Somewhere in Yun'an City, within a grand mansion that had been under renovation since last year.
In the courtyard of the old and luxurious mansion, there were piles of bricks, stones, soil, and timber. Several carpenters were knocking and hammering on the beams. Since the surrounding area was filled with wealthy and prominent families, bamboo fences were specially set up on the courtyard walls to block the view, so as to prevent the messy scene from attracting the criticism of the neighbors.
Cao Anning, dressed like an ordinary servant, carried a lunch box and entered the mansion. Behind him were Xu Bailin and an old man in a white robe who walked with his hands behind his back.
Cao Anning scanned the rear of the mansion a few times. After confirming that there was nothing unusual, he entered a half-rebuilt house. He opened the floor covered with wooden planks and went down the wooden stairs, then came to an underground passage.
The underground passage extended deep on both sides. The bricks and stones were of long history, but the floating soil on them was new, with traces of people walking back and forth.
The old man in the white robe walked silently beside the two of them. Looking at the old bricks and stones of the tunnel, he was slightly surprised:
"This tunnel seems to have been built in the previous dynasty. How did you find this place?"
Cao Anning was quite respectful to the old man in the white robe. After all, this old man was the teacher of Jiang Zahu, the overlord of Liangzhou, and also a heroic figure who had once earned the title of "Fist Champion" with his bare hands.
If it were thirty years ago, just the mention of the old man's name in Yunzhou would have been enough to make the yamen in the capital city extremely nervous and on high alert.
Although the old man in the white robe was now over eighty years old and had been severely injured by his disciple who had been expelled from the sect, and had shattered the reputation he had built up for half his life in one battle, and had to hide around and barely survive.
But for martial artists like Cao Anning who were still on their way in the martial world, the old man who had once reached the peak was still a legendary figure they could only look up to.
Hearing the old man's question, Cao Anning replied:
"I have been in the palace for many years and didn't know there was such a secret tunnel underground. His Highness the Crown Prince is extremely resourceful. I don't know where he got the information from, but he speculated that there was a tunnel here. He sent people to secretly explore for a long time before finding this place."
"Where does the tunnel lead to?"
"The other end leads to Qingjiang outside the city, which has already collapsed and been blocked. The entrance may be in the imperial city, but the risk is too great, so we haven't verified it."
After listening to the origin, the old man in the white robe nodded slightly and sighed:
"It's a pity that we found out too late. If the people in the martial world had known there was a tunnel to enter the palace sixty years ago, the martial world today might be a completely different scene."
Xu Bailin knew that the old man in the white robe was a figure who had participated in the bloody battle in the capital city at the end of the previous dynasty, and asked:
"It is said that when Yun'an City was breached that year, most of the martial arts masters came and fought in chaos in the imperial city to seize treasures. What was the specific situation at that time?"
The old man in the white robe explained: "Emperor Yanggong of Yan was extremely extravagant and lost the hearts of the people. The officials in Fengguan City were disheartened and isolated themselves in Yangshan, no longer caring about the affairs of the world. The grand eunuch and the national master in the imperial city were also held back by the rebel army, resulting in the emptiness of the imperial city's defenses. Heroes from all over the world heard the news and came to Yun'an City to take advantage of the chaos.
"At that time, not only most of the martial arts masters of the Great Yan Dynasty came, but also many experts from Beiliang. Some were after the Minglong Diagram, some were those who were determined to defend the country to the death, and some were chivalrous men who fought for the rebel army. They fought in chaos with each other, directly changing the generations in the martial world. I, along with Xuanyuan Chao and others, were only in our teens or twenties at that time. We only dared to watch from a distance in the city and didn't dare to get anywhere near the imperial city."
Xu Bailin could imagine the brutality of that battle and asked:
"According to the rumors in the martial world, the Minglong Diagram was finally obtained by Kuangyazi. Is this true?"
The old man in the white robe thought for a while: "I'm not sure. But I saw with my own eyes that when Kuangyazi fought his way out of the capital city, he directly took off all his clothes. He only had a knife on him and didn't even wear pants. If it weren't for that, it would have been very difficult for him to escape the pursuit of the heroes in the martial world at that time."
Cao Anning said: "Afterwards, the court investigated. Among the Minglong Diagrams collected in the previous dynasty, four were lost. One may have been taken to Nanxiao Mountain, one was taken away by the people of Beiliang, and the whereabouts of the remaining two are unknown. I estimate that Kuangyazi still succeeded. He broke into Chengan Hall at that time and then fled all the way. It's possible that he hid the Minglong Diagram in his wound..."
While the three of them were chatting, they walked along the tunnel for a long time, and there was light ahead.
Several oil lamps were hung on the walls of the tunnel. There were two tables placed along the wall, with some drawings, ink, and brushes on them. There were also more than thirty wooden barrels piled up by the wall.
Four or five men were sitting against the wall, with tools such as hoes and shovels beside them. When they saw Cao Anning coming, they quickly got up to greet him:
"Sir Cao."
"Continue to rest. I'm just here to take a look..."
