Chapter 496: Do You Want to Be the Mantis Stalking the Cicada?

"Eldest Young Master, what exactly are we looking for?"

Standing before these pavilions and towers, someone finally asked the question they had been wanting to ask all along.

Until they arrived here, they did not know what they were looking for either. The Eldest Young Master had never said, and none of them dared to ask.

They also understood that the fewer people who knew about such confidential matters, the better.

But now that they had entered the valley, if they did not know what they were looking for, how could they get to work? They couldn't just let the Eldest Young Master do it himself.

"It is a book, a book named *Travels of the Royal Court*!"

Looking around, Bai Heng then said, "Find this book, and I guarantee you can enter the third floor of the Cangwu Pavilion; you may choose any secret manual inside!"

"The third floor of the Cangwu Pavilion?" Upon hearing this, a brilliant light instantly flashed in everyone's eyes.

The Cangwu Pavilion houses the Martial Learning of the Bai Family. The first floor contains ordinary Martial Arts, the second floor contains essential Martial Arts, and as for the third floor, it contains the most profound and powerful Martial Arts of the Bai Family, which cannot be accessed by anyone other than direct descendants or those who have rendered great service.

In the past, they were only qualified to ascend to the second floor, and they could not stay for long. As for the third floor, that was something they dared not even imagine.

Being able to ascend to the third floor is the lifelong pursuit of all family retainers and servants; it not only signifies precious manuals and secret texts but also represents the highest honor.

Anyone qualified to ascend to the third floor will have a vastly different status and will inevitably be treated with respect within the Bai Family. Even those young masters of the Bai Family must show them some respect upon seeing them.

Like someone such as Bai Cheng, even the Eldest Young Master has to call him Uncle Bai!

Therefore, when Bai Heng offered such a massive reward, everyone wished they could grow two extra legs and began searching frantically.

Cannibal Valley is very large, indeed quite a bit larger than the prefecture city. However, there are not many books here; Cannibal Valley recruits the evil people of the world, not scholars.

How many of these evil people like to read? Furthermore, for a book like a travelogue that is completely disregarded, who would bother flipping through such a book?

Therefore, it should not be too hard to find; at the very least, no one would deliberately hide it.

Bai Heng knew very well that what he wanted was not the *Travels of the Royal Court* itself, but the map within the *Travels of the Royal Court*. The location pointed to by this map was the true target of the Bai Family.

Those who do not know the inside story would never imagine what is hidden within this travelogue; isn't it normal to draw some maps in a travelogue?

Bai Heng also had to admire the person who did this; they did not solemnly hide the map inside an Array, nor did they hide it in a way that appeared extremely precious.

Instead, they wrote it openly inside the travelogue, hiding it between the lines; they truly calculated the human heart to the bone.

Hiding a drop of water in the ocean is the hardest thing to find.

Who would care about a travelogue? Even if they saw it, they would just treat it as a miscellaneous book for amusement.

Travelogues, after all, are mostly one part truth and nine parts bragging, wishing they could write things to the heavens.

Who would have thought that the most real and pertinent truth was hidden between those seemingly absurd lines?

This matter is a secret passed down by the Imperial Household. For hundreds of years, the imperial court has been coveting this place of Xiaozhou, constantly targeting Cannibal Valley and Evil Man City; was it really just for this godforsaken, poor place?

Their true target is this travelogue, the map recorded within the travelogue.

Only the Imperial Household knows of this matter; even Evil Man City and Cannibal Valley do not know. Cannibal Valley just happened to occupy this place; they do not know of the former glory of Xiaozhou.

This place once persisted for over ten years under a Spirit Qi Surge before it was broken; it was targeted by those sleeping old monsters, viewed as a thorn in their side, and finally wiped out through their joint efforts.

This place possesses the power to resist those sleeping old monsters; it is the power that everyone dreams of.

Before the fall of Xiaozhou back then, the final power was hidden in a certain place. The map was divided into two volumes, upper and lower, and hidden in two books of *Travels of the Royal Court*.

One book hides the general location pointing to the treasure, while the other describes the mechanisms, layout, and the control methods for the Array.

Both are indispensable; without the first half, you cannot find the location at all. Without the second half, you might not even know how to enter, let alone want to obtain the treasure within.

However, this matter is extremely secret; even the Imperial Household only found clues from fragments of information, and only then inferred the location of the treasure.

Finally, they inferred that the location of Cannibal Valley and Evil Man City should be the core area of the former Xiaozhou Great Array. And these two travelogues should be hidden there.

