Early morning, at the patrol team’s station.

Li Yuan concocted the medicinal solution, then used a Concealing Breath Jade Pendant to absorb it, refining it into Spirit Liquid.

After making some preparations, he arrived to find two people already standing in the courtyard.

The one leaning against the wall was short but broad-shouldered, wearing a well-tailored, gray-blue tunic.

In his early twenties, he had a square-jawed face, a high brow ridge, and his lips were pressed into a thin line.

The one next to him was half a head taller and lean and wiry. He wore similar gray-blue clothes, but the fabric was clearly finer than the other’s, with an inconspicuous circle of silver thread embroidered on the collar.

He was twenty-four or twenty-five, with delicate features, a slightly pointed chin, and a steady gaze. He was examining the courtyard’s furnishings.

When the two saw the deputy captain’s token on Li Yuan’s waist, they cupped their fists in unison.

"Wang Qi," the shorter one spoke first, his voice loud.

"Wang Yuan," the taller one followed up, his voice softer.

Li Yuan nodded. Without any pleasantries, he briefly described the portrait of Qian Si he had prepared the previous night and several routes around the outskirts of the market.

After hearing this, Wang Qi grinned.

"Three of us against a single Qi Refining Fifth Level? Shouldn’t be hard."

Wang Yuan shot him a glance but said nothing.

Li Yuan took a small porcelain bottle from his sleeve, uncorked it, and divided the dark green liquid into three portions.

He drank one portion himself and poured the other two into a pair of small, portable bowls before handing them over.

"It’s a breath-concealing potion. Drinking it will suppress your aura significantly."

Wang Qi took the bowl, brought it to his nose to sniff, then furrowed his brow and downed it in one gulp.

"Bitter."

Wang Yuan lifted his bowl and took a sip. He frowned but finished the rest quietly without a word.

As the potion entered his stomach, a cool, faintly bitter sensation slid from his throat into his chest.

Li Yuan could feel his Spiritual Power fluctuations receding, his Qi Refining Fifth Level aura suppressed to about the third or fourth level of Qi Refining.

The three of them discussed some more specifics, then decided to lie in wait.

"Let’s go."

The three left the station and went down North Alley, circling around to a nearby side alley.

The door to the house where Qian Si lived was closed. Looking from the alley’s entrance, the crack in the wooden door was clearly visible.

Li Yuan didn’t linger. He led the other two past the alley’s entrance and continued forward.

"We’ll wait outside the market’s east gate first. He’ll most likely use the east gate to leave."

The trio crossed through the market along East Street and stopped in the shadow of a low wall outside the east gate.

Wang Yuan took a cloth from his storage pouch, laid it out in front of him, and then scattered a few miscellaneous items on top of it.

While they waited, Wang Qi squatted at the base of the wall, unable to keep his mouth shut.

"Deputy Li, how many years have you been working in this market?"

"Long enough."

"Captain Wang mentioned you. Said you’re sharp and have good observational skills. You were the one who first discovered the lead on Zhao Wu."

Wang Qi glanced around, lowered his voice, and took on a more serious tone.

"Honestly, do you know who might be behind this Qian Si?"

Li Yuan glanced at him.

"I don’t know."

Wang Qi’s mouth moved, but Wang Yuan spoke first, his tone placid.

"The family is already investigating. The main suspect right now is the Li family. I suspect others have their guesses too, but there’s no conclusive evidence."

Wang Yuan folded his hands into his sleeves.

"Forget the intelligence we’ve gathered—just look at the surface. The Li family’s market is expanding, their surroundings are clean, and Demon Beasts are rare. And us? We’re seeing more and more Demon Beasts, and Loose Cultivators and shops are constantly leaving."

"Too neat a coincidence," Wang Qi chimed in with a scoff. "The Demon Beasts are running rampant in our market, while the Li family’s market is perfectly peaceful. Most of the Loose Cultivators who left went over to their side."

Wang Yuan pulled a hand from his sleeve and gestured eastward.

"Even though we suspect the Li family, we have no proof. And we still need to figure out how they’re agitating the Demon Beasts."

"If it turns into a beast tide, it would be a devastating blow to the market."

Li Yuan leaned against the low wall, his gaze sweeping over the figures entering and exiting the east gate, offering no comment.

The three of them waited for nearly an hour. Several waves of people had come and gone through the east gate.

The sun gradually rose higher, and the shadow of the low wall shortened.

Wang Qi couldn’t stay squatting any longer. Just as he stood up to stretch his legs, Li Yuan’s gaze suddenly froze.

A man walked out of the east gate.

He was in his thirties, with high cheekbones, a crooked nose, and thin lips. The top half of his left ear was missing, a detail that was particularly conspicuous in the morning light.

He wore a gray hemp tunic, carried a small cloth bag on his back, and walked at a steady pace down the dirt road leading out of the city, heading southeast.

Qian Si.

Li Yuan didn’t move. He waited until Qian Si was several dozen zhang away, his figure about to disappear into the roadside bushes, before slipping out from behind the low wall.

"Follow him. Keep your distance and stay quiet."

Wang Yuan packed up his stall. The three of them followed along the dirt road, maintaining a distance of fifty to sixty zhang.

