bacchusnovels Chapter 478 Uncovering the Traitor
Chapter 478 Uncovering the Traitor
Inside the quest token's inner lining, pried open by the silver hairpin, the old seal, dried by the sword's fire, revealed fine paper fibers at its edges.
Qin Wanzhuang did not send any more fire forward.
She pressed her thumb on the hilt of the sword, the Blazing Sun blade hovering in mid-air, the golden-white firelight reflecting off the incomplete rubbing.
"Old seal of Qingquan Peak disciple".
The only sound in the cabin was the lapping of the river against the wooden planks.
Manager Hu raised the white paper lamp a little higher, his wet hair sticking to his cheeks, and the wick tilted half an inch toward the task board.
"How could the seal of Qingquan Peak be hidden inside the External Affairs Hall's mission board?"
The young man on the door panel buried his face to one side, the hemp rope tightening around his wrist, and another half-spoken sentence rolled out of his throat.
"I didn't copy the case file."
Qin Wanzhuang turned her sword towards Mo Chengyue.
"You're still stopping me?"
Mo Chengyue did not touch the sign.
His left palm was covered with white silk, and the black ship nails in his palm were pressed against the palm lines, revealing a slightly damp and cold outline through the cloth.
"Turn off the fire first."
"The card contains the old seal of Qingquan Peak; you want me to put out the fire?"
"The printing is incorrect."
Qin Wanzhuang looked at him for a moment, then stepped back half a foot.
Something's not right.
Mo Chengyue used the tip of his Rain Flower Sword to flick the edge of the card skin.
"The ink is directly stamped onto the wooden plaque, and the ink will be absorbed into the plaque's pattern."
"There is a piece of cardboard underneath this rubbing, and the edges of the cardboard still have fibers from old documents."
Manager Hu bent down, and the white paper lamp shone on the thin sheet that was sticking out of the interlayer.
"Did someone tear off a seal from an old document and paste it onto this sign?"
"The cardboard had been soaked in the sealing paste from the walls of the salt warehouse."
Mo Chengyue picked up a grain of whitish salt with the tip of his sword.
"The adhesive is old and won't last long after it's applied."
Qin Wanzhuang removed her fingertips from the sword hilt, the firelight illuminating the blood-red jade at her waist.
"The old seal of Qingquan Peak has been left outside, which is enough to check the storerooms inside the peak."
"This should be investigated."
Mo Chengyue looked at the blurry old mark.
"But it can't hold anyone still."
"Are you trying to exonerate Qingquan Peak?"
"If anyone submits an invalid document within the peak, it will still be investigated."
He pressed the tip of his sword against the outer edge of the card.
"This seal only proves that someone has obtained old documents from Qingquan Peak."
"There are plenty of people who can get a voided certificate."
Shopkeeper Hu put the silver hairpin back into her sleeve, leaving a shallow mark on the edge of the lampshade from her pinching.
"The External Affairs Hall, the Steward Hall, the Archives, and the errand runners for the sect."
"Plus, there are people who can stuff water spells into people's mouths."
Mo Chengyue raised his chin towards the small jade bottle on the deck.
"Senior sister, take out the thin sheets that were brought out from the salt warehouse."
Qin Wanzhuang took out the scorched, damp thin page from the side pocket of the sword box.
The incomplete seal of the Foreign Affairs Office was sealed on the paper with talisman ash, with a gap at the corner, and the vermilion seal color had long been darkened by moisture.
"Manager Hu, turn the light to the left."
The white paper lamp was moved over.
The light avoided the watermarks below the quest sign, illuminating only the thin pages and the old print.
Mo Chengyue placed the small jade bottle containing the black cyan residue between the two pieces of evidence.
"Treasure of the Mind"
Qin Wanzhuang took out a talisman from her storage bag, but instead of handing it to his right, she placed it within reach of his left hand.
"You are only allowed to use your left hand."
"My senior sister looked at it more carefully than I did."
"Stop talking nonsense."
The talisman was affixed to the jade bottle, and Mo Chengyue dipped the hilt of his sword in some thunderfire ash and drew a semi-circular seal around the bottle's mouth.
The drop of dark blue liquid at the bottom of the bottle swayed, leaving a thin watermark along the jade wall.
The young man heard the soft crackling of the burning talisman and pressed his shoulders and back against the door.
"Don't take any more."
"That thing will go back inside."
"It can't get out."
Mo Chengyue looked at him.
"Is there a horizontal crack in the lower left corner of the deacon's seal on the transfer order?"
The young man's lips opened and closed several times, his eyelids reddened by the heat of the sword.
"have."
"Brother Guanku said that it was left from an old seal hitting the corner of a table."
"Print it below."
There is a thin gray line.
"What gray line?"
"Like the creases left by pressing down on old book pages."
Manager Hu glanced at the thin pages of the Foreign Affairs Department.
A grayish indentation was also left on the edge of the fragment.
Qin Wanzhuang moved the sword fire closer to the paper.
The scorched, damp, thin pages curled up at the corners after being heated, revealing a layer of light blue sealing paste beneath the fragment.
The dark blue residue in the jade bottle crawled along the bottle wall and finally stopped next to the sealing paste.
"Old ink from the archives."
Mo Chengyue pushed the jade bottle away.
"The inscriptions from the Foreign Affairs Office were stained with this kind of ink, as were the temporary transfer orders and the remnants of the Water Curse."
Qin Wanzhuang looked at the hidden compartment of the mission board, and spun the sword sheath halfway in her palm.
"Someone can access the Foreign Affairs Office's mission board."
"We can access the files under the guise of the Deacon's Office."
"They can even pry off the old seals from the discarded documents of Qingquan Peak."
Mo Chengyue nodded.
