第50章 让你查我?现在献印求生

"Dismantle the crates!"

Li Sanshun headed straight for the gift shed.

Song Yuan followed close behind, lifting his foot to kick open the first wooden crate. The interior was filled with jade ornaments resting on red silk; there was no sign of where the array eye might be hidden.

The mission general blocked the others with his spear.

"These are imperial gifts. Without the prince's permission, who dares to touch them?"

Ji Jingyao's voice roared from the peak.

"I ordered you to dismantle them! If you block them again, I'll have your official uniform dismantled too!"

The general retracted his spear and stepped aside.

Gu Qinghe tore the copper lock off the second crate, sweeping the gift list and the black dust at the bottom of the box into a pile. Zhao Rui led his men to search separately, and within moments, dozens of crates had been dismantled.

Bai Chongshan was not idle.

Over a dozen fire arrows flew from within the array, streaking straight toward the gift shed.

"Protect the crates!"

The law-enforcement disciples summoned by Gu Changyue raised their iron shields. The arrows struck the shields, and fire oil dripped down the edges, igniting two of the wooden crates.

Li Sanshun stomped his foot into the earth.

The soil churned upward, smothering the flames.

Bai Chongshan's voice drifted down from the peak once more.

"Li Sanshun, I will count to three. If you touch another crate, Ji Jingyao will lose a finger."

"Bai Chongshan, you wouldn't dare!"

Ji Jingyao struggled within the array, the chains dragging across the floor tiles.

"One."

Li Sanshun pried open the third crate.

"Two."

The fourth crate was smashed to pieces by Xiong Baichuan.

"Three."

Yet, no sound of Ji Jingyao being injured came from the array.

Li Sanshun grabbed a handful of black dust and pressed it against the array wall.

"Old man, if you really dared to kill him, you would have done it already. You keep the imperial grandson alive because you can still claim you are protecting him. If he dies by your hand, the imperial clan will be the first to skin you alive."

There was no response from behind the array wall.

He had guessed correctly.

Bai Chongshan needed a living Ji Jingyao.

At least until he escaped the Tai Xuan Sect, he could not afford to kill him.

"Keep dismantling!"

All dozens of crates were opened.

Song Yuan quickly discovered the problem. The bottom boards of three large crates were half an inch thicker than the others, and the corners were reinforced with Vermilion Bird Copper Nails.

Zhao Rui split the bottom boards.

Hidden in the interlayer of each was a thin iron plate.

Number two.

Number six.

Number twelve.

Three imitation orders!

They lacked complete blood grooves, retaining only half of the array patterns, which corresponded perfectly to the three array eyes on Guest-Welcoming Peak.

Gu Qinghe poured the black dust from the gift list beside the iron plates.

"The crate locks, the gift list, and the imitation orders all came from the Ding-Character Furnace. Bai Chongshan sent these gifts into the mountain to replace the array eyes in advance."

"And to track my aura."

Li Sanshun fished a pinch of Spirit-Drawing Powder from the bottom of a crate.

After the gifts were delivered to the Tai Xuan Sect, the Spirit-Peering Talisman was used to locate him, the Breath-Tracking Incense to fix his path, and the Message-Transmitting Insect Egg to send word. If the public blood test hadn't exposed him, Bai Chongshan could have used the three imitation orders to seal Guest-Welcoming Peak and forcibly abduct Imperial Blood Fifteen.

Now that the plan had failed, these items had become his tools for holding Ji Jingyao under house arrest.

"How do we break it?" Xiong Baichuan picked up the number two imitation order.

"Don't pull them yet."

Li Sanshun placed the three iron plates back in their original positions and sprinkled the collected black dust into the array patterns.

He channeled his earth-elemental energy.

The fine black dust adhered to the stone crevices, drilling into the ground and traveling upward along the three array paths. The golden light on the array wall trembled, revealing three inconspicuous recessed slots.

Each slot contained an imperial array tablet.

The face of the tablet bore the Kin-Seeking Seal.

But the base was made of Blood-Vein Black Iron from the Ding-Character Furnace.

[Detected homologous imitation seal.]

[Three array eyes can be reversed.]

[Reversal requires simultaneous severance of array energy.]

Li Sanshun pointed to the three locations.

"Peak Master Xiong, the left side."

"Hall Master Gu, the middle."

"Leave the right to me."

The three of them took their positions.

The mission general, however, blocked the middle array eye.

"Forcibly dismantling an imperial protective array will injure those inside."

Song Yuan grabbed him by his armor.

"The prince has already been tied up; what kind of protective array are you still guarding?"

"I only recognize imperial seals."

"Fine."

Ji Jingyao spoke from behind the array wall.

"Feng Lie, hear my order: drop your weapons and assist the Tai Xuan Sect in breaking the array. Those who disobey will be expelled from the Fourth Imperial Grandson's estate!"

