47: Chapter 47 A Premeditated Crime

"Well, this..."

The Prefect twisted his goat beard with three fingers, drawing out the tone for a long time, scanning across everyone's faces one by one, and finally fixing his gaze on the Master of Yinsui Cave.

"You fellow, pulling that soul-summoning trick, it's a violation of the law. But—the crime is not punishable by death."

He leaned forward, the hem of his official robes brushing against the scorched ground. "In my opinion, first take him back to the Prefectural Court for detailed interrogation."

He enunciated the four words "detailed interrogation" with great weight, squeezing each character through his teeth, as if this were already a grace of heaven and earth.

"Three young friends, what do you think?"

He said this with an extremely low posture, almost like he was consulting them. Yet, he moved half a step forward imperceptibly, just enough to block in front of the Cave Master.

Everyone understood that once a person entered his yamen, entered his territory, whether this case was light or heavy, whether it meant life or death, all depended on his single word.

Turning major matters into minor ones, and minor matters into nothing, was merely a matter of moving his writing brush.

Third Young Master stood in the night wind, his black robes billowing and snapping in the wind.

His brows were knitted into a ' river' shape, his knuckles white from clenching, but he remained silent.

The Prefect added two more sentences: "Act according to the law, act according to the law! Follow the regulations, so as not to cause unnecessary trouble..."

Before his voice had even faded, he raised his hand and waved at the bailiffs behind him, intending to have them step forward and bind the man.

"Wait!"

Mr. Xiangli stepped forward, and the bluestone slab beneath his feet immediately cracked with a fine line.

He was dressed in tight-fitting Mohist short garments, with an ink marker and a Luban ruler hanging from his waist. His action of cupping his hands in a salute was crisp and clean, without a hint of hesitation.

"Prefect, this is not a simple soul-summoning ritual."

The Prefect's hand suddenly hung in mid-air. "Oh?"

Mr. Xiangli pulled a scroll of bamboo slips from his sleeve. With a flick of his wrist, the bamboo scroll unfurled with a clatter, stretching taut in the night wind. "According to the 'Universal Rules of the World', any member of the Human Race who colludes privately with ghostly entities shall be executed by all."

The smile on the Prefect's face instantly froze.

He certainly knew of the 'Universal Rules of the World'; it was the law jointly signed by the imperial court, the various sects and schools, and the hundred schools of thought. Whoever violated it would be attacked by everyone in the world; even the imperial court had no authority to pardon them.

"Mr. Xiangli," the Prefect gave a dry laugh. "You cannot speak recklessly. You say the Cave Master colluded with ghostly entities, but do you have evidence?"

His face suddenly darkened, his official authority instantly displayed, and his voice rose sharply: "If you have no evidence, I will certainly punish you for the crime of false accusation! According to the laws of this dynasty, false accusations are met with counter-charges; this is no laughing matter!"

"My Lord, please look."

Without waiting for Mr. Xiangli to respond further, Wu Xi had already moved.

He flipped his fingers, and something appeared in his palm.

It was a square black block the size of a palm, neither gold nor jade, its surface shimmering with an eerie matte luster. Ghostly blue patterns crawled along the edges, like countless tiny ants moving, sometimes gathering, sometimes scattering, as if it were alive.

In the center was a dark red mark, crooked and twisted, resembling both a character and an incantation, slowly wriggling under the moonlight.

"A nether pact."

Wu Xi raised his hand, holding the black paper up to the moonlight. As soon as the moonlight touched the surface of the paper, those ghostly blue patterns instantly curled up like startled snakes.

"This thing was found in the Yin Sui Cave."

The Cave Master, who was kneeling on the ground, suddenly looked up, his face instantly turning the color of liver.

"You are spewing blood and slandering me!" The Cave Master scraped forward on his knees on the ground, his finger pointing straight at Wu Xi. "I absolutely did not collude with demonic entities! Just based on this piece of trash paper? It's pitch black, who knows what it is; perhaps you brought it in yourselves to frame me!"

"I found an independent tomb chamber in the innermost part of the Yin Sui Cave. There was a large plaque in the tomb chamber."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the Cave Master's instantly tightened face.

