Starting as the heir of a marquis's mansion, I gained access to a summoning system.

The bonfire in the dilapidated temple burned all night.

By daybreak, only a pile of warm ashes remained.

The old beggar sat where he was, clutching his bamboo cane, his eyes half-closed as if dozing. The little beggar was no longer on the haystack—he was squatting at the entrance of the dilapidated temple, holding a twig in his hand, drawing something on the ground.

The morning mist poured in from outside the broken courtyard wall.

The dilapidated temple was shrouded in a grayish-white hue.

A figure emerged from the mist.

The man was in his thirties. He was lean and wiry, with high cheekbones and deep-set eyes. His eyes held a sinister glint. He wore a short, grayish-brown outfit, with two short knives at his waist, their sheaths wrapped in dark red cloth.

Their footsteps landed silently.

Stepping on the withered grass, not even the leaves bent under the weight.

"Ghost hands."

The little beggar didn't even look up. He continued to scratch the ground with the twig in his hand.

The lean man, known as "Ghost Hand," stopped in front of the dilapidated temple and knelt on one knee.

"grown ups."

"explain."

"We've thoroughly investigated the background of that new junior officer."

Ghost Hand lowered his voice.

"Dongfang Weiwo, fifteen years old, peak of Body Refinement Realm. He was directly transferred from the Thousand Household Office of Guangling Prefecture, and had no prior experience in the Garrison Command before coming here. The Thousand Household Commander personally arranged for his arrival, and the person who brought him here was Han Tieshan, the Hundred Household Commander of the Thousand Household Office."

The little beggar stopped holding the branch.

"East."

He read the surname aloud.

"The one in the imperial city?"

"It should be."

Ghost Hands.

"However, based on my analysis, he is unlikely to be a direct descendant of the Marquis of Weeping Blood."

Even if the eldest son of the Weeping Blood Marquis Dongfang Wudi is mediocre, he is still the eldest princess's own flesh and blood.

It's absolutely impossible for him to be thrown into a place like Qinghe City, let alone specifically instructed to "not be treated specially." My subordinate judges that he is at most a collateral descendant of the Dongfang family, trying to use connections to secure a future in the Zhenfu Division, and was sent here by the Thousand-Household Command.

The little beggar didn't reply.

I was just looking at the picture on the ground.

My gaze lingered on the two characters "East".

"My lord," Ghost Hand asked tentatively, "what should we do with this Dongfang Weiwo?"

The little beggar raised his head.

There was a hint of coldness in his eyes.

"If a member of a collateral branch dies, no one will make a big fuss about it."

He used a twig to draw an X on the word "East" on the ground.

"Send Black Serpent. He's only at the peak of the Body Refinement Realm; Black Serpent is more than capable of handling the mid-stage of the Acquired Blood Exchange Realm. Make sure it's done cleanly, without leaving a trace."

Ghost Hand clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Your subordinate will make the arrangements immediately."

"remember."

The little beggar called out to him.

"Regardless of whether he has any trump cards to save his life, we can't let anyone associate him with us. Although the Zhenfu Division has closed Zhou Tie's case, Zheng Yuanlang, that old dog, has a very sharp nose."

"Understood."

The figure of the ghost hand disappeared into the morning mist.

The little beggar threw the branch in his hand into the campfire.

Watching it being ignited by the embers, slowly burning to ashes.

"A side branch."

He was talking to himself.

His tone was flat, as if he were talking about something trivial.

"If you're dead, you're dead."

Vast mountain ranges.

The counterfeit operation has already taken shape.

In five days, Sun Laosi and his dozen or so men reinforced the entire fence of the village. The warehouse was piled high with materials from the monsters hunted in the mountains. Wen Tailai also led his men down the mountain to cut down a batch of hardwood and built two more wooden houses on the east side.

Everything is proceeding as planned.

But Chen Jialuo still felt uneasy.

It's not because of the counterfeit issue.

It was because of something Sun Laosi said unintentionally yesterday.

Yesterday evening, Sun Laosi led some men to fetch water from the stream to the west. When they returned, he looked rather pale. Chen Jialuo asked him what was wrong, and Sun Laosi hesitated for a moment before saying that he had found signs of a fight in a ravine to the west.

"Traces of a fight?" Chen Jialuo immediately took note.

"Yes." Old Sun gestured, "A large patch of bushes was cut off at the roots, and there are several pits in the ground, as if they were made by the force of a palm strike. There are also knife marks on the rocks, very deep, not like what an ordinary hunter could have cut."

The strangest thing was—next to the fight scars, there was a cliff face. Several symbols were carved into the cliff face, crooked and illegible. But looking at them gave one the creeps.

Chen Jialuo immediately asked Sun Laosi to take him to see it.

Upon reaching that mountain hollow, I only glanced at it—

His pupils contracted slightly.

