Scourge Messenger

Chapter 110 The Dilemma of the Secret Vault
"Why is it another rare and precious item?"

Yan Qing wasn't asking a question; she was complaining.

After a brief observation, he quickly discovered that the 'human-machine verification difficulty' of different glass pedestals was not consistent. The simplest one had nearly 2.5 seconds of verification time, while the most difficult one didn't even have 1 second of verification time. Yan Qing didn't even finish reading the question before moving on to the next one. The difficulty was so great that he suspected that only a robot could complete the verification.

Logically, the higher the verification difficulty, the better the item inside the glass pedestal should be. Perhaps because it had been sitting still for a long time, the tokens inside the pedestal did not glow. They would only reveal their strangeness when they were in hand. Yan Qing could not judge their rarity from their appearance and could only guess based on the verification difficulty.

However, he opened three pedestals. Apart from the grass bracelet he initially gave to Shang Xinlei, which was a rare and precious keepsake, the other two keepsakes were just rare items that glowed with blue light.

After finally managing to sneak into a royal treasury, is all I can get are a few rare artifacts? What's the difference between this and eating at a buffet but getting full after only a few drinks and some food? I've come all this way, and this is all I'm getting? It's really not worth it.

"Most of these are rare and precious tokens, right?" Shang Xinlei replied while cracking the verification code not far away. "The truly powerful, useful, and precious tokens are all in the hands of the commanders of various secret realms. Who would be so foolish as to hide good things underground and not use them? For example, my family's Tranquil Abode camp has a treasure vault, which is specially used to store rare and precious tokens. Once the commander or instructor changes shifts and leaves, they have to put the family tokens back into the treasure vault... If you can seize the opportunity of the shift change and go into such a camp treasure vault, the harvest may not be comparable to the entire royal secret vault."

As Shang Xinlei spoke, a look of longing crept onto her face. Yan Qing caught a glimpse of this and wondered if she had really ruined the treasure vaults of other families' camps. After all, she was a certified thief from the Thieves' Family. In the future, she should probably move some things to block the door when she sleeps, lest she wake up the next day with her underwear stolen.

“Of course, the royal treasury is more than enough for us.” Shang Xinlei, unaware that Yan Qing was secretly criticizing her, said, “You can acquire rare tokens so easily, what more could you want? Are you covered in rare and legendary treasures?”

"You're absolutely right," Yan Qing thought to himself. The two most important tokens he possessed were the legendary Bingzi Pepper Forest and the rare Mountain Heart-Protecting Mirror. The rare tokens did indeed somewhat lower his prestige.

However, he knew his expectations were too high. After all, it was both "royal" and "secret vault," and Yan Qing couldn't help but think of the novels he had read and the games he had played. Places like this were invariably hiding super weapons and world-shaking treasures. It wasn't that the logic of the games and novels was wrong; hiding good things in a safe was a perfectly reasonable move. If Yan Qing didn't use the Bingzi Jiaolin in the future, he would definitely keep it safe.

The problem is that powerful tokens simply cannot be 'not used'.

The weak must conquer dungeons, and the strong must conquer them even more. Don't even mention the locals; even max-level players in *The Messenger* struggle to conquer extremely challenging high-difficulty dungeons. The ultimate version of the game exists only in theory. The Messenger will always pursue more powerful tokens, because there will always be more powerful dungeons waiting for him to conquer.

Every token has its use. They will only gather dust in the warehouse, but if given to clansmen, subordinates, or ministers to conquer secret realms, they can obtain a continuous stream of resources. Any normal person would know what to do.

In this sense, although tokens of faith are imbued with powerful abilities, capable of moving mountains and overturning seas and remaining impervious to fire, they are no different from farm tools, looms, or stoves—they are all tools for producing resources. Even the most precious tool can only realize its maximum value through use.

