Yan Qiushan asked, "What happened?"

"Nothing, I just thought it was quite a coincidence," Xuan Ji paused for a moment, "That day, I happened to be traveling far from home, and my family came out to see me off..."

As the king of junk, he didn't have much prestige, but it was rare for him to go out, so all the scrap metal and broken objects from the altar came out, and the mountains and fields were filled with ghostly ancient artifacts.

"So, Chiyuan was quite lively that day. Perhaps that's why the culprit didn't have time to make Dr. Han 'disappear' silently..."

"You mean..." Chief Huang widened his eyes, took a heavy step forward, and bumped his hip into the nearby stone table with a muffled sound, sounding painful.

"Old Huang, be careful..."

"Chief Huang, watch your step!"

Chief Huang stumbled to one side, grabbing Xuan Ji's sleeve with a tremble.

"Are you saying that someone might have seen... seen her? Is that what you mean?"

"Please calm down first." Xiao Zheng quickly helped Chief Huang up and gave Xuan Ji a glare, thinking to himself, isn't this nonsense?

Chiyuan is such a vast area, even just the developed edge scenic spots require driving to explore. With a thousand people scattered around, they might not even bump into each other after a whole day.

How could they coincidentally stumble upon the scene of a murder?

Is the primitive forest a small park?

"Don't talk nonsense. Do you even know where the crime scene is? They weren't wandering around the county town or the scenic area at the time. The investigation team entered the primitive forest area without special permission, which is hundreds of miles away from the scenic area. How could you possibly go there for a farewell? Is that the direction to the afterlife?"

Xuan Ji weighed the crowd's ability to accept and thought for a moment.

He felt that they had already accepted the emperor, so it shouldn't be a big deal to reveal the truth.

"When I say 'home,' I mean a real home, not a manifestation used in the mortal world...ugh, excuse me, in the human world. Um...the address is actually in the Chiyuan Canyon. You haven't detected the Chiyuan energy source there, have you? There's a roughly two-square-kilometer area that seems to be missing, right?"

Dan Lin blurted out, "How did you know?"

Dr. Wang's lips trembled as he suddenly stood up.

"Normally, every home has a 'fence' in the backyard. That's where I live. It's hidden by an ancient formation...um, the Vermilion Bird Bone Seal is also inside."

Xuan Ji couldn't be an ordinary person.

The members of the Bureau of Paranormal Control all agreed on this point - after all, not everyone dared to 'point to the Emperor as a sword spirit'. But to this day, no one knows his exact origins, and privately guessing is futile.

Xuan Ji is a sociable person, easy to make friends with, and seems like he can go out for a drink with anyone and become brothers. But when the alcohol wears off and people come to their senses, they may realize they don't even know his name.

Xiao Zheng has known him for many years, saved his life, and even helped him purchase life-sized figurines from overseas. Between the two of them, one often campaigns for his favorite girl group members on social media, while one shares inspirational quotes about working overtime.

Despite all this, they have never guarded against each other, a testament to their friendship.

Xuan Ji knew about Xiao Zheng's grandparents' multiple divorces and even knew when their old dog Wang's birthday was.

But now, as Xiao Zheng thought back, he realized that this 'old friend' had never revealed any personal information to him, except for the A4 paper resume he submitted when he was hired. Maybe even that A4 paper was fake!

Xiao Zheng looked at him blankly and asked, "So you're not a person, what are you?"

"Speak nicely, don't curse me. I am..." Xuan Ji was at a loss for words. "I am..."

What exactly was he?

This was a confusing situation.

If he said he was a "Vermilion Bird," his name would not match his identity, and he would be shamelessly trying to claim a prestigious family lineage.

When he was a bird, he was stillborn. As a sword spirit, he destroyed his own sword. After a drunken night, he spent a thousand years in the mortal world, forgetting and waking up, lost in the clouds and mist, with nothing to rely on.

Only the cold branches of Sheng Lingyuan were suitable for landing, covered in years of frost.

Xuan Ji searched his mind and couldn't help but laugh bitterly: "I'm quite abstract, and it's really hard to explain - I'm just a keeper of the fire for Chiyuan, with the title of 'Fire-keeper'. You can think of me as...um, the Vermilion Bird Bone Seal of Chiyuan."

Dan Lin was stunned, while Xiao Zheng looked blank.

Old Dr. Wang's legs went weak, and he collapsed back onto the low sofa.

Seeing the old man's expression, Xuan Ji felt quite sympathetic. He remembered a senior in the economics department who became famous for his bad luck. This student researched a company for his thesis, collecting data, building models, and typing away for three years until his brain was as dry as the Sahara desert.

On the day before the final draft was due, the research subject was exposed for financial fraud, and everything fell apart.

