The group of outsiders spent an entire day digging out the passageway at the western corner to its very end, only to be met with a stone wall bearing a prostrate humanoid stone carving.
Beyond this lay the entrance to the secret depository. Yet without the key-lock and the proper method of unsealing, even smashing this stone wall to pieces would not grant them entry; stepping past it would either lead into empty nothingness or emerge on the far side of the Maka temple.
The middle-aged man waved everyone back and stepped forward. He took out several branching esoteric ritual rods and inserted them into different positions along the wall. Once he had finished, he left two men behind to keep watch, gave them a few instructions, and quickly withdrew from the tunnel.
When he emerged outside, he saw that the sky was pitch-black. Pulling out a pocket watch, he checked the time: it was already nine in the evening.
A subordinate stepped up and said, "Chamberlain, the hour is late, and those villagers are... exhausted. Shall we resume tomorrow?"
The middle-aged man pondered for a moment, then replied coldly, "We do not stop tonight. I will rest for two hours. In two hours, you will follow me and dig through the final corner."
The men exchanged glances, having no idea why he was in such a hurry. But since their superior had given the order, they could only comply, bowing and voicing their assent.
The middle-aged man grunted. Previously, when the higher-ups had sent men to the Cao family, he had opposed it vigorously. Even without the other half of the key-lock, he could have breached the ritual on his own and gained entry to the secret depository. It would only have caused a slightly bigger stir—and what was there to fear from that? This was Mount Jiao, far away from the Three Mountains region.
Yet the higher-ups had insisted on sending someone, leaving him with no choice. They hadn't stopped to think that once someone showed their face at the Cao family, the whole affair risked being exposed.
Although the superiors had had many dealings with the Cao family in the past without anything leaking, he could not shake an uneasy feeling. Thus, he preferred to pick up the pace.
Stepping aside, he pulled out some medicine, swallowed it, and stood there, using his breathing technique to slowly regulate his breath and recover.
He possessed a peculiar spiritual power. With a little mental bewitchment paired with certain drugs, he could enslave others to do his bidding. However, he had expended too much of it earlier and needed to replenish his reserves.
Two hours later, his vitality restored, a strange gleam flashed across his eyes. With a crisp wave of his hand, he led his men toward the final, southern corner.
There was a village here. Hearing people approach, the villagers brought out bows, arrows, crude homemade guns, and grenades.
However, against fighters clad in protective suits, these weapons were completely useless; the ordinary villagers could not even track their silhouettes.
Only a few villagers fitted with secondhand implants managed to cause them a bit of trouble.
Once the surviving villagers were brought under control, the middle-aged man produced a packet of fragrant incense. Lighting it, he let the smoke drift through the air. The villagers caught merely a whiff before sinking into a dazed stupor. As he channeled his spiritual power, they stood up numbly, took up hoes and shovels, and followed his guidance to begin digging at the designated spot.
With no regard for the villagers' lives, he breached the final corner of the secret depository after only a single night. Before them stood another half-relief, depicting a demonic deity slowly crawling outward as though pursued by something from behind. Its face wore a bizarre, terrifying expression—blending laughter, fury, and a trace of dread.
After setting up the ritual rods here, the middle-aged man checked his pocket watch and instructed his subordinates, "Go inform the others immediately. Have them activate the instruments simultaneously, sharp at the hour of the Rabbit."
His men were startled and asked, "Chamberlain, isn't this a bit too rushed?" They had already been toiling for days with scarcely a moment's rest, and none of them were in good shape. Now they were expected to enter the secret depository; even with half of the key-lock, there was no telling what they might encounter.
The middle-aged man replied coldly, "The sooner, the better. Go at once."
Helpless, the subordinates could only rush out to notify the crews stationed at the other corners.
More than an hour later, at the hour of the Rabbit, the men at each corner activated their instruments as instructed.
Soon, wisps of light seeped from the stone walls before them, and the secret depository slowly began to open. For now, the disturbance remained relatively minor; however, once the fissure within was torn open, all of Mount Jiao might be violently shaken, drawing immense attention.
Meanwhile, Ren Xiaotian and Lu Ke had just buried the final ceramic pillar.
Lu Ke said, "Big Brother Ren, this is the last spot, right?"
"The last one," Ren Xiaotian said.
Lu Ke felt a wave of relief. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Big Brother Ren, this mission seems really important. If they entrusted it to us and we fail, what will happen?"
Ren Xiaotian answered simply, "We won't fail." Pausing briefly, he added, "Even if we couldn't finish it, others would step in."
"What do we do now?"
"Head back and wait," Ren Xiaotian said.
"All right."
Yet just as the two were about to leave, having taken no more than a couple of steps, Ren Xiaotian felt something gently vibrating in his pocket. He halted, reached inside, and pulled out a hollow silver sphere.
This was the instrument the Esoteric Cult Examination Bureau had given him earlier, and now it was trembling.
