The cold spring rain lashed against the green tile roof of the warehouse, the sound echoing off the iron gate, causing dust to fall from the beams onto the collar, chilling it. Yue Tingzhou pressed his fingertips against the edge of the gilded mirror box, turning the blue porcelain teacup three times before sitting down. The glaze's crack pattern scraped against the rough stone brick, producing a sound barely audible above the rain. The mirror box, seized only half an hour ago, was scorching hot, like holding a piece of jade freshly taken from a furnace. Even with the protective energy of the "Still Pool" technique, his fingertips were tingling, and the smell of copper rust mixed with aged pine smoke permeated his nostrils, making even his breath feel astringent. Sitting opposite him on a stone stool, Zhu Hanli had a family heirloom silver mirror from the Wan Jing鏢局 (Wan Jing鏢局, Wan Jing鏢局, Wan Jing鏢局) placed in front of her. Her left hand rested on the mirror's spiritual patterns, channeling energy, while her right hand unconsciously flipped a silver abacus, the cold silver beads clicking rhythmically. Each click perfectly timed with the pulsations of the self-destructing spiritual array built into the mirror box. Strands of hair, damp with sweat, clung to her cheek, droplets falling onto the mirror's cold white surface, creating a hiss of white mist. The faint scent of pear blossoms from her "Nine Yin Cold Soul" energy mingled with the metallic smell, delicate as fleeting snowflakes. Yue Tingzhou channeled his "Still Pool" technique, pure energy flowing from his fingertips into the mirror box's lock, the seven nested spiritual patterns lighting up with a faint golden glow. The lingering blockage in his meridians, a result of deflecting a blow from a "Merge Meridian" cultivator during a rebellion, remained unresolved. Energy circulation caused a stinging sensation, like fine needles repeatedly piercing his left arm. His shoulders were tense, like a drawn bow, and he dared not relax even slightly. The incense for the self-destructing array had burned for only a third of its length, and less than 40% of the decoding patterns on the lock had lit up. Only then could they definitively prove Xie Wuchun's fraudulent marriage contract and harvest of spiritual energy, thereby saving both the Yue and Zhu families from being listed on the "Rebel List." "Progress is slow," he said, his voice low, audible only to the two of them, as he scanned the dancing spiritual numbers on the mirror. "The self-destructing array is operating at a speed two moments faster than anticipated. Increase the energy output by 20%." Zhu Hanli remained silent, her fingertips channeling even more energy into the mirror, the cold white light intensifying, firmly connecting to the mirror box's spiritual flow interface. The cold energy clashed with the golden energy of the mirror box, creating crackling sparks of electricity, the metallic smell in the air growing stronger, stinging the nostrils. The spiritual patterns on the lock began to illuminate, inch by inch: 62%, 67%, 70%... Suddenly, the gilded mirror box vibrated and opened, a pale golden screen appearing before them, so bright it hurt their eyes. It displayed eighteen names, each followed by information on spiritual root aptitude, compatibility with the "Heavenly Match" contract, and the scheduled harvesting time. The crimson marks were like bloodstains. Yue Tingzhou's fingertips brushed over the name at the top, that of Liu A'fu, a wandering cultivator who had disappeared from Qingluo Valley last month. The harvesting time coincided with the day his family filed a missing person's report. Counting down, the eighteen names matched the list of missing wandering cultivators compiled by the various prefectures over the past three months, not a single name or character was incorrect. He clenched his fingers, the heat from the mirror box seeping into his bones. The suspicions that the Heng Law Enforcement Agency had been unable to confirm for three months were now laid bare before him. The "Heavenly Match" contracts, revered for centuries, were not at all what they seemed – they were a net cast to ensnare cultivators with suitable spiritual roots. They used the "perfect match" contract as bait, providing the names to someone behind the scenes, who would then harvest their spiritual energy to power the core array of the "Heavenly Book." Just as he was about to urge Zhu Hanli to accelerate the decoding of the remaining 30% of the data, three sharp, high-pitched bamboo whistles sounded from outside the iron gate, the pre-arranged distress signal from the鏢局 (鏢局,鏢局,鏢局) perimeter guards – three short blasts, meaning the outer perimeter had been breached, and the