Their figures swiftly darted through the forest, the sound of the wind rushing past their ears.
Once they entered, the scene before them sent a jolt through their hearts. The Heishi branch, which had once been heavily guarded with sentries every few steps, was now surprisingly spacious. Those hidden sentinels had evidently been quietly removed.
Bai Yichen and Daoist Guan Zhi exchanged a glance and then followed Guan Zhi as he charged straight toward the main hall.
Inside the main hall, Daoist Mo Mei was already beside several bodies of Heishi assassins.
"I have searched this stronghold and found no clues regarding Hei Lin or the others. In fact, the remaining people are still unaware of Hei Lin's retreat," Daoist Mo Mei said with a hint of disappointment.
"This place has probably already been abandoned by Hei Lin and the others," Guan Zhi replied.
"Senior, are there any survivors left here?" Bai Yichen asked after pondering for a moment.
"They should all be dealt with," she replied.
"Then let Guan Zhi and I do another sweep, and afterward we can let the county office come to finish up," Bai Yichen suggested respectfully.
Hearing this, Daoist Mo Mei nodded in agreement and then found a clean spot to sit down and begin her meditation.
"If there are any issues, you can come find me," she said.
Upon seeing this, Bai Yichen and Guan Zhi bowed and took their leave.
"Shaochong, do you have any other thoughts?" Daoist Guan Zhi asked.
Over the past few days, he had gotten to know his nephew a bit and understood that he wouldn't act without a purpose.
Bai Yichen shook his head and said, "I just feel that in such a short time, it might be difficult to handle the details of removing those remaining assassins."
"Therefore, I intend to search again."
Guan Zhi, upon hearing this, nodded in agreement. After hesitating for a moment, he said, "Coincidentally, Daoist Mo Mei has already searched this place, and with her here, you can search alone. If there are any confidential documents, you can submit them to the Temple; for the rest, you can make your own decisions."
"I'll guard the entrance here. The light from that signal flare earlier was likely visible even within the county town. If the county magistrate sends someone, I'll take the documents for the Temple to facilitate communication."
Bai Yichen did not refuse and agreed to meet Daoist Mo Mei in half an hour.
Thus, Bai Yichen began searching, utilizing the knowledge he had gained from his previous lives about Heishi, while also collecting some spoils.
He passed through most of the buildings without finding much, only some scattered silver coins. However, considering it as a benefit gained for free, Bai Yichen felt quite pleased.
Next, he entered a regular study. The moment he stepped in, he was drawn to the orderly arrangement of the room.
A carved wooden desk was positioned in front of the window, allowing sunlight to shine through and illuminate the tabletop.
Bookshelves lined the walls, with books meticulously arranged, seemingly waiting for a fated person to peruse them.
Bai Yichen's thoughts raced; he was indeed fortunate. He attempted to pull a book from the shelf, and after observing for a while, he seemed to discern a pattern. With a knowing smile, he changed the order and extracted three books from the shelf.
Then, he noticed that a seemingly ordinary corner beneath the desk revealed a bronze door, which had a notch resembling a token.
Recalling the token he had obtained after slaying An Sha, he did not hesitate to take it out, and it fit perfectly into the notch.
Then, accompanied by the muffled sound of a mechanism slowly activating, the hidden door quietly opened, revealing a staircase that led downwards.
Bai Yichen quietly circulated the Dragon Elephant Diamond Body Technique in case of any changes. Fortunately, as he stepped through the concealed bronze door, no anomalies appeared on the stairs.
When he reached the bottom, dim yellow light illuminated the walls, revealing only three stone boxes in the secret chamber.
Bai Yichen stepped forward to open them one by one.
The first box was neatly filled with shiny silver ingots, all uniformly shaped and of excellent quality.
Goodness, this might be the tribute from the Qingzhou branch that hasn't been delivered yet this year.
He quickly pocketed two of them. As for the rest, they would naturally be reported. After all, he could not take such a large sum of money for himself.
Moreover, the elixirs and inheritance he obtained last night were not something that money could satisfy.
Then, he opened the second box and found several weapons of different designs: a long silver sword, a gemstone-studded golden dagger, and a large ivory bow, each quite extraordinary.
However, for Bai Yichen, they did not seem to hold much value.
His primary weapon had always been the sword, and the An Sha sword he obtained last night was not inferior to these weapons, more than enough for his needs.
Next, still holding a bit of expectation, he opened the third box.
"Eh? So it's these items."
Bai Yichen picked up a stack of classified letters from the box, which mainly recorded the circumstances of various factions in the Qingzhou martial world, with Xuanzhen Temple being a key focus.
In addition, there were various pieces of intelligence from the seven counties in Qingzhou, such as which families were related by marriage, the preferences of certain county magistrates, and the close relationships of some state officials with others, among other details.
The information was quite thorough, and it was indeed characteristic of Heishi's intelligence-gathering methods.
Good stuff, Bai Yichen naturally accepted the important documents with a smile.
"Eh? What is this…"
After removing the letters, Bai Yichen discovered a mask pressed underneath.
It was printed with a bull's head design, and upon seeing it, he seemed to recall something, so he stored the mask away.
Afterward, noticing that time was about right, he returned to the main hall.
At this time, in addition to Daoist Mo Mei and the already returned Daoist Guan Zhi, there was also a group of individuals dressed in official attire, who seemed somewhat intimidated.
It turned out that the county magistrate had sent a constable and several bailiffs to investigate.
Daoist Guan Zhi simply invited them to Daoist Mo Mei's side, where he informed them of the documents and the situation.
Under the dual pressure of the Xuanzhen Temple's name and an Innate master, these individuals naturally did not dare to speak much.
Seeing this, Bai Yichen relayed his findings to Daoist Mo Mei and Daoist Guan Zhi.
Soon, after discussing it, Daoist Guan Zhi set off another signal flare. Half a stick of incense later, the craftsman arrived with a carriage at the foot of the mountain.
Not long after, several constables and the head constable watched the departing carriage wheels and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
A young constable, his eyes flashing with greed, asked, "Head Constable, I just saw in secret that one of the boxes they took on the carriage was filled with silver. Should we…"
The leading head constable shot the young constable a fierce glare and scolded him while tapping him with the back of his knife, "Is that something you should be concerned about? You reckless fool! If you want to die, don't drag us down with you!"
After venting his frustration, he began discussing with several older constables how to turn the bodies of the Heishi assassins into a credit for eliminating mountain bandits, and how to report the matter to the officials in the government office.
This was the only benefit they could hope to gain.