Two Realms Mountain, the mountain forest already showed a verdant hue, the sea of trees surged like waves under the night wind.

Whiz!

Chen Ku used the Earth Escape Technique and appeared directly over a hundred and twenty miles north of Baojiao County at the Two Realms Mountain.

As the boundary separating Ji Country and Yuan Country, the Two Realms Mountain range stretches over three thousand miles, like a gigantic dragon lying on the earth.

The tall mountain not only blocks the cold air and sand from the north of Yuan Country moving south, but also the warm, moist climate of Ji Country moving south, leading to a substantial contrast in the scenery and temperature between the two countries.

Snu~

Chen Ku slightly twitched his nose, already smelling the scent of a large group of humans five or six miles away. This scent was common in the laborers and workers area outside Baobao County, usually belonging to laborers.

"That place should be the entrance to the Hero King Treasure's underground palace excavated by Shangguan Yun and Sui You's men."

He did not smell Sui You among the scent of more than a thousand people ahead, likely as he only came occasionally to supervise work, checking progress from time to time, but not staying there all day.

Thus, Chen Ku became bold enough to stealthily sneak past:

"Go and take a look."

Immediately, his form shrunk, transforming into a little bee, employing the 'Nine Colors Following Light Technique' of the Nine-Colored Deer to hide his figure, then used Earth Escape Technique to sink into the ground.

In less than half a cup of tea's time, he was already heading down into that underground passage.

...

In the underground passage.

"Brother Niu, Brother Niu has fainted from exhaustion."

Someone watching a stout man working and excavating in the passage suddenly shouted in shock as the man collapsed: "How is it?"

However, before he could approach, he heard a whip's sharp 'whish' slice through the air, followed by a 'crack' as it landed harshly on his shoulder.

"Ah!"

The laborer named Xin Xiaonian cried out in pain, immediately backing away in terror, then hearing the cold voice of the whip-wielding overseer:

"What are you doing, get back to work."

Xin Xiaonian dared not lift his head, quickly grabbing a pickaxe and trembling in fear as he resumed work.

After beating away the others with a whip, the overseer gazed at the fainted strong man, coolly and impatiently spoke: "Bring two people, carry him away, do not delay the project progress."

Immediately, two armed overseers stepped forward, lifted the unconscious laborer, placed him into a mining cart, and pushed it towards an unknown region.

Buzz~~

The bee into which Chen Ku had transformed hid its form, fluttering its wings, stopping right beside the distant mining cart, observing the scene clearly, his heart trembled slightly:

"So many people, all recruited by Shangguan Yun to excavate the underground palace? Yet there are no reports of a large population disappearing in Baojiao County..."

Reflecting for a moment, he seemed to think of something.

Apparently, just before the year, Baojiao County had enforced a 'labor tax,' forcibly conscripting over a thousand people for water conservation dam work, originally...

They all ended up here.

Chen Ku couldn't help but silently think:

"Shangguan Yun, as expected of a county magistrate, commanding such authority to summon over a thousand people to clandestinely excavate an underground palace."

Looking around the underground palace passageway, the overseers often whipping and scolding the laborers who faint from exhaustion, he couldn't help but recall when he almost got conscripted for labor duty back in Dachen Village due to failing to pay autumn taxes.

Sighing internally.

Without further observation, with two wings flapping, he proceeded forward along the passageway.

Along the path, he continuously passed laborers carrying loads of stones and soil, all lined up, surrounded by guards with knives drinking alcohol, stationed every fifty paces.

"These guards don't seem to be Baojiao County's government officials, but each one seems proficient in martial arts, at least possessing Inner Qi Cultivation...

Chen Ku grew suspicious of these guards' origins:

"Could this be Shangguan Yun's private force?"

It indeed seems familiar, as it's said Shangguan Yun was once the leader of some large gang in Qiu Dragon Mansion before mysteriously gaining his official position in Baojiao County.

If these individuals truly are Shangguan Yun's private force, Chen Ku felt mounting pressure about Shangguan Yun's overall strength.

Dominating both legally and illegally, capable of mobilizing Baojiao County's army while covertly supported by a gang, facing such a man, unless one could defeat him alone, his massive power could overwhelm and bury any enemy.

Continuing to fly ahead.

At the passage entrance, several small cave mansions were developed off to the sides, with some people speaking within:

"Uncle Three, when this underground palace is opened, do you think there will not be any corpses? Such a large underground palace, it appears to be of imperial scale, if there were corpses turned into zombies, the power might be immeasurable."

Inside this cave, a young man, with a ponytail tied behind his head, looking quite refined, was questioning his elders, 'Uncle Three':

"Shouldn't we prepare in advance, like getting some black donkey hooves or something."

The middle-aged man known as Uncle Three puffed on his pipe, gazed at his young nephew, sneering: "You said it yourself, such a vast underground palace, just the entrance fortified with unknown amounts of stones, the palace is large enough to be the size of a mountain, if there were zombies, would black donkey hooves handle it?"

The elder inhaled the smoke, sensing subtle awe as he spoke. Being a renowned Geomancer in the Qiu Dragon region, nicknamed "Yao Ancestor," he had seen many grand tombs over the years, but this massive underground palace tomb was a first.

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