Their investigation had taken them far from the lands of the Qin and deep into the idyllic countryside that lied beyond, and soon they found themselves stumped. A fellow investigator from a local office of the Investigative Bureau had assured them that a woman fitting their description was spotted at one point, but a round of questioning produced no information from the locals.


    A short young man with a meek demeanor and a ratty-looking face, the youngest investigator in their group of a dozen strong, scratched his head in confusion.


    "Why are the locals playing dumb?" He asked. "They must have seen her. According to Investigator Han Wen, she was the talk of the villages for a while. What do you think, senior?"


    "Do you know why we have an office out in these parts, Yan Zian?" Hou Jin''s question prompted the young man to dumbly shrug his shoulders. "It''s because a persistent rumor has it that this is the territory of the Five Venoms Devil."


    "Just because of a rumor?" Yan Zian asked in disbelief. "Why hasn''t it been properly investigated?"


    "The locals are terrified of her. And our Bureau, too, knows better than to draw her ire. If we were to canvass this area, I''m sure we''d find her lair. But there''s no telling how she''d respond to that."


    "Just who is this person?" Yan Zian asked, struck with unease.


    "Back in her heyday, she was the world''s greatest master of the poison arts." Huo Jin explained. "Well, probably still is. That''s why we suspect Cui Shen of being her disciple. The man had no reputation for poisons until he reemerged to destroy the Wuyi Sect. She withdrew from the world many years ago, and nobody''s ever seen her since. One of her most notorious acts was wiping out an entire town with her poisons over the course of a single night."


    Yan Zian''s eyes went wide. "Why did she do that?"


    "Nobody knows for sure. But now you understand why we keep our distance, right?" Hou Jin curled his goatee. "Anyways, if the locals have collectively decided to clam up about our Lady Clear Sky, it may have come to light that she is somehow related to this terrifying individual. Moreover, it fits our pattern of her gravitating towards legendary experts."


    "So then what do we do now?"


    Bitterness washed over Hou Jin''s features. He mulled over the young man''s question for a time. "We can''t advance and we can''t retreat, so we''ll lay siege. I''ll write up a letter, and I need you to deliver it to the office in Linzhen. Also, take my box of the wanted posters, and help them draw up more copies. Ask the people at Linzhen to have them distributed to every single one of our offices. If she is sighted anywhere on the continent, have them notify us right away. Meanwhile, we''ll keep our own watch out here. Maybe they''re still in the Devil''s lair. We could catch them if they leave."


    They set about carrying out his plan. A couple of weeks later, Yan Zian returned, his task accomplished. They had little left to do but wait.


    Months crawled by.


    One day, Yan Zian approached Hou Jin in his temporary office, and asked, "Senior Hou, when we find the Desolator of Life, how exactly are we going to bring him to justice? Senior Investigator Long Delun was a top tier swordsman, was he not? One of the best our organization has ever had, I''ve heard. But even he could not stop this man. I know we have some esteemed seniors on our team, but will that be enough?"


    Hou Jin pursed his lips, mulling over a document on his desk as he thought about the young man''s question. "Yes, Senior Investigator was incredibly talented. But ideally, we will not be fighting the Desolator of Life ourselves. It depends on where we find him. If the local sect is on good terms with the Jianghu Investigative Bureau, we can try to persuade them that it is in their interest to have him killed, or perhaps commission them to take him out."


    "Well... But then, although senior Long would be avenged, how will the people know for certain that it was us who did the deed? Isn''t that an important part of this? What if the ones we hire will not be willing to give up the glory of such a high profile kill?"


    Hou Jin smiled a little. He was impressed by the young man''s observation. "Half the world pays us just to lend us their ear. After so many decades of building up our reputation, our word carries more weight than you would think. If they try to contest the credit for this kill, the martial arts community will believe us over them. Even despite our middling reputation as warriors."


    Yan Zian nodded in understanding. After a pause, a new subject began.


    "Say, senior Hou..." The young man began. "What was your relationship with the Senior Investigator? I heard you frequently worked together."


    "He mentored me through my earlier years. A good man he was, that senior Long..." Hou Jin reminisced, shaking his head. "Stubborn beyond reason, he had a very strong sense of right and wrong. So strong that it nearly crippled his career. He could have made it to his rank a decade or two earlier had he been willing to stow his temper. And there are many stories to tell about his tumultuous youth... His loss weighs heavily on us all."


    Hou Jin cupped his face into his palms and went silent. Yan Zian awkwardly shuffled in place, not anticipating that his curiosity would cause such an emotional reaction. But what truly burdened the investigator''s mind was something else. He once again grew conscious of the letter in his pocket.


    "Just how could he conspire with these people?" He thought, his head shaking.


    Suddenly, another investigator barged into the small office, a rolled up letter in his hands. "They found her heading north!"


    Hou Jin nearly sprang out of his seat. They gathered their things and, within the hour, the dozen mounted investigators rushed towards the office the notice had come from. Reports of additional sightings awaited them on location, and they kept their horses bound northwards.


    Their group eventually reached Kunlun Mountains. When they arrived at the local office, they had been told that the Senior Investigator was out on another case. Hou Jin found the grey bearded, hunched over elder inspecting the burnt down remains of a building. A cursory glance at the surroundings had led the investigator to conclude that this was once a temple.


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    "Senior Wang." Hou Jin bowed before the elder.


