I continued, "As far as I know, the closest connection among the public service practitioners is between prison guards and executioners. In the executioner profession, there's even a tradition of executions within prisons."

The tradition of executions within prisons passed down in the executioner lineage has a complete set of procedures: how to execute prisoners, how to collect the bodies, how to guide the souls – all are meticulously detailed. Moreover, executions within prisons require the cooperation of the prison guards; otherwise, killing the person without being able to take the soul away could easily doom everyone in the entire prison.

Feng Ruoxing said, "I've heard of these things too. I also heard that Heavenly Prisons must execute prisoners in the cells every so often. It's said that this is a rule passed down since ancient times."

"As for whether the executions are to appease the Heavenly Prison or for some other reason, I don't know."

I sat down and said, "Here's a hypothesis."

"Suppose, for some reason, the Wei and Wang families have been guarding a prison. That prison, like the Heavenly Prison, needs to execute prisoners to appease the prison every so often."

"Originally, there should have been a descendant of executioners cooperating with them in the executions. However, after many years, the executioner lineage died out, but the prison still needed someone to execute prisoners. The Wang family, the prison guards, thought of asking the Tu Men (Slaughter Gate) for help. The Tu Men Grandmaster was the executioner they chose."

"After the Wang family Grandmaster entered that prison, they probably failed to successfully kill the demon beast. So, they found Bai Hongzhen of the Bai family again. This is the reason why the two great Grandmasters of the Tu Men disappeared back then."

Hearing this, Feng Ruoxing asked, "Later, the Wang family Grandmaster came back, but Bai Hongzhen never returned. How do you explain that?"

I turned to look at Butcher Wang; perhaps only she could give us the answer.

Butcher Wang shook her head and said, "After the Wang family Grandmaster returned, he never mentioned a word about that deal. No matter how many people forced him or scolded him, he just wouldn't reveal a single word."

"Even when the Wang and Bai families were at each other's throats, he didn't say a word. At that time, even the Wang family themselves suspected that he had killed the Bai family Grandmaster."

Butcher Wang said, "That's why the Wang family was so tolerant of the Bai family, because at that time, we couldn't speak the truth, or rather, we had no reason to argue."

Hearing this, I frowned again, "The Wang family Grandmaster's reaction is a bit abnormal!"

I quickly adjusted my thinking, "Let's ignore the grievances between the two families for now. Those things will only be clear after we see Bai Hongzhen."

"Which direction are the Wang family exploring Shili Mountain in? Do you have a map?"

Butcher Wang said, "I do have a map, but I don't know if it's useful, after all, our Wang family hasn't been to Shili Mountain for three generations."

Butcher Wang took out a yellowed map and spread it on the table. While Ye Yang and I were studying the map, Feng Ruoxing was also studying the water and fire cudgel left by the ghost.

That night, I saw Feng Ruoxing repeatedly separating and joining the water and fire cudgel, and even using a knife to scrape off a layer of paint-like substance from the cudgel.

It wasn't until dawn that Feng Ruoxing stopped, and we received an extremely unexpected piece of news.

As soon as it dawned, Ma Yingji led a large group of people to the Wang family mansion, "Hall Master Li, you've won."

"What do you mean?" I looked at Ma Yingji in confusion, and the latter explained, "Bai Hanfei has already informed the art practitioners, submitting to the Wang family and admitting defeat. Moreover, Bai Hanfei also said that whether you protect Wei Junyong or not, the Bai family will admit defeat."

I felt inexplicably confused, but said, "I don't need the Bai family to concede; investigate as you see fit. Come in and take a look!"

Ma Yingji nodded and said, "Alright! Although the Bai family has admitted defeat, as a notary, we can't let our fellow practitioners feel that the Two Realms Hall has taken advantage. Everyone, go in and take a look!"

While the others entered the Wang family mansion, I transmitted my voice to Ma Yingji without showing any expression, "What's going on?"

Ma Yingji replied expressionlessly, "I don't know. Not only did the Bai family suddenly admit defeat, but they also mobilized all their forces to go deep into Shili Mountain within a day."

"The commander asked me to tell you two things. First, don't easily go deep into Shili Mountain, it's full of dangers now."

"The second thing is, if you must go to Shili Mountain, choose to trust Bai Hanfei when it comes to matters of great importance."

I couldn't help but raise my eyebrows slightly. Ma Yingji immediately transmitted his voice, "The commander said that those who are good at intrigue may not be incapable of distinguishing right from wrong, and Bai Hanfei is such a person. She hasn't figured out the situation in Shili Mountain yet, but it's certain that Cang Tianji (Hidden Celestial) is also eyeing Shili Mountain."

"If you want to go in, all she can do is keep an eye on Cang Tianji."

While Ma Yingji was speaking, those cursory notaries also retreated from the house. Ma Yingji cupped his hands to me, "We'll take our leave now."

I sent them away before saying, "Feng Ruoxing, give that little Wei some money and let him go home by himself. We're setting off for Shili Mountain."

Shili Mountain is a must, regardless of whether it's full of dangers or not.