The spiritual energy within the Suspended Gourd Grotto hung like crystallised amber, drifting in slow eddies around the jade bed, casting faint reflections upon the two dim yet stubborn spirit-flames of the Director's remnant soul. Beside that desiccated, kindling-dry body, the Suspended Gourd emitted a deep resonant hum — as though mourning the truth that was about to be laid bare.

"Director," I drew a slow breath and gently placed the beast-hide cipher and the transmission jade slip from my canvas pack onto the jade bed. "This is the proof of collusion between Baizhen Pavilion and the inner circles of the Xuanmen."

The moment the jade slip touched the bed, the Director's spirit-flames surged violently. Two beams of golden light locked onto the cipher like searchlights. The transaction diagram drawn in blood-ink upon the beast hide writhed slowly in the glow of those flames, like a poisonous serpent stirring back to life. The scene of Arthur Wen and Victor Jin meeting in secret at the Hall of Ten Thousand Treasures; the annotation bearing White Tiger Hall's Vice Master Gordon Jin's signature upon a consignment of corrupt pills; even the route map for Sinescale Powder being transported through the hidden waterways of Black Tortoise Hall — all of it surfaced, one image after another, within the spirit-fire.

Pft.

A soft sound. The Director's spirit-flames convulsed wildly, and several drops of dark crimson blood seeped from the withered body upon the jade bed. Thirty years of pent-up fury and bitter resentment had, in the instant of beholding irrefutable evidence, shattered through the remnant soul's restraints. The spiritual energy within the Suspended Gourd Grotto lurched into chaos — the floating spirit-herbs burst and scattered, and the river of liquid spiritual energy reared up in waves dozens of feet high.

"Arthur Wen… Gordon Jin…" The Director's spiritual will detonated inside my mind, laced with a tearing, rending agony. "Thirty years ago… the Spirit Child Sacrifice Case… they used my Suspended Gourd… to refine corrupt pills…"

The vision flashed again: the Director, report in hand, levelling accusations at White Tiger Hall before the Council of Elders — only to be framed by Arthur Wen with a blood-jade thumb ring. In the gilded hall of the Xuanmen Bureau, the voice of justice was drowned beneath the clamour of factional strife. The token of the Demon-Demon Demon Suppression Bureau was snapped in public, and with it, the light in the eyes of Old Uncle Zhang's generation of brothers guttered and went dark.

"Director," I forced down the storm surging in my chest. "There is still a chance. If you can reconstitute your physical form and expose the truth…"

My words were not yet finished when the system chime detonated in my mind like an alarm bell:

Ding! Detected: Nascent Soul–stage remnant soul with intense desire to reconstitute. Emergency mission triggered: "The Radiant Return of the Suspended Gourd."

Mission objective: Assist the Director of the Xuanmen Bureau in reconstituting his physical form and exposing Arthur Wen's conspiracy.

Mission options:

Option 1 — Expend all 2,200 Merit Points to exchange for the "Nine-Cycle Mysterious-Yellow Pill," and channel 50% of the Sea-Sea-Suppressing Jade Pendant's energy to assist with integration. Success rate: 47%.

Option 2 — Abandon the mission. Carry the evidence out of the Suspended Gourd Grotto and seek an alternative means of exposure. Risk: evidence may be intercepted by Arthur Wen; the Director's remnant soul will dissipate entirely.

My pupils contracted sharply. Two thousand two hundred Merit Points — every last bit of wealth I currently possessed. And the Sea-Sea-Suppressing Jade Pendant — a divine artefact left behind by an ancient supreme cultivator, the last card I held against rogue practitioners. Burning half its energy meant I would have no protection whatsoever in the near term.

"Think carefully, rookie!" The projection of the system's old elder suddenly materialised above the bronze ring, his jar of pickled-vegetable instant noodles spilling across the floor. "The Nine-Cycle Mysterious-Yellow Pill is a life-gambling pill. For a Nascent Soul remnant to reconstitute a physical body is tantamount to defying heaven itself. If it fails, his soul will be utterly annihilated — and there's a decent chance you'll be dragged down with him!"

The remnant soul upon the jade bed seemed to sense my hesitation. Its spirit-flames dimmed, like a guttering candle in the wind. The golden radiance of the Suspended Gourd faded in kind, and the sealing formations of the grotto-heaven groaned under the strain, letting out a sharp crack.

I thought of Jade Lin's reddened eyes as she bade me farewell at our doorstep. I thought of little Chuan holding up his Ultraman cards and calling me "Daddy." I thought of Old Uncle Zhang beneath the ancient locust tree, tapping his walking stick with that stubborn set to his jaw, saying the Demon-Demon Demon Suppression Bureau cannot fall. I thought of Elder Kai running his fingers over the faded group photograph of the Division's former members, his longing for the wife he had lost. If Arthur Wen remained in power, how many children like little Chuan would be destroyed by Baizhen Pavilion's Sinescale Powder? How much longer would the old brothers of the Demon-Demon Demon Suppression Bureau have to hide among the market stalls?

End of Chapter 63: The Radiant Return of the Suspended Gourd