The damp chill of the passage, like icy cotton, permeated every pore, the musty smell mixed with the metallic tang of water seeping from the rock face, making one's temples throb and the tip of the tongue feel numb. Yue Tingzhou gathered a wisp of Qi from the third level of the Jingtan Art, barely visible, and pressed it onto the silver-embroidered crest of the Henglu Division on the cuff of his sleeve. The faint light emanating from the Qi was forcibly suppressed back into the dark embroidery, the cold threads causing his fingertips to stiffen. He subconsciously glanced at a crack in the wall three steps to his right, the slight click of the scabbard as his knuckles brushed against it. He could faintly detect a hint of pear blossom fragrance emanating from the crack – Zhu Hanli was hidden in that narrow space, just wide enough for one person. They had been tracking the Henglu Division's investigation team when they encountered the patrol squad. The movement of circulating Qi strained his old left arm injury, causing the stagnant energy to surge through his meridians, causing a sharp pain. His fingernails silently dug into the palm of his hand, the blood that welled up stained the damp mud on his fingerprints, the metallic scent making his skin feel sticky. The muffled sound of footsteps, belonging to someone under Shen Litchuan's direct command, grew closer, mixing with the rustling of gravel being disturbed. Each step was like a blow to his taut meridians. The person wore the uniform of the Henglu Division, with three ice-patterned crests embroidered on the left chest, and was known for being strict. Just last month, he had killed three private scholars who were hiding forbidden scrolls in the Xipo passage, without even taking their statements. The ice-patterned crest reflected the faint light from the night-illuminating stones on the wall, making his eyes water. The person's gaze had already swept past Yue Tingzhou's shoulder and towards the crack. The tip of his boots shifted slightly, as if he were about to step forward. "Pass token," the voice was as cold as ice shards chipped from the rock face, causing a sharp pain in his ears. Yue Tingzhou loosened his grip, and the copper token he had been holding in his sleeve clattered onto the muddy ground, splashing tiny droplets of mud, the muffled sound barely covering the dripping sound of water from the rock face. He bent down to pick it up, then deliberately paused, his tone mimicking the respectful and slightly flustered manner of a junior official addressing a superior: "My subordinate was tracking a fugitive suspected of possessing forbidden scrolls and left in a hurry, and didn't notice the token falling." Just as the person bent down to pick up the token, a faint crackling sound came from the crack – it was the copper bell hanging on Zhu Hanli's waist, brushed by the falling gravel. The faint vibration was like the rustling of wind through bamboo leaves, but it caused the person to abruptly stop. His knuckles were already resting on the hilt of the knife at his waist, and he was about to step towards the crack. "It's just a stone falling from the wall, you must have misheard," Yue Tingzhou said with a smile, deliberately blocking his path. His tone was calm and even. "According to regulations, this section of the passage should be searched. Besides the fugitive's footprints, no one else has been seen, and there are no unrelated individuals." He deliberately emphasized the words "unrelated individuals" as a signal to the person in the crack. As he took the token, his fingertips subconsciously rotated three times – it was a habit he couldn't break when negotiating. His fingertips brushed against the damp mud on the token, making him feel uneasy. The person stared at him for a moment, the cold light of the ice-patterned crest making his eyelids twitch. He glanced again in the direction of the crack, but ultimately did not ask any further questions. He said in a gruff voice, "Shen's office has issued an order that any suspicious individuals encountered should be directly eliminated. Be careful not to disrupt the investigation." "My subordinate understands," Yue Tingzhou bowed, bending at a standard forty-five-degree angle. He didn't straighten up until the sound of the Henglu Division's boots had completely disappeared on the other side of the passage. He took a deep breath, relieved to sense that the patrol squad had completely withdrawn. The back of his shirt was soaked with cold sweat. The tension he had been holding eased slightly, only to tighten again. He was only a few chapters away from the deadline to obtain the master copy of the Tianming Scroll. If he had been exposed, not only would the investigation be jeopardized, but the cultivation qualifications of thousands of disciples from the Yue and Zhu families would be revoked, and they would be branded with the mark of rebellion. Just as he was Yue Tingzhou didn't have time to explain. He pressed his fingertips against Zhu Hanli's wrist and pulled her towards a stone alcove. His fingertips brushed against the red marks on her wrist, likely caused by the sword tassel. Before he could register the sensation, the sudden surge of energy from his "Silent Pool" technique triggered a familiar pain in the old wound