guards on duty had not survived. This was followed by the muffled “Rest assured, the reward for this escort is so high that selling the entire Wan Jing鏢局 wouldn't even cover it; I won't let a single item be lost.” Zhu Hanli placed her left hand on the gilded mirror case's interface for the spirit flow, and her right hand activated the family heirloom silver mirror to receive the data. A faint, soft light shone brightly in the greenish-gray toxic smoke, becoming a clear target for the attackers outside. She used the鏢局's guard's stealth footsteps, and her short gun couldn't be drawn from her waist, so she could only dodge the incoming blade, and the sound of her boots crushing the gravel was crisp. “Be careful of the crossbow behind you!” She noticed the last of the attackers reaching for a crossbow behind him, the sound of the wind had already brushed past Yue Tingzhou's neck, and without thinking, she rushed forward to block it. As soon as her left arm was raised, it was grazed by the poisoned three-pronged arrowhead, and the dark green venom splashed on the green silk outfit, instantly burning a charred hole. The bone-chilling coldness seeped into her meridians through the wound, making her bones ache. She gasped, and the soft light from the silver mirror in her right hand suddenly dimmed slightly. Her cultivation level, which was at the mid-stage of the Stacked Pattern realm, dropped directly back to the early stage of the Stacked Pattern realm, and her fingertips trembled uncontrollably, almost unable to hold the edge of the silver mirror. Hearing her words, Yue Tingzhou turned around and saw a drop of blood on her left shoulder, dripping down her forearm and splashing onto the stone floor, forming a small, dark red blood stain. His temples throbbed with pain, and his True Qi from the Stillness Art immediately circulated to the twelfth level of perfection. The hidden blade swept across, carrying a blue-tinged cold Qi, and the three leading attackers didn't even have time to groan before their throats were cut. The blood sprayed into the toxic smoke, staining the greenish mist with a bloody red hue. “Immediately seal the acupoints of the 曲池 (Qu Chi) and 少海 (Shao Hai), and I'll take care of the rest.” His voice was as cold as if he had just been pulled out of an ice cellar, and his figure flickered three times in the toxic smoke. With each swing of the hidden blade, a line of blood appeared, and the remaining nine attackers couldn't even touch the hem of his clothes, and within three breaths, they all fell to the ground. “You don't need to remind me; I'm not that stupid to risk my life in this broken vault.” Zhu Hanli gritted her teeth and used her right hand to press on the acupoints on her left arm, and the dark green blood immediately slowed its flow. She pressed her fingertips back on the edge of the silver mirror, stabilizing the wavering soft light. The last two attackers saw the situation and reached for the thunder and fire talismans on their waists. The crimson flames had already lit up along the patterns on the talismans, and the sizzling sound was particularly harsh in the quiet vault. Yue Tingzhou raised his hand and threw out two immobilization talismans, and the淡金色 (pale golden) talismans attached to the thunder and fire talismans immediately extinguished the light. He turned around and approached them, and the hidden blade directly pierced their chests, ending their lives without a single scream. When the toxic smoke gradually dissipated, twelve corpses lay scattered on the ground, and the movements of the three guards outside had already stopped, presumably they had been poisoned. The stone shelf in the northwest corner of the vault was shaken and collapsed by the True Qi from the fight, and a crack an inch wide appeared in half of the wall, and the debris fell on the piled-up lost鏢卷宗 (escort manifests), splashing a thin layer of dust. As soon as Zhu Hanli's hand released its grip on the mirror case, the gilded mirror case suddenly emitted a harsh buzzing sound. The remaining 30% of the data burst out with a blinding golden light, and with a "bang," it exploded into fine copper shavings, which scattered clean away in the draft. The family heirloom silver mirror in her hand buzzed and shook, and the soft white light receded into the mirror body. 70% of the data that had been extracted had been safely stored in the mirror's backing layer. Yue Tingzhou sheathed his hidden blade and walked over to support her. As soon as his fingertips touched her right arm, which was not injured, he felt a patch of cold sweat. He took off his outer robe and wrapped it around her trembling shoulders. He glanced at the corpses on the ground, confirming that all the attackers were