Chapter Sixteen: Secret Passage

  In the dead of night, they entered the city according to plan through a secret passage. Several people arrived at a village not far from the city gate. Xia Dade, despite being a sturdy man, had a solid foundation and was able to move lightly on his feet. This was a kind of physical coordination that all martial artists possessed. If one's footwork was uncontrolled, no matter how well they practiced external hard skills, they would be nothing more than a clumsy elephant.

  Xia Dade was still so, let alone the few people left behind. All the way to the village, not even a dog barked. The few people arrived at a house, and Jiuye, who led the way, stopped in his tracks. The wall of that house was extremely high. Lu Bing wanted to ask why he didn't knock on the door, but saw Yang Feiyan lightly lift her toes, also without speaking, making a gesture towards Jiuye. Jiuye wrapped his arms around one leg and bowed it, Yang Feiyan jumped up and stepped on Jiuye's bowed leg, then turned her foot onto his arms, and with a flip of her body, she cleared the wall. When she landed, there was surprisingly little noise.

  The door was divided into left and right, Yang Feiyan gently pulled open the door bolt and opened the door. The wooden door's hinge was very smooth, even if it was slowly opened, it would make a sound, but like Yang Feiyan, opening it suddenly didn't make a single noise. Yang Feiyan beckoned to Jiu Ye and the others, and they entered one after another. Lu Bing couldn't help but think that Yang Feiyan's lightness skill was so good, and her experience seemed very rich too. If she wanted to steal something, she probably wouldn't be unable to get it.

  Several people had just entered the courtyard when a man and woman in their thirties, along with two young boys, came out of the main house. They were all dressed as peasants, with clothes that had several patches on them, looking very simple. However, upon closer inspection, it was clear that they were not ordinary peasants.

  Look at those two young men, twelve or thirteen years old, about the same size as Zhu Houzhen. Although they are thin and weak, their bodies are straight and their movements are not clumsy. The two thirty-year-old men and women seem to be a couple, ordinary at first glance, but upon closer inspection, their fists are worn smooth, apparently having decades of martial arts experience. The four people are dressed ordinarily, with no strong aura, but the sharp glint in their eyes that occasionally flashes out cannot be hidden.

  The four men closed in, instantly occupying the advantageous terrain in the courtyard. The house was not lit up, and the moonlight shining down did not seem too bright either. Just as Lu Bing and his group were standing in the shadow of the wall, they could see the four men clearly inside the courtyard, but the four men couldn't see them. Ninth Master cleared his throat and said, "It's me."

  "Old Nine?" the man asked, Old Nine replied: "That's right."

  The man and woman relaxed a bit, but the man still asked: "Dong Ming Dong Liang Dong Fang Zhao."

  Jiu Ye replied: "Western knife, western sword, beheaded in the west."

  The man made a please gesture with his fists, then led the way to a well. The well seemed to be abandoned, and on the well platform was placed a huge stone mill. The man beckoned two young boys to come and help, but Xia Dade smiled and said: "No need, I can do it myself." Meng Lin patted Xia Dade on the back, reminding him to speak softly, because whenever Xia Dade opened his mouth, it was like thunder.

  Xia Dade walked to the well with his hand covering his mouth, like a child who had done something wrong. He rolled up his sleeves and grasped both sides of the stone mill, then lifted it up with a grunt. Xia Dade slowly placed the stone mill aside, moving very lightly without making any loud noise as if he was handling a heavy object, which showed that Xia Dade's strength was boundless.

  The man called out in a low voice, "Good! A fine warrior. With such a warrior joining us, what worry is there that our great plan won't succeed?" Xia Dade felt embarrassed and made a fist at the man, also trying to lower his voice, saying, "Too kind, too kind."

  No one dared to speak to Xia Dade anymore, because even when Xia Dade lowered his voice, it was still thunderous, and the village dogs had already heard the commotion and started barking. In order to conceal their actions, Meng Lin also found a withered branch for Xia Dade to bite on.

  The well had dried up, and the man brought over a rope to secure it. One by one, Jiuzi and the others slid down, with Xia Dade's broad shoulders almost getting stuck, so they didn't even need the rope, and he slid right down to the bottom of the well. When they reached the bottom, Lu Bing's eyes suddenly opened wide - at the bottom of the well was a spacious tunnel that stretched out in all directions, and although it was too narrow for horses to gallop through, people could run freely with ease.

  The Ninth Master pointed to one of them, and the crowd walked in. Lu Bing asked in a low voice, "Ninth Master, did you build this secret passage?" The Ninth Master chuckled and replied in a low voice, "I don't have that skill. Nanjing is our former capital of the Ming Dynasty. Do you think it's easy for ordinary people to dig such a tunnel? Even moving soil from the city wall is not allowed on normal days, let alone such a large project."

  Lu Bing thought to himself, if it were that simple to cover up and dig a tunnel into the city, then Nanjing's defenses would be too weak. There wouldn't even be a need to go underground; they could just walk in openly without anyone noticing. But who was it that had such incredible abilities, digging so many tunnels leading to unknown locations? Looking at the flat wall surface and the bluestone slabs on top, he knew it wasn't natural.

  Lu Bingzheng was lost in thought, when Jiu Ye smiled and said: "Don't make wild guesses. If you want to build such a large project, you need to take action ahead of time, before the city of Nanjing has taken shape. Then, under the cover of a big project, slowly transport soil and assign workers. This is how such things can be done. Think about it, with a long construction period, a huge project, private construction, and still able to shut the mouths of the imperial family and blind the eyes of the eagle dogs, when would that be possible?"

