A chilling discovery

[Part Three: What exactly is the Heaven and Earth Society?]

[Nine: The Heaven and Earth Society is an evil cult that has long coveted our Earth Sect's Law Treasure. Hehe, this Law Treasure is also called the Earth Book. It can transmit messages over thousands of miles.]

I recently received a distress message from my senior brother Jinlian. I learned that he had gone to the Great Feng because only by entering the capital could he escape the pursuit of the Heaven and Earth Society.

However, when I arrived in the capital, I lost contact with Senior Brother Jinlian. So I used the Earth Book to send a message, and that's how I learned he had given it to you. It seems his situation was extremely critical, forcing him to abandon the Earth Book to protect himself.

What the hell do I mean is, who gave me the pot?!

Xu Qi'an was stunned.

[Nine: I just don't know who you are, that Senior Brother Jinlian would entrust the Earth Book to you with such confidence.]

"I'm just a quick-witted fellow, no, I'm just a lowly night Nightwatchers. "Xu Qi'an felt a chill run down his spine.

[Part 3: Why could abandoning the Earth Book ensure self-preservation? How could the members of the Heaven and Earth Society pinpoint the location of the Earth Book?]

Xu Qi'an, a master of deduction, keenly grasped this problem.

[Nine: This matter involves a secret of my Earth Sect, which I cannot disclose. The Earth Book is a priceless treasure of our sect; I hope you can return it to me, for which I will be eternally grateful.]

[Three: Okay, how do I return it to you?]

Xu Qi'an was a little reluctant, after all, it was a treasure that could serve as a storage ring, but considering the risks involved, he still chose to follow his heart.

[Jiu: I am currently in the capital and can come to see you at any time. If you do not trust me, you may choose to exchange addresses. Hmm, what do you desire?]

"Woman, I want a warm woman," Xu Qi'an almost blurted out.

[Part Three: You're too kind, Daoist Master. Returning the item to its rightful owner is my duty. However, the Daoist Master Jinlian told me that this was a treasure of heaven and earth and offered to sell it to me for five hundred taels of gold.]

I am not asking for money; it's just that the treasure should be returned to its rightful owner, and the gold should naturally be returned to its rightful owner as well— Equivalent Exchange, right?

[Nine:. That's how it should be.]

Xu Qi'an put away the mirror, and, with his dream of five hundred taels of gold in his heart, fell into a deep sleep.

The next day, he changed into the uniform of Nightwatchers, hung up his waist tag and sword, and tied the new gong he had just received the day before to his chest.

I climbed over the wall to go to my second uncle's house for breakfast.

After leaving the Xu Residence, Xu Qi'an took the reins from Old Zhang, the gatekeeper, and Nightwatchers watchman's office.

This horse was my second uncle's mount, but now it belongs to Xu Qi'an. Of course, to shut my aunt up, Xu Qi'an gave my second uncle fifty taels of silver.

There was nothing he could do about it. The Nightwatchers's office was in the inner city, too far from the Xu Residence. If Xu Qi'an walked there, it would be almost lunchtime by the time he reached the Nightwatchers's office.

Rushing to the Nightwatchers's office, upon entering Chunfeng Hall, Li Yuchun was having tea with a silver gong player.

"Your new recruit?" the silver-gong-wielding man asked casually, seeing that the man was a stranger.

"Hmm." Li Yuchun nodded.

"What rating?" Silver Gong asked.

Before Xu Qi'an could speak, Li Yuchun quickly said, "Your Excellency."

The silver gong was quite surprised, and praised, "Not bad, not bad. The yamen needs young people with such potential. In the future, you will be the backbone of the Nightwatchers watchmen."

The second half of the sentence was meant for Xu Qi'an.

Xu Qi'an bowed respectfully before explaining his purpose, "Boss, I want to go to the archives."

He neither knew where the archives were located nor what the corresponding permissions were.

"If you have any problems in the future, you can go directly to the clerk," Li Yuchun said.

"Understood." Xu Qi'an left Chunfeng Hall.

If your superiors are chatting and joking around, as a subordinate, you shouldn't disturb them unless it's urgent. You should at least have that much sense.

After catching up with a clerk and learning the location of the archives, Xu Qi'an arrived at a large courtyard.

He handed the waist token to the official in black, who took it, confirmed it was correct, and then returned it to Xu Qi'an, saying:

"The archives are divided into four sections: A, B, C, and D. The gong can only access the archives in section D."

Xu Qi'an considered for a moment and asked, "How can I find out which warehouse the information I need is in?"

The clerk in black smiled respectfully and said, "Go to warehouse number 'D'."

The four warehouses, labeled "A, B, C, and D," are arranged in a pyramid pattern, with D being the most basic and largest.

