Chapter 19: A Small Matter of Trust
The cultivation world had no shortage of people willing to kill for a treasure.
Finding someone willing to admit they'd made a mistake was considerably harder.
Deputy Registrar Meng had spent twenty-three years working for the Western Transport Office.
In those twenty-three years, he'd survived three changes of city lord, two major tax reforms, and an incident involving a runaway spiritual ox that had destroyed half the office's front wall.
He considered himself a fairly experienced government employee.
Unfortunately, none of those experiences had prepared him for blackmail.
Meng stood outside the City Administration Hall, clutching a wooden box beneath his arm.
It was still early.
The morning guards were changing shifts, and a few sleepy clerks were making their way through the gates.
He'd been standing there for nearly half an hour.
Every time he tried to enter, his feet refused to move.
"What am I doing?"
He looked down at the box.
Inside was an outdated official seal, several altered transportation records, and the letter he'd received from the person threatening him.
Enough evidence to ruin his career.
Possibly his life.
Meng swallowed.
He could still turn around.
Go home.
Pretend nothing had happened.
Then he remembered the latest instruction.
Alter the authorization for the imperial supply caravan.
That wasn't a minor administrative offense.
If something happened to those supplies, the consequences could extend far beyond his own family.
Meng took a breath.
"Fine."
He walked toward the gate.
A guard stopped him.
"State your business."
Meng hesitated.
Then said the words he'd been struggling to say all morning.
"I need to report a crime."
At Moonfall Pavilion, Lin Qingyue was having an excellent morning.
Which, as far as Ye Wuchen was concerned, meant she was about to become very noisy.
"Look!"
She placed a small jade plate on the table.
Six formation flags surrounded it.
Ye Wuchen looked up from his book.
"What am I looking at?"
"My new formation."
"You've made several."
"This one's different."
"How?"
Lin Qingyue grinned.
"Watch."
She injected spiritual energy into the jade plate.
A pale blue barrier appeared.
Nothing unusual there.
Then she tapped the plate again.
The barrier shrank.
Instead of covering the entire table, it formed a thin protective layer around a ceramic cup.
Ye Wuchen raised an eyebrow.
Lin Qingyue looked pleased.
"I reduced the protected area without changing the formation's main structure."
"Good."
"And look at the energy consumption."
She pointed toward the spirit stone powering the formation.
The energy flowed steadily through the channels.
Very little escaped.
Ye Wuchen examined it.
"Better than yesterday."
Lin Qingyue smiled.
"I thought so too."
She picked up the cup.
The barrier moved with it.
"See? It can protect a moving object."
Ye Wuchen nodded.
"Useful."
She looked delighted.
Then the barrier flickered.
A faint cracking sound came from the jade plate.
Lin Qingyue froze.
"Oh."
The barrier collapsed.
The cup slipped from her hand.
Before it could hit the floor, Ye Wuchen caught it.
He placed it back on the table.
Lin Qingyue stared at the damaged plate.
"...I might have overlooked something."
Ye Wuchen looked at the cracked inscription.
"The movement channels."
She sighed.
"Yeah."
"You increased their output without reinforcing the return junction."
"I know."
"Then fix it."
Lin Qingyue looked at him.
"That's all?"
"What else?"
She hesitated.
"I thought you'd say something annoying."
Ye Wuchen considered the matter.
"Would you like me to?"
"No!"
"Then I won't."
She laughed despite herself.
Then picked up her inscription brush.
"All right. One more try."
The City Administration Hall was much quieter than Meng expected.
He'd imagined guards shouting, officials demanding explanations, perhaps even someone dragging him away in chains.
Instead, a tired-looking clerk had offered him tea.
Then asked him to wait.
He'd been waiting for an hour.
Meng stared at the untouched cup.
At last, a side door opened.
A middle-aged official entered.
He wore dark blue robes with the insignia of the imperial administration.
"Deputy Registrar Meng?"
Meng stood immediately.
"Yes, sir."
"I'm Inspector Zhou."
The official sat opposite him.
"I understand you wish to report irregularities in transportation records."
Meng nodded.
Inspector Zhou glanced at the wooden box.
"Is that the evidence?"
"Yes."
"Then let's begin."
Meng hesitated.
"Sir..."
"Hm?"
"Will I be arrested?"