"On it were written three characters—Jishi Hall."

Third Young Master beside him suddenly looked up, his hand pressing on the sword hilt tightening abruptly, the scabbard emitting a very faint hum.

"On the offering table, this nether pact was placed." Wu Xi shook the black paper in his hand. "Surrounded by eternal lamps, the lamp oil was mixed with human fat. A nether pact is proof of a contract signed between a human and a ghostly entity. Prefect, surely you recognize it."

The Prefect narrowed his eyes, staring fixedly at the black paper, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes bunching up together.

He certainly recognized it.

Thirty years ago, there was a shocking case in Qingzhou. A county magistrate signed a nether pact with a mountain ghost, exchanging the souls of living people for gold, silver, and wealth.

After the incident was exposed, the magistrate was executed by slow slicing, and his three clans were implicated. At that time, he was just a lowly clerk running errands, and he had seen that scene with his own eyes.

The Prefect gave two dry coughs: "Hmm, this nether pact... is indeed proof of a contract between a human and a ghostly entity. But—there is no name on it."

As soon as the word "but" came out, he instantly regained his confidence, his back straightening up a fraction.

Without a name, a conviction could not be made.

This was a rigid rule of the law; he had been an official for over a dozen years, and he understood this bit of trickery better than anyone.

"Correct." Wu Xi nodded, actually admitting it directly. "There is indeed no name on it."

"And furthermore," the Prefect spoke more and more smoothly, his official tone instantly emerging again, "even if this thing has traces of recent use, there is no evidence to prove it is his. Perhaps someone else placed it in the cave, perhaps some passing evil cultivator dropped it; these things are all unknown! When we handle cases, we stress the completeness of the chain of evidence; we cannot speculate out of thin air, we cannot..."

"Right, right, right!" The Cave Master instantly perked up. "You are simply reversing black and white! You harmed human lives, and then used this piece of trash to frame me! You are simply damnable! You are insane!"

"Framing?"

Wu Xi smiled.

He pulled another item from his bosom—an account book.

Wu Xi opened the first page. His voice was not loud, but every word was like a nail, hammering into everyone's ears.

"The seventh day of the fourth month of the third year of Tianqi, Yin Sui sent two young boys into the mountain."

"The fifteenth day of the fourth month of the third year of Tianqi, Yin Sui sent one young girl."

"The third day of the fifth month of the third year of Tianqi, Yin Sui sent five women and children."

"The twentieth day of the fifth month of the third year of Tianqi, Yin Sui sent three young, strong men."

...

"This was confiscated from the human trafficker, Auntie Mei."

Wu Xi closed the account book, his voice remaining steady. "It is full of records of human trafficking, and every transaction is written clearly—Seller: Master of Yinsui Cave. Buyer—"

He paused, his gaze landing on the Cave Master's face, which had already begun to twist.

"The Great King."

The left corner of the Cave Master's eye twitched violently.

"If you are determined to convict, you will always find a pretext!"

The Cave Master's teeth gnashed with a clattering sound, like a rat grinding its teeth. "Even if you have this account book, so what? The agency is a business recognized by the imperial court! I was also giving those refugees a bite to eat! They were homeless, starving on the streets and gnawing on tree bark; it was I who took them in! This is great Karma! Great Karma!"

"Karma?" Mr. Xiangli gave a cold snort, the Luban ruler in his hand clicking as he gripped it. "You sell people to ghostly entities, and you dare to talk about Karma?"

"What evidence do you have that I sold them to ghostly entities?" The Cave Master suddenly widened his eyes, the whites of his eyes filled with bloodshot veins. "The agency has its rules. I acted according to the rules. The imperial court hasn't said anything, so is it your turn to point fingers? Are you Mohists trying to overstep your authority?"

Mr. Xiangli took a deep breath and untied a black cloth bundle from behind his waist.

The bundle was wrapped tightly, and the layers of black cloth were covered in sealing Talismanic Incantations specially made by the Mohists.

The last layer of black cloth was peeled away, and the cold light of bronze instantly exploded, stinging people's eyes until they squinted.