on his lower back, like needles piercing his meridians. He quickly channeled twenty percent of his spiritual energy, forming a translucent, pale blue energy shield around them, protecting them both. The thunderous explosion of the lightning bomb struck the energy shield, sending a numbing sensation up his fingertips to his shoulders. The intense heat scorched the hairs on his forehead, causing them to instantly curl and char. Pebbles rained down on the shield, causing his palms to go numb and his eardrums to ring. He even tasted a faint metallic taste in his throat. The acrid smell of smoke mixed with dust filled his nostrils. Zhu Hanli struggled, her wrist rigid like cold iron, but she couldn't break free from his grip. She pressed against the cold, bone-chilling rock wall, her fingertips resting on the hilt of the "Wan Jing Fen Guang" sword. The blade was drawn half an inch, its cold, white light causing a sharp, stinging pain in his eyes. The noise subsided quickly. Yue Tingzhou lowered the energy shield, coughed up the dust, and looked up. The exit was completely blocked by tons of rubble, not even a crack in sight. The air in the secret passage was instantly heavy, like wet cotton pressing against his chest. He could taste the bitter smell of sulfur mixed with mold with each breath. His dantian's circulation of spiritual energy felt sluggish, half a beat slower than usual, clearly due to the rapid depletion of oxygen. Just as he was about to turn around, his wrist suddenly felt empty. Zhu Hanli had pulled her hand away. She stood two steps away, her dark-colored clothing covered in stone fragments. The broken piece of stone she held in her right hand shimmered with a faint silver glow under the luminescent rocks. The silver abacus beads on her waist were still in the "reversed" position, and her knuckles were white with tension. The familiar scent of pear blossoms, mixed with the moldy smell of the passage and the acrid smell of smoke, drifted towards him. Her eyes were colder than before, like icy mountain streams. "Yue Gongzi is quite skilled. I, Zhu Hanli, am just a passerby in your eyes, someone you consider insignificant." Her southern accent was naturally soft, but the words were delivered like shards of ice, striking Yue Tingzhou's heart harder than the thunderous explosion had. Yue Tingzhou's Adam's apple bobbed. He was about to open his mouth to explain the expediency of his actions, as dictated by propriety, when the broken piece of stone scraped against his boots and landed on the ground, making a crisp sound of stone against stone, causing the pebbles around his feet to jump. He looked down and saw that the broken piece of stone had eight ancient characters carved on its surface, and silver runes were slowly flowing along the etched lines. "Yun Ding An Ge, mu juan cang yan" - "Dark Chamber at the Summit, where the original scrolls are hidden." He bent down to pick up the broken stone. He channeled a wisp of "Silent Pool" spiritual energy into it, and the runes suddenly glowed several times brighter, emitting a chilling spiritual energy unique to the "Book of Destiny," which flowed along his fingertips into his meridians. It collided with the coldness of his old wound, causing his fingertips to tremble. It was undoubtedly a genuine artifact, not a forgery. The clues he had been pursuing for half a month had finally come to fruition, and the progress on the main objective had advanced by a solid ten percent. However, he couldn't relax even a little. Zhu Hanli had already turned and walked deeper into the passage. The sound of her boots scraping against the stones was barely audible. She leaned against a dry rock wall about ten steps away, drawing her "Wan Jing Fen Guang" sword and slowly wiping it. The cold light reflecting off the blade illuminated her tense side profile. Her jawline was tight, like a drawn bowstring, and she hadn't spared him a single glance. From outside the passage, the harsh voice of Huo Qingya could be heard: "Dig! Clear the rubble in half an hour! Bring the person out, dead or alive! General Huo has ordered it, and a reward of one hundred gold coins and three promotions will be given for the capture!" Immediately afterward, the rhythmic sound of picks striking stone echoed along the walls, causing his feet to go numb, and pebbles rained down from the top, stinging his shoulders. Yue Tingzhou stood his ground, holding the broken stone, his fingertips brushing against the rough surface He clenched the broken stone, his knuckles turning white. The lingering burning sensation from the explosion of the thunderbolt remained on the side of his face. The echoes of the stones hitting the temporary barrier of true qi still reverberated in his ears. The smell of gunpowder mixed with dust filled his nostrils, and even the saliva in his mouth tasted earthy. When the true qi from the Jingtan technique entered his body, the icy chill of the runes seemed to drill into his stagnant meridians. The true qi of the third level of the meridian realm was blocked by the coldness from the old injury in his shoulder and neck, leaving only 20% of his power available. As his fingertips brushed against the rough grains of sand on the stone surface, they felt numb and stiff. He gathered the dry moss in the