Building a Martial Dao Celestial Family by Laying Low

In the secret chamber.

Chen Li flipped through the dossier in his hands.

The dossier was none other than the file on the secret agents deployed by the Pig Emperor.

A cursory glance was enough to startle him.

In just over a decade, the Pig Emperor had actually woven an intelligence network in Jiangzhou comprising one hundred and thirty-seven people.

These people had either received his patronage in their early years and infiltrated major powers, or they were disgruntled with their original factions and were lured in by the Pig Emperor with wealth or promises.

His tendrils stretched far and wide; he had spies he had planted or bought in nearly all of Jiangzhou’s notable Noble Families and its various levels of state and county Government Offices.

Of course, most of them were just peripheral personnel, not highly placed.

For example, the spy in the Cao Family was merely an ordinary Honored Guest with Spirit Realm Cultivation. The information he could access was mostly common knowledge, while core secrets were beyond his reach.

The spy in the Celestial Sword Sect, however, was an Inner Sect Disciple who studied under Elder Jian Dian.

No wonder the Snow Fairy had been captured back then.

However, the appearance of another name made Chen Li’s pupils contract.

Zhou Chengkai, Hundred Households Chief of the Liyang Jingwu Bureau.

This man could be considered an old acquaintance of Chen Li’s.

Years ago, the Chen Family had dealt with him through Zhou Shuwei and had even given him the Jingwu Bureau Merit Order that Chen Shouye had obtained from Wu Gui.

Chen Li had once thought this man was from a collateral branch of the Zhou Family and served their interests.

He later learned that Zhou Chengkai’s blood ties to Zhou Shuwei’s branch of the family were distant—beyond the five generations of mourning—and that he didn’t have much of a connection to the Zhou Family.

He had simply taken the initiative to curry favor with the Zhou Family when he first took up his post in Liyang. While they had some dealings, their relationship wasn’t close; they were merely partners of convenience.

Chen Li never would have imagined that this Hundred Households Chief Zhou secretly had another identity.

Moreover, according to the register, the man hadn’t been coerced. Rather, he had received a great favor from the Pig Emperor in his early years and had offered his services willingly, making him one of the more core secret agents.

As Chen Li was lost in thought, Bai San and Gossip had already finished packing the gold ingots, secret orders, and several other account books from the wooden chest into two large burlap sacks.

Seeing Chen Li still staring blankly at the register, Bai San’s eyes darted around. He silently mouthed a few words to Gossip, winking and waggling his eyebrows.

Gossip looked confused. Before he could react, Bai San suddenly made a nimble leap and sat right on his shoulders.

"Holy shit!"

Caught completely off guard, Gossip nearly cried out in alarm, but Bai San was faster, bending down and clamping a hand over his mouth.

At the same time, Bai San’s other free hand shot out like lightning and pried the two Luminous Pearls embedded in the ceiling right out of their sockets.

After succeeding, Bai San landed lightly, shoved one of the pearls into the dumbfounded Gossip’s robes, and quickly stashed the other in an inner pocket.

The two exchanged looks of delighted mischief.

These things were valuable treasures!

But before the happy expression could fully blossom on Gossip’s face, he suddenly froze. A chill shot up his spine without warning, instantly spreading through his entire body.

He stiffly turned his neck to look behind him.

At some point, Chen Li had silently appeared beside them and was quietly watching.

Gossip’s face twitched a few times, and then he moved with astonishing agility.

He let out a yelp, whipped the Luminous Pearl out of his robes with lightning speed, and offered it to Chen Li. "Master Chen, a misunderstanding! A huge misunderstanding! This... this bastard Bai San forced this on me. I don’t have a single greedy thought in my head! It was him! He framed me!"

As he spoke, as if to prove his innocence, he reached into the still-dazed Bai San’s robes, pulled out the other Luminous Pearl, and held it out to Chen Li as well.

"Huh? Wh-what is this!"

Bai San finally snapped out of it as if waking from a dream. He jumped back as if electrocuted, pointed at the Luminous Pearl in Gossip’s hand, his face a mask of shock and fury. "Who? Who put this in my robes? Old Bao! Was it you? You’re trying to frame me in front of the Master!"

Chen Li watched the two clowns before him accusing each other with their over-the-top acting, and the corner of his mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.

He took the Luminous Pearls and said flatly, "Alright. I have a use for these pearls. After we get back, I’ll compensate you with some Medicinal Cuisine."

Hearing this, the wronged look on Bai San’s face vanished instantly, replaced by a fawning smile. "Master, you’re being too polite! It’s our duty to serve you. You’re so generous, Master. It’s a real pleasure working for you. Isn’t that right, Old Bao?"

Gossip also hurriedly bowed and scraped. "Yes, yes, yes! Master Chen’s rewards and punishments are clear, he’s considerate of his subordinates, truly the kindest..."

The shameless flattery flowed freely.

"That’s enough."

Chen Li cut him off, put away the register, and turned his gaze to the other side of the secret chamber. "Old Bao, lead the way."

Gossip snatched up a brightly burning torch and led the way toward the mouth of the tunnel.

The three of them filed in, their figures quickly swallowed by the passage.

The secret chamber fell silent once more.

...

「On the surface.」

Luo Hanfeng led a dozen or so Celestial Sword Sect disciples, moving silently toward the southeast.

Xie Jinglan suppressed his aura completely and followed behind the group.

Soon, they pinpointed the anomaly.

On a patch of relatively flat land, where only stubble and tree roots remained, a fresh mound of earth bulged abruptly from the ground.

Near the mound, two dark figures were leaning against a tree stump half a man’s height.

Luo Hanfeng’s heart sank. He gave a hand signal, and the disciples behind him immediately fanned out.

