The warm breeze of early summer carried the sweet fragrance of acacia blossoms from the roadside, causing the dark-colored banners of the Wan Jing鏢局 (Wan Jing鏢局 – Wan Jing鏢局) to flutter against their poles. The golden characters "Wan Jing" embroidered on the banners shimmered with the lingering aura of the Hu Shan Spirit Formation, dazzling the eyes of the young鏢師 (biāoshī –鏢師) who passed by, prompting them to instinctively squint and rub their eyes. Before the elder could speak further, Zhu Hanli, having dismounted her black horse and entrusted the reins to the groom, had already noticed the subtle scent of discarded mountain god temple incense clinging to the horse's glossy mane. The elder, his face drenched in sweat, rushed forward, his Qingbu (青布 – Qingbu) robe stained with mud from the courtyard, the copper badge on his waist clinking loudly, his breath coming in ragged gasps. His spiritual energy seemed chaotic, like a candle flame buffeted by a strong wind. "Young Miss! The three honored guests have been waiting for almost half an hour. The three elite鏢隊 (biāoduì –鏢隊) you requested for transfer to the southwest have been intercepted, and the鏢單 (biāodān –鏢單) have been locked away in a spirit-sealing cabinet!" Yue Tingzhou, standing three steps behind her, pressed his fingertips against the hidden, Heng律司 (Heng律司 – Heng律司) standard short blade concealed within his sleeve. The coldness of the locked-pulse dispersing aura infused within the Xuan iron blade seeped through the thin silk, causing his skin to tighten. He had just finished his disciplinary punishment at the戒律堂 (Jiēlǜtáng – Jiēlǜtáng), and the lingering chill of the true qi from his old wound was still coursing through his meridians. He circulated the 静潭訣 (Jìngtán Jue – Jìngtán Jue) for half a rotation to suppress the surging true qi, causing two acacia blossoms to instantly form a thin layer of frost at his feet. The air around him was three degrees cooler than elsewhere, causing nearby servants to shiver. As the hem of his dark-colored劲裝 (jìnzhuāng –勁裝) swept across the bluestone paving, picking up fragments of acacia blossoms, Zhu Hanli did not ask further, but instead walked towards the meeting hall. As she pushed open the door, a cloying scent of dragon's blood incense mingled with a faint, bitter spiritual mist, a scent unique to the herbs used by Xie Wuchen's subordinates. During the ambush at the mountain god temple, the blood that the junior leader had sprayed onto the hem of her sleeve carried that very scent. Three梨花木 (líhuāmù –líhuāmù) chairs were arranged at the head of the hall, each occupied by an uncle or aunt, all with a cultivation level of炼气八层 (liànqì bā céng – liànqì bā céng). Shallow fingerprints marked the yellow pear wood armrests. More than twenty loyal鏢師 (biāoshī –鏢師) stood behind them, their fingers whitening around the handles of their spirit-infused knives. Several yellowed talismans were spread across the table, the spirit shadows of her and Yue Tingzhou's meeting at the abandoned mountain temple, with traces of red mud on the edges, identical to the mud clinging to the soles of her boots from the previous week. Zhu Hanli walked to the head of the hall and sat on a purple sandalwood chair inlaid with寒玉 (hányù –hán yù), the coolness seeping through the thin fabric of her clothing, which surprisingly helped to suppress the surging 九陰寒魄 (jiǔ yīn hán pò – jiǔ yīn hán pò) qi that was rising from her dantian. As she listened to the "息訣 (xī jué – 息訣)" and circulated it, it flowed even more smoothly. Her fingertips idly tapped on the纹路 (wénlù –纹路) of the armrest, while her peripheral vision scanned the spiritual pressure fluctuations of the鏢師 (biāoshī –鏢師) present: The more than twenty neutral鏢師 (biāoshī –鏢師) on the west side kept their heads down, the uniform running wolf copper patterns on the sheaths of their knives glinting faintly, their spiritual energy suppressed within their dantian. Three of the uncles and aunts on the east side had already subtly drawn their knives halfway, the cold light reflecting off the table, causing the reflections in the teacups to dance and sting the eyes. The spirit-infused silver abacus concealed in her sleeve was silently rotated three beads by "” Her fingertips拨动ed another silver abacus bead, and Zhu Hanli deliberately slowed her tone, as if negotiating a profit-sharing agreement with a merchant, to ease the tension: "It's just a routine cargo shipment. If you're not worried, you can send trusted people to accompany the shipment, why create a spectacle that will make