"Is Miss Cang unharmed?"
Li Musheng looked her over briefly. Cang Yinyue shook her head, and then a faint, barely perceptible warmth crossed her face.
It was obvious Li Musheng had come here because of her. He had personally come to find her.
"Your Highness, the Huo family and the Grand Princess are deeply connected in ways that raise serious questions."
Cang Yinyue had not forgotten the matter at hand. She glanced at Huo Xian, then immediately passed a quiet message to Li Musheng.
Li Musheng's expression remained as it always was. Seeing that Cang Yinyue had not been harmed, he asked quietly, "Is there any lead on the Tianqi Secret Treasury key?"
At those words, Cang Yinyue's eyes dimmed slightly, "The Grand Princess keeps very much to herself and conducts her affairs with extreme caution. I previously attempted to disguise myself and infiltrate the Grand Princess's residence, but the security within was far too strict, and I never managed to get inside."
"After that, I kept watch outside the Grand Princess's residence for several days, and eventually followed a connection between the Princess and the Huo family. And each time the Grand Princess was in contact with the Huo family, she moved in secret and deliberately concealed herself."
"I sensed there was something worth investigating, and planned to approach it from the Huo family's end. Unfortunately one of the Huo family's people discovered me, and I was taken prisoner and held here."
Cang Yinyue furrowed her brow slightly, and a trace of puzzlement showed in her eyes, "This is also something I found strange. Other than sealing my meridians to prevent me from escaping, they simply held me here the whole time. No one came to question me."
Li Musheng gave a small nod, and without asking Cang Yinyue anything further, turned instead to look at Huo Xian, "Since your Huo family knows the Grand Princess well, take me to the Grand Princess's residence as well."
Huo Xian was visibly caught off guard, clearly not expecting Li Musheng to be so direct.
But he quickly composed himself, and then slowly stroked his beard with one hand, "I think that is unnecessary."
As he spoke, he drew an object from within his sleeve and held it toward Li Musheng, "I suspect this is what Your Highness is looking for."
Li Musheng's gaze shifted to the object in Huo Xian's hand.
It was a brown stone resembling a piece of deadwood, utterly unremarkable in appearance. But Li Musheng could faintly sense a very weak magnetic field emanating from within it.
And that magnetic field was of common origin with the two Tianqi Secret Treasury keys already in his possession. Without question, this was another one.
Li Musheng reached out casually, and the key shaped like a dried branch dropped from the air directly into his hand.
At the sight, Huo Xian's eyelid gave a sharp twitch. This nephew of his was truly direct, as though he had simply snatched it.
After obtaining the key, Li Musheng paid Huo Xian no further attention and began examining it on his own.
After a moment, having confirmed it beyond any doubt, he pocketed the key and then looked at Huo Xian with a satisfied nod, "Good. Helping the Huo family was not wasted. This is an unexpected bonus."
Then his tone shifted, and his eyes narrowed slightly, "Even so, I understand the Grand Princess may also hold a Tianqi Secret Treasury key."
At those words, Huo Xian's eyelid gave another sharp twitch, and he immediately waved a hand, "There is no other key. This is the one the Princess held, and she asked me to pass it to you."
At those words, Li Yuanling beside them immediately showed an unusual expression, her brow furrowing, "That woman would be so generous? You are sure she has not coated it with poison?"
"She has not."
Li Musheng shook his head and glanced at Li Yuanling.
Huo Xian's mouth twitched slightly, and then he let out a sigh, "You do not need to think so poorly of the Princess."
At those words, Li Yuanling gave a cold snort, though she appeared too tired to argue with her great-uncle. After all, however one looked at it, the man and the Grand Princess were the ones bound by genuine blood ties.
At that, Huo Xian looked at Li Musheng for a long moment, then waved a hand and said, "Since Your Highness has found this young woman and obtained what was wanted, if there is nothing further, you may leave."
Li Musheng raised an eyebrow, not entirely satisfied, and asked once more, "You are certain there is no other key?"
"There truly is not."
Huo Xian spread his hands, and then added as a reminder, "The Tianqi Secret Treasury has always been considered legend. Though I do not know why you are so focused on it, I would counsel you not to set your expectations too high."
"After all, if there were truly something of great value there, the Tianqi Emperor would have long since left it for his own descendants. He would hardly have left it open for outsiders."
At those words, Li Musheng said nothing in reply. He swept a look around, gave a small nod, and made ready to leave with Cang Yinyue and the others.