Li Yuan took out a Concealing Breath Talisman, slapped it on himself, and infused it with Spiritual Power. His Spiritual Power aura diminished even further, becoming almost weaker than a Qi Refining First Level. As long as they followed from a distance, he probably wouldn’t be detected.

Wang Yuan and Wang Qi also used their own Concealing Breath Talismans, suppressing their auras to a very low level.

Combined with the fact that Qian Si kept walking forward without any sign of looking back, the first half of the pursuit went smoothly.

About three li outside the market, the dirt road forked.

Qian Si didn’t take the main road, instead turning onto a narrower wild path to the right.

The bushes on both sides of the path grew denser, obstructing their view. Wang Yuan, holding some kind of Magical Artifact, slowed his pace, increasing their distance to seventy or eighty zhang.

Wang Qi followed behind Li Yuan to the right, with Wang Yuan in the lead. The three of them formed a loose triangle.

After walking for about another half-hour, Qian Si stopped beside a dry creek bed.

Li Yuan and the others hid behind a clump of bushes, roughly seventy to eighty zhang away.

Through the gaps in the bushes, they could faintly see Qian Si’s figure, but not clearly.

He squatted by the edge of the creek, placed his cloth bag on the ground, and then faced the opposite bank, seemingly waiting for someone.

He didn’t have to wait long before someone emerged from the bushes on the opposite side.

The person was of medium height, wearing a conical bamboo hat pulled down low, obscuring their face. They wore a worn, gray robe with something bulky tucked into their belt. At this distance, their Cultivation was unclear.

Li Yuan glanced back and saw that Wang Yuan had switched to a different Magical Artifact. He gave a slight shake of his head, signaling not to act, which was exactly what Li Yuan was thinking.

The man in the hat walked up to Qian Si. They stood on opposite sides of the creek bed, less than a zhang apart.

Their voices were too low to be heard at this distance.

Li Yuan sensed a faint Spiritual Power fluctuation. Looking back, he saw that Wang Yuan had a Talisman stuck to his ear.

The two of them talked for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

During their conversation, Qian Si took a scroll of some kind from his cloth bag and handed it over. The man in the hat took it, tucked it into his robe, and then pulled a small cloth pouch from his belt and tossed it to Qian Si.

The exchange complete, the man in the hat turned and left, disappearing back into the bushes on the other side within a few breaths.

Qian Si tucked the small pouch away, shouldered his bag, and started walking back the way he came.

Wang Qi leaned forward slightly, his eyes fixed on Qian Si’s retreating figure.

"Let’s go after him and take him down," Wang Qi said in a hushed, urgent voice. "He has the goods on him. We can catch him red-handed."

"No." Wang Yuan grabbed Wang Qi’s arm and pulled him back.

"We were too far away just now. My Wind Ear Talisman didn’t pick up much intelligence. If you grab Qian Si now, what about the other guy? He didn’t even take off his hat; we never saw his face. If his people get word, they’ll immediately switch their contacts and routes. Investigating this later will become much harder."

Wang Qi’s fist clenched and unclenched. He gave a resentful glance in the direction Qian Si had disappeared.

"So we just watch him get away? Who knows what kind of intelligence was on that scroll he was holding—"

"The family wants the entire network, not just one Qian Si." Wang Yuan’s voice was quiet but steady.

"Today we learned the meeting point, the method of contact, the other person’s physique, and their approximate Cultivation. That’s enough. We’ll go back and report this, and let the family decide the next step."

Wang Qi grit his teeth and let out a breath, his body gradually relaxing.

Li Yuan remained silent throughout the exchange.

Wang Yuan had handled it correctly. Chasing down one Qian Si was easy, but startling the snake in the grass would sever the connection to the network behind him.

The three returned the way they came, maintaining their silence.

After entering the market, the three parted ways at the entrance to East Street.

Wang Qi and Wang Yuan went to report to the Wang family, while Li Yuan returned to the patrol team’s station to find Wang De.

After hearing the report, Wang De noted down the location of the meeting, the time, and the other party’s physical characteristics, finally nodding at the end.

"Good work. I’ll report this to the family shortly. The rest will be left for them to investigate."

Leaving the station, Li Yuan walked for a while along North Alley in the pleasant afternoon sun before returning to his residence.

After bolting the door, Li Yuan sat down at his desk and spread out a sheet of talisman paper.

He dipped his brush full of cinnabar ink and began to write.

A Cleaning Talisman. The transition between strokes was smooth, the Spiritual Power flowing from his fingertip to the brush tip with almost no loss. He finished the final stroke to seal it. A flash of Spiritual Light, and it was done.

An Exorcism Talisman. The start was a bit slow, and the turning point of the Spirit Pattern in the middle required a slight adjustment to his Spiritual Power’s frequency, but the turn of his wrist was becoming more and more natural. Final stroke. Done.

A Warning Talisman. The arc of the sensory Spirit Pattern was drawn in one breath, even and smooth. When he finished the stroke, he withdrew his Spiritual Power cleanly and precisely, leaving no residue. Done.

Li Yuan continued practicing for a while longer, then folded the talisman papers, set them aside, and with a thought, a panel appeared before him.

[Talisman Crafting Enlightenment (White) | Permanence Progress: 43/50]