Xuanqing Guard

Shen Hao hadn’t expected that Wang Jian would actually find something new in the Xu Family’s business. But it sounded a bit unreliable.

"Are you sure it’s the elixir business? Where would the Xu Family get pills to sell, and all of middle and high grade at that?"

"Yes, my lord, I am certain."

"Explain in detail." Shen Hao opened the document Wang Jian had just handed him, checked the table of contents, then flipped to the section concerning elixirs, all the while letting Wang Jian continue his report.

"My lord, although the Xu Family’s accounts technically don’t have an explicit ’elixir’ category—instead, they use medicinal herbs as a cover—their bookkeeping obviously conceals something. The profit from what came in and went out is far higher than the profit margin for normal herbal transactions. At first we suspected there might be covert bribery involved, so we traced the Xu Family’s books in reverse to look deeper. Turns out all the transaction links in the records are faked."

"Faked? They even falsify their own family’s accounts?"

"Probably to deceive outsiders. If we didn’t have a huge number of case files for reference, we wouldn’t have noticed the anomaly in these ’herb’ profit margins so easily. Anyone else checking would surely have been misled."

Shen Hao expressed his satisfaction with a soft "good." It seemed Wang Jian hadn’t treated his earlier words as mere talk and was already enjoying the benefits of ’big data.’

Wang Jian continued helping Shen Hao clarify the chain of events: "After discovering something was off, we tracked the flow of silver notes in the accounts. Once we cross-checked with the Money Shop, we found that all the Xu Family’s deals in this area used small, scattered silver notes with no title—not the large-value notes usually used for big trades. That’s even odder. What kind of business would be so cautious as to deliberately use scattered silver notes? Are they afraid someone could track the source?"

If it were anyone else, they’d probably be at a dead end. But our Black Banner Battalion is very familiar with these methods of using scattered silver notes to move goods. Transactions on the Flying Dragon side, which have started to pick up again, run almost entirely on these scattered silver flows."

So at that time we concluded the Xu Family probably hid black market dealings in their books."

Shen Hao had just reached that part in the document as well.

"So I asked Flying Dragon to check; turned out, the so-called ’herbs’ in the Xu Family’s records are actually elixirs—quite a lot of them, and all of middle and high grade. Very odd."

"Flying Dragon found this? How? He can reach beyond Jingxi Land now?"

"My lord, based on the amounts in and out in the Xu Family’s books and the transaction times, you can roughly estimate it. Flying Dragon then asked some well-connected contacts to verify the past several transactions, which confirmed it. Also, Impermanence Department has already checked according to Flying Dragon’s tips—it’s correct, it’s indeed the Xu Family. I just haven’t had the chance yet to ask where these connections came from."

Shen Hao flipped further down and saw that the Xu Family really had moved quite a number of elixirs through the black market. From the beginning of the year to the end of June, they’d shipped thirty-one pills in total—twenty-nine of middle grade, two of high grade. But there were very few of the true qi-supporting elixirs; nearly all were for healing wounds.

Even if they aren’t the most in-demand type of pill, that quantity is astonishing.

"Have we found out where these pills came from?"

"No. We only know the Xu Family’s black market agent is a broker called Wang Wu. He’s already being closely watched by the Impermanence Department—we want to get a better read on him before making an arrest."

Because he’d been working on the case files for the past two days, Shen Hao was keenly aware of every stage and development in the Ma San Case, having reviewed the details himself. Now, the new information Wang Jian brought naturally reminded him of some earlier theories about the case.

"You remember, when we captured Ma San Kui, you found lots of elixirs in his storage bag?"

"I remember, my lord. Ma San Kui confessed back then that those pills were given by the sect behind him." As Wang Jian spoke, his eyes lit up and he exclaimed, "My lord, do you mean the elixirs that Xu Family is selling came from the pseudo-evil cultivation sect behind Ma San Kui?"

Shen Hao made a noise of agreement and continued: "Ma San Kui didn’t know what was going on between his sect, the Barbarian Race, and this Xu Hong contact. He’s just a vanguard. But if we consider his confession together with the suspicious activity from the Xu Family, perhaps we can draw some new conclusions."

"For example, Ma San Kui once said the money for goods all came from the Barbarian Race, and all the silver notes were from Jing Old Dynasty Money Shop. Is it possible those notes were actually from the Barbarian Race trading herbs for elixirs with the Xu Family? Some of these herbs, perhaps special varieties, would be the payment to Ma San Kui’s sect. And at the same time, his sect was trading elixirs with the Xu Family?"

Logically, it’s possible. Elixirs are consumables—the more you use, the fewer you have. Alchemists are extremely rare, and high-grade alchemists are tightly held by the major sects. Ordinary cultivators, apart from buying pills at the auction house for a cut-throat price, can only get their quota issued by the Dynasty, or through the military or Xuanqing Guard, according to rank.

The distributed elixirs are always far from enough. Not everyone is like Shen Hao, who can rely on his Black Beast Tattoo to forge an alternate path for cultivation energy. Usually, the higher one’s cultivation, the greater their need for elixirs. Factor in tolerance buildup, and consumption is even heavier.

The Xu Family is motivated to get more elixirs—not just for their own use, but to resell for huge profits on the black market. Demand vastly exceeds supply.

"After you leave, check on Ma San Kui again to confirm his statements. Then continue monitoring the broker handling Xu Family’s black market sales. Don’t act rashly—be sure there are no other connections before making an arrest."

"Understood, my lord."

"Also, hmm, try to cover up anything in the Xu Family’s accounts that involves elixirs. Whether it’s internally or in future case file evidence, nothing should draw attention. You know what I mean?"

"Ah? Understood, my lord. I’ll have the records handled thoroughly when I return. No one will spot the hint."

"Good. Go on, and hurry."

"Yes, my lord, I’ll take my leave." Wang Jian bowed and withdrew. He didn’t know why Shen Hao wanted to hide this part of the case, but he chose not to ask. Whatever he ought to know, Lord Shen would tell him.

Wang Jian left. Shen Hao picked up his brush and went back to drafting the casebook. By dusk, the "Ma San Case" file was complete. He read through it once more, then put it away. But he didn’t include the part about "elixirs" that Wang Jian had brought at noon.