The Key
The card pickup was scheduled for two nights later.
Over the past Long Tian, Long Tian had repeatedly memorized the path to the Return to Origin on the silk scroll. He copied the meanings of the newly annotated symbols onto several pieces of broken pottery and carried them with him, referring to them whenever he needed to. Long Tieshan drew a simple diagram of the internal structure of the main building of the camp, marking the location of his deputy Wei's office and the patrol patterns of the surrounding corridors. According to Mu Shuang's recollection, Wei left his post promptly at 3:45 PM every night, and was gone for about half an hour. During that time, no one entered or left his office.
Before setting off Long Tian put on the gray metal ring on his finger and carefully kept the token, jade pendant, silk, and several small tools close to his body. Long Tieshan walked beside him, with the gray stone pendant of Yu Jin hanging around his neck. The stone surface pressed against his skin, pressing down the old mark of the Seventh Squad so that the leakage of Soul Power was almost imperceptible. When the two descended the mountain from the stone house, it was already dark. A thin night mist lingered at the foot of the mountain, and the moonlight was filtered through the mist, casting blurry, pale shadows on the ground.
When they reached the flat wilderness on the outskirts of the city after traversing the mountain path, Long Tieshan quickened his pace noticeably. He led Long Tian past several permanent sentry posts in the north of the city, and along a dry ditch, they followed the outer wall of the camp until they found a slightly loose gap in the wall foundation. The gap was narrow, allowing only one person to squeeze through sideways, and several barbed wire spikes on the outside of the wall had been worn down—someone had dealt with it beforehand. Long Tian squeezed through and glanced back, followed by Long Tieshan. As they passed through the gap, their shoulders brushed against the dry moss in the cracks between the bricks.
The layout of the camp matched the drawing Mu Shuang had made. The gray brick outline of the main building stood a few dozen steps ahead, light shining from several windows on the ground floor, and the lights in the duty room and several night shift offices were on. Wei's office was the third room on the east side of the second floor, with a window facing north, overlooking the inner side of a wall where there was no patrol route. Long Tieshan crouched behind the holly bushes on the side of the main building, raised his hand and pointed to the northeast corner. "There's a section of drainpipe at the base of that wall. You can climb up the outer wall to the side of that second-floor window. The window lock is an old-fashioned spring lock; you can pry it open with a thin blade."
As Long Tian climbed up the second-floor exterior wall along the drainpipe, the gray ring rune between his fingers maintained a faint glow, suppressing his Soul Power fluctuations to almost zero. He hovered sideways on the outer edge of the second-floor window sill, pulled a thin blade from his sleeve, inserted it into the window crack, hooked it into the spring clip's slot, and gently flicked it—with a soft click, the window sash opened. He pushed open the window and silently climbed inside, landing on his feet first, the soft padding of his boots silencing the last sound.
A desk lamp was lit in the office, illuminating a table, chair, and cabinet. The desk was tidy, and the second drawer on the left was indeed unlocked. Long Tian pulled the drawer open with a slight, scraping sound from the sliding mechanism. Inside was a leather folder and a dark gray metal card. The front of the card bore the Iron Guard's sword-star emblem, while the back had a embossed number and a very fine signature. "Wei Yuanshan, Vice Captain."
Long Tian took out the metal card, held it between his fingertips, and flipped it over to confirm that there was no attached Soul Power. Then he pushed the drawer back to its original position, climbed back over the windowsill, and closed and fastened the window. The whole process was barely louder than a leaf falling on a blade of grass.
When he slid back to the ground along the drainpipe, Long Tieshan was crouching behind the holly bushes, his eyes fixed on the window. Seeing his son land on the ground and give him a "got it" gesture, he silently relaxed, patted Long Tian on the shoulder, and the two retreated from the camp through the gap in the wall foundation along the same route.
