Li Sanshun turned his horse around and charged into the coal road on West Mountain.
The official road wound around the mountain. Reaching the Foundry would take at least half an hour. The coal road cut through two abandoned mines and would save them half the distance.
Zhao Rui and his men pursued from behind.
"Which furnace yard does Li Jiu live in?"
"Blackwater Ditch. The abandoned Furnace No. 7."
"That place was sealed off ten years ago!"
"Old Rascal owed a mountain of debt. If he hadn't moved into an abandoned furnace, his creditors would've stripped the pants off him by now."
Hooves clattered over loose stones. The mine tunnel ahead had suddenly caved in, leaving several broken timbers across the path. Detonation Talismans were buried in the cracks between the rocks.
Zhao Rui reined in his mount.
"Someone sealed the road in advance!"
Li Sanshun dismounted and slipped through a drainage ditch beside the rock wall.
"Take your men and dismantle the talismans. I'll go on ahead."
"They're Sealing Registry killers. You'll be walking to your death alone!"
"By the time you've finished dismantling them, Old Rascal could be packed in a box!"
The drainage ditch was only wide enough for one person to crouch through. Filthy water covered their feet, and coal dust occasionally rained from overhead.
Li Sanshun ran a hundred-odd yards before reaching a fork in the tunnel.
The left passage led to Furnace No. 7. Fresh footprints marked the ground.
Two people.
The soles bore the non-slip sand issued by Law Enforcement Peak, and their strides were steady. Their cultivation wouldn't be low.
He bent down and sniffed.
[Two traces of cultivator aura detected.]
[Realm: Qi Refining, ninth layer.]
[Traces contain Soul-Severing Powder.]
[Target distance: three hundred and twenty zhang.]
Two cultivators at the ninth layer of Qi Refining.
Xu Zhenchuan was really willing to pay the price.
Li Sanshun covered his nose and mouth and charged out of the fork, running along the edge of the tunnel. Furnace No. 7 had appeared in the mountain hollow. Most of its courtyard wall had collapsed, but flames still flickered from the furnace mouth.
Two Foundry Puppets lay outside the gate, their chests split wide open.
The sound of iron clattering to the floor came from inside.
"Li Jiu, hand over the Seal of Destiny and I'll leave you with a whole corpse."
"Back when I forged swords for you, you were still picking coal cinders out of the furnace room. If you want something from me, tell Xu Zhenchuan to come get it himself!"
A short arrow pierced the window paper and shot into the room.
Li Jiu kicked over an iron table and ducked behind the furnace platform. The arrow grazed his shoulder, tearing away a chunk of flesh.
Two assassins closed in, one from the front and one from behind.
The man in front held a narrow blade. Half a Black Mountain Seal was embroidered on his cuff. The other guarded the back door, six Spirit-Locking Nails clutched in his hand.
Both men wore masks, but made no attempt to hide the body-tempering methods of Law Enforcement Peak.
They had no intention of leaving anyone alive.
The swordsman kicked the furnace platform aside.
Li Jiu grabbed a red-hot iron billet and hurled it at his chest. The narrow blade slashed across it, splitting the billet in two.
The tip of the blade shot straight for Li Jiu's throat.
A brick flew in from the doorway.
The assassin drew back his blade and cleaved the brick apart, then turned toward Li Sanshun.
"Imperial Blood Fifteen."
"You recognize me?"
Li Sanshun stepped through the courtyard gate and casually picked up half an iron rod.
"Good. That saves time. None of you are getting away tonight."
The assassin by the back door flicked his hand, sending the Spirit-Locking Nails flying.
The six iron nails split into two rows, blocking Li Sanshun's escape in both directions. As they struck the ground, black chains emerged from the Array Patterns and wrapped around his legs.
The swordsman pressed in at the same time.
Qi Refining, ninth-layer strength flooded into his narrow blade, its edge scraping against the iron rod. The rod snapped in half, and the blade sliced open Li Sanshun's shoulder.
Blood dripped onto the ground.
The two men worked together with practiced ease.
One restrained; the other killed. Anyone below the ninth layer of Qi Refining wouldn't last three moves.
"Number Fifteen's only at the sixth layer of Qi Refining. The intel was right."
The swordsman stepped on the chains and gripped his blade with both hands.
"Take his head. Bring back his left foot."
Li Sanshun glanced at the wound on his shoulder.
"You want to trade my foot for a reward?"
He ripped the chains apart and sank his legs into the ground.
Earth-Element Qi poured into the courtyard's flagstones. The Spirit-Locking Nails sank with them, and two sections of the Array Pattern broke.
The assassin behind him drove two more nails into the ground, sealing the gap.
The narrow blade had already slashed in front of Li Sanshun.
Li Jiu grabbed a hammer and smashed the wooden latch on the quenching trough.
Boiling water flooded the furnace pit.