Inspector Zhou looked at him.
"That depends."
Meng's face paled.
"On what?"
"On what you've done, why you've done it, and whether you're telling me the truth."
The inspector poured himself tea.
"Now sit down. We have a lot to discuss."
Meng sat.
For the next two hours, he told the inspector everything.
The first letter.
The threats.
The altered documents.
The outdated seal.
And the latest demand involving imperial supplies.
Inspector Zhou listened without interrupting.
Occasionally, he asked a question.
Sometimes, he wrote something down.
When Meng finally finished, his throat was dry.
Inspector Zhou examined the old seal.
"How did you obtain this?"
"It was supposed to be destroyed after the office changed its authorization system."
"Supposed to be?"
Meng lowered his head.
"I was responsible for disposing of it."
"But you kept it."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Meng hesitated.
Then answered quietly.
"I thought it might be useful someday."
Inspector Zhou stared at him.
Meng wished the floor would swallow him.
Finally, the inspector sighed.
"That was an exceptionally foolish decision."
"Yes, sir."
"Keeping an obsolete official seal violates administrative regulations."
"I know."
"Using it to alter documents is considerably worse."
Meng nodded miserably.
"I know."
Inspector Zhou closed the box.
"But you came here voluntarily."
Meng looked up.
"Sir?"
"And you brought evidence."
"Yes."
"That doesn't erase what you've done."
"I understand."
"But it matters."
For the first time that morning, Meng felt a little less certain he was about to lose everything.
Inspector Zhou leaned forward.
"Now tell me about the person who contacted you."
At the Bai family's residence, Bai Ruyan had taken apart her new medicinal furnace.
Completely.
Its outer shell lay on one table.
Its heating channels occupied another.
And dozens of small components were scattered across the floor.
Bai Shoulin stood in the doorway.
He stared.
Then stared some more.
Finally, he asked the only question that came to mind.
"What have you done?"
Bai Ruyan looked up.
"Disassembled it."
"I can see that!"
"Then why ask?"
Her uncle closed his eyes.
He counted silently to five.
It didn't help.
"Ruyan."
"Yes?"
"Please tell me you know how to put it back together."
She hesitated.
Bai Shoulin's expression changed.
"Ruyan."
"I know most of it."
"Most?"
"Uncle, you're distracting me."
He looked at the scattered pieces.
"That furnace cost two thousand two hundred spirit stones."
"I remember."
"And now it's in fifty pieces!"
"Forty-seven."
"That's not better!"
Bai Ruyan sighed.
"Look."
She picked up a small bronze component.
"This is the secondary heating regulator."
Bai Shoulin stared blankly.
"And?"
"It was installed backward."
He blinked.
"Backward?"
"Yes. Whoever repaired the furnace before the auction didn't understand its original structure."
She pointed toward the main chamber.
Bai Shoulin examined the component.
"Can you fix it?"
"Probably."
"How long?"
"A few days."
He sighed with relief.
"Good."
"Assuming I can replace the damaged regulator."
His relief vanished.
"How much will that cost?"
Bai Ruyan looked thoughtful.
"Maybe another thousand spirit stones."
Bai Shoulin slowly turned around.
"Uncle?"
He walked away.
"Uncle!"
From the corridor came his exhausted voice.
"I'm going to find someone who understands the value of money!"
Bai Ruyan watched him leave.
Then muttered, "Merchants are so dramatic."
By midday, news of an investigation at the Western Transport Office had begun circulating through Lanyue's merchant district.
Nobody knew the details.
That didn't stop anyone from discussing them.
"I heard someone forged an imperial document."
"No, no. It was a tax dispute."
"My cousin says the Qin family reported a corrupt official."
"Your cousin works in a noodle shop."
"He hears things!"
At Moonfall Pavilion, Luo Xinyi was reading a message from the City Administration Hall.
The report was brief.
An internal investigation had begun.
Several transportation records were being reviewed.
Affected merchant houses would be contacted.
Luo Xinyi placed the message down.
Across from her, Qin Zhaoming looked thoughtful.
"That was fast."
She nodded.
"Faster than I expected."
"Did your family report anything?"
"Only the discrepancies we found."
"Same here."
He examined the message.
"Then someone else must have come forward."
"Possibly."
Qin Zhaoming leaned back.
