Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 54 Night Visit to the Hall of Heroes

It is naturally not yet Hai hour (9-11 PM).

Zhou Zhao jumped up from the bed and looked at Liu Huang. "It's still early. I'll be right back and won't be late. If Ye Bai comes, just say I'm resting and stall for a bit."

Upon hearing this, Liu Huang raised his broadsword in displeasure, "I want to go with you."

He came to Tianying City to help Zhou Zhao, so how could he let her take the risk alone?

Zhou Zhao saw right through his thoughts. “You are strong, but your lightness skill is ordinary, so you are not suitable for night exploration. If you are worried, then let Zhu Li go with me.”

"Thousand Faces" is a code name, which is inconvenient for traveling in Tianying City, but the name "Zhu Li" has come in handy again.

"Didn't you take the poison from Cheng Dong's body? You can examine it quietly by yourself. We might encounter the person who gave Sun Youshan the poison someday. If you can concoct the antidote soon, we'll have a better chance of survival."

Liu Huang's last bit of hesitation vanished completely. He nodded, sat back down in the corner, and stared at the wall, seemingly lost in thought.

Seeing this, Zhou Zhao nodded to Qianmian and lightly leaped out of the window. The two of them, who were dressed in black, blended into the night almost instantly.

Zhou Zhao leaped several times until he reached the vicinity of the Hall of Heroes before stopping.

"There are two heavily guarded places in the mansion. One is Ye Xuan's residence, where his concubines guard him around the clock. The other is this Hall of Heroes, where there are people watching the entrance and subordinates patrolling. If Ye Xuan has any secrets, they must be in these two places."

As Zhou Zhao spoke, he pointed to the Hall of Heroes not far away. At this moment, two tall and burly guards stood in front of the door, looking quite fierce.

That murderous aura was completely different from the rabble of the three strongholds, including Tiandou.

Furthermore, a small team of about nine people was constantly patrolling around the courtyard wall in front of the gate. Although they were not wearing armor, they were no different from soldiers.

Although Ye Xuan had become an outlaw in Tianying City, he still applied the same military tactics to his household.

"I have a bad feeling. Even if I have extraordinary talent, I am not so special that Ye Xuan would want to take me as a disciple as soon as he sees me. There must be another reason behind this."

She's only been in Tianying City for a few days. Ye Xuan has only met her once and doesn't even know her temperament, so how can they be considered compatible?

Before Qianmian could speak, Zhou Zhao seized the opportunity, lightly stepping into the Hall of Heroes like a bat in the night.

The patrol leader felt a gust of wind and turned around sharply, only to see an endless night sky.

He chuckled self-deprecatingly and spat to the side. "Damn it, those useless bastards messed with the authorities. Now the brothers can't even go out for drinks at night and have to patrol here. It's a real injustice!"

The hall of heroes consists of only one huge, solitary room. Once you climb over the courtyard wall, you are hit with the pungent smell of incense that makes it hard to open your eyes.

Zhou Zhao gently floated to the ground and headed straight for the open door. Just as she reached the door, she heard a series of heavy footsteps.

Her expression changed slightly, realizing something was wrong; she hadn't checked the almanac before going out today.

There were people in the hall of heroes right now, and they were about to come out...

If she went inside, she would run right into them. Zhou Zhao glanced around and saw that there wasn't a single tall tree, not even a weed, in the courtyard; there was absolutely nowhere to hide. Hiding in the corner on the other side of the wall was too late…

The footsteps grew closer, and the person had reached the door.

Zhou Zhao felt a chill run down his spine and suddenly looked up, meeting the deep eyes of Qianmian under the eaves.

Without time to think it through, she lightly leaped up and climbed directly onto the Thousand Faces, using both her hands and feet to hang on.

A gray head poked out of the house. He was carrying a food box in his right hand and a bunch of copper keys in his left. "I'm going out for a while. You all better be on your guard. If anything goes wrong at the Hall of Heroes, you'll all be in for a beating when the Hall Master comes back."

Zhou Zhao was pressed against the Thousand Faces, not daring to move an inch.

