Chapter 56: Zixiao Palace

Chen Mobai hesitated for a moment but ultimately decided to accompany Qing Nü to the law enforcement department. He was only asked a few simple questions about his relationship with Qing Nü and what medications he usually bought at Changqing Pharmacy. Afterward, he was politely directed to the waiting room.

Qing Nü's interrogation, however, took much longer. Chen Mobai waited for an hour, but she was still not released. He then recalled the words spoken by the law enforcement cultivator earlier.

"Forbidden art?"

He immediately looked it up online.

Within the Immortal Gate, there were powerful cultivation techniques and secret arts that, despite their immense power, had severe side effects after practice. These were called "Forbidden Arts," and as the name suggested, their cultivation was strictly prohibited. Recent news online regarding this topic was from three years ago, when a Foundation Establishment cultivator from Wangwu Grotto-Heaven attempted to break through a bottleneck using a forbidden art. He suffered a qi deviation, lost control of his mind, and his rampaging spiritual energy attacked those nearby, causing significant casualties among ordinary cultivators.

Just as he was about to read more closely, Qing Nü was released.

"Please ensure your phone is accessible these next few days. We may need to contact you at any time to verify information." The short-haired female law enforcement cultivator responsible for Qing Nü reminded her as she left.

"What exactly happened? What forbidden art was your teacher practicing?" Chen Mobai couldn't suppress his curiosity as he left the department with Qing Nü, so he asked.

"I don't know," Qing Nü replied, her eyes still red. "My teacher only ever taught me about alchemy and never mentioned anything about cultivation." Her eyes were still red when she spoke, indicating she was deeply shaken. It was understandable, as anyone would struggle to accept that a teacher they lived with daily was a criminal.

"Let me take you home. Don't overthink it; get some good rest." Chen Mobai could only offer this comfort.

In an office on the third floor of the law enforcement department, Lan Haitain watched Chen Mobai and Qing Nü leave from the window. He put down their files, then turned to Gu Changfeng, who was restrained in his seat, and asked, "You must know the terrifying nature of the Devourer God Technique. Everyone among you who practiced this forbidden art met a bad end."

"Concealing the Devourer God Technique back then wasn't my idea; I was merely swept along," Gu Changfeng replied.

"I'm not asking about that. I just think these two young people are good, and I hope they haven't gotten involved with the Devourer God Technique."

"Don't worry, Qing Nü knows nothing, and I've already expelled her from my discipleship." Lan Haitain shook his head. He handed Chen Mobai's file to a nearby law enforcement cultivator, then scanned Qing Nü's file with his phone and sent it to a friend for further investigation.

"That's not for you to decide. After all, she was once your disciple, and we still need to supervise and monitor her for a period."

"You're from the Hall of Righteous Law; you must act on evidence. Qing Nü hasn't committed any crime."

"It's precisely because I act on evidence that she was released. If she were still your disciple, we would have legitimately arrested both of you together." Gu Changfeng snorted angrily at this but did not argue further.

"Senior Brother Gu, why didn't you choose to escape?"

"You gave your business card to Qing Nü to pass to me because you wanted to force me to escape, giving you a legitimate reason to interrogate me using the Hall of Righteous Law's methods." Gu Changfeng stared coldly at Lan Haitain, articulating his thoughts, but the latter merely smiled faintly upon hearing it.

"With your talent, Senior Brother, if you had cultivated normally, you wouldn't have reached your current realm. It seems forbidden arts truly disturb one's mind." At this point, however, Gu Changfeng closed his eyes and remained silent. Lan Haitain interrogated him for a while, but seeing that he genuinely refused to speak further, he gave up pressing him.

As he left the interrogation room, he peeled off a "Heart-Questioning Talisman" stuck to the door, using it to verify which of Gu Changfeng's earlier statements were true and which were false.

"Mr. Lan, what should we do next?" In the department office, staff members compiled Gu Changfeng's and Qing Nü's information and handed it to Lan Haitain, awaiting his next instructions.

"Keep him detained for now. I will escort him away when I leave."

"Alright. Do we need to assign people to monitor his female disciple and that student?"

"I'll arrange the personnel."

"Understood."

***

Chen Mobai took Qing Nü home. She invited him to stay for a while.

It was a studio apartment in Danxia City. Only after asking did he learn that Qing Nü's parents had died when she was young, and she had grown up in an orphanage. At fifteen, because of her excellent performance in a Q&A session, she was taken on as a disciple by Gu Changfeng, who had come to lecture at her school. She then began working at Changqing Pharmacy. With her master's help, she rented this apartment and started living alone.

Chen Mobai observed that, as it was public housing, the facilities were quite basic, offering only the most rudimentary Tier 1 low-grade spiritual energy supply.

"To me, my teacher was like a father," Qing Nü said, her eyes welling up again. "But they say he practiced a forbidden art and is a bad person." Her eyes were red again when she spoke. However, perhaps due to the hardships she had endured since childhood, her mind was resilient, and her emotions were now stable, no longer as agitated as before.

Chen Mobai comforted her for a while longer. Seeing that it was getting late, he bid her farewell. Qing Nü stood up and saw him to the door. Then, in the empty room, alone, she leaned against the door and squatted down. After hearing his footsteps fade away, she hugged her knees, buried her head, and began to softly, slowly sob.

***

"True Lord, this is the report on Gu Changfeng's case." Atop Spirit Peak, in front of the wooden hut, Lan Haitain respectfully held the report he had compiled above his head. A mighty divine sense extended from within the wooden hut, scanning through the entire report's contents in an instant.

"The five individuals who obtained the forbidden art from Zixiao Palace that year, have they all been apprehended?"

"Yes, Gu Changfeng was the last. However, I suspect there are still some hidden aspects to this matter. As I couldn't use unconventional methods, I haven't extracted much useful information." Having handled cases for many years, Lan Haitain possessed an innate intuition: if a case was truly resolved, his mind would feel clear and his thoughts unhindered; otherwise, his spirit would feel clouded.

"Very well. Since they are all in your custody, if there are more hidden details, you can slowly interrogate them." Inside the wooden hut, True Lord Shiqing's tone was calm, seemingly unconcerned about the outcome of Lan Haitain's investigation.

"May I ask, True Lord, how should Gu Changfeng's disciple be handled?"

"Hmm? Do you need to consult me for something like this?" Hearing True Lord Shiqing's slightly displeased tone, Lan Haitain could only smile wryly. He took out his phone and sent the internal documents he had illicitly obtained from Gou Mang Daoist Academy to the True Lord inside the hut. "This is Qing Nü's file, please take a look."

"Oh, I didn't expect it to be her."