the entire镖局 a laughingstock?" Just as she finished speaking, the wooden door of the conference hall was suddenly pushed open from outside. Yue Tingzhou, wearing the dark-colored official robes of a衡律司 external affairs official, rotated a青瓷 tea cup three times, as was the custom of the衡律司, before stepping in. The spiritual pressure he deliberately emitted, at the seventh level of cultivation, swept over the two心腹 standing at the door, forcing them to instinctively retreat half a step, and the soles of their shoes scraped against the青砖, leaving two shallow marks. His voice was as cold as iron retrieved from a frozen vault: "I am Zhu Hanli's fiancé, and I have the right to listen to a few words, don't I?" After stepping to Zhu Hanli's side and standing still, Yue Tingzhou held up the waist badge of an衡律司 external affairs official, which was hung at his waist. The coldness of the玄铁 made the knuckles of his fingers stiff through the锦缎. He deliberately released a faint spiritual pressure of the ninth level of cultivation, which seeped into the青砖 through the soles of his shoes. The several心腹镖手 who had just taken half a step back suddenly froze, their backs stiffening as if they were pressing against a thousand-year-old piece of寒铁, and even their true energy was momentarily disrupted. The uncles were furious, their faces turning as red as pig liver, and their sharp voices, carrying their meager spiritual pressure of the seventh level of cultivation, were like a battering ram: "You, an official lackey, dare to barge into the祝家 conference hall? I see you're trying to find out about the万镜镖局's routes, so you can sell us all to the衡律司 for your own gain! Think about it, if the trouble of the逆榜 falls on us, how can hundreds of us escape?" The neutral镖师 gathered in the hall were instantly in an uproar. Some stared at Yue Tingzhou's dark-colored official robes with hesitation, their knuckles turning white as they gripped their knives, and the copper rings on the刀鞘 rattled. Most of them instinctively moved half a step towards the uncles, the sound of their shoes scraping against the青砖 filling the air. The faint scent of松香 from the lining of Yue Tingzhou's sleeves, mixed with the subtle fragrance of梨花 from Zhu Hanli, diluted the cloying aroma of龙涎香 in the hall. His tone was as flat as reading an official document, each word carrying the weight of authority as it landed on the青砖: "According to the regulations of the衡律司 external affairs department, my engagement with Hanli is registered with the city defense office, making it a legitimate relationship. In the future, I will be half of the owner of the万镜镖局, how could I harm my own family? If you uncles cannot provide concrete evidence, you are slandering me, which is not worthy of your status as elders." "An engagement is just a casual promise, does it count?" The second uncle suddenly stood up, slapping the table, causing the cloud-patterned tea cup on the table to wobble and spill half a cup of hot tea, which splashed on the back of his hand. He winced in pain but didn't even realize it. He pointed at Yue Tingzhou's nose and shouted, "The affairs of the祝家 are none of your business, an outsider! Get him out of here!" The two心腹 standing behind the second uncle immediately reached for their刀柄, the blades scraping against the鞘, making a faint, sharp sound, and the tips of the knives, which shimmered with a faint blue, poisonous light, reflected the light in the hall, making it appear bluish. Zhu Hanli suddenly laughed, a cold laugh like the wind in a mountain stream. She拨动ed the last silver abacus bead with her fingertips and threw three yellowed confidential letters from her sleeve, which landed with a "啪" sound in the arms of the neutral镖师 closest to her. She had just been burned by the brazier on the back of her hand, and her fingers, which were holding the letters, trembled uncontrollably, causing the edges of the letters to wrinkle. The signatures at the bottom of the letters were those of the three uncles, and the three-叠云朱砂印鉴 at the bottom shimmered with a faint golden light under the sunlight. It was the private seal of Xie Wuchen The second uncle's knife had closed the distance to within half a foot of the messenger, and the heat from the True Yang Qi was so intense that it curled the edges of the messenger's bangs. Yue Tingzhou stepped in front, deflecting the blade with the "Ding" sound of the standard short blade from the Heng Law Firm in his sleeve. The coldness of the Silent Pool Art flowed along the blade, instantly forming a thin layer of ice