Chapter 181: Unsolvable Problem

Because of the villagers' past help, Qiao Xueying rushed over to assist, helping put out fires, carry the injured, and sometimes even using her abilities to lift collapsed beams.

Seeing her busy working tirelessly, Zu'an did not go forward but instead walked towards the fields.

Qiao Xueying turned her head, intending to call him for help, but saw his departing back. She thought, "What a petty person, still angry with these villagers."

Zu'an walked towards the brightest spot in the field; he needed to confirm something from his memory.

The large meteorite that had just exploded in the sky broke into many small pieces, but one relatively larger chunk remained. It landed in a field about a li outside the village, creating a massive crater.

Before he even got close, a strong sensation of heat washed over him. Zu'an circulated his *qi* throughout his body, which only slightly alleviated the discomfort.

Even so, with his current cultivation, he couldn't get close to the center of the deep crater. Residual heat from the intense burning still lingered there. However, he didn't need to get closer; he had already found the answer he sought.

Seeing a line of text inscribed on the massive meteorite, Zu'an's expression became extremely strange. He couldn't help but look up at the twinkling stars in the sky, wondering, "Is there really such a thing as fate in this world?"

Preoccupied, he returned to the village. Seeing him, Qiao Xueying approached and pulled him. "Where did you go? Since you're back, lend a hand."

Zu'an shook his head. "What's the point in helping? The outcome is predetermined; any help would be futile."

Qiao Xueying immediately grew anxious. "How can you be like this? Yes, they weren't very friendly to you before, but you should know that was mainly due to the country's overly strict laws. Later events also proved their true nature is kind, and they even brought us water and medicine."

"They only brought *you* water and medicine," Zu'an corrected.

Qiao Xueying was taken aback. "You're not really angry about that, are you? You're a grown man; can't you be less petty?"

"It's not about that. It's just that none of this has any meaning; you'll understand soon enough," Zu'an added. "Let me advise you: don't waste your effort."

"I can't be bothered with you," Qiao Xueying snorted, then turned back to the disaster relief efforts.

Anger value from Qiao Xueying: 111,111...

Seeing the anger value received in his system, Zu'an immediately found it amusing. This girl certainly held quite a grudge against him.

After a while, the sound of hooves suddenly echoed from a distance. Following the sound, they saw an official approaching with a troop of soldiers.

A stir immediately arose among the villagers; after all, in those times, no one wanted to encounter officials. The village chief hurried forward, bowing with a forced smile. "Lord Wang, what brings you here?"

"How could I not come with such a commotion? A meteorite falling from the sky—what an important matter! I must investigate quickly and report to the imperial court." Lord Wang clearly had no time to humor him. He simply waved his hand, signaling his subordinates to investigate the area.

The village chief hesitated before asking, "Lord Wang, as you can see, a great disaster has fallen upon us here. Every household has suffered heavy losses. Could the government perhaps allocate some disaster relief funds...?"

Before he could finish, Lord Wang interrupted, "The imperial court's expenditures are tight right now. To the north, we must fight against foreign tribes, and building the Epang Palace and the imperial mausoleum all require immense funds. Why bother the court with your minor issues when you can resolve them yourselves?"

The village chief looked troubled. "But the harvest was poor this year, and many people's homes were burned down today..."

Before he could finish, a soldier ran over quickly, reporting in a fluster, "Report! Lord Wang, this is bad! Lord Wang, this is bad!"

Lord Wang was so enraged that he kicked the soldier. "It's *your* mother who's bad! Learn how to speak properly!"

The soldier, feeling wronged, rubbed the spot where he was kicked while pointing towards the meteorite. "Over there... over there... there's writing on the meteorite!"

"Writing!" Lord Wang's eyes lit up. He pulled up his belt and ran towards it, thinking, *If this is a celestial omen of good fortune, and I report it, His Majesty will be pleased. Won't I be promoted and granted nobility?*

As for what the words actually said, it wasn't too important. Scholars could spin anything. He could find a few great Confucian scholars to interpret it, and even ordinary characters could be explained as auspicious omens. After all, it fell from the heavens, making its significance extraordinary!

A group of soldiers jogged after him, and other villagers, curious, followed suit. Only Chen Wei, supporting his father, walked slowly behind them, whispering, "Father, why did you beg that corrupt official? Just by looking at him, you can tell he'd never allocate disaster relief funds to us. You only humiliated yourself for nothing."

The village chief sighed. "If I don't ask, there's no chance at all. If I ask, there's still a sliver of hope. For the future of our village, what do my personal honor and humiliation matter?"

Chen Wei said nothing, but he gazed at Lord Wang's back, his eyes burning with hatred.

Lord Wang, his mind filled with thoughts of promotion, raises, and reaching the pinnacle of his career, instantly froze when he clearly saw the words on the meteorite. A chill rose from his back, shooting straight to his head, making him unable to stand.

"Who... who carved these words?!" Someone nearby quickly massaged his chest. Only after great effort did Lord Wang manage to compose himself, almost immediately leaping up. He pointed at the Chen family village residents and roared furiously, "Speak quickly, or none of you will escape!"

The village chief, utterly confused, pushed through the crowd and looked at the meteorite. There, clearly etched, were several large characters: "The First Emperor dies and the land divides!"

"This... this..." He instantly began to tremble, then, unable to catch his breath, collapsed to the ground. Fortunately, Chen Wei, standing nearby, quickly caught him.

"Fainted? Do you think fainting will solve everything?" Lord Wang raged. He was right; many things could be twisted from black to white. He could fabricate an auspicious omen from a few random words or even a pattern on the meteorite. But with such clear and blatantly treasonous words, not even with ten thousand times his courage would he dare to interpret them loosely.