depression of the rock wall and used a flint to ignite it. The orange flames flickered brightly, and the cold, damp rock wall was heated, creating a fine layer of white mist. The smell of mold mixed with the bitter scent of burning moss, along with the lingering smell of gunpowder, irritated his lungs, causing him to cough. He took out a porcelain bottle of medicinal balm and handed it over. The bottle was warm from the firelight, and it took him a moment to find his voice before he said, "About what happened earlier, I..." The movement of wiping the Wan Jing segmented blade paused for a fraction of a second. She didn't take the medicine and looked at him, the cold light reflected from the blade scraping against the corner of his eye, making him instinctively blink. "Young Master Yue doesn't need to say any more," she said, her voice carrying the soft tone characteristic of the Southern lands, but now it was sharp and cold. "Wan Jing鏢局 conducts business with the utmost integrity. The alliance we formed was based on the understanding that you would expose the secrets of the Tianming Book, not to use you as a pawn for official duties." His hand froze in mid-air. The warmth of the porcelain bottle burned his fingertips. He couldn't say anything. The identity of an undercover agent from the Heng律司 was a death sentence. If the investigation was handled by someone under Shen Lichi's direct command, any slip-up would not only ruin years of planning but also risk the entire Zhù family being branded as traitors. He could only swallow the words he wanted to say and placed the medicine on the blue stone at her feet, then took two steps back. "The dark archives of Yun Ding Tian Palace indeed contain the original manuscript." He placed the broken stone in the middle of the two of them, the silver runes shimmering in the firelight, clearly revealing the unique and unmistakable chill of the Tianming Book's spiritual energy, leaving no room for doubt. "I promised a 10% progress in uncovering the truth. Once we infiltrate the dark archives and obtain the original manuscript, we can expose the fraud behind the life-extending vouchers and clear the names of both our families." These words were in the usual formal language of official documents, but when spoken aloud, they sounded stiff and unnatural. The chill in the secret passage seemed even more intense, and even the flames flickered. "Us?" Zhù Hánlí sneered, sheathed the segmented blade, and took out a silver abacus from her waist, turning it over three times. The crisp sound of the beads colliding echoed in the enclosed passage, making his heart pound. "Young Master Yue seems to have forgotten. You said you were tracking the fugitive alone, and there was no one else with you. This mission of the official is your Yue family's responsibility, what does it have to do with Wan Jing鏢局?" The sound of the pickaxes outside the passage suddenly doubled, the rhythmic thudding vibrating through the floor, making his feet numb. Hó Qīngyá's rough roar echoed through the rubble: "Increase the manpower! If we can't break through in half an hour, everyone will be beheaded!" Loose rocks above them continued to fall, small pieces crashing into the fire, sending sparks flying, and ash floating to the tips of Zhù Hánlí's hair. She didn't move. Yuè Tíngzhōu quickly calculated in his mind: Hó Qīngyá's people could break through in the fastest half an hour. The secret passage had limited space, and the remaining oxygen would last for at most two hours. Now, the crack at the entrance, which was originally loose, was being sealed, leading to a faster consumption of oxygen. He glanced at Zhù Hánlí's tense face. Her ears were slightly flushed, clearly annoyed by his attempt to distance himself just now, and she no longer trusted him. Just as he was about to speak, Zhù Hánlí stood up and walked a few steps into the depths of the secret passage, then suddenly stopped without turning around Zhù Hánlí remained silent, her fingertips twitching slightly, but she ultimately didn't try to break free. She allowed him to pull her towards a safer area, lowering her eyes, her expression unreadable. Hé Qīngyá's laughter echoed from within the passage, filled with a smug confidence, the pungent smell of the incendiary oil slowly seeping in: "Yuè Tíngzhōu, Zhù Hánlí, if I can't break through, I'll just flood the place with incendiary oil. Let's see how long you can hide!" Yuè Tíngzhōu's knuckles turned white as he gripped the Zhǐshuǐ Sword, watching as Zhù Hánlí's face instantly turned cold. The cracks in their trust were now irreparable. Their only escape was a dark passage leading to an unknown destination, followed by a pursuit force arriving in half an hour, and the urgent need to obtain the mother scroll within a limited timeframe. This triple pressure felt like a mountain pressing down on him. He could even feel the stagnant spiritual energy within his meridians trembling. The bottleneck at the third level of the Tōngmài realm seemed to be loosening, but it didn't bring him any joy. Would the dark passage be a trap set by Xiè Wúchén? Could he survive the passage without Zhù Hánlí's cooperation? The path to obtaining the scroll, which had seemed clear just moments ago, now suddenly presented countless uncertainties.