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Chapter 230: Nowhere to Be Found

Since Cuowenbu spanned a large area, the east and west of Cuowenbu were almost two different worlds. The west of Cuowenbu was the vast, barren West Gobi. However, the east of Cuowenbu was an oasis, known as the Eastern Oasis.

It was no wonder that White Jade Hall chose to hide out here. In terms of environment, the Eastern Oasis was certainly much better than the West Gobi. After all, the secret society members were not ascetics, so they would hope for better living conditions.

Following the map given by the Innkeeper, Qi Xuansu ran for several kilometers until he found a small river in the southwest of the Eastern Oasis. He traced its source upstream and walked for several more kilometers to find that the creek had disappeared into an underground river.

Thus, Qi Xuansu had no choice but to dive into the water. The rock formation was about 60 centimeters above the water’s surface, so Qi Xuansu had to swim forward until the river water reappeared above ground. Since water naturally flowed to places with lower terrain, Qi Xuansu figured that the elevation here was lower than where he was before.

Qi Xuansu emerged from the water and saw mountains all around. He looked up and saw only a thin slit of blue sky through the mountain peaks. The scenery was peaceful, with green mountains and blue waters. But there was an eerie silence all around, hinting at danger.

He could not help but secretly admire White Jade Hall’s ingenious thinking. This gap within the mountains was so narrow that even if a Heavenly Being were to fly overhead, it would be difficult to spot this hidden sanctuary. One would need to be actively looking to be able to discover this place.

Qi Xuansu walked out of the river. Fortunately, the cash notes, mother-child talismans, and the Divine Dragon Pistol were all waterproof. He only had to channel his qi to steam-dry his clothes. Then he continued walking along the riverbank for several kilometers before coming to a green valley full of flowers. This place was surrounded by mountains, so it was protected from the cold draft, making it an ideal place to spend the winter months.

There was a small village not far from the entrance, consisting of about a dozen houses of various sizes gathered together. There were no fences between the houses, and there were fields and mulberry orchards around. It truly was an idyllic setting.

Qi Xuansu followed a path into the village and found that the place was deserted, without a single person in sight. He went into a house to check for traces of habitation. The firepot was no longer warm, and there was no visible dust buildup, indicating that the people who lived here had left for not more than a few weeks.

He roughly calculated the time. It took him about a day to return from the reclaimed land to The Inn; another day to get from The Inn to Cuowenbu; three more days to get from the West Gobi to the Eastern Oasis of Cuowenbu; and less than a day to get to this hidden valley. Six days had passed since then.

It seemed that White Jade Hall had evacuated during this period.

Qi Xuansu walked through the empty village and came to the other side.

There was a huge manor here, which did not look like the local buildings in Yongzhou. Instead, there were obvious elements of the Imperial Capital’s architecture. It resembled the various summer gardens built by the Imperial Capital’s dignitaries outside the Imperial Capital, such as the famous Yuqing Garden.

The Yuqing Garden was built during the reign of Emperor Xiaozong of the previous dynasty. After repairs by successive emperors, the garden covered an area of ??about 100 hectares, including a few lakes, pavilions, and buildings imitating the Jiangnan landscape. It was known as the best garden in the Imperial Capital.

Qi Xuansu once went to the Imperial Capital with Madam Qi and was deeply impressed viewing the garden from a distance.

That was why he felt that this manor imitated the style of Yuqing Garden. However, it was much smaller, about less than a hectare. It was an interesting find because White Jade Hall imitated the Daoist Golden Tower Council in its organizational structure, and its name alluded to the Jade Capital. But in terms of architecture, it imitated the imperial family’s Yuqing Garden.

At this time, the gate of the manor was closed. Qi Xuansu did not push the door open but jumped up to the gate tower and looked down at the manor from above.

At a cursory glance, the manor looked normal besides being empty. It looked like the owner had gone out temporarily because nothing was taken from it. It was also not ransacked, so it was evident that the place was as the owner left it.

Qi Xuansu jumped down from the gate tower and walked cautiously to the main hall.

