Messenger of Calamity

Chapter 91: Thieves of Hooks Are Executed, Thieves of Nations Become Lords

In the early hours before dawn, at the Thieves' House.

“As everyone can see, tonight Shang Xuanwen is not resting at home, but staying on duty at the Ministry of Appointments.”

Shedding her silent mushroom demeanor from noon, Shang Xinlei took control of the scene as soon as the midnight meeting began, completely ignoring Medicine Master Wen's violently trembling leg. She magnified the sandbox projection with three fingers to show everyone more clearly: “Staying overnight at the Ministry of Appointments has been a long-standing tradition. Currently, Great Liang has six State Ministers. Besides Shang Xuanwen and the two Ministers of the Ministry of Appointments, there are three more Deputy Ministers with the honorary title of State Minister. These six take turns staying on duty, but the schedule isn’t fixed—it’s decided among themselves. Therefore, we cannot determine whether Shang Xuanwen will be home or on duty at the Ministry of Appointments three days from now.”

Ying Ru Shi raised a question: “Since he’s on duty today, wouldn’t that mean he won’t be on duty again in the next five days?”

“All six are Messengers, not limited by physical stamina,” Shang Xinlei replied. “And with their heavy workload, it’s not uncommon for the six to not all be in Jiangnan. Staying on duty for several consecutive nights happens quite often.”

“So we need two infiltration plans,” Medicine Master Wen attempted to reclaim control. “One for the Shang Residence, one for the Ministry of Appointments.”

“Wrong. Three,” Shang Xinlei raised three fingers. “Also the Imperial Palace.”

“It’s tradition in Great Liang for Hanlin Academicians to work inside the inner court. They handle memorials, draft imperial decrees, and offer counsel, and naturally, they stay overnight as well. Though there’s no set practice, if a State Minister receives critical intel at night, he may request an immediate audience with the Emperor and end up staying overnight in Wenyan Pavilion within the inner court.”

“We’re in luck. The Shang Residence, the Imperial Palace, and the Ministry of Appointments are located in the southwest, central, and northwest parts of Jiangnan County, respectively. The Upper Ninth Road and Lower Ninth Road lie at their center, making all three accessible.”

“First, the Shang Residence, which spans thirty mu. The central garden divides it into eastern, central, and western sections with nearly a hundred rooms. Shang Xuanwen’s study, bedroom, and training room are located in each section, respectively. The ideal infiltration point is the west wall, where trees allow climbing. It’s close to the bedroom—just a tea’s time to reach the destination.” Shang Xinlei gave detailed commentary, enlarging the sandbox projection as she spoke with practiced ease.

“The Ministry of Appointments borders the palace compound and consists of the Grand Hall, the Six Ministries with twenty-four offices, storage rooms, and clerical quarters. Shang Xuanwen is currently staying in the Grand Hall, the innermost and most heavily guarded part, with dense patrols. A frontal infiltration is difficult, but look here—” Shang Xinlei enlarged the projection again. “Clerks often use this side gate. It’s poorly guarded. If one moves quickly, they can reach the Grand Hall before raising alarm.”

“Last is the Imperial Palace. This is the most troublesome. The palace walls are tall, and infiltration requires a frontal entry. But once inside, the palace guards aren’t as troublesome—the area’s too large for them to cover effectively. Wenyan Pavilion is here, right next to the Jinhua Gate. Enter the palace, walk a few steps, and you’re there.”

Everyone looked at Shang Xinlei in astonishment for laying out so much without pause. Yan Qing even felt like offering her a cup of water. But before he could, Shang Xinlei enlarged the image again, this time focusing on Shang Xuanwen, who was on duty in the Grand Hall: “Now that we’ve gone over the three infiltration targets, let’s talk about Shang Xuanwen himself.”

“To my knowledge, Shang Xuanwen possesses three Third-Stage Tokens. The first is the Rare defensive token, Heartguard Mirror. It has seven layers of defense, capable of withstanding heavy damage. Lighter hits only break the outer layers, and as long as his Spirit Energy is sufficient, he can replenish the defenses at will. For example, during this evening’s assassination attempt—he fell into a pit, got bombarded by dozens of fire oil jars, yet still escaped unscathed.”

“The second is a Rare offensive token, the Wave-Splitting Sword.”

Here, Shang Xinlei glanced at Ying Ru Shi, who tactfully picked up the thread: “Northern Brave General, Southern Wave-Splitter. The Wave-Splitting Sword has two abilities. One increases damage with each successive strike; the other allows it to slice through wind and waves, neutralizing all Spirit Energy attacks with its slashes.”

Medicine Master Wen snorted coldly, clearly disapproving of this mutual admiration between Qi and Liang citizens.

“The third is a Concealment Token, Ming Shiyin,” Shang Xinlei continued. “This token is quite famous. Rumor says Shang Xuanwen acquired it by chance during his youth while exploring a Secret Realm. No one knows what it looks like. It makes Shang Xuanwen nearly undetectable—unless he speaks or touches you, you won’t notice him even if he’s standing right in front of you.”