It was a bronze vessel, about a foot tall, with a round belly and a constricted neck. The body of the vessel was covered in verdigris, mixed with patches of dark red bloodstains.

Seven small holes were opened on it, arranged in a strange pattern.

It was engraved with dense, intricate patterns; they were dried bloodstains, and also ancient Talismanic Incantations. When the moonlight shone on them, those patterns actually wriggled slowly beneath the bronze skin, as if countless living things were crawling inside.

"A bronze vessel."

Mr. Xiangli's tone was as cold as cold iron; every word that hit the ground could spark.

"The seven holes correspond to the seven killing positions of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches. It is a regulation for ancient blood sacrifices, specifically used to contain the souls of living people, using souls to nurture ghosts, and using ghosts to communicate with the netherworld."

He gently placed the bronze vessel on the ground and took a step back.

"We Mohist disciples found a total of seven such bronze vessels within a thirty-mile radius of the Yin Sui Cave. Each one was buried in a place with evil Feng Shui—mass graves, the bottom of dry wells, cliffs of broken souls, and pits of Evil Qi. The seven vessels are connected, forming a Seven-Kill Soul-Locking Array."

Even if the Prefect wanted to smooth things over, even if he wanted to shield him, he could no longer cover it up.

The Seven-Kill Soul-Locking Array uses the souls of living people as a conduit to open the boundary between Yin and Yang, opening the door for ghostly entities to pass through.

This is a crime punishable by extermination of the clan, a monstrous disaster that would cause even the nine familial relations to lose their heads. Even if he had ten heads, he could not bear this responsibility.

The Cave Master's lips trembled twice, and he suddenly bit down hard on his gums; blood flowed down the corner of his mouth, but he was completely unaware. After a stalemate lasting a full half-minute, he suddenly laughed.

A cold snort came from his nose.

He stood up straight, reached out to brush the dust off his knees, his movements as composed as if he were going to attend a banquet, rather than facing a major case that could lead to the extermination of his family.

"Are we that stupid?"

He spread his hands, fingers splayed, putting on an innocent face. "If we really had done such a thing, how could we possibly leave these things at our own doorstep? This is clearly someone framing us, deliberately burying this scrap metal near the Yin Sui Cave just to shift the blame onto me. Prefect, don't you agree with this logic?"

"My Lord, please see clearly. My Yin Sui Cave has always been law-abiding and never made enemies with anyone. Now, I don't know which villain I've offended; first they forged a nether pact, then they faked an account book, and then they buried these few broken pots, all just to put me to death. My Lord—"

He turned suddenly and bowed deeply to the Prefect, his waist bent almost to ninety degrees, his attitude respectful to the extreme.

"I implore you, My Lord, to make a decision for me!"

"This..." The Prefect began twisting that goat beard again, almost twisting it bald. "This matter... is of great importance, it still requires long-term deliberation, long-term deliberation... It cannot be rash, it cannot be rash..."

"My Lord!" Mr. Xiangli was anxious, taking a step in front of the Prefect, his eyes red. "The evidence is conclusive, how can you—"

"What is conclusive?" The Cave Master interrupted him suddenly, his speaking speed as fast as a machine gun. "A piece of trash paper without a name, an account book of unknown origin, a few Magical Artifacts buried by who-knows-who; is this what you call conclusive? Is this how you Mohists talk about evidence? If we follow your standards, everyone in the world could be convicted by you!"

Wu Xi stood where he was, his hand resting on the hilt of the sword at his waist, his knuckles white.

He saw it clearly. From the very beginning, the Prefect was determined to protect the Cave Master.

The nether pact had no name, so the owner could not be determined. The account book could be forged, and words without proof carry no weight. There was indeed no evidence to prove that the bronze vessel was buried by the Cave Master.

Three pieces of evidence, three ropes; individually, none of them could strangle this piece of scum before him.

Everyone stood frozen in place, speechless for a moment. Only the Cave Master, the smugness on his face growing thicker and thicker.

"If you all have no other evidence," he said slowly, "according to the Prefect's words, the death penalty can be avoided—"

Ding—a soft sound.

Everyone's gaze turned in unison, fixing on Wu Xi's waist.

That sound came from an object hanging at his waist.