Within the Old Imperial Court—a martial faction founded on sheer might—rank and hierarchy directly reflected personal strength.
The Four Subjugation Generals were by no means minor figures. Judging from archival records, anyone capable of holding such a post was very likely a martial artist of the Longevity View realm.
Sitting in the car, Chen Chuan considered the matter. Whenever an affair required the involvement of a Longevity View martial artist, the Old Imperial Court was bound to stir up immense turmoil.
It was not yet certain that this General of Eastern Subjugation was targeting Jibei Dao, but even if there was only the slimmest chance, they could not afford to take it lightly.
Moreover, given the rigid discipline of the Old Imperial Court, a general of this caliber would never operate alone.
And another question remained: were the participants this time truly limited to the Old Imperial Court?
After a moment of deep thought, he told the driver ahead, "Head to this location." As he spoke, he transmitted a map marker through his boundary credential.
The driver checked it and immediately spun the steering wheel, turning the vehicle around to head north.
Leaving Yangzhi City behind, they drove along the railway before veering southeast. More than two hours later, a facility came into view ahead.
It was the research center of Yuangan Company.
Yuangan Company's director, Liao Donghai, had already received a telegram while Chen Chuan was en route and was waiting by the front entrance.
The armored vehicle pulled up before the gates. As Chen Chuan stepped out, Liao Donghai hurried forward to greet him, shaking his hand with a smile. "Section Chief Chen, we have been waiting for you."
"Mr. Liao," Chen Chuan said, "are they still here?"
"Yes, they're here, safe and sound. After receiving your message, we began preparing to release the ritual bindings. We can start whenever you wish."
Yuangan Company had already received prior notification from the Jibei Dao Government Affairs Department. The terms had been settled: they would hand the two ancient martial artists over to Chen Chuan.
In truth, this was a massive relief for them. After personnel from the superior security department conducted an inspection, they had instructed the company to maintain the restraints, followed by monthly checkups, yet they had never taken the subjects away.
These were two genuine martial artists. If they ever broke free and wreaked havoc, the liability would fall squarely on the company. Handing off these two hot potatoes was something they welcomed with open arms.
Chen Chuan walked inside with him. Through the partition glass, he saw the two ancient martial artists still lying there, kept in a minimal physiological state, their bodies bound by various restraints and ritual patterns.
"Release the ritual," Chen Chuan said.
Liao Donghai immediately instructed the retained ritual specialists to sever the ritual. Barely half a minute later, both subjects' chests heaved violently. Almost simultaneously, their eyes snapped open. With a casual lift of their limbs, they effortlessly snapped the restraints forged from special alloy, sending twitches through the eyelids of onlookers on both sides.
Chen Chuan pushed open the door and stepped inside. The moment they saw him, looks of defiance crossed their faces, yet neither exhibited much outright hostility.
Tapping his boundary credential, he got straight to the point: "I have come to hire you to fight alongside me." As he spoke, the credential smoothly translated his words into the tongue of the Noros Theocracy.
At the word "fight," a fiery fervor seemed to ignite in the eyes of Zarnik and the white-haired woman.
Zarnik said, "We were defeated by you; we are your spoils of war. We have no wealth to ransom ourselves, so by our honor pact, we shall fight as your followers until the day we ransom ourselves and regain our freedom."
The white-haired woman declared loudly, "Yes! If battle is what you require, we will fight beside you. We pledge to give everything we have, even if it means dying in battle alongside you!"
Chen Chuan glanced at her. A bit too blunt; best not to say such things in the future.
"I have no need for you to die with me," he said. "Doing your utmost will suffice. However, in battle, I require absolute obedience to my commands and adherence to the rules I set."
"Naturally! We are proper warriors! We obey every order of our commander. You can trust us!"
Zarnik added, "However, we need food right now. We must fill our bellies and regain our strength."
"Yes," the white-haired woman chimed in. "We are very weak right now."
Chen Chuan gave a sign. An orderly promptly carried in two suitcases and set them down before the pair. "These are for you," Chen Chuan said. "I'll wait outside. Come find me once you've recovered."
With that, he turned and stepped out.
Once he left, the two smashed open the cases with a single punch each. Seeing neat, stacked slices of meat inside—all premium ingredients—their eyes lit up. Grabbing handfuls, they shoved the meat into their mouths, filling the room with the frantic sounds of chewing and swallowing.
Chen Chuan let them eat while he waited outside. Liao Donghai asked nervously, "Section Chief Chen, everything all right?"
"Rest assured, everything is fine," Chen Chuan replied. "I'll be taking them away shortly."
Liao Donghai nodded and let out a long breath of relief. At last, he would not have to spend every day living in fear that something might go wrong.
Chen Chuan said, "I'm requisitioning this facility for a few days to let them recover properly. You may evacuate your personnel in the meantime."