  Lu Bing has completely given up, his historical knowledge is partly learned from school and watching TV, and for current events in this information-poor era, it's mostly from listening to Meng Lin and others talking nonsense. Meng Lin suddenly realized: "If the imperial palace is being repaired, except for the emperor himself, no one else would dare to leave a secret passage, unless it's repairing the city wall! Ninth Master, are you saying that this secret passage was built by Shen Wansan?!"

  Shen Wansan is a name that Lu Bing knows. When he was young, he heard a story called "聚宝盆" (The Magic Basin), which tells the story of Shen Wansan. The story goes like this: Shen Wansan was an ordinary rich man who discovered a secret by watching others cut grass - no matter how they cut it, the grass would always grow back. Shen Wansan found out that the place was called Fenghuang Mountain, where phoenixes do not land without treasure. After digging deeper, he found a basin. Eventually, when someone put a piece of jewelry into the basin, the truth came to light: no matter what you put in, the basin would produce an identical item. From then on, Shen Wansan became even richer and did many good deeds for the people, such as building bridges, repairing roads, digging wells, and giving out porridge. The children's story ends here, and now it's time for the adult version.

  After Shen Wansan obtained this treasure, he continued to do good deeds. However, one day the Yangtze River dike burst, and no matter how they tried to block it, they couldn't stop the flood. The emperor issued a decree that whoever could come up with a plan to block the river would be rewarded with official rank and gold.

  Shen Wansan had already become the richest man in the world with the help of the聚宝盆 (Magic Bowl), but he didn't want to take credit for it. Seeing the suffering of the people, he couldn't bear it, so he took out the Magic Bowl, grabbed a handful of soil and put it inside. Instantly, thousands of tons of soil appeared, blocking the burst dike.

  The emperor borrowed the Magic Bowl and saw its power. Shen Wansan hid the treasure well and made an agreement with the emperor to return it after four watches (a unit of time). He thought that since the emperor's words were like gold, he could trust him, so he took out the Magic Bowl and presented it to the emperor. However, he forgot that rulers are often insincere.

  The emperor did not want to return the聚宝盆, so at the fifth watch of dawn, he had the drums beaten for the fourth watch, in order to delay a bit. A eunuch said to the emperor, "Since Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven and the ruler of the world, who dares to say no? If you don't return it, what can they do?"

  Shen Wansan attacked and took the treasure, but was caught and ended up being accused of having treasure without presenting it, a crime punishable by death for the entire family, with all nine clans exterminated.

  Lu Biao let out a low cry and told the story he knew, but it made Jiu Ye and others burst into loud laughter. Xia Da De's voice was too loud, holding onto a withered branch, not daring to open his mouth to laugh, yet his whole body was shaking silently. Lu Biao Er Zhang and the monk were puzzled, saying: "What's so funny?"

  "If it weren't for us knowing the inside story, we would really think you are a descendant of Shen Wansan. This myth is too beautified, haha. That emperor was not very credible, this person is indeed Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor. Shen Wansan did do many good things, but it was to gain the support of the people and hope that the emperor wouldn't harm him. But the emperor was a great man, the ancestor of the country! How could he be swayed by others' thoughts? He could even imprison officials, let alone a small Shen Wansan."

  "Back then, Shen Wansan was actually already dead. The rumors among the common people were just a result of hearsay. Shen Wansan was born in the Yuan dynasty and died in the Yuan dynasty. Later on, his grandson Shen Sen, who was the son of Shen Rong, Shen Rong being the third son of Shen Wansan... got it?

  Old Master Nine continued to explain: "Shen Sen himself didn't have much reputation, so he often borrowed the name of his ancestor Shen Wansan. That's how the rumors started. The things your brother said about building schools and such were all true, but they were done just to prevent Zhu Yuanzhang from killing him when he conquered Nanjing.

  The accumulated wealth of three generations was enough to make Shen Sen rich beyond compare, even rivaling a country. So Shen Sen continued to flatter and helped Zhu Yuanzhang build the city walls of Nanjing after he entered Jinling. However, Shen Sen was after all a merchant, and merchants are heartless. He had done many evil deeds, but that wasn't his fault - it's hard for those in high positions to avoid doing so. Not many people can remain completely clean."

  "Then what, Ninth Master?" Lu Bing asked. The Ninth Master smiled and replied: "Then he helped Zhu Yuanzhang repair one-third of the city wall, and under the city wall, they dug through these crisscrossing secret passages to prepare for unexpected needs. Sure enough, after Zhu Yuanzhang had Shen Sen entertain the troops again, he ordered Shen Sen's arrest. He also declared that a rich citizen who could rival a country was extremely unlucky, and in his anger, he said that a lone man entertaining the military of the entire world was actually a rebellious subject, and that those with an unrighteous heart must be executed. Shen Sen transferred many of his secret assets through the secret passages, but on the surface, not a single coin was moved, because he understood that Zhu Yuanzhang was only eyeing his wealth."

  Lu Bing nodded, Zhu Yuanzhang was not a good person, and Shen Sen was not an easy lamp to deal with. But since ancient times, ordinary people did not fight against officials, and no matter how capable Shen Sen was, he could not defeat Zhu Yuanzhang. Lu Bing continued walking with his head down, while Yang Feiyan led the way with a small lantern in front of her. Suddenly, Jiu Ye continued to say: "Things are not over yet." This time, it wasn't just Lu Bing who listened intently, but also Xia Dade and Meng Lin, as they didn't know what was going to happen next either.

  Jiu Ye smiled coldly and said: "We knew about this secret passage because Qian had gathered a group of heroes to plan a big move, and the one who provided financial help for us was actually a descendant of the Shen family."