After finalizing the schedule for the coming days, Jian Dan swiftly got to work, assisting Jian Lu Zūnzhǔ in managing the affairs of the Law Enforcement Hall.
"Senior Brother, I'd like to have Jian Sheng assist me for a while. Every bit of information during this period needs to be carefully screened before we discuss it."
"Alright. No problem. I already sent Jian Sheng to the Intelligence Hall to retrieve the information jade slips. He should be back soon."
Just as he finished speaking, Jian Sheng stepped through the main hall doors. After bowing to the two Zūnzhǔs, he approached Jian Dan and presented a storage ring.
"Jian Lu Zūnzhǔ, these are the jade slips you requested. They've already been sorted and categorized. All are related to the Fu family. Please feel free to review them."
Jian Dan nodded and accepted the ring. She took out one of the slips and was about to inspect it when she noticed Jian Sheng had yet to leave. As she glanced his way, he cupped his hands respectfully.
"Zūnzhǔ, there's something I wish to ask."
"Go on, what is it? You intelligence types always love digging all the way to the root."
She teased, and Jian Sheng gave a faint smile in acknowledgment.
"Zūnzhǔ, when Fu Cha's evil artifact was destroyed and the myriad souls scattered in chaos, what song did you play? How did it manage to pacify those frenzied evil souls?"
Hearing the question, Jian Dan set down the jade slip in her hand and replied,
"The piece is called 'Requiem.' I came across the score during my travels in the mortal realm. I took a liking to it and learned it for leisure. Never thought it would come in handy one day. There's a story behind it too."
Upon hearing that, Jian Sheng immediately produced a blank jade slip, ready to record it.
Jian Dan, feeling inclined to share, began recounting the tale.
"It's an old, rather cliché love story. The son of a general had been betrothed to his childhood sweetheart since they were children. They were deeply in love and had planned to marry once the girl came of age. But right when that time came, war broke out.
The general was called to battle and died on the front lines. His son had no choice but to take up arms and fulfill his father's legacy, wielding his sword to protect the nation. Just as he reclaimed lost territory step by step, peace negotiations began. As part of the truce, the king offered a princess in marriage to the enemy kingdom to seal the accord.
Overjoyed by the ceasefire, the young general returned home, eager to marry his beloved. But the girl had already been named princess and sent off to the enemy nation as part of the political alliance.
The young general nearly went mad. He openly defied the king in court and was banished to guard the borderlands. He accepted the punishment—just to be a little closer to the girl he loved.
So he remained at the frontier, silently protecting her from afar. Until the day she died before him. When war broke out again, the general didn't retreat an inch. He fought to the bitter end, battling the enemy until not a single soldier remained on either side.
The corpses of both armies piled into a mountain between the two nations. When the desert winds blew across the border, people could still hear the clash of steel and war cries. Some even claimed they saw the ghost of the young general.
Five years later, the neighboring kingdom was struck by drought. Its people, desperate and starving, fled across the border, trying to cross the mass grave in search of survival. But not a single soul could pass through that spectral barrier.
A Daoist cultivator happened by. Seeing the situation and unwilling to let more resentful spirits be born, he gave a birth chart and said that a certain girl could lead the people across the grave.
The girl, a member of the fleeing refugees, knelt and begged the cultivator to tell her what she must do. He simply whispered the young general's name to her and vanished.
That girl was the daughter of the princess who had been sent away in marriage. After her mother died, she had lived an unloved life, her half-foreign blood making her an outcast in the royal family. Longing to return to the capital where her mother had once lived, she had joined the fleeing crowd to reach the border.
Just one step away was the homeland her mother had longed for until death—the very place where the man she had loved was buried. The girl took out the only relic her mother had left her: an ancient guqin. Sitting on the ground, she played a single melody, soothing the souls of the fallen.
The familiar sound stilled the general's spirit. When the last note faded, the girl said, 'General, my mother asked me to tell you: she's waiting by the Bridge of Forgetfulness.'
With that, his soul dissipated. The barrier vanished. And the girl returned to her mother's homeland, never leaving again for the rest of her life."
Jian Dan finished her tale and took a sip of spiritual tea. She looked at Jian Sheng.
"Whether vengeful souls or evil spirits, what keeps them lingering is obsession. That's why I played 'Requiem'."
"I see. Zūnzhǔ is truly wise and well-traveled."
Jian Sheng carefully recorded the story, then stored away the jade slip, satisfied now that his curiosity had been eased.
Jian Dan then copied the music into another jade slip and handed it to him.
"This score isn't a secret. Place it in the library. Anyone interested can study it."
Jian Sheng accepted the slip respectfully and tucked it into his sleeve.
"Jian Sheng, has the broken remnant of the 'Ten Thousand Soul Banner' been recovered?" Jian Dan suddenly asked.
"It has. It's already been sealed by a Zhēnzūn."
Upon hearing that, Jian Dan turned to Jian Li and said,
"Senior Brother, this artifact is deeply tainted. It can choose its own master. Jian Xu and I had to join forces, and even then we only managed to destroy it with Yue Liang's guidance. It's best to destroy it as soon as possible. Don't give them a chance to restore it."
"You're saying the artifact can repair itself?"
Jian Li frowned. When it came to dealing with evil artifacts, the Heavenly Sword Sect didn't have much experience.
"Of course it can. Such things feed on resentment, malice, and obsession. Tell me, which cultivator has no desires? No obsessions? I have no wish for the Heavenly Sword Sect to sit on a ticking time bomb."
"Besides, during the soul-search, it was clear that the artifact was a gift from that evil cultivator to Fu Cha. Whether it was to extend his life or to nourish the artifact through him, that person definitely has a way to call it back."
Her words struck hard.
This time, Jian Li didn't argue. He nodded, activated a messaging talisman, and shortly after, a reply arrived. Jian Li read it and smiled slightly.
"Everything you said, Tian Yun Zhēnzūn has already anticipated. The broken 'Ten Thousand Soul Banner' is in his possession, and he's using spiritual fire to destroy it. Progress has just been slow."
In other words, they were trying to burn it to ashes with spirit flames. Jian Dan understood immediately. The slow pace likely had something to do with the souls sealed within.
She turned the white jade ring on her finger, then with a flick of her hand, took out a Vajra Bodhi Seed. Forming a seal, she guided a thread of her own merit-golden light into it. The seed glowed with a brilliant, sacred aura.
She placed it in a brocade box and handed it to Jian Li Zūnzhǔ.
"Senior Brother, please give this to Zhēnzūn. He'll know how to use it. It should speed up the destruction of the 'Ten Thousand Soul Banner' and prevent future trouble."
"Alright. I'll be back shortly."
Understanding the urgency, Jian Li wasted no time. He hurried to the forbidden grounds in the rear mountain to meet Tian Yun Zhēnzūn, delivering the Vajra Bodhi Seed infused with Jian Dan's merit light.
"Jian Lu sees far ahead. This is exactly what I need," Tian Yun Zhēnzūn said, accepting the seed and returning to his cave dwelling.
Jian Li also returned to the Law Enforcement Hall. He nodded at Jian Dan, who finally let out a breath of relief. She had promised Yue Liang she'd see that artifact destroyed.
Now that the pressure was off, she continued reviewing the Fu family records. Just as she was about to double-check for anything she might have missed, her body suddenly trembled. Her spiritual power began to surge out of control, alarming Jian Li and the others nearby.
"Jian Lu! What's happening?"