Starting from the imperial palace guards, his clones spread all over the world

In a luxurious private room on the third floor of the brothel, carved beams and painted rafters met draped silk curtains, filling the air with a faint scent of powder and rouge.

The greasy, powdered-face man was still standing by the window, leaning out halfway, cursing loudly at the street below, the fat on his face jiggling with each bellow, like a puddle of soft mud.

The others sitting around the table couldn't help but frown slightly, shaking their heads gently, their faces revealing helplessness and disdain.

"I knew I should have done it myself."

One of the middle-aged men, dressed in a brocade robe, narrowed his eyes slightly, a hint of annoyance flashing within, and muttered a complaint.

If Liang Jin were here at this moment, he would immediately recognize that this middle-aged man was his superior, Battalion Commander Xi Rong.

Xi Rong usually lived a pampered life, and his maintenance was not bad, but the slightly bulging belly, and the air of officialdom on his face, fully revealed his identity.

Today, he had made an appointment with several friends he usually got along with to drink and enjoy the company of courtesans in this brothel, and as they were getting into the spirit of things, he happened to see Liang Jin passing by the entrance of the brothel.

Xi Rong had always held a grudge against Liang Jin, and today he finally caught an opportunity, so naturally he would not let it go easily, thinking of finding an excuse to teach Liang Jin a good lesson.

This made Xi Rong feel even more depressed, his face as gloomy as if water could drip from it, secretly cursing his friend's incompetence.

Seeing Xi Rong's ugly face, the friends began to comfort him, their faces full of smiles:

"Don't worry, Lao Xi, come, come, let's drink first. Calm down, it's not worth ruining our fun for a small soldier."

"That's right, Young Master Zhou's men have already gone after him, that kid can't run far, and they will bring him back soon. When that time comes, we'll have plenty of ways to deal with him."

"Even if you can't get revenge today, there are still many days to come. As long as you lure that kid out of the military camp, we will have a way to help you kill him! With our means, are we still afraid of not being able to deal with a small soldier?"

… …

Listening to the comfort of his friends, the resentment in Xi Rong's heart gradually dissipated, and his face also softened a lot.

He nodded slightly, picked up his wine glass, and drank it all in one gulp.

That's right, with his status and position, wanting to kill a small soldier was simply as easy as turning his hand.

It was just that he didn't want to do it himself, after all, as a general, killing his own soldiers for personal grudges would be extremely detrimental to his prestige and the morale of his subordinates.

But he had so many powerful friends, each of them having a lot of influence in the capital, and with their help, that kid Liang Jin was destined to have no way out!

Thinking of this, the corners of Xi Rong's mouth rose slightly, revealing a sinister smile, and immediately, with one hand, he picked up his wine glass, and with the other, he hugged the girl beside him, the girl giggling and leaning into his arms.

Xi Rong and the others continued to drink, and laughter rang out in the private room again, as if the unhappiness just now had never happened.

… … … … … …

On the other side.

The night was as dark as ink, and a layer of faint mist permeated the streets.

"Brother Liang, hurry!"

Zhao Yi's voice was urgent and crisp, she held Liang Jin's hand tightly, running all the way.

The figures of the two shuttled quickly through the dim streets.

They passed through narrow alleys, bypassed corners, and behind them, they could faintly hear the angry roars of those servants and the sound of chasing footsteps.

But as they continued to run, those sounds gradually faded away, and it was clear that the pursuing servants had been successfully shaken off by them.

Soon, the two arrived at a remote area.

This place was far from the bustling roads, and it was particularly quiet at night, pitch black, with only the occasional barking of dogs breaking the silence of the night.

Obviously, there were not many people living here, it was cold and desolate, and even gave people a gloomy feeling.

Zhao Yi led Liang Jin to a small stone bridge, the stone bridge spanned a small river, the bridge was mottled, covered with traces of time.

"Brother Liang, come with me!"

Zhao Yi said, and then she crawled under the bridge.

She squatted down, scooped up river water with her hands, and vigorously washed the stone bricks at the bottom of the stone bridge.

The river water flowed through her hands, carrying away the silt and dirt.

After the sludge covering the surface of the stone bricks was cleaned, Zhao Yi carefully identified and groped for a while, her eyes flashing with excitement, as if she had found her target.

In the next moment, she used her hands with force, and actually pulled out a stone brick.

With Zhao Yi's strength, it was naturally impossible to pull out the stone brick forcefully, but these stone bricks had already been loosened.