The return journey was longer than the way there. The moon was gradually setting in the west, the night fog had mostly dissipated, and the path in the fields became clearer. Long Tieshan led the way for a while, but then his pace slowed, Long Tian stepped forward to clear the way, pushing aside potholes and loose stones to make it easier for his father to walk. The two switched places several times, and finally returned to the hunter's trail at the edge of the mountains before dawn. As they entered the pine forest, the morning light was just beginning to peek through the sky, a thin sliver of white. The birds in the forest were still asleep, and the air was filled with the cool fragrance of dew and withered leaves.
As Yu Jin entered the stone house courtyard, he was squatting by the stream washing some wild vegetables. Hearing footsteps, he looked up, his gaze lingering on Long Tian's face for a moment before shifting to the metal card in his hand. He didn't speak, stood up, shook the water droplets off his hands, and turned to go inside to add firewood and boil water. Mu Shuang was sitting outside the threshold sharpening a short blade. She glanced up at Long Tian to make sure he looked alright, then lowered her head to continue sharpening the blade.
Long Tian laid the metal card out on the table in the stone house. Five people squatted around an old wooden table, the fire burning brightly, its light illuminating the sword star emblem on the card clearly. Long Tieshan pointed to a row of extremely fine raised lines next to the signature on the back of the card. "This card is activated by Soul Power authentication plus fingerprint pressing. You activate the aura of the Origin Return Pearl to envelop the surface and then press your fingerprint; the level six restriction will recognize it as Wei Yuanshan himself."
Long Tian tried it once—the grayish-white halo of the Origin Return Pearl covered the surface of the card, and his thumb pressed on the groove next to the signature. The card emitted a very faint low-frequency hum and then quieted down. The runes on the edge lit up briefly and then went out. Activation successful.
He carefully tucked the card into the inner lining of his robe, pasting it to the silk and the token. He felt that the three items, placed side by side, formed a neat arrangement, each an indispensable part of this journey. Yu Jin brought over the boiled water, one bowl for each person. When the rim of the bowl rested on the table, the bottom of the cup made a soft, shattering sound, which carried far in the quiet morning light of the stone house.
Mu Shuang sheathed her short blade and put it back in her boot, glancing out the window. "I've checked the path over the ventilation duct. The main power switch was scheduled to cut off a moment before you entered and restore it after 45 minutes. That's enough time for you to make a round trip. There's only one fork in the road from the back of the equipment room to the processing area; as long as you don't turn the wrong way, you won't bump into anyone."
Long Tian leaned back in his chair, holding a teacup, and went through the entire route again. His father was guarding the rendezvous point. Mu Shuang led him and Yu Jin through the ventilation shaft. Yu Jin was responsible for using his Power of Origin to interfere with the identification of the sensor lines along the way, while he led the way and activated the key card. After arriving at the processing area, they brought out the detainees and retreated to the rendezvous point along the original route.
He took a sip of tea; it was slightly bitter, but the coarse tea leaves, brewed with mountain spring water, had a slightly astringent aftertaste. He finished the last drop in the bowl and placed it on the table, then looked up at the sky outside the window, which was now completely bright. The morning light fell on the open ground outside the stone house, reflecting the dew into a shimmering white. The stream continued to flow not far away, its gurgling sound blending into the tranquility of the mountains.
Long Tieshan sat opposite him without drinking tea, only resting his hand on the table and gazing at the clump of wild grass illuminated by the morning light outside the window. His expression was as calm as someone sitting at the entrance of the blacksmith's Starfall Town waiting for someone to come and collect the farm tools that had been forged. He didn't look at Long Tian, but the hand resting on the table opened slightly, as if he wanted to say something but swallowed it back.
Long Tian saw the hand open and close, then looked away. He knew his father's habit—when he had too much to say and didn't know where to begin, his hand would move like that. He didn't ask any questions, but silently tidied up the things on the table, stood up, walked to the door, and stretched. The morning breeze carried the scent of pine trees and the clear, serene chirping of unknown birds in the distance.