Chapter 031: Secret Evidence

“What should we do with this body?” Ning Qi asked, glancing at the corpse of the man with the ghostly face lying on the ground.

“Search him—see if there’s anything that can prove his identity,” Zhou Ji replied. “But take an antidote pill before you start.”

“You’re sure the body is poisoned?” Ning Qi scowled.

“I’m not certain, but just in case. Eat an antidote pill first,” Zhou Ji insisted.

Ning Qi rolled his eyes wordlessly at Zhou Ji, then began searching the corpse without bothering with the pill Zhou Ji had handed him.

From the body, Ning Qi extracted a finely crafted black token engraved with ‘Ghost 965’, and a foul-smelling storage pouch that likely once held beast-attracting incense.

He tossed the storage pouch back onto the corpse.

“Why’d you throw the pouch back?” Zhou Ji asked.

“It reeks. Who could ever wash out that stench? It’s not worth much, anyway. Might as well bury it with him,” Ning Qi said.

“Fine by me,” Zhou Ji shrugged, unimpressed by the shabby pouch.

Old Zhao coughed twice, unable to hold back his annoyance. “You really don’t want it? Give it to me then—I know how to cleanse such smells. You may dismiss this little pouch, but there are commoners in our territory who have just begun to sense qi and could use it. Wouldn’t it make a good reward for their efforts in cultivation? Why bury it—such waste!”

“Then please, Uncle Zhao, it’s yours,” Zhou Ji said promptly.

Ning Qi’s expression agreed: Uncle Zhao, take it.

Old Zhao didn’t stand on ceremony and took the malodorous pouch.

Finished with the body, Ning Qi handed the black token to Qing Jin, who examined it with a puzzled look. “This doesn’t seem like something the Secret Army would carry.”

The Secret Army never bore obvious items to prove their identity. Instead, they carried subtle tokens.

“Uncle Zhao, let me see that pouch,” Qing Jin requested.

Old Zhao quickly handed it over. Qing Jin rummaged through it and finally, in a side seam, discovered a hidden number: 5647.

Qing Jin declared, “Just as I suspected. This man was a Secret Army operative with a dual identity.”

He showed everyone the tiny number stitched into the seam. “I’ve heard before—my second grandfather mentioned it—that the Secret Army’s identifiers are always concealed, never anything overt like a token or badge. But traces are left in their personal effects.”

“So what does this black token mean, then?” Ning Qi asked.

“It means he originally infiltrated another faction as a spy,” Zhou Ji sneered. “That way, even if he failed his mission and something happened to him, our investigation would only lead to the hostile factions of the Dao Court. Perfect for them—let us fight among ourselves while they laugh from the sidelines.”

“Truly devious,” Ning Qi agreed.

Qing Jin’s expression grew cold and grim. The beast-attracting incense, once activated, would draw ferocious beasts from a hundred miles around, creating a miniature beast tide. With so few people in their territory, defending against such a swarm would be impossible.

Not only would they lose all the common folk under their protection, but even their own lives would be at risk.

“Who is behind this?” Qing Jin’s voice was chilling, enough to make one shiver. He was truly furious this time. Their foe sought not only his life, but those of his brother and sister. Qing Jin wondered if he had been too easygoing in the past. Even after repeated attempts on his life, he’d simply fled, unwilling to confront those responsible. Now he realized—what’s the point in running? The best solution was to eliminate the mastermind in the Dao Court, then decide whether to flee to Wuding City or continue cultivating in their frontier territory.

“Qing Jin, we still don’t know who the enemy is, but from the lengths they’re going to kill us, I doubt they’ll ever let matters rest,” Zhou Ji said, his expression dark.

“They dared to use beast-attracting incense—reckless beyond belief. Don’t they realize Meishan County and the surrounding territories aren’t far from us? If a beast tide erupts, everyone will be doomed!” Ning Qi growled in a low voice. “Dragging so many innocents into this mess—typical Dao Court behavior.”

“Enough. Complaining about the Dao Court won’t help us now,” Old Zhao said sternly, rare for him. “First, each of you go find capable people, but I mean those who know it’s the Dao Court targeting us and are still willing to work for us.”

“No problem. In the Eastern Wastes, such people are easy to find,” Ning Qi responded cheerfully, unfazed by Uncle Zhao’s rebuke.

“Second, inform Qing Hu and have her little fishlings bring some of the fierce lake-dwelling creatures ashore. We need to test the waters.”

Qing Jin brightened at Uncle Zhao’s suggestion. “Using lake delicacies—good idea. Eye-catching, but not suspicious.”

“What’s the excuse? Say we’ve harvested a huge catch and want to sell it in Meishan for some profit?” Zhou Ji asked.

“We could send it to Father and Mother,” Qing Ting suggested. “My sister and I already mailed a thousand catties of ninth-tier wild lake carp to Mother before. She never wrote back to us, unfortunately,” he said with some regret.

Ning Qi laughed.

“That’s a decent excuse. Tell Qing Hu to prepare another batch—we’ll send a thousand catties tomorrow,” he said.

“Sure,” Qing Ting nodded. “I’ll go find her now.” He turned his gaze to his older brother.

“Go ahead. Do we still have any Frost Charms?” Qing Jin asked.

“When we sold those ninth-tier live fish last time, we made over fifty thousand scarlet coins. We bought a batch of Frost Charms that day, along with plenty of other talismans,” Qing Ting replied with a smile.

“Tell me more about the big carp,” Qing Jin urged.

“Well, that day, the little fish in the lake brought us over four thousand catties of big carp. Qing Hu and I couldn’t possibly eat it all, so we decided to send some to Mother.

But shipping live fish is troublesome, so we sent frozen fish cuts instead.

The cuts were freshly butchered and frozen. The remaining live fish were still plentiful. Uncle Zhao and I thought, since my sister gets new food sent ashore every day, why not sell these live fish for some profit?

We took the frozen cuts and live fish to Meishan County, and at the postal station, they were snapped up. Our live fish and assorted cuts fetched over fifty thousand scarlet coins—a high price, even in the Eastern Wastes where ninth-tier beast meat isn’t valued. If we were in the heartlands, the price would be astronomical,” Qing Ting said, gesturing animatedly.

Uncle Zhao smiled quietly at his side.

Qing Jin praised him, “Uncle Zhao truly has a knack for this. With this as our lead-in, sending a second batch of lake delicacies to Meishan will seem natural.”

Qing Ting blinked in confusion: Clearly, it was Uncle Zhao and me who did the work—why is big brother praising Uncle Zhao?