Chapter 153 Ambush via Secret Passage, First Battle Against a Transformation-Level Being

After the stone door of the abandoned granary closed, Shen Yue pressed her palm against the left wall.

The stone wall was seeping water, and everything her fingertips touched was ice-cold.

Fifty people were divided into five groups, hiding behind the abandoned grain troughs on both sides of the basement, swords unsheathed, with no one making a sound.

Everyone kept their breathing to a minimum.

Sun Qi poked half his head out from the edge of the grain trough, gesturing a number to Shen Yue in the darkness.

"Three."

There were three quarter-hours left until the time Official Chen Zhili had agreed to retrieve the casket.

Grey Sparrow crouched in the innermost corner, his back against the stone wall, rubbing an old scar on the back of his hand with his thumb back and forth.

He lowered his voice, his lips close to Shen Yue's ear.

"The entrance to the Sixth Secret Passage is behind that cracked stone slab on the east wall of the granary."

Shen Yue's gaze followed where he pointed.

In the darkness, there was indeed a vertical crack on the stone wall, extending from the top to the bottom, with the stench of a rat's nest seeping from the gap.

"Official Chen Zhili will come in through this opening, and there should be five people with him."

Grey Sparrow's thumb paused on the old scar for a beat.

"One of them is Director Yan Tie."

Shen Yue shifted the hilt of her blade in her palm.

"What about after they come in?"

"They will wait in the basement."

Grey Sparrow's cheekbones were just sharp ridges in the darkness.

"Waiting for the messenger from the capital to deliver the secret casket from the other end of the secret passage, about three quarter-hours."

"Three quarter-hours is enough."

This voice came down from above.

Shen Yue looked up.

There was a ventilation shaft in the dome of the basement.

A few bricks on the wall of the shaft had fallen off, revealing a layer of yellow soil and a section of rotten wooden beam.

Lin Chen crouched at the edge of the shaft, his black abyss blade held horizontally across his knees, the ridge line on the scabbard casting a dim light in the last bit of moonlight leaking in from outside the shaft.

Sun Qi opened his mouth.

"Inspector, when did you arrive?"

"Half a quarter-hour earlier than you."

Lin Chen's voice drifted down, mostly swallowed by the stone walls and humidity in the empty basement.

"How is it going with Zhou Tie?"

Shen Yue pulled a strip of cloth from her waist.

"The last message was a stick of incense ago; all fifty people are in position, and the three exits of North City Cliff are completely blocked."

"Good."

Lin Chen's palm pressed against the broken edge of the stone bricks at the shaft opening.

"Change the plan."

Shen Yue and Sun Qi looked up at the same time.

"Originally, I just needed you to watch for the message, but that's not enough now."

Lin Chen's thumb moved half an inch along the ridge line of the scabbard.

"Director Yan Tie is in the Hua Gang Realm. If Official Chen Zhili gets the secret casket and goes straight through the Seventh Secret Passage, the variables are too great if I try to intercept him alone at the junction while dealing with Director Yan Tie and four Ministry of War special agents."

Sun Qi pulled the map from his bosom, unfolded it in the darkness, and pointed his fingertip at the intersection of the two lines.

"So you want to change the battlefield to here?"

"Yes."

Lin Chen's voice deepened by two degrees.

"This granary basement has stone walls on all four sides, only two entrances and exits, and the ceiling is less than two zhang high."

He tapped his finger on the edge of the shaft, the sound muffled in the stone.

"The strength of the Hua Gang Realm lies in True Qi projection and coverage; the more open the space, the more advantage he has."

Shen Yue continued.

"But in a place like this, even turning around will be restricted."

"Fifty people are not meant to kill Director Yan Tie."

Lin Chen's gaze swept down from the shaft, scanning the Patrol Division brothers hiding behind the grain troughs.

"Your mission is to block the two exits and separate Official Chen Zhili and the four Ministry of War special agents from Director Yan Tie."

Grey Sparrow swallowed in the corner, the sound of his Adam's apple bobbing exceptionally clear in the quiet basement.

"You want to take on Director Yan Tie alone?"

"Shen Yue, when Official Chen Zhili enters the basement to verify the casket, lead thirty men to rush out from behind the west grain trough and seal the west wall entrance."

Lin Chen did not answer Grey Sparrow's question and pointed toward the east wall.

"Sun Qi, take twenty men, go around the corridor from the east wall exit, and set up a blockade at the entrance of the Seventh Secret Passage."

Sun Qi traced a line on the map.

"This way, Official Chen Zhili can neither advance nor retreat."

"What if Director Yan Tie forces his way through?"

When Shen Yue threw this question out, the air in the basement grew heavy for a moment.

Fifty people blocking the road against one Hua Gang Realm expert; if he forced his way through, they wouldn't be able to hold him for three breaths.

Lin Chen's voice came down from above the shaft.

"He won't charge at you."

"Why?"

"Because I will be in front of him."

Shen Yue's fingers tightened on the hilt, her nails sinking into the gaps of the cloth wrapping.

She did not ask again.

Time flowed by in the darkness.

In the basement, there was only the sound of breathing and water dripping from the stone walls, drop by drop.

