Fang Han was well aware of this, but he didn’t care, nor did he try to explain himself or curry favor.

He focused most of his energy on two things: first, quietly observing and learning the investigative methods of Zhao Qian and the others to gain experience; second, using every spare moment to continuously cultivate the Spirit Nose Technique.

Even while traveling or waiting during interrogations, he would dedicate a portion of his focus to guiding his Inner Qi and tempering his sense of smell.

With his sixteen-fold Secret Technique Talent Amplification, his progress in the Cultivation of the Spirit Nose Technique was extremely fast. His perception and control of scents improved with every passing moment.

That evening, after another fruitless day of investigation, the group checked into an inn in a town called Heishi Town.

Outside the window, the night deepened as the town’s lights flickered on one by one, and the faint clamor of the marketplace could be heard.

Inside his room, Fang Han held his breath and focused, once again immersing himself in the Cultivation of the Spirit Nose Technique.

The Secret Technique had already been perfected to the Minor Achievement Level. His Inner Qi circulated smoothly, and his control over his sense of smell was exquisite and microscopic.

He continuously tried to break through the formless barrier to the next Realm.

After an unknown amount of time, just as the long, drawn-out sound of the Night Watchman’s clapper came from outside the window—

Fang Han’s body trembled slightly. It felt as if something deep within his nasal cavity had suddenly broken through!

A torrent of scents, far more vast and acute than at the Minor Achievement level, flooded into his senses with a roar!

The scents of the world around him instantly became unprecedentedly "clear" and "three-dimensional."

He could even faintly "smell" the lingering scent of cooking oil from the guest’s dinner in the next room, the trace of ink on the Shopkeeper’s fingertips as he moved the abacus beads downstairs, and even the faint, musky odor left by a stray cat as it darted through an alley dozens of yards away...

The various scents were distinct and layered, as if they had taken on color and form.

’Spirit Nose Technique, Mastery!’

Fang Han sniffed lightly, feeling this completely transformed sense of smell, and the corners of his mouth curled up in a subtle, irrepressible smile.

At the Mastery Level, the Spirit Nose Technique’s olfactory ability had taken another quantum leap compared to the Minor Achievement level!

’Now, if I go back to Huangshi Village, I might actually find something.’

The next morning, a few early risers were scattered around the lobby of the inn in Heishi Town.

Zhao Qian, Li Ming, Zhang Yuan, and the other four Law Enforcement Hall disciples sat around a table, quietly discussing the day’s investigation plan. The atmosphere was a bit heavy.

Days of no progress had left everyone feeling an invisible pressure, their faces etched with fatigue and a hint of barely perceptible anxiety.

Fang Han descended the stairs with a steady gait and walked over to their table.

Zhao Qian glanced up at him but didn’t stop talking. He gave a barely perceptible nod as a greeting and continued speaking to Li Ming.

"Today, we’ll first head to the Juyi Gang’s stronghold in the west of the city. The vice leader, Liu Mang, also known as ’Soul-Breaking Saber,’ is a major suspect on our list. We need to question him carefully about his whereabouts..."

Fang Han stood quietly for a moment, waiting for a pause in Zhao Qian’s speech before speaking.

"Senior Brother Zhao, everyone, I plan to return to Huangshi Village today to investigate it thoroughly one more time."

His voice wasn’t loud, but it brought the hushed conversation at the table to an abrupt halt.

Seven pairs of eyes instantly locked onto Fang Han.

The muscles in Zhao Qian’s face tensed imperceptibly for a moment. His fingers tightened on his teacup before he slowly set it down, his gaze darkening.

Li Ming’s mouth twitched as if he wanted to say something, but he forced it down, turning his head away with a soft snort.

Zhang Yuan’s brow furrowed, and his fingers drummed unconsciously on the tabletop.

Sun Yi simply crossed his arms, leaned back in his chair, and let a look of undisguised scorn spread across his face.

The two female disciples, Liu Yun and Chen Xue, exchanged a glance, each seeing helplessness and a trace of dissatisfaction in the other’s eyes.

Zhou Bo stared down at the grain of the table, as if he could divine patterns from it.

After a brief, dead silence, Zhao Qian took a deep breath. His voice was stiff, laced with suppressed anger.

"Junior Brother Fang, we have already scoured Huangshi Village inside and out no less than ten times. If there were any clues, we would have found them by now. Why waste more time on a fruitless trip?"

He stared at Fang Han, his gaze sharp.

"The proper course of action now is to go through the list of suspects. It’s slow, but at least it’s progress. What is your intention in going back alone at a time like this?"

Fang Han’s expression remained unchanged as he met Zhao Qian’s gaze.

"I just feel that something might have been missed. I want to try again."

"Try?"

Sun Yi could no longer hold back and let out a sneer, his tone biting.

"Junior Brother Fang, it’s not that I’m trying to lecture you, but tracking and investigating a case relies on experience and meticulousness. It’s not child’s play. Do you really think you can get results just by ’trying’?"

"The seven of us are working our hardest out here, yet you want to go back on your own. Don’t tell me you think that following us is holding back your Cultivation?"

His words were now clearly barbed.

Zhang Yuan also sighed, his tone admonishing.

"Junior Brother Fang, an investigation requires a down-to-earth approach. It’s no use being overly ambitious. If there really were an easy clue to be found in Huangshi Village, why would we need to be wasting our efforts here?"

Liu Yun shook her head gently and said in a low voice.

"Junior Brother Fang, you should stay and help us with the investigation. Many hands make light work."

