone, after more than a decade, would have been swept away to who knows where.
"Even Black Panther can't smell it... Is it too far, or is its sense of smell being interfered with?"
"If it's too far, that speaks for itself. But if its sense of smell is being masked..."
Li Hao's eyes suddenly flickered.
If scents were being masked, two places were the most likely suspects.
First, the kitchen.
Second, the latrine pit!
In old houses like this, they used pit latrines back when he was a kid, not flush toilets.
Of course, he hoped to heaven it wasn't the latter.
"Wait... Little Yuan's latrine pit and kitchen both seemed to have been repaired when I was little. Could a stone... have been used as fill?"
At this thought, Li Hao formed a guess, though he remained uncertain.
This was the most plausible possibility!
If it wasn't in either of these two places, it really would be impossible to find.
"After Uncle Zhang beat Little Yuan, did he repair the kitchen first, or the latrine?"
He couldn't remember!
Still, Li Hao judged that if the stone saber was still in the Zhang household, it was most likely in one of those two spots.
Wasting no more time, he immediately headed toward the kitchen.
As for the latrine... unless the kitchen yielded nothing, he wouldn't go near it. Besides, if the stone saber really had ended up in the latrine... Li Hao wouldn't want to use that thing to steep water for himself later; giving it to Black Panther to drink would be about the limit.
He had the Starry Sky Sword anyway!
"I hope it's in the kitchen!"
"Black Panther, with me!"
Li Hao called out, and Black Panther hurried in after him.
The kitchen had not been used in years. Pushing the door open, he saw a traditional brick stove with a large cooking pot. The cast-iron pot was heavily rusted, and its wooden lid had begun to rot.
"Give it a sniff!"
Li Hao pointed at the stove. "Black Panther, don't let the smells confuse you!"
Although the kitchen had been abandoned for years, extensive past use left a faint lingering scent of soot and firewood smoke, which might confuse Black Panther, mixed with stubborn traces of grease that had never dispersed.
Inside the kitchen, Black Panther did indeed seem somewhat disoriented, mostly because the room also reeked of thick mold.
Black Panther had sniffed around in here earlier without discovering anything.
Now, hearing Li Hao's prompt, the dog moved nimbly, leaping onto the stove counter and sniffing inch by inch.
Before long, its nose was smudged with a layer of black wood ash.
Li Hao was not idling either. In the kitchen, there was no need to look closely at areas repaired in later years; he focused on spots patched up more than a decade ago. Only those areas could have incorporated the stone saber.
Places like this were spots the forces behind the Red Shadow might not even bother looking at twice.
The Zhang family's saber—would the Zhangs really hide it in a place like this?
Of course, after a quick inspection, Li Hao noticed that the Red Shadow and the forces behind it had likely been exceedingly thorough. The kitchen showed signs of being rummaged through; even the ashes beneath the stove had been stirred.
Ash that had settled undisturbed for years wouldn't look like this; it had definitely been turned over.
"Sure enough, they're searching as well. They didn't even spare the firebox. Truly meticulous!"
Would the Zhang family's ancestral treasure be hidden in the ashes?
Even Li Hao wouldn't have thought so, yet the other side had checked anyway, showing just how rigorous they were.
After waiting a while, Black Panther still turned up nothing.
Li Hao felt a wave of disappointment. Was it really in the latrine?
That would be far too disgusting!
Just as the thought crossed his mind, Li Hao's eyes twitched, and he suddenly looked up at the large chimney atop the stove. Kitchens in these old houses were always fitted with brick chimneys; without one, the smoke would make cooking unbearable.
"Wait... the chimney?"
Li Hao suddenly remembered something. Hadn't this chimney been built right around the time Uncle Zhang beat Little Yuan?
He seemed to have a vague impression of it!
Black Panther wasn't very big and had been sniffing on the stove counter, unable to climb up the head-high chimney.
"Could it be up there?"
Li Hao acted instantly. With agile movements, he hopped onto the stove, picked Black Panther up with one hand, and murmured, "Sniff!"
He held Black Panther up, using the dog like a detector.
Black Panther's canine eyes were filled with helplessness.
Its nostrils twitched as it sniffed along the path of Li Hao's arm, moving upward.
About a meter up from the stove counter, Black Panther's nose suddenly twitched. A somewhat familiar scent began to drift into its nostrils.
"Woof, woof!"
Black Panther's eyes abruptly brightened.
Li Hao's eyes lit up as well!
It found it?
It was really here!
