The three of them hurried back to the servants' quarters of the Li Family. Since it was midday and all the servants were out attending to their duties, the entire courtyard was completely deserted. Following the location marked by the red dot, the three of them entered one of the rooms and gathered in front of a wooden pillar, upon which hung a cheap landscape painting.
"This is it. There's nothing here except a painting," Wang Yun said.
Noticing a seal stamped on the bottom right corner of the painting, Li Gewen tapped the pattern, deep in thought.
"Many painters sign their work with a unique pattern as a personal trademark to indicate a masterpiece," Yi Renmei remarked.
Wang Yun pulled out his booklet and channeled his spiritual energy, instantly retrieving all other books bearing the same emblem.
"It seems this pattern isn't just on paintings; it appears on all kinds of books," Li Gewen observed after careful inspection.
Without another word, Li Gewen rushed out the door. Puzzled, the other two quickly followed him. When they reached the entrance of the scriptorium, they happened to run into Li Tianci passing by from the other side.
"Brother, I'd like to go into the scriptorium to look up some information."
"All right, I'll go get the key from Grandfather," Li Tianci replied.
"Can you transfer those books with the pattern into my booklet?" Li Gewen asked.
"Sure, hand me the booklet."
Wang Yun merged the two booklets together. With a flash of spiritual light, he handed the combined booklet back to Li Gewen. Supported by Tao Ran, Li Chengji also walked over to join Li Tianci.
Li Tianci turned around after opening the lock and explained, "The Eight-Diagram Lock was picked, so Grandfather added a Nine-Linked-Rings lock on top of it. We must have the key to open it."
As the group stepped onto the stairs, Li Tianci pointed at Wang Yun and said, "Outsiders are not allowed to enter the scriptorium."
Looking somewhat troubled, Li Gewen said, "Renmei, you stay outside and wait with him."
Yi Renmei nodded. Once the others had gone inside, she turned her gaze to Wang Yun.
"Is that booklet a Dharma Treasure you refined?"
"Of course. I'm a genius, after all."
"It looks quite useful. Teach me how to refine one," Yi Renmei said, putting on a coy act.
"It's not that I can't, but my pockets are a bit tight right now."
"You jerk, you're actually trying to do business with me!" Yi Renmei rolled up her sleeves.
Wang Yun turned on his heel and bolted.
"Don't run!" Yi Renmei chased directly after him.
The two of them dashed back and forth across the courtyard, disrupting the servants' chores and turning the Li Family estate upside down. Taking advantage of the moment Yi Renmei was apologizing to a Li Family steward, Wang Yun stealthily slipped out of the estate. Walking down the street, he opened his booklet and muttered, "Let's see what kind of things Young Master Li stuffed into this thing." Just then, he happened to see Lei Yunshen's instruction records, Yi Xiaofeng's statement regarding Xie Kongqing, and the files of the five individuals, which filled him with a sudden sense of foreboding.
The five of them reconvened in a dim alley, where Wang Yun learned that Zhang Zhong had approached a passerby on the street and sold the booklet in his possession for seventy taels of silver. Zhang Zhong was just boasting triumphantly to the others when Wang Yun delivered the grim news, plunging everyone into a heavy silence.
"Xie Kongqing is Eldest Sister's secret technique, and since we are her sworn brothers and sister, it's easy to figure out that we're behind this. Why didn't he have you arrested?" Li Ping asked.
Only then did Wang Yun explain what had happened earlier.
"It looks like he encountered something more important than us. Once that matter is settled, he'll come back to settle scores with us. Damn it, why won't that man just show up already?"
Up on Luzhu Peak, there was someone even more anxious than the five of them. Lei Yunshen was burning with impatience to mobilize all his resources to stop Li Gewen from investigating any further, fearing that the more Li Gewen discovered about Luzhu Peak, the greater the danger he himself would be in. He had already learned from Yang Chun that the five of them had stolen a bottle of Qi-Replenishing Pills from him.
"Now it all depends on whether those five consumed the pills directly or sold them off. Their actions will determine your next steps," Lei Yunshen said, looking at the five disciples standing before him. "Have you memorized your testimonies? Don't worry, only one of you will receive a heavy punishment; the rest of you will just be put through a formality and let off with a light reprimand."
A shadow flickered outside the window, and Lei Yunshen waved the disciples away. He Zhuying strode into the room and stated bluntly, "The Guild Master gave orders—unless it's an absolute emergency, we are not to meet."
"Right now *is* an absolute emergency. The Second Young Master of the Li Family was entrusted by the Sect Leader. On the surface, he's here to investigate the disciples' injuries, but in reality, he's here to investigate the pill-refining operations. Today, he told me to my face that after refining pills for ten years without any breakthrough, I should just shut it down. You know as well as I do that the pills are almost ready; we just need a few more days."
"Then how do you expect me to help you?"
"I heard your informants are all over Yunxia City. I want you to help me find out which of our disciples from Luzhu Peak went into the city to sell medicine."
"You call this extremely critical crisis of yours such a trivial matter?"
"By taking the initiative to investigate this matter for Young Master Li, I can keep him from sniffing around blindly on Luzhu Peak. Even if I go down, it won't have anything to do with your guild. I'm simply asking you to do me this small favor."
"Let me give you a piece of news: Yi Xieyun wiped out the Ninth Squad at Bishui Lake, and now only the squad leader, Yi Bufan, is left. The deputy squad leader, Qian Hao, didn't even have a chance to fight back against Yi Xieyun. You should understand just how terrifying the strength of the Ninth Realm is by now."
"What is there to fear? He reached that level through innate talent, and I can have innate talent too. Once I consume this pill, I can break through from the Seventh Realm to the Ninth Realm, and my practical combat experience far surpasses Yi Xieyun's."
"Just make sure you know what you're doing."