Sun Qi patted his knee.

Footsteps were coming.

They came from the depths of the Sixth Secret Passage, the rhythm of footsteps on the stone slabs neat and restrained, the interval between each step almost identical.

Grey Sparrow shrank further into the corner, his hand sliding off his knee to grip a protruding corner of a brick at the base of the stone wall.

"They're here."

His voice was so hoarse it was reduced to a whisper.

The cracked stone slab on the east wall was pushed open from the inside.

The sound of the stone slab sliding in its groove dragged on for two breaths, and a dim, yellow light spilled out from the gap, cutting a bright line through the darkness of the basement.

The first person to enter held an iron-cased lantern.

The light probed out from the cover, illuminating the ground three feet in front of him.

The aura of the Tongmai Realm, a short blade tucked at his left waist, and a black identification medallion hanging at his right waist.

A special agent of the Ministry of War.

The second.

The third.

The fourth person to enter was Official Chen Zhili.

He had changed his official robes into a grey short shirt, his hair tied back with a cloth strip, sleeves rolled up to the mid-forearm, and he was wearing thin-soled swift boots for traveling.

Under the lamplight, his complexion was sallow, two patches of darkness under his eyes spreading down from his cheekbones, his lips chapped, with white dead skin peeling from the cracks.

When he walked into the basement, his gaze first swept around the four stone walls, his nostrils flaring.

"Has the messenger arrived?"

His voice was tight, each word squeezed out from his throat with a jagged edge.

The fifth person walked in.

Director Yan Tie.

Over forty, medium build, wearing a black, narrow-sleeved short outfit, nothing hanging at his waist, both hands empty, hanging at his sides.

His features were ordinary; if seen on the street, he would just be an inconspicuous middle-aged man.

But the moment he stepped into the basement, the hair on Shen Yue's entire right arm, hidden behind the grain trough, stood on end.

That pressure emanated from his aura, not carrying any aggression.

It was just that as he stood there breathing, the air in the entire basement grew heavier.

Two brothers behind the grain trough felt their knees start to tremble, and their sword hilts slid half an inch in their palms.

Shen Yue reached her left hand out from behind and silently pressed down on the shoulder of the brother closest to her.

The force wasn't great, but it was steady.

Director Yan Tie stood still in the center of the basement, his gaze sweeping over the dome before falling back.

"The messenger has one quarter-hour left."

His voice was steady, the speed of his enunciation so even that it made one feel uncomfortable.

"Official Chen, no need to rush. I have personally verified the seal on the secret casket; the contents are intact."

Official Chen Zhili's Adam's apple bobbed up and down, his hands behind his back, fingers twisting inside his sleeves.

"Assistant Minister Yan, are you certain the secret casket was not discovered by anyone?"

Director Yan Tie stood beside the lantern, his shadow cast on the stone wall, a head taller than he was.

"No one dared to inspect it along the way."

He lifted his chin by two degrees.

"The status given by the capital is a protective talisman for you; no matter how arrogant the Patrol Division is, they do not have the authority to search an imperial envoy."

He raised his finger and pointed in the direction of Official Chen Zhili in the air.

"Rest assured, once we reach the capital, this matter won't be able to turn the sky upside down."

"No matter how long the arms of that Lin fellow from Nanyang Prefecture are, he cannot reach the desks of the Ministry of War."

Official Chen Zhili's shoulders relaxed by two degrees, and the tight line of his mouth softened by half.

"That's good."

He finished speaking, the final syllable drawn out, carrying the relief of someone who had just survived a disaster.

That final syllable hadn't yet dissipated.

Shen Yue's scabbard knocked against the stone edge of the grain trough, the sound crisp and clear.

Behind the west grain trough, thirty people stood up in unison, the surface of their blades shining bright in the lamplight.

"Patrol Division!"

Shen Yue's voice bounced back and forth in the space formed by the stone walls, shaking the lamplight until it tilted by half an inch.

"Official Chen Zhili, you are officially under arrest for the crimes of corruption, collusion with the Wang family, and concealing evidence!"

Official Chen Zhili's face lost all color at that moment.

His body shrank back a step, his back colliding with the chest of a Ministry of War special agent behind him.

The four special agents' short blades were unsheathed simultaneously, the blade light crossing under the lamplight.

Director Yan Tie's body turned half a circle, facing Shen Yue's side.

His feet did not Move; only the part above his waist, carrying his two arms, turned around.

The movement looked slow, but the flames of the surrounding lamps had already been bent by the airflow created by his turn.

A cold air surged out from his body.

The temperature of the entire basement dropped within three breaths.

The water droplets on the stone walls began to trickle down faster.

Behind the nearby grain trough, a thin mist condensed on the blades of two Patrol Division soldiers, their fingers gripping the swords went numb, and their feet slid back half an inch.

The True Qi projection of the Hua Gang Realm.

No Move was needed; the mere release of his aura was enough to cause a Martial Artist below the Meridian Opening Realm to lose their combat ability.

Fine beads of sweat seeped from Shen Yue's forehead, and the blade trembled twice under that pressure.

She placed her left hand on the hilt as well, gripping it with both hands, and only then did the blade stabilize.

