Chapter 218: Complete Version of the Sheng Tian Lu

Chen Guanlou was never one to meddle, but he did have a bit too much curiosity. After all, his strength spoke for itself—he'd escaped unscathed from a fight with a fifth-rank martial artist. Satisfying his curiosity couldn't hurt.

He had no intention of reporting the Second Boss or the Tianmen Sect. He didn't care to get involved.

He wasn't with the Liufang Men. He wasn't responsible for apprehending criminals. He was just a jailer—his duty was to guard prisoners. Everyone in the Tianlaomiao did the same. Even if they found clues to a case, no one would report them. It was just asking for trouble.

He disliked dealing with Liufang Men agents—each one arrogant and offering no pay. In the Tianlaomiao, if you didn't pay, how dare you order people around? Why don't you just die?

"Can you tell me the cave's location now?" Chen Guanlou asked the Second Boss.

The Second Boss's eyes were bloodshot, staring up at him pleadingly. "Will you keep your promise?"

Chen Guanlou nodded. "You have no choice but to trust me. Otherwise, no one can help you. Hundreds of people work here in the Tianlaomiao, and I'm the only one who cares about this."

The Second Boss gritted his back molars. "Fine. I trust you. The location is behind the cliff where the soldiers destroyed their hideout. About thirty zhang down from the crooked pine tree, the cliff is covered in vines. Lift the vines, and you'll see the cave entrance. But we blocked it with stones—you'll need to work hard to get in."

"Is there anything else you need to tell me?" Chen Guanlou asked.

The Second Boss shook his head. "No more." Then he wriggled his body back into the depths of the cell, hiding himself in the darkest corner.

Outside the Bing-cell prison, Lu Datou kept muttering, "You don't actually believe him, do you? I'm telling you—people like this will do anything to achieve their goals. That so-called secret manual might be pure fiction he made up to fool you."

Chen Guanlou said casually, "Maybe he's telling the truth. Go find out for me—how long until Yin Siniang gives birth?"

"You're really going to help him?!" Lu Datou was stunned.

"I can't ruin my reputation. Everyone trusts me, follows me, listens to my orders—because they know I'm a man of my word. If I were a deceitful, fickle villain, Big Head, would you still consider me a friend?"

"Definitely not. I'd have made you take the blame long ago—you'd never rise above the dirt."

"Hahahaha…"

Several days passed. During his day off, Chen Guanlou changed his appearance and left Jingcheng. This time, he posed as a hunter. Hunters entering deep forests? That's normal.

He easily found the bandits' hideout. Everywhere he looked were traces of small-scale battles—the entire camp had been ransacked. Anything valuable had been taken. What couldn't be carried was smashed, burned, utterly destroyed.

He didn't stop. He went straight to the back cliff—a sheer drop of hundreds of zhang. Standing at the edge and looking down, he felt dizzy.

The crooked pine tree was easy to find.

Without this landmark, searching for a hidden cave on such a wide, steep cliff would've taken him much longer.

He leapt straight down, grabbed the vines, and hacked them with his blade—finally revealing the cave hidden behind.

Just as the Second Boss said—the cave was blocked by stones.

This small obstacle didn't stop him.

One slash—the rock cracked, the mountain didn't tremble. Soon, he carved out a passage wide enough to enter.

He lit firewood and tossed it inside. When the insects and vermin had fled, he stepped into the cave.

The cave wasn't deep—he could see the end at a glance, roughly thirteen or fourteen meters in. The height was about five or six meters. No signs of human carving.

Only the two stone walls near the entrance were unusually smooth.

The Sheng Tian Lu!

The complete Sheng Tian Lu!

Chen Guanlou gently touched the stone wall. What level of martial skill? Who could have carved the entire Sheng Tian Lu into this hidden cave?

The brushwork etched into the stone—how astonishing. Chen Guanlou's vision seemed to show a scene: a wild, unrestrained martial wanderer, wielding his blade as a brush, pouring his fierce spirit into each line of the Sheng Tian Lu!

First chapter. Second chapter. Third chapter… Fourth chapter…

Huh!

Chen Guanlou's expression turned to surprise.

He had long memorized the Sheng Tian Lu inside and out—he could recite it forwards, backwards, word for word without error.

He was certain he hadn't misread.

Comparing the stone-carved Sheng Tian Lu to his own copy, he realized—starting from the fourth chapter—his version had missing, omitted, or incorrect characters. A single character's error could lead to a thousand-mile deviation. Practicing from this corrupted version would surely lead to demonic deviation, body rupture, death.

He silently thanked his luck—thankfully, thankfully, he'd discovered these two stone walls before practicing the fourth chapter of the Sheng Tian Lu, and found the complete version.

But a new question arose.

Who copied the Sheng Tian Lu from these walls and spread it into the martial world, eventually ending up in Luo Jingtian's hands—and then his?

Was it the bandits?

He'd reviewed the Second Boss's dossier. Of the entire bandit gang, only one man could read—he was the accountant, had no martial meridians, knew no martial arts. The accountant copying and leaking the Sheng Tian Lu? Extremely unlikely—almost certainly ruled out.

Considering all known facts, the person who copied the Sheng Tian Lu must have had some martial knowledge, but limited cultivation. The missing or incorrect characters? Either intentional, or the copier was in a hurry—rushed through the transcription without checking each word. Or perhaps he memorized the entire text, then transcribed it later—but due to shallow memory, errors began from the fourth chapter.

Whichever the case, it ends here.

Chen Guanlou spent an entire day and night transcribing the full Sheng Tian Lu by hand.

Dawn arrived!

He stood at the cave's entrance, gazing into the distance—mountain after mountain, each higher than the last.

He drew his blade, and with the purest heart, erased every mark from the stone walls—not a single stroke, not even a tiny dot remained.

Dust scattered to the ground, as if merging with a figure from years past—one who had once carved with his blade, now one who wiped with it. The two smooth stone walls, finally bare, left not a trace.

The Sheng Tian Lu now belonged to him alone—in its complete form.

With his task done, he set off back to Jingcheng.

He found Hu Yuli, the female prisoner supervisor—a eunuch who had retired from the palace, the only unusual figure in the Tianlaomiao and even the Ministry of Justice, yet also its most marginal presence. So obscure, people often forgot he existed. Too quiet. Too invisible.