Xu Changsheng had initially expected that infiltrating the Cloud Palace sub-branch would be fraught with peril, and that he might not return.
After all, the Cloud Palace was a reclusive clan, and even within its sub-branches, there could be numerous hidden masters. As powerful as he was, he was still just one person, and two fists couldn't fend off four hands.
If he trespassed into someone else's territory without authorization, even if they killed him, Shu Mountain would have no grounds to demand an explanation.
"Mas-master..."
Xu Changsheng looked at Ye Ling's retreating back, his mouth opening, but no words came out.
"What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and follow!"
Ye Ling swiftly concealed his presence and vanished into the interior of the Cloud Palace sub-branch.
Seeing this, Xu Changsheng had no time to ponder further. He quickly formed a hand seal, concealed his aura, hastily put away the Xuanyuan Sword, and rushed to follow Ye Ling.
The security of the Cloud Palace sub-branch was tight, yet Ye Ling and Xu Changsheng moved through it as if no one were present. They soon arrived at the Cloud Palace sub-branch's archives.
Ye Ling teleported into the room with Xu Changsheng, glanced around the dark archives, and casually turned on the lights on the wall.
As soon as the lights came on, Ye Ling saw a map of Xichuan plastered on the opposite wall.
There was no one guarding the archives.
"Why would they put a map of Xichuan in the archives?"
Ye Ling cast a glance at the map and muttered a complaint. He then shifted his attention away from the map and said to Xu Changsheng, "This place stores archives of all of the Cloud Palace's activities in China. Let's split up and search to see if we can find any useful information."
"Yes."
Xu Changsheng respectfully bowed to Ye Ling, then moved to another side of the archives to search for the information he desired.
Ye Ling, meanwhile, spread his divine soul throughout every corner of the room, perusing all the scrolls in the archives.
A large portion of the archives stored here had electronic records, which Ye Ling had already viewed on Yang Qi's computer. As for the archives without electronic versions, they contained no information Ye Ling sought.
Neither the mass grave in Sanmiao Town nor anything related to Li Xiaomei was found here.
"Strange... By all rights, an organization of the Cloud Palace's caliber would meticulously archive any actions they took. Even if the mass grave in Sanmiao Town and Li Xiaomei were top-secret information, there should still be records..."
"Could there be another archive room?"
Ye Ling mused, scanning his surroundings, trying to find anything he might have overlooked.
Normally, if Ye Ling's divine soul covered the entire building, he could instantly grasp the building's structure. There shouldn't be any hidden rooms that could escape his soul power.
Ye Ling swept his divine soul over the entire Cloud Palace sub-branch again but found no other archive rooms.
Ye Ling's brow furrowed. "Perhaps these archives aren't stored in this sub-branch at all? But if there are no corresponding archives here, how could the deputy branch master have gone to buy Li Xiaomei's bracelet..."
"Moreover, the Cloud Palace's transaction point with the Red Dust Pavilion is also at this Xichuan sub-branch. This Xichuan sub-branch is the largest sub-branch of the Cloud Palace in China. If it's not here, then it won't be anywhere else."
"Master, come quickly and look!"
Just as Ye Ling was analyzing where the archives he wanted might be, Xu Changsheng's voice reached Ye Ling's ears, drawing his attention.
"What did you find?"
Ye Ling walked over to Xu Changsheng and saw him staring intently at a bookshelf, his brow furrowed as if deep in thought.
Xu Changsheng said, "Master, look, isn't there a pattern to how the archives are arranged on this bookshelf?"
"A pattern?"
Upon hearing Xu Changsheng's words, a hint of confusion flickered in Ye Ling's eyes. He looked at the bookshelf filled with archives that Xu Changsheng was staring at and began to examine it closely.
"These archives don't seem to be arranged chronologically, and most of the content is trivial matters, of no value... Wait!"