"One more thing. I hope none of you will reveal the secrets of this place."
At that, Huo Xian called out toward their departing backs.
Li Musheng waved a hand in acknowledgment, then led his group back along the path they had come, out of the underground passage.
At the same time, Huo Xian, who had stayed behind in the passage, suddenly shifted his gaze toward the far end of the passage.
He saw that a guard holding watch there had already produced a key and opened a sealed chamber, and from within emerged a graceful, elegant figure.
"So the Princess is here as well."
Huo Xian's eyes fixed on the figure, with no particular surprise.
Grand Princess Li Ruan'an walked toward Huo Xian at an unhurried pace. That clear and cool face looked in the direction Li Musheng and the others had gone, "Nothing else to do, so I came over to look in."
At those words, Huo Xian narrowed his eyes slightly and shook his head, "Why did Your Highness not give him the item in person? With the martial cultivation he now has, Your Highness no longer needs to be so extremely careful."
Li Ruan'an's face was half-lit and half-shadowed by the dim oil lamp. She seemed to be quiet for a moment before speaking evenly, "Had I known this younger brother of mine was this formidable, I honestly would not have had to expend so much effort on all of this."
Huo Xian glanced at her, then furrowed his brow and shook his head, "That is not necessarily so. My nephew does not seem to have any particular interest in the throne."
At those words, Li Ruan'an slowly drew her gaze back and continued further into the passage. In a calm voice she asked, "How do you know this?"
Huo Xian fell into step beside Li Ruan'an, speaking as they walked, "He is young and already possesses martial cultivation that even this old one cannot approach. The number of people in this world who he could consider a peer is probably very few."
"One could say that right now, he is the true emperor of the Great Li martial world in terms of cultivation."
In the dim light, Li Ruan'an furrowed her brow slightly, "You actually fought with him?"
Huo Xian gave a slow nod, his expression inscrutable, "He is even more formidable than we imagined. And from what we have gathered about him, he seems to be devoted to certain elusive pursuits. The Tianqi Secret Treasury is only one of the things that interest him."
At this point, Huo Xian glanced at the Grand Princess beside him and said, "Beyond the fact that these interests of his have nothing to do with the throne, he also said with his own lips today at the Huo family residence that he has no interest in it."
"For someone of such profound martial cultivation and supreme confidence, whatever he says aloud is sufficient to reflect his true state of mind."
At those words, Li Ruan'an gradually stopped walking, then raised her eyes as though trying to see through the stone above to the surface.
"He truly said he does not want the throne?"
Li Ruan'an's voice carried no discernible emotion. Huo Xian gave a quiet nod.
Seeing this, Li Ruan'an's brow furrowed tightly, and after a moment of evident silence she said in a low voice, "In my eyes, he is the person most likely to unify the world. The Great Li throne belongs to no one but him."
As she said this, her gaze settled on Huo Xian. In the dim darkness it was difficult to read her expression, "And furthermore, he returned to Shangyang City and immediately killed Li Que. Even Li Zhu died at his hands."
"If he truly has no interest in the throne, what would be the point of killing two princes as insignificant as ants?"
At those words, Huo Xian's expression shifted slightly, though he considered without speaking.
Li Ruan'an drew her gaze back and continued forward into the passage, waving a hand as she went, "Never mind. It is too early to speak of this now. Whether my brother wants to be emperor or not, our plans will not change."
Huo Xian looked at the retreating figure in the dim passage, and said simply, "Naturally."
With that, he said nothing further, and followed her forward into the darkness.
...
At the same time, Li Musheng's group took a carriage back to the Huo family's old residence, then transferred to the Tianjin Guards headquarters carriage and departed.
With the two Tianqi Secret Treasury keys in Shangyang City now in hand, half of what Li Musheng had come to the capital for was done.
He now held three keys. The next step was to obtain the remaining four.
But the remaining keys were scattered across all four of the other nations. Finding them would likely take some time, and would require substantial effort from the Great Li Tianjin Guards to turn up any solid leads.
And there was also the matter of the Hidden Kill Pavilion's assassination attempt.
Li Musheng had given them half a month. There was no particular urgency yet.
With that thought, Li Musheng glanced at the big black cat.
He had set the cat to studying the Hidden Kill Order over this period, and nothing useful had come of it.
It would probably be necessary to go to the Hidden Kill Pavilion directly and get to the bottom of the token's origins. Perhaps some useful information could be obtained.