The more confidential the document, the fewer the number of documents there are.

Xu Qi'an entered the "Ding" warehouse, went to the reception desk, and said, "I need to find information about the Daoist School."

The clerk behind the reception desk pulled out a thick booklet, looked it up for a while, and then looked up and said, "Sir, please wait a moment."

He entered the archives.

A moment later, the official in black came out holding a scroll, and handed it over as he took Xu Qi'an's waist token.

Xu Qi'an said, "Bring me a cup of hot tea."

He turned and went to the side hall where a table was set up, and began to look through the Daoist School materials.

The origin of Daoist School comes from Daozun, whose era is unknown. Legend has it that Daozun was an extraordinary person from High Antiquity who transformed into the Three Pure Ones: Yuanshi Tianzun, Daode Tianzun, and Lingbao Tianzun.

It subtly aligns with the three realms of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity.

This is the origin of the three schools of Daoist School: "Heaven, Earth, and Man".

The two Celestial Person, Tianren and Tianren, are like fire and water, each claiming to be the orthodox lineage of Daoist School and wishing they could smash the other's brains out.

The Earth Sect is the most austere, and its members are very low-key, not vying for fame or profit. Those who do not know this may think that Daoist School only has the Celestial Person Sects.

It's heartbreaking to see salted fish like that.

"These days, the struggle for lineage is probably the biggest conflict." Xu Qi'an silently added in his mind, "The mature and domineering woman is invincible."

As he continued reading, he discovered that the "Earth Sect" salted fish made sense.

The Earth Sect worships the Moral Celestial Venerable and cultivates immeasurable merit. They travel the world, live humbly, do good deeds anonymously, and leave once they have accumulated merit.

"Merit." Xu Qi'an frowned in thought.

In a sense, good deeds and good fortune are of the same origin. As people often say, "Doing good deeds will bring good fortune."

Merit means good fortune, and good fortune and luck are the same thing.

So how did that old Daoist priest from the Earth Sect see my special qualities? Knowing I'm a lucky and blessed person, he felt perfectly justified in passing the hot potato to me. Damn it, aren't you supposed to be cultivating merit? How come you're doing such immoral things?

Xu Qi'an thought to himself, "What do you mean?"

This led him to wonder if his High Antiquity luck was also a form of good fortune?

However, the Xu Household had been ordinary people for eighteen generations. Only the second uncle's generation had seen a slight improvement. The two brothers were still rudimentary killers who would chop electrical wires with kitchen knives, leaving sparks and lightning in their wake.

They didn't do much good, but they did kill quite a few people on the battlefield.

Just then, the administrator brought over some hot tea and casually asked, "Are you checking information about the Human Sect, sir?"

"No, we're investigating the Earth Sect." Xu Qi'an countered, "The Human Sect?"

"Our Imperial Preceptor is none other than the current head of the Human Sect," the official said. "Lord Wei dislikes that female Daoist priest very much."

The female Daoist leader, that legendary, stunningly beautiful nun?

Xu Qi'an suddenly realized that he had only known that the current emperor was obsessed with cultivating Daoism and craving immortality, and had appointed a Daoist nun who was as beautiful as a celestial being as the national advisor.

I never expected it to be the Human Sect!

Warlock from the Bureau of Astronomy, Daoist School priests, Nightwatchers, Confucian School from the Cloud Deer Academy, the military of the Great Feng, and the civil officials of the imperial court. The capital city was like a small pond, yet it was teeming with dragons.

No wonder "Number Nine" said that the Heaven and Earth Society members dared not enter the capital.

Master Jinlian: Come in and try.

Heaven and Earth Society assassin: Try it and you'll die.

Haha. Xu Qi'an raised the corner of his mouth and said, "Find me some more information about the 'Heaven and Earth Society,' and the Earth Book. Do you know the Earth Book? It's a supreme treasure of heaven and earth. If I want to go to warehouses A, B, and C, what channel should I use to apply?"

Upon hearing this, the clerk smiled and said, "Storehouses B and C correspond to the gold gong and the silver gong, respectively. As for storehouse A, you need Duke Wei's handwritten letter to enter. However, the Heaven and Earth Society and Earth Book materials you are looking for can be found in storehouse D."

Seeing that Xu Qian was stunned, he explained, "The Heaven and Earth Society sounds like a Jianghu organization, and the Book of the Earth is a legendary ancient magic weapon. Neither of them is confidential. I'll check the manual and see where it is."

After saying that, he went to the reception desk.

Xu Qi'an stared at his retreating figure for a moment before he understood.