To his expectation, there were no booby traps or formations along the way. All the furnishings in the main hall were well-preserved and not cluttered. Thus, it was clear that the members of White Jade Hall did not evacuate in a panic.

After Qi Xuansu wandered around the main hall, he went to the side hall, garden, bedroom, conservatory, and small living room before making his way to the most important room—the study.

Every room in the manor was neat, like the main hall. However, the study was the only exception. The three walls of the study were lined with bookshelves, but at this time, the bookshelves were empty, with nothing left. There was also a huge brazier in the middle of the study filled with ashes. It was clear that someone had burned some important files here.

In addition, there were many scattered papers on the ground. Qi Xuansu glanced through them and found all kinds of information about the Imperial Court and the Daoist Order, even going so far as to detail the movements of the Imperial Army and Daoist Spirit Guards.

However, most information was only useful for a set period of time. The information that was once worth thousands of Taiping coins no longer had any value because it was out of date.

Qi Xuansu saw some information regarding the news that Qin Wubing was about to lead his army into the West Gobi. Before the event, it was indeed valuable confidential information. But at this moment, Qi Xuansu had already met Qin Wubing in the West Gobi, so this information was reduced to a piece of waste paper. It was no wonder that all these papers were carelessly littered about in the study.

He walked around the huge brazier and came to the bookcase. Finally, he went to the desk, equipped with the Four Treasures of Study[1]. A piece of paper was laid out with a paperweight sitting atop it.

Qi Xuansu hesitated for a while before picking up the paperweight and reading the letter underneath.

This letter was intentionally left behind by the owner of this place. No obvious characteristics could be seen from the handwriting alone, as it was the standard script.

The letter was addressed to Madam Qi. Strictly speaking, it was written to Madam Qi’s errand boy.

The content of the letter was simple. It roughly explained the reason they had to leave this hideout, which was the Daoist Order. It even described the Daoist Order as a schizophrenic giant whose actions were uncoordinated due to having multiple personalities.

Although this giant’s limbs often fought each other, sometimes even slapping itself in the face and allowing pests to gnaw at it, it was still a strong giant in its prime. It was unstoppable when it drew its sword.

The Daoist Order was plagued with fierce internal fighting, but once they reached a consensus on something, they were ruthless and unrelenting. In a short time, the Daoist Order would sweep their sword across the entire Cuowenbu. Thus, it would be difficult for members of White Jade Hall to continue residing here. This was the reason they left.

However, the owner of this place would still keep his word to Madam Qi and pay off his debt owed. The letter was signed off by Mountain Ghost.

This was unexpected, but reasonable. Since White Jade Hall was a council made of multiple secret societies, the existence of Qingping Society members was expected. Qi Xuansu figured that Mountain Ghost and Madam Qi were both representatives of the Qingping Society in White Jade Hall. But for some reason, Madam Qi left and had no plans on returning any time soon.

As for the relationship between Mountain Ghost and Madam Qi, it seemed that they were former colleagues, or perhaps Mountain Ghost had taken over Madam Qi’s position in White Jade Hall.

Qi Xuansu read the letter again, not finding any obvious submissive tones in Mountain Ghost’s word choices, so he should be on the same level as Madam Qi. Madam Qi was a B-rank member of the Qingping Society, so Mountain Ghost was probably also a B-rank member.

That was all he could gather from the letter.

Qi Xuansu read the letter twice more and even tried to put it over a flame and soak it in water to make sure there was no hidden message. But to his disappointment, that was all there was to the letter.

Mountain Ghost only mentioned repaying the debt but did not go into details about said debt.

Qi Xuansu thought, So... How is he planning to repay the debt? What even is the debt? Where should I collect the payment?!

“Ugh! I hate how mysterious he’s being!” Qi Xuansu cursed under his breath and put down the paperweight he had been holding.

Wait...

Qi Xuansu suddenly widened his eyes, feeling a sense of déjà vu.

1. Traditional Chinese must-have stationery items include brushes, ink, paper, and inkstone.☜