44: Chapter 44 Thirty-Seven Steps Beneath the Broken Stele

"Don't move."

The Sect Protection Elder's sword had already been drawn half an inch, but as the two words 'Sect Master Di Kun' pressed down, that half-inch of sword light was forced to a halt at the mouth of the scabbard.

Extremely light footsteps came from the direction of the underground Spirit Pond, the rhythm of the footsteps treading on the old stone steps very steady. The Cleanup Squad did not rummage around like ordinary night raiders; it skirted around suspicious pillars and avoided the talisman lines the Tower Defense Player had intentionally left in plain sight, inching closer to the rear of the Founders Hall step by step.

The muscles in the Sect Protection Elder's cheeks tightened, and the scent of rust from the sleeves grew heavier: "Ten more zhang closer, and they will be able to touch the outer gate of the Spirit Pond."

Sect Master Di Kun stared at the wooden board. "They know the way."

As these words fell, the Sect Protection Elder's hand gripping the sword slowed by half a beat.

On the wooden board, the small stone in the direction of the side courtyard stopped.

Outside the fake sickroom in the side courtyard, a black-clad Cultivator used the tip of the blade to poke through the window paper. Inside the room, the smell of blood and medicinal herbs were mixed together; the figure on the bed was wrapped in blood-stained cloth, its chest rising and falling slightly. Another Cultivator did not enter the room, instead releasing a scouting insect from the sleeve first.

The scouting insect crawled onto the edge of the bed, circled the blood-stained cloth for half a turn, and suddenly pounced toward the "patient's" neck; after the mouthparts pierced down, there was no blood.

The Cultivator's expression changed, and the blade edge flicked open the blood-stained cloth. A straw-stuffed head rolled under the bed, a bamboo mechanism clicked and jammed, and the thin rope under the bed board was still swaying gently.

"A dummy." The Cultivator had just spat out the two words when the copper bell hidden on the roof beam did not ring, and no ambush force rushed out from outside the door. The Taichu Sect was like a beast that had opened its mouth but would not bite, which instead made cold sweat break out on the back of the Cultivator's neck.

The black-clad Cultivator outside the side courtyard took out a short talisman, slashed it with a fingernail, and the talisman paper ignited without fire. The message traveled along the dark patterns toward Lin Liao.

In the direction of the Sect Masters Hall, another group of people had already crept up to the offering table.

On the table sat an old wooden box, its corners wrapped in copper, the lock clasp even hung straight. The black-clad Cultivator first probed the keyhole with a needle, then tested the surface of the box with medicinal powder, only prying it open after confirming it was non-toxic.

There was no core account book inside the wooden box, only a few pages of peripheral accounts and a thin sheet of paper. The handwriting on the paper was not particularly neat, but the ink had dried just right. 'The accounts are not here, and neither should your lives.'

The veins on the back of the black-clad Cultivator holding the paper bulged, the fingertips crumpling the corner of the paper. A companion behind the Cultivator cursed in a low voice and, raising a blade, prepared to chase after the swaying figures outside the hall.

The ash of the burnt-out short talisman fell into Lin Liao's palm.

Lin Liao stood under the old corridor on the outer side of the Spirit Pond, the black bone earring pressed against the side of the neck, the blood patterns dimming in the afterglow of the fire talisman.

"We've been waited for." A black-clad Cultivator whispered.

Lin Liao ground the talisman ash into the gaps between the fingers: "Give up on taking them alive; we aren't capturing Loose Cultivator Gu anymore. Don't chase them in a rage on the Sect Masters Hall side; search the account box later, destroy the pond first."

The black-clad Cultivator in the Sect Masters Hall heard the order and the hand gripping the blade stopped in mid-air. The mocking note was crumpled into the palm, the corners of the paper ball piercing the skin, but the Cultivator relaxed the grip on the hall door that the blade had been pointing at. "Withdraw."

The group came fast and retreated just as quickly, not being held back by rage.

On the roof ridge, the Speedrunner saw this scene clearly and cursed in a low voice: "These people don't fall for taunts, this is tricky."

On the other end of the voice transmission talisman, Sect Master Di Kun heard the voice and tapped the fingertips twice on the edge of the wooden board. "Record the priority."

