“This matter was simply swept under the rug, but not long after, Yuan Zhuang discovered that the person who had filed the report had also vanished, leaving behind an elderly, gravely ill mother at home who nearly starved to death.
“Yuan Zhuang reported this to me, and sensing something was amiss—suspecting the original informant had been silenced—I instructed my men to continue investigating.”
At this, Zuo Sizhou glanced at Fang Chen. “Over the years, quite a few people have disappeared from the residence of the Junior Minister of Rites; his sister was merely one among them.
“Consequently, I reported the matter to the Vice-President, as only he possessed the authority to summon the Junior Minister back for questioning.”
“And then?” asked Fang Chen.
Zuo Sizhou stroked his beard. “The Vice-President brushed it aside, claiming that everyone who vanished from the Junior Minister’s household had simply been corrupted by the Minister’s excessive benevolence, developed ulterior motives, and fled with stolen wealth.”
“Such an explanation is barely plausible; even my own Fang Estate has had servants run off in that manner,” Fang Chen said with a faint smile. “What, then, does Zuo Sizhou find so peculiar about it?”
“First of all, the initial informant was a renowned filial son throughout the region. It is entirely out of character for him to abandon his dying mother and vanish without a trace,” Zuo Sizhou replied. “Secondly, while Yuan Zhuang was looking into the matter, one of his subordinates had an arm severed—a clear warning from someone attempting to deter us from digging any further.”
He paused. “For the safety of my men, I let the matter drop. Yet over the past few years, I have quietly kept an eye on the situation at the Minister of Rites’ residence.”
“Have there been any further disappearances among the servants?” Fang Chen asked.
“No, not a single one.” Zuo Sizhou shook his head, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes. “Heir, do you also sense that something is amiss here?”
“When you return, have your men review all the missing persons case files from the Capital over the past six years—no, the past twenty years,” Fang Chen instructed. “Some cases never involved officials and thus were never sent to Dahua Temple; they remain with the City Magistrate. You know how to handle that.”
Zuo Sizhou’s expression grew grave. He nodded and turned to leave.
In his view, the fact that the Heir had taken an interest meant this matter was of paramount importance. Behind these missing persons cases lay some hidden secret—one that might well be connected to Qingsong!
“Heir, have you finished talking with Zuo Sizhou? Surely it’s my turn now.”
As soon as Zuo Sizhou departed, Jade Fairy quietly materialized.
She had followed Fang Chen and his group the entire way. Possessing both exceptional lightness skills and mastery of the art of disguise, she was not easily recognized.
“I have nothing for you to do,” Fang Chen said helplessly.
“Heir, who exactly is that maid by your side today?” Jade Fairy asked with curiosity.
“Xiao Shennü,” Fang Chen replied.
Jade Fairy froze slightly, a look of profound astonishment crossing her face. “Xiao Shennü? How could she—”
“She volunteered to stay behind as a hostage. That way, Military God Xiao will ensure the Third Prince’s life is spared, preventing him from venting his wrath and taking the prince’s life simply because I killed a few Qingsong warriors in the Capital.” Fang Chen smiled.
“She certainly has no idea that, given the Third Prince’s scheming, Qingsong would find it harder than ascending to the heavens if they truly wanted him dead,” Jade Fairy scoffed derisively.
“Indeed. That fellow has a brilliant mind; he surely hasn’t been idle these past five years in Qingsong. If he wished, he could have returned to the Great Xia Capital long ago,” Fang Chen said with a smile. “Once he learns of the news from the Capital, I expect you and I will see him soon enough.”
The Crown Prince lived in dread of Fang Chen going to escort the Third Prince back.
Little did he know how superficial his understanding of his third brother truly was. Once, the Third Prince had willingly traveled to Qingsong as a hostage; now, he possessed the full capability to return to Great Xia on his own terms. On this point, Fang Chen had absolute confidence in him.
Both men shared the same ideals and ambitions; for the sake of the hundreds of millions of ordinary people in Great Xia, neither would throw his life away lightly.
