The first ledger opened with a smell of old paper, dust, and dried ink.
No one spoke for a moment.
Lu Si Cheng stood before the low table, his hand resting on the record box as if he were holding down something that might crawl out if released carelessly. Yong Yuan moved the remaining boxes beside him, arranging them by seal color and year mark.
Jin Fen stared at the pile.
"This is not evidence," he said. "This is punishment."
Yong Yuan gave him a tired look. "Young master Jin Fen, this is only the first set."
Jin Fen's face changed. "There is more?"
Lu Si Cheng glanced at him. "Do you want the truth or comfort?"
"I was hoping truth came with comfort."
"It rarely does."
Ye Qiran leaned forward and picked up one of the smaller scrolls. "What exactly are these?"
"Complaints," Lu Si Cheng said. "Petitions. Death records. Missing-child reports. Unfinished accusations. Witness statements that were accepted, buried, rejected, or transferred to officials who should never have touched them."
The pavilion became colder.
Ye Qingyang's gaze lowered to the opened ledger. "From how many years?"
"Past to present," Yong Yuan answered. "Anything connected to the officials' accusation today, forbidden cultivation, newborns, children with unclosed divine lines, unusual deaths, and reports involving curse-related power fluctuations."
Jin Fen slowly straightened from the pillar.
The laziness in his posture disappeared.
"So they did not start recently."
Lu Si Cheng turned one page. "No. Recently, they became careless."
That sentence was calm, but it landed heavily.
Ye Qiran's fingers tightened around the scroll. "Because Yan's curse stopped feeding them?"
"Partly," Lu Si Cheng said. "When the power source was stable, greed made them patient. When the source weakened, fear made them reckless."
Jin Liwei stood near the entrance to the inner lounge. He had not sat down since leaving Yan's side. His expression was quiet, but anyone who knew him well could tell that his patience was held by a thin thread.
Jin Fen glanced at him, then wisely chose not to make a joke.
Ye Qingyang pulled the first ledger closer. "Then we divide the work."
Lu Si Cheng looked at him.
Ye Qingyang's voice remained steady. "The ledgers need someone who can read official record language, compare dates, and notice what has been removed. I will go through every ledger you brought."
Jin Fen blinked. "Every ledger?"
Ye Qingyang did not look at him. "Yes."
"You are saying that as if you enjoy pain."
"I enjoy order."
"That is worse."
Ye Qiran gave Jin Fen a warning look. "Let him work."
Jin Fen raised both hands. "I am supporting him emotionally."
"Do it silently."
A faint sound escaped Yong Yuan. It might have been a cough, but it looked suspiciously like a suppressed laugh.
The tension eased for one breath before Lu Si Cheng placed another bundle of documents on the table.
"These are the present witness submissions."
Ye Qiran reached for them immediately. "I'll take these."
God of Wealth Ye, who had remained silent until now, looked at his daughter. "Qiran."
She paused.
His expression was no longer playful. "You will not move alone."
"I know."
"You know, but you do not always listen."
Qiran looked at him for a moment, then her tone softened. "Father, I will check the submissions first. Locations, witness names, rumor movement, and which officials reacted too quickly after court. I will not personally confront anyone without backup."
God of Wealth Ye studied her face.
Then he nodded once.
It was not full approval, but it was trust.
Qiran lowered her eyes briefly, then returned to the documents. "If the officials are afraid, they will not stay still. Someone will try to silence witnesses, move evidence, or spread rumors before the next court session. We need to know who moves first."
Lu Si Cheng's gaze sharpened with approval. "Good."
Jin Fen tapped the table. "Then the hidden witness is mine."
Ye Qingyang finally looked at him. "You are certain?"
Jin Fen smiled, but there was no usual mischief in it. "Someone submitted useful evidence but hid their identity. That person is either terrified, guilty, trapped, or clever enough to know revealing themselves would get them killed."
"Or all four," Ye Qiran added.
"Exactly." Jin Fen's smile deepened. "People like that do not hide without leaving habits behind. A route. A messenger. A payment. A nervous servant. A false name used twice. I will find the loose thread."
Yong Yuan sighed. "Please do not create five more loose threads while doing so."
"I make no promises."
Lu Si Cheng closed the empty record box and looked at Jin Fen. "Your role is not to drag the witness here. Your role is to identify them, confirm whether they are safe, and report back."
Jin Fen's brows lifted. "You think I am that reckless?"
Everyone looked at him.
He clicked his tongue. "Fine. Hurtful, but fair."
From beside the lounge entrance, Jin Liwei finally spoke. "I will go to the hell archives."
The room quieted again.
Qiran looked at him. "For the death records?"
"For the deaths that do not match mortal records," Jin Liwei said. "If children were used as cultivation material, their deaths may have been disguised in the human and divine ledgers. But the soul registry cannot be altered easily."
Lu Si Cheng's eyes darkened. "Not easily, but not impossible."
Jin Liwei met his gaze. "That is why I will check it myself."
A shadow passed over the room.
Everyone understood what that meant.
If the hell archive had also been touched, then the matter was far larger than corrupted officials hiding crimes. It meant someone had reached across realms.
Yong Yuan lowered his voice. "I will continue moving between your office, the record hall, and the outer messengers. But after today's court session, the palace will watch every official route."
Lu Si Cheng nodded. "Then use unofficial ones."
Yong Yuan smiled bitterly. "My lord, you make that sound easy."
"You have survived under me this long. Do not disappoint me now."
"That is not encouragement."
"It was not meant to be."
Jin Fen looked between them. "Is this how official loyalty works?"
Yong Yuan gave him a flat look. "This is how exhaustion works."
This time, even Ye Qiran's mouth curved slightly.
The small moment of humor faded when Ye Qingyang turned the ledger toward the lamp.
"There is a problem."
All eyes moved to him.
He pointed to the lower corner of the page. "These complaints were filed under different categories. Missing children. Failed cultivation. Sudden illness. Beast attack. Family crime. But the handwriting used in the approval marks is the same."
Qiran leaned closer. "One person processed all of them?"
"No." Ye Qingyang's eyes narrowed. "One person redirected them."
Lu Si Cheng's expression hardened.
Yong Yuan immediately pulled another ledger from the box and opened it beside the first. Ye Qingyang compared the marks, page by page.
The pavilion fell into silence except for the sound of paper turning.
Then Ye Qingyang stopped.
"Here too."
Another ledger.
Another page.
Another approval mark.
The same hidden hand.
Jin Fen no longer smiled. "So before witnesses disappeared, before cases died, before families stopped complaining…"
Qiran finished for him, her voice cold. "Someone gathered all the suffering into one place."
Lu Si Cheng looked toward the closed lounge doors.
Yan was still cultivating inside, unaware that the first thread had already tightened.
Jin Liwei's gaze also moved to the door. For a moment, his expression softened.
Then it vanished.
Lu Si Cheng closed the first ledger.
"This is the next move," he said. "We find the hand that redirected the complaints."
Outside, the bamboo curtains stirred again.
This time, no one joked.
The board had opened.
And somewhere within the records, the first hidden piece had shown its shadow.