The royal treasury stores tokens that are so abundant that they cannot be rewarded temporarily. Rare tokens are naturally the main stock, since lower-end ordinary tokens can be distributed at will and do not need to be stored in the treasury. More precious and rare tokens are coveted by everyone. When one owner dies, the next owner immediately takes over. The token is passed down for three generations. Even after the person dies, the token is still there. There is no chance for it to be stored away in the treasury.

Similarly, there weren't many secret manuals in the vault. The demand for manuals was even higher than for tokens, so they were probably all distributed before they were even sent to Jiangnan. However, some cabinets were extremely cost-effective. Yan Qing had seen one that stored five breast protection mirrors. There were quite a few cabinets like this. In addition, almost everyone in Jiangnan who had reached the third level of cultivation had a breast protection mirror. It seems that breast protection mirrors are a specialty of the Jiangnan region.

However, what attracted Yan Qing the most was the glass counter in the very center of the secret vault.

A pair of shimmering, gold-threaded gloves, seemingly woven from gold thread yet incredibly soft, were stored in a glass case, which also had shelves displaying them. Every time Yan Qing passed by, she couldn't help but stop and admire them, imagining how comfortable it would be to wear those gloves.

Even without any luster, its exquisite and dazzling appearance could only be that of a legendary artifact!
"Stop daydreaming." Shang Xinlei walked past him and glanced at the gloves in the glass cabinet: "This is the legendary token that Emperor Liang Taizu used back then, the Hand of Melting a Hundred Aspects, but it was destroyed long ago, so the Shao royal family stored it in the secret vault."

Damaged? Yan Qing's heart skipped a beat, and he asked, "Is this a Foundation Establishment token?"

"Probably? The important tokens of Emperor Liang Taizu were all obtained after he reached the Foundation Establishment stage." Shang Xinlei replied casually, "That's why I'm sure these gloves are only for display. If they were even slightly useful, the royal family wouldn't let them gather dust in the secret vault. Even if you got them, it wouldn't make any difference... Besides, you wouldn't be able to get them anyway."

Yan Qing couldn't refute it, because the glass counter storing the Hundred-Image Hand was located in the impregnable fortress where the verification time was less than a second. He tried several times, but could only barely make out the question; he had no chance to see and click on the image. He was so angry he gritted his teeth: "Is this really a verification that a human could crack?!"

Shang Xinlei came over and took a look, saying, "It's probably... only a Foundation Establishment Messenger can crack it. If it were my father or elder brother, they might be able to crack it in an hour or two."

"Really?" Yan Qing was taken aback. "They could see clearly in such a short time?"

Suddenly, Shang Xinlei poked Yan Qing's waist with her finger. Yan Qing immediately became alert as if touched by a caterpillar. However, Shang Xinlei said nonchalantly, "You really are a martial arts messenger who mainly cultivates qi and blood. No wonder you don't know much about literary messengers."

“The messengers who specialize in cultivating the soul have reading, memory and reaction speeds far exceeding those of ordinary people. My father and eldest brother can basically remember everything they see, and can even clearly remember what happened on a certain day a few years ago. Their reading speed is also very fast, and they can finish reading two pages of a book in just a glance or two.”

Yan Qing recalled that when Shang Xuanwen worked in the Ministry of Personnel, he did indeed flip through documents very quickly, only glancing at them once or twice before starting to write replies. At that time, Yan Qing thought he was slacking off and just writing something to get by.

“So, we’re all martial arts messengers. If it were a literature messenger, they could probably empty most of this secret vault.” Shang Xinlei shrugged. “Let’s change our target. You can’t possibly crack this.” “But the difficulty is too outrageous. What if the Liang Kingdom’s royal family doesn’t have a Foundation Establishment cultivator or a literature messenger? Wouldn’t they also be unable to open these counters?” Yan Qing asked with some doubt. “They can’t possibly ask outsiders to open them, can they?”

Shang Xinlei agreed with this point: "Theoretically, all anti-theft mechanisms are designed to deal with outsiders. The royal family should have a simpler way of picking locks, but we don't have enough time... If we crack one more lock, we'll have to leave. It's probably almost 1 AM now."

