— 君子之交淡如水 (Jūnzǐ zhī jiāo dàn rú shuǐ) — A gentleman's friendship is insipid as water.

As generals of the Li Continent, Zi Siwei and Bai Haoxia cannot be seen disobeying the law. This includes planning for the break-in so the two had to find ways to do so. Usually, that would mean waiting until very late at night when all the servants were asleep to discuss. Most people would find many days of such activity and secrecy exhausting but since the two have seen and experience conflict in the northern frontier, it was otherwise business as usual.

The Zhao residence was devoid of cultivators which can make a break-in seem easy. But with the knowledge that Dawa had provided them, the two were uncharacteristically cautious. Secrets in the cultivation world were not unusual and many experienced immortals were always aware of the dangers associated with uncovering them.

And so, on a night where the moon was hidden by storm-like clouds, Bai Haoxia and Zi Siwei were in an alley on the east-most side of Guxi city, the Zhao residence in sight.

"Siwei, it looks like it will rain tonight. It may interfere with the operation." Bai Haoxia examined the sky, brows furrowing.

"Mm. We have to be quick. Get the information we need." Zi Siwei nodded.

Bai Haoxia briefly looked at his blood brother, trying to ascertain his motivations for doing such a thing. Surely a woman cannot persuade the stubborn Zi Siwei to do something so outrageous.

Ah Siwei, you have sour relations with your father because you didn't want to marry Maiden Pei. Now we are at risk of being punished because of Dawa. Sometimes, I wonder why I go along with these dumb plans of yours.

"Looks like the coast is clear." Bai Haoxia did a quick sweep around the area.

Both men quietly dashed from the alley they were hidden in and arrived at the front gate of the Zhao residence.

Bai Haoxia's spiritual scanning abilities had a greater range and accuracy than Zi Siwei so he was in front of Zi Siwei and acting as his vanguard.

"I don't sense cultivators at the gates, just a few regular guards." He reported.

Zi Siwei nodded and turned to Bai Haoxia. He gave him a knowing look and the other man nodded in understanding.

Both men have been working together since they were students of Minister Hao nearly ten years ago. Their coordination has been developed so thoroughly that any subtle sign they made was instantly understood by the other. Meaning that more often than not, there was no need for them to talk while on official military missions.

Bai Haoxia turned so that his back was facing Zi Siwei's. He acted as the rear guard to allow Zi Siwei to jump over the wall into the courtyard. Once Zi Siwei was safely on the other side, Bai Haoxia will jump after him. His strong sensing abilities allowed the pair to execute this tactic to near perfection.

Once in the courtyard, Bai Haoxia and Zi Siwei immediately hid among the foliage. The soldiers patrolling noticed a sound but put it off as the wind or some animal scurrying around. As such, the two men were safely hidden from detection.

Bai Haoxia glanced at the guard nearest to him but Zi Siwei placed a hand on his shoulder. Bai Haoxia's eyebrows furrowed but didn't shake off the hand. Zi Siwei gave another Bai Haoxia knowing look before directing his eyes to a particularly dark spot of the residence. Then, with Zi Siwei leading the way, both men dashed to that spot, hopping silently over the bannister. Bai Haoxia was surprised when they arrived that there was a door secured with a large padlock.

This detail wasn't in the plans that we got. It seems that Siwei had done some extra research. I guess that's why he picked today of all days to ensure that the door was completely covered in shadow so it can be investigated without fear of being seen.

Zi Siwei used a spell to unlock the door and allow the two to quietly slip inside with Bai Haoxia being the rear guard once again. Then, once inside, they shut the door and locked it from the inside to not arouse suspicion.

This room felt very odd to the two generals: It was pitch black. Usually, in the darkest of nights, there is still some light that can filter through the clouds. However, none of them could get their bearings in the room, indicating that no light can enter.

"Haoxia." Zi Siwei spoke. Because they could no longer see each other's movements, they had to start speaking.

Bai Haoxia scanned the room for a presence. They were being very careful not to move. If there was a trap set up, one wrong step would end them.

"All clear." Bai Haoxia replied.

"We should generate some light." Zi Siwei suggested.

Both men took out a fire talisman and lit it. The flames danced around their hands but didn't hurt them. The room was now dimly illuminated – just enough to see but not enough to be detected from the outside. With their surroundings clearer, the two generals could get a good look around.

The room was furnished like a normal room: Chairs, tables, couches, curtains. Zi Siwei walked to one of the windows, it was decorated in the usual window paper. Upon closer inspection though, it was adorned with a spell.

