Chapter 3047: Infiltration Begins!

Even if the palace guards are as strict as can be, they still have to follow procedure. And as long as there is procedure, there will always be loopholes to exploit.

Duanmu Heng said solemnly: "Even the defenses of the great formation on Mount Xushan back then were not exactly lax, yet weren't they still breached by the Nine Abysses taking advantage of an opening, making off with the treasure? Once the true location of the target is clearly known, no defensive measure can possibly be impregnable."

The Nine Abysses themselves were the beneficiaries, so of course they understand this point all too well.

How could he possibly make the same mistake again?

Wei Jia Shen said: "The Holy Sovereign trusts you, so we trust you too. However, this time entering the palace, you must go with us."

Duanmu Heng immediately responded:

Although the previous Great Battle of the Dragon Binding Decision was his own brainchild, he himself had not entered the Earth Mother Plain, resulting in the fall of great heavenly gods like Jia Lou Tian, while this planner, Duanmu Heng, managed to escape alive instead.

This time infiltrating the Ju Cheng Palace is even more critical, with terrain and situation far more complex, so the Holy Sovereign Ling Xu needs him to enter personally in order to adapt on the fly. Moreover, this is the retreat plan." Duanmu Heng's plan also included an escape route, which he now elaborated on in detail: "If we cannot succeed, we still have a way to withdraw."

After hearing this, all the gods nodded.

Creative, and sounds feasible.

"After midnight tonight, the palace gates will be sealed." Xin Rong Shen said immediately: "I will return to the palace now to forge a travel permit from the Chong Shu Ling. This evening, I will escort you into the palace."

"The gods are basically all assembled as well." Duanmu Heng immediately turned to Wei Jia Shen: "By the way, we should also confirm once more..."

"Already confirmed." Wei Jia Shen also couldn't be bothered to dislike his nitpicking: "Before you arrived, I had just finished confirming it."

￥￥￥￥￥

In the evening, Pan Xin Cheng returned to the palace with two guards.

They walked down the main street and found the pedestrian flow at least doubled compared to noon, shoulder to shoulder, comparable to New Year's.

The entire city presented a strange kind of busyness.

Obviously everyone knew a great disaster would descend the day after tomorrow, so they rushed out to stock up on supplies. They passed several rice shops in succession, all of which had hung out "Sold Out Today" signs, and when the last one produced its sign, the crowd queuing behind it voiced their dissatisfaction.

Wei Jia Shen shouted: "I thought they truly weren't afraid."

"How could they not be afraid?" Duanmu Heng laughed: "They're just putting on a tough front, not actually stupid."

The oppressive presence of the gods descending makes it impossible for any corner of this world to be exempt, unless that place has no one who knows the gods are coming. Straight ahead is the side palace gate of the Chi Xiao Golden Hall, which looks magnificent from afar and exquisite up close, perfectly combining intricacy and heft—no wonder it's a product of the immortals.

As for the main gate, it remains closed unless a state guest arrives or unless there is a grand celebration.

The palace guards are in high spirits, eyes straight ahead, showing not the slightest slackness or laziness, yet externally four and internally six, totaling only ten people.

Pan Xin Cheng and company did not let their guard down, knowing that the era of relying solely on manpower to defend the city has long passed. Though the human guards appear few, other unnamed forces are correspondingly greater.

Approaching the city gate, Pan Xin Cheng immediately produced his token and reported in.

These guards are quite familiar with him, and two of them have even drunk together privately, but upon seeing the token they said nothing, wearing expressions of strict official duty. This feeling is completely different from Duanmu Heng's experience in the Ling Xu City Palace, where the guards of Tian Xin Island often chatted while on duty, talking and laughing freely without avoiding people. The palace guards then pointed at him and Wei Jia Shen: "And these two?"

"With the descent of the demon imminent, patrol personnel are insufficient, so the Chong Shu Ling has transferred people from the Wu Wei Camp over, and this requires bringing them along as identification." Pan Xin Cheng produced the Chong Shu Ling travel permit; the guard glanced at it, saw the paperwork was complete, nodded, and let them pass.

The Chong Shu Ling handles personnel assignments and issuance for the outer halls; in plain terms, it does paperwork and is not inherently a strictly guarded organization. In fact, Pan Xin Cheng had already returned to the palace once that afternoon, taking advantage of a moment when Chong Shu Ling personnel were using the restroom to steal a form, fill in names, and affix the official seal, so this travel permit is naturally effective.

Gatekeepers everywhere prefer to avoid extra trouble, and those at the Chi Xiao Golden Hall are no exception; upon seeing the travel permit was correct, they did not make things difficult for him. Furthermore, Pan Xin Cheng is reliable in character and is himself a second-generation Black Armor Army member; his father had verifiable achievements in the Dragon God War, making him of pure lineage, so the guards all clearly approved, and the three of them just walked through the palace gate.

As they stepped over the threshold, all three felt a slight chill over their bodies, as if being scrutinized by something. Duanmu Heng looked up and saw a rectangular mirror hanging on the gate, directly facing the three of them.

When he lifted his head, he could still see his own reflection in the mirror, with nothing abnormal.

But Pan Xin Cheng had warned them beforehand that this mirror could reveal many illusions, so he and Wei Jia Shen cleared their minds and passed the threshold steadily. Having come through, they had come through.

Thus they entered the interior of the palace. The ground is all Han white jade, always spotless at any time, because the Chi Xiao Golden Hall, as a magical artifact, has a self-cleaning function. Just sweeping and mopping saves countless manpower.

The outer hall's layout is horizontal and vertical, buildings symmetrical, roads broad, vegetation tall and spirited, with a patrol team passing every few intersections. Any outsider entering will immediately feel this place's solemn and strict atmosphere.

Duanmu Heng suddenly asked: "Why are there some small holes in the wall top above the palace gate?"

Those holes are smaller than a fist, inside which it seems very deep, some even filled with mud; he looked up but could not see the bottom. If one said other city walls had such issues, it would likely be due to prolonged wind and sun exposure, but this is the palace wall of the Chi Xiao Golden Hall, which is part of a magical artifact!

"They appeared recently, said to be left for birds to nest in."

Indeed, many buildings' eaves and corners often have birds nesting, called "home skillful" or "house sparrows," but how could the Nine Abysses Great Emperor have such leisurely interests?

"Are birds actually living in there?"

"Some, not few." Pan Xin Cheng said: "I just heard the palace guards complain that they often get baptized by bird droppings. Only the ground has self-cleaning, so you don't see bird droppings everywhere. But when bird droppings hit someone, no one cleans you up."

This kid, really suspicious.

Pan Xin Cheng had just led the two men over a hundred zhang when someone approached quickly from behind, rushing straight at them.

Could they have been discovered? Duanmu Heng glanced at Wei Jia Shen, saw his eyes flickering, and knew he had prepared to strike.

But Pan Xin Cheng turned his head, saw who it was, and greeted:

"Xue Da?"

The comer was also two guards, but their uniforms differed from Pan Xin Cheng's.

The guard whom he called Xue Da nodded at Pan Xin Cheng, then looked at the two behind him: "Bringing new people again?"

"Yeah, where are you rushing off to in such a hurry?" Pan Xin Cheng immediately said to the two: "This one serves beside Du Xiang, and we all call him Xue Da."