At Young Master Xu's command, the entire crowd surged inside. Counting the original leisure tour and the subsequent security detail, their numbers totaled at least three hundred people.
There was strength in numbers. Backed by deep pockets, they were equipped with a great deal of combat organisms and an array of advanced weaponry. As a result, the wealthy scions in the group felt no fear; on the contrary, they were buzzing with excitement.
Young Master Xu was especially brimming with energy. He was not interested in whatever treasures were hidden within the secret depository; he simply wanted to venture inside for the thrill of the adventure.
Exploring a secret depository was the most exhilarating activity in the world, far beyond merely sitting in an arena watching a martial bout. One wrong step, and a person could easily lose their life.
If he could make a run through a secret depository no one had ever breached before and document the entire journey on video, it would cause an absolute sensation throughout his social circle. It would not even be surprising if it made waves abroad—a feat that would bring him immense prestige.
After crossing one section of the trestle bridge, another stretch appeared ahead. Many of its planks were missing, and the hanging suspension cables did not look particularly sturdy, so the security unit immediately sent several men across to reinforce it.
Flashlight in hand, Young Master Xu shone his beam over the cliff face—already bathed in brilliant white by the searchlights—feeling a strong sense of participation. "Teacher Fan," he asked, "why do you think it was such a coincidence that we found a path today of all days?"
Teacher Fan was a man in his fifties wearing spectacles, looking very much like a professor from some prestigious academy.
He smiled and replied, "Mr. Xu, for something like this to happen, the ritual shrouding the entire secret depository must have undergone a shift. Either some geographical feature changed, or someone disturbed a critical node. It is quite possible someone went in ahead of us."
Young Master Xu started. "Someone got inside before us?"
Teacher Fan chuckled. "That wouldn't be surprising at all. Over the past thousand-odd years, who knows how many people have explored this territory. Quite a few have managed to enter, though whether they could make it back out safely is another matter. Still, there are bound to be individuals who hold concrete clues."
He paused, then added meaningfully, "Anyone who holds the clues and has the means to push deeper inside is definitely no ordinary figure."
Young Master Xu gave it some thought and felt that made damn good sense! If even his Xu family, with all their vast power and influence, lacked detailed information on this place, could anyone who possessed it be simple?
He immediately gave instructions to the security chief beside him. "Lao Lai, whoever we run into later, don't be rash. If we can greet them first, greet them. If we can make friends, make friends. We boys are just here for fun—let's not make things unpleasant."
Lao Lai wasted no words, replying, "Yes, Young Master. As you say, we'll greet them first."
"That's the spirit!"
Just then, a shout came from ahead announcing that the bridge had been reinforced. Under Young Master Xu's lead, the crowd surged excitedly forward once more.
***
Meanwhile, on the other side, Chen Chuan reached the end of the long road and found a narrow flight of stone steps leading upward.
Standing there, he glanced back and surveyed his surroundings. This path led toward the mountain ridge. He had deliberately climbed up here during the day, finding nothing but a barren slope.
Yet as he walked along now, smooth flagstones and stone steps stretched beneath his feet, and in the distance, he could even see imposing, magnificent statues of stone men and stone horses.
Upon arriving here, a faint glimmer of light actually appeared in the sky, resembling dusk—even though he had entered at the hour of zi.
Such a phenomenon...
He pondered the matter. Perhaps the entire secret depository was connected to a fissure.
Perhaps at this specific time each year, the fissure intersected with the real world, creating an entryway. Yet another possibility existed as well...
He glanced at his Second Self. There was not the slightest sign of blurring or fading, which meant everything before his eyes was entirely real.
Shifting his gaze forward again, he decided that whatever was happening here could be set aside for the moment; it was better to go in and see for himself.
With a call from him, Chaoming, who had been circling overhead, glided down to follow at his side.
He climbed the stone steps. Initially, they were very narrow, allowing at most two people to walk abreast. But after a hundred paces or so, the steps gradually widened until, reaching the top of this tier, he arrived at a broad landing terrace flanked by pavilions built for resting and taking in the view.
Just as he was looking around, the stone token tucked in his overcoat pocket trembled slightly. The civet urban legend suddenly leaped out. Its body had previously been quite insubstantial, but now it looked noticeably more solid. The moment it hit the ground, it began crunching and gnawing at the floor.
Chen Chuan had not paid close attention at first, but looking down now, he noticed the floor tiles faintly glinted with specks of gold. His eyes narrowed. Was this... Six-Yang Gold powder?
Looking past his feet into the distance, he realized that aside from areas obscured by mist, nearly the entire ground was paved with such stone tiles, which surprised him.