"My father genuinely fainted!" Chen Wei retorted.

"Whether you're truly faint or feigning it, I don't care! You'd better find out who did this immediately, or you'll all face severe consequences." After speaking, Lord Wang pulled out a mirror and reported directly to his superior.

Zu'an observed coolly from the side, noticing that the mirror resembled a video call from his previous life. It seemed this cultivation world was indeed wondrous; even without technological advancement, cultivation could achieve similar effects.

Lord Wang continuously bowed and flattered the person on the other end of the mirror. After their conversation, he put the mirror away, his face immediately turning grim. "Interrogate every household! Find out who carved these words. If you can't, you will all die!"

Hearing his words, the villagers, who had been watching the spectacle with relish, erupted in an uproar. They had been enjoying the show, but now the blade had fallen upon their own heads!

"It wasn't us! We were all busy putting out the fire just now."

"Exactly! I don't even recognize a single character; how could I carve anything?"

"This is a miscarriage of justice! As everyone knows, I'm blind!"

A chorus of cries of injustice rose from the group.

Qiao Xueying tugged at Zu'an's hand. "Did you see who carved the words? I was busy with the disaster relief here and didn't pay attention over there."

Zu'an shook his head, his mood heavy.

"Oh, right! I think I just saw that person walking towards the meteorite!" A villager suddenly exclaimed, pointing at Zu'an.

"That's right! These two are suspicious. It must have been them!" Others quickly agreed. Clearly, with their lives at stake, they wanted to clear themselves as quickly as possible.

Qiao Xueying was stunned. She had just helped them out of goodwill, and this was the response she received.

"This is human nature; don't take it too much to heart," Zu'an whispered, comforting her.

Qiao Xueying gave him a strange look. This man had just been at odds with the villagers, yet now he was speaking up for them. What a peculiar person! "Hmph, you act like you've seen through all of humanity. How old are you, anyway?"

"Understanding life has nothing to do with age. Some people live their entire lives as muddle-headed fools," Zu'an replied, all the while watching the soldiers' movements, ready to break out at any moment.

Hearing the villagers' accusations, Lord Wang sharply turned to look at the two. His soldiers quietly dispersed around them, preventing any escape.

Just as Zu'an was about to make a preemptive move, a flicker of doubt crossed Lord Wang's eyes. Then he burst out laughing. "Ah, so it's the Imperial Censor! We've been looking for you these past few days. I never expected the Imperial Censor to be here!"

"Imperial Censor?" Zu'an was utterly bewildered. His first thought was that the man was just talking nonsense to lull him into a false sense of security, but he quickly realized this was unlikely; the man had no reason to lie like that.

His experience playing games in his previous life immediately made him realize this was likely the identity assigned to them by the current quest, allowing them to integrate more reasonably into the storyline.

Lord Wang then glared at the villagers who had just been shouting. "What nonsense are you spouting? This is an Imperial Censor! How could he possibly carve such treasonous words? Don't be so eager to clear yourselves that you falsely accuse others!"

As he spoke, he approached Zu'an. "Imperial Censor, the imperial court has ordered us to find the true culprit within a day, or we will be dismissed from our posts and executed. You hold the highest rank here, so we will all follow your orders."

Zu'an knew Lord Wang was trying to shift responsibility, but he also realized this was likely the key to breaking the Heavenly Seal. So, he didn't refuse. "Alright, I'll take charge. You are to interrogate every household in the village individually to prevent collusion."

"Yes!" Lord Wang quickly gestured, ordering his soldiers to separate the villagers for guarding and interrogation.

After all that, he approached Zu'an with a fawning expression but was impatiently dismissed. "There's so much to do here, and we clearly don't have enough manpower. Why are you bothering me? You go and interrogate too."

"Yes, yes, yes," Lord Wang said, bowing repeatedly. Inwardly, however, he thought, *Fortunately, I've managed to pass the buck this time. With the Imperial Censor taking the lead, even if something goes wrong, I'll only bear secondary responsibility. That's much better than being fully in charge from the start.*

After he left, Qiao Xueying could no longer hold back and quickly asked, "When did you become an Imperial Censor?"

Zu'an replied, "This must be the identity the Heavenly Seal assigned to us. If we find out who carved the words, we should be able to break this seal."

"Oh, in that case, it should be quite simple! It doesn't seem as dangerous as the Human Seal or Earth Seal we encountered before," Qiao Xueying sighed in relief.

"You're celebrating too soon," Zu'an replied. "If we can't find the culprit, then according to Qin law, both of us—being in charge of the investigation—will certainly face a death sentence. Lord Wang, as the subordinate, might only be dismissed and investigated. Why else do you think he was so happy to see me?"

"That's just the worst-case scenario, though. In my opinion, this shouldn't be difficult to investigate. There aren't many people in the village, and among the yamen runners, there are plenty of interrogation experts. If they interrogate everyone one by one, they're bound to find someone," Qiao Xueying added after a moment's thought. "Besides, I can also rule out some people. I saw many individuals while putting out the fire; they shouldn't have had the opportunity to go carve words on the meteorite."

"If only it were that simple. This puzzle is actually unsolvable." Zu'an sighed deeply, finally understanding why this was the Heavenly Seal. It was not only connected to the stars above but also presented a certain death outcome.

"How can it be unsolvable?" Qiao Xueying asked, puzzled. "Also, you were right there just now. How could you not have seen if anyone approached the meteorite?"

"It's precisely *because* I saw it that I say this puzzle is unsolvable, because..." Zu'an paused, then slowly continued, "Because when this meteorite fell, that line of text was *already* carved on it."