"Well, at least something is happening."
Luo Xinyi smiled faintly.
"Don't celebrate yet."
"Why not?"
"An investigation isn't the same as a solution."
He nodded.
"Fair point."
She poured tea.
"There's also the matter of our transportation agreement."
Qin Zhaoming groaned.
"Again?"
"Of course."
"We just finished an auction."
"And?"
"Can't a man rest?"
Luo Xinyi smiled.
"After he signs a reasonable contract."
Qin Zhaoming stared at her.
Then laughed.
"You're terrifying."
"Thank you."
"That wasn't a compliment."
"I'll take it as one."
That afternoon, Lin Qingyue visited the Formation Association again.
This time, Ye Wuchen didn't accompany her.
He'd told her he wanted to walk around the city.
She hadn't questioned it.
Well, not much.
She'd only asked whether he planned to discover another mistake in someone's formation.
He'd said he would try not to.
That answer hadn't reassured her.
Still, she had her own business.
The association's senior examiner, an elderly man named Master Wen, had agreed to review her latest formation design.
He studied the jade plate carefully.
"Hmm."
Lin Qingyue waited.
Master Wen turned the plate.
"Hmm."
She waited some more.
Finally, she couldn't help herself.
"Senior, is something wrong?"
Master Wen looked up.
"Several things."
Her heart sank.
"Oh."
He smiled.
"Relax. If nothing were wrong, there'd be little reason for you to seek guidance."
Lin Qingyue nodded.
"Right."
He pointed toward the outer inscription.
"Your defensive structure is sound. But you've tried to make it portable without fully accounting for changes in movement."
She nodded.
"I noticed that."
"Good."
He traced another channel.
"Your energy distribution is also uneven. The barrier is strongest directly above the jade plate."
Lin Qingyue frowned.
"That wasn't intentional."
"I assumed as much."
Master Wen set the plate down.
"Tell me, why do you want to make a portable defensive formation?"
She hesitated.
Then answered.
"Because ordinary defensive formations are inconvenient when traveling."
Master Wen nodded.
"Go on."
"Most require a fixed position. If you're attacked while moving, you don't always have time to arrange the flags."
"True."
"So I thought a smaller formation might be useful."
Master Wen smiled.
"A reasonable idea."
Lin Qingyue looked relieved.
"But."
She sighed.
"There's a but."
"Of course there's a but."
He tapped the plate.
"You're trying to make a stationary formation behave like a portable artifact."
She considered his words.
"Is that wrong?"
"Not necessarily. But you're approaching the problem from the wrong direction."
He retrieved a small bronze bracelet from his sleeve.
A faint defensive barrier appeared around his wrist.
Lin Qingyue's eyes widened.
"A protective artifact?"
"Yes."
He placed it on the table.
"Study this."
She examined the bracelet.
Its inscriptions were compact.
The spiritual channels were arranged differently from those in her jade plate.
Then she noticed something.
"The energy circulates around the object."
Master Wen nodded.
"Exactly."
"Instead of projecting outward from a fixed center."
"Correct."
Lin Qingyue leaned closer.
Her eyes brightened.
"I see!"
Master Wen smiled.
"Good. Now tell me how you'd change your design."
For the next hour, they discussed formations.
Lin Qingyue asked questions.
Master Wen answered some and challenged others.
By the time she left, her original design had changed considerably.
But she didn't mind.
For the first time, she felt she was beginning to understand the difference between copying a formation and truly designing one.
Meanwhile, Ye Wuchen had wandered into an older part of Lanyue City.
The streets were narrower here.
The buildings were smaller.
Most shops catered to ordinary residents rather than wealthy cultivators.
A blacksmith hammered iron beneath a covered workshop.
Children chased each other through an alley.
An elderly woman argued with a vegetable seller over the price of cabbages.
Ye Wuchen walked without any particular destination.
Eventually, he stopped outside a small bookstore.
A wooden sign hung above the entrance.
OLD BOOKS BOUGHT AND SOLD
He entered.
The shop smelled of paper and dust.
Shelves lined the walls.
Some contained cultivation manuals.
Others held histories, travel journals, poetry collections, and ordinary household records.
Behind the counter sat an elderly man wearing round spectacles.
He looked up.
"Looking for something?"