“Heir, even knowing all this, you still keep Xiao Shennü by your side. Could it be you’ve been captivated by her beauty? As far as I know, Xiao Shennü’s reputation in private leaves much to be desired,” Jade Fairy murmured softly.
“Some wish for her death, but five years ago at Three Realms Mountain, I indeed owed Military God Xiao a life,” Fang Chen sighed softly. “No matter what, I will keep Xiao Shennü alive. Once she returns to Qingsong, we shall be even.”
“Then… might I also stay by your side as a maid? Look at how someone called me a fallen woman today; my heart is genuinely aggrieved,” Jade Fairy said, lowering her gaze.
“Talk to me after you break through to Qi Control.” Fang Chen waved a hand and turned to walk away.
“Qi Control?” Jade Fairy’s eyes lit up, and she shook a fist at his retreating back. “Heir, you must keep your word!”
***
### Chapter 32: Fang Cangyou’s Legs
“Hmm, my spiritual energy seems to have increased once more. It looks like condensing the third immortal meridian isn’t far off. Cultivating immortality… is indeed not very difficult.”
Fang Chen spent another night crafting talismans. He now had a total of fifty Purple Lightning Talismans, alongside a fair number of Movement Talismans, Vajra Talismans, and Might Talismans.
To say he hadn’t slept a wink during this period would be an understatement. Back when he was a Dan Qi Warrior, staying awake might have been possible, but he certainly wouldn’t have been brimming with such boundless vigor.
Abundant spiritual energy felt like an inexhaustible reservoir of vitality!
“Once I accumulate enough talismans, I can distribute them to the hidden guards below. They will serve well for catching opponents off guard in moments of danger.”
Leaving his courtyard, Fang Chen strolled over to the martial arts training ground—the place Fang Cangyou favored most. Whenever Fang Cangyou had free time, he would sit in his wheelchair, watching the Fang family youths and guards practice their forms with booming shouts.
Fang Chen paused to watch for a moment, a faint smile touching his lips.
Some of these Fang youths belonged to the main branch, some to collateral branches, but the majority were orphans of soldiers who had fallen in battle.
Fang Canghal did not require them to change their surname, but he treated them no differently than his own; whatever the Fang family youths possessed, they received as well.
“Chen’er, what brings you here with idle time on your hands?”
Fang Cangyou suddenly turned his head toward Fang Chen, curiosity written across his face.
“Second Uncle, I’d like to examine your leg injury,” Fang Chen said with a smile.
A look of desolation flashed in Fang Cangyou’s eyes. He glanced down at his legs, then smiled faintly. “What is there to examine? The meridians are severed; I’ll never stand again in this lifetime.”
Three years ago, someone published an open letter demanding that the Emperor hold Fang Chen accountable for the sixty thousand soldiers who had perished at Three Realms Mountain.
Incited by this text, commoners even came to create a disturbance outside the Fang Estate, and the morale of the East Tiger Battalion—commanded by Fang Canghal—began to waver.
The imperial palace remained silent throughout, letting the situation fester. Unable to endure it any longer, Fang Cangyou had broken directly into the imperial grand hall to reprimand the Emperor.
Yan Beihan, commander of the Imperial Guards at the time, had instantly pierced Fang Cangyou’s legs with an arrow. In the end, the Emperor smoothed things over, and the affair concluded with Fang Cangyou crippled.
Fang Chen had lost his sight and his Qi sea had been shattered; Fang Cangyou had lost the use of his legs. Of the great Fang family, only the old patriarch and Fang Canghal remained—and the patriarch was advancing in years; if he failed to make a breakthrough, his days were numbered.
Perhaps it was precisely because of this that the outside world no longer viewed the Fang family as a threat. The ensuing years had been peaceful, with no one leaping forward to move against them.
“Now that my cultivation has recovered, I may have a way to reconnect your meridians.”
Fang Chen said.
