Chapter 98: Chapter 98: Gradually Becoming Clear

「Three nights later.」

Using the city’s countless flowers and trees as his eyes, Zi Hong stealthily returned to Wang Ping’s side. Wang Ping, who had been in meditation for three days, immediately opened his eyes.

In the darkness, Wang Ping stretched out his hand and, under Yu Lian’s curious gaze, extracted Zi Hong’s memories from the past three days. Zi Hong had been tracking Zhang Jinglong. As for the other Artifact Cultivator, he had not been in Changwen Prefecture City recently.

This Mr. Zhang’s life followed a very strict routine, just as the file recorded. At night, he would practice Qi Cultivation in the small courtyard arranged by the Daoist Scripture Hall. In the morning, he would go out for a bowl of lamb soup, then go to a tea house to drink tea and listen to music. From time to time, he would ask the tea house attendant about a Cultivator named Zi Mansion, making it seem like he was genuinely waiting for someone.

The first pass through the memories only provided a rough outline. On the second pass, Wang Ping, much like Leng Qianhu, memorized every person who had appeared near Zhang Jinglong and used his Wood Spirit True Essence to imprint their images onto sheets of paper he carried.

Soon, Wang Ping noticed a detail...

Every morning when Zhang Jinglong was having his lamb soup, the same person would always be near him. On the first day, they ate at the same table. The next day, they sat at adjacent tables, and on the third day, they were at the same table again. Each time, they arrived at the shop at almost the exact same time and would occasionally exchange a word or two.

This was the only person Zhang Jinglong interacted with or spoke to all day. Furthermore, the man was dressed as a Commander of the Imperial Guard. Judging by his belt and the rank badge on his chest, he was a Commander with a Fourth-Grade Official Rank. Such a rank was usually held by a Vice Thousand Households—one of Leng Feng’s own men!

From the dozens of portraits, Wang Ping picked out the one of this Vice Thousand Households of the Imperial Guard and studied it in his hand. He then looked up at the sky outside and asked, "What time is it?"

"Someone was just announcing the hour. It’s 5:00 AM," Yu Lian replied.

"Dawn is breaking."

"Yes. And who is this man?"

"He might be someone important."

...

Day broke quickly.

Wang Ping calmly emerged from his meditation and cast a Cleansing Technique on himself.

In the small courtyard used for temporary interrogations...

The four derelict guards were lying in the courtyard, giggling foolishly. The loss of their memories had reduced them to imbeciles. One had even fouled himself.

Wang Ping frowned slightly as he looked at them. A flicker of pity crossed his mind, but it vanished as he turned to Leng Qianhu and asked, "Has it been handled?"

"Rest assured, it’s done!"

"Are they still of any use?" 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"Useless."

Hearing this, Wang Ping looked at the Qi Cultivators guarding the men and ordered, "Dispose of them."

"If I may ask... how should we dispose of them?"

"Just follow procedure..." As Wang Ping spoke, he saw Ah Jiu emerge from the other room. Ah Jiu’s clothes were covered in blood, and a small piece of flesh was stuck to his tall boots.

Through the crack in the door behind him, Wang Ping could see two figures inside, tortured beyond recognition.

Ah Jiu explained, "These are the men we captured based on your leads. One is the market supervisor. As for the four fast horses, three of the trails were fake, but one led to a stronghold in the northern forest. One of these two men is the leader of that stronghold."

"Who do they work for?"

"The First Day!"

"How is The First Day involved?" Wang Ping was surprised. He had thought the suspects were supposed to be Taiyin Evil Cultivators.

"We’re not sure yet, but I can confirm they are members of The First Day. Both the market and the stronghold had underground altars. The residual energy on them indicates a large-scale sacrifice was performed recently..."

The Evil Cultivators of ’The First Day’ typically increase their cultivation level by making sacrifices to please their fire spirits. The offerings are often people they deem guilty. In fact, very few of their captives are truly innocent, but their methods are clearly incompatible with an orderly society.

"Did you get anything out of them?"

"Nothing!"