A chimney... This was probably something the forces behind the Red Shadow would never imagine either. Who would have thought the Zhang family would brick their ancestral saber right into a chimney?
They might have searched along the chimney!
Or the Red Shadow might have scoped it out directly. Intangible and formless, Li Hao didn't know whether the shadow could pass through walls or move through earth, but it had likely searched both the walls and the ground. Its targets, however, would have been gaps, hidden compartments, chests, treasure boxes, and the like.
They would never expect the saber they valued so highly to be a mere stone.
Li Hao's eyes gleamed as he stared at a slightly protruding spot on the chimney. Was the stone saber embedded there?
The mottled whitewash on the wall had already flaked away.
A few bricks inside the chimney were exposed.
Li Hao reached out to touch it, and more of the plaster fell away. In the next moment, an earthy-gray stone was revealed on the chimney. It wasn't fully exposed, but catching sight of its incomplete outline, Li Hao's eyes shone with complete clarity!
"It's this!"
Li Hao's heart pounded. This was it! Though not fully uncovered, a vague image surfaced in his memory: a stone shaped like a saber, not particularly large, only slightly bigger than a fist.
"Uncle Zhang... you sure showed respect to your ancestors!" Li Hao felt caught between laughter and tears. Back then, Uncle Zhang had thrashed his own son over this stone.
And then, when repairing the kitchen, he turned right around and bricked the ancestral stone into the wall. There had never been such a way of honoring one's ancestors!
If the Zhang family's ancestors were still alive, they would probably die of rage all over again.
Among the Eight Great Families, Li Hao didn't know how the others fared, but the Li family's sword had always been passed down as an heirloom. For the Zhang family's stone to have survived this long was nothing short of a miracle in Li Hao's eyes!
Perhaps it hadn't looked like a stone back then?
Had it gradually petrified over time, turning entirely into stone by the time it reached Zhang Yuan's father?
There was no time to ponder it, nor the inclination. Li Hao looked at the stone embedded in the chimney and frowned slightly.
He had found it!
However, taking it wouldn't be simple!
Not that he physically couldn't, but removing the stone saber would leave an obvious mark on the chimney.
After a year in the Inspectorate, Li Hao had gained experience. The moment he tampered with this spot, once the Red Shadow and the people behind it returned, they would certainly inspect the scene to see what Li Hao had been up to.
If a stone was missing from the chimney, they might figure it out in no time!
Had Li Hao still been a student at the ancient academy, he would have taken the stone saber immediately. When the Red Shadow returned, it would likely realize at once that the Zhang family's saber was the very stone that had been removed—and then Li Hao would be in deep trouble!
By then, the Red Shadow would know the stone saber was in Li Hao's hands, inviting a mountain of trouble upon him.
They might even deduce that Li Hao had guessed something, or even knew about the Eight Great Families, exposing his entire hand in one stroke!
"What should I do?"
Li Hao thought rapidly. Now that he had found it, he couldn't just ignore it and leave the stone saber here. He felt that the Zhang family's saber was not only a treasure, but surely possessed other uses as well.
The Red Shadow's faction valued it greatly; otherwise, they wouldn't still be taking the risk to keep it under constant surveillance a year later.
Li Hao frowned. Take the stone saber and plug the hole with another stone?
If the other side investigated, wouldn't that be a dead giveaway? Like putting up a sign that read 'no silver buried here'!
The marks of old versus new would still differ.
"The only way is to destroy all traces completely, wiping out the evidence so they have nothing to investigate. The best method would naturally be to destroy the chimney... but wouldn't that look too deliberate?"
"Find a similar stone, preferably one roughly the same shape... then destroy the chimney. Even if they reconstruct it afterward, not a single stone will be missing, and they won't discover anything..."
As an inspector, Li Hao had mastered the basic skills of his trade. How to destroy evidence, how to fabricate false clues to mislead an opponent—these were all things he had learned and witnessed over the past year.
If he merely demolished it, the Red Shadow's faction might secretly piece the original chimney back together afterward and notice that a stone was missing.
Having decided what needed to be done, Li Hao did not immediately extract the stone saber.
It had rested here for years without anyone noticing; there was no need to rush this very moment.
With that thought, Li Hao let out a soft breath. Finding it was enough; he could wait a little longer. This time, though, he would have to trouble his teacher.
...
Walking out of the kitchen, Li Hao directly dialed his teacher's communicator.
Almost the moment the call connected, Yuan Shuo's voice came through: "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Teacher!"