Fang Cangyou looked at him for a moment, then let out a sigh. “Push me to the back courtyard.”
In the back courtyard.
Just as Fang Chen was about to use his spiritual energy to probe Fang Cangyou’s leg injury, Fang Cangyou stood up from his wheelchair entirely on his own. He hopped around a few times in front of Fang Chen, then patted his own legs.
“I told you, there was no need to look!”
Fang Chen froze.
Seeing his expression, Fang Cangyou burst out laughing. “Heh, didn’t expect that, did you? Second Uncle hasn’t seen that look of astonishment on your face more than a couple of times in the last twenty years!”
“Second Uncle, your legs… they were never injured?”
Fang Chen wore a peculiar expression.
“Naturally. Is it really that easy to cripple the legs of Fang Cangyou?”
Fang Cangyou let out a cold laugh, then sat back down in the wheelchair, picked up a fur blanket, and carefully draped it over his legs.
“Then why…” Fang Chen murmured thoughtfully.
“If they knew my legs were fine, who knows what malicious schemes they’d cook up next? Better to play along with their wishes and let them see how wretched our family has become.
You blinded and crippled, my legs broken—if any more mongrels jump out to make trouble, the Emperor cannot simply turn a blind eye, can he?” Fang Cangyou sneered.
“These past few years must have been hard on you, Second Uncle. Now you no longer need to put up a pretense.”
Fang Chen smiled wryly.
“Nonsense. Why stop when I’ve been playing the part so well? It’s wonderful like this—no one pays me any heed. Should trouble ever arise, I’ll catch them completely off guard!” Fang Cangyou chuckled.
No matter what, he was still a Qi Burst Warrior—and at the peak of the realm at that. It was solely because of his disabled legs that people had dismissed him in recent years.
“Since that is the case, I’ll take my leave.”
Fang Chen nodded; if his second uncle wished to keep up the act, he would humor him.
“Wait, push me back to the training ground.”
Seeing Fang Chen turn to leave, Fang Cangyou hurriedly called out.
Fang Chen waved a hand, ignoring him, and vanished from Fang Cangyou’s sight in a flash.
“This brat! Where on earth has Xu Ge run off to these past two days? Always scampering about!”
Fang Cangyou muttered a complaint, slowly wheeling himself away.
***
***
Fang Chen returned to the secluded courtyard.
Overnight, Zuo Sizhou had compiled a massive stack of case files, piled as high as a man, and placed them before Fang Chen.
“Heir, all the missing persons cases from the past twenty years are right here. I’ve already reviewed them once. Quite a few of them contain highly suspicious elements, dating back as far as eight years ago.”
Zuo Sizhou said in a low voice.
“Were there no issues with the cases older than eight years?”
Fang Chen asked.
“From this old man’s perspective, nothing major—they were mostly ordinary cases, and some of those people have long since returned home.”
Zuo Sizhou replied.
Fang Chen nodded. That being the case, he only needed to examine the files from the past eight years. Upon counting them, he found there were over a thousand such files!
This meant that more than a hundred people vanished every year—roughly one disappearance every three days. And these weren’t even all of them; some families refused to report to the authorities, while others had no one left to file a report.
When those were factored in, the total number of missing persons was truly alarming!
With a solemn expression, Fang Chen began sifting through the cases alongside Zuo Sizhou, and indeed, he spotted numerous unreasonable inconsistencies among them.
Time slipped away.
Evening approached.
Fang Chen selected three cases from the stack—all recent ones—though he also intended to personally investigate the case involving the Ministry of Rites from two years prior.
After that particular case, no one else had vanished from the Junior Minister’s residence. That could hardly be a coincidence.
If the Blood Spirit Cult was tied to these disappearances, he only needed to unearth clues from these cases to discover who was involved and how many culprits there were.
Not a single one of them would escape Fang Chen’s retribution.
“Heir, is your investigation into these cases related to Qingsong?”
Zuo Sizhou suddenly asked.