He's fallen into a cognitive trap, thinking that the older something is, the more confidential it is. That's not true. It's not a matter of whether something is valuable or not; antiques are still very valuable. It's the level of confidentiality that matters.

The real secrets are actually things closely related to the present day, such as military intelligence, border defense layouts, gunpowder formulas, and blueprints for siege weapons and ships.

I believe that in the future, the Class A warehouse will have another confidential file: "The Secret Manual of Human-Animal Hybridization".

Authors: Song Qing; Xu Qi'an.

Soon, the officials found the "Earth Book" and related materials about the Heaven and Earth Society.

Xu Qi'an eagerly flipped through the pages. Since the Heaven and Earth Society was linked to his own safety, he chose to learn about this organization first.

There are countless organizations and sects in the martial arts world; nothing is particularly noteworthy.

Those who engage in illicit income are generally obedient and willing to submit to the government's control. However, some particularly powerful and influential figures in the underworld are less likely to respect the government's authority.

However, their presence also served to stabilize the area, and they would occasionally spontaneously suppress bandits.

The Tiandihui is one of the humble Jianghu organizations.

The earliest record of it appears 60 years ago, when Yunzhou suffered a severe drought, and refugees turned to banditry, looting everywhere.

Natural disasters and man-made calamities rage.

Local martial arts factions joined forces with the imperial court to suppress bandits, and the Heaven and Earth Society was one of them.

"It seems to be a rather chivalrous organization. Well, sometimes those who do good deeds aren't necessarily good people, just like those who do charity aren't necessarily doing it out of genuine kindness."

Perhaps to gain fame, Xu Qi'an took a sip of tea and continued reading.

The Heaven and Earth Society was not an active organization; it was semi-secret, and there are very few records about it.

Xu Qi'an didn't gain much from reading it.

"It's normal to have no gains. The fact that they were able to force a master of the Earth Sect to flee into the capital shows that they are a very large and powerful organization."

"It's reasonable that such an organization could keep secret from the Nightwatchers's intelligence network. Should I report this to Brother Chun and enrich the Nightwatchers's archives?"

"I'll pass on that for now."

He didn't intend to report the matter to the authorities, even though it might bring him some credit, but it couldn't compare to five hundred taels of gold.

A treasure like the Earth Book is something everyone would covet. If some high-ranking official takes a fancy to it, I'll just hand it over to the national treasury.

Xu Qi'an closed the booklet and opened the relevant information on "The Book of the Ground".

The Earth Book is an High Antiquity treasure whose origins are unknown. It is only known that it was left behind by a Daoist master whose birth and era are also unknown.

The information doesn't even mention the function of the ground book.

However, there is one note that these High Antiquity treasures are mostly born from the heavens and earth and cannot be forged by human power.

They share a common characteristic: they are Blood-Drip Recognition.

Xu Qi'an thought to Blood-Drip Recognition, "I understand this routine. It's all just a roundabout way of saying it's Blood-Drip Recognition."

The Law Artifact Song Qing gave him, Nightwatchers's gong, only required the infusion of energy to function; they had no concept of recognizing a master. They were essentially tools, usable by anyone who possessed them.

Xu Qi'an felt that the Blood-Drip Recognition did not exist in this world.

He took out a small jade mirror from his pocket and placed it on the table. He drew his sword two inches from its sheath and gently pressed his fingertip against the blade.

Bright red blood immediately seeped out, Xu Qi'an smeared it on the surface of the jade mirror.

The smear of blood lingered on the mirror for a few seconds before slowly disappearing and being absorbed by the mirror.

The next moment, the scenery in front of Xu Qi'an began to blur. The booklet, the table, and the teacup faded, replaced by chaos.

In the hazy chaos, he saw eight points of light suspended in the primordial world.

These eight points of light symbolize the other mirrors? Including myself, there are exactly nine mirrors. Xu Qi'an's gaze swept across them, trying to find [Number Nine].

But he didn't know which point of light number nine belonged to.

Hmm. I'll just randomly click on one to add as a friend!

Xu Qi'an raised his hand and tried to point to the nearest point of light.

The point of light rippled outwards like water, the ripples spreading throughout the chaotic world.

Xu Qi'an felt as if he had just woken from a dream. The scenery before him returned, and he was still in the reception hall of the archives, with booklets, teacups, and an unremarkable jade mirror in front of him.

But he knew this was not a dream, because after the Blood-Drip Recognition, the jade mirror had formed a strange connection with him.

A sense of belonging that is both mysterious and intangible.

Then, a line of words slowly appeared in the mirror:

[Lu: Don't believe Number Nine, don't respond, don't respond, don't respond.]

P. S.: This chapter is 3700 words, consider it compensation for the late update at noon. So, where are your recommendation votes?