Medicine Master Wen and Ying Ru Shi immediately grew serious. Defense and offense could be dealt with, but this kind of concealment was a different matter. However, Medicine Master Wen’s mind worked fast and she asked, “Wait, didn’t you just say Shang Xuanwen was assassinated today? If Ming Shiyin is so powerful, how was he ambushed?”

“I don’t know either, but I have two guesses,” Shang Xinlei said. “The first is simple: the assassin had a detection token that exposed Shang Xuanwen. The second is they didn’t see through him—they simply ambushed a place where he was likely to appear, set up an event to lure him, then used sheer numbers to 'bump' him out.”

Detection tokens were a bit troublesome, but the second guess had real value. Medicine Master Wen and Ying Ru Shi now looked at Shang Xinlei differently. They had once considered her the weakest in the Thieves' House, but tonight, her investigative and deductive skills had earned her the status of a true rival.

“Shang Xuanwen definitely has more than these three tokens. Word on the street in Jiangnan says he might own a particularly mystical detection token,” Shang Xinlei added. “Many believe Shang Xuanwen can read minds.”

“Read minds…” Medicine Master Wen murmured. “That means any tactic thought of during battle could be seen through. To counter him, we’d have to strike swiftly and ferociously.”

“I have some ideas for dealing with invisibility,” Ying Ru Shi said. “If speaking negates it, then arson is undoubtedly the simplest method. We set fires in his bedroom or the Grand Hall without raising alarm. If he’s unaware, he’ll surely yell for help.”

Shang Xinlei highly approved and added, “The Heartguard Mirror is best suited for prolonged combat. To break it, we need a sudden burst of overwhelming damage. Since he may dodge by reading minds, at least two people must flank him to block his escape routes. Also, though Shang Xuanwen may become invisible, his guard cannot. Lately, there’s been a monk by his side—we can track him through the monk.”

  Watching them discussing so fervently, Yan Qing couldn’t help but scratch his head. He even began to doubt his memory—was it possible that Red Snake wasn’t Shang Xinlei, or that Shang Xuanwen wasn’t actually Shang Xinlei’s father?

Otherwise, it was hard to explain why Shang Xinlei would be so enthusiastically plotting and strategizing with everyone on how to take down her own father. Her plan was so detailed, it seemed as though she had been preparing it for a long time, just waiting for a chance like the Thieves' House to come along.

Or perhaps there wasn’t a single falsehood in Shang Xuanwen’s reputation—he truly was so loathed by man and ghost alike that even his own daughter wanted to personally commit patricide?

“Everyone!”

Shang Xinlei clapped forcefully, drawing everyone’s attention back to her. “To be honest, after the last mission, I have absolute trust in your abilities. Plus, we have a full hour’s time buffer for this one, and it’s scheduled for nighttime. I believe this mission is well within our grasp.”

“If that’s the case, why not take this opportunity to reap some extra benefit?”

Shang Xinlei enlarged the sandbox projection with three fingers, directing everyone’s gaze beneath the Imperial Palace. Only then did Yan Qing realize that about a dozen meters directly below the central square in front of the Taichu Hall of the palace, there was actually a hidden underground palace.

“The Royal Inner Treasury of Great Liang.” Shang Xinlei’s voice brimmed with seductive allure: “Who would have thought that the Royal Inner Treasury would be placed right beneath the central square of the palace? Due to the terrain, neither the area above nor below has any real guards—at most, one squad of palace guards patrols every fifteen minutes, and they do so perfunctorily. After all, even they don’t know that the royal treasury lies directly beneath their feet.”

“We have a full hour. Within this hour, we can move through Jiangnan County unimpeded, while the people of Jiangnan County can’t possibly react fast enough. Why limit ourselves to the mere Heaven-Relying Sword? Isn’t the Royal Inner Treasury far more worth stealing?”

“In fact, we don’t even need to seek out Shang Xuanwen. As long as we seize what matters most to him, he’ll hand over the Heaven-Relying Sword willingly.”

As Shang Xinlei zoomed the view again, the sandbox projection shifted from the Royal Inner Treasury to a palace within the Imperial Palace. On a bed inside the palace lay a young boy, surrounded by palace attendants standing night watch. The security here was far stricter than in other areas.

“He is…” Medicine Master Wen’s pupils contracted sharply.

“The Emperor of Great Liang!” Shang Xinlei spread her arms wide, as though embracing the entire world. “Think about it—if we seize the Emperor and then retreat to the Archway within the allotted time, won’t we have everything we desire? Secret Technique Books, Martial Technique Manuals, Tokens—if we hold the Emperor, they’ll offer up whatever we ask. Let alone a single Heaven-Relying Sword?”

“Thieves of hooks are executed, thieves of nations become lords.”

Shang Xinlei stood up, palms pressed against the stone table, sweeping her gaze across everyone. “Seize the Heaven-Relying Sword. Steal the Royal Inner Treasury. Capture the Emperor. Command Great Liang. This is my plan—do you dare to join me?”