"Well... it seems like I might have been your research subject all these years," Xuan Ji rubbed his nose. "Don't be like that, Doctor. I had no idea someone would spend eighteen years studying me. If I had known, I would have come out and given you a report."

Old Chief Huang snapped out of his daze, his lips moving anxiously.

"Chief, don't worry. When I say 'family,' I don't mean humans. They're some... special species that are easily attracted to malice and blood. If Dr. Han really suffered under their hands that day, the process of refining the True Pill could indeed attract them. I can ask around for you... but don't get your hopes up too high. With their level of intelligence, even if they do come across them, they might not understand what's going on."

Chief Huang's heart was pounding, and he couldn't speak. He just stared at Xuan Ji, recalling the past ten years of his life. He couldn't decide if he was feeling anticipation or fear, if he wanted to cry or laugh.

Xuan Ji asked someone for a large porcelain bowl and a stick of incense.

He rubbed his hands together and a cluster of snow-white flames jumped onto the incense stick.

Normally, the flame on an incense stick would quickly go out, but this one burned steadily without moving. Xuan Ji poured a few bottles of mineral water into the porcelain bowl and inserted the incense stick into the water. The incense stick stood upright on the surface of the water like a magnet.

The smoke from the incense drifted towards the southwest without any wind, hitting the white wall and passing through it effortlessly.

"They will reply after receiving it," Xuan Ji said to Chief Huang. "Chiyuan is quite far away, so we need to be patient."

Chief Huang had calmed down and forced a smile.

"I've been waiting for ten years, so I don't mind waiting a little longer."

"No problem," Xuan Ji suddenly became serious.

Chief Huang was taken aback.

"After experiencing great joy or sorrow, people's emotions will eventually return to their original state. Living in a villa, one may not feel that the house is too big. Getting used to being an orphan, one may find that life can still go on," Xuan Ji gently said to him.

"But the only thing that people cannot adapt to is 'waiting.' Every second of waiting is a fresh torture, whether it's waiting for a car, waiting in line, waiting for the truth, or waiting for someone... it's all the same."

As he spoke, his gaze passed over Chief Huang's head and landed on Sheng Lingyuan, who was standing against the wall with his arms crossed.

"After waiting for so long, it becomes unbearable when a glimmer of hope appears," said Xuan Ji.

Sheng Lingyuan stood in the shadows, indifferent and not meeting his gaze. At first glance, he was almost indistinguishable from his previous jade body of the Heart-Piercing Grass Curse.

Xuan Ji chuckled self-deprecatingly and looked away.

"The disciples of the True Nature Sect have been restless these past few years, always wanting to smash me into firewood and burn me in the Chiyuan for no reason. I am innocent, so I had to come out and deal with them. Since everyone is here, I will confess everything and answer any questions."

Then he focused on the main points and omitted the subtle love, hate, and grudges inside. He briefly recounted the history of the great battle and the burning of the Chiyuan, speaking concisely and straightforwardly.

Sheng Lingyuan stood like a statue, breathing quieter than anyone else as he listened to Xuan Ji speak, but his thoughts drifted far away. He remembered how the Sword Spirit had always been noisy and talkative since he was young.

It couldn't be helped, as showing off feathers and tongues was a natural trait of the bird tribe. No matter what the topic was, he always had to add some embellishment.

When they were young, their imperial teacher taught them both literature and etiquette, as well as the classics.

But the children couldn't understand anything too deep, so Dan Li told them stories about historical figures as a way of enlightenment.

Since it was for enlightenment, the stories couldn't just be listened to for fun.

After telling the story the day before, Sheng Lingyuan had to retell it the next day and summarize the lesson himself. This not only trained his ability to speak and summarize, but also instilled in him Dan Li's idea of "the way of the ruler" through subtle influence.

During class, the Little Sword Spirit would fall asleep after just three sentences of serious teaching.

Only during story time could he be awakened. After listening to the lively tales, he still couldn't settle down.

The next day during Dan Li's examination, he couldn't resist jumping around in Sheng Lingyuan's sea of knowledge, hoping he would forget the words and show off his wit.

Unfortunately, Sheng Lingyuan had a good memory and the Little Sword Spirit never had a chance to shine. He was so lonely that he had to let his imagination run wild and create his own set of wild stories.

Sheng Lingyuan had been taught about emperors, generals, and scholars, but the Little Sword Spirit's stories were full of errors and misconceptions.

When the Heavenly Demon Sword was unsheathed, the Little Sword Spirit could wander around freely. He had created more than half of the rumors that the emperor had ever heard in his life, and he was as productive as anything.

Sheng Lingyuan had never heard Xuan Ji speak in such a dull manner before.

It was as if every word had to be sharpened on his heart.

When he spoke of old stories, he was surprisingly economical with his words.

Even so, the amount of information was still too much for everyone to digest.