dead, before He took the silver mirror from Zhu Hanli, which she was clutching tightly, and channeled the true energy of the "Still Pool" technique into his fingertips. A pale white light screen shimmered into existence, and golden characters flowed across its surface, like molten gold. The three core rules appeared first, each word striking his heart like shards of ice: "Filtering Logic: 1. Those with a compatibility rate exceeding 90% for a preordained marriage are prioritized as targets; 2. Independent cultivators with a spiritual meridian purity of seven grades or higher are prioritized; 3. Those who publicly question the order of the "Heavenly Mandate" are prioritized. All harvested spiritual essence is channeled into the "Mother Scroll" to maintain the operation of the list's spiritual formation." Yue Tingzhou paused, the metallic scent of rust filling his nostrils. The doubts and inconsistencies from all his investigations over the past three years suddenly coalesced into a single thread – those seemingly perfect, divinely ordained marriages were, from the moment the marriage contracts were prepared, assigned a "spiritual grain" price for the young people involved. The light screen continued to scroll, revealing a line of dark gold coordinates at the end of the rules: "Location of the Mother Scroll: Core Vault of the Heng Law Enforcement Agency, Cabinet No. 7." The clue that had hung in the balance for three years finally fell into place. Just as he was beginning to relax, his fingertips slid down the list of targets, and the first eighteen names were all independent cultivators who had disappeared in the past three months, their origins and spiritual meridian information perfectly accurate. When his movement suddenly froze on the last page. Four large, dark characters were emblazoned at the top, as if forged in ice: "Shen Licao." The smaller text clearly stated: "Harvest Priority: Top Tier, Execution Time: Three days after dawn, Executor: Huo Qingya." Yue Tingzhou's knuckles turned white. The old injury from the rainy day suddenly flared with pain, his hand trembling so much that he almost couldn't hold the silver mirror, his ears ringing. The mentor he had served for seven years, the man feared by everyone in the Heng Law Enforcement Agency, "Shen Licao," was actually the primary target that the "Heavenly Mandate" sought to eliminate? Was the seven-day deadline that Shen Licao had given him to investigate a test, or was he being led to Xie Wuchen's blade? Zhu Hanli leaned against his shoulder, the warmth of her back seeping through the fabric. She followed his gaze to the line of text, her fingers, which had been moving the abacus, froze in mid-air, and the beads clattered back into place. "We previously speculated that Director Shen was an informant for Xie Wuchen. Now it seems that he, too, is a pawn to be sacrificed." Her voice was hoarse, like sandpaper, and still tinged with the lingering effects of her injury. "This deal now has a new option: either pretend you didn't see anything and steal the Mother Scroll as planned in three days, or rescue him along the way. But let's be clear, if we rescue him, the risk of exposure triples. Huo Qingya's people are arriving at any moment, and we only have two hours to gather clues, and we must move within twelve hours." Yue Tingzhou swallowed hard, remembering what Shen Licao had said to him when he was teaching him how to investigate cases: "In the official system, one must first uphold the public good, and then follow the established procedures." He remembered the kindness Shen Licao had shown him seven years ago, suppressing inconsistencies in his testimony. His gaze fell on the cold, rough ceramic teacup at his feet. He turned it three times before speaking, his voice steady: "Rescue him. According to the evidence, Shen Licao has been in charge of the Heng Law Enforcement Agency for twenty years, and he possesses all the evidence of Xie Wuchen's manipulation of the list. Without his official seal, even if we obtain the Mother Scroll, we will not be able to make the evidence effective in the "Ten Thousand Sects Conference." Zhu Hanli raised an eyebrow and pushed the last bead on the abacus to the bottom, the crisp sound echoing in the empty warehouse. "Alright, this deal is risky, but the rewards are great. Three days after dawn, we'll meet at the back door of the Heng Law Enforcement Agency. I'll have the镖局's informants provide cover for you." Just as the words left her mouth, three short chirps echoed from the ventilation shaft – the highest-level warning signal from the Wan Jing镖局. Huo Qingya's second wave of pursuers had already crossed the threshold of the镖局's front door, leaving them with no room for maneuver.