Bai Yutang mentioned that the Grandmaster had a similar knife, suggesting there was a story behind it.

“My master has a lot of knives in his collection,” Bai Yutang said. “He’s usually lazy, so when I have time, I help tidy up his cabinets.”

Everyone looked at Bai Yutang with skeptical eyes, as if to say—A noble young master like you knows how to clean?

Bai Yutang looked innocent. “What’s the problem?”

Everyone shook their heads in unison.

Bai Yutang continued, “One time, when I was organizing the knife collection, I found a box placed casually on the top shelf. I hadn’t noticed it before. The box was covered in a thick layer of dust. My master always polishes his knives, so this box must have been unopened for a long time. I got curious and opened it. Inside was an ordinary curved knife, still in its sheath.”

“Did it look like this?” Zhan Zhao asked, holding up the knife illustration drawn by Gongsun.

“Very similar. The sheath also matches what Tan Jin described—black leather, engraved with patterns, which seemed to depict constellations or arhats… I didn’t look too closely.”

“That’s right!” Tan Jin nodded. “They were mythological depictions of the constellations.”

Zhan Zhao frowned. “And then what happened?”

“I was curious and took out the knife to examine it…” Bai Yutang trailed off, looking a bit helpless. “But just then, my master walked in. He saw me looking at the knife, casually took it from me, and said something very strange.”

“What did he say?”

“He said, ‘A stubborn stone cannot be carved. No point in looking at it.'” Bai Yutang raised an eyebrow slightly.

Zhan Zhao was intrigued. “Is that how the Grandmaster usually speaks?”

Bai Yutang smiled faintly. “Not really… I’ll take you to meet him sometime.”

Zhan Zhao nodded immediately.

Zhao Pu glanced at Ouyang Shaozheng in confusion—That easy?

Ouyang also seemed surprised—So meeting a living legend is this simple?

“I want to meet him too,” Grand Tutor Pang chimed in cheerfully. “I’ve heard the Grandmaster is the supreme martial artist of the world.”

Bai Yutang looked at Pang Ji with a regretful expression. “My master doesn’t meet outsiders.”

The room fell silent for a moment. Then, everyone turned to stare at Zhan Zhao—Isn’t he an outsider too? Or is he an insider?

Bao Zheng coughed, needing to maintain focus on the case and prevent unnecessary distractions. He waved his hand, “Young hero, please continue.”

Bai Yutang nodded. “After that, he put the knife back on the rack, and I didn’t think much about it. Some time later, I returned to Xian Kong Island. My master sent a pigeon message saying he wanted to eat crabs, so I brought him some. I remember it was raining heavily that day. As soon as I entered, I saw my master sitting at the table, lost in thought, resting his chin on one hand. On the table in front of him was an empty box.”

Everyone exchanged glances.

Zhao Pu asked, “The same box that held the knife?”

“Yes.” Bai Yutang nodded. “I asked him, ‘Where’s the knife?’ He said, ‘It was stolen.'”

Zhan Zhao was shocked. “Someone managed to steal something from the Grandmaster?”

Bai Yutang shrugged helplessly. “That’s what I asked too. Turns out the thief used a really underhanded trick.”

“What trick?” Everyone was puzzled.

“Someone sent my master a letter saying I was getting married…” Bai Yutang sighed and rubbed his forehead. “And he believed it.”

Zhan Zhao’s mouth fell open. “Then what happened?”

“The letter said the girl was from Changzhou, so my master rushed to Changzhou, only to realize he had been tricked. When he returned to the valley, he found the knife was gone.”

Everyone’s mouths twitched—The supreme and invincible Grandmaster is… kind of gullible?

“The strange thing was, the thief didn’t take money or any of his private antiques but only stole that seemingly worthless curved knife from the box.”

Everyone was astonished—What was so special about that knife?

Zhan Zhao was puzzled. “With so many valuable knives around, why steal just that one? Why?”

“At first, I thought maybe the other knives couldn’t be taken. The box was something I made for my master—extremely sturdy and impossible to open without the key. Also, it was placed in the cabinet using internal energy; without at least fifty percent of my master’s strength, it was impossible to remove.”

Zhan Zhao was startled—There are probably very few people in the world who could take it, then.

“But that curved knife had no mechanisms—it was just sitting there. Maybe my master didn’t like it.” Bai Yutang sighed. “But after it was stolen, my master seemed troubled for two days. Even eating crab didn’t cheer him up.”

“He must have been upset,” Zhan Zhao sympathized.

“I don’t know.” Bai Yutang shook his head. “I wanted to take him out for some shopping to lift his mood, but he said, ‘I was only safekeeping it for someone. Shouldn’t have taken it in the first place. Now that it’s gone, I have to find it—such a hassle.'”

“Oh…” Everyone nodded in understanding. So it wasn’t the Grandmaster’s knife—he had to return it to someone.

“Did he ever find it?” Zhan Zhao asked curiously.

“My master went down the mountain once, came back empty-handed, and only said one thing.”

“What did he say?”

“‘A stubborn stone cannot be carved, yet insists on courting destruction.'” Bai Yutang recalled. “After that, my master never mentioned it again, and I forgot about it.”

“When was this?” Zhao Pu asked.

“Not long ago—maybe a year? Around autumn.”

“Mm.” Zhan Zhao nodded. “Autumn is the best season for crabs.”

Everyone exchanged glances—Zhan Daxia categorizes time based on food?

“What does it mean?” Gongsun murmured to himself. “The Grandmaster said ‘a stubborn stone cannot be carved’ twice. Was he talking about a person or the knife?”

Bai Yutang shook his head.

“Did the Grandmaster have any clues?” Zhao Pu asked. “He didn’t know who stole his knife?”

Bai Yutang thought for a moment, frowning. “Now that you mention it…”

“Does it have anything to do with Dao Xingfeng or the Blade Alliance?” Zhan Zhao asked.

“Mm. Once, Lu Feng visited my master and mentioned the rapid rise of the Blade Alliance, even praising Dao Xingfeng. He also said he received an invitation from the Blade Alliance and planned to attend an event hosted by Dao Xingfeng. But my master told Lu Feng not to get too close to Dao Xingfeng and to avoid participating in Blade Alliance activities if possible.”

“The Grandmaster doesn’t like Dao Xingfeng?” Zhan Zhao asked. “Did he say anything specific about him?”

“My master rarely comments on people.” Bai Yutang thought for a moment. “But he did say that Dao Xingfeng is too ambitious. That’s all he mentioned.”

Everyone nodded—There’s definitely a connection here, but without evidence, it’s uncertain.

…

Just then, the sound of a rooster crowing echoed.

Grand Tutor Pang yawned and glanced at the sky. “It’s almost dawn. Let’s go get some sleep.”

And so, everyone dispersed.