Chapter 18: Indictment

After all, Zhixu City was Ba Yingshan's territory. If he truly paid attention, nothing obvious happening there could escape his notice.

Upon receiving the news, he immediately went to the guest room. There, he met Qi Yueru and informed her directly of the situation. "It's confirmed," he said. "They're leaving today. Soon, as soon as Bowang Tower's goods are sorted, they'll depart with them."

Hearing the first part, Qi Yueru immediately prepared to leave. But the latter half of the sentence made her freeze. "What do you mean?" she asked. "How is Bowang Tower involved?"

Ba Yingshan saw no issue. "They visited Bowang Tower," he explained. "They probably mentioned their departure, and Bowang Tower's delivery team will give them a ride."

Qi Yueru instantly flared up. "With people from Bowang Tower escorting them, how am I supposed to act once they're outside?" she fumed. "No, you must find a way to detain those two!"

Ba Yingshan also got annoyed. "What are those two rascals to me that I should act against them here?" he retorted. "If I detain them, won't it arouse suspicion? You're just looking for trouble, aren't you? Once they're out, you'll have all the time and ways to deal with them as you please. Right now, 'Jailer' and the others are here, and they're clearly suspicious about the dragon bone. How can I just do as I please?"

Qi Yueru countered, "If they have nothing to hide, why seek protection from Bowang Tower? Outside, the world is vast and full of obstacles. If they use this as an opportunity to slip away, where am I supposed to find them in a hurry?"

This was her true concern. She found the local rascals from Dongjiuyuan increasingly suspicious. If they were truly problematic, seeking refuge with Bowang Tower meant they had already made plans, including escape routes. This was something she absolutely could not tolerate; she couldn't allow them to slip away due to such a loophole.

Ba Yingshan said bluntly, "How you find them once they're outside is your business. I've helped you with everything I can, and everything I shouldn't. In short, detaining them here is absolutely out of the question. I'm telling you, there must be no more complications here. You two leave immediately. Whatever grievances you have, you can resolve them once you're outside."

Seeing his genuine anger and seriousness, Qi Yueru fell silent for a moment. After her thoughts raced, she suddenly countered, "What if they are truly the murderers of my son?"

Ba Yingshan scoffed, "Whether they are or not is your concern. As I said, once they're outside, you can exact your revenge however you wish."

The implication that the aftermath was none of his business was clear.

Qi Yueru moved closer, her gaze burning into his as she met his eyes. "If they are the murderers, why would they leave such valuable treasures at the scene instead of taking them? Was it to deflect suspicion? My son—they had already offended him; one more time or one less wouldn't have made a difference. Yet they abandoned such important treasures. What are they afraid of? I can't guarantee that my brother didn't disclose something he shouldn't have before he died."

Ba Yingshan's eyebrow twitched. He said coldly, "What shouldn't have been said? Don't make far-fetched connections; stop this nonsense!"

Qi Yueru countered, "It's not about the certainty; it's about the possibility. Are you, Lord Ba, truly willing to gamble your entire fortune on these little rascals? The safest way is for me to deal with them swiftly and decisively. That way, you can rest assured, and my Qi family can also rest assured. You know that 'Jailer' and the others are already suspicious. Even the slightest rumor could be catastrophic for you. Lord Ba, any potential loopholes must be sealed immediately!"

Ba Yingshan furrowed his brow, his expression showing a flicker of consideration, but more prominently, concern.

Reading his expression, Qi Yueru pressed on. "Lord Ba's concerns are not unfounded; detaining them here is indeed inappropriate, but we can be flexible. Find a pretext to temporarily hold them until Bowang Tower's delivery team has left. Then, you can expel them, perhaps citing a misunderstanding or some other reason. That wouldn't cause any stir. Within Zhixu City, for such a small matter, surely Lord Ba has plenty of ways to handle it, right?"

The Qi family had sent her here to make contact, not just because visiting her son and brother in prison was a legitimate reason, but, more importantly, because she possessed a certain ability to adapt to situations.

Ba Yingshan's eyes flickered. Without a word, he suddenly turned and left.

Qi Yueru watched him go, a hint of triumphant mockery on her face. But then, thinking of her deceased son, she couldn't hide her sorrow again...

Inside the blacksmith shop, sparks flew amidst the clanging of hammers. A shirtless, bearded strongman directed several apprentices. Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang entered to say their goodbyes. They were leaving, so they wanted to greet their old acquaintances here.

Both their weapons had been forged there.

The blacksmith shop was at the very end of a row of storefronts belonging to Bowang Tower. It served to meet the needs of the inhabitants of the Land of Exile.

Shi Chun genuinely just said hello and left. He wanted to check the main entrance of Bowang Tower to see if Miss Miao truly hadn't come. The proprietress clearly disliked him associating with her daughter and might have been deceiving him.

Wu Jinliang didn't want to go with him and stayed behind at the blacksmith shop, chatting idly with the bearded blacksmith, as he didn't want to face the proprietress again.

The row of shops was divided by category, and each had customers at its door. People of various sorts brought in diverse items for appraisal, mostly strange stones or minerals. After selling, they received a sum written on a piece of paper. This paper acted as currency for purchases within Bowang Tower, and any change received was also a newly written sum.

This currency could not be taken outside the city. The numbers on the paper would disappear the moment one stepped beyond the city gate. Therefore, before leaving, people would register the amount under their own name within Zhixu City, accumulating what was called 'merit.' If they returned and wished to use it, they could withdraw it without any deduction.