He then approached slowly, his fingers darting swiftly to the two men’s necks.

His touch found them ice-cold and breathless.

"Master."

Luo Hanfeng retreated to Xie Jinglan’s side and said in a hushed voice, "They’re dead."

Xie Jinglan landed silently and walked over to the two corpses.

He crouched down to examine them closely.

Dian San and Dao Si looked as if they were merely in a deep sleep.

Their clothes were intact, with no sign of any external injuries.

He extended two fingers, pressed them gently against Dian San’s brow, and sent a sliver of pure Inner Qi into him before retracting it.

"A Grandmaster."

The blood-red hue in Xie Jinglan’s narrow eyes deepened, and his expression turned completely grim.

Only a Grandmaster could kill so cleanly, directly obliterating the Divine Soul without harming the physical body.

He stood up, his gaze sweeping over the surrounding darkness.

The night wind blew across the open field, which was deathly silent.

The blockade points and patrol routes on the perimeter had not sent any warning signals.

’He’s still inside...’ Xie Jinglan was certain.

His gaze finally settled on the entrance to the robbers’ tunnel.

"You..."

Xie Jinglan singled out a disciple. "Go down and check the situation."

"Yes, Elder."

The disciple took a deep breath and crawled into the robbers’ tunnel.

The tunnel was pitch-black and quickly swallowed his figure.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, a rustling sound came from the tunnel, and the disciple poked his head out. "Reporting to the Elder, there’s a tomb chamber below with three coffins. One of the coffins has been moved, and there’s another opening beneath it, leading somewhere deeper."

A sharp glint flashed in Xie Jinglan’s eyes. Without further hesitation, he barked a low order, "Two of you stay here on guard. The rest of you, follow me down."

With that, he was the first to drop into the robbers’ tunnel.

Luo Hanfeng followed close behind, with the other disciples after him.

The tomb chamber was no more than twenty or thirty feet long and wide.

Three jet-black coffins were arranged in a triangle. Their lids had all been pried open and carelessly tossed aside.

The coffins were completely empty, save for a thick layer of accumulated dust.

Broken pottery shards were scattered in a corner, lying higgledy-piggledy, looking as if generations of tomb raiders had already paid a visit.

However, Xie Jinglan paid no mind to any of this.

His gaze was locked firmly on the moved coffin in the center of the chamber.

The coffin itself was unremarkable, but underneath it, a dark, deep opening was now exposed.

"You, go down and scout again!"

Xie Jinglan pointed at the same disciple.

Holding a fire-starter, the disciple carefully climbed down through the opening.

Soon, a voice, tinged with excitement and certainty, came from below. "Elder, there’s a man-made stone path down here. It’s very long, and I can’t tell where it leads."

A stone path!

Man-made!

The last trace of doubt vanished from Xie Jinglan’s mind, and a wave of excitement and icy killing intent washed over him.

’This is it! This must be the entrance to the Pig Emperor’s secret chamber.’

"Pursue!"

He no longer hesitated. He uttered the single, icy word and leaped first into the dark hole at the bottom of the coffin.

Luo Hanfeng and the other disciples dared not delay and filed in after him.

...

「The Sword Madman’s bedroom.」

GRIND... GRIND, GRIND...

A faint, continuous sound of stone grinding against stone suddenly echoed in the silent room.

Two nearby Celestial Sword Sect disciples were immediately alerted. They exchanged a look, each seeing the shock and suspicion in the other’s eyes.

The sound wasn’t coming from the door, but from... inside the room?

But the Sword Madman Elder had already left with his men; the room should have been empty.

Not daring to be careless, they drew their Longswords. One on the left and one on the right, they cautiously pushed the door open and followed the sound inside.

When they warily reached the washroom, they saw that one of the inner walls, which should have been a flat stone surface, was now pushed halfway open, revealing a pitch-black opening behind it.

And to their utter horror, three figures were standing in the opening.

"Enem—"

One disciple reacted extremely quickly, opening his mouth to shout a warning.

The other disciple moved at almost the same time.

However, before the word could even leave his mouth, both of them felt an indescribably terrifying pressure descend upon them.

Their expressions froze instantly. The light in their eyes was like a candle flame blown out by a gale, suddenly dimming and scattering.

Their bodies went limp and they collapsed to the ground like two piles of mud, their Longswords falling with a CLANG.

Chen Li stepped out of the opening, his expression calm.

Bai San and Gossip followed close behind, and the three of them quickly entered the room.

As soon as they steadied themselves, a faint, musky, gamey odor assailed their nostrils.

Chen Li couldn’t help but frown slightly.

Gossip, however, subconsciously took a deep breath, even tilting his head back. A complex, unreadable expression appeared on his face, a mixture of nostalgia and wistfulness.

"Ahem, my apologies, Master Chen. This smell... it’s the stench of pigs."

Noticing Chen Li’s gaze, Gossip gave a slightly awkward, dry laugh and explained, "When the Pig Emperor fell on hard times in his early years, a wild boar saved his life twice. Ever since then, he became extremely superstitious about pigs, viewing them as auspicious omens.

"So he specially set aside a room next to his own bedroom just to raise that life-saving pig. Over time, the smell just soaked into everything. I can’t believe it’s been over two years and it still hasn’t aired out completely."

Chen Li said no more and pushed the heavy Stone Gate behind him back into place.

His gaze shifted to the main part of the room. In stark contrast to the simplicity of the outer area, this place was lavishly furnished.

A large, carved rosewood bed, brocade curtains, a curio shelf displaying porcelain vases and jade artifacts, and several landscape paintings with profound artistic conception hanging on the walls—every piece of furniture was exquisite.

This place was once the Pig Emperor’s residence, which meant it was now most likely the living quarters of that Sword Madman Elder.