"Someone opened a loophole in the circulation of documents."
Manager Hu raised the silver hairpin, its tip stopping in the lamplight.
"What about Clear Spring Peak?"
"The old seal of Qingquan Peak was used to set a trap."
Mo Chengyue pressed the white silk back into his palm.
"Those inside the peak must be investigated, and those outside the peak who have touched the documents must also be investigated."
Qin Wanzhuang took half a step forward.
The wooden planks in the cabin were dried and cracked by the fire from the sword, and the dampness on the edge of the quest board shrank back into the interlayer.
"Your own seal was stuffed into a dirty plaque, and you didn't even have a single extra word to say."
Mo Chengyue looked at her.
"Let's wait until the evidence is overwhelming enough to kill someone before we settle this."
Qin Wanzhuang's hand stopped on the sword sheath.
After a moment, she sheathed the Blazing Sun Sword.
"It's acceptable."
Shopkeeper Hu tugged at the edge of the lampshade.
"Go back to the clan and check the accounts. Smash whoever you want."
"Keep all the people from Hongfeng Ferry for me first."
Mo Chengyue looked at Boss Fan.
"Boss Fan, don't let the boatmen leave."
Boss Fan gripped the harpoon, his shoe soles leaving two marks in the mud.
"I'll go call for help too."
"After you call them over, stand separately."
Manager Hu took over the conversation.
"Record everything separately: who saw this person emerge from the pile of dried fish, who saw the mission sign, and who heard him say what."
Boss Fan scratched his sideburns.
"I can't go and write, there are two literate people on the boat."
"Those who can read write, and those who need to put their fingerprints put their fingerprints."
Shopkeeper Hu tucked the silver hairpin into his palm.
"If anyone doesn't see it, leave it empty."
"Don't listen to what others say, or you'll end up adding another chapter to your own life."
Xiao Liu ran to the side of the boat carrying a copper basin, the rim of which was still covered in soot.
"Manager Hu, do we need to record the people from the temple too?"
"Remember it all."
Manager Hu looked towards the direction of the Earth God Temple.
"Record everything separately: what Old Zheng, Little Liu, Fat Manager, and Accountant Chen said before they woke up; how many times the roster was moved; and who touched the pot."
Mo Chengyue added a sentence.
"Only write what you have seen with your own eyes."
"Don't put anything down, whether it's something you guessed, something you heard, or something you dreamed about."
Xiao Liu nodded, took two steps back while holding the copper basin, and then turned around.
"Should I also ask Lao Zhou to bring the old ship license plate?"
"bring."
Mo Chengyue looked at him.
"Wrap it in cloth, and don't let it get wet from the side of the boat."
"I'll do it too."
Shopkeeper Hu carried the white paper lantern to the young man. The light, separated by the flames left by the Blazing Sun Sword, did not illuminate the wet patch at his feet.
"You also need to keep a statement."
The young man's Adam's apple bobbed.
"I told you, they would come looking for me."
"Who's coming?"
"People from the Foreign Affairs Office."
"Which one?"
"I have no idea."
The young man's fingers tightened under the hemp rope, his fingernails scraping against the door panel.
"There's a receipt inside the sign."
"When I returned to my ancestral home with the plaque, people spoke up for me."
Mo Chengyue glanced at the mission board on the ship's deck.
"I won't return this card to you yet."
"Then what should I do?"
"Stay at Red Maple Ferry."
"Even if I don't return to my sect, the water curse will still take my life."
"Some of the residual liquid has been removed."
Qin Wanzhuang raised her sword sheath towards him.
"If you speak again, say you saw it with your own eyes."
The young man stared at the half-finished mission token, his lips moving slightly.
"I've only ever moved case files."
"Then write that the case file has been moved."
Mo Chengyue held the Rain Flower Sword horizontally in front of the gap in the ship's planks.
"You haven't seen the person behind the curtain, so don't try to make him look good."
Manager Hu turned around and beckoned to Boss Fan.
"After the boatmen finished writing their confessions, they all rested outside the fire ring at the ferry crossing tonight."
"Anyone who wants to leave should tell Lao Zhou first."
Boss Fan responded and slung the harpoon over his shoulder.
"I'll go keep watch too."
Not long after, the sound of a copper basin came from the direction of the Earth God Temple.
Old Zhou carried an old boat sign along the main road. The sign was broken in two, and soot from a pot was still stuck to the broken edge.
As he approached the front line, he first saw the old imprint in the interlayer of the mission token, and then the outline of the black nails protruding from Mo Chengyue's palm.
"Master Mo, I also brought this ship's token."
"I picked it up from the side of the soot, and didn't let anyone get it wet."
Mo Chengyue raised his left hand.
"Place it next to the quest board."
Old Zhou wasn't in a hurry to release it.
"If this thing touches that sign, won't it attract boats again?"
"There's sword fire pressing down on us."
Qin Wanzhuang took the old ship's nameplate.
She held the broken end of the ship's plaque facing upwards, and the sword fire circled around her palm, avoiding the old name remaining on the wooden plaque.
"Where to touch?"
"Use the broken edge to attach the outer edge of the task card's interlayer."
Mo Chengyue stared at the old seal on Qingquan Peak.
"Don't press the printing surface."
Qin Wanzhuang did as instructed and placed the boat sign.
When the cracked wooden edge touched the interlayer of cardboard, a little bit of wet black seeped out from the old ship's nameplate.
The old seal of Qingquan Peak on the back of the mission card turned dark red, and the gray line below the interlayer lit up as well.
Old Zhou gripped the pot handle, his mouth dry.
"There are words on the ship's registration plate."
New marks slowly emerged around the break.
Twenty years ago, a ship from the Hehuan Sect also came here.