Shadows Loom

As an Imperial Guard, there was no way he would fail to recognize that azure lotus.

There was only one sect in the world that used an azure lotus as its emblem: the Azure Lotus Sect.

Among both the Great Yu Dynasty's Imperial Court and the major martial sects, the Azure Lotus Sect was also known as the Demonic Cult.

No one dared underestimate the weight carried by those two words, "Demonic Cult."

What made the Imperial Court even more wary was that, from the day it was founded, the Azure Lotus Sect had regarded the Great Yu Dynasty as its mortal enemy.

Over the past century, whenever mobs rose up in revolt, eight or nine times out of ten, the shadow of the Azure Lotus Sect could be found behind them.

They distributed grain, gave out weapons, spread rumors, and fanned sparks into a prairie fire. Every upheaval dragged several cities into ruin, leaving tens of thousands of commoners homeless and corpses strewn everywhere.

Even when the iron cavalry of enemy states battered at the borders, the Azure Lotus Sect could always precisely stir up rebellion in the heartland, burn granaries, cut off provisions, and strike exactly where the Imperial Court hurt most.

Calling them the shit-stirring rod that threw the realm into chaos was already a polite assessment.

It was not as though the Great Yu Dynasty had never considered exterminating the Azure Lotus Sect. It had dispatched heavy forces to campaign against the Demonic Cult several times, yet every attempt ended in failure.

The Demonic Cult was like an indestructible cockroach. Each time it seemed to have been crippled beyond recovery, after eight or ten years, it would silently grow strong again—more troublesome than before.

A centipede does not stiffen even in death.

"Who would have thought this treasure map would actually be connected to the Demonic Cult..."

Bai Yan frowned slightly, his expression darkening.

How could a tough bone that the Great Yu Dynasty had gnawed at for over a century without making a dent be something he could contend with alone?

Even though he had now reached the Grandmaster realm, there were no few Grandmaster-level experts within the Demonic Cult as well.

If they truly set their sights on him, then with the Demonic Cult's power, should they wholeheartedly wish to kill him, they had countless means to leave him without even a burial ground.

"These corpses can't be left behind!"

A sharp light flashed in Bai Yan's eyes. Both palms shot out, blasting the three corpses into bloody mist. He then swept his hand, and a powerful gust rolled up the mist and scattered it into the night wind.

He then walked over to the wall, pulled the blade tip embedded in it free, wiped the blood from it with his fingertip, and circulated his inner force to shatter the blade marks on the wall.

After doing all this, he held his breath and focused, carefully sensing every movement within a hundred zhang. He could clearly hear the distant night watchman striking his clapper, even the flutter of a cricket's wings at the corner of the wall—yet there was not the slightest trace of a living person.

Only after confirming there were no witnesses did Bai Yan's figure flicker. Like a ghost, he melted into the night and silently returned to his home in South Lane.

No corpses, no bloodstains, no signs of a fight. No matter how dense the Demonic Cult's intelligence network was, it would never be able to trace him through thin air.

After returning home, Bai Yan lit an oil lamp and spread the jade fragment and beast-hide map across the table, examining them carefully several more times.

Anything worth fighting for with their lives to the Demonic Cult's people surely concealed a heaven-shaking secret.

Unfortunately, both the jade fragment and the map were incomplete. No matter how hard Bai Yan stared, he found nothing.

"These two items must never see the light of day. Absolutely no second person can discover them."

Bai Yan's eyes shifted, and the corners of his lips suddenly curled into a faint smile.

In a flash, he stepped outside and went to the courtyard wall in a corner of the yard. Crouching down, he pried loose a wobbly brick and stuffed the jade fragment and beast-hide map inside. He put the brick back, covered the seams with dust, and made it look no different from any other brick.

Who would have imagined that such precious items would be hidden in the crack between the courtyard wall's bricks?

"The most dangerous place is the safest place. The ancestors' words truly make sense."

Bai Yan dusted off his hands and chuckled twice before turning back into the house. Now, he could sleep without worry.

Before he uncovered the origins of the jade fragment and treasure map, Bai Yan decided to forget about them for the time being—to act as if tonight's slaughter had never happened, as if he had never seen either of these items.

Yongtang City, within a hidden underground palace.

At the deepest point of the palace stood a massive statue five or six meters tall.

No one knew what material the statue had been cast from. It was neither bronze nor iron, neither wood nor stone. Its entire body was black as ink, yet it gleamed with a warm metallic luster.

The statue had three heads and six arms in all.

Each head had a blue face and protruding fangs, hideous and terrifying.

The head on the left had bulging eyes, its scarlet tongue hanging down to its chest. The middle head clenched a human head in its mouth, with disheveled hair hanging down. The head on the right had its mouth tightly shut, yet dark-red beads of blood continuously seeped through the uneven gaps between its fangs.

Each of its six arms held a vicious object. Two arms gripped a saber and sword, raising them overhead, while another two held upside-down corpses spread horizontally to either side.

The final two arms wrapped around its cross-legged legs, their palms supporting an azure lotus dais. Its petals overlapped in layer upon layer, yet it radiated an eerie, demonic glow.

At a glance, the entire statue resembled an asura fiend that had crawled out of the eighteenth level of hell, enough to make one's heart quake with terror.

Directly above the azure lotus dais sat a figure cross-legged.

A hazy azure gauze shrouded its entire body, obscuring its face. Even the outline of its form was indistinct; one could only vaguely make out that it was seated, unable to tell whether the person was male or female.

Hundreds of enormous tallow candles burned throughout the underground palace. Their flames flickered, casting the statue's shadows onto the stone walls, bright one moment and dim the next. Yet despite such a brightly lit environment, the temperature was as low as an ice cellar, and the oppressive atmosphere made it hard to breathe.

The several dozen maidservants standing around all kept their heads lowered, their long hair covering most of their faces. Their hands clutched tightly at their clothes, their bodies trembling, not daring to make the slightest sound.

They feared angering the master of this underground palace and being casually wiped out.

Suddenly, a stone door of the underground palace opened. A cold wind carrying the earthy stench of soil rushed in, making the candle flames sway violently. A person wearing a blue-faced, fanged ghost mask and wrapped head to toe in a black robe walked inside.

He walked to within thirty feet of the gauze curtains, dropped to one knee, and cupped his fists in salute. "Reporting to the Protector, Ghost Fierce, Ghost Spirit, and Ghost Lady have lost track of their targets in Yongtang City."

"Hm?"

A dull, hoarse voice came from behind the curtains, like two rusted slabs of iron grinding together. The anger within it was faint, yet it made the temperature throughout the underground palace plummet several degrees.

The maidservants fell to their knees in unison, their foreheads pressed against the icy floor, almost too frightened to breathe.

"So the thing I wanted wasn't found?"

The tone of his voice abruptly changed, and now not the slightest trace of joy or anger could be heard in it.

The black-robed man lowered his head even further. "This subordinate failed in his duty. I beg the Protector to punish me!"

"Did the Imperial Court make a move? Was it the Imperial Guard, or the Six Doors?"

"This subordinate does not know."

The black-robed man's voice dropped even lower.

"Where did they disappear?"

"This subordinate does not know."

A trace of impatience entered the Protector's voice. "Did any fighting break out in Yongtang City tonight? Follow that clue and investigate!"

"This subordinate... this subordinate is incompetent. Men have already been sent to search the entire city, but no fighting took place in Yongtang City tonight. From nightfall until now, all has been calm..."

"So you have no clues at all?"

"Yes... This subordinate is incompetent. I beg the Protector to punish me!"

"Hmph! Useless trash!"

The person behind the gauze curtains finally flew into a complete rage!