That night, a shadowy figure dressed in black darted out from some hidden corner, moving like a ghost. He navigated the corridors of the Treasury Pavilion inside Skyvault Palace with uncanny familiarity, effortlessly avoiding both the palace’s visible and hidden guards at every turn.
The man in black had a clear objective. After slipping past all the guards, he headed straight for the Treasury Pavilion—a name used for appearances only. In reality, this was the Skyvault Palace Master’s daily office and the storage place for the most important items.
Not only was the area heavily guarded, but it was also riddled with traps and mechanisms. After outsiders broke in recently, the defenses had become even more impenetrable.
The man in black seemed to know all this already. His movements looked casual, but every step carefully avoided the traps and mechanisms. Of course, the main reason was that he hadn’t yet entered the core area—the deeper inside, the tighter the defenses.
Creak...
The man in black pushed open a small door and slipped into what looked like a servant’s resting area. Just as he entered, a figure stepped out from behind a curtain—light-footed, making not a sound.
"Jiuqing." The newcomer saw the signature mask of Lance Quinn and called out.
"Did you get it?" Lance Quinn had no patience for small talk with Storm Cloud Bu. As soon as he saw him, he reached out his hand.
Uh...
Storm Cloud Bu lowered his head. "No. There are two rooms I couldn’t get into. Here’s the map I drew of the traps and mechanisms—there are seven rooms in total. The five I marked are the ones I’ve been inside; no sign of the map in any of them. If it’s in the Treasury Pavilion, it has to be in those last two rooms. Those two are guarded around the clock. I staked out the place for two days and never found an opening—the guards rotate seamlessly, no gaps at all."
"You're just making excuses for your failure." Lance Quinn shot Storm Cloud Bu a sideways glance, took the map from his hand, and started examining it, committing the marked trap locations to memory.
Once Lance Quinn finished, he crushed the map into pieces. Storm Cloud Bu seized the moment, stepping forward to explain with a wronged look, "Jiuqing, I really did my best this time—no tricks, no shortcuts. Besides, I found all the places where Skyvault Palace hides its silver. How about I steal a bit to make up for my failure?"
"If you need money, go collect that two hundred thousand taels of gold from the assassin world bounty." Lance Quinn replied irritably.
"It's not me who needs money—aren't you the one short on funds? Didn't Wenqing say we lost a fortune and basically made nothing? Since we're already in Skyvault Palace, why leave empty-handed? As for that bounty... uh, tempting as it is, I don't have the guts to try for it." Storm Cloud Bu truly wanted a chance to redeem himself—only by doing so could he return to the capital, and maybe see Bao'er again.
"We're not short on money. Skyvault Palace is rich, but I don't care about a little silver—it's not worth the risk. Once Vincent Su gets those mirrors launched, we'll rake in a fortune. And when we take down the Shandong Lu Clan and seize their smuggling business, we won't be short on funds for a while." Lance Quinn was genuinely worried Storm Cloud Bu would get reckless just to earn merit, so he explained in detail.
"Alright, I'll leave the silver alone—that's Vincent Su's business. But what about the assassin thing? I heard the contract can't be cancelled. Does that mean Serena will be hunted for life? If that's the case, our secret guards won't be enough."
Secret guards may be strong, but compared to top assassins, they're still no match. If a few elite killers show up, those secret guards will be wiped out. Lance Quinn had entrusted Serena's safety to Storm Cloud Bu—if anything happened to her, he'd be the first to pay.
"Our influence in the jianghu is shallow, our foundation weak. We can't intervene in the assassin world or cancel the contract." In other words, they had no way to stop the bounty.
With a bounty in place, as long as the reward isn't claimed, someone will always be watching. No matter how strong they were, it wouldn't help—there would always be people willing to risk their lives for money.
"If that's the case, we should find Serena a powerful bodyguard as soon as possible, so we're not caught off guard. The problem is, we don't have anyone suitable. Masters aren't like cabbages—you can't just scatter seeds and harvest a whole crop. They're rare and hard to find."
"I've got someone in mind. You don't need to worry about it." He had thought of the perfect bodyguard—if only he could convince the man to help. That person was far too wild and unruly; tying him down wouldn’t be easy. Still, he believed Serena could manage it.
"Alright then. It's getting late—let's split up. I'll help you draw the guards away." As long as Serena was safe, Storm Cloud Bu could relax.
If anything happened to Serena, he'd never see Bao'er again. He trusted that Lance Quinn, that bastard, could pull it off.
"Go." Lance Quinn didn’t waste words—he let his actions speak.
The two of them moved in silence, one after the other, heading for the Treasury Pavilion inside Skyvault Palace. Storm Cloud Bu had scoped the place out many times and knew exactly how to avoid the secret guards—though when he couldn’t...
"Four up ahead—you take the two on the left." Lance Quinn gave Storm Cloud Bu a hand signal, saying nothing. Storm Cloud Bu responded with a gesture of his own: no problem.
They agreed on the timing. When the moment came, they glanced at each other, nodded, and sprang into action...
The Skyvault Palace guards were highly trained. Even in the dead of winter, they stood tall and alert, never communicating with each other, just focused on their duties. That gave Lance Quinn and Storm Cloud Bu their chance—they moved in...
Crack. Almost simultaneously, Lance Quinn and Storm Cloud Bu struck, twisting two guards' necks. The other two noticed, but as soon as they opened their mouths, a pearl-sized bead shot into them. Before they could cry out, pain flared in their necks; looking down, they saw blood spurting from their throats—their heads slumped to one side.
They didn’t bother with the bodies. Lance Quinn and Storm Cloud Bu laid them gently on the ground and headed into the courtyard.
The last two rooms each had their own outer courtyard, both guarded outside and in. As soon as Lance Quinn and Storm Cloud Bu entered, the inner guards spotted them—twelve in all. Without a word, Lance Quinn and Storm Cloud Bu drew their swords and charged.
"Assassins! Assassins!" The twelve guards held their ground, not attacking—they were stalling for reinforcements.
Seeing this, Lance Quinn and Storm Cloud Bu sped up. In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, all twelve guards were dead. Lance Quinn signaled Storm Cloud Bu, then rushed into the room; Storm Cloud Bu turned and headed for the last room.
The room was sparsely furnished. After a round of tapping and searching, Lance Quinn found seven hidden compartments, dodged three concealed weapons, and uncovered six secret mechanisms.
There were a few martial arts manuals, letters exchanged with other nations and sects, priceless treasures, tokens from other sects, and even a portrait of Emma Lu. But the Nine Provinces Treasure Map was nowhere to be found...