He couldn't understand the symbols on the cliff face. But he could sense the lingering aura emanating from them: cold, decaying, and instinctively unsettling. Judging from the scale of the fighting and the concentration of the residual aura, the person who fought was no less powerful. At least at the Acquired Divine Power Realm, or perhaps even higher.

"Don't mention this to anyone," Chen Jialuo said to Sun Laosi.

Upon returning to the mountain stronghold, he immediately summoned Wen Tailai.

"Zhou Tie." Wen Tailai frowned deeply after hearing this. "That Commander Zhou from the Zhenfu Division was at the Acquired Divine Power Realm, and his body has still not been found. If that mountain hollow is where Zhou Tie had his accident—"

"Very likely." Chen Jialuo nodded. "Anyone capable of killing a Postnatal Divine Power Realm expert must be at least of the same level, or even higher. And those runes—"

He paused, his tone becoming serious.

"This matter must be reported to the Lord. However, we have too little information at the moment. Based on just one sign of a struggle and a few incomprehensible runes, we can't say for sure. Tomorrow, I will explore deeper into that ravine to see if I can find more traces."

"I'll go with you," Wen Tailai said immediately.

"No. Someone can't be left here at the stronghold; you have to stay and keep watch."

Wen Tailai knew that Chen Jialuo was right, so he could only nod in agreement.

Qinghe City, County Government Office.

The night is dark.

A lamp was still lit in Magistrate Sun Liangyu's study.

He sat behind his desk, a letter clutched in his hand, his brow furrowed. Forty-six years old, with the cultivation of the early stage of the Innate Realm, he had held this position for eight years. In those eight years, three different commanders of the Qinghe City Garrison had come and gone, but his position remained unchanged.

It's not because of his outstanding political achievements.

It was because he understood a principle—in a place like Qinghe City, the best way to be an official was to stay out of the limelight.

But this time, things had spiraled out of his control.

There was a gentle knock on the study door.

Three tones. Two short and one long.

"Come in."

A dark figure flashed in silently. The newcomer was completely shrouded in black night clothes, revealing only a pair of narrow, cold eyes.

The man in black knelt on one knee.

Sun Liangyu held the letter in her hand to the candle flame, watching it burn out little by little.

"Have you investigated that new sergeant in the Garrison Command thoroughly?"

"It's been investigated."

The man in black spoke in a low voice.

"Dongfang Weiwo, fifteen years old, peak of Body Refinement Realm. He was directly transferred from the Thousand Household Office of Guangling Prefecture. The person who brought him here was Han Tieshan, a centurion of the Thousand Household Office. Judging from the attitude of the Thousand Household Office, he should not be a direct descendant of the Dongfang family."

The commander's instructions were "no special treatment needed"—if he were the eldest son of the Marquis of Weeping Blood, he wouldn't dare say such a thing even if he had ten lives.

Sun Liangyu remained silent for a moment.

"A member of a collateral branch is not something to be surprised about in himself. But the timing of his arrival is too coincidental."

He stood up and walked to the window.

"Even after Zhou Tie's death, Zheng Yuanlang never gave up. Now, the Thousand Household Office has sent over a junior officer surnamed Dongfang. Whether it's a coincidence or intentional, it all points to one thing—the higher-ups are starting to look towards Qinghe City."

The man in black spoke up: "Sir, would you like me to—"

He didn't finish speaking.

He made only a very light gesture.

Sun Liangyu shook her head.

"No rush."

He turned around. The candlelight divided his expression into light and shadow.

"We're not the only ones eyeing that thing."

You know who killed Zhou Tie. Those two beggars in the dilapidated temple were from another group. Now, there's Dongfang Xiaoqi. The waters of Qinghe City are already murky enough.

He tapped his fingers lightly three times on the table.

"The thing is buried in the mountains, and it's still a long way from being unearthed. Whoever shows up first will be the target. Let those people fight over it, grab it, and stir up the waters even more. We'll fish in troubled waters."

A knowing glint flashed in the man in black's eyes: "I understand. Half of the people watching that item have been withdrawn?"

"Yes. Don't keep too close an eye on them, give them room to maneuver. But we can't completely withdraw either—I need to know their every move. Especially those two in the dilapidated temple, and the group that killed Zhou Tie in the vast mountains."

"Yes."

Just as the man in black was about to leave, Sun Liangyu suddenly called him back.

"etc."

"Is there anything else you need, sir?"

Sun Liangyu remained silent for a moment.

The voice was kept extremely low.

"That Dongfang Xiaoqi... no matter where he comes from, don't touch him yet. Letting him live is more useful than letting him die. The muddier the water, the easier it is to catch the fish."

"Understood."

The man in black left the study. The door closed again.

Sun Liangyu leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes.

A very faint smile appeared at the corner of his lips.

Three forces. The group in the dilapidated temple is in the open, the group that killed Zhou Tie is in the shadows, and Sun Liangyu is even more lurking in the shadows. Now, the Zhenfu Division has added another pair of eyes watching them.

This game is getting more and more interesting.