At this time, she continued to act, one brick, two bricks, three bricks… After pulling out a few bricks, a dark hole was revealed at the bottom of the stone bridge, the hole was like a huge mouth, as if it wanted to swallow people.

Liang Jin looked inside, and was shocked, inside was actually a man-made secret passage.

This secret passage looked quite old, the walls had traces of time erosion, but it was still strong.

Liang Jin was surprised, because to build such a man-made secret passage, the manpower, material resources, and financial resources required were by no means a small number.

And Zhao Yi was clearly just a woman from an ordinary family, how could she have such a mysterious secret passage?

"Brother Liang, crawl in like me."

Zhao Yi said, and she had already skillfully crawled into the secret passage, her movements were light and agile.

Liang Jin hesitated slightly, looked around, confirmed that there was no danger, and followed in.

The internal space of the secret passage was very wide, and the design concept was very ingenious.

There was a drainage ditch at the bottom, which could drain the seeping river water in time, keeping the secret passage from being soaked in water.

Moreover, this secret passage was not completely dark, some luminous fluorite and mica were inlaid at the top, emitting a soft light, so that even ordinary people could barely see in the secret passage.

Zhao Yi reached out and stacked the stone bricks at the entrance of the secret passage, sealing the entrance, her movements were skilled and fast.

She turned around, her face full of excitement, and said to Liang Jin excitedly:

"How is this place?"

"I'll take you inside, there's still a lot of space inside."

Saying that, Zhao Yi took Liang Jin along the secret passage to the depths.

The secret passage could only accommodate one person at a time, so Zhao Yi was in front, and Liang Jin was behind.

The footsteps of the two echoed in the secret passage, which seemed particularly clear.

Zhao Yi explained to Liang Jin as she walked:

"This place was discovered by my sister and I when we were catching fish in this river when we were kids."

"At that time, it was probably more than ten years ago, I seemed to be only five or six years old. That year, there was a flood, and the stones in this river were impacted by the water and hit the stone bridge, which opened the entrance to this secret passage."

"After we found it at that time, we crawled in and explored everywhere. At first, we were very scared. It was dark inside, and we always felt that some monster would suddenly pop out."

"But slowly, we found that there was no one here at all, it was very safe. So this place became our secret base for the three sisters!"

"Whenever we were chased and beaten by our parents, we would secretly run here to hide. We also made a promise that we would never tell anyone about this place."

Speaking of this, Zhao Yi stopped slightly, turned her head and smiled at Liang Jin, the smile was like the sunshine in spring, warm and bright.

"It's a pity that later, the eldest sister and the second sister grew up, and they also started families, and since then they never came to this place again. This place is only for me alone."

"Now I'm bringing you here, and this place will be our secret from now on, and you can't tell anyone else."

As Zhao Yi spoke, she continued to lead Liang Jin deeper.

This secret passage was actually longer than Liang Jin imagined.

The secret passage was built very strong, and although the various supporting structures were old, they were still strong, bearing the pressure above, protecting the people inside the secret passage.

The two walked for a while, and the space in front suddenly opened up, and what appeared in front of them was a wide hall.

The hall was filled with a faint musty smell, as if telling the vicissitudes of the years here.

Zhao Yi skillfully found the location of the oil lamp, and then felt for the flint, and with a gentle stroke, the flame jumped up, quickly lighting the oil lamp.

The dim light illuminated the hall indistinctly, but it also added a touch of warmth to this mysterious place.

Liang Jin could see that the hall was paved with stone slabs, and each stone slab was polished very smoothly. Exquisite patterns were carved on the pillars. And at the top of the hall, there were also ceramic ventilation pipes built, so that the outside air could enter.

At one end of the hall, there was a stone staircase extending upwards, abruptly ending at a hidden door.

And at the other end, there were two sealed doors, the doors were covered with rust.

In the center of the hall, there were many sundries placed, there were old clothes, there were chipped pottery pots, there were also some fabrics of unknown use, and even some bamboo toys.

These were all civilian supplies, and they seemed out of place with this exquisite hall.

Zhao Yi proudly raised the leather boot in her hand to Liang Jin, and then threw it into the pile of sundries, a hint of mischievous smile on her face:

"I'll put this boot here, and Zhou Jiaze will never find it in his life!"

"This boot is not cheap, it must cost a lot of silver. Zhou Jiaze is missing one, so he won't be able to continue wearing it."

"How about it, did I help you get revenge and relieve your anger like this?"

Clearly, the various items on the ground seemed to have been brought in by Zhao Yiyi from outside, each seemingly possessing its own story.