Pondering for a moment, he held it up and turned it toward the four cardinal directions. When pointed toward a certain heading, the intensity of the vibration surged sharply.
Lu Ke asked, "Big Brother Ren, what's this...?"
Ren Xiaotian knew this meant an esoteric ritual had been activated. He had to notify the rear immediately. Because sending telegrams on Mount Jiao was always plagued by bizarre interference, he needed to return to the vehicle at once to send the wire. "We leave right now," he said.
Meanwhile, as the secret depository gradually opened and the middle-aged man was preparing to enter, he suddenly sensed something was amiss. Frowning, he listened intently for a moment, then retrieved a small cage-like sphere woven of gold thread from his sleeve.
He allowed it to hang suspended. After a brief pause, the sphere began to spin on its own.
His gaze instantly turned sharp. "Someone is probing the esoteric ritual."
The people around him gasped.
The middle-aged man said, "The resonance only just appeared, so whoever is spying on us must still be on Mount Jiao. Go out at once and find them!"
"Chamberlain, Mount Jiao is vast. Where do we even look?"
The middle-aged man sneered. "Transmitting messages from Mount Jiao is no easy task. Even if someone gathered intelligence, they would not remain where they were. Dawn is just breaking; anyone heading out of the mountain at this hour is bound to be the culprit! Hurry to the mountain passes and road exits. Do not let a single person leaving slip through!"
Hearing his command, two men dashed out of the tunnel as fast as they could and sped toward the trail leading out of Mount Jiao.
After waiting for quite a while, they indeed spotted two figures hurrying toward the mountain's exit.
Upon spotting them, one man raised a long-range rifle. Taking aim, he pulled the trigger a moment later. With a loud crack, the person behind dropped instantly to the ground. The one in front seemed startled, freezing for an instant before sprinting forward with redoubled speed. But it was already too late. Another gunshot rang out, and that person too fell dead on the trail.
Behind a boulder further back, Ren Xiaotian and Lu Ke crouched in hiding. Lu Ke peered outside. Earlier, they had been ready to leave, but Ren Xiaotian had sought out two men, paid them, and told them to run out of Mount Jiao. Had the two of them walked out instead, they would have been the ones shot dead.
"Big Brother Ren, how did you know someone would target us?"
"It never hurts to be careful," Ren Xiaotian said.
Lu Ke nodded. He felt not the slightest pity for the dead pair; they had been the most brutal bullies in the village, and their deaths were well deserved.
"Do we leave now?" he asked.
"No. Wait a bit longer," Ren Xiaotian replied.
"Then how do we send the message back?"
Ren Xiaotian glanced toward the outside and said, "Detour."
There was more than one path down the mountain. Taking another route would require a wider detour and might cost them half a day or a full day, but it was far better than being pinned down here. With the enemy's situation unclear, direct confrontation was best avoided.
Meanwhile, outside Mount Jiao, a Disposal Bureau observer hurried up to He Fen, saluted, and said, "Director, we have a situation."
After hearing the report and following the observer's guidance, He Fen peered through binoculars and saw the two bodies lying dead in the distance.
He pondered. The higher-ups had previously notified him that two operatives had entered Mount Jiao to scout the situation. Could these two be them?
After thinking it over, he said, "Send two men to search the bodies and verify their identities. Be careful."
"Yes, sir."
Two Disposal Bureau agents sprinted out at once. Reaching the two corpses, they conducted a swift, thorough search, hurried back, and handed the recovered items to He Fen.
"Director, they're two Mount Jiao villagers. But they were carrying two gold drafts from Wansheng Financial Firm."
He Fen took them and examined them. The name on the drafts was "Ren Xiaotian," matching the name of the operative he had been briefed on beforehand. His conclusion took shape instantly.
He looked up abruptly and instructed, "Send a wire to headquarters. State that the forward reconnaissance operatives discovered someone on Mount Jiao has activated an esoteric ritual."
The adjutant beside him was taken aback and cautioned, "Director, shouldn't we double-check?"
Confirming such a matter based solely on gold drafts and a name—wasn't that a bit too hasty? What if they were merely two thieves who had stolen the drafts and fled?
This was no laughing matter. So many eyes in Center City were watching this affair, and all communications were using classified channels; one could easily imagine how critical it was. If inaccurate intelligence was relayed, the director's official post could well be forfeit.
He Fen replied, "No confirmation needed. These two gold drafts are someone's attempt from across the lines to pass us a message. Adjutant Yang, let me teach you a lesson today."
He pointed to his cap. "Wearing this cap means taking risks. If you can't stomach the risk, don't wear the cap. In a matter like this, I'd rather be proven wrong in my judgment than do nothing out of hesitation. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir!"
Adjutant Yang saluted solemnly and left briskly. Heading to the rear, he instructed the telegraph operator to transmit the message immediately.
Chapter 1022