A short moment after Lu Chen left, Ding Dang instinctively turned to look at the Dragon Lake. On the opposite end of the lake, behind a giant boulder, a human silhouette had appeared suddenly.
A delighted smile crept onto Ding Dang’s face. She stuffed the ignitable paper roll into her robe and rushed over.
The Clear Stream Village, as well as the tea mountain beside it, was actually just an unexceptional village within the sphere of influence under Nansong Mountain’s Thousand Autumn Doors. In fact, in the incomparably powerful world of cultivators in the center continent, the Thousand Autumn Doors was just an unexceptional and small sect as well. In the vast center continent, with countless lives and innumerable powerful human cultivator sects and cultivators were as numerous and spectacular as the countless bright stars in the night sky.
In the current human world of cultivation, the Immortal Alliance was without doubt, the number one power in the world. This was because the Immortal Alliance wasn’t just an individual sect, but an alliance comprising thousands of powerful cultivator sects. Most notable sects in the center continent that possessed an acceptable level of strength were part of the Immortal Alliance. That was, excluding unorthodox sects such as the Three Realm Divine Cult.
The massive organisation had a long history behind it. Throughout its long period of existence, this unique gigantic alliance had built a foundation very different from other sects, the ‘Immortal City’. Most of the cultivator sects in the world, regardless of their scale, were similar to the Thousand Autumn Doors, in the sense that they would occupy a blessed land, a location that was optimal for their disciples to cultivate in. Over time, mountainside cities would naturally be developed beside the dwellings of these sects. However, the Immortal Alliance was different. This organisation occupied the largest and most fertile land of the center continent, the ‘Four River Plains’, and built a gigantic city on it. After innumerable years of expansion and reparation, the Immortal City had became one of the world’s most prosperous and powerful city, as well as a place where countless look forward to visiting. All of the important departments and subsidiary organisation of the Immortal Alliance are also based within the city.
Countless people lived in that large and ancient city. Everyday, people come to and fro, contributing or departing from the commotion. At the intersection between light and darkness, who knew how many joyous reunions and sorrowful separations had taken place? Wherever light can be found, darkness will exist, just like how the cycle of sunrise and sunset will continue for all eternity.
In the massive city, there was a covert location which resembled a vast secret chamber. Placed in the room was a large round-shaped table with a hollow center, where a flicker of flame danced inconspicuously. If one were to take a careful look, he would realise that under the glowing flame, the fuel material fed to it was a pile of peculiar bones, bones that seemed to belong to some beast, and yet not so. Savage and unnerving, it bore a level of resemblance to the faces of the demons depicted in ancient legends.
Other than that, there were eleven seats by the large round-shaped table. At that very moment, there was a lonely figure sitting on a tall metal chair. The body of the figure was completely concealed under a dark-red robe, and a hood covered the head, hair and neck. A golden mask was worn on his face. Other than the eyes, not an inch of the body was exposed.
On the golden mask was a carved demonic face which bore some resemblance to the bones burning in the center of the table, thus adding an eerie atmosphere to the figure.
The secret chamber was completely silent. Sitting quietly on the metal chair, the eyes of the mysterious masked man was fixated on the bundle of burning flames, his body remaining motionless for a long period of time.
The burning flame reflected in his eyes, as though two balls of fire were burning in its depths.
After a seemingly long period of time, a soft echo sounded out of a blue from a corner of the secret chamber. After which, a door appeared in the shadows, and from the other end, a person pushed on it and entered.
That was a male who seemed to be in his thirties. With an ordinary face, he looked like the kind of person one could meet on the streets everyday. Paired with ordinary clothes, his presence was something one could easily disregard. The man’s gaze swept through the secret chamber and it didn’t take long for it to stop on the body of the mysterious figure sitting by the peculiar round-shaped table.
His face tensed for an instant and a hint of anxiety flashed across the depths of his eyes. Even so, his emotions did not reflect on his impassive face. He walked over and from the opposite side of the table, he bowed respectfully to the masked figure.
“Chen He pays his respects to elder.”
The head donned in a golden demonic mask moved slightly and its eyes glanced at him. A short moment later, a peculiar voice echoed, “How is the interrogation coming along?” The voice was hoarse and deep, reminiscent of the sound produced by rubbing metal and rock together, making it difficult to distinguish the gender of the speaker.
With his head slightly lowered, Chen He inhaled and said, “That fellow couldn’t survive the sentence and died. However, based on the words he spoke before his death, it is unlikely that he was acquainted with Hei Lang that year.”
The flame in the secret chamber surged upward suddenly, as though a fearsome dormant demon suddenly roared, sending a cold chill down one’s spine.
A suffocating silence fell upon the dimly-lit secret chamber. The man named Chen He stood as upright as a taut spear. Facing downward, he daresd not to even breath loudly.
After a short moment, the raging flame regained its tranquility. The fearsome golden mask tilted upward once more, and the peculiar hoarse voice sounded out once again, “All of the fishes that had escaped during the battle of the barren valley had been looked into, but there isn’t any results. What do you intend to do next?”
Chen He contemplated for a moment before saying, “After the catastrophe ten years ago, the traitor disappeared without a trace. Despite our efforts to track him down, the clues we found on him were always cut off by someone, or it would end with us alarming certain powers within the Immortal Alliance, inducing retaliations against us. From this, we can tell that there is a powerful influence in the Immortal Alliance protecting that traitor.”
A cold harrumph filled with annoyance and callousness seemed to echo from beyond the demonic golden mask, and the voice sounded once more, “Continue.”
With a heavy tone, Chen He continued, “In my humble opinion, it is highly probable that the traitor isn’t in the Immortal City now. Perhaps, he could be hidden by some influential figure in some corner of the world. He might even be playing the role of an inconspicuous harmless individual in a random small sect to avoid our pursuit.”
The masked man did not respond to his words and remained silent.
Chen He paused for a moment before continuing, “Based on my humble opinion, I believe that we should change our methods.”
“Un? Why is that so?” There was a slight movement with the golden mask, which seemingly signaled the interest of the person beneath.
“All of the signs throughout these ten years has showed that the Immortal Alliance is related to the event in the barren valley back then. Thus, if we wish to seek down that traitor, Hei Lang, we should focus our effort in the Immortal Alliance. Our previous method of scattering our net into the countless cultivator sect to hunt him down is a method simply too difficult to achieve success.”
…
A Thorough Investigation (抽丝剥茧 chou si bao jian)
It refers to the action of drawing silk from the cocoon of silkworms. In order not to destroy the cocoon, it has to be done with carefully, thoroughly with in a specific order.
It metaphors the action of looking into something thoroughly.
Confirmed uh, I will reach 49 by this week, by hook or by crook. Even if a layer of my skin tears off.
Have the files translated until 46. I will look through them and post them as soon as I’m finished. Enjoy~
StarveCleric 
More story elements. Excellent. I hope you have a good week and rhanks for the hard work on these three chapters
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