Liang Jin frowned slightly upon hearing this and asked:

"Do you know the owner of these boots?"

Zhao Yiyi nodded, a hint of disgust flashing in her eyes:

"Who in our area doesn't know Zhou Jiaze, that young scoundrel?"

"He's the youngest son of the Yingtian Prefecture Governor, and he relies on his father's power to do evil all day long, acting like a tyrant. He's particularly hated."

In Zhao Yiyi's opinion, that Zhou Jiaze was deliberately looking for trouble, and Liang Jin was just unlucky to be targeted by this young scoundrel.

Liang Jin asked upon hearing this:

"You've offended the Governor's son; aren't you afraid?"

Zhao Yiyi winked at Liang Jin triumphantly, a confident smile on her face:

"Don't worry, I made sure he didn't see my face at the time."

"Besides, a nobody like me isn't that easy to find."

"Who told him to bully you? He deserved it!"

Liang Jin smiled without saying a word.

Subsequently, he opened the [Thousand Mile Tracking] panel and entered Zhou Jiaze's name.

Soon, he locked onto Zhou Jiaze's location.

This Zhou Jiaze deliberately provoked Liang Jin, probably under someone's instructions. Liang Jin naturally wouldn't let him off easily and would definitely find him to ask clearly.

Liang Jin then pointed to the two tightly closed doors and asked:

"What's in there?"

The two doors were made of metal, now covered in rust, as if telling of the ruthlessness of time.

And a large lock still hung on the door, sealing off everything inside.

Zhao Yiyi shook her head, a hint of curiosity and helplessness in her eyes:

"This lock is very sturdy. The three of us sisters have tried all sorts of methods but can't open it."

"We really don't know what's behind the door."

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Liang Jin nodded and then pointed to the stone steps at the other end of the hall:

"Where does that lead?"

Zhao Yiyi immediately said:

"Come on, I'll take you up to see."

"But we have to be quiet, we can't be discovered."

"If we're discovered, it'll be troublesome."

As Zhao Yiyi spoke, she led Liang Jin up the stone steps.

The stone steps were somewhat steep, and every step required caution.

The secret door at the end of the stone steps was embedded in the top of the hall, and this secret door was very thick, with more than one layer. Its design was very ingenious. If viewed from the other side, who would be able to detect the existence of the secret door?

Zhao Yiyi fussed for a long time before pulling open the secret door and then crawling out.

Liang Jin also followed and crawled up.

After crawling out, Liang Jin discovered that the opening of the secret door was actually under the bed of a bedroom.

It's just that this bedroom had obviously been abandoned for a long time, with spider webs and dust everywhere. Even the bed was so decayed that it was about to collapse, as if it would fall down at any moment.

The bedroom door was even more severely damaged, with the door panel lying on the ground, revealing the scene outside.

Zhao Yiyi led Liang Jin to the bedroom door, cautiously poked her head out, and said:

"Be careful, don't let the people on the city wall see you."

Liang Jin glanced outside the bedroom.

Outside the bedroom was an abandoned mansion.

The mansion was very large. Although it was now basically empty, with only some ruins left, one could still see its former luxury.

The former pavilions and towers now only had some stone pillars and rubble left; the former garden was now overgrown with weeds.

Obviously, the person living in this mansion must have had an extraordinary status.

And outside the mansion's surrounding wall, one could actually see the tall city wall not far away without any obstruction.

The tall gate tower on the city wall stood solemnly, and some Imperial Guards holding spears were on duty at the crenellations of the city wall. They wore armor, their expressions were serious, and they were awe-inspiring.

This was actually at the foot of the Imperial City!

This abandoned mansion was only separated from the Imperial City by a moat!

"This… is the Shenwu Gate!"

As an Imperial Guard, Liang Jin naturally recognized that this place was near the Shenwu Gate.

The Shenwu Gate was the city gate connecting the Imperial City's harem to the outside world.

The Shenwu Gate tower had three gates. Only the Empress was qualified to walk through the central main gate. Concubines, officials, guards, eunuchs, and craftsmen could only enter and exit from the gates on both sides.

"It seems that this abandoned mansion was probably the residence of an important figure in the inner court."

Liang Jin had a guess in his heart.

The Shenwu Gate led to the harem. The bigwigs living near the Shenwu Gate were generally unlikely to be court officials, but were more likely to be powerful figures in the harem.

Either a grand eunuch, or a member of the imperial family, or a Great Inner Guard, and so on.

Liang Jin thought to himself:

"At the foot of the Imperial City, there's actually such an abandoned mansion?"