After all, whether the Divine Talent Stele or the people with divine nature, that was an important thread in Li Musheng's pursuit of martial transcendence.
Right now he had several threads to follow simultaneously. He was not yet sure which would ultimately prove the most useful, and so none could be abandoned.
"I have nothing pressing to do, so I will not be going out for a while."
After returning to the Tianjin Guards headquarters, Li Musheng planned to wait here for the Hidden Kill Pavilion's assassins to come to him, while also studying the Tianqi Secret Treasury keys he now held.
These keys produced an extremely powerful magnetic field, and were closely connected to one another. He had always felt there was more to them than met the eye. He still had no idea where the Tianqi Emperor had obtained them.
...
The Great Li imperial capital, the Dugu family's residence.
From the moment the Huo family had the injured Dugu Yan and the others carried back, the entire Dugu household had erupted in shock.
Particularly upon seeing Dugu Yan unconscious with serious injuries, and the young man who was the Dugu family head's youngest son in an even worse state.
A boy of extraordinary natural gifts had become someone with destroyed meridians, teetering on the edge of death, and it was not even certain whether he would survive.
"What a vicious act!"
One of the Dugu family's senior elders spoke with a dark expression. The household staff had already gone to inform the family head and the other clan elders.
The Huo family had acted with such savagery. They would have to make them pay in kind, to get justice for Dugu Yan and the others.
"Where is my son?"
At that, a middle-aged man's figure arrived like a blazing sword arc slashing through space, arriving in an instant at the center of the crowd of attending physicians.
The man came immediately to the side of the unconscious young man.
After seeing his son in this state, Dugu Changkong's eyes went wide with fury and his whole frame radiated violent rage, "Who did this?"
He swept a look around, and invisible sword energy burst outward, scattering every person gathered around him.
The room was left with only him and his son. Not even the unconscious Dugu Yan waiting for treatment nearby was an exception, sent flying into the wall and rolling to the ground, his injuries made worse by the impact and leaving a fresh smear of blood.
"Changkong, do not act rashly. Get the facts before making any moves."
At that, several of the Dugu family's senior elders arrived together and called out to stop Dugu Changkong from acting impulsively.
"The Huo family did it."
At the same moment, the blue-robed elder, who had bandages wrapped around his abdomen and had barely escaped from Huo Mu with his life, appeared with a white face, stepping through the surrounding Dugu family members.
He dropped directly to his knees before Dugu Changkong, pressed his forehead to the floor, and said, "This old one failed to protect the young master. I await the family head's punishment."
At those words, Dugu Changkong whipped around to look at the blue-robed elder, his sword intent surging with killing intent flooding from his eyes.
But at that moment, several of the Dugu family's senior elders immediately moved to stand in front of the blue-robed elder, "What has happened has happened. The most pressing thing right now is to understand what took place."
"The Huo family has long been in decline, absent from the court's attention for years and consistently keeping a low profile. Why would they suddenly act so out of character and dare strike against us with such force?"
One of the senior elders raised the question, and looked toward the blue-robed elder, asking him to explain the full sequence of events.
The blue-robed elder naturally told everything he knew, and recounted the whole story of their visit to the Huo family from beginning to end.
The Huo family's divine spear had a name that resounded through the world, standing as one of the very finest spear arts in the entire martial world.
The Dugu family had long since coveted the Huo family's spear manuals. Previously, with the Seventh Prince Li Zhi still in the picture, even though the Huo family was in decline, the Dugu family had not moved against them openly, only resorting to covert means to try and steal the spear manuals.
But after the true and false prince affair, with Li Zhi locked in the imperial dungeon, the Dugu family had shed their hesitation and begun scheming openly for the Huo family's spear manuals.
Their scheme had in fact already partially succeeded.
Had the Dugu family been given a little more time, they could have secured the remaining manuals as well. But then the news came back that Li Musheng had destroyed Falling God Peak.
The Dugu family had grown anxious. On one side was the nearly obtained Huo family spear manuals, and on the other was the Eighth Prince of Great Li.
While they were wary of any connection between Li Musheng and the Huo family, they also did not want to relinquish the manuals so close to their grasp.
And after learning that the Huo family appeared to have had no real contact with Li Musheng, they had decided to take the risk, going directly to the Huo family to seize the remaining manuals once and for all.
That was what had led to the scene at the Huo family's old residence.