Chương 112: Fading Traces (IV)

Long night fell, the shadows curving as though light phased through a membrane on its way down. Long Tao recognized it, as it was one of the 'features' that a lot of low-level large-scale formations couldn't hide. Bending the Laws of Dao was already difficult, and trying to do so without being seen... well, it was nigh impossible. None of the mechanisms of the city's array worked on him--he simply took the darkness of the night as the means to meander about.

He'd mostly listen for the pulses of Qi, seeking any potential underground chamber that might be hidden from the world. It was oft the hoarders' dearest place to stash away the valuables. Alas, not in here. He mostly felt the faintest of traces here and there, largely within the tall structures, though none were all that inviting. Tonight, in fact, was the biggest one yet--though he had already expected it.

He was headed over to the central building of the entire place, called 'Town Palace', where the town chief as well as all the major figures resided. The pull was certainly the greatest, so much so that it caused him to frown; the pulse of energy was... strong. Tantalizingly so, in fact. There was a myth-level treasure hiding within the vaults of the palace. The 'palace' was actually a walled compound comprised of six individual buildings, all attached to the central one.

It was five stories, terraced and layered, with inlaid courtyards everywhere surrounded by long and flat hallways. There were dozens of guards littering the area, some standing still and some patrolling, and most were at least in the second or third stage of Qi Condensation. Considering that this was a town of mortals, it was... unnecessary. At least from his perspective. But there was always a reason for things like these--namely that the palace held secrets that could not get out, under no circumstances.

There were additional sets of smaller and more concentrated arrays rounding the compound. Some of them were even clever, in a cute sort of way, with flags inverted as to hide their true purpose. About four layers of illusions existed, on top of a few 'alarm' arrays, and even two major killing formations. The more he scrutinized the lavish and debauched gardens and garish walls, the deeper his frown got. This level of secrecy bordered stupidity.

After all, just because you could layer arrays and formations didn't mean they'd work in concert--two killing formations, for instance, would outright also attack each other. Of the four illusion arrays, two actually cancelled each other out, and one only worked on boys under the age of eleven due to its interaction with another one of its siblings. This was 'new wealth', as it were; none of these things were laid down by Masters, but rather somebody who unearthed a tomb or a ruin and found them there.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Curious, he mused inwardly, vaulting over one of the walls. He skidded right past a young man, and yet the latter merely yawned, seeming tired and entirely unaware that someone had sneaked in. He wasn't in a hurry; rather, he wasn't even using his Master's method just yet, as it was wholly unnecessary. He went building by building, first focusing on the side ones.

For the most part, there wasn't anything unique about them: some minor treasures, mostly just residential buildings for the guards and the officials, a few training rooms and warehouses of common tools, and some food... and that was it. Eventually, he landed in front of the central one, craning his neck to look up at it from the front. There were six guards planted at the entrance, each of them at the peak of Qi Condensation, yet entirely blind to the figure standing literally ten feet from them.

Long Tao's frown was... deep. He long since felt that there was something off about this place, but it was difficult to put a finger on what. Walking past the guards, he found himself inside a complex web of hallways that mostly led to empty rooms. Rather, compared to all other buildings, the central one seemed... eerily empty. There were no guards inside, oddly enough, and there were no servants. Barely any of the hallways even had light, and the number of arrays just continued to go up.

By the time he'd reached the second-to-last floor, he was 'sneaking past' eleven arrays. It was one of the most moronic setups he'd seen in his life and only confirmed that whoever set it up likely got the schematics of the arrays from some ruin or realm or a tomb. It was on the fourth floor that he finally came upon the first living being--though, calling them 'living' was rather generous.

It was like a barn, of sorts, where dozens of people were isolated off within small prison cells, chained to a wall, weeping or dying. Men, women, young, old... there were a few of them all, he noted. At the center of the room was likely the warden, a man well into his sixties from the looks of it, at the peak of the Foundation Establishment. But it was a 'false' peak, as it were, as his entire foundation was crippled--his state was even worse than Master's, and that was saying something.

Long Tao ignored it and climbed further up, activating the Master's art as he sensed a rather strong and eerie energy from the top floor. The stench of blood was evident halfway up the steps, growing only stronger the further up he went. Once there, the scene was a bit... shocking. Music was playing, with a set of ten or so people perched atop a stage, playing in concert. There were cushioned sofas lining the edges of the walls, with the scent of blood and perfume mixing almost violently.

If the inner walls below were garish, then this place spoke of greed and unscrupulous opulence only ever enjoyed by those who envied wealth and richness for most of their lives. Walls were peppered with portraits, all stored within gemmed and gilded frames. The floor itself was marbled and smoothed with a layer of ashen silver, an utter waste of an otherwise amazingly useful alchemic material.

The center of the room had a fountain spewing red wine from the head of a dragon, and about a dozen chandeliers hung from the flat ceiling, illuminating the whole ordeal. In the far corner, however, was a horror that even the gilded opulence could not hide; there were about twenty corpses stacked on top of each other, all naked or mostly so.

Just then, another yelp and wail of pain erupted, drawing Long Tao's eyes to the side, where he saw a rather fat-bellied and old man slap a young woman so hard that her neck twisted all the way around until the front and the back parts of her face switched places.

"Gah, how dare she grimace, the bitch!" The old man growled, his brows furrowing for a moment as his eyes seemed to wander toward Long Tao.

"Hm?"

"What is it, my Lord?"

"I thought I sensed someone."

"Ah? You surely jest, my Lord," the same high-pitched voice spoke with a chuckle.

"There isn't a soul alive within ten thousand miles that would dare sneak into your palace."

"... I suppose. Ugh, bring me another." He grabbed the woman he'd just killed by the neck and tossed her over to the pile.

"And she better satisfy me!" Long Tao was already halfway down the steps, running away. He was seconds away from being caught, surprised and shocked at the fact the man he'd just seen was actually the strongest cultivator (besides old servant Hua) he'd seen so far in this world--the old bastard was actually at the middle of the Inner World Realm!