On the wall among the few men, another horizontal hole had been dug out, revealing the soil. Wooden planks were used as support to prevent collapse. Oil lamps were hung along the way, extending to the end of the field of vision.
Cao Anning came to the entrance of the newly dug passage and motioned inside:
"We have already dug to the front of the foundation. As long as we know the location of the load-bearing point and pour the molten oil on it, it will be completed in two days. But Yejingtang is too calculating. I don't dare to act rashly in the city at all..."
Before he could finish his words, the old man in the white robe beside him raised his hand, turned his head towards the dark tunnel deeper inside, and frowned:
"Do you still have people over there?"
Cao Anning looked towards the depths of the tunnel, a bit puzzled:
"Going further ahead is near the imperial city. We don't dare to set foot there rashly, and it has been blocked. Is there any movement?"
The old man in the white robe listened carefully with his ear, and then turned and walked towards the depths of the tunnel...
——
Two palace lanterns were ten steps apart, moving forward in the long tunnel.
It was extremely quiet in the tunnel. After suppressing their footsteps, they could even hear each other's heartbeats.
Thump~ Thump~
Yejingtang walked in front with his hand on his sword, carefully examining the details of the ground. He always felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
Dongfang Liren held a palace lantern in his hand and put his arm around the Empress Dowager's shoulder, walking slowly behind. Perhaps influenced by Yejingtang's increasing caution, he didn't say anything but carefully looked around.
The Empress Dowager was made a bit nervous by the two of them. Because they had walked too deep, the fear of the unknown lingered in her heart, making her want to retreat, but she didn't want to say it explicitly. She could only hold onto Liren's sleeve and look around.
After walking for a while like this, Yejingtang suddenly stopped and raised his hand.
Both Dongfang Liren and the Empress Dowager held their breaths and asked in a low voice:
"What's wrong?"
Yejingtang frowned and squatted down halfway. He illuminated the stone bricks on the ground with the palace lantern and could see some remaining soil marks on the stone bricks. Although they were already dry and hard, they definitely didn't have a history of two hundred years.
"This place is not right. There have been other people here recently."
"Ah?"
The two women naturally became nervous when they heard this. The Empress Dowager asked:
"Is it a person or a ghost?"
Dongfang Liren thought that people were scarier than ghosts and slightly raised his hand:
"Shh~"
Yejingtang frowned tightly. He was surprise and doubt in his heart, but upon careful thought, it wasn't very strange.
He found the "The Secret History of the Beauty Queen" in the study of the Crown Prince of Wu. And the Crown Prince of Wu was reading the part about digging the tunnel. If someone had been here recently, then this person was most likely related to the Crown Prince of Wu.
Yejingtang thought for a moment and held up the palace lantern to look forward. After walking only a few steps, he found a brick wall that blocked the tunnel.
The brick wall was newly built, and the color and material were obviously different from the bricks and stones of the tunnel. Judging from the traces, it was at most a few months old.
Dongfang Liren held the Empress Dowager and came to the front. His expression became serious:
"Someone found the tunnel. Why did they block it here again?"
"Most likely, the other party's target is not the palace. They just borrowed this tunnel to get close to a certain place in the city. They didn't dare to go further when they reached here. I'm afraid they know that the tunnel will enter the scope of the imperial city and are afraid of being exposed."
As Yejingtang spoke, he pulled out his sword and silently inserted it into the gap of the brick wall to feel:
"There should be two walls, with things like straw and quilts in the middle for sound insulation, so as to prevent the sound from the other side from being heard too far away by the people in the imperial city."
The Empress Dowager didn't expect to encounter such a thing. After thinking for a while, she said:
"Then is the other party plotting something bad on the other side of the wall?"
Yejingtang thought it was highly likely, and there were probably people on the other side of the wall. He immediately raised his hand slightly, indicating that the two women should step back slowly and not make any noise...
——
On the other side of the wall.
The old man in the white robe silently came ten zhang away from the blocked wall, squatted down halfway with one hand on his knee, and placed his palm on the ground.
Cao Anning and Xu Bailin followed behind, holding their breaths. They asked in a very low voice:
"Are there people?"
The old man in the white robe perceived for a moment and nodded slightly:
"There are three of them. They have already discovered the abnormality here and are fleeing. What do you plan to do?"
Cao Anning didn't know who the other party was, but since they could come from that side, they must be related to the palace. If this place was exposed, all their plans would come to nothing. After thinking for a while, he said:
"The tunnel has been discovered. Just killing them to silence them won't work. We can only move the plan forward. The other party came in rashly from the other side and didn't check the exit. They definitely don't know where it leads. Find a way to collapse and block the tunnel to make them unable to figure out the specific direction and delay it for a day or two."
At this point, Cao Anning looked at Xu Bailin:
"Don't look for the load-bearing point anymore. Let them pour the molten oil directly."
Xu Bailin silently stepped back when she saw this.
The old man in the white robe stood up, scanned the solid tunnel, studied its structure, and then his footsteps moved. He raised his hands and gathered his qi, and a gentle breeze appeared in the deep tunnel.
Cao Anning stepped back slowly to widen the distance.
