Chapter 73 – Night Battle

Yu Zhen’s beard nearly bristled upright. “Hall Master, we are discussing serious matters — please do not treat this as a joke!”

Jun Wenjiu took another sip of wine and flicked his fingers, sending the doors of the Overseer Hall swinging wide open. “Go bring in the letter from outside.”

Yu Zhen was skeptical but sent someone out regardless.

Sure enough, that person returned with a letter in hand.

Yu Zhen tore it open and read it. The others could not read his expression and pressed him repeatedly, asking what was written inside.

“It says here,” Yu Zhen said, shaking the paper, “that a cultivator surnamed Zou has been impersonating the Bureau of Patrol in an attempt to interfere with a mortal war, and hopes the Bureau of Patrol will pay close attention and not allow malicious individuals to tarnish its reputation.”

“What nonsense is this.” Lin Zhao could not help but raise an eyebrow.

“Nonsense?” Cui Gu laughed at Lin Zhao with full confidence. “This time you have no choice but to believe it. Someone wrote this letter — that means there is someone in that army who knows of the Bureau of Patrol’s existence. Overseer Zou was right!”

“Don’t forget, there are plenty of mortal cultivators who know of the Bureau of Patrol. To determine whether someone is deliberately interfering with mortal affairs, you must look at two criteria. First, whether their ancestors came from the outside world. Second, whether they are a martial cultivator.” Lin Zhao turned to Yu Zhen. “Deputy Hall Master, who wrote the letter?”

The origins of these two basic criteria were complex. Simply put, the first — if one’s ancestors came from the outside world, it means they may possess objects that have not yet appeared or should not yet appear in this realm. Such objects would disrupt the natural development of this realm, and so cultivators whose ancestors came from outside are subject to the Bureau of Patrol’s oversight from generation to generation.

The second — there are many paths of cultivation: dharma cultivation, ghost cultivation, demon cultivation, and more. But among these, martial cultivation is the closest to humanity, and only the martial path was created by the human race itself.

Therefore, regardless of whether one is an outside cultivator or a mortal cultivator who knows of Xiaohan Town’s existence, they are all subject to certain restrictions to some degree. Only martial cultivators face the lightest restrictions — they can even serve as government officials.

Martial cultivators below the Prenatal realm are simply a little stronger than ordinary people. They are nothing like dharma cultivators, who summon souls, commune with ghosts, pass through walls, and conjure winds — all so “heretical” in nature.

The most important principle of the Bureau of Patrol was this: outside forces must never be allowed to interfere with the natural rise and fall of cause and effect in this realm.

But at this moment, Yu Zhen found himself caught in a dilemma. He said, “The one who signed the letter… is Crown Prince Changsheng.”

The hall fell silent.

They might not know how many provinces or counties existed across Shenzhou, but they certainly knew of the last unifying emperor of the Yin Empire — the Chengming Emperor — and the Crown Prince who had been bestowed an honorific title from the moment of his birth.

The Crown Prince’s honorific title: Changsheng — Eternal Life.

The words “eternal life,” to cultivators, carried an ineffable and profound weight. Even within the cultivation world, no one dared to take such a title for themselves.

Yu Zhen broke the silence. “Setting other matters aside for now, Zou Tingwei and his companions must absolutely be brought back. Whether a cultivator from the cultivation world is truly pulling strings behind the scenes must also be thoroughly investigated. These two matters must be resolved.”

“Yu Zhen, Lin Zhao, Cui Gu — this matter is both large and small. The three of you overseers shall handle it together.” Jun Wenjiu finished speaking, his sleeves swaying as he drifted away.

Three overseers handling it together — how could this be a small matter?

Cui Gu said, “Is the Hall Master perhaps making a mountain out of a molehill?”

Yu Zhen shook his head. “‘Both large and small,’ indeed.”

He furrowed his brow and calculated with his fingers, a sense of unease lingering in his heart. “Cui Gu, you submit a visiting card to demand the return of the person. If we can resolve this matter through the Bureau of Patrol’s authority and reputation, all the better. As for you, Lin Zhao — go investigate the backgrounds of the Prenatal realm cultivators around Crown Prince Changsheng.”

“Understood.” “Understood.”

The two accepted their orders and departed.

Cui Gu did not move immediately. Instead, he asked Lin Zhao, “When can you finish the investigation?”

Lin Zhao thought for a moment. “By noon tomorrow at the latest.”

“Then I’ll go in the afternoon tomorrow. Remember to inform me of the results.”

The night was long, and for some, it was absolute torment. Zou Tingwei, for instance.