Fang Chen glanced at him and smiled faintly. “Qingsong? Qingsong is no longer worth worrying about. The matters behind these cases are far more severe than Qingsong. That senior inspector under your command—Yuan Zhuang, was it? Is he reliable?”
“Yuan Zhuang? I watched that lad grow up. He has a warm heart, but whether he’s truly reliable… I dare not say for certain.”
Zuo Sizhou shook his head slightly.
“You haven’t forgotten the vigilance required of a hidden guard.”
Fang Chen smiled and nodded. The cardinal rule of the hidden guards was never to place blind trust in anyone—save for the Heir.
“Send him to see me tomorrow.”
Fang Chen picked up a few of the case files, issued his instruction, and rose to leave.
***
### Chapter 33: Investigate!
“Cousin, is it really the Military God Fang who wants to see us?
You’re merely a lowly senior inspector at Dahua Temple—much higher than a rookie constable like me, of course—but what kind of figure is Military God Fang? Why would he ever want to meet you?
Don’t go boasting just to save face; if we get thrown out of the Fang Estate later, we’ll be the laughingstock of the Capital!”
A slender woman with bronzed skin, clad in dark constable attire, muttered in a low voice as she took in the sights of the Fang Estate.
“What would I have to boast about? Have you forgotten that it was I who personally escorted Military God Fang into Dahua Temple not long ago?”
Yuan Zhuang shrank his neck back with a twinge of insecurity, but in front of his cousin, he refused to lose face.
After a brief pause, Yuan Zhuang added, “You’re wrong about one thing, though: Military God Fang only summoned me alone. If you hadn’t happened to be on duty with me today, you wouldn’t even have had the chance to come here and see the world.
Later on, mind your tongue and try to look familiar with the people here; it might make your work around this area a bit easier in the future.”
Yuan Yun remained somewhat skeptical. At that moment, a servant from the Fang Estate emerged, cupping his fists toward Yuan Zhuang:
“Lord Yuan, the Heir asks you to step inside.”
Yuan Yun stared blankly at Yuan Zhuang, a trace of sheer disbelief in her eyes. It really *was* the Military God Fang who had summoned her cousin here? Since when had her elder cousin become so well-connected?
“Young brother, what about this subordinate of mine…”
Yuan Zhuang glanced at Yuan Yun.
“This officer may wait in the reception hall. The Heir requested an audience with you alone.”
The Fang servant was extremely courteous.
Yuan Zhuang hurriedly nodded. Seeing someone lead Yuan Yun away, he offered a few parting admonitions before following the servant toward Fang Chen’s residence.
Along the way, Yuan Zhuang’s heart beat anxiously as he silently guessed Fang Chen’s purpose in summoning him.
Before long, Yuan Zhuang stood before Fang Chen. At that moment, Fang Chen was quietly executing a set of health-preserving martial arts. At a glance, no one would ever guess that this vibrant young man was the legendary former Military God of Great Xia!
“Lord Yuan has arrived. Please, sit.”
Fang Chen finished his routine and gestured toward a stone stool before him.
*Can he actually see…?*
Yuan Zhuang was inwardly stunned. Could Fang Chen identify him purely by the sound of his footsteps? Such a technique was terrifying beyond measure.
He cautiously seated himself across from Fang Chen, then immediately stood back up, cupping his hands with a wry smile: “Military God Fang, what is the purpose of your summons today?”
“I am a commoner now; addressing me as an official in your presence hardly seems appropriate.”
Fang Chen smiled, brushing the matter aside without dwelling on it, and cut straight to the point. “Someone handed me a few case files. I believe these cases are out of the ordinary. As an inspector of Dahua Temple versed in this field, take a look at them.”
He tossed the case files across the table to Yuan Zhuang.
Yuan Zhuang hastily caught them. The first page revealed the case of the missing maid from the Ministry of Rites two years prior, sending a jolt of shock through him.
“Military God Fang, this is…”
“Read them thoroughly. Once you’ve finished every single one, answer me.”
