"Damn it!" Hou Shu shouted in frustration, his frustration not only at the loss of a major clue but also at his inability to save someone, again.

"Master! What happened!?" Bai Ling rushed towards Hou Shu.

She had seen everything from a distance, but after observing the severity of the situation, she didn't intervene.

No, even if she wanted to intervene, she couldn't, this was way out of her league.

Seeing her, Hou Shu calmed down, 'No! I am not the past me, I can save people, the example is right in front of me.'

At this moment, Yan Shen Jun also appeared, teleporting directly through the emergency teleportation array.

His eyes widened the moment his eyes fell on Da Tong's Corpse. He couldn't help but ask, "Fellow Daoist... What happened?"

Hou Shu didn't answer, instead, he looked at Da Tong's corpse and into his Sea of Consciousness, which had the appearance of a world made of shattered mirrors.

After a few breaths, Hou Shu shook his head and chanted, "May you rise to the nine palaces in the afterlife."

Hou Shu silently walked away from Da Tong's corpse and approached Yan Shen Jun.

He then cuffed his hands and said, "Fellow Daoist, while this incompetent one wasn't able to save Da Tong and unveil the truth, this one did uncover some things."

In response to this, Yan Shen Jun cuffed his hands and bowed back, "What is fellow Daoist saying? We, the Yan family had Da Tong for more than half a month, yet Daoist Hou came here not even a day ago and had uncovered crucial clues."

He then gave a deep bow, saying, "In terms of Investigation, we of the Yan family are truly inferior compared to Daoist Hou, the Red Book Detective."

Hou Shu could only politely say, "Daoist Shen Jun is exaggerating. While it may be true that I have a slight advantage in investigation methods, but Yan Family also has unfathomable methods that I can't compare at all."

"If Daoist Hou is insisting, I won't push anymore." Yan Shen Jun laughed.

He then looked at Hou Shu seriously and said, "I would like to invite Daoist Hou to my residence in this tower for wine and to discuss the clues fellow Daoist uncovered."

"Of course, how could I, a lover of wine, refuse?" Said Hou Shu, in an equally serious tone.

"Then let us go to my residence, this way." Yan Shen Jun said and then started to walk towards the teleportation array he come from.

Hou Shu and Bai Ling followed suit.

But just as he was about to step into the teleportation array, he turned around and said, "Fellow Daoist, your disciple..."

"Don't mind her, I am taking her out to teach her my methods, she won't be able to leak anything. Plus, who would pour us wine if she is not there?" Said Hou Shu, in a casual, indifferent tone, unlike his usually polite demeanor.

"If Daoist Hou assures me, then what is there to worry?" Laughed Yan Shen Jun as the cohort stepped into the array.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

After they stepped in, the array let out a radiant light and then disappeared, leaving no trace.

This made Da Tong's corpse the only thing as evidence of the previous incident, which will also be eventually cleaned up, erasing all traces, just like the teleportation array...

*******

"So there was a mastermind wielding Spirit Fire..." Said Yan Shen Jun while taking small sips from his wine cup, lost in thought.

They were sitting in a courtyard in the middle of a bamboo forest. But this place was not real, but created by illusion arrays. Certainly, someone of Yan Shen Jun's status won't live in any random dwelling.

After a few breaths of time, Yan Shen Jun asked, "So fellow Daoist thinks that the Fire Celestial Treasure Inheritance was already inherited and the inheritor is now looking at my Yan family's riches?"

"If one has these clues, this is the most logical conclusion. I have certainly thought of it, but there are some details I am not too sure about, and would like to investigate." Said Hou Shu with a somber look.

But then, a smile spread on his face as he took a sip from his wine cup, "Good wine! At first, it has a mellow taste but it gets more intense then after a while mellow once more, completing a cycle. How come I, a great lover of wine, didn't know Yan Family had this spiritual wine?"

"I knew Daoist Hou would be surprised!" Yah Shen Jun laughed.

He then went on to explain the origins of the wine, "This is a new wine called Ayu Kalpa Wine, made by the 13th generation elder Yan Hui Bo of my Yan family, who lived during the time pathway to the Immortal Realm was cut off. He saw the despair of the cultivation world and made this wine."

"Genius! The mellowness at first represents the confidence of cultivators at breaking through this calamity, then the burning intensity represents the wanton slaughter, despair and suicide of many great cultivators of that time, and lastly, the mellowness at the end shows the acceptance of the cultivators and the silent yet great efforts to break through the shackles of the cultivation and ascend." Hou Shu admired the genius of Yan Hui Bo, a genius at the art of brewing wines like this is truly rare.

"Daoist Hou has taken such a great case of the Yan family, if we couldn't even provide this much, our Yan Family is not much." Said Yan Shen Jun with a pleased expression, "Of course, this just doesn't stop at wines, to complete the case, fellow Daoist can ask for anything that might be helpful for it."

"Then this one would like to ask for the latest information regarding the Nanqing Immortal Province." Asked Hou Shu calmly.

"Oh? Isn't this matter fellow Daoist Hou, Leader of the Azure Stars, Crimson Moon Agency's forte? How could we compare?" Inquired Yan Shen Jun, but the smile on his lips suggested he knew the answer.

"Fellow Daoist surely knows the answer, I was in seclusion for a long while and started to investigate this case as soon as I went out, thus never having the chance to visit my agency." Said Hou Shu as he downed his cup of Ayu Kalpa Wine.

"Haha! Forgive me fellow Daoist, but I found this matter hilarious and had to take this opportunity." Yan Shen Jun laughed and drank his wine in response, "When is fellow Daoist leaving for Nanqing Immortal Province? If Daoist Hou needs this one as a combat power, I will not hesitate to follow!"

"That won't be necessary, I am just a lowly detective, fighting is something I rarely experience, and if I need to fight, other than the peak, who can trouble me?" Hou Shu said with grace, but at this moment, he released his Nascent Soul Great Completion aura.

Taking in this aura, while Yan Shen Jun himself was a Nascent Soul Great Completion expert, he felt threatened.

"I was worrying for nothing!" He guffawed heartily, but he also released his own aura to combat Hou Shu's as well as to remind him where and whose territory he was in.

Taking the hint, Hou Shu retracted his aura and bowed, "Well then, this one shall leave now."

"Fellow Daoist should take care." Yan Shen Jun bowed back.

With that, Hou Shu left, with Bai Ling, who was silent throughout the whole thing, following behind.

But suddenly, Hou Shu stopped in his tracks and turned around, he put on a sheepish smile and said, "As a tip for my services, can the Yan Family send all of your Ayu Kalpa Wine to my seclusion grounds?"

Hearing this Yan Shen Jun was stunned, but he quickly recovered and laughed, "Of course! If it's Daoist Hou, why won't it be possible?"