World's No. 1 Swordsman
Chapter 62: The Three Scrolls of the Medicine God

Chapter 62: The Three Scrolls of the Medicine God

The Special Investigation Unit had set up an inescapable net, but to their surprise, when the two evil cultivators drove onto the cross-river bridge, the tall, thin man suddenly leaped off and plunged into the Dajiang River, vanishing without a trace.

They had been prepared to guard against everything. However, they could not have expected a Seed Formation Realm cultivator to hold their breath using internal qi underwater.

Though the salvage team was still scouring the river, they still hadn't found signs of the man. It was as if he had disappeared into thin air.

Such was the power of the Seed Formation Realm. Through the complete cycle of internal qi, cultivators could hold their breath for several hours. Considering the tall man had an ample reserve of true essence, he had likely already escaped through the river's undercurrents...

***

Municipal Bureau of Public Security's conference hall.

As soon as the Special Investigation Unit's captain arrived, she unleashed a storm of fury at Mou Yue, Bulldozer, and a room full of young investigators.

"You had thirty-six task forces and hundreds of armed police officers chasing them across nearly half the city, yet one of them still somehow vanished into thin air. Do you think this is a movie? We are at the heart of the Hua Republic! A stable society, a provincial capital with millions of residents!

"Lockdown here, lockdown there! You said you had the entire academy on lockdown! Where did those two come from, then? How did Wei Chiyu manage to attempt an assassination right in the middle of the campus?

"If not for Daoist Masters Fei Yu and Bu Yu, what would have become of our Special Investigation Unit? What a massive joke! We wasted countless resources in just half a year!"

Out in the hallway, Wang Sheng and Mu Wanxuan sat quietly, listening to their mistress's rage. The two perfectly embodied what it meant to be obedient and well-behaved.

Master must've had a hard time back in the day...

Meanwhile, Chi Wen was in the interrogation room downstairs, maintaining her silence. No one was interrogating her.

Wei Chiyu, the short-haired woman, had already been carried away. According to an investigator who secretly passed Wang Sheng some information, they were planning to use advanced technology to extract everything from her as quickly as possible.

Right now, they were in a race against time. Wei Chiyu's capture had immense significance.

The way they treated Wei Chiyu and Chi Wen had striking disparities.

The sudden appearance of the two men in suits left Wang Sheng speechless and their mistress utterly furious.

When the two Yin-Yang Cult members fled in their vehicle, the security at the campus gate was already prepared. The investigators even opened fire as soon as their targets were within sight. Even so, with so many students around, they hesitated to go all out, allowing the SUV to break through the blockade.

A lot happened during the ten-minute chase that followed. A stray bullet even grazed a bystander, though they fortunately only suffered a minor injury.

In the past two years, the Hua Republic had conducted numerous drills to prepare local law enforcement for such emergencies. They had drones providing all-encompassing aerial tracking, roadblocks set up in real time, and even deployed a light armored vehicle at a key intersection for interception.

With the entire department working in coordination, the police should have had more than enough ways to take down the vehicle. However, reality was nothing like in the movies.

Due to the haunting incident at the Li residence, Wang Sheng had previously pointed out the importance of the Yin-Yang Tai Chi tattoo. Hence, when it resurfaced, the investigators were instructed to capture the suspects alive if possible—or at the very least, ensure their brains remained undamaged.

Unfortunately, when the chase reached the cross-river bridge, the tall, thin man leaped off into the river, catching the investigators off guard. Due to their panic, things ended miserably for the stout driver.

Grievously injured, he didn't dare jump into the river, but the moment he exited the bridge, a sniper bullet pierced his chest, shattering his back into a bloody mess. Bulldozer then rammed the car from the side, flipping it over.

When they retrieved his body, all that was left was a mangled heap of flesh and blood. Fortunately, as per the investigation team's request, his brain was intact.

According to what they had gathered so far, the SUV that the two evil cultivators had used to escape was registered to a P.E. teacher in their thirties at the university. The teacher had taken a one-month leave of absence.

After the incident, the police immediately went to the teacher's residence but found nothing useful. The teacher had gone abroad for vacation a month ago, and his friends and family had heard nothing from him.

Wang Sheng had no idea what methods they had that could extract information from a dead brain, but he suspected that soul-searching techniques would be more reliable.