"These window papers have a spell that is weaved inside." He observed. The spell pattern was too tiny to the naked eye and he couldn't discern what kind of spell it is.

"You think it's the reason why the room is so dark?" Bai Haoxia enquired.

"Perhaps." Zi Siwei replied, "I knew that this room would be of interest and it seems that I was right."

Bai Haoxia decided to voice the thoughts that he held back while they were infiltrating, "The locked room wasn't in the plans we received. I suppose you did some research beforehand?"

"Mm. Our infiltration objective was this room." Zi Siwei replied.

Bai Haoxia sighed a little but smiled wryly.

It's so like you to change the plan without telling me. However, it doesn't mean I'm alright with it…One of these days, you will kill me…haha…

Both men looked at the furniture in the room, trying to find more things of interest. Zi Siwei touched one of the chairs, running his finger across the arm.

No dust. Strange since this room is locked.

Bai Haoxia ran his hand across the curtains, feeling the fabric and observing the style.

This is silk from one of the Eastern Kingdoms. In fact, a lot of the furniture is reminiscent of motifs from there.

"Haoxia." Zi Siwei called.

"Mm?"

"There must be something here that the Zhao family doesn't want to be revealed. Someone has been regularly coming here and cleaning this room." Zi Siwei voiced his observations.

"Well, that's to be expected. This room was locked and is devoid of light." Bai Haoxia shrugged, "Also, most of the furniture is from one of the Eastern Kingdoms. But I don't have enough knowledge to pinpoint which one." He finished.

Zi Siwei knotted his brows.

Minister Hao did say that the assassin may have come from the east. Concubine Li was right to suspect the Zhao family but I can't come to conclusions yet – I have to investigate more. I'm already breaking so many laws by doing this but…

Dawa's face popped into his head and he felt some warmth in his heart.

What is this…

"Oh." Bai Haoxia suddenly voiced out which broke Zi Siwei from his thoughts.

"Look at this couch, the style is not from the east."

"Mm, indeed." Zi Siwei mused and walked to where Bao Haoxia was.

He was right. The pattern of the couch was more western but only slightly so. Without Bao Haoxia's strong eye for detail, it wouldn't have been spotted.

"Considering that all the furniture in this room is from the east, it is strange that this is the only item that is from somewhere else." Bai Haoxia crouched down, moving his fire talisman to get a closer look at the patterns.

"Quite reminiscent of the Western Plains but I'm not very sure." Bai Haoxia investigated, "If only Maiden Dawa were here, she could verify it but that's not possible."

"Hmm?"

"What is it?" Zi Siwei asked.

"The floorboard here is slightly darker than the rest." Bai Haoxia crouched further to get a closer look, "I wonder if I can move this couch?"

Bai Haoxia stood up and gave his talisman to Zi Siwei. He then used both his hands to slowly push the couch out of the way. Once he was done, he took the talisman back from Zi Siwei and crouched down to look at the floor again.

"Yeah, I was right. There is a floorboard that is slightly darker than the rest."

"Can it be moved?" Zi Siwei asked.

Bai Haoxia began to fiddle with the darkened part of the floor; pushing and trying to lift the floorboard but to no avail.

"Do you think there is a mechanism?" Zi Siwei started to look near the darkened floorboard, trying to find a hidden switch or something similar.

"There must be." Bai Haoxia replied from his place on the floor, continuing to fiddle with the floorboard.

Zi Siwei looked at the back wall where the couch used to be located and noticed something peculiar. He kneeled to get a closer look.

"There is a dark panel." He observed.

"Is there?" Bai Haoxia looked up, "Oh, I guess I didn't notice it."

Zi Siwei pushed and tried to pry the panel out but like with the floorboard, it would not budge.

"Maybe…we should push them at the same time?" Bai Haoxia suggested.

Zi Siwei looked at Bao Haoxia and nodded. They then pushed on the panels simultaneously.

'click'

Wood panels to the right of where Zi Siwei and Bai Haoxia were positioned moved and arranged themselves, creating a gap in the wall.

"Looks like we've opened a secret entrance." Zi Siwei announced.

"Young Maiden Dawa instincts were spot on." Bai Haoxia replied in response.

"Don't be so quick." Zi Siwei warned, "She may have found out something but…" He looked at the room with its peculiar setup, "we can't be sure that the secrets align with our objective. For all we know, it could be some silly heirloom of the Zhao family."

"True." Bai Haoxia agreed, "But we won't be able to find out if we just stand here."

"Mm." Zi Siwei replied before walking in first, with Bai Haoxia following behind.