Fang Han took in everyone’s reactions and understood completely.

’They’re convinced I’m just making an excuse to leave the team, that I don’t want to take part in this tedious and seemingly hopeless investigation anymore.’

’Explaining would be pointless.’

He said no more, simply cupping his fist to Zhao Qian in a brief salute.

"In that case, I will take my leave. If I find anything, I will send a message to inform you all."

With that, without waiting for Zhao Qian to respond, he turned and strode out of the inn, his retreating figure resolute.

"You!"

Zhao Qian watched him leave, his chest heaving slightly. His face had completely darkened, and the fingers gripping his teacup turned white from the force.

Sun Yi slammed his hand on the table, sending the teacups rattling, and roared.

"How outrageous! Does he really think this investigation is some kind of vacation? Coming and going as he pleases!"

Li Ming’s face was grim.

"Forget it. His heart isn’t in it, so there’s no point in forcing him to stay. It just makes things harder for the rest of us, having to pick up his slack."

Chen Xue frowned and sighed lightly.

"I thought the Sect was sending a capable assistant, but instead... Ugh. When this mission is over and we return to the Sect, we must report this to the Steward Elder!"

Zhou Bo finally looked up and said in a muffled voice.

Zhao Qian let out a heavy breath, forcibly suppressing his rage, and said coldly.

"Forget him! We’ll stick to the plan! Whether we find the killer or not will depend on our own abilities!"

Despite his words, the atmosphere at the table was ice-cold. The seven of them’s dissatisfaction with Fang Han had reached its peak.

Fang Han left the inn, ignoring the angry and scornful looks directed at his back.

He activated the Wind Shadow Step, his figure becoming like the wind as he sped back along the path toward Huangshi Village.

His mind was calm and untroubled, focused on his journey and on adjusting his condition to maintain his Spirit Nose Technique at its peak sensory state.

In the afternoon, Fang Han once again set foot in the deathly silent Huangshi Village.

The pale afternoon sun shone down on the desolate village, but instead of dispelling the gloom, it only added an eerie quality.

He walked directly to the eastern end of the village, to the courtyard where five of his fellow disciples had perished.

The courtyard gate was ajar. Pushing it open produced a piercing CREAK that carried far in the silence.

The ground inside the courtyard was still stained with dark brownish spots—long-dried blood.

Fang Han stood in the courtyard, holding his breath and focusing his mind. He closed his eyes slightly and pushed his Mastery Level Spirit Nose Technique to its absolute limit!

In an instant, the world of scents unfolded before his "eyes" like a scroll, several times clearer and more three-dimensional than it had been at the Minor Achievement level!

The earthy smell of soil, the musty odor of rotting plants, the extremely faint stench of corpses, the scent of weathered wood... Countless scent molecules flooded in, yet they remained distinct and layered.

His mind was serene, like the finest of sieves, as he began to carefully filter and differentiate this complex information.

He ignored the scents that should belong to the villagers, to his fellow disciples, and to the natural environment, focusing all his effort on searching for that one possible trace—a faint, foreign scent belonging to the killer. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Time trickled by.

Suddenly!

An extremely faint, almost imperceptible scent—slightly acrid and mixed with a strange odor like rust combined with some kind of medicinal herb—drifted into his perception like a gossamer thread.

This scent was so faint it had almost merged with the air. If he hadn’t raised his Spirit Nose Technique to the Mastery Realm, he would have never been able to detect it.

Fang Han’s heart skipped a beat. His concentration sharpened instantly, and he firmly committed the wisp of scent to memory.

Without hesitation, he immediately turned and walked toward the other houses where villagers had been killed.

Under the powerful perception of his Mastery-Level Spirit Nose Technique, he did indeed detect the same extremely faint scent in three other houses—the ones with the most gruesome scenes and the most blood!

Although it was just as faint, the scent was identical!

’This scent... it lingers at multiple crime scenes... This is definitely the killer’s scent!’

Fang Han stood at the doorway of the last house, a flicker of certainty in his eyes.

’The killer acted cautiously, using a powder to mask his scent, but that kind of cover-up doesn’t mean there won’t be any trace left at all.’

’It’s just that the remaining scent is incredibly faint, so much so that even a Tracking Secret Technique would have a hard time finding it.’

’Now that my Spirit Nose Technique has reached Mastery, I can finally, just barely, smell it.’

Fang Han carefully memorized the scent, trying to burn it deep into his memory.

Suddenly, his brow furrowed slightly.

’This scent... It seems... familiar?’

’Not something I’d smell every day, but recently... I’ve encountered it on a specific occasion, haven’t I?’

He closed his eyes, concentrating fully as he recalled the scenes from the past few days when he had followed Zhao Qian and the others to investigate the suspects on their list.

The various faces, their personal scents...

The images flashed back in his mind.

Abruptly, his memory froze on an event from two days ago: in the Zhou Mansion in Yellow Leaf City’s East District, questioning a Martial Artist named Zhou Tong.

At the time, Zhao Qian had questioned Zhou Tong about his whereabouts last month. Zhou Tong’s answers had been natural, showing no signs of anything unusual.

But this scent now confirmed it completely: Zhou Tong, the man who had seemed perfectly normal, was the killer.

"Zhou Tong..."

Fang Han slowly opened his eyes, a cold glint flashing within them like a crack of lightning through the frigid air.

"Found you!"

Fang Han muttered to himself, his voice ice-cold.

He lingered no longer. With a single movement, he transformed into a faint cyan blur, silently streaking out of the dead village and racing toward Yellow Leaf City.