Fang Chen said calmly.
“Yes, yes, yes.”
Yuan Zhuang nodded repeatedly, then began reading with utmost concentration. Roughly half an hour later, he spoke with a grave expression: “Military God Fang, all of these cases bear immense anomalies, however…”
He paused, offering a bitter smile. “These cases have already been closed…”
“Let’s start with the case from the Ministry of Rites. A sister vanishes, her elder brother files a report, and soon after, the brother disappears as well, leaving behind a gravely ill mother.”
Fang Chen smiled. “Does that sound reasonable to you?”
“Unreasonable.”
Yuan Zhuang answered honestly, shaking his head. “But this case was personally reviewed by the Vice-President, and the conclusion has already been reached: the Minister’s maid eloped with someone and stole a considerable sum of valuables in the process.”
“Do you concur with such a conclusion in your heart?”
Fang Chen asked.
“I do not… yet what can be done?”
Yuan Zhuang smiled bitterly.
“Investigate,” Fang Chen said simply.
“Since you do not concur, investigate thoroughly. The truth will come to light sooner or later. What do you think?”
“Military God Fang, could it be that you know something?”
Yuan Zhuang’s expression shifted.
“I know no more than you do; otherwise, why would I have summoned you? Since we have nothing better to do, let us go take a look at the siblings’ former home.”
Fang Chen smiled.
Yuan Zhuang nodded instinctively, then froze in utter bewilderment. The Military God Fang was personally going to investigate a case with him? This felt like a dream.
“Military God Fang, um… I have a subordinate waiting for me in the estate as well. Allow me to dismiss her, and then we can depart together?” Yuan Zhuang hurriedly suggested.
“Bring her along. What we do requires no concealment; we act uprightly.”
Fang Chen smiled faintly.
*This girl is truly fortunate; on her very first day on the job, she gets to take part in an operation alongside Military God Fang…*
Yuan Zhuang muttered inwardly.
Yuan Yun had been growing bored waiting in the reception hall when she suddenly heard a shout from outside. Glancing out, she happened to see Fang Zhixue practicing swordsmanship in the courtyard.
Sparring with Fang Zhixue were more than a dozen youths, all possessing impressive cultivation, yet none of them managed to last a single move against her!
“You are all far too weak! I tell you to put effort into your daily practice, but it goes in one ear and the other. At your age, you’re still lingering in the Qi Condensation realm!”
Fang Zhixue reprimanded them with dissatisfaction.
“Sister Zhixue, how can we compare to you? You’ve been practicing the *Mystic Heaven Art* since you were a child, while we’ve only trained for a few years…”
The youths mumbled in protest.
“Fang Zhixue!? The Military God’s younger sister—a martial prodigy who entered the inner chambers at a tender age and ascended to the Qi Burst Realm!”
A look of shock crossed Yuan Yun’s face. She could tell that Fang Zhixue was clearly several years younger than herself, yet she herself was merely a mid-Qi Condensation warrior…
“Halt, who are you?”
Sensing something, Fang Zhixue turned her gaze toward Yuan Yun. Seeing a female constable standing at the entrance of the reception hall, curiosity instantly flickered in her eyes.
“F-Fang Guniang, I am Yuan Yun, a constable of Dahua Temple. My superior is Senior Inspector Yuan Zhuang.”
Yuan Yun hastily cupped her fists.
“Dahua Temple!? What are you doing in our Fang Estate? Don’t tell me you’re here to arrest my eldest brother again! You people go too far!”
Fang Zhixue blazed with anger.
Realizing the misunderstanding, Yuan Yun opened her mouth to explain, but a clear, resonant voice cut across the courtyard:
“Zhixue, I asked them to come here.”
Fang Chen and Yuan Zhuang walked over slowly.
Seeing them, Fang Zhixue’s curiosity deepened. “Eldest Brother, why did you invite them here?”
*Eldest Brother!?*
Could this person possibly be…