276: Chapter 276 Files, Secrets

The next day.

As the morning light faintly broke, the bluestones on the long street were covered with a thin layer of frost and dew, shimmering with a cold, secluded light.

Chen Ran wore a set of dark brocade garments with a long saber hanging at his waist, walking leisurely toward the direction of Six Doors.

Walking halfway, he suddenly heard a crisp sound of horse hooves coming from the end of the long street, breaking the silence of the morning.

Chen Ran raised his eyes to look and saw a spirited white horse treading through the frost, its hoofbeats shattering like jade pearls falling onto a plate.

On the horse's back, a graceful and elegant figure caught his eye.

Lin Wan was dressed in a moon-white martial outfit, her dark hair pulled up high, and her brows and eyes exuded a hint of heroism and coldness.

The faint light of dawn shone on her profile, outlining a cold, ethereal contour.

"Chen Ran, morning."

Lin Wan pulled on the reins and dismounted from the horse with clean and agile movements.

She walked up to Chen Ran, a trace of imperceptible softness welling up in her cold eyes.

"Such a coincidence, you came too." Chen Ran nodded slightly, his tone gentle, and the woman's figure was reflected in his deep eyes.

The two walked side by side, their sleeves gently intertwining in the morning wind.

"Why are you so leisurely today, not going to Six Doors for duty?" Chen Ran glanced sideways at the woman beside him and asked softly.

As a Gold-Badge Constable, her status was noble, already belonging to the upper echelons of Six Doors, and she didn't need to punch in every day like ordinary Constables.

But Lin Wan was different; ever since Chen Ran met her, this famous capital Constable had been a down-to-earth workaholic.

Unless a case was solved, she could spend most of her time inside Six Doors.

Therefore, bumping into Lin Wan today, Chen Ran felt somewhat curious in his heart.

Lin Wan shook her head slightly, the corners of her lips curving into a shallow arc, seemingly with a bit of helplessness.

"That case involving Cao Yong is deeply implicated, and the Cabinet has made quite a stir, with everyone in the court and the public discussing it endlessly."

"To avoid suspicion and appease the public, Six Doors specially gave me a few days off, treating it as a rest."

Hearing this, Chen Ran understood in his heart.

The open and covert struggles in the imperial court were always treacherous and unpredictable, and this move by Six Doors was indeed a strategy for self-preservation.

But it looked like the Cabinet hadn't completely given up on Cao Yong's death.

An Innate Realm expert died just like that outside the city; how could those eunuchs in the Cabinet swallow their anger like this?

"That's fine too. You've been working hard day after day and are mentally exhausted; you should indeed recuperate well." Chen Ran comforted.

Hearing these words, Lin Wan turned her head slightly, her gaze falling on Chen Ran.

"You are going to Six Doors today, is there something the matter?"

Chen Ran did not conceal it, his expression revealing a hint of solemnity.

"Today I went to the Heavenly Prison and discovered that a monk from Bodhi Zen Monastery named Master Xuandu was locked up in the deep level."

"I am a bit curious about his case back then, and I want to go to the archive room to check it out."

Lin Wan's expression was calm, without showing the slightest surprise, as if whatever action Chen Ran took was within reason.

She had previously asked him to investigate the Heavenly Prison to see if he could find any clues about the mountain lord, but after so much time, there had been no progress.

Therefore, she didn't continue asking Chen Ran to investigate later, but unexpectedly, it instead aroused his interest.

From time to time, he would spot-check the life information of those prisoners, saying it was to understand intelligence.

Thinking of this, Lin Wan whispered softly:

"The Heavenly Prison is a restricted area, and those locked up are all heinous villains. As a prison warden, it is only right for you to learn more about their backgrounds."

"I have also heard a little about Master Xuandu's affairs back then, but the secrets within are probably not that simple."

As the two chatted casually, they had already arrived in front of the towering yamen of Six Doors.

The vermilion gates were tightly closed, and the two stone lions in front of the door were majestic and fierce, exuding an aura of solemn killing.

Relying on her status token, Lin Wan brought Chen Ran into the archive room without any hindrance.

Deep in the archive room, rows of bookshelves made of century-old sinking wood towered to the ceiling, exuding a faint fragrance of insect-repellent herbs and the smell of aged paper and ink.

Sunlight slanted in through the high narrow windows, and countless tiny specks of dust could be clearly seen rolling and dancing silently in the beams of light.

Chen Ran searched through the vast sea of case files for a long time.

Finally, his hand stopped on a case file whose edges were slightly curled.

The words "Master Xuandu" were written in cinnabar on the cover, and the handwriting had already faded somewhat.

He gently brushed off the dust on the cover with soft movements, as if brushing away the dust of the years.

Opening the case file, an ancient aura rushed toward his face.

Chen Ran's gaze was like a torch, quickly scanning over those tiny, fly-head-sized regular scripts, not letting go of even a single trace of a clue.

The paper on the inner pages of the case file recorded texts so brief that it was appalling.

"In the 19th year of the Great Wei calendar, Master Xuandu, the direct Disciple of Bodhi Zen Monastery's Dharma Hall, was an evil monk who bewildered the ruler and was suspected of abducting Princess Yongning."

"The Imperial Guard's Deputy Commander led a crowd to surround him in the barren mountains outside the city. Master Xuandu resisted arrest and killed people, executing the Deputy Commander's son on the spot and seriously injuring the Deputy Commander."

"In the chaos, Princess Yongning died after being stabbed by a sword."

"After the incident, Master Xuandu surrendered at the Shuntun Prefecture Yamen, confessing without reservation to his crimes."

"Considering that he did not flee, the imperial court sentenced him to life imprisonment, sealed his Internal Energy with dark iron pulse-locking shackles, and locked him into the fifth level of the Heavenly Prison."

Just a few brief words summarized a bloody case that shocked the imperial court and the public.

Chen Ran's gaze lingered for a long time on the words "Princess Yongning" and "the Deputy Commander's son".

Why would a once-in-a-century Zen martial arts genius of Bodhi Zen Monastery, the designated successor to the head of the Dharma Hall, suddenly abduct a princess to elope?

The case file only wrote "evil monk bewitching the ruler", but it did not record Master Xuandu's true motive for making a move.

If he truly lusted after the Mortal World, with his heaven-defying cultivation at the time, he could have easily taken the princess and flown far away; how could he have been easily surrounded by the Imperial Guards?

Furthermore, after the princess died, why didn't he flee, instead taking the initiative to surrender to the Shuntun Prefecture Yamen, willingly wearing the dark iron pulse-locking shackles and making a prison for himself in this dark Heavenly Prison?

Chen Ran closed the case file, a flash of deep thought passing through the bottom of his eyes, and his brows furrowed slightly.

"It seems that the events of back then are far more complicated than what is recorded in the case file."

"A brilliantly talented Buddhist successor of the Buddhist sect would never make such a crazy move for no reason."

"Just what kind of secret is hidden within this?"