Secrets of the Underground Palace (Major Revision)

The tunnel lay beneath the bed in the bedroom.

According to Nan Gurong, if her hairpin had not fallen under the bed, she would never have stumbled upon the secret tunnel.

A chill hung in the tunnel, and darkness surrounded them. Only the night pearls in their hands gave off a faint glow, barely enough for them to see the way ahead.

They did not know how long they had walked before they finally heard something besides their own breathing.

Two men seemed to be arguing, their voices seemingly coming from within the stone wall.

One said, "To do your bidding, I sacrificed all the mortals in Listening Willow Village. Now villains have broken into my City Lord's Manor, yet you stand by with folded arms. Are you trying to burn the bridge after crossing the river?!"

Sang Ying and Nan Gurong stopped in their tracks and held their breath at the same time.

The man who answered had a soft, effeminate voice that did not sound like a normal cultivator's. He seemed unwilling to offend the other man, but his words hid spears and clubs: "Why the hurry, City Lord? They're only two Rogue Cultivators. Surely you can deal with them on your own, can't you? You're so anxious, City Lord. Could the rumors outside be true—that you suffered a serious injury long ago and your strength is nowhere near what it once was?"

This "City Lord" was presumably Luo Fengyuan, the current master of White Foothill City.

He was now at the Soul Leaving Stage, only a little weaker than Gu Huaiwei. That was how he could protect White Foothill City and live like a local emperor.

Anyone who dared speak to Luo Fengyuan that way had to be someone out of the ordinary.

Sang Ying and Nan Gurong exchanged a glance, each seeing the gravity in the other's eyes.

"What do you mean by that? Do you want a taste of my whip?!" Luo Fengyuan's Law Artifact was a whip, said to have been made for him by his dao companion herself.

The whip was extraordinarily powerful, and no joking matter.

Sure enough, the other man backed down as soon as he heard that. "I was only joking. Why get so angry, City Lord? Those two Rogue Cultivators carry great treasures. They actually set a Southern Brightness Glazed Fire in your manor and used a rare concealment Law Treasure to hide themselves. Finding them is somewhat difficult right now. Once those two let something slip, we'll help you dispose of them ourselves, City Lord."

"However..." The man drew out the word meaningfully. "The medicine people weren't the only thing we entrusted to you earlier, City Lord. There's another matter you haven't helped us with yet."

Luo Fengyuan sneered. "Unlike you, I have an excellent memory. I've already sent people to investigate the matter of your young master. As soon as there's news, I'll naturally inform you at once. You'd better be careful. If someone else beats you to it and takes that little brat away, the good days for your faction will be over!"

"No need to trouble yourself, City Lord." The other man refused to give an inch.

Their conversation ended there, and they soon parted on bad terms.

Only after the sound of their footsteps had completely faded did Nan Gurong breathe a sigh of relief. She was just about to say something to Sang Ying when Sang Ying clapped a hand over her mouth.

Nan Gurong looked at her in confusion, but fell silent all the same.

Before long, footsteps sounded again, lingering right beside the two of them. Presumably because they truly could not find anyone, Luo Fengyuan said, "I told you, no one else would come into this underground palace. You were worrying too much."

The soft, effeminate voice answered, "I was only taking precautions. It's good for both of us to be a little more watchful."

In the darkness, Nan Gurong's eyes were full of lingering fear. Sang Ying could almost hear her heart pounding faster.

"Now that we're sure no one's here, can you come out and put out the fire with me?" If the Southern Brightness Glazed Fire kept burning, his City Lord's Manor might truly cease to exist.

The footsteps receded again, but Sang Ying and Nan Gurong did not trust them as readily as they had last time. They waited a long while, crouching until their legs and feet went numb, before finally making sure the city lord and the other man had left.

They moved their legs and feet a little, then carefully continued onward.

They soon reached the end of the tunnel, only to find another pitch-dark passage, with nothing but stone walls around them. Sang Ying found it strange.

She reached out and felt the smooth stone wall before her. To her surprise, the moment she put her hand on it, the wall shifted.

"Fellow Daoist Nan, sorry to trouble you, but could you hold this for me?" Sang Ying handed her night pearl to Nan Gurong, placed both hands on the stone wall, and pushed hard.

She pushed the entire wall open, revealing a doorway wide enough to pass through.

Beyond the doorway stood a lofty, brightly lit underground palace. Some unknown Law Artifact had been placed inside, illuminating the whole palace as brightly as day.

Inside and outside the doorway seemed like two entirely different worlds.

"Fellow Daoist Sang Ying, are we still going in?" Nan Gurong sounded apprehensive, but her eyes were shining. She was clearly very interested in the place.

Seeing her like that, Sang Ying naturally had no intention of dampening her enthusiasm. "We're already here, so let's find out just how many secrets this City Lord's Manor is hiding!"

They pushed the stone door all the way open and stepped inside. It immediately closed behind them of its own accord. At a glance, there was no sign that a door had been made there.

The stone chamber beyond the door was quite spacious, with many Jade Slips and books inside. Its furnishings and decorations made it look like an ordinary living space.

Sang Ying casually looked through the things on the table. Seeing that Nan Gurong had already begun examining the Jade Slips, she carefully ventured farther out.

Before long, Sang Ying spotted a door. She did not know what it was made of, but it looked extremely valuable. It took her some effort to push it open.

But the instant the door opened, Sang Ying froze.

Cries of pain, wails and screams, a jumble of sounds mixed with a thick stench of blood, surged toward Sang Ying. She felt utterly sick, almost to the point of vomiting.

"Sang Ying! Sang Ying, come quickly! Look what I found!" In her excitement, Nan Gurong forgot even to call her "Fellow Daoist" and hurriedly brought the Jade Slip in her hands to Sang Ying.

But when Nan Gurong reached Sang Ying's side, she too froze, not even noticing when the Jade Slip slipped from her hands.

Sang Ying bent down and picked it up. She glanced at it, and the first sentence read: I, Luo Fengyuan, willingly hand over all the people of Listening Willow Village outside White Foothill City to the Red Snake Tribe, so that their mortal bodies may help the human and demon races seek the Great Dao together!

Reading those lines, Sang Ying felt a chill in her heart and her fingers stiffened.

Not a single one of the young and strong men who had escaped Listening Willow Village had found a way to survive. Like the girls, they had been locked up in the City Lord's Manor's underground palace, reduced to medicine people for the city lord and the Demon Cultivators.

Sang Ying looked up again. As far as her eyes could see, countless iron cages hung high above, and in every cage was a person covered in wounds!