Chapter 102: Something Was Wrong
Upon hearing Garrick's words, Janiyah Sullivon reached into her storage pouch and withdrew a scroll of fine silk. With a deft motion, she unfurled it, revealing a meticulously hand-drawn topographic map of the Hanz Clan Estate, its lines tracing the hill's contours and structures with precision. The Thorn Squad gathered closer, their eyes fixed on the map as the dim lantern light of the Blood Puppet Floats cast flickering shadows across its surface.
"A century ago," Janiyah began, her voice steady as she pointed to key landmarks, "when the legendary Hanz Clan chief designed the Gloomwater Phantom Lily Array, he sought expertise from the Holy Sect's Array Peak. My clan aunt, a Formation Lecturer there, granted me access to a copy of the Hanz Estate's hill survey records from that era."
She traced a finger along the map's array patterns. "Though a hundred years have passed, my aunt's notes confirm that several critical pivots of the Gloomwater Phantom Lily Array are immutable—core anchors that cannot be altered without collapsing the entire formation. As long as the array endures, these pivot points remain unchanged, even if the estate's interior has shifted over time."
Her gaze lifted, meeting the squad's attentive stares. "My aunt also noted that certain spots within the array are natural hubs where spirit energy converges, making them ideal for treasure houses or secluded chambers. These locations, saturated with spiritual power, are fortified by the array's design. Without specific activation spells, they can't be breached by force unless the entire array is destroyed."
She tapped the map, highlighting six locations. "Based on her calculations, the most likely sites for the Treasury House are: the ancient stone well on the hill ridge, the underground chamber beneath the clan stronghold's main hall, the water lily lake in the southeast corner of the residence district on the rear mountain, the royal study library of the clan chief, the Hanz Clan ancestral shrine, and the martial arts arena in the mountain valley."
Pausing, she oriented the map to their position. "From where we'll breach the array tomorrow, our closest target is the martial arts arena in the valley. Next is the underground chamber in the stronghold's main hall, followed by the royal study library, the water lily lake, the ancestral shrine, and, farthest, the ancient stone well on the hill ridge."
Lordi Payne leaned over the silk map, his gaze tracing the intricate hand-drawn lines that unveiled the true scale of the Hanz Clan Estate. Far from a single manor or castle house, it sprawled across an entire mountainous range, encompassing five or six rugged hills—a domain far vaster than the deceptive marsh shimmering outside the Blood Puppet Floats. The map painted a fortress-like landscape, meticulously designed for defense and secrecy.
The Hanz Estate was girded by five fortified city walls, each a stone bulwark encircling the mountain from the valley entrance to the clan stronghold perched atop the highest peak. The inner three concentric city walls, ringing the central hill, were especially formidable, separated by wide, man-made moats that gleamed like liquid steel under the map's annotations. Battlements and arrow slits studded the walls, their positions marked with precision, ready to repel invaders. Between each wall, deep battle trenches carved the terrain, transforming the stronghold into a nigh-impregnable mountain keep, a testament to the Hanz clan's once-unshakable might.
The layout made the estate easy to defend and hard to attack, further secured by strict patrols. At the center, within the innermost wall, stood the Hanz Stronghold—a formidable cluster of towering, castle-like structures. The largest of these was the main keep, its spires rising between twin hill peaks. Atop one of these peaks sat the Clan Chief's Royal Study and Library, its walls intricately engraved with protective runes, meticulously detailed in the map's fine ink.
Beyond the three inner citywalls, the residence district sprawled across two-thirds of the mountain range, a network of a dozen hilltop towns scattered over the surrounding peaks. These compounds, with their elegant pavilions and courtyards, housed the clan's extended families and retainers.
On the southeast flank, nestled at a hill's waist, lay a massive water lily lake—more a small sea than a lake—its surrounding dotted with gazebos, towers, and pavilions that encircled its waterfront. A lone pagoda rose from a small isle at the lake's heart.