Ye Ling's heart stirred. He quickly stepped back a few paces, bringing the entire bookshelf into his line of sight. "These archives are not randomly placed. This bookshelf has six rows, and the last digit of the year in each row, when combined, seems to form a coordinate!"
Xu Changsheng said, "Master has indeed discovered it. Look at the upper right corner of this bookshelf; it's marked with a gray asterisk. I've counted, and there are only six bookshelves in the entire archive room with asterisks."
Ye Ling stated, "This means there are six hidden coordinate points in this archive room... If the coordinate points are paired, perhaps the center where they intersect is where the Cloud Palace's top-secret archives are stored!"
"I was wondering why the Cloud Palace would put a map of Xichuan in the archives. So that's why!"
Having figured out the secret hidden within the archives, Ye Ling immediately used his divine soul to locate the other five bookshelves with asterisks and obtained six six-digit coordinates!
Ye Ling etched the string of six numbers onto the wall, muttering to himself, "The coordinates used by the Cloud Palace don't seem to be latitude and longitude. They've used another location as a reference point and established new coordinates based on that reference."
Xu Changsheng guessed, "Could this Cloud Palace sub-branch be the reference point?"
Ye Ling shook his head. "I've done the calculations. If we use this sub-branch as the reference point, the six points have no pattern on the map."
Hearing Ye Ling's words, Xu Changsheng was taken aback, then his brow furrowed again. "Not the Cloud Palace sub-branch? Then where could it be?"
Ye Ling also fell silent, his mind racing.
He never expected that the Cloud Palace would set up such an interesting puzzle in their archives!
Even if an intruder deciphered the secret of the archives, without knowing the origin of the coordinates, they couldn't solve the puzzle within the archives.
Xu Changsheng pondered for a long time but couldn't figure out the archives' puzzle. He sighed, "The branch master of this Cloud Palace sub-branch is indeed Zhuge Feng's granddaughter. Her wisdom is so profound..."
"What did you say?" Ye Ling was taken aback and looked at Xu Changsheng in surprise. "The branch master of the Cloud Palace's Xichuan sub-branch is Zhuge Feng's granddaughter?"
Zhuge Feng was the current head of the Zhuge family in Xichuan. Ye Ling had met Zhuge Feng on Longdao Mountain before and had given him a beating.
When he dealt with the Zhengyi Sect, Ye Ling had forgotten about Zhuge Feng, but he didn't expect to be connected to Zhuge Feng again at the Cloud Palace.
Xu Changsheng looked at Ye Ling and asked, "Master doesn't know?"
Ye Ling replied, "Tell me about it."
Xu Changsheng said, "Actually, I don't know much about this matter. I only know that there was a scandal in the Zhuge family of Xichuan back then. Zhuge Feng's daughter, Zhuge Die, had an affair with the Wang family and unauthorizedly passed on the Wuhou Qimen to the Wang family. Later, the Zhuge family killed the Wang family, crippled Zhuge Die's cultivation, and expelled her from the family, removing her from the genealogy."
"And the current branch master of the Cloud Palace sub-branch, Wang Die, is the daughter of the Wang family and Zhuge Die. When Wang Die took office as the branch master of the Cloud Palace sub-branch, she personally led people to smash the plaque of the Wuhou Ancestral Hall, almost angering Zhuge Feng to death."
"At that time, the Zhuge family of Xichuan and the Cloud Palace Xichuan sub-branch became sworn enemies because of this incident. This matter caused a great stir within Sichuan, but because it was the Zhuge family's family shame, it was soon suppressed by the Zhuge family."
"Later, for some reason, the Zhuge family of Xichuan stopped bothering the Cloud Palace sub-branch, and the Cloud Palace sub-branch no longer spoke of the Zhuge family's affairs. The two families have respected each other's boundaries and have lived in peace until now."
"It was because of this incident that I learned of Wang Die's existence."
Ye Ling's eyes narrowed slightly. "There's such a story behind this Cloud Palace sub-branch..."
"Could the origin of the coordinates... be related to the Zhuge family?"