Discovery

Li Shiming recalled that the first time he had met Escort Chief Wang in the garden had been by this Artificial Hill. The place where Escort Chief Wang had arranged to meet him was also this Artificial Hill.

If he had a treasure in his possession and, while being pursued, had not kept it on him, then he would certainly have hidden it somewhere he could observe at all times.

Perhaps Escort Chief Wang had hidden the item somewhere nearby. Li Shiming did not touch anything on Escort Chief Wang's body, instead searching the surrounding area.

Li Shiming also knew that with his own experience, he would not be able to spot anything.

He thought of using the IBMz15 Mainframe in the Server Room Space, but the prerequisite was that what his eyes saw could be directly received by the IBMz15 Mainframe.

To use his eyes for input, he needed to add them as an input device for the IBMz15 Mainframe.

He tried adding an input device through the Linux system settings. He connected his consciousness to the input module, and the system promptly indicated that an available device had been detected.

No driver installation was needed; the available device installed itself automatically.

This was Li Shiming's first time operating the IBMz15 Mainframe by delving into the internal components. After several attempts, he successfully made his eyes an authorized input device for the IBMz15 Mainframe.

He scanned the area around the Artificial Hill with his eyes, recording the nearby surroundings into the IBMz15 Mainframe as a video file.

Then he closed his eyes and repeatedly replayed the video he had just recorded with his consciousness.

His experience might be lacking, but as the number of replays increased, he was bound to discover some irregularity.

"Found it!" After more than a minute, having repeatedly watched the video file nearly a hundred times, he finally discovered something abnormal.

Li Shiming came to a corner on the south side of the Artificial Hill. The grass here appeared no different from that beside it, but its average height was slightly greater than the grass elsewhere.

That slight difference in average height could not be seen with the naked eye, but once the IBMz15 Mainframe had digitized it, the disparity became clear.

In just a single minute, the IBMz15 Mainframe's power consumption had directly fallen to the warning threshold.

Escort Chief Wang was highly experienced at hiding things. Had Li Shiming relied solely on his eyes rather than the IBMz15 Mainframe's computational comparisons, he feared he would never have found it.

Li Shiming carefully dug up the entire patch of turf, revealing a Wooden Box beneath it.

The instant he saw the Wooden Box, his heart filled with delight.

Opening the Wooden Box, he found two books and a Small Sword made of wood inside.

The Wooden Sword was densely covered in Rune Patterns. Those patterns could even rival the printing techniques of his previous life; they were exceptionally clear.

He picked up the Wooden Sword and found it astonishingly heavy, weighing roughly eight jin.

This Small Sword is no ordinary object. Perhaps it is an item of immortal cultivation! Its weight confirmed that the Small Sword was extraordinary.

He tucked the Small Sword into his robes before picking up the two books.

"Five Elements Qi Absorption Art" and "Rune Inception"—those were the titles of the two books.

Li Shiming quickly flipped through both books, then, after some thought, placed them back inside the box.

He thought of something. Escort Chief Wang was dead, but that immortal cultivator was not. He would continue investigating.

Li Shiming did not know whether an immortal cultivator's methods could lead him here.

It was best to create a false impression, so that even if the immortal cultivator found this place, he would only believe that the box contained these two books.

In any case, both books had already been recorded in the IBMz15 Mainframe, and he could retrieve them to read at any time.

After recording the two books, the IBMz15 Mainframe's power had also entered sleep mode. Without replenishing the Uninterruptible Power Supply's electricity for a while, it could not be used again.

Having done all this, he carefully restored everything, returning the turf to its original state.

He also placed Escort Chief Wang's corpse into the Server Room Space. To be honest, he did not want to do that at all, but leaving Escort Chief Wang's body in the garden would have been even worse.

He tidied up the scene, especially the place where Escort Chief Wang had fallen, clearing away every trace that might have remained.

Only then did he leisurely return to the courtyard. The greatest pressure in his heart was gone, and he felt light all over.

Before going to sleep that night, he used his consciousness to drive the Generator until his spirit was utterly exhausted, then fell asleep.

The next day was relatively quiet. The authorities had not found the immortal cultivator, much less Escort Chief Wang.

But on the second night, Li Shiming, who was in the courtyard, heard drumbeats. Those were drums that would sound only when something major had happened in Nanling Prefecture.

He hurried out of the courtyard to investigate and happened to encounter Mo Yan, the servant who had come to report the news.

"Young Master, something terrible has happened! The Mighty Escort Agency has been wiped out. All thirty-five people in the Mighty Escort Agency, including Escort Chief Wang's entire family, have been killed!" Mo Yan reported to Li Shiming.

Li Shiming's expression changed. There was no need to think about it—this must have been the work of that immortal cultivator.

Perhaps the immortal cultivator had failed to find Escort Chief Wang and had come up with this method.

By wiping out the Mighty Escort Agency and slaughtering Escort Chief Wang's entire family, young and old alike, he intended to drive Escort Chief Wang mad and force him to show himself.

It was simply too ruthless. Thirty-five lives had been taken just like that.

This was Nanling Prefecture. No wonder the drums had sounded. By now, not only the prefectural troops but even the armies near Nanling Prefecture would probably be rushing over.

Li Shiming was even more worried. The item the immortal cultivator sought was in the garden, and he did not dare guarantee that the immortal cultivator would be satisfied after finding the box.

He had taken the Wooden Sword from the box. If the Wooden Sword was what the immortal cultivator sought, then the residence would be in grave trouble.

He did not know whether the authorities' strength could contend with an immortal cultivator. Most likely, they could not deal with one.

Perhaps he needed to add another layer of insurance before the immortal cultivator found the box.

"Mo Yan, are the things I asked for ready?" Li Shiming asked in a deep voice.

"I'll urge them immediately. They will definitely be delivered tomorrow morning!" Hearing his question, Mo Yan hurriedly promised.

Li Shiming no longer considered building a furnace. He had originally planned to build an Electric Arc Furnace, but even if the materials arrived tomorrow, making Silicon Carbide Rods alone would take considerable time, Not to Mention that the electricity stored in the Uninterruptible Power Supply was insufficient.

With an Electric Arc Furnace, he could use his consciousness to process some finely crafted metal items and make sharp weapons capable of protecting himself.

Unfortunately, time was too short, leaving him no choice but to think of another method.

His heart stirred, and he came up with a new idea.

In the Server Room Space, he conducted some chemical adjustments and used the simplest method to obtain a small amount of White Phosphorus.

With the IBMz15 Mainframe, there were more than ten methods for making White Phosphorus alone. His requirements for White Phosphorus were not high, so he casually chose the quickest method currently available.

After obtaining the White Phosphorus, he went to the garden again and placed some chemicals into the Wooden Box buried beside the Artificial Hill. Once he was done, he erased the traces once more.

He had done everything he could. The rest depended on luck.