The mission general knelt on one knee.

"Feng Lie obeys."

Nearly a hundred mission guards put away their crossbows and turned to face Guest-Welcoming Peak.

Those responsible for guarding the array inside fell into chaos.

Someone pulled out an array tablet, attempting to lock the three array eyes again. Li Sanshun had been waiting for this.

"Do it!"

Xiong Baichuan smashed a hammer into the left slot.

Gu Changyue swung his sword, severing the middle array path.

Li Sanshun manipulated the stones beneath the ground, forcing the right array eye and the imitation order out of the earth together.

The three thin iron plates shattered simultaneously.

The golden array wall cracked, revealing a large gap.

"Save the prince!"

Feng Lie led the mission guards up the stone steps. The disciples of Zhen Yue Peak followed, crashing through the two courtyard gates.

Twelve golden-armored guards lay in the west courtyard.

Some were still in a deep sleep, while others were covering their noses and mouths with their sashes. Soul-Calming Powder wafted from a medicine furnace in the corner of the courtyard; the guards had already retreated.

Li Sanshun raised his hand to draw in a stream of water, extinguishing the furnace on the spot.

"Carry them out first; don't treat them here."

Song Yuan led his men to move the wounded.

Gu Qinghe followed the residual array energy of the locking formation to the main courtyard. Ji Jingyao sat on the stone steps, three golden chains wrapped around his waist, a Kin-Seeking Array Disk pressed beneath his feet.

Bai Chongshan was not here.

Only four death-sworn remained in the courtyard.

Seeing the array gate fall, they bit down on their back molars.

Zhao Rui had been prepared; an iron hook caught in one man's mouth. Gu Changyue swept his scabbard horizontally, knocking the other two down. The last man had just bitten through his Soul-Devouring Tooth when Li Sanshun gripped his throat.

Life energy poured in.

The poisonous blood was expelled from the wound.

The man did not die.

"If you want to leave, you'll have to spill everything about Bai Chongshan's path first."

Li Sanshun threw the man to the law-enforcement disciples.

Xiong Baichuan smashed the golden chains, and Ji Jingyao was finally freed.

The first thing he did upon rising was to snatch the long saber from Feng Lie's waist and smash the Kin-Seeking Array Disk beneath his feet.

"Where is Bai Chongshan?"

The four death-sworn offered no answer.

Song Yuan ran over from the backyard, clutching a white robe in his hand.

"He escaped through the drainage tunnel. There is ash from a Grey Feather Paper Crane left at the entrance."

Li Sanshun rushed to the tunnel entrance and inhaled the residual aura.

[Detected Grey Feather Talisman Paper.]

[Detected Green Pine Resin, Imperial Cinnabar.]

[Target departed less than half a quarter-hour ago.]

[Destination: Main Peak.]

Bai Chongshan had not left the mountain.

The old man had sealed Guest-Welcoming Peak and staged the assassination of the imperial grandson, all just to lure the people away from the main peak.

Ji Jingyao understood as well.

"What else does he want to take?"

"The Gold Blade."

Li Sanshun turned and walked out.

"The Gold Blade sealed by Supreme Elder Qi."

Ji Jingyao chased down the stone steps and tore the storage bag from his waist.

The Kin-Seeking Seal, the mission's main seal, the Fourth Imperial Grandson's private seal, the Six Paths Original Command Order, and the Mission Seal Registry were all dumped onto the stone table in the courtyard.

"Hall Master Gu, seal these for me."

Gu Changyue did not reach out.

"Think carefully. If you hand these seals to the Tai Xuan Sect, the imperial city may not let you off."

"If I keep holding them, how many more people will Bai Chongshan harm in my name?"

Ji Jingyao took his blood seal and stamped it onto the inventory list on the spot.

"Before the public blood test, I did intend to take Li Sanshun back to the imperial city. I admit to that."

"But the altered orders, the fake blood mirror, and the murders committed via the Sealing Registry—I do not admit to those."

"From now on, the Fourth Imperial Grandson's guards will take orders from the Tai Xuan Sect. First, capture Bai Chongshan, then investigate the fake Six Paths orders!"

Feng Lie and nearly a hundred mission guards acknowledged the order in unison.

Those who had once blocked the mountain gate to force Li Sanshun to undergo a blood test were now handing over their seals with their own hands, forced to follow behind him to beg for a way to survive.

An Urgent Message Talisman flew into the main courtyard.

Li Sanshun reached out and caught it.

The talisman was from Qi Shouxuan.

It contained only one sentence.

"Bai Chongshan has reached the main peak. Li Sanshun, bring the Seal of Destiny mold; I will let you see with your own eyes which door he is trying to open by stealing the Gold Blade!"