Come to think about it, a high-caliber sniper rifle had just taken out a dignified cultivators at the Seed Formation Realm from hundreds of meters away.

Wang Sheng couldn't help but feel some pity. His master had always emphasized that cultivators should not use Daoist arts recklessly. In this modern, law-abiding society, that principle had never been clearer.

A high-caliber sniper rifle was undoubtedly a cultivator's nemesis.

Wang Sheng had no intention of getting involved in what came next. Once his junior sister's emotions had stabilized, he planned to take her back to the Wudang Mountains for a while. He could guide her cultivation alongside his senior sister and master.

That was simply the ideal scenario, though. Whether it would happen depended on how their negotiations with their mistress would go.

After waiting for another half an hour, the conference room door finally opened. The investigators walked out one by one, looking dejected.

Mou Yue, her eyes slightly red, approached Wang Sheng and Mu Wanxuan with a strained smile. In a weak tone, she said, "We're about to hold an important meeting. The captain hopes you two can attend as technical consultants to help us identify any mistakes. Would that be alright?"

Before Wang Sheng could respond, Mu Wanxuan readily agreed. She clearly felt some sympathy for the investigator and didn't want to make things harder for her.

Wang Sheng's phone vibrated a few times, notifying him of his senior sister's messages.

Mu Wanxuan: The mistress is so scary.

Wang Sheng simply chuckled.

The head of the Special Authority Department couldn't be a gentle and kindhearted aunt.

Wang Sheng never could have dreamed of being in the same room as the meeting participants in his previous life. There were several high-ranking government officials in suits, seasoned police officers, two middle-aged military officers bearing insignia, and more than a dozen of the investigation team's key members.

Wang Sheng and Mu Wanxuan were seated near the front of the main table, a clear sign of how highly the investigation team valued them.

Mou Yue chaired the meeting. She began with a standard incident report and analysis, followed by the investigation team's self-evaluation. Ten minutes in, Bulldozer knocked and entered. He handed a few documents and an external hard drive to Mou Yue.

It had only been over an hour, yet they already got the results of Wei Chiyu's interrogation.

Mou Yue skimmed through the documents. She furrowed her brow as she murmured, "Today, thanks to Wei Chiyu's confession, I believe we can now uncover about eighty percent of the truth behind the Supernatural Revelation Club."

Wang Sheng couldn't help but be intrigued. Mu Wanxuan also focused intently.

Mou Yue connected the hard drive to the computer and began playing a slideshow that the investigation team had hastily compiled. The first slide showed Wei Chiyu's personal information.

Though not a student, Wei Chiyu was a core member of the Supernatural Revelation Club, an organization that had embedded itself within the university. Due to the club's miscalculation of the situation, she got exposed.

The girl was twenty-one years old, born in Shanxi. Five years ago, she dropped out of school and left home to work. Later, in search of treatment for her ailing father, she found some traditional mountain doctors deep in the Taihang Mountains. By chance, she apprenticed under them.

However, they treated her as a mere errand girl, making her help out with chores while teaching her some basic diagnostic skills—like sight, sound, questioning, and touch—to give her better prospects for marriage in the future.

Later, during the resurgence of primal qi, the mountain doctors' scattered community reorganized and revived an ancient sect from a thousand years ago: the Medicine God Valley.

The sect had once been a renowned alchemy powerhouse, enjoying a period of great prominence. Even during the millennium when primal qi had vanished, the Medicine God Valley still produced many skilled physicians who traveled the land, practicing benevolence. With their support, the sect managed to preserve and pass down a relatively complete Daoist heritage to the present day.

After the resurgence of primal qi, the Medicine God Valley quickly allied with other Daoist heritages, including Mount Dragon Tiger and Mount Lao. These sects provided protection, stationing highly skilled Dao masters within Medicine God Valley as guardians.

Wei Chiyu, who had previously been a mere assistant in the mountains, benefited greatly from the resurgence. She underwent a complete transformation, stepping onto the path of cultivation.

However, she was not satisfied.

Half a year ago, someone secretly approached and offered Wei Chiyu an enormous sum of money—enough for her entire family to live lavishly for generations. In exchange, they asked her to do just one thing: steal a book.

