Led by Wei Yuefu, the group arrived at Hong Qiming's residence without mishap.
Naturally, his residence was guarded by personal guards as well; after all, his entire family was there.
And so they were swept along as well.
What else could be done? It was not as though they could start another fight.
Every additional minute of delay increased their danger.
Besides, to Wei Yuefu, this was no big deal. Having more people was actually fine—if something truly went wrong, they could serve as a gecko's shed tail to delay the enemy.
After all, none of them were people he cared about; if things went truly south, he could simply slip away.
As for weighing him down, it wouldn't slow him down much anyway; walking in heavy armor, his pace wasn't fast to begin with.
On the contrary, it worked to his advantage.
If they really ran into enemies and a volley of arrows came down, he was probably the only one who would come out unscathed.
Therefore, for Wei Yuefu, the more people there were, the safer he was. Otherwise, with his disposition, he would have made his escape long ago.
Led by Hong Qiming, they entered through the garden rockery into what he called the secret tunnel from the former dynasty.
"I expanded this secret tunnel and dug it open again; the original entrance wasn't here," Hong Qiming explained.
This was mainly because the entrance and this stretch of tunnel looked relatively new and did not match the architectural style of the former dynasty, and he worried someone might notice and misunderstand.
If Wei Yuefu struck him with a hammer or Shen Qianjun slit his throat over it, he would be at a massive loss.
"Then why was this secret tunnel from the former dynasty built in the first place?" Wei Yuefu could not help asking.
"A treasure vault," Hong Qiming answered frankly. "However, the dragon-severing stone has dropped, so there's no way inside anymore."
"If it can't be entered, how do you know?" Shen Qianjun asked.
There was a logical flaw here—if you had never been inside to see it, how could you know whether it was real or fake?
If it was merely a rumor, that made it even less plausible.
"Believe it or not. You can call it a tomb for all I care." Hong Qiming had no intention of explaining at length.
To him, it was merely an offhand remark.
"A tomb is unlikely," Wei Yuefu dismissed the claim. "Whose tomb doubles as a secret tunnel leading from inside the city to the outside?"
What kind of tomb would take such a shape?
Given its current structure, it was undoubtedly a secret tunnel.
"It seems to me that Bronze Badge Shen has pretty good luck. Why don't you give it a try in a bit?" Wei Yuefu said. "Who knows, maybe you'll be able to raise the dragon-severing stone of this treasure vault."
"That way, we can tag along and snag a few scraps as well."
Hearing this, Shen Qianjun was bewildered. What did he mean, that he could open it?
This was the first time he had ever even heard of this treasure vault, not to mention that the dragon-severing stone must weigh well over ten thousand jin—how could it possibly be opened?
"Then I shall borrow Bronze Badge Ding's auspicious words," Shen Qianjun replied, not taking it to heart and treating it as their usual banter.
"If it really opens, it'll all be thanks to my auspicious words," Wei Yuefu chuckled. "When the time comes, I get first pick of an item."
Shen Qianjun's brow furrowed. Wei Yuefu was being far too confident.
So, out of caution, he did not agree to it, instead changing the subject: "So what is hidden inside this vault?"
"Gold and silver, armor and weapons for a restoration?"
"Neither," Hong Qiming said. "It is the Daluo Martial Classic, compiled by the former imperial clan after gathering martial arts from across the realm."
Hearing this, nobody cared anymore.
They had thought it was something magnificent, but it turned out to be just a martial arts manual.
To put it bluntly, none of them needed this sort of art that combined nourishing, practicing, and fighting; their effects were mostly similar anyway.
Auxiliary martial arts were even more useless—how many people present could even practice them?
Especially since this was exclusively for the former imperial clan; setting everything else aside, the sheer requirement of resources alone would be an astronomical figure.
Even if they got their hands on it, they would only copy it and hand it over to the imperial court. Only a madman would try to practice it themselves.
"There must be more than just the Daluo Martial Classic inside," Wei Yuefu said teasingly. "There are the accompanying resources as well, right?"
"With those things, one could swiftly groom loyal followers into top experts."
Hearing this, Hong Qiming nodded. "Indeed."
"So, you are a remnant of the former dynasty," Wei Yuefu remarked upon hearing that. "This identity of yours was the real motive behind your decisive rebellion."
"To be honest, it's been nearly three hundred years, hasn't it? You people can really persevere."
Assuming an average lifespan of about forty years, that was roughly seven generations or so.
If it were the first or second generation, that would be one thing, but to keep the original aspiration alive after so many generations was truly rare.
"So the Lotus Fragrance Cult was founded by you remnants of the former dynasty?" Shangguan Shutong could not help asking.
"Certainly not. Hong Qiming must have joined by coincidence," Shen Qianjun explained, quickly briefing Shangguan Shutong on the situation.
Everything had unfolded so quickly that there was plenty Shangguan Shutong did not know about current events.
"I won't say anything about the other things, but I do have one question... Can medicinal herbs, elixir pills, and the like still be used after all these years?" Wei Yuefu asked.
Expiration dates definitely existed.
Not to mention being sealed in a secret chamber for so many years; who knew if they had been properly preserved?
So mold and decay were by no means impossible.
"Bronze Badge Ding, do not use your shallow brain to challenge the nine familial exterminations risked by these people." Hong Qiming did not directly admit his identity, but this was an indirect admission.
In fact, denying it now would not do much good anyway.
After all, he knew too much—so much that the logic of many things would not hold together otherwise.
"Fair enough. But how did this dragon-severing stone fall?" Wei Yuefu asked again, adding, "Reasonably speaking, as a remnant of the former dynasty, how could you not have a way to raise it?"
"It was lost," Hong Qiming said helplessly.
If he could have raised it, to say nothing else, he would not have been the one to lose this time.
By then, his personal guards would all be experts cultivating the Daluo Martial Classic, and there would be even more of them. Coupled with armor and military weaponry, even if Wei Yuefu and Shen Qianjun joined forces, they would have been swarmed and killed.
They could each take on two or three experts, but could they take on ten?
"Then again, were you people really that ostentatious?" Wei Yuefu's gaze fell upon the distant entrance to the treasure vault, which was adorned with carved dragons and painted phoenixes, looking remarkably grand.
"No one could see it anyway," Hong Qiming said somewhat despondently. "Never seeing the light of day, what does it matter how grand it is?"
"There's more than one vault like this, isn't there?" Wei Yuefu asked suddenly. After all, one wouldn't put all one's eggs in one basket.
Hearing this, the group went quiet, immediately pricking up their ears.
If there really were multiple vaults, just because this one couldn't be opened didn't mean the others couldn't be opened.
No matter what was inside, it was all left behind by the former dynasty; taking it out and pawning it would fetch a hefty sum of gold and silver.
Hong Qiming, however, remained completely silent. His attitude made it obvious: he had no intention of answering Wei Yuefu's question.
He was still hoping to use them to make a comeback in the future.
Chapter 37