Li Hao felt a touch of gratitude. Dispensing with pleasantries, he said quickly, "Teacher, I didn't find much in Zhang Yuan's house, but I noticed that someone seems to have been watching the place constantly. The house also looks like it was searched. Do you think the killer came looking for something?"
Yuan Shuo caught his drift and said thoughtfully, "So what's your idea?"
"I'm wondering if we can draw the snake out of its hole."
Li Hao continued quickly, "Since they came to Zhang Yuan's house looking for something, does that mean they didn't find it? But my words carry little weight, and I have no say in the Inspectorate. Could I trouble you, Teacher, to have the Inspectorate send people over with considerable commotion, tear down some of the Zhang family's structures, and beat the grass to startle the snake, to see if we can flush out Zhang Yuan's killer?"
Tear down the house?
Was that necessary?
Of course, Zhang Yuan's home was not the primary crime scene, and demolition had begun on this sector long ago; knocking parts of it down wouldn't matter.
Yuan Shuo merely wondered: had Li Hao discovered something?
Was he trying to obtain something through this method, or could it genuinely flush out whatever was lurking behind the scenes?
At this moment, Li Hao also understood clearly: demolishing the place was very likely to draw the attention of the Red Shadow's faction. But that was fine. The more fanfare, the better. If there were moles within the Inspectorate, that would be even better.
If they reported every detail to their backers, that would suit Li Hao's intentions even more.
He only needed to do one thing: swap the stone saber with a similar stone. Even if they reconstructed everything afterward, it wouldn't matter.
At that point, the Red Shadow's faction would only guess whether Li Hao had sensed something, without being able to confirm that he had actually taken anything.
At most, they would consider Li Hao sharp-witted, having picked up on a few clues.
What Li Hao needed to do was keep them suspicious yet uncertain, buying time while escalating the matter step by step, which might conveniently draw in the Night Watchers.
"Exposing dark matters to the public eye... Neither the Night Watchers nor the Red Shadow seem willing to appear before the general public, nor do they want things blown out of proportion!"
"And as an ordinary person, I need more attention on this. That way I can clear myself of suspicion, leaving both sides with the impression that I'm clever, but ultimately an ordinary person kept in the dark!"
"To avenge my good friend, I choose to make a big scene... Drawing greater attention also fits my identity!"
...
Weighing the pros and cons, Li Hao ultimately settled on this choice.
Perhaps this move would draw the attention of the Night Watchers ahead of time, or even allow him to make contact with them up close. Li Hao could even report up the chain that he had noticed clues, such as the lookout outside earlier.
As for the Red Shadow, he naturally hadn't seen it, but the one outside was a living person!
Li Hao had even spotted a footprint on the outer wall, which was the best piece of evidence; the other party clearly hadn't cared much about leaving footprints behind.
His mind racing, having evaluated the potential consequences, Li Hao chose to escalate things slightly.
On the other end of the line, Yuan Shuo asked a few questions to confirm his student's resolve.
Yuan Shuo knew that Li Hao was clever and wouldn't propose this without good reason.
Since it wasn't a major issue, he might as well lend his support.
"Alright, I'll call the Inspectorate right now! Besides, Zhang Yuan was a student of the ancient academy. If this really is a homicide, the academy won't sit idly by! Pull out of there first. Within an hour at most, the academy will send people over, and the Inspectorate will go too..."
"Thank you, Teacher!"
Li Hao thanked him hurriedly. His teacher was indeed dependable when it counted.
Because of that, Li Hao was even less willing to mention the Red Shadow to him.
No matter how authoritative Yuan Shuo was, he was still an ordinary person.
Li Hao did not want to drag his teacher into this.
"Don't mention it!"
Yuan Shuo didn't dwell on the matter. After a few more words, he hung up.
...
Silver City Ancient Academy.
Deep within the academy, in a grand classical courtyard residence, Yuan Shuo—though in his seventies—remained vigorous, his gaze sharp and piercing.
His build was remarkably robust, making him look more like a veteran soldier than a top scholar of Silver City.
At this moment, a dossier lay before Yuan Shuo.
The dossier regarding the six spontaneous human combustion cases!
"The Inspectorate... really is a sieve!"
Yuan Shuo put down his communicator, rubbed his temples, and cursed under his breath. The Inspectorate had grown increasingly useless over the years, letting a case file leak out so easily. Anyone in Silver City who cared to pay attention could get their hands on this dossier by now.
"This student of mine... really doesn't know how to stay out of trouble. To think he dared to investigate this secretly—and worse, dared to report it directly to the Inspectorate! Anyone could see there's something fishy here!"