"According to Wei Chiyu, she stole the Three Scrolls of the Medicine God, the Medicine God Valley's scripture. However, when she attempted to trade it, one of the elders caught her.

"The situation quickly spiraled out of control. She fled with the scripture, and Medicine God Valley relentlessly pursued her. Eventually, she was gravely injured and brought to the verge of death. That was when she encountered the leader of the Supernatural Revelation Club—the so-called 'Fire Sage.'

"The Fire Sage saved her life. However, he showed no interest in the Three Scrolls of the Medicine God. Instead, after learning about her circumstances, he helped her escape from the Taihang Mountains and brought her to this city, where, along with three other associates, he established the Supernatural Revelation Club."

Mou Yue knew that the high-ranking officials in the room had little interest in the grudges of the cultivation world, so she kept this part brief before shifting the discussion to the internal structure of the Supernatural Revelation Club.

"Let me see the confession," Wang Sheng requested.

"Of course, Daoist Master Wang." Mou Yue quickly handed over a few sheets of paper, and Wang Sheng carefully read through them.

Wei Chiyu had never seen the Fire Sage's true face. After all, whenever he appeared, he always had a mask on. His only distinguishing feature was the small missing part of his pinky finger. Moreover, all she knew about him was that he was a young man close to reaching the Seed Formation Realm and skilled in using talismans.

The Supernatural Revelation Club had only recently been established when the people who had hired Wei Chiyu to steal the Three Scrolls of the Medicine God—the Yin-Yang Cult—came knocking and demanded that she fulfill her end of the deal.

However, Wei Chiyu refused, claiming that she had lost contact with her family and had no idea whether they were alive or dead.

A conflict erupted immediately. Once again, the Fire Sage stepped in and saved her.

He claimed that the Three Scrolls of the Medicine God had already been sealed using secret techniques exclusive to Medicine God Valley disciples. If the Yin-Yang Cult wanted the scripture, they would have to return Wei Chiyu's family and fulfill their promise first.

Later that night, a chaotic battle broke out. By the time it ended, Wei Chiyu had disappeared without a trace. The Yin-Yang Cult was never going to spare her family anyway. Even if they wanted to use her family as leverage, where would they find her?

Thus, a silent deadlock formed between the Yin-Yang Cult and the Supernatural Revelation Club. That was why, when Wang Sheng took down one of the Supernatural Revelation Club's elders, the club immediately thought that the Yin-Yang Cult was exacting vengeance.

Through several confrontations, the core members of the Supernatural Revelation Club realized the truth: the Yin-Yang Cult was far too powerful. They were out of their league. Hence, after some discussion, the Fire Sage and his group quickly decided to abandon their base and relocate elsewhere, intending to start over in a new city.

Before they left, Wei Chiyu was given a final task: eliminate Chi Wen, one of the club's core members. The wealthy heiress was of no further use to them now, but she knew too many secrets.

As soon as Wei Chiyu completed the job, the remaining core members of the Supernatural Revelation Club would immediately flee, possibly even leaving the country.

The complexity of the situation gave Wang Sheng a headache. Fortunately, Wei Chiyu had been captured alive. Otherwise, this whole case could have sunk into obscurity, never to be uncovered.

Knock, knock, knock.

Mou Yue's explanation was interrupted again. The meeting room door swung open as Bulldozer strode in with an update, panting heavily.

"Captain, according to Wei Chiyu's confession, the Three Scrolls of the Medicine God have already been retrieved from the school. How should we proceed?"

Mistress glanced at Wang Sheng and, without any hesitation, openly abused her authority.

"Send the original to the research institute for archiving, then make a separate copy and have Daoist Master Wang examine it to determine whether it's an authentic Daoist scripture. We need a professional opinion on this."

Wang Sheng blinked. He had no particular interest in the Medicine God Valley's Daoist heritage. However, before he could refuse, he remembered the mistress's fiery temper and his father, who still suffered from infertility.

Ahem. When a senior offers you something, it would be impolite to refuse.

He might as well treat this as his well-earned compensation for all his troubles. Besides, if the Medicine God Valley ever came looking for accountability, he could just say that he only appraised the scripture.

If, by coincidence, he happened to remember some parts of it, that would be an entirely different matter.