Even though the youth looked under twenty, with two major auras gracing his status, Jin Bai's attitude toward him grew considerably more respectful.
He Lingchuan was also surprised by his words. They had already tracked it down?
Jin Bai's phrasing had been polite, saying he had arrived "just in time," yet during the days He Lingchuan spent sailing eastward, Jin Bai and his men had already located the tribute's whereabouts on their own and sent another inquiry back to the Mou Kingdom for instructions.
From inside his robes, the soul-snatching mirror called out, "Aiyo, did you make this trip for nothing?"
He Lingchuan gave an imperceptible shake of his head.
He hadn't made the trip for nothing. As a deputy commander of the Shadow Tooth Guard, Jin Bai naturally possessed operational autonomy while on foreign soil. If the tribute had merely been stolen by some petty thief, they could have simply recovered it themselves. Why would they go through the trouble of sending an urgent dispatch back to the Mou Kingdom?
The words "request instructions" meant this matter was thorny, and they were in no position to act on their own initiative.
So he asked, "Is the thief hard to catch, or does he possess a sensitive identity?"
"The Bo Kingdom." Jin Bai's expression was dark as stagnant water. "It really was the Bo Kingdom."
This Cloud-Turning Envoy was rather sharp.
"How did Commander Jin find out?"
"After the tribute was stolen, we returned to the Xiaoyao Sect to search for clues. Sect Leader Li mentioned that two months ago, the Bo Kingdom had suddenly made an offer to purchase the Bright Lantern Cup from the Xiaoyao Sect. Naturally, the Xiaoyao Sect would never sell imperial tribute."
The Bright Lantern Cup was tribute offered by the Xiaoyao Sect to the Mou Kingdom. With quantities so scarce, not only could it never be sold off, but the secret of its existence had to be strictly guarded.
He Lingchuan gave an understanding grunt. "Do the surrounding countries and powers not know that the Xiaoyao Sect presents the Bright Lantern Cup as tribute to the Mou Kingdom?"
Jin Bai shook his head. "They don't. That has always been a core secret passed down through generations of the Xiaoyao Sect, known only to a select few."
"Is the very existence of the Bright Lantern Cup a secret?"
Jin Bai hesitated for a moment. "Not necessarily."
"I see. From the briefing, it seems Commander Jin suspected the Bo Kingdom from early on?"
Jin Bai asked him, "Does Mister He know the properties of the Bright Lantern Cup?"
"I've only heard bits and pieces."
"It is a treasure that shields one's Dao heart and awakens one's true nature," Jin Bai said in a low voice. "The second son of the King of Bo suffered qi deviation while cultivating and has been deranged for over a year. Even the finest physicians have been helpless, and no medicine has worked. The King of Bo even executed an Assistant Imperial Physician over it, yet still couldn't restore his son to sanity. The Bright Lantern Cup ripens only once every thirty years. If he caught wind of it, he would never let the chance slip."
"Does the Bright Lantern Cup truly possess such miraculous power?"
"Even ordinary folk clutch at straws in desperate times. Moreover, when the Xiaoyao Sect searched the scrolls left by their predecessors, there indeed existed a method to refine a Heart Lamp. It explicitly mentions that if a patient's madness and hysteria are caused by inner demon possession, a Heart Lamp crafted from a Bright Lantern Cup might cure it."
This Xiaoyao Sect predecessor certainly had the style of a famed physician, never making absolute promises. He Lingchuan remarked bluntly, "Is Commander Jin merely suspecting this, or is there solid proof?"
Suspects could number in the thousands, but there was only one truth.
Jin Bai remained silent for a few breaths before saying, "Just five days ago, the second prince of Bo's madness took a significant turn for the better; word has it he can recognize people again. The King of Bo was overjoyed and declared two days of national celebration."
Well now, that truly was suspicious. He Lingchuan pondered for a moment. "How long after using this 'Heart Lamp' does it take effect?"