    "Hou Jin." The old man greeted him sternly. "You sure took your time getting here. You wouldn''t believe how much trouble your woman''s gotten into. You missed all the drama."


    Hou Jin nodded at the wreckage. "Is this part of it?"


    Senior Investigator Wang looked up from a sheet he was holding and shrugged. Hou Jin noticed that it seemed to be a list of names. "This? I don''t rightly know. Probably not. At first I thought the Kunlun Sect had finally had enough of the Buddhists mucking about on their Taoist turf and took them out. But considering who hired us to investigate this, I''m starting to doubt that."


    "Really? Who commissioned you?"


    "The Kunlun Sect!" Senior Wang exclaimed as if he was unveiling something grand.


    "Well, obviously they wouldn''t pay to investigate their own crime." Hou Jin said. "Have you interrogated the monks?"


    Senior Wang laughed. "I''m not well versed in the arts of spiritual commune!"


    Hou Jin''s eyebrows rose. "They''re all dead?"


    "And quite dead they are, young man. Most of the bodies weren''t even whole when we dug them out of the rubble. And it wasn''t the fire that did that to them." The old man nodded at the sheet in his hands. "Well, there remain two monks unaccounted for."


    "The likely perpetrators."


    Senior Wang shook his head. "If only it were that simple. You see, one of the missing persons is a twelve year old boy. And unless this little man had the proportions of an adult, we''re positive that we haven''t found his corpse."


    "And the other?"


    The old man went quiet, keeping his listener in suspense with a mischievous smile.


    "Song Quan!" He eventually declared. But the name caused little fanfare. Frustrated by the milquetoast reaction, senior Wang elaborated. "Of the Evil Palm. You haven''t heard of him? How long have you been working this job again?"


    Hou Jin struggled to regain his wits. The man''s title rang through his head. "I''ve heard. He''s from before my era, but I do know of him. Quite the nasty piece of work this man was back in the day... But I don''t understand. You''re saying he was a monk here?"


    "Believe it or not! He''s been cooped up here for decades." Senior Wang said. "The locals call him the Sleeping Asura. Nobody ever had any faith in his rehabilitation. Well, rightly so, because it looks like the Asura woke up after all, and boy did he wake up! The recidivist is now at large, and who knows what else he''ll do. I''m also quite concerned for the boy. He might have been kidnapped for heavens know what purpose."


    "Knowing Song Quan''s reputation, it can''t be anything good..." Hou Jin stared at the ruins, the old man''s story painting the scene in a new light.


    Senior Wang patted him on the shoulder.


    "Well, it''s likely your lady of the sunlight had nothing to do with it." He said. And though Hou Jin felt inclined to agree, he was assailed by inexplicable dread. The pangs of his sharp intuition kept him ill at ease. "You wanna know what they call her in these parts...?"


    Senior Wang told him about the events surrounding the tournament. Hou Jin grew pale when he heard of his nephew''s unfortunate involvement.


    As Yan Zian listened to the story, he was quite surprised. "We thought the man she''s been traveling with was Cui Shen. Do we know anything about this Bai Guo?"


    Hou Jin curled his goatee, trying to maintain his composure. "Even if the Desolator of Life is no longer in her company, there''s still value in pursuing her. She most likely knows where he is, or intends to reunite with him eventually."


    Hou Jin then asked the elder, "How did it conclude?"


    "A mysterious faction attacked the sect and got the young man out of there." Senior Wang seemed to end his story. But he suddenly leaned in, adding something in a hushed tone. His following words had Hou Jin perspiring with cold sweat. The old man then stepped back.


    "Keep that one between us." The elder said. "The sect''s keeping it under wraps. Our people aren''t allowed up the mountain at all, so I really shouldn''t know this, and I don''t want them to start prying into my sources."


    Senior Wang''s eyes were grave. "I''m only telling you this because you''re pursuing her. Now that you know, maybe you should reconsider your approach. See if you can''t go at the Desolator of Life another way."


    Hou Jin bowed. "Thank you for your advice, senior."


    With just a glance the old investigator could tell that his words fell on deaf ears. Senior Wang nodded.


    "Well, let me give you what you''re here for." He then explained to them the path the woman had taken, and where she was last seen. He then warned, "She''s got a real knack for shaking off our tail. Now, I train my men well. They don''t make mistakes often. Somehow, she sees through all our tricks. So you''d better be really careful about this, Hou Jin, especially if you intend to do more than just observe."


    With the information received, Hou Jin''s team resumed their pursuit. Now that they were closer than ever before to their goal, he was overcome with urgency. He pressed the men and the horses hard, and his entourage buckled under the strain. Their frantic pace persisted for about a week. Just as the winter snows began to melt, they arrived by noon at a small town.


    According to a tip from one of the Bureau''s informants, the Golden Witch and her disciple had entered the settlement mere hours ago. They left their horses behind and fanned out; unsurprisingly, the peculiar Golden Witch was found quickly. Hou Jin followed his subordinate to their inn. The investigator balked when he saw his nephew in the white robed woman''s company. They were walking around without a care, chatting away like the closest of friends.


    "What do we do now, senior Hou?" Yan Zian asked. But he received no response for the longest time. It was then that he noticed the agitation dominating Hou Jin''s demeanor, and the young man''s eyes widened.


    Hou Jin boldly stepped forward. His subordinates reluctantly followed him.


    "Such company you keep, Bai Guo!" He called out.