Setting aside the sheer difficulty of harvesting Six-Yang Gold, merely smelting and integrating it into stone pavers would require a vast number of martial-artist-level experts. Beyond consuming colossal manpower and resources, it clearly involved specialized techniques. If all this was merely to display luxury and majesty, the sheer magnitude of power mobilized behind it was almost unimaginable.
Then again, historical records described Emperor Ying as an exceedingly vainglorious ruler; doing something like this was hardly out of character.
And this should only be the outer perimeter. If even this place made use of so much Six-Yang Gold, one could easily imagine the value of what lay hidden within.
Still, this was an imperial secret depository. Its contents would never be left for others to take freely; defenses and wards were certain to be in place. Even after a thousand years, the fact that the ritual outside remained intact was proof enough, so caution was essential.
Continuing upward, Chaoming followed obediently at his side, never straying ahead unless bidden. The civet cat, by contrast, darted around in every direction, though it seemed to know better than to wander too far from Chen Chuan, consistently staying within twenty meters of him.
Chen Chuan let it roam, as it conveniently served to scout the path ahead.
After ascending another winding flight of stairs, he arrived at a plaza. Ahead, it remained veiled in a dreamlike, hazy mist.
Upon reaching this point, the civet did not press forward. Instead, it crouched low, letting out soft, guttural hisses.
It had likely sensed some kind of threat.
Chen Chuan took a look and chose not to barge in blindly. Even as a martial artist, he never assumed he could handle every situation with ease.
Moreover, this place was clearly extraordinary. With no telling what dangers lay ahead, he had no intention of wasting energy where he did not have to.
Setting down the suitcase at his side, he flipped the latch open and drew out a perforated tube. With a gentle flick of his wrist, the object shattered instantly, and with a buzz, a swarm of bee-like insects flew out.
This was a type of small modified organism typically used in combat to harass enemies, but thanks to their speed and nimbleness, their true strength lay in reconnaissance.
He gave a hand gesture. Upon receiving the command, the hovering swarm immediately scattered in all directions.
These creatures could squeeze into tiny crevices. If they encountered danger, they would burst into flames with a loud detonation, alerting him instantly to any anomaly.
Yet the insects circled outside for several minutes without a single one encountering trouble.
Rather than recalling them, he let them continue buzzing about while he strode forward. After covering fifty to sixty meters, a row of stone pillars appeared ahead, each carved with coiling dragons and snakes locked in combat.
He had done his research before coming: Emperor Ying had styled himself a dragon and his younger brother a snake, so every sculpture depicted a dragon subduing a serpent.
As he drew near, the carved dragons and snakes seemed to twitch faintly. Yet when his gaze swept across them, they were completely motionless once more, as if they had never moved at all.
He did not linger on it. Withdrawing his gaze, he walked past the dragon-and-snake pillars. As the mist ahead thinned, a grove of sprawling black bronze-and-iron trees was revealed, each standing two zhang tall, hung with strings of human and animal skeletons.
Chen Chuan recognized it immediately: this was the "Iron Thorn Forest," renowned in the esoteric rituals of the old era, a form of sacrificial pillar favored during Middle Antiquity.
Offerings had to be skewered alive, then torched from beneath until scorched to a blackened crisp. The sacrificial pillars would become coated in layer upon layer of charred, putrid flesh, eventually taking on this distinctive dark brown hue.
Emperor Ying was from the Eastern Continent, but by his era, the region had endured two to three centuries of Beirong incursions. Steppe and agrarian cultures had mingled, absorbing some of the barbaric flair of northern shamanic sacrifices.
The targets of such sacrificial rites were either certain deities or entities hailing from the Confluence. The offerings were typically slaves and defeated captives, falling far short of imperial honors.
From the look of it, this area was still only the perimeter of the secret depository. Taking advantage of the thinning mist, he looked toward higher ground, where a sprawling palace complex was faintly visible. That was likely the true center of the secret depository.
However, he did not rush forward. Instead, he made his way to the center of the ritual area, where atop the pivot pillar stood a foot-tall dragon-and-snake statue. It was exquisitely carved and lifelike, cylindrical in form.
As long as this object remained intact here, with sufficient offerings, the sacrificial rite could still be activated.
Chen Chuan shook his head. Such an excessively bloody ritual was best left buried in the dust of history; there was no need for it ever to be used again.
Reaching out, he moved to take the statue down.
Without it, even with the ritual pillars standing outside, the ritual could never be set in motion again.
Yet the moment his hand made contact, the entire statue shattered with a snap. From amidst the debris, an object tumbled out—a crimson, egg-shaped sphere.
He glanced at it, a thought seeming to cross his mind. After a brief pause, he picked it up, placed it into his suitcase, and looked up. By now, the swarm of bees had already flown deeper ahead. He quickened his pace and set off toward the distant palaces.
Chapter 956