"Unclear. But the Xiaoyao Sect said the refining process of the Heart Lamp takes at least half a month, and for a patient to return to normal, they must wear the Heart Lamp for quite some time. This varies from person to person—some need half a year to a full year, while others only need three months." Jin Bai picked up his teacup from the table and drained it in one gulp. "From a timeline perspective, it aligns remarkably well."
The Bright Lantern Cup was stolen nearly forty days ago, the second prince of Bo's sanity had improved over the past few days, and refining the Heart Lamp took at least half a month... How could such a coincidence exist in this world?
He Lingchuan had to admit that Jin Bai's deduction seemed sound. "Supposing the Bright Lantern Cup was indeed refined into a Heart Lamp and used by the second prince of Bo, how will the Emperor decide?"
"If I were to presume the Sovereign's will, His Majesty would likely want to take back the Heart Lamp," Jin Bai said solemnly. "No matter what form Mou's tribute has been transformed into, it remains Mou's tribute. Any foreign nation that dares lay hands on it must pay the price!"
He Lingchuan said pragmatically, "Even though Commander Jin has already reached a conclusion, I would still like to hear Commander Jin recount the theft itself. The more detailed and specific, the better."
Coming to the Bo Kingdom, this was precisely what he was here for.
The Shadow Tooth Guard beside them poured more tea for the two of them, and Jin Bai began his detailed account.
Well before the Bright Lantern Cup matured, his group had arrived at the Xiaoyao Sect and stayed there for five days. On the day the Bright Lantern Cup ripened, accompanied by the sect leader, he had harvested it smoothly and stowed it away with his own hands.
The Shadow Tooth Guard's escort mission began right there.
The Bright Lantern Cup matured only once every thirty years; this was Jin Bai's first time escorting such a treasure as well.
Once the treasure was in hand, he didn't dare slack off for even a moment. Leading his guard of over ten men, they rode without pause, heading straight from the Xiaoyao Sect to Julu Port, resting only two nights along the way.
Incidentally, both of those nights had been spent within the borders of the Bo Kingdom.
Upon arriving at the port, they should have boarded a ship straight back to Mou. After all, during this season, sea travel was safer than land travel, and the ship provided an enclosed environment without strangers coming and going. But once the Shadow Tooth Guard arrived at Julu Port, they discovered the harbor had been clogged by driftwood washed down from the riverways, making it impassable for ships.
Everyone was stranded at the port, waiting for the channel to be cleared.
During those two days, Julu Port was packed with people everywhere.
By the time navigation resumed, the port was surging with crowds and boats shuttled to and fro like weavers' shuttles—ten times more chaotic than the docks He Lingchuan had witnessed today.
It was right at that moment that Jin Bai discovered the tribute had been stolen.
The shock of it had been truly monumental.
"Had you boarded the ship yet at that time?"
"Not yet. As we drew near the pier, I realized the tribute was gone." Jin Bai pointed to the storage ring on his hand. "The Bright Lantern Cup was stored in this ring the entire time, never leaving my person."
The ring was still there, but the Bright Lantern Cup kept inside had vanished into thin air? Now this was interesting. He Lingchuan mused, "Can Commander Jin pinpoint the time and location it was lost?"
"I can," Jin Bai said with absolute certainty. "After we entered Julu Port, I checked the storage ring once. At that time, the tribute was still inside."
In other words, the Bright Lantern Cup was not lost during the journey from the Xiaoyao Sect to Julu Port.
"When navigation was restored at the port, right before we set off for the pier, I checked once more. The tribute was still there."
Which meant they lost the Bright Lantern Cup while making their way to the pier.
Now this was bizarre. In broad daylight, with over a dozen pairs of eyes wide open, how could someone get their hands on a treasure inside a storage ring?
"During the two days in port, did any strangers get close to you?"
"On the night we arrived at Julu Port, I bought pan-fried buns and side dishes at Old Uncle Lu's food stall at the street corner. After checking into this inn, we ate all our meals in the guest rooms and never went outside."