Years of accumulated iron slag at the bottom of the furnace heated up, and a great surge of steam burst through the cracks in the ground, covering half the courtyard in an instant.
The two assassins retreated several steps.
Li Sanshun faced the steam and drew in a deep breath.
The heat entered his lungs, stinging all the way down his throat.
[Black Iron Quenching Spirit Vapor detected.]
[Life energy recovering rapidly.]
[Immortal Arts Qi replenishing.]
[Current status: Full.]
The wound on his shoulder stopped bleeding.
The Earth-Element Qi he had used up was replenished as well.
Li Sanshun took another breath and stomped down.
Crack!
The flagstones throughout the courtyard flipped up in unison.
All six Spirit-Locking Nails were caught in the cracks. Just as the swordsman charged into the steam, a Stone Wall rose beneath his feet and slammed into the back of his blade.
The blade was knocked off course.
Li Sanshun seized his wrist and slammed it against the furnace platform.
The assassin drove his knee toward Li Sanshun's stomach, while his partner behind them flung a Spirit-Binding Rope, aiming to loop it around Li Sanshun's neck.
Li Sanshun ducked under the rope and planted his right foot in the muddy water.
Earth-Element Qi surged through the ground.
The assassin guarding the rear suddenly lost his footing, and one of his legs sank into the mud. As he tried to pull himself free, two furnace bricks snapped together and trapped him around the waist.
Li Sanshun swung the swordsman at the bricks.
Bang!
The two men crashed into each other.
The swordsman spat out a mouthful of blood. Before he hit the ground, he twisted his wrist and thrust his blade. The narrow blade stabbed toward Li Sanshun's ribs, its tip already touching his clothes.
Li Sanshun didn't retreat.
He clamped the blade between his hands and punched the man in the chest.
The protective aura held for half a breath.
The second punch followed.
The protective aura shattered.
The third punch caved in the assassin's chest, sending him flying into the quenching trough.
The other assassin tore himself free of the furnace bricks, snatched up the Spirit-Locking Nails, and lunged at Li Jiu.
He knew the mission had failed. All he wanted now was to silence the witness before he died.
Li Jiu was wounded and couldn't dodge in time.
Li Sanshun stomped down with his right foot from five zhang away.
A stone platform bulged up from the ground and knocked the assassin's footing askew. The Spirit-Locking Nails grazed past Li Jiu's ear and embedded themselves in a furnace pillar.
The assassin tried to strike again, but Li Sanshun had already reached him.
He grabbed the man by the back of the neck and shoved his face into the wet coal ash beside the quenching trough.
The assassin struggled to bite down on the poison pill hidden behind his teeth.
Li Sanshun forced his mouth open and punched out four teeth.
"Fang Shao tried that trick on me just now."
"I don't fall for the same trick twice."
The assassin tried to form a hand seal. Li Sanshun broke two of his fingers, then tore off his belt and used it to tie him up.
The other assassin climbed halfway out of the quenching trough, his chest already caved in. He reached for the Message Talisman at his waist.
Li Sanshun kicked the narrow blade into the air.
It pierced the man's palm, pinning him back against the edge of the trough.
Footsteps sounded outside the courtyard.
Zhao Rui charged in with the disciples from the main peak. His eyes first fell on the six Spirit-Locking Nails scattered across the ground, then on the dead and wounded assassins.
"Two assassins at the ninth layer of Qi Refining?"
"One's alive, but I knocked out his teeth. Take him back and question him at your leisure."
Zhao Rui examined the Black Mountain Seal on the assassin's cuff.
"Dark Patrol Guards of Law Enforcement Peak. This unit was disbanded twenty years ago, but Xu Zhenchuan's kept the roster ever since."
Li Sanshun ignored him and hurried to the back of the furnace platform.
Li Jiu sat leaning against the wall, half a short arrow still stuck in his shoulder. He opened his collar and stuffed a small iron box he'd been carrying close to his body into Li Sanshun's hands.
"Keep it safe. Those bastards were after this."
The iron box had no lock. Inside lay only a charred wooden seal.
Three scarlet marks were carved into its base, identical to the birthmark on Li Sanshun's left foot.
Li Sanshun crouched and pulled out the arrow for him.
"What is this?"
"The Seal Mold for the Seal of Destiny."
"One mold for each of the fifteen infants?"
Li Jiu held down his hand and pointed at the rubbing paper tucked in Li Sanshun's arms.
"Who told you there were fifteen people?"
"There are fifteen batches of imperial blood in the royal family's old vault."
Li Jiu leaned against the furnace platform and took a few breaths.
"The infant blood is real, and so are the children. But Xu Zhenchuan's been investigating for twenty-one years, and he got it wrong from the very beginning."
Li Sanshun stared at him.
"Old Rascal, spit it out."
Li Jiu clutched the charred wooden seal.
"Sanshun, of the fifteen children, you were the only one ever meant to be sent out of the imperial city."
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