So close, she could clearly see every single hair on his face; it was incredibly lifelike. If Zhang Ran hadn't told her that the real Zhu Li had been found in his cellar, Zhou Zhao would almost have believed that this face was the real face of the Thousand Faces.

She moved closer, looking more and more closely, but still couldn't find any flaws on Qianmian's face.

“Uncle Bai, there isn’t even a stray cat. You can rest assured.” Zhou Zhao thought to herself, her breathing becoming a little softer. She opened her mouth and silently said to Qianmian, “It’s Ye Bai.”

After she finished speaking, she was stunned. Qianmian's fair face visibly turned crimson. She pursed her lips and awkwardly distanced herself from Qianmian, belatedly realizing that their current posture was truly too strange.

Fortunately, Ye Bai below didn't linger for long. He looked around again, then shrank back and walked towards the door.

The footsteps thumped and thumped, growing fainter and fainter until they were no longer audible.

Zhou Zhao breathed a sigh of relief. She moved her stiff body and then realized that Qianmian's hand was supporting her from behind, grabbing her hair which was tied haphazardly with a yellow hemp cloth.

She turned her head away, loosened her grip, and gently landed on the ground. When she turned back, Qianmian was already following behind her like a shadow.

It was very quiet all around. A night breeze blew, and the flames in the Tianying Hall leaped up, making the shadows of the night seem menacing.

Zhou Zhao listened intently, but there was no sound inside. She then slipped into the room.

Upon entering, what immediately catches the eye is a densely packed array of memorial tablets, resembling a small mountain.

Although Zhou Zhao guessed from the name "Hall of Heroes" that it was most likely an ancestral hall, he still did not expect it to be so magnificent.

One will be a million bones.

Nine times out of ten, those being commemorated here are the spirits of Ye Xuan's former subordinates.

Zhou Zhao thought for a moment and headed straight for the left.

Ye Bai's footsteps had appeared out of nowhere in the house; otherwise, she wouldn't have mistakenly thought no one was inside and almost got caught red-handed at the start.

What does this mean? It means there is a secret room inside this ancestral hall.

Zhou Zhao pondered for a moment, then looked hesitantly at Qianmian behind him, his eyes filled with a question.

Ye Bai has gone off to do something, and it's unclear when he'll return.

She had no idea what was going on inside the secret room. If she rushed in like this and encountered an ambush, such as Ye Xuan and eighteen fierce generals sharpening their swords, what would she say if she rushed in like this?
Having such a long life, they've come to us like fat sheep.
Qianmian shook his head. Although he had spent more time in Tianying City, he knew nothing about this place.

Zhou Zhao gave him a disdainful look, then stared intently at the ground. She quickly noticed a subtle detail: a barely noticeable protrusion on one of the bluestone slabs. Her eyes lit up. Since she was already here…

With her thousand-faced skills, at most she would fight to the death, but her life would not be in danger.

As she thought about it, she gently moved her foot, and sure enough, a hole appeared in the ground.

Zhou Zhao waited for a while and, seeing that there was nothing unusual, peeked out and saw that a short stone staircase had appeared below the pit, and a clear passageway could be seen below.

She exchanged a glance with Qian Dui, then lightly leaped down. The moment they landed, the pit closed up again.

The activation of the mechanism was almost completely silent. Watching this, Zhou Zhao grew increasingly vigilant.

She had only ever seen such amazing mechanical skills in the hands of her betrothed sister-in-law, Chu You. The Xuanwu Hall truly held a secret.

Qianmian was right. These twelve outer strongholds were small fry that she could kill at will. But once she went deeper in, things were completely different.

Zhou Zhao pondered this and looked ahead. There was a bend in the passageway, and from where he stood, he couldn't see what lay beyond the bend. The passageway was flanked by stone walls, and at intervals, a burning torch was placed.

Zhou Zhao gave Qianmian a look and took a few steps forward.

Suddenly, she stopped and looked at the wall on her left.

In that instant, the stone wall split open, and a large hand suddenly reached out from inside, grabbed her throat, and dragged her inside.

(End of this chapter)