Many people, however, never returned due to various accidents, and such incidents were very common in the Land of Exile. Consequently, those unclaimed funds naturally became the property of Zhixu City.

The main hall of the Tower was exclusively for selling goods. There were slightly fewer customers coming and going than those selling items, significantly so.

In a corner of the hall, numerous ledgers were piled on a long desk. A young man sat behind it, chewing on his pen as he tallied accounts. After a moment of writing and scribbling, he was about to set his pen down when he suddenly let out a soft 'huh', finding nowhere to place it. He searched around on the table in confusion, then scratched his head, muttering, "Where's the pen holder? Where did it go?"

Shi Chun, walking towards him, found it amusing. He knew the young man quite well.

The young man was an apprentice at Bowang Tower. His background was unknown, but he had become an apprentice at a young age.

He was quite handsome, but sometimes his mind seemed a bit slow.

Shi Chun could already see where the pen holder was: right there, underneath the pile of ledgers. It was almost certainly placed there by the young man himself.

Though it was right in front of him, the young man couldn't find it. Shi Chun was about to tease him and point it out when he suddenly saw the young man bite the pen sideways. He then used his free hand to take a piece of paper, repeatedly folding it into a multi-layered 'river' (川) character shape and placing it on the table. He took the pen from his mouth and casually rested it on the upright paper, then continued flipping through the ledgers.

A sheet of paper, originally soft, thin, and flimsy, was simply folded a few times into a gutter-like shape. Instantly, its load-bearing capacity changed, firmly supporting the pen.

This sight struck Shi Chun like lightning. He stopped dead in his tracks, staring blankly at the paper that could bear weight after its form was altered.

The scene of him being immobilized by the immobilization talisman that night also flashed through his mind.

That light green substance was originally imperceptible to humans. It was only when the glowing tendrils released from the immobilization talisman gathered it that its presence immediately became apparent, which was truly wondrous.

After that night, he often wondered what had happened. The scene of the immobilization talisman being cast, which he had witnessed with his right eye, had given him a direction for his future once he left.

Something he had never been able to understand now, seeing this paper support a pen, suddenly struck him to the core, and he had an epiphany.

"Chaos…" he murmured, recalling Shen Youkun's confession. He vaguely realized a problem: could the bizarre scene he had witnessed with his right eye actually be the world of chaos?

Could the world of chaos truly exist all along, merely invisible under normal circumstances?

To perceive the existence of various substances in the world of chaos, perhaps one simply needed to find the right medium?

The young man, still flipping through ledgers, inadvertently looked up and saw Shi Chun standing there in a daze. He called out, "Chun Chun, Miss Miao didn't come this time."

He continued writing and scribbling as he spoke.

He occasionally put down his pen, then resumed writing and drawing. After filling a few more pages, he looked up again and found Shi Chun still standing there in a daze. Feeling puzzled, he put his pen down, walked around the desk, and waved his hand in front of Shi Chun. "Chun Chun, what's wrong? Are you upset because Miss Miao isn't here?"

"Huh?" Shi Chun snapped out of his trance and asked in return, "Miss Miao didn't come to Zhixu City?"

The young man shook his head and was about to speak when suddenly a loud shout came from outside: "What are you doing? What are you doing? Why are you arresting me?"

A commotion broke out. The voice sounded like Wu Jinliang's. Shi Chun turned to look, but the scene outside the door was obscured by people moving in and out, drawn by their natural curiosity.

The next moment, the voice cried out again: "Chun Tian, help me!"

Was it really Wu Jinliang? Shi Chun's expression changed, and he quickly darted forward. He didn't hesitate to leap over the heads of the crowd, landing on the steps outside. There, he saw Wu Jinliang restrained by several armored Zhixu City guards, his arms twisted behind him and his neck held down.

Shi Chun said in a deep voice, "What's going on?"

Wu Jinliang, straining to lift his head, said urgently, "I don't know! I was just walking here, about to go inside, when they suddenly grabbed me!"

No sooner had he spoken than a dirty man, clad in rags, squeezed out from among the armored guards. He clearly wasn't a city guard. Pointing at Wu Jinliang, he shouted, "It's him! He deliberately bumped into me just now, and then my stuff disappeared! He definitely stole my things!"

At his words, a murmur rose from the onlookers. In this city, besides not being allowed to fight, they were naturally not allowed to steal either. Otherwise, the consequences were severe; the guards here didn't consider their lives particularly valuable.

Shi Chun's heart sank when he heard this. He stared at Wu Jinliang in disbelief. He naturally knew that Wu Jinliang's hands weren't exactly clean. In fact, how many people in this Land of Exile had clean hands? Everyone took what they could. But they were about to leave; why would he pull such a stunt now?

Wu Jinliang immediately roared at the man, "Who the hell are you? When did I ever bump into you?"

Shi Chun, his mind racing, was about to speak up in Wu Jinliang's defense, when the man in rags suddenly pointed at him. "And him!" he yelled. "I remember clearly, they're together!"

At these words, Shi Chun's eyes narrowed. He instantly realized something was wrong. If the accusation had only been against Wu Jinliang, he might have had some doubts about his companion. But now that he was also implicated, he knew very well that he hadn't stolen anything, and he hadn't seen Wu Jinliang collide with anyone while they were together.