Ye Wuchen glanced around.
"History books."
The old man pointed toward the back.
"Third shelf. Local histories are on the bottom."
"Thank you."
Ye Wuchen walked over.
He examined several volumes.
Most were recent.
A few had been copied from older manuscripts.
Then he found a thin book titled Notes on the Founding of Lanyue.
He opened it.
The first pages described the city's construction around a once-prosperous lake.
Fishing villages had gradually become trading settlements.
As cultivation sects established routes through the region, merchants arrived.
Over time, the settlement grew into a city.
The book was ordinary.
Almost disappointingly so.
Ye Wuchen continued reading.
The author had included several accounts from early settlers.
One described a flood.
Another mentioned a dispute between two merchant families.
A third complained about the cost of repairing the western road.
Ye Wuchen paused.
The complaint was remarkably similar to one he'd overheard that morning.
He almost smiled.
Apparently, some problems survived every era.
He closed the book.
Then purchased it.
The elderly shopkeeper accepted the payment.
"Interested in local history?"
"Yes."
"Most young cultivators prefer techniques and martial manuals."
Ye Wuchen glanced at the shelves.
"Those have their uses."
The shopkeeper chuckled.
"But history has its own value."
Ye Wuchen nodded.
"Indeed."
As he turned to leave, the old man added, "Come back if you want more. I've got boxes of old records nobody bothers reading."
Ye Wuchen paused.
"Records?"
"Tax ledgers, land surveys, family histories. That sort of thing."
"How old?"
"Some are several hundred years old."
Ye Wuchen considered the offer.
The shopkeeper waved.
"Suit yourself."
Ye Wuchen left with the book tucked beneath his arm.
Late in the afternoon, Inspector Zhou arrived at the Western Transport Office with two imperial guards.
The office staff immediately fell silent.
Deputy Registrar Meng stood beside his desk.
He looked exhausted.
Inspector Zhou approached him.
"Deputy Registrar Meng."
Meng bowed.
"Inspector."
"We'll need access to the authorization records."
"Of course."
"And the original shipping ledgers."
"Yes."
The inspector studied him.
"You understand that you'll be suspended from duty during the investigation?"
Meng lowered his head.
"I do."
"Your salary will also be withheld until the matter is reviewed."
"I understand."
Inspector Zhou nodded.
"Good."
He turned toward the guards.
"Begin collecting the records."
The office staff watched nervously.
One young clerk approached Meng.
"Deputy Registrar..."
Meng looked at him.
"Yes?"
"Is it true?"
Meng hesitated.
Then nodded.
"I made some serious mistakes."
The clerk stared.
Meng continued.
"The inspector will explain what he can. Until then, just do your work."
The young man lowered his head.
"Yes, sir."
Meng watched him return to his desk.
He had spent decades building a reputation as a reliable official.
Now that reputation was falling apart.
He couldn't blame anyone else for the documents he'd altered.
The threats had been real.
But so had his choices.
He looked toward Inspector Zhou.
"Sir."
The inspector turned.
"Yes?"
"Will the imperial shipment be delayed?"
"No."
Meng blinked.
"We've arranged for another registrar to review its authorization."
Relief washed over him.
"Thank you."
Inspector Zhou studied him.
"Don't thank me yet."
Meng nodded.
"I understand."
The inspector's expression softened slightly.
"But you made the right decision by coming forward."
Meng lowered his head.
For the first time in weeks, he felt he could breathe properly.
That evening, Lin Qingyue returned to Moonfall Pavilion carrying several new diagrams.
She found Ye Wuchen sitting beside the window.
He was reading his newly purchased history book.
She approached.
"Guess what."
He looked up.
"You learned something."
She froze.
"How did you know?"
"You look pleased."
She smiled.
"Well, you're right."
She placed her diagrams on the table.
"Master Wen showed me how to approach portable defensive formations."
Ye Wuchen examined them.
The new design was noticeably different.
Its spiritual channels were arranged around a central anchor.
The return junctions were more balanced.
And the structure was considerably more practical.
He nodded.
"Better."
Lin Qingyue grinned.
"Right?"
"Much."
She sat opposite him.
"I think I was too focused on improving my old formation."
"That happens."
"Master Wen said sometimes you have to change the entire approach."
Ye Wuchen nodded.
