All Heavens and Worlds Starting from the Night Watchman

Chapter 004: Two Chemical Transporters

“The records contain the testimonies of the people present—everyone saw the carriage fall into the river, and silver coins scatter into the water. How could that be false?”

Chen Hanguang immediately voiced his doubts. How could such an event be faked? Everyone saw it with their own eyes. Could their eyes deceive them?

Xu Qian shook his head, smiled faintly, and said, “Never fully trust your own eyes. What you see is not always the truth.”

“Based on what I know, there exists a substance that is identical to silver in color and texture but vastly different in weight.”

“What substance?” Chen Hanguang had never heard of anything that could resemble silver so closely. It was unheard of.

“Metallic sodium,” Xu Qian answered.

“What sodium?”

“Metallic sodium!”

Upon hearing this, Chu Caiwei immediately reached out her hand toward Xu Qian. “Give it to me.”

Chen Hanguang agreed, “Hand it over.”

After all, the Directorate of Celestials was a gathering place for alchemists. As a member of the Directorate, he had never encountered such a substance before.

Xu Qian hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to say—because he didn’t actually have any metallic sodium.

Chu Caiwei pressed on. “I have indeed never seen such a thing before, so why don’t you let me witness it today?”

“Bring out your so-called metallic sodium.”

Xu Qian hesitated, then looked at Chu Caiwei, who had walked closer. “This metallic sodium is extremely difficult to refine. Where would I get it?”

He was still unfamiliar with this world, and even he didn’t know how to produce metallic sodium here.

Yang Jinluo overheard and interjected, “Difficult? What’s so difficult about it?”

Xu Qian explained, “The process of refining metallic sodium requires many people, electricity, and extremely high temperatures.”

Chu Caiwei furrowed her brows and made a decision. “You handle the refining. I’ll take care of everything else.”

The Directorate of Celestials was an expert in alchemy, so naturally, they were intrigued by such matters. They were eager to see how metallic sodium could be refined.

Xu Qian added, “I’ll need an assistant—someone who also understands this process.”

“Who?”

“Lin Qiye.”

“Who’s that?”

“My cellmate.”

“Oh!”

“Alright, whatever you say. But if you two fail, don’t blame us for being ruthless.”

“Don’t worry! We’ll definitely succeed.”

Shortly afterward, Lin Qiye was brought over, quickly bowing in greeting.

Chen Hanguang sighed in frustration. “You two are both major criminals, and now you’ve teamed up?”

Lin Qiye hurriedly clarified, “I’m no major criminal! I was framed.”

“You’re bold to take the blame for someone else.”

“Sir, you have keen judgment. Initially, I only took the fall for a petty crime, thinking I’d be released in three days. Who would’ve thought the real culprit had committed murder?”

“To silence me, they even poisoned me. Luckily, my body is strong, and I survived.”

Chu Caiwei used her Qi-gazing technique to examine Lin Qiye, then frowned. “He’s telling the truth. He shows serious signs of poisoning.”

Chen Hanguang was already annoyed. He glanced at Lin Qiye and said, “I don’t care about any of that right now. I just want to know—can you two refine metallic sodium?”

Hearing this, Lin Qiye looked at Xu Qian. He knew that this idea must have come from him.

“Listen, Xu Qian, refining metallic sodium is already incredibly difficult. You should know it’s nearly impossible to store.”

“It oxidizes almost immediately. Extracting it is another challenge.”

“Without proper equipment, how do you plan to extract it?”

“Lin Qiye, do we have any other options?”

“Fine, fine. We’ll do it your way.”

“That’s the spirit.”

“First, we need some crude salt.”

With that, the two began the extraction process. As both had studied chemistry, they knew what to do.

An hour passed, and the three onlookers were growing impatient. Their patience had worn thin.

“Sir, could you lend us some fire?”

Originally, Xu Qian thought refining metallic sodium would be impossible without electricity, as achieving high temperatures in Great Feng was difficult. However, he hadn’t anticipated that Chu Caiwei could use magic.

With just a flick of her will and some guidance, they successfully refined metallic sodium.

“Look at this metallic sodium. The color is almost indistinguishable from silver. If one didn’t know better, they would assume it was silver.”

“However, its mass is significantly different. If this was the transported material, then everything makes sense.”

The three examined the metallic sodium. Indeed, it looked just like silver, but its weight was vastly different.

If this was what was being transported, it would be perfectly reasonable.

Chen Hanguang was still puzzled. “Even if silver was swapped for metallic sodium, why did the silver explode?”

Lin Qiye quickly explained, “Metallic sodium is highly reactive. When it comes into contact with water, it immediately reacts, producing a colorless and odorless gas. The sodium forms small molten spheres on the water’s surface, moving around while emitting a hissing sound.”

“It also explodes upon contact with water—hence the explosion everyone witnessed.”

“Everyone, please step back. I’ll demonstrate.”

Xu Qian took a small piece of metallic sodium and gestured for everyone to move further away before tossing it into the water.

The moment it touched the water—”Boom!”—it exploded.

The onlookers were stunned. Now, everything made sense.

“Metallic sodium reacts explosively with water, releasing only a colorless and odorless gas. That’s why there were no traces left to investigate.”

“No wonder even the Directorate of Celestials’ Qi-gazing technique couldn’t detect any demonic presence.”

“The mastermind behind this scheme covered the surface with real silver to mislead people, while the entire cargo beneath was metallic sodium.”

“Even if the silver was fake, where did the real silver go?”

“Xu Qian and I analyzed this back in the prison cell. The real silver was swapped out long before.”

“Exactly. The switch happened before my second uncle took over. He’s just a martial artist—he wouldn’t understand such things.”

Finally, everything made sense. It seemed that Xu Pingzhi was not to blame.

“Now we know the direction for our investigation!”

“Guards! Prepare the carriage. I must report to His Majesty.”

“No need for the hassle, Lord Chen. I’ll accompany you.”

“It’s no trouble.”

“Hold on tight.”

With that, Yang Jinluo grabbed Chen Hanguang and flew off.

The others rushed to report the truth to the Emperor and claim their rewards.

Xu Qian watched the two figures disappear into the sky and muttered, “Wait, people in Great Feng can fly?!”

Lin Qiye sighed. “Xu Qian, you’re off the hook, but I’m still in trouble!”

Xu Qian reassured him, “Don’t worry! If I’m fine, you’ll be fine too.”

Lin Qiye turned to Chu Caiwei eagerly. “Milady, I saw your magic just now—it was incredible! Could you teach us a little?”

“We are both exceptionally gifted martial artists. With proper training, we could reach new heights…”