The Speedrunner immediately changed its tone: "After the fake sickroom was exposed, they didn't chase anyone; after the fake account box was exposed, they didn't ransack the hall; both groups are gathering toward the Spirit Pond. The Spirit Pond has the highest priority."

Sect Master Di Kun's gaze shifted to the broken stele of the Founders Hall. There was not the slightest movement from the hidden compartment behind the broken stele, the scent of Yao Beast blood pressed down even heavier by the night dew. The real Loose Cultivator Gu was hiding there, even the breathing muffled by a cloth. The Life-Skill Player stood guard on the other side of the hidden compartment, clutching a bottle of cough medicine in his hand, the wax seal on the bottle mouth scratched with a white mark by his fingernail.

Outside the underground entrance, Lin Liao stopped in front of a broken base of a stele. Lin Liao did not look at the newly built stone steps, but instead walked inward along the broken base. One step, two steps, three steps. Every step landed right against the edge of the old bricks, as if matching it against a long-yellowed map.

The black-clad Cultivator following behind Lin Liao whispered: "Thirty-seven steps under the broken stele, the rift vein leads east."

The Speedrunner lay on the dark beam, the ear pressed against the wooden gap, the entire body instantly tensing up. The Speedrunner dared not turn around, only tapping the voice transmission talisman three times with a finger, then repeating in a lowered voice, "Thirty-seven steps under the broken stele, the rift vein leads east."

In the shadows of the Founders Hall, Sect Master Di Kun's fingertips paused above the wooden board.

The map of the underground rift veins of the old sect from a hundred years ago. These words were not spoken out loud, yet they pressed down on the few people around so hard that none dared to move. The Sect Protection Elder's sword was finally fully returned to its scabbard, the hilt making a faint wooden sound under the palm.

"Sect Master, they might have the old map in their hands." The Tower Defense Player's voice was dry.

Sect Master Di Kun looked at the small stones gathering on the outside of the Spirit Pond on the wooden board, the wound on the shoulder pulled by the clothing to cause a sharp pain, but the brows only furrowed slightly. "Make the Dark Souls Player move."

In the side corridor outside the Spirit Pond, the Dark Souls Player had long been crouching behind a collapsed stone statue.

The Dark Souls Player's old wounds had not healed, the left arm wrapped in cloth strips, with medicinal liquid still seeping out from under the cloth. After hearing the transmission, the Dark Souls Player raised a hand and kicked a piece of broken tile beside the stone statue out.

The broken tile rolled across the side corridor and hit the corner of the wall. A black-clad Cultivator immediately turned the head, the blade edge probing out against the wall. The Cultivator did not charge in alone, first throwing out a thin needle; the needle tip pierced the ground of the side corridor, and when it didn't trigger any mechanism, the Cultivator then approached sideways.

The Dark Souls Player retreated another step, intentionally letting the boot soles scrape against the gravel.

"Someone's here." The black-clad Cultivator let out a short signal, and another person prepared to follow. But Lin Liao raised a hand to block the Cultivator: "One person checks; if they don't return in three breaths, abandon them."

The black-clad Cultivator who was pointed out did not change expression, lowered the blade tip, and the figure slipped into the darkness along the side corridor.

The Dark Souls Player did not flee into the depths. The Dark Souls Player waited for the opponent's blade light to get close to the chest, then flipped the body half a circle to the side and back. The old wounds were torn open, and the medicinal liquid on the cloth strips splattered onto the wall, leaving several wet marks. The blade edge grazed the front lapel, cutting the fabric, but it did not touch the skin.

The black-clad Cultivator shifted footing, the second strike a horizontal cut. The Dark Souls Player's short sword flicked out from below, not aiming for the throat, but only slicing the knot of the waist pouch. The instant the knot broke, the Dark Souls Player raised a knee to strike the opponent's wrist bone, then used the wall to rebound, rolling the whole body along the ground back behind the stone statue.

That waist pouch flew into the shadows. The black-clad Cultivator did not chase, reaching out to touch the side, only to touch empty air. The Cultivator's expression changed, and the Cultivator tapped the wall twice with the back of the blade.