“Ahhh, I’ll kill you all!”

“How dare you!”

“Still won’t talk?! Bring the branding iron!”

The sound of whipping ceased, replaced by the sizzle of a red-hot iron pressing into a salt-soaked wound, and the screaming only grew more wretched.

“Ahh~! I’ll talk~!”

The ten great tortures of interrogation were not mere words. Especially when dealing with a convicted criminal, keeping him unable to live in peace yet unable to die was considered lenient — after all, his only remaining value was to provide new information.

The interrogation room in the military camp was extremely crude — just a tent. The screams and curses carried unimpeded through the air, and the war prisoners in the adjacent tent were so terrified that one of them wet himself.

The light of torches cast shadows against the tent walls, and countless people stared at those shifting silhouettes and trembled, fearing that any second someone would come in and drag them out for questioning.

At the hour of Yin — the darkest moment before dawn — the soldiers changed shifts.

An invisible string in the air quietly pulled taut. Alert soldiers gripped their Long Spears tightly and swept their eyes across the surroundings.

Suddenly, thick smoke began rising from the grain and fodder storage in the northwest corner. The soldiers on watch glanced over, but did not move.

The military camp showed not the slightest sign of disorder. It remained as quiet and disciplined as always, with only the granary guards running to fight the fire.

The person hiding in the shadows found this utterly bizarre. The granary is on fire and you don’t even stir?!

This was nothing like what had been planned!

Had he stumbled upon a fake military camp?

How embarrassing.

“It seems sneaking in without a sound is no longer possible. Kuisheng, draw their attention away!” This person was none other than He Yuntian. He slapped his pouch, and the White Tiger leapt out, charging wildly through the camp. At this, the camp was thrown into complete uproar.

“Stop that beast in its tracks!”

“Chains! Torches!”

Taking advantage of the chaos, He Yuntian quietly slipped into a tent where prisoners were being held. He spotted Yue Lanshan at once. “Lanshan, I’ve come to rescue you.”

Exhausted beyond measure, Yue Lanshan thought she was hallucinating. Blank, disbelieving, then overjoyed — “Brother Yuntian!”

“Shh. I’m taking you out of here.”

“My father and mother, they—”

He Yuntian frowned. “I can only save you.”

“Lanshan…” Yue Lanshan’s mother saw clearly the situation before her and immediately pleaded, “Young master, please save us too!”

The tent held only the women of the household. With the sky threatening to fall, how could any of them sleep soundly? The slightest noise had woken them all, and now a chorus of desperate pleas filled the air.

Outside, patrol soldiers seemed to have heard something and were now searching in their direction.

He Yuntian grew impatient. Yue Lanshan’s face went even paler. She cut He Yuntian off and said with resolute finality, “Brother Yuntian, go quickly. Don’t worry about me. This is punishment I deserve — I cannot drag you down with me!”

“You—” He Yuntian’s expression softened, and he spoke quickly. “Save as many as we can. Do you want your family line to end here?”

He struck several palms, shattering the iron shackles from the women’s wrists. “Run, quickly.”

With that, without another word, he hoisted Yue Lanshan onto his shoulder and charged out of the tent. “Fire Talisman! Thunder Talisman!”

He flung two talismans at the soldiers coming straight for him. Flames erupted and thick smoke billowed in all directions.

The women stumbled and screamed through the camp, throwing everything into even greater confusion.

He Yuntian followed the route he had scouted in advance, activated his Spirit-Walking Boots, and sprinted at full speed, darting into Qiukui Mountain.

He Yuntian’s expression was grim. Something seemed to have gone wrong on Kuisheng’s end.

“My father and mother — I have to go find them!” Yue Lanshan’s tears streamed down her face as she stumbled and tried to run back out.

He Yuntian quickly stopped her. “Stop making things worse. I’ll go back in again.”

Yue Lanshan assumed he was going to rescue the Yue Family, and was both moved and guilt-ridden. “Brother Yuntian, you…”

He Yuntian did not wait for her to finish. He activated his Spirit-Walking Boots once more and was gone — Kuisheng was injured!

This time, the military camp was not so easy to enter. Key checkpoints all had Prenatal realm cultivators standing guard.

He Yuntian dug through his storage pouch and, with a pained grimace, pulled out a concealment talisman and slapped it onto himself.

Note: I noticed some readers left comments, though I can only see them in my writing assistant and not in the comments section — I’ll have to get more familiar with how this platform works. Also, following a suggestion, I’ve renamed the White Tiger — his name is now Kuisheng. “Kui” is one of the White Tiger constellations. Does it feel a bit more grand and dignified now?