on its surface. The overwhelming pressure from the initial stage of the True Meridian realm forced the second uncle to retreat three steps, his knuckles cracking, and drops of blood trickled down the handle onto the blue bricks, forming small splashes of red. Zhu Hanli wiped the soot from the back of her hand, the blisters from the burn on her fingers stinging, almost causing her to lose control of the Nine Yin Cold Qi in her dantian. However, she didn't even flinch, and with her other hand, she retrieved a copper-green token from her embrace and slapped it onto the rosewood table. A transfer order! The front of the token bore the emblem of the Wolf Bureau, and the back was inscribed with blood oaths that could only be activated by the descendants of the lineage. At this moment, it was activated by her bloodline, emitting a faint blue light. The phantom of a wolf appeared above the token for a moment, causing the knees of the messengers present who were below the Qi Refining 5th level to tremble, almost causing them to kneel. Several messengers who had served under the former head messenger stood up, their fists clenched, their knuckles turning white. "I, as the 37th heir of the Wolf Bureau, issue this order," Zhu Hanli's voice was filled with True Qi, causing the teacups on the table to vibrate, her gaze sweeping over the three uncles and aunts with pale faces. The silver abacus hanging around her waist swayed slightly with her movements, the crisp sound of the beads colliding echoing clearly in the tense hall. "You collude with the traitorous Xie Wuchen, intending to sell the entire Wolf Bureau for fame and fortune, and yet you dare to speak of me tarnishing the bureau's reputation?" The hall fell silent, and then, a moment later, the sound of footsteps echoed as the doors to the conference room were pushed open, and thirty messengers dressed in dark-colored uniforms entered in formation. The blades of their weapons were still stained with fresh blood, and the smell of rust mixed with gunpowder filled the air. It was clear that they had already apprehended the uncles and their henchmen outside. "The fire in the accounting room has been contained," the messenger leader, Zhou Huai'an, said as he bowed, holding a camphor box sealed with wax. The wax still held the chill of the underground vault. "The consignment manifests for the southwestern route, as instructed by Young Miss, have been moved to the underground vault and have not been burned." The three uncles and aunts' legs buckled, and they collapsed to the ground. The usual scent of dragon's incense emanating from the second uncle mixed with the sour smell of sweat, which was particularly pungent. He still struggled to get up and grab the token, but two messengers held him down, his face pressed against the cold blue bricks, and he could only gasp for air. The nearly thirty percent of the messengers who had previously sided with the uncles knelt down and confessed their guilt, their faces pale, their heads bowed low, without the courage to look up. Zhu Hanli took the camphor box and opened it, revealing thirty consignment manifests for the southwestern route, neatly arranged. The topmost manifest was marked in cinnabar, clearly indicating the entrance to the underground passage in the Hidden Mist Realm, with the coordinates of the outposts along the way and the supply points for the local villagers clearly marked. She gently brushed her fingertips over the cinnabar marking the passage, her fingertips stained with a speck of crimson. The clues she had been searching for for half a year had finally come to fruition. The investigation into the "Book of Destiny" was officially transitioning from clue gathering to on-site investigation, bringing her at least fifteen percentage points closer to the agreed-upon progress of thirty-five days. Yue Tingzhou walked up to her, gently touching the burned back of her hand. A cool wave of True Qi from the Silent Pool Art flowed over, instantly relieving most of the burning sensation. Just as Zhu Hanli was about to say that she was fine, another messenger in a green uniform rushed in, covered in sweat, with white feathers from carrier pigeons and burnt scraps of parchment clinging to him. His face was whiter than window paper. "Young Miss! We just caught a ledger clerk who was trying to escape. He confessed that half an hour ago, he used a carrier pigeon with enchanted markings to send the news about the thirty elite messengers you were transferring to the southwestern route to Xie Wuchen!" Zhu Hanli'