Wang Ping raised an eyebrow. He glanced at the four men being dragged away before turning to Leng Feng. "Any breakthroughs on your end?"

"Not yet. The memories of these four men show no connection whatsoever to the lead Xiaojiu has been pursuing." Leng Feng shook his head in frustration, looking quite puzzled.

Wang Ping remained calm. After a moment of thought, he walked toward the interrogation room, its walls plastered with portraits. Two junior officers were cleaning up the filth inside. He stood in the middle of the room and formed a hand seal, projecting his spiritual consciousness to examine all the portraits more quickly.

In just over ten breaths, Wang Ping spotted a familiar face among the portraits: Zhang Jinglong, the man he’d had Zi Hong tail for three days. His portrait had been specially marked and placed alongside two others that were also marked.

Wang Ping immediately finished his inspection. After glancing at Leng Qianhu, he walked straight to Zhang Jinglong’s portrait. Leng Qianhu, who had been watching him the whole time, followed.

"His name is Zhang Jinglong, an Artifact Cultivator who recently entered the territory. He made contact with a Qi Cultivator guard named Cai Xin three times," Leng Feng explained.

"Was it at the Qingjiang Tea House?"

"Yes..."

Leng Feng nodded, then gave Wang Ping a surprised look and frowned. "Do you have other leads?"

Wang Ping didn’t answer his question. Instead, he turned to the portrait on the left and asked, "And who is this?"

"Daoist Wenhai. He’s undergoing Pure Cultivation right here at the Mozhou Road Daoist Scripture Hall. He also has another identity... he’s the Direct Disciple of Daoist Xuanhe, the one and only High-level Patrol Envoy at our Mozhou Road Daoist Scripture Hall!"

After his introduction, Leng Qianhu pointed to Zhang Jinglong’s portrait again. "Every time Cai Xin made contact with Zhang Jinglong, this Daoist Wenhai was nearby!"

Wang Ping was having trouble keeping up. After taking a long moment to process everything, he shifted his gaze to the portrait on Zhang Jinglong’s right. Leng Qianhu answered immediately, "That’s the tea house attendant. His case is simple; we’ve already checked him out. He’s just an ordinary person. Now, what is this lead you have?"

Wang Ping still didn’t answer. He tapped the storage pouch at his waist with his left hand, and a scroll appeared in his palm. He unrolled it and handed it to Leng Qianhu. "Who is this among your Commanders of the Imperial Guard?"

"Vice Thousand Households Yu Er. Is there a problem with him?"

"This..."

Wang Ping pointed to Zhang Jinglong’s portrait. "This Yu Qianhu and Zhang Jinglong meet every single morning at the lamb soup shop outside the Daoist Scripture Hall’s main gate. They often whisper a few words to each other!"

"Who in the world *is* this Zhang Jinglong?"

As Leng Qianhu said this, Ah Jiu walked in from outside. He came to a stop behind Wang Ping and frowned upon seeing the portrait of Daoist Wenhai on the wall.

Wang Ping and Leng Qianhu exchanged a look. Then, Wang Ping summoned Yu Lian to probe Leng Qianhu.

"This man’s spirit and consciousness are both calm!"

Only after Yu Lian replied did Wang Ping explain, "The Sealing Array in the Earth Cave Prison was destroyed by the power of an Artifact Cultivator. Of the Artifact Cultivators who have recently entered Mozhou Road, the only ones who have made open contact with the Daoist Scripture Hall are this Zhang Jinglong and one other person. That makes him the prime suspect!"

"Are you certain?" Leng Qianhu’s expression turned grave.

"My cultivation is in Wood Spirit arts, specifically the *Taiyan Talisman*. Our First Realm is also known as the Spirit Communication Realm. In this realm, we cultivate a Spirit Communication Talisman, which makes us several times more sensitive to our surroundings than Cultivators who practice other methods!"

When Leng Qianhu heard that Wang Ping had entered the path of cultivation through the *Taiyan Talisman*, his estimation of the man rose. But when he heard the rest, his eyes widened. "You should have told me that sooner! We need to bring this Zhang Jinglong in immediately. By the way, who is the other Artifact Cultivator?"