"Not a problem. I'll arrange it right away."
Meanwhile, on the outer perimeter of Mount Jiao, an armed convoy was stationed. He Fen, Director of the Yangzhi Disposal Bureau, was observing the terrain ahead through a pair of binoculars.
With Yangzhi City's internal problems gradually resolved, the Government Affairs Department, the constabulary, and the Disposal Bureau had turned their attention toward Mount Jiao.
By rough estimates, at least thirty to forty thousand people were scattered across this territory. Bringing order to this place would undoubtedly be a crowning achievement on any official resume.
Civil Administrator Zhu Xian knew this was the optimal moment to deal with the region. As the field network expanded, a blind spot like this could no longer be tolerated. If he did not resolve it during his tenure, the political credit would fall to his successor.
Hence, he had spared no expense to establish field stations in the area, setting them up even if they could not yet penetrate the interior of Mount Jiao.
Several days ago, the Center City Government Affairs Department had sent a secret telegram instructing them to keep a close watch on this region. In retrospect, having field stations established in advance proved to be an immensely prescient move.
He Fen had always been the most proactive proponent of this plan. Yesterday, upon receiving instructions from the Center City General Bureau to monitor the area closely, he realized an opportunity for his future promotion might be right before him. Determined to seize it, he had stayed pinned to the front lines these past few days rather than returning, ready to notify the rear the moment any unusual disturbance arose.
At that moment, above a cavern pit on the western slope of Mount Jiao, a middle-aged man wearing traditional robes with his hair bundled into a topknot stood on high ground, looking down cold-eyed.
Below him, around a hundred villagers were digging frantically. Their expressions were dull and lifeless as they worked in a purely mechanical manner. Before long, one of the villagers collapsed to the ground, dead on the spot.
A young man approached from the side and whispered, "Chamberlain, we have twenty fewer people than yesterday. If we don't feed them, I fear many more will collapse by tomorrow."
The middle-aged man said coldly, "Then go seize more. As if there is any shortage of people here?"
The young man quickly cupped his fists and bowed his head. "This subordinate obeys."
As they spoke, a rumbling crash erupted from below. Like an earthquake, a large section of the ground gave way, dragging down all the villagers digging above.
The middle-aged man's expression shifted. Immediately stepping down from the high ground, he approached the collapsed opening and peered inside, his eyes gleaming with excitement.
Lifting the hem of his robe, he leaped down into the breach, followed closely by seven or eight others who jumped down one after another.
The middle-aged man did not spare a glance for the villagers buried beneath sand and rubble. Instead, he inspected the surrounding cavern walls, noting the signs of artificial excavation and a passage leading ahead.
At his signal, someone behind him promptly raised a gas lamp.
He walked deeper inside, his companions hurrying after him. For a time, the only sounds echoing in the corridor were the feeble groans of surviving villagers and their hurried footsteps.
Reaching the depths within, the scene revealed before them startled the entire group.
Lining the walls were statues of eerie deities and monstrosities rendered in the "half-relief" style unique to the Outer Ocean. In this sculpting technique, the figures were carved directly out of the stone face while keeping half their form conjoined to the rock, completely unpolished. This gave the impression that the statues had grown straight out of the cliff face. Furthermore, the monstrous faces bore contorted expressions of agony, appearing exceptionally sinister and terrifying.
The middle-aged man scrutinized them with a discerning eye and said, "Back then, when the imperial family constructed this place, they repurposed what was originally a temple of the Maka people. This is the western corner. Go back up and arrange for more men to come down and keep digging. Once we break through here, we'll only have one spot left."
Those behind him promptly cupped their fists in salute and hurried back to the surface to herd more villagers down.
The middle-aged man stared at the hollow before him. Yangzhi was currently expanding its field network. If the field blanketed this area, the disturbance caused by opening the secret repository would inevitably be detected. Thus, they had to open the fissure before that happened and expand it as much as possible, creating a space large enough to accommodate the passage of an army.
If they had the other half of the key, there would be no need for such trouble. But with only half in hand, this was their only choice.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the mountain, Ren Xiaotian and Lu Ke were emerging from another village when they suddenly felt a tremor beneath their feet.
"An earthquake?" Ren Xiaotian asked.
Lu Ke thought for a moment and said, "We do get earthquakes here, but this definitely wasn't one. A cave must have collapsed from digging." He tapped the ground with his foot. "It's hollow beneath us. You can't just dig indiscriminately, but people are always digging through places trying to unearth stuff. It happens all the time."
"Can you tell where it came from?" Ren Xiaotian asked.
Lu Ke looked around and said uncertainly, "Probably the west?"
"Then we won't go there for now," Ren Xiaotian said. "Let's head south."
Chapter 1021