Zhao Ci was silent for a long while before saying, "You can tell me, but I can't guarantee I can give you any useful answers."

Zhao Ci himself was a member of the martial world, so he understood that what I was about to say might involve certain secrets.

Secrets represented two possibilities: either getting on the same boat, or being silenced.

I looked at Zhao Ci and said, "I have some conflicts with the Yin Si (Underworld) civil officials... If the Yin Si secret order has already been leaked, wouldn't it be redundant for the civil officials faction to arrange for a ghost messenger to trick me out of the token?"

Zhao Ci's eyes widened suddenly, and then he waved his hand. "It seems my guess was wrong. However, I really don't know what secrets Yue Zhu is hiding."

My face immediately darkened. Was Zhao Ci still trying to play dumb with me at this point?

Zhao Ci saw my displeasure. "Do you remember what I told you when we first met?"

When I first met Zhao Ci, he told me that Zhao Yue Zhu rejected sorcerers because of a family scandal.

Zhao Ci continued, "I don't know Yue Zhu's exact birth date and time. I wasn't by her side when she was born. Her name was also chosen at random; it wasn't calculated using the Three Talents Arrangement, nor did it compensate for the Five Elements. So, I can't deduce her birth information."

I looked up at Zhao Ci, who said again, "What I'm saying is the truth. Don't ask about anything deeper."

I nodded slightly. "Alright! There shouldn't be any problem with letting Zhao girl follow me, right?"

Zhao Ci nodded. "Does Liang Jie Tang (Two Realms Hall) need someone to gather intelligence?"

"That's exactly what I want!" As I reached out to Zhao Ci, he took out a knife and cut his palm.

I was stunned, but Zhao Ci looked directly at me and said, "This is for Yue Zhu."

I drew my knife, cut open my palm, and clasped it with Zhao Ci's. Our blood mingled together, dripping to the ground through the gaps between our hands.

Bloodline connected, life and death intertwined.

This was a contract between sorcerers, a promise to entrust one's life to the other.

Zhao Yue Zhu stood behind us, speechless for a long time. She vaguely sensed something, but couldn't bring herself to ask.

The contract between Zhao Ci and me was very simple: he would work for me for the rest of his life and never betray me. At the same time, no matter what crisis Zhao Yue Zhu encountered, I would come to her aid, even if it meant facing a mountain of blades or a sea of fire.

After I released Zhao Ci, I said, "I need you to verify some more things and pass the information to Ye Yang."

Zhao Ci accepted Ye Yang's contact information. "Yue Zhu, if you ever dare to lie to me again, I'll beat you!"

"You already beat me pretty hard this time!" Zhao Yue Zhu covered her head, pouted, and walked out of the ward. I followed from behind. "You and your dad..."

Zhao Yue Zhu said, "It's fine as long as he doesn't mention sorcerers, but as soon as he does, I forget all about family affection and politeness. I don't know why."

"Oh!" I replied casually. "Next time, don't add extra scenes without talking to me first. You almost couldn't cover for it. Luckily, your old man is smart."

"It's all because of you!" Zhao Yue Zhu was flushed with anger. "Look at this huge bump on my head! You fix it for me, or I'm not done with you."

"Sure!" I took advantage of Zhao Yue Zhu's inattention, put two fingers together, and pressed hard on the bump on her head.

"Ah--" Zhao Yue Zhu screamed. "Li Po, do you want to die?"

"Didn't you tell me to fix the bump?" I said with a straight face. "Press it a few more times to stimulate blood circulation and it will go back in."

"Don't... let go... I don't need your help anymore." Zhao Yue Zhu could only walk back behind me with tears in her eyes.

At that moment, I called Lao Liu (Old Liu). "Lao Liu, can you check if there are any secret techniques about tattoo artists, or even human skin..."

After I roughly explained what happened, Lao Liu said, "I'll look through the Huangquan (Underworld) secret files for you right away. I think you might be in trouble. As far as I know, this has happened twice before."

"What do you mean?" I couldn't help but stop.

Lao Liu said, "When I was in the governor's mansion, I saw a case from the late Qing Dynasty in the files. More than a hundred people had been skinned. The government at the time only found the bodies and not the skins, so the case was never solved."

"The governor's mansion also received a skinning case once, but this time, the victims weren't skinned completely. Only a part of their skin was peeled off."

"That case was also never solved. The police at the time focused on a man surnamed Sun, but when they found him, his skin was also gone."

"The two cases were sixty years apart. If we calculate the time, this skinning case is also sixty years apart."

"Sixty years!" I seemed to grasp a clue. "Check the Huangquan (Underworld) secret files immediately. I need to know what that secret technique is, and contact me as soon as you find it."

"Also..." I paused for a moment before saying, "Find the specific locations of the two previous cases, the identities of the victims, the more details the better. I'll wait for your reply."