"He's right."
She looked at him.
"Would you have told me that?"
"Eventually."
She narrowed her eyes.
"Eventually?"
"When you were ready to understand it."
Lin Qingyue sighed.
"You're really committed to making me figure things out myself."
"Yes."
She laughed.
Then noticed the book in his hands.
"What's that?"
"Local history."
"Again?"
"Yes."
She leaned forward.
"Anything interesting?"
Ye Wuchen considered the question.
"Apparently, the western road has been expensive to maintain for several hundred years."
Lin Qingyue blinked.
"That's it?"
"So far."
She stared at him.
Then burst out laughing.
"You spent the whole afternoon reading about road repairs?"
"Not the whole afternoon."
"What else?"
"Floods. Merchant disputes. A particularly unpopular tax collector."
She shook her head.
"Your hobbies are strange."
Ye Wuchen returned to his book.
"I've heard that before."
At the City Administration Hall, Inspector Zhou was reviewing the evidence collected from the Transport Office.
Deputy Registrar Meng's confession had provided a useful starting point.
But there was still a problem.
The letters threatening him had been delivered anonymously.
No names.
No signatures.
No identifiable spiritual energy.
Whoever had sent them had been careful.
Inspector Zhou examined the latest letter.
Its instructions were precise.
Too precise for someone unfamiliar with the office's procedures.
He frowned.
Then called for an assistant.
"Find out who had access to the authorization system before the seal was replaced."
The assistant nodded.
"All current employees?"
"Current and former."
"Understood."
"And check whether any of them have connections to the affected merchant houses."
The assistant bowed and departed.
Inspector Zhou leaned back.
He didn't believe the case was particularly complicated.
Someone wanted to interfere with transportation records.
Someone had found a vulnerable official.
And someone had decided blackmail was easier than bribery.
The question was why.
He looked toward the window.
The city was preparing for another ordinary evening.
For the people outside, the investigation was little more than a rumor.
For the merchants affected by it, the consequences could be significant.
And for Deputy Registrar Meng, the outcome might determine the rest of his life.
Inspector Zhou sighed.
"Let's hope whoever started this was as careless as they were greedy."
That night, Mu Cang and Han Zhen sat in the House of Quiet Ink, helping Shen Yulan organize a collection of manuscripts.
Xu Ning, the shop's owner, had brought them tea.
Han Zhen examined a stack of old papers.
"These are all copies?"
Shen Yulan nodded.
"Most of them."
"Why keep so many?"
"Because originals get damaged."
Han Zhen frowned.
"Then why not make better copies?"
Shen Yulan looked at him.
"That's what I've been doing."
He paused.
"Oh."
Mu Cang chuckled.
Xu Ning shook her head.
"Scholars."
Shen Yulan smiled.
"You're the one who agreed to store our manuscripts."
"Because someone has to keep you people from leaving them in damp caves."
Han Zhen looked offended.
"That happened once!"
"Twice," Mu Cang corrected.
"Once!"
"The second time was in the northern hills."
"That wasn't a cave. It was a storage chamber."
"It had bats."
"That doesn't make it a cave!"
Xu Ning laughed.
Shen Yulan returned to her work.
For once, she wasn't trying to uncover a forgotten name or interpret an ancient warning.
She was simply organizing books with old friends.
After forty-three years, that felt like enough.
Near midnight, Ye Wuchen closed his history book.
Lin Qingyue had already retired to her room.
The pavilion was quiet.
He stood beside the window, looking toward the city's rooftops.
Somewhere, officials were investigating altered records.
Merchants were negotiating contracts.
An alchemist was trying to repair a furnace.
A young formation enthusiast was planning her next experiment.
And three scholars were finally enjoying the company they'd lost for decades.
None of these things required his intervention.
That was fine.
He had spent enough of his existence pursuing things beyond the reach of ordinary people.
There was no need to turn every day into a struggle against the heavens.
Ye Wuchen extinguished the lamp.
Then, just before leaving the window, he glanced toward the distant western district.
For a brief moment, he considered the old records the bookstore owner had mentioned.
Several hundred years of local history.
Tax ledgers.
Land surveys.
Family records.
Nothing extraordinary.
Probably.
He looked away.
"Tomorrow," he murmured.
And went to sleep.
End of Chapter 19