Whoosh~~
The old man in the white robe held his hands in a circle. His robe moved without any wind. In an instant, his hands moved, and he thrust out his palms and slapped them on the blocked brick wall.
Boom——
In the silent tunnel, there was suddenly a thunderous explosion.
On the other side.
Yejingtang carefully retreated. When he heard a slight movement in the distance, his heart sank.
Just as he was about to run back quickly, the brick wall several zhang away swelled into a semi-circle and then exploded. A knife-like gust of wind instantly penetrated the tunnel, and thousands of broken bricks shot towards the three of them like a swarm of locusts.
Yejingtang's face changed suddenly. Behind him were the Prince of Jing and the Empress Dowager. There was no way to dodge, and there was no room to maneuver in the narrow tunnel. He gritted his teeth and jumped back. His long knife spun like the wind, using his body and the light of the knife to block the two women behind him.
Ding ding dang dang——
The sudden explosion scared the Empress Dowager into a scream. Dongfang Liren reacted more quickly and turned around with all his strength to hold the delicate Empress Dowager in his arms.
Chacha cha——
In an instant, thousands of broken bricks whistled past the three of them. Countless bricks were shattered into powder by the light of the knife. The dust instantly filled the tunnel and also broke the tottering on the verge of collapse palace lantern.
Yejingtang blocked with all his strength with the long knife. His upper body was not hit, but the robe and shoes on his lower body were riddled with holes by the flying gravel like sharp blades, and there were blood marks on his legs.
The skirts of Dongfang Liren's and the Empress Dowager's phoenix dresses were also in the same situation, but with Yejingtang's protection, the situation was much better.
"Let's go!"
Yejingtang had to block not only the flying stones. Although it was too dark to see anything, he knew that the sudden powerful opponent must be following behind the gravel. Before he had completely cleared the gravel, he held the knife with both hands and stepped forward to slash.
Boom——
In the pitch-black tunnel, there was a shrill scream of the air and bricks being torn apart!
Although the light of the knife couldn't be seen, the ear-piercing sound instantly penetrated the tunnel, just like an invisible arrow, shooting out more than ten zhang in an instant. The sound alone made the two women in the enclosed tunnel have tinnitus.
Dongfang Liren didn't dare to stay for a moment. Enduring the stabbing pain in his leg, he held the Empress Dowager and fled backward.
In the dark tunnel, Yejingtang couldn't see with his eyes, but this slash was not a random one.
The Tianhe Knife doesn't rely on the eyes at all to see things but perceives the subtle changes in the environment.
Although he didn't see what was in front of him, Yejingtang could vaguely still capture a figure in front of the tunnel, pushing through the airflow and dust and mist towards him, moving at an incredibly fast speed.
This slash accurately cut towards the person's neck, obviously surprising the opponent as well.
The old man in the white robe blasted out the bricks with his two palms, knocking out all the light. He also couldn't see anything, but he could accurately judge the opponent's movements based on the sounds such as breathing and the rubbing of the robe.
Finding that the opponent's first move was a slash directly towards his neck, the old man in the white robe was secretly alarmed. He saw that the opponent was by no means an ordinary person. He immediately put his hands together, clamped the Chilong Huanshou Knife, and used a clever force to deflect the knife to the side. At the same time, he leaned forward with his shoulder and rammed into the opponent's chest.
Yejingtang launched a full-strength sneak slash, but the opponent caught the blade with his bare hands. Surprise flashed through his heart, but he didn't retract the knife. Instead, he gathered strength from the ground, straightened his waist, and with the posture of "Bear Spirit's Hard Lean", he crashed into the opponent's shoulder head-on.
Boom——
In the narrow tunnel, two surging and extremely powerful qi forces exploded.
The floor tiles where the two of them were standing shattered. Lightning-like cracks instantly spread in all directions. The flying dust was dispersed to both ends by the qi force and swallowed up Dongfang Liren, who was fleeing, and Cao Anning, who had a horrified expression on the other end, in the blink of an eye.
Amid the loud noise, the old man in the white robe didn't move his feet, but his body was knocked back. His feet rubbed out a groove more than a zhang long on the floor tiles.
Whoosh——
Yejingtang hadn't practiced boxing and kicking skills for a long time. His internal energy was indeed a bit stronger, but his boxing stance wasn't as stable as that of the old man in the white robe. He was knocked back several steps and stepped on and broke several floor tiles.
Tap tap tap——
The old man in the white robe keenly caught this. Before the cracks spread and the bricks were about to fall down, his figure was like a tiger pouncing. With his two palms in the posture of a golden dragon closing its mouth, he struck towards Yejingtang's chest and abdomen.
Although the movement was swift and terrifying, the old man didn't make the slightest sound from beginning to end when he made his move. All his qi force was concentrated between his two palms.
Yejingtang also felt that the opponent's skills were incredibly powerful, but it was obvious that the opponent lacked stamina. He was either an old man or had hidden injuries.
Seeing that the opponent still dared to take advantage of the situation, the moment Yejingtang stood firm, he pulled his right foot back