"It seems that this land should be directly owned by the imperial court or the royal family."

At the foot of the Imperial City, every inch of land was precious. Whether it was house prices or land prices, they were ridiculously high and could be driven sky-high.

And in such a place, there was actually a mansion that was deserted and not commercialized, which could only mean that this land belonged to the royal family or the imperial court.

Such land was not intended for profit and was usually used to reward those with outstanding merit.

If the officials responsible for managing these plots of land were talented and capable, then these lands would often be managed very well, and even during the vacancy period, they could bring a lot of income to the imperial court.

And if the responsible officials were昏庸wastes or had ulterior motives, then these lands could easily be abandoned for a long time.

Liang Jin couldn't help but look at Zhao Yiyi:

"You dare to come to this kind of place?"

"If you're discovered, it will cause trouble."

Although this mansion was abandoned, no beggars or vagrants came to live here, which meant that it was difficult for ordinary people to get close to this place.

You should know that there are quite a few beggars and vagrants in the capital.

Now that Liang Jin and Zhao Yiyi had appeared in a place that was forbidden to approach by the imperial court or the royal family, it would indeed cause trouble if they were discovered.

Zhao Yiyi replied:

"My two older sisters also said so. After they came once, they never dared to come again."

"I also know it's dangerous, so I only sneak out to take a look at night."

"I'm very careful and have never been discovered."

In Zhao Yiyi's eyes, there was a strong excitement flashing.

Liang Jin could tell that although Zhao Yiyi was born in a scholar's family, she didn't have the gentleness and elegance that a scholar's daughter should have.

On the contrary, her heart was full of adventurous spirit.

She didn't like following the rules and didn't want to be bound by etiquette. She always liked to challenge and explore unknown things.

"Let's go back."

As Liang Jin spoke, he led Zhao Yiyi back into the secret passage.

Before entering the secret door, he waved his hand, and a gust of wind swept the ground, blowing away all the footprints left by the two of them, as if they had never been here.

After returning to the secret passage hall, Liang Jin's gaze was fixed on the two rusty metal doors.

He slowly walked to the door, first reaching out his hand and gently weighing the large lock hanging on the door.

The lock was heavy, and although the surface was severely rusted, it didn't affect its sturdiness.

Liang Jin certainly didn't have a key, but he had other ways to unlock it.

Immediately afterward, he swung his arm violently, his movement as fast as lightning.

"Swish!"

A dazzling sword light flashed and disappeared, like a shooting star streaking across the night sky, brilliant and short-lived.

Almost at the same instant, the lock on the door snapped, and the lock body slammed heavily on the ground, making a loud "clang!" that echoed in the secret passage hall.

In an extremely short period of time, Liang Jin took out the incomparably sharp Youlong Sword from the [Inventory], cut off the lock with lightning speed, and then retracted the Youlong Sword with the same astonishing speed.

The whole action was completed in one go, smooth and natural, so fast that Zhao Yiyi couldn't see it clearly at all. She only felt a flash of white light in front of her, and the lock had already fallen to the ground.

"Wow! How did you do that?"

Zhao Yiyi's eyes widened, her face full of curiosity and surprise, her mouth slightly open, revealing a row of white teeth.

Liang Jin's attention was focused on the two metal doors. He took a deep breath, his arm muscles tensed, slowly stretched out his hands, and pushed the two heavy doors with force.

"Rumble!"

Along with a dull and heavy vibration, as if a giant beast that had been sleeping for many years had been awakened, the severely rusted metal doors finally moved slowly under Liang Jin's push.

Fortunately, this was underground, and such a loud noise was not enough to attract attention.

A large amount of rust fell down like snowflakes, and along with the rust, there was also a cloud of dust that spread out, making people's throats itch.

As the dust gradually dissipated, Zhao Yiyi quickly brought an oil lamp and shone the light towards the space behind the door.

Under the illumination of the dim yellow light, everything behind the door gradually appeared in front of the two.

Behind the metal door was actually a grotto.

This grotto completely retained its original appearance, with rough stone walls and traces of chiseling still remaining, forming a sharp contrast with the previous exquisite hall.

The grotto was filled with a humid and cold aura, which also had a rotten smell, causing Zhao Yiyi to shiver involuntarily.

And when they saw the things in the grotto, Liang Jin and Zhao Yiyi couldn't help but change their expressions instantly.

Zhao Yiyi was even more frightened and pale. Her whole body trembled, and the oil lamp in her hand fell to the ground.

Then she plunged into Liang Jin's arms and cried out in a trembling voice:

"There… there's a ghost!!!"