He Lingchuan gave an 'oh'. "During your stay in Julu Port, you've been staying here at Old Qian's Inn the entire time?"
"Yes." This inn was considered rather upscale in Julu Port, suited for guests with some status and spare coin.
Jin Bai replied, "After the tribute was stolen, we also suspected the thief might have been nearby, so we continued staying here. However, we secretly searched this inn from top to bottom and questioned the innkeeper and hands, but..."
He shook his head.
They hadn't found any useful leads either.
"For the thief to pull this off, he had to know at least three pieces of intelligence." He Lingchuan held up three fingers. "First, he had to know when the Bright Lantern Cup matured. Commander Jin, I'm not familiar with this treasure. Is its maturation period hard to predict?"
"Not hard at all; it can be calculated from the astronomical calendar," Jin Bai explained. "The Bright Lantern Grass absorbs the power of the golden sun. The opening of its cups has nothing to do with the abundance of worldly spiritual energy. Once the date arrives, the Bright Lantern Cup matures, with pinpoint accuracy."
He Lingchuan confirmed with him again, "Then the maturation time of the Bright Lantern Cup isn't a secret, and others could calculate it as well?"
"If someone knew the date of the Bright Lantern Cup's previous maturation, they could calculate this one."
He Lingchuan nodded. "The item was lost, which means someone not only knew, but calculated the exact timing."
The tribute wasn't lost on Xiaoyao Sect territory, but that didn't mean the Xiaoyao Sect bore no responsibility whatsoever.
Sure enough, Jin Bai said, "When we returned to the Xiaoyao Sect to investigate this matter, we gathered all the people who were in the know. Apart from Sect Leader Li, two others knew about the Bright Lantern Grass's existence, and both remain within the sect, available for questioning at any time. However, Sect Leader Li also mentioned that news of the Bright Lantern Cup might have leaked once several years ago. A mountain guardian suddenly resigned, and shortly after, someone secretly slipped into the rear mountain of the Xiaoyao Sect, though fortunately they were detected. When the Xiaoyao Sect looked into it later, they discovered that when the mountain guardian returned to his hometown for the New Year, he had had too much to drink and blabbed recklessly, letting word of the Bright Lantern Grass slip out. Once he sobered up, fear overtook him, so he quickly resigned and fled."
"Having timed the maturation, the thief also had to calculate your route and schedule." He Lingchuan stroked his chin. "The waterway blockage at Julu Port was far too convenient. How did he know you would definitely take the sea route?"
Jin Bai said heavily, "The land route is unsafe. There are two countries at war along the path back to Mou."
So the sea route was naturally their first choice.
The time and location of the thief's strike were accounted for; all that remained unexplained was the method of theft.
How could someone silently, beneath broad daylight, steal a treasure from Jin Bai's storage ring without anyone noticing?
Even from He Lingchuan's perspective, this struck him as incredible.
Without removing the ring, there was simply no way to steal the tribute inside.
Which meant this storage ring must have left Jin Bai's person at some point.
Yet how could he have remained completely oblivious?
He had over a dozen Shadow Tooth Guards accompanying him—could every single one of them have been blind?
"Has Commander Jin gathered any other leads recently?" Jin Bai had stayed here for over a month, after all; surely he hadn't come up completely empty-handed?
"At the Floating Islet Ghost Market, several months ago, someone was going around asking for information about the Bright Lantern Grass. But his face was covered, skulking about, so the people in the ghost market had no idea of his appearance or background." Jin Bai leaned back. "Those who go to the ghost market to buy goods and probe for information are never short of such figures."
"Two days ago, we uncovered another clue at the ghost market: roughly a month ago, someone sought to purchase Duyun stone. This material has few uses, but it is indispensable for refining a Heart Lamp."
He Lingchuan probed, "Once the Bright Lantern Cup was brought back to the Mou Kingdom, how was it supposed to be used?"
"I wouldn't know about that. It isn't part of my duties."
Chapter 1101