Director Yan Tie's gaze shifted from Shen Yue to the faces of the thirty people behind her, scanning them one by one.

"Patrol Division?"

He tilted his head to the right by two degrees.

"With these people?"

Lin Chen dropped down from the shaft.

From the two-zhang-high dome, his figure plummeted straight down from the edge of the shaft, landing on the stone slab floor illuminated by the lamplight between Director Yan Tie and Shen Yue.

The sound of his boot soles hitting the ground was deep and short.

Three cracks split outward from the point where he landed on the stone slab.

The black abyss blade was unsheathed.

A dark golden light spread out from the blade, overwhelming the yellow of the lamplight in the limited space of the basement.

The water droplets on the stone walls reflected tiny golden specks in that layer of light.

Director Yan Tie's foot retreated half a step.

This was the first step he had taken back since entering the basement.

His gaze moved up from Lin Chen's boot tips, past the scabbard at his waist, past his chest, and stopped on Lin Chen's face.

"Mid-stage Core Condensation?"

The three words rolled out from between his teeth, the final syllable rising.

Lin Chen did not reply.

The black abyss blade lifted from his side, the edge cutting toward Director Yan Tie's left armpit.

That strike followed a diagonal line along the curve of the stone wall, the angle so tricky that it aimed for the hardest-to-defend gap between Director Yan Tie's right arm and torso.

Director Yan Tie turned his left palm over, palm facing outward.

A ball of cyan-white True Qi condensed into a shield in his palm, less than an inch thick, yet it blocked the edge of the black abyss blade three inches away.

The two forces collided.

The stone floor of the basement cracked in all directions from beneath their feet.

When the cracks reached the base of the grain troughs, they knocked the stone bases half a foot askew, sending the accumulated old, moldy dust into the air, filling the room.

The lamplight was extinguished in the aftermath.

The entire basement plunged into darkness.

Lin Chen's blade did not stop.

The moment the first strike was blocked, his Blade Intent had already changed direction.

The third Move of the Jueying Seven-Kill Blade.

The blade withdrew from that diagonal line at the left armpit and turned half a circle, hugging his own body.

The second strike slashed upward from the lower right side, the target becoming Director Yan Tie's ribs.

Director Yan Tie's right arm sank, his elbow tip carrying Protective Aura to block outward.

When it collided with the body of the black abyss blade, it emitted a sound of clashing metal.

The sound vibrated in the enclosed space formed by the stone walls, making one's eardrums ache.

The third strike followed the momentum of the second, slashing down from above.

The fourth strike twisted in from the side.

There was almost no interval between the four strikes.

The Blade Intent connected into a single line, the dark golden blade radiance drawing four intersecting light trails in the dark basement.

Director Yan Tie was forced to retreat a step.

And another step.

Every step he retreated, the stone slab beneath his feet shattered from the middle.

Rubble splattered to both sides, hitting the stone walls and bouncing back, rolling a few times on the ground.

But there was no panic on his face.

When he retreated to the third step, his eyes brightened in the darkness.

That point of light emerged from the depths of his pupils, unrelated to the lamplight.

He began to look at Lin Chen seriously.

"This blade technique of yours."

His voice squeezed out from the gaps of his retreat, his breathing much steadier than Lin Chen's.

"It's not a local style from Nanyang Prefecture."

Lin Chen's fifth strike had already arrived.

Director Yan Tie opened his right palm, his five fingers closing into a fist.

Cyan-white Protective Aura surged from the surface of his fist, wrapping into a three-inch-thick shell of light, and he smashed it toward the edge of the fifth strike.

Fist and blade collided.

A wave of energy spread to both sides from the point of collision.

The night wind blowing in from the ventilation shaft in the dome was forced back by this wave of energy.

The rubble at the edge of the shaft splattered upward, flying out of the shaft and landing on the ground.

Lin Chen's body slid back three feet.

His boot soles plowed two white marks into the shattered stone slabs, and his back grazed a stone pillar supporting the dome, tearing off a layer of his clothing.

When Director Yan Tie withdrew his fist, the shell of Protective Aura on his fist had shattered at one corner.

Cyan-white light scattered from the break, drifting into the darkness.

He lowered his head and glanced at his fist.

Three breaths.

He raised his head, his gaze piercing through the darkness, pinning itself onto Lin Chen, who stood holding his blade three feet away.

"Mid-stage Core Condensation, to be able to take that punch of mine."

His voice sank, sinking into a tone completely different from before.

"Who taught you?"

At the other end of the basement, Official Chen Zhili's voice emerged from the darkness, fragmented into several pieces.

"Assistant Minister Yan! Don't get entangled with him, take the Seventh Secret Passage! Run!"

Director Yan Tie did not turn his head.

His gaze remained on the hand with which Lin Chen held his blade, on the taut tendons at the web between his thumb and index finger, and on the dark golden lingering light that had not yet dissipated from the edge of the black abyss blade.

His right foot moved forward half an inch, his toe crushing a piece of stone slab debris.

"We can't leave anymore."

His voice fell upon the four stone walls, echoing once.

"The exit on the east side has also been blocked."