When Feng Jinwen was escorted to the SEIU's Capital Division, Song Miaozhu had just finished building her open-top spirit-paper car.
Although there were no proper roads in the Yunwu Mountains for her to test drive it, she used the Spirit-Reading Bronze Mirror to appraise it. The functions matched her expectations. Despite being made entirely of paper, the vehicle functioned just like a real sports car, except its fuel tank was filled with spiritual energy instead of gasoline.
As she infused it with green spiritual power to nourish the vehicle, she continued monitoring the situation with Feng Jinwen.
He had taken the high-speed train to the capital, riding in a private compartment reserved for cultivators. There was plenty of spiritual paper and ink on board, so he could practice his calligraphy as much as he liked. His meals were balanced and well-prepared, with a mix of meat and vegetables.
Upon arriving, he was given a small, well-lit suite to live in.
After it was confirmed that the Eternal Life Society mole from the Kuncheng Division had been captured, Feng Jinwen requested a mobile cultivation van so he could absorb spiritual energy faster to nurture more Life Talismans.
The Capital SEIU denied his request on the grounds that he might attempt to escape. So Feng Jinwen asked for little paper servants that could hold bowls to help gather ambient spiritual energy, promising that he would hand over any successfully nurtured Life Talismans to the SEIU.
This time, the SEIU hesitated. They reached out to Zhao Huoyan to try and purchase some of those bowl-holding paper servants. But Song Miaozhu knew exactly who they were buying them for, even if Zhao Huoyan didn't.
So when he messaged her via WeChat, she declined.
She wanted to see whether the SEIU's so-called "temporary measure" was really meant to dig up more information on the Eternal Life Society, or simply to exploit Feng Jinwen for profit.
So far, it seemed to her that the latter was more likely.
Currently, aside from being under constant surveillance and having guards stationed outside his door, Feng Jinwen's cultivation environment was far better than hers.
She was still doing paper crafting in a raw, unrefined mountain cave. With that in mind, there was no way Song Miaozhu could believe that the SEIU had no Eternal Life Society insiders.
She rejected their request under the pretext that she was too busy focusing on crafting Spirit-Gathering Dolls. As expected, someone from headquarters soon suggested allocating Feng Jinwen a few dolls under someone else's name, to help him produce spiritual items more efficiently.
The Eternal Life Society Investigation Team, newly established by the SEIU, even held a meeting for this. Song Miaozhu took the opportunity to send her little paper servants in, hidden and invisible. Every attendee of that meeting, from the investigation team leader to the members, whether they supported or opposed the proposal, was assigned a paper servant for surveillance.
They were cultivators selected by the SEIU, average in strength but experienced in investigations. Each had signed a Xiezhi Spirit Seal contract, pledging loyalty to SEIU's interests in exchange for the authority to demand cooperation during investigations.
The meeting was chaotic, full of clashing opinions, but in the end, they decided to give Feng Jinwen one Spirit-Gathering Doll. In return, he would reveal the identities of three Eternal Life Society insiders.
At first, Feng Jinwen refused, saying one doll should equal one piece of intel. So the team ignored him for two days. Without spiritual energy to absorb, he finally gave in. The investigation team then fast-tracked a request to the key spiritual item vault and, posing as regular buyers, used public funds to purchase a Spirit-Gathering Doll.
Song Miaozhu pretended not to notice. She completed the ownership transfer herself and sent the doll off. Feng Jinwen followed through, offering up three names. The investigation team went to verify them. Naturally, the little paper servants followed too.
The investigation team proved competent. After covert observation confirmed something was off, they moved in and arrested the suspects before they could react. Those individuals led to others, who were also swiftly taken into custody.
While the investigation team worked, Song Miaozhu quietly recorded each name and turned them into cursed paper dolls. After nurturing the first Life Talisman successfully, Feng Jinwen used it as leverage. He demanded two more Spirit-Gathering Dolls in exchange.
The team tried to fast-track the request again, but this time, the key spiritual item vault denied it. The requests had come too frequently. So they escalated the matter.
During a senior SEIU council meeting, the half-finished Life Talisman was placed on the table, and its appraisal results were displayed for all to see via the Spirit-Reading Bronze Mirror.
"This kind of spiritual item can save lives at critical moments. Now that we have a chance to get the creator to supply us continuously, I don't think we should give it up," someone said.
"Exactly. Giving him more Spirit-Gathering Dolls is nothing. His Life Talismans aren't even offensive. And this gives us more chances to extract names from him. He's already captured, no longer a threat. It's the Eternal Life Society parasites we really need to worry about."
"But… he's an enemy of Master Song. If she finds out we gave him Spirit-Gathering Dolls, the fallout could be serious."
"In that case, Chief, your son is close to Master Song, right? You'll have to keep this from him."
"Let's strip Feng Jinwen of political rights permanently, sentence him to life imprisonment. That should satisfy Master Song. We can treat him like a spiritual item production machine. Keeping him alive is more useful than killing him."
"By current law, he's guilty of attempted murder at most. It doesn't justify a death sentence."
…
There were many voices supporting the idea of keeping Feng Jinwen alive to manufacture spiritual items. Even Chief Zhao gave silent approval.
Feng Jinwen received two more Spirit-Gathering Dolls. He handed over the newly nurtured Life Talisman to an SEIU member, and then revealed more Eternal Life Society names. From that point onward, he and the investigation team seemed to reach a mutual understanding.
The SEIU provided him with cultivation resources. In return, he gave them intel on the Eternal Life Society and more Life Talismans.
From the SEIU's standpoint, Song Miaozhu could understand the logic. Keeping Feng Jinwen alive brought many benefits. The only real downside was offending her.
But that didn't mean she would accept the decision.
She never expected the SEIU to fight for justice on her behalf.
So she prepared a special Yin-wood Box specifically to store cursed dolls of people related to the Eternal Life Society. Everyone identified by the investigation team was recorded and prepared for future punishment.
But for now, she refrained from activating the curses. She didn't want to startle the enemy too early. These people were all being held in SEIU-controlled prisons for cultivators. Her little paper servants were watching them closely.
Feng Jinwen had revealed quite a few names in exchange for cultivation supplies, but they were mostly internal moles scattered across regional SEIU divisions. So far, he had not disclosed a single major figure or current stronghold of the Eternal Life Society.
The SEIU was waiting.
And so was Song Miaozhu.