Chapter 53: Government Registry Bureau

Chapter 53: Chapter 53: Government Registry Bureau

However, it was not like Sui Sui could ignore Yizhou forever. In the end, he was still the first to cave in.

He cleared his throat and forced himself to focus on the matter at hand. "So? Where should we go first, Senior Brother?"

Sui Sui asked as though nothing unusual had happened, following behind Yizhou. "There are three places that could have access to the information we need—the Government Registry Bureau, the Matchmaker Association, and the local temple. Which one should we investigate first?"

Yizhou glanced at him and thought for a moment before answering, "I think we should start with the Government Registry Bureau."

Sui Sui thought it was the better choice as well. After all, they had already been hired by the City Lord’s Manor, and since their investigation was directly related to the case, they should be able to access the Bureau’s records without too much trouble.

With their decision made, the two of them headed toward the Government Registry Bureau.

The Government Registry Bureau was located in the eastern part of the city. The building itself was not particularly imposing, and there were not many people inside at the moment. A few clerks moved back and forth carrying stacks of documents, while ordinary citizens waited in line to register their households, update their records, or request official documents.

When they arrived, Sui Sui approached one of the clerks. The moment they presented the authorization token from the City Lord’s Manor, the clerk’s attitude immediately became more respectful.

"What can we do to assist the esteemed cultivators?"

"Hello, we are here to investigate the recent case," Sui Sui explained. "If possible, we would like to speak with the person in charge of the city’s household and birth records."

"Please wait a moment, sirs."

Hearing that they were investigating something on the City Lord’s orders, the clerk did not dare delay them. He quickly called for his direct supervisor and led the two of them to another room to wait.

Not long after, an older man dressed in the Bureau’s official robes entered the room. He approached them with his hands clasped respectfully. "Good day, esteemed cultivators. I am Hou Li, the person in charge of the household registry. May I ask what information the two cultivators require?"

Sui Sui returned the greeting with a polite nod. "We are investigating the recent case under the City Lord’s orders. We only have a few questions."

The official’s expression grew a little more serious. He gestured for them to continue. "Of course. Please ask."

Sui Sui did not waste any time. "Aside from the people working here, who else can access the citizens’ household and birth records?"

Hou Li paused for a moment before answering.

"Other than the Bureau, there are only a few ways to obtain such information. Naturally, a person can request their own records, or a family member can request them on their behalf. Others may also submit a request, but they must first pass our verification process."

He stroked his beard thoughtfully before continuing, as though recalling the exact procedure.

"We do not hand out such information casually. Usually, the person requesting it must provide proof of their relationship to the individual in question. There are cases where someone requests the records on another person’s behalf, but most of them are family members acting for someone who cannot come here personally."

Sui Sui listened quietly, his fingers tapping lightly against his sleeve, so far, nothing seemed unusual. "Then what if someone pretended to be a family member and requested another person’s records?"

Hou Li thought for a moment before shaking his head.

"It is possible in theory, but they would still have to pass our verification process and provide proof of their relationship. We have strict requirements for this." He paused. "As far as we are concerned though, we have never encountered such an incident before."

"Then what if someone requested the records of many people at once? Is that allowed?" Sui Sui asked, his tone becoming more probing.

Hou Li paused, seemingly considering whether there was anything unusual about such a request before slowly shaking his head.

"It is allowed to ask for many at once, but as we have said earlier, only if they could provide evidence that they are an immediate family," he explained. "But it would be very time-consuming, both for us and for the person making the request, so most of the time no one does this"

"As for a non-family member requesting the records of many people at once..." Hou Li paused, his brows furrowing slightly. "We would have to think it over, but generally we reject such a request. It would be rather unusual, even for us."

"Aside from that, have there been any people recently who requested the records of multiple individuals? Could be either family or strangers " Sui Sui asked.

Hou Li shook his head. "We have not encountered any such case recently."

In his heart, Sui Sui crossed out the possibility of the culprit posing as a family member to obtain the victims’ information.

It had been one of their earlier theories—that perhaps the culprit had obtained the victims’ records directly from the Bureau. But judging from Hou Li’s explanation, that seemed unlikely. If every request had to go through such strict verification, obtaining the records of multiple unrelated people would be far too troublesome and conspicuous.

Creating different identities and fabricating relationships for multiple victims would take far too much time and effort. More importantly, the culprit should not have known who the victims would be beforehand. If that was the case, how could they have prepared fake identities specifically for them?

"Then aside from that, has anything seemed out of place in the Bureau recently?" Yizhou spoke up this time, his question more direct. "Workers acting strangely, unfamiliar people lingering around, documents going missing—anything at all that seemed unusual?"

