Somewhere in Cloud Peace City, inside a mansion that had been undergoing renovations since last year.
The courtyard of the aging mansion was piled with bricks, earth, and timber. Several carpenters hammered away atop the beams. Since the neighbors were all wealthy households, bamboo screens had been erected along the courtyard walls to block their view, lest the chaotic scene invite their criticism.
Dressed as an ordinary servant, Cao Aning entered the mansion carrying a food box. Behind him followed Xu Bailin and an old man in white robes, walking with his hands behind his back.
Cao Aning scanned the rear of the mansion. Once he was certain nothing was amiss, he entered a half-rebuilt room, opened a section of flooring covered with wooden boards, and descended a wooden staircase into an underground passage.
The passage stretched into unfathomable darkness in both directions. Its bricks were ancient, but the loose dirt covering them was fresh, marked by passing footsteps.
The white-robed old man walked soundlessly beside the other two, examining the passage's old brickwork with some surprise.
"This tunnel looks like it was built during the Former Dynasty. How did you find it?"
Cao Aning treated the white-robed old man with considerable respect. After all, he was the teacher of Jiang Zhawu, the overlord of Liangzhou, and a formidable figure who had once earned the title of Fist Champion with his bare hands.
Thirty years ago, the mere appearance of his name in Yunzhou would have sent the government offices in Capital City into a panic, hearing enemies in every rustle of wind and cry of a crane.
Although the white-robed old man was now over eighty and had been gravely injured by the disciple expelled from his school, losing half a lifetime's accumulated prestige in a single battle and