Investigation

After some thought, Han Weishu decided it would be best to report this to the local authorities.

Her father was too unreliable. Heaven knows what pros and cons he would weigh if she told him, only to end up turning a blind eye to the matter.

Watching the spirit ship about to disappear into the horizon, Han Weishu had Qiuqiu follow it while she turned back, preparing to find the nearest government office to report the issue.

But as she ran along the road, it suddenly occurred to her that not all government offices were willing to get involved.

She could only sigh inwardly. It seemed that before speaking to the authorities, she would have to ask around about their reputation...

Meanwhile, over at Xiushui Village.

On this day, Tong Shuzheng and Xue Chengfeng once again came to visit the Lingxian Sect.

Lin Xiao and Liu Yunan received them.

This time, the two of them came on official business.

After the two passed through the Path of Asking the Heart, Lin Xiao led them to the main sect hall.

Then, Tong Shuzheng was seen taking out a document.

This document was a formal alliance treaty to be signed between the imperial court and the sect.

Although this kind of treaty did not possess the binding power of a Heavenly Mandate Oath, it was still a formal, public document. Signing this treaty would officially declare the alliance between the Lingxian Sect and the imperial court, as well as their mutual stance to the outside world.

Tong Shuzheng respectfully handed the document to Lin Xiao with both hands:

"Sect Master Lin, if your esteemed sect is willing to ally with the imperial court, you need only stamp this document with your sect master's seal."

Hearing this, Lin Xiao fell silent for a moment.

Liu Yunan, on the other hand, quietly cast a glance at Lin Xiao without changing his expression.

Where on earth would they get a sect master's seal?

Lin Xiao immediately called out to the system in his mind:

"Sys, emergency! I need a Sect Master's Seal!"

System: ...

[Ding—Detected the host's need. Since the host has not unlocked the Sect Master's Seal quest and completed it to obtain the reward, the host may spend five hundred spirit stones to redeem a one-minute usage right of the Sect Master's Seal. Would the host like to redeem it?]

What?

Five hundred spirit stones?

Lin Xiao felt a pinch of heartache.

And he could only use it for one minute.

Thus, he didn't rush to redeem it. Instead, he took the document Tong Shuzheng offered and read it over carefully, word by word, several times. After confirming there were no hidden traps between the lines, he gritted his teeth and said to the system:

"Redeem!"

As soon as his voice fell, five hundred spirit stones were deducted from his balance.

[Redemption successful. The one-minute countdown for usage has begun. Please use it as soon as possible.]

The next moment, a square, jade-like object appeared in his private inventory.

Lin Xiao didn't even have time to examine it closely. He hurriedly took the Sect Master's Seal out of his inventory and was just about to stamp it onto the document when he suddenly realized there was no inkpad.

Fortunately, Xue Chengfeng, who was standing to the side, perceptively pulled out a box of red seal ink from his robes, solving his urgent problem.

With the Sect Master's Seal stamped, four archaic characters reading 'Lingxian Sect Master' appeared in bright red on the document.

Once the document was signed, Tong Shuzheng and Xue Chengfeng took their leave:

"Thank you for your cooperation, Sect Master Lin. Since it's the beginning of spring and the prefectural city is swamped with various matters, the two of us will not intrude any longer."

Lin Xiao, who had originally planned to ask them to stay for a meal, knew that the government office must be busy lately upon hearing this, so he didn't insist on them staying.

However, the two never expected that a new matter would be waiting for them upon their return to the government office.

Because the mountain stronghold was located on the border of Hufang Province at the time, Han Weishu headed straight for Hufang Province.

Fearing she might encounter an inactive or even trouble-making government office, she specifically spent two days among the common folk inquiring about the local authorities' reputation.

It was also at this time that Qiuqiu informed her through the power of their contract that the spirit ship carrying the abducted people had reached its destination.

Through the vision Qiuqiu shared with her, she discovered that the kidnappers hadn't taken them to any sect, but rather to an uninhabited area within the borders of the neighboring Huanyou Kingdom.

Subsequently, Tong Jialiang's group was herded into a mine shaft and never came out.

Qiuqiu secretly went in to take a look and found that all the people inside were being put to work mining.

But they weren't mining spirit stones. Instead, it was something Han Weishu didn't recognize—a type of very beautiful, seven-colored stone.

Seeing that the group didn't seem to be in any immediate danger for the time being, she quietly breathed a sigh of relief, but she didn't slow down her pace.

Regardless, if she didn't seek help, it would be impossible for those people to ever return.

When she was within Hufang Province and heard that the magistrate of the current capital, Liaoju Prefecture, had a good reputation, she immediately rushed to Liaoju Prefecture.

Tong Shuzheng, who had just sent the signed document with the Lingxian Sect back to the national capital, welcomed Han Weishu, who had traveled day and night to get there.

Inside the guest room of the Liaoju Prefecture government office.

"Greetings, Lord Tong."

Seeing Tong Shuzheng come out, Han Weishu was the first to bow and greet him.

Tong Shuzheng quickly raised his hands to return the gesture:

"You are too polite, Immortal. You mentioned having an important matter to report regarding your visit from the Qinghe Sect. May I ask what this important matter is?"

Indeed, although Han Weishu didn't seek her father's help, to skip unnecessary procedures, she had directly pulled out her Qinghe Sect identity token upon arriving at the government office and had even changed into her sect uniform in advance.

Hearing the prefectural magistrate ask about business right off the bat, Han Weishu didn't beat around the bush. She directly told him everything she had seen and heard, only hiding the part about Qiuqiu by claiming she had tracked them herself.

Tong Shuzheng, unaware of her actual cultivation level, naturally had no doubts about this.

After listening, his brows furrowed tightly, and he said to Han Weishu:

"This matter is of grave importance and not something I can decide alone. Please wait a moment, Immortal. I will report this to the imperial court at once."

However, he thought to himself that sending a letter like this, even using expedited courier services, would take at least nearly half a month to arrive. Waiting for the court's reply would mean a whole month would pass back and forth.

Regarding this, Han Weishu, who was only at the first level of Qi Condensation, had no good solutions either.

Tong Shuzheng thought for a moment and first asked his advisor, Xue Chengfeng, to rush over and investigate to confirm if the matter was true.

After all, these things were only Han Weishu's side of the story so far.

As a prefectural magistrate, he had to confirm the facts first before handling the matter.

Xue Chengfeng immediately took a group of runners to the county office in the territory where the mountain stronghold was located to investigate the matter.

Although these mountain folk did not have household registrations, because they often needed to come out to exchange for living supplies, most of the nearby villagers and runners knew of their stronghold's existence and its general location.

Because these mountain folk didn't really have much arable land to farm anyway, the county office simply turned a blind eye to them and didn't bother to govern them strictly.

This could be considered a dereliction of duty on their part, but the mountain folk were grateful for it.

Because of this, although they lacked household registrations, they also didn't need to pay taxes.

So, this was considered a tacit understanding between both sides.

However, it was ultimately not something that could be brought out into the open.

Therefore, when Xue Chengfeng brought a group of prefectural runners to inquire about these mountain folk, the local county office was quite apprehensive.