That is why they spared no cost in wanting to destroy Cannibal Valley and Evil Man City. It is a pity that for hundreds of years, they have gained nothing. It was not until recently that it was accomplished by Shen Yu.

And after possessing the power here, they would not be as arrogant as their predecessors in attempting to guard an entire province; wouldn't that be a blatant challenge to the sensitive nerves of those old monsters?

Sacrificing oneself for a group of nobodies is something only a fool would do.

It is just like Mu Zishan back then; clearly terrifyingly strong, yet he insisted on sacrificing himself for the so-called world. Who knows how many people are laughing at his ignorance behind his back.

To this day, who would still be grateful to him? In the past, when the elders in the family occasionally mentioned Mu Zishan, it was mostly with ridicule.

This hero who saved the world is like a clown in the eyes of those he saved; how ridiculous is that.

Precisely because of this, Bai Heng always keeps one point in mind. People must, of course, live for themselves; only by living can one possess everything. It is not worth it to do so for others!

After obtaining the treasure in the map, all they need to do is guard their own family well.

As long as their family can survive the Spirit Qi Surge and wait until those old monsters fall back into a deep sleep, then their family will be the undisputed number one.

"Eldest Young Master, is it this one!"

Just as Bai Heng was lost in his thoughts, a family retainer ran over frantically, holding a book as if offering a treasure.

"Give it to me quickly!" Hurriedly snatching the book from the retainer's hand, Bai Heng flipped through it, and a wild, loud laugh instantly appeared on his face.

"Found it, found it, the map is hidden here!"

"Good, we will go to Evil Man City now. As long as we find the map of Evil Man City, we can find the treasure location and obtain the things inside!"

"On that day, my Bai Family will stand in an invincible position. No, it is I, Bai Heng, who will stand in an invincible position!"

"Clap, clap, clap!" Just at this moment, the sound of clapping came over, and immediately after, several figures leaped up from the water pool and appeared before their eyes.

"Bai Heng, you are still capable; I didn't expect you to find the things here so quickly!"

Looking at the people who suddenly appeared, Bai Heng put the book behind his back while unable to help but grit his teeth, "Qi Chengan, how could you appear here!"

"Of course, I only found this place by following you!" Looking at Bai Heng, Qi Chengan could not help but laugh softly.

He originally thought it was an unintentional success, but he did not expect such a big harvest.

"Bai Heng, your Bai Family is using a Beauty Trap; did you really think the rest of us were blind and couldn't see it?"

"We of the Qi Family are timid and dare not use a Beauty Trap, so we could only wait and see what happens!"

"But I didn't expect you to actually get it done. Tsk tsk, I have to say, you are indeed very capable to have actually managed to pry the location of Cannibal Valley and Evil Man City out of the mouth of Master Shen!"

"Originally, we weren't sure if this was true or false, so we just followed behind you. With you paving the way in front, wouldn't it be wonderful for us to sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor!"

"Now it seems that all of this is indeed true. Also, thank you for letting us know the weakness of Master Shen!"

Looking at Bai Heng, the more Qi Chengan looked, the more pleasing he found him. This good-for-nothing was a bit useless, but he wasn't entirely without merit; at the very least, he dared to make a bold attempt and had even succeeded.

After all, who doesn't know how to use a Beauty Trap? The key is whether the other party will accept it.

If Shen Yu happened to be an upright gentleman who kept himself clean, or even worse, if he realized this was a Beauty Trap, then that would not be good.

Which family could withstand an expert like Shen Yu? If things went poorly, the entire family could end up following in the footsteps of the Lan Family and Feiming Mountain.

Now it seems that since everyone is a man, how could anyone not love beauty?

Think about those great literary masters; which one of them didn't claim to be a gentleman, yet the places they frequented most in their daily lives were Brothels and flower boats?

When it comes to being shameless, it really has to be these scholars.

However, you have a top-tier beauty in your Bai Family, but does that mean we in the Qi Family don't have one?

I don't fear you having weaknesses; I only fear you being upright and clean, with not a single weakness to be found. As long as there is even the slightest crack, we can pry it open!

"Bai Heng, give the thing to me!"

"You Qi Family want to be the oriole behind the mantis? Don't even think about it! Although the Qi Family is strong, my Bai Family is no pushover!"

"Is that so?" With a faint smile, Qi Chengan just looked at him coldly.

"Your Bai Family used a Beauty Trap to scheme against Lord Shen. If Lord Shen finds out, I wonder what kind of fate will befall the Bai Family!"