His gaze remained on Hou Li, as though he were carefully watching for even the slightest change in the official’s expression.

"Anything suspicious?" Hou Li repeated, thinking for a moment. "Hmm... as far as I know, there has not been anything unusual."

"Our workers are all well trained, and we check their identities daily. I also know each of them personally, so I can vouch for them. There have been no problems among the staff recently."

He paused before continuing, "As for unfamiliar people lurking around, I have not noticed anything of the sort. The Bureau does not receive many visitors in the first place, so if someone were repeatedly lingering around, it would be quite noticeable."

"As for the documents, we double-check our files every month to make sure nothing is missing. We conducted our latest inspection recently, and everything was accounted for." His expression became a little more assured. "The records are also kept behind a formation set the the older generation of cultivators from XuanShuang City. Only a few people know how to unlock it, and anyone who attempts to enter without the proper method will trigger an alert. So far, there has been no sign that the formation has been breached."

After they finished their questioning, Sui Sui and Yizhou exchanged a glance.

Based on Hou Li’s answers, it seemed very unlikely that the culprit had obtained the victims’ information from the Government Registry Bureau. Everything he had said was reasonable, and there did not seem to be any obvious loopholes. Unless Hou Li himself was involved and had deliberately concealed something, there was little reason to suspect the Bureau.

Of course, they could not completely rule it out just yet. They would still have to verify his words through other means.

Before leaving, Sui Sui remembered something and asked if they could take a look at the City Lord’s fiancée’s records. Under normal circumstances, they would not have been granted access, but with the authorization token from the City Lord’s Manor, the Bureau allowed them to make a copy of her registry information.

Once they had what they needed, the two left the Bureau and found a nearby restaurant to have lunch and go over everything they had learned.

The two of them had asked for a private room and were now sitting across from each other at a table near the window, several dishes spread between them, yet neither seemed particularly interested in eating.

Sui Sui rested his chin on his hand, going over everything they had learned so far.

"So, let’s summarize what we know," he began. "The Government Registry Bureau keeps records of everyone’s household information and birth records, but getting access to those records isn’t easy."

"Mn." Yizhou hummed in agreement, quietly waiting for him to continue.

"I think it’s very unlikely that the Bureau is where the culprit obtained the information, right?" Sui Sui said. "Their system is quite strict, and it wouldn’t be advantageous for the culprit to get the information through them either. If they made too many suspicious requests, they could easily attract the government’s attention and leave behind a trail for us to follow. And if anything truly went missing, the Bureau would be alerted immediately."

He looked at Yizhou, as though seeking confirmation that his reasoning made sense.

Yizhou poured himself a cup of tea and took a slow sip before answering.

"What you said makes sense. However, we shouldn’t rule it out just yet. We haven’t investigated the other two places, and everything we know about the Bureau so far is based on one person’s answers." He lowered his cup. "What if he was the one providing the information to the culprit? Wouldn’t that simply lead us astray?"

Sui Sui paused, thinking it over, after a moment, he nodded. "That makes sense too."

He leaned back slightly, then asked, "Then what should we do next?"

"First, take a look at the City Lord’s fiancée’s information. There might be something useful in it," Yizhou reminded him.

Only then did Sui Sui remember that they had brought the records with them. He quickly reached into his pouch and took out the file. With the file in hand, he opened it and began reading through the information.

Name: Shan Shuqin

Marital Status: Unmarried (Engaged)

Status: Alive

Residence: Southern District

Parents: ...

Siblings: ...

Sui Sui skimmed through the rest of the information. Compared to the detailed records provided by the City Lord’s Manor, the Bureau’s registry was fairly simple. It contained just the basic information about Shan Shuqin’s identity and family.

He was about to turn to the next page when his eyes stopped.

There, among the other mundane details, was her birth chart.

Birth Chart: Year of the Dragon, 1st Lunar Month, 27th Lunar Day, Xu Hour (7–9 PM).

Sui Sui stared at the birth chart for a moment, then slowly read through it again, something was wrong.

He quickly went over the chart in his mind, checking each pillar one by one. Year. Month. Day. Hour.

Nothing.

Not a single Yin alignment?

Sui Sui’s hand tightened slightly around the edge of the paper. "Senior Brother..."

His voice had changed enough that Yizhou immediately looked over.

Sui Sui lifted the file, his eyes still fixed on the birth chart.

"Her birth chart..." He paused, as though he was still trying to make sure he had not made a mistake.

"There isn’t a single Yin alignment."