Lin Liao heard the signal, and the blood patterns on the black bone earring went completely dark. "Come back."

When that Cultivator retreated, a beast-skin pouch was already missing from the waist. The Dark Souls Player huddled in the depths of the side corridor, fingers trembling as the Dark Souls Player threw the waist pouch into a small hole reserved in the corner. A copper pipe behind the hole vibrated, and the beast-skin pouch slid along the chute toward the secret chamber of the Founders Hall.

The Tower Defense Player caught it in one grab. Sect Master Di Kun reached out to take the waist pouch, not opening it directly. Sect Master Di Kun first used a copper needle to pick open the outer clasp, then sprinkled a little grayish-white medicinal powder. There was no strange sound from the waist pouch, and inside there were only a few broken Spirit Stones, a spare short talisman, and a piece of tattered beast-skin map corner.

The edges of the beast-skin map corner had been scorched by fire, the remaining lines broken and scattered. Sect Master Di Kun pressed the map corner under the lamp.

'Rift Vein Remnant Core.' Four small characters appeared at the intersection of the remaining lines, the ink color old and brownish. The location marked on the map was not at the deepest part of the old branch mine tunnel of the Abandoned Mine Warehouse, but rather slanted through the underground of the Taichu Sect's Founders Hall, connecting to the same source line as a dark vein below the Spirit Pond.

The lamp flame flickered as it was pressed by the wind. Sect Master Di Kun lowered the eyes to look at that dark vein of the same source, the finger pausing beside the two characters "Remnant Core." The pain in the shoulder was still spreading outward, but Sect Master Di Kun did not switch hands.

The Sect Protection Elder stepped half a step closer, the color draining slightly from the face: "Sect Master, this thing…" "Put it away." Sect Master Di Kun folded the map corner into the sleeve, "Close the net."

From the voice transmission talisman came the Dark Souls Player's laugh, suppressed by pain: "Sect Master, does this count as me looting a hidden item?"

The Speedrunner scolded the Dark Souls Player from the other end: "If you keep running your mouth, your health bar will be empty." Sect Master Di Kun did not respond to them.

In the old underground corridor, Lin Liao pressed one hand to the waist, the empty position of the beast-skin pouch making Lin Liao pause for half a breath. That half-breath was very short, so short that others could barely notice. When Lin Liao raised the eyes, the black bone earring was no longer swaying. "The map corner is lost."

The two black-clad Cultivators beside Lin Liao retreated half a step simultaneously, each gripping their talisman tools. Lin Liao took out a black formation spike from the bosom. The formation spike was no more than three inches long, the body of the spike coiled with dense bone patterns, black liquid beads seeping from the tip. As soon as it appeared, the damp air in the old corridor immediately became fishy and cold.

"Advance the original plan." Lin Liao pinched the formation spike with two fingers, the knuckles turning white, "Destroy the pond."

The Tower Defense Player's palm slammed onto the side of the wooden board. Outside the underground Spirit Pond, three temporary gate-sealing mechanisms activated simultaneously. Iron bolts popped out from the wall cracks, the old stone gate crashed down, slamming onto the ground and shaking dust out from the brick gaps. Two Cleanup Squad Cultivators were blocked in the outer section, and only one person remained beside Lin Liao, close to the entrance of the Spirit Pond.

"Close the gate!" The Speedrunner leaped down from the dark beam, the short blade slicing through a reserved rope, and a second wooden barrier swept out, blocking the two people coming from the direction of the Sect Masters Hall outside the corridor.

The black-clad Cultivator's blade light slashed down, the wooden barrier exploding into a spray of splinters, but the Cultivator failed to charge through immediately. Lin Liao looked toward the darkness through the fallen stone gate, the mouth not smiling, only the blood patterns on the black bone earring re-emerging.

"Sect Master Di Kun, you have watched for too long." Lin Liao raised a hand and threw the black formation spike toward the outer edge of the Spirit Pond. The formation spike passed through the gap of the half-closed stone gate, the tip striking the bluestone by the pond, emitting a harsh, faint sound. The pitch-black liquid beads crawled along the stone cracks toward the pond water, and the first black streak slowly spread out at the edge of the Spirit Pond.