With a soft sigh, he thought: young people, truly lacking experience. Don't you know the Inspectorate is a giant sieve?
The moment this dossier surfaced, anyone with discerning eyes could spot the anomalies.
"The Li family's sword, the Zhang family's saber, the Zhao family's fist, the Liu family's leg..."
After humming the Silver City folk rhyme for a moment, Yuan Shuo quickly weighed the possibilities. Could this matter also be connected to his student?
"Six dead. I wonder if it really has to do with this rhyme."
As an old native of Silver City, he knew the rhyme well. Furthermore, as a renowned scholar, the moment he saw the dossier, he had linked it to the song, because the combination of those surnames was rather peculiar.
After contemplating for a moment, Yuan Shuo took out his communicator and dialed a number.
After a short wait, Yuan Shuo spoke in an authoritative tone, tinged with rage: "This is Yuan Shuo! Cut the nonsense. My student is currently in danger! The spontaneous combustion case from a year ago at the academy might be murder—doesn't your Inspectorate have any intelligence at all?"
"..."
"I don't care about any of that! Li Hao is my student. He entered under my tutelage right after joining the academy. Do you know why? He's a genius, a top-tier explorer, the future of the Ancient Civilization Exploration Department! Because of your dereliction of duty, he was forced to drop out. Do you realize how great a loss you caused the academy?"
"..."
"Li Hao has uncovered something now, but your Inspectorate is like a sieve and exposed him immediately. He's in danger right now, and his life could be forfeit at any moment! He's currently at the home of the deceased academy student, Zhang Yuan. I don't care what it takes—even if you have to level that entire street, you pull Li Hao out safe and sound, and round up every ghost and ghoul hiding in the shadows for me!"
"..."
"Cut the crap! You must dispatch men immediately. I don't care how big a scene it makes, surround that street right now and push forward inch by inch to corner whatever killers might be lurking in the dark! I have only one demand: Li Hao must return in one piece!"
"..."
"That's all. If you can't handle it, I'll go straight to the Night Watchers to take over! Six cases of spontaneous combustion—do you think Yuan Shuo is blind, that I can't see the anomalies involved? Your Silver City Inspectorate doesn't want the Night Watchers meddling, but if my student dies, I will take this to the top and flay the hide off your Silver City Inspectorate!"
"Elder Yuan, please calm down! We'll handle it immediately, rest assured, Elder Yuan!"
On the other end of the line, the director of the Silver City Inspectorate was nursing a headache.
This old man might not hold real administrative power, but his connections were truly vast. He had been a professor at the ancient academy for forty to fifty years; some of the students he had trained were now prominent figures.
If a real ruckus was kicked up, the Silver City Inspectorate would suffer for it.
"Rest assured, my foot! The academy will send people as well. If necessary, I'll go over myself! I'd like to see who in Silver City has the gall to murder my academy's students! Killing one wasn't enough; they even dare touch Yuan Shuo's personal disciple? Have they grown bear hearts and leopard gallbladders?"
Yuan Shuo was like an enraged tiger.
Since Li Hao wanted to make a scene, seemingly to flush something out... then they would make it big!
Yuan Shuo was never one to shy away from trouble!
If things blew up... even if trouble came, it would be someone else's problem.
As for himself, all factions currently needed him; they wouldn't dare do anything to him. And Li Hao's matter was simple: give the boy the title of his assistant. If those people didn't dare touch him, they naturally wouldn't dare touch Li Hao either.
Hanging up the call, Yuan Shuo shed his earlier fury, merely looking outside the house with a soft sigh.
Brat, an ordinary person shouldn't get involved in this.
Even if there really is something wrong with Zhang Yuan's case, you've done enough. You cannot meddle any further.
"What a pity!"
A whisper of regret, barely audible, slipped softly from his lips.
Pity that I cannot truly channel the mysterious; otherwise... why would this be so troublesome?
If I could channel mysterious energy, with my attainments in the *New Book of Five Animals*, I might advance three ranks in a single day. By then, what would any ghosts or ghouls matter? Mere illusions!
"Hmph!"
A low snort escaped him again. The Night Watchers probably didn't want him stepping into the supernatural realm either; otherwise, why would he bother cooperating with them?
Over the years, they had kept claiming they were looking for a way, yet produced nothing. Did they take him for a fool?
"Li Hao..."
"The Li family's sword?"
Murmuring to himself, Yuan Shuo closed his eyes and pushed the thought aside. That boy would do better to return obediently to the academy and serve as his assistant. At his advanced age, he truly needed to groom a successor.
Chapter 9