Upon hearing this, Yan Qing had no choice but to give up. Compared to the elusive legend of destruction, the token he could actually obtain was more practical. However, he was still unwilling to give up and searched the glass pedestal, trying to find some possible backdoor.

He actually found what seemed to be a clue: under the turquoise slab displaying the verification question, he felt a deep scratch. Crouching down to examine it, he realized it roughly resembled the outline of a pen. Similar scratch outlines were found under other turquoise slabs, though their shapes varied—some were pens, some were squares, and some were triangles—apparently, someone had deliberately drawn them there.

But that's all. Maybe it was just a marker used during the move, and Yan Qing couldn't figure it out, so he had to give up. He turned his head and saw Shang Xinlei cracking the cabinet containing the sword tassel. Sword tassels are rare; they can be attached to any type of sword to enhance its power.

Yan Qing's heart skipped a beat. She looked around and finally locked onto a glass counter containing an arm guard. Perhaps because the two tokens weren't particularly valuable, the counter used only the simplest security checks, and Yan Qing and Shang Xinlei quickly cracked the code.

Fortunately, they didn't loot too much; they could still stuff everything into their pockets, otherwise, running away would have been a bit of a hassle.

However, when they reached the entrance to the secret vault and pushed the door, they found that... it wouldn't budge.

"Was the door closed when you came in?"

"Didn't you help me in?"

The two exchanged a glance, feeling as if snakes were crawling on their backs, and a chill seeped into their entire bodies along their spines.

This is underground, and there's no air circulation with the surface, not even a breeze. The door couldn't have been blown shut by the wind, and they didn't close it. So there's only one possibility: the door closed itself.

In a royal vault, what purpose could a door serve if it closed itself?

Without the slightest hesitation, Yan Qing immediately drew his Bingzi Pepper Forest sword, and Shang Xinlei also took out his flying ring. The two of them frantically slashed and hacked at the wall, but could only leave shallow marks on the golden door panel.

"This door is only gilded on the outside." Shang Xinlei lightly touched the cold steel color peeking out from behind the golden scratches: "The entire inside is made of high-quality steel from the secret realm!"

Yan Qing looked at the stone wall beside the door. He didn't hesitate to stab the Bingzi Pepper Forest directly into it, but even though the Bingzi Pepper Forest was almost bent, it couldn't penetrate the stone wall even a little bit. Although he could still try using the Overturning Heaven technique, Yan Qing had already given up hope—the Bingzi Pepper Forest was powerful in cutting damage, but for this kind of terrain destruction, he would have a chance if he used a hammer.

Moreover, if the Vault was designed to trap thieves, then its internal defenses are absolutely beyond the reach of ordinary people; at the very least, only a Foundation Establishment messenger could possibly break free through force.

"Yellow Dog, look here!"

Shang Xinlei pointed to the jade orbs held by golden dragons on either side of the door frame. Yan Qing looked over and saw a line of text displayed inside:
"Contribute the scholar's pen to open the door to a life free of worry."

A black shadow resembling a calligraphy brush appears below the text, seemingly indicating that a corresponding item is to be inserted.

This door has four spirit jade orbs in total, and the other spirit jade orbs also have similar inscriptions, requiring the handing over a tailor's needle, a dancer's shoe, and a gambler's dice, respectively. Undoubtedly, to open this carefree door from the inside, one must hand over the four corresponding tokens.

"Could we find a piece of wood and carve it into something like a calligraphy brush or a shoe to pass off as something else?" Yan Qing suggested. "Anyway, they've provided shapes that we can refer to."

"impossible."

Shang Xinlei stared blankly at the words on the spirit jade ball and murmured, "You can't deceive it. Not just anything can meet the conditions. It wants a scholar's pen, so it must be a pen commonly used by a well-read scholar."

“Because it’s not a door at all,” Shang Xinlei turned to look at Yan Qing, her face pale, “but the entrance to a secret realm!”

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(End of this chapter)