Pu County.
The night was as black as ink, so thick it seemed impossible to dissolve.
Lin Yi stood beside the dry well in the back courtyard of the Earl's Mansion, holding a torch aloft. Firelight played across his face, casting shifting shadows.
Behind him, the Clones silently surged into the Earl's Mansion like a black tide, occupying every corner.
Three thousand late second-stage Clones against two thousand early first-stage auxiliary soldiers.
It was like smashing eggs with a hammer—swift, decisive, and without suspense.
From start to finish, the battle took less than a quarter of an hour.
Of the two thousand auxiliary soldiers, more than three hundred who stubbornly resisted were killed, over five hundred were wounded, and the rest all surrendered.
The Clones suffered zero casualties.
Standing by the dry well, Lin Yi pulled the map from his robe and examined it once more by torchlight, confirming that the location was correct.
Then he handed the torch to Lin Shiba beside him, crouched down, and reached out to feel along the well wall.
The blue bricks lining the well had been soaked by years of moisture, slick and covered in dark green moss.
His fingers moved over the bricks one by one. When he reached the seventh, his fingertips found a faint gap.
This was it.
He pressed down on that blue brick with force.
"Click."
A soft sound rang out, as though some mechanism had been triggered.
Then a dull rumble rose from the bottom of the well.
Lin Yi leaned over and looked down.
The silt at the bottom of the well was slowly sinking, revealing a pitch-black opening.
The opening was not large, roughly three chi square—just enough for one person to pass through.
It was utterly dark inside, impossible to tell how deep it