All the gods began by cultivating the Iron Shirt technique.

Chapter 70 Hidden Agents

"Has anything unusual happened in the county today?" Bai Yan asked, wiping his hands in the basin of water held by a maid.

Inquiring about the situation in the county was almost a daily habit for him. As the Bai family grew larger and larger, Bai Yan was always worried that it would attract the attention of powerful members of the Beggars' Sect to clean house. Therefore, he scattered the Beggars' Sect disciples in various corners of Jiuyuan County. Whenever any unfamiliar faces appeared in the county, or anyone behaved abnormally, they had to report to him so that he could prepare in advance.

The attendant beside him mentally reviewed the reports his subordinates had given him that morning, trying not to miss any anomalies. He was originally a branch disciple of the Beggars' Sect, but since following Bai Yan, he knew that his life and death were now tied to Bai Yan's.

Therefore, he willingly became the other party's most loyal confidant and informant, monitoring the every move of the people in the entire county.

"A wandering swordsman on horseback arrived today, but he checked into Lao Zhuang's inn after entering the city, so there was nothing unusual about him. Other than that, there were just some ordinary people coming and going, as well as a caravan of merchants from Suzhou entering the city."

The confidant gave a brief account of what had happened in the city that morning, emphasizing the martial arts practitioners who had entered the city, while only mentioning the ordinary people briefly.

"Well, just keep an eye on that江湖人 (jianghu person), don't worry too much about him. But we should pay close attention to that merchant caravan. It's quite a long journey from Jiangnan to here," Bai Yan said casually.

Although he had made Jiuyuan County an impregnable fortress, it was not entirely isolated from the world. As a result, quite a few martial arts practitioners would stop by Jiuyuan County to rest, but caravans rarely came. Therefore, he instructed his men to keep a close eye on it to prevent any experts from trying to sneak in and cause trouble in the county.

"Yes," the confidant nodded in response.

......

Yang Pan paid for two days' accommodation at Yunlaiju Inn and checked into a room on the second floor. He didn't go downstairs for lunch but instead had the waiter bring the food into his room, where he ate.

There were simply too many eyes and ears in Jiuyuan County. From the moment he entered the city to the inn, those eyes never left him. Although they weren't watching him all the time, Yang Pan didn't like being watched like that, so he simply ate his meal in his room.

While eating, Yang Pan was thinking about how to make contact with the hidden agents here.

This Yunlai Inn wasn't just any inn Yang Pan randomly chose. According to intelligence, the spy was located within this inn. The Beggars' Sect had branches and sub-branches in various prefectures and counties, but even these branches and sub-branches couldn't fully know all the spies within their jurisdiction; only the sect leader knew the complete picture.

These undercover agents operate in the shadows, making it easier to gather intelligence. The intelligence about Jiuyuan County was leaked by these undercover agents.

However, the identity of the undercover agent remained a mystery, and even the intelligence did not specify the agent's public identity. Therefore, Yang Pan had no choice but to stay at the inn for the time being and contact the agent later through a secret code.

Yang Pan was having a meal in his guest room when a knock came at the door.

"Sir, your fruit wine has arrived."

It was the innkeeper's voice. Yang Pan paused in his work and said calmly, "Come in."

The door was pushed open, and a young waiter with a handsome face, dressed in a light blue short jacket, entered carrying a wine pot. Yang Pan's gaze fell on the man, who kept his head down as if he dared not meet his eyes, and his steps seemed unsteady, not like someone who practiced martial arts.

Could he be the mole?

Yang Pan's heart stirred slightly, but he remained calm on the surface and said, "Waiter, I see that your inn is doing quite well. It took me a while to get my fruit wine."

Before the waiter could even take his eyes off the wine jug placed on the table, Yang Pan casually placed his hand on the jug and quickly tapped it a few times with his index finger—two short taps followed by one long one. The tapping was fast but rhythmic.

This is the secret signal for contacting the mole. If the other party is indeed a mole, they will understand this gesture; otherwise, they will not notice anything unusual.

After setting down the wine jug, the waiter didn't immediately turn to leave. But then, he inadvertently caught a glimpse of Yang Pan's finger movements, and a shrewd glint flashed in his eyes, which had been slightly smiling. This glint disappeared in an instant, and the waiter's smile widened, his hands, which had left the wine jug, returning to its surface.

Under Yang Pan's questioning gaze, he held the bottom of the pot with one hand and pinched the handle with the other, tilting the pot to pour wine for Yang Pan.

"Sir, we are truly sorry for neglecting you. Our inn is like this all day long. It's a small place with few inns, and since everyone comes here to eat, it's inevitable that we can't serve everyone all. We hope you won't mind."

As the waiter poured the wine, Yang Pan noticed that in the hand supporting the bottom of the pot, an index finger was rhythmically tapping on the pot as well.

Three long and one short—that was the code signal from the hidden agent. It really was him!

Yang Pan understood, but didn't speak directly, letting the other person fill the glass. Then the waiter smoothly pulled the wine pot from the bottom with his right hand and carefully placed it on the table, smiling as he said:

"Judging from your meal in your room, you seem to prefer quiet. There's a lotus pond outside West Street in Jiuyuan County that's extremely tranquil around 9 PM. You might want to take a stroll there then."

After saying that, the waiter said nothing more and turned to leave the guest room.

Yang Pan followed the other man's retreating figure until the waiter closed the door before turning his gaze away. He reached out and lifted the wine pot, only to find a piece of folded paper now lying on the previously empty table, perfectly concealed by the bottom of the pot, making it impossible to discern anything unusual.

Yang Pan picked up the paper and unfolded it. He saw that it was covered with many small characters, and he knew that this was the message that the spy had just passed on to him. After reading the whole thing, Yang Pan carefully rolled up the paper and put it inside his robe.

"Bai Yan really went all out, and he really deserves to die!" Taking a deep breath, Yang Pan closed his eyes and began to process the information on the paper.

The contents mainly record how powerful the Bai family became under Bai Yan's management, and how the latter spared no expense in making Jiuyuan County an impenetrable entity. The Bai family was like local tyrants in Jiuyuan County, and the county government had long been infiltrated by the Bai family; the county magistrate's words were not as effective as Bai Yan's.

It also briefly described how Bai Yan betrayed the gang's intelligence to the Mongols and maintained frequent contact with them. He also described how Bai Yan wantonly oppressed the people and trafficked people in the surrounding counties...

In Yang Pan's view, even killing him a hundred times wouldn't be enough to cover all these evil deeds!

"But I was right. There really are crossbows in the Bai family mansion. No wonder this guy has survived for so long. He is quite cautious." Yang Pan sighed as he thought of the Bai family's military deployment recorded in the information.

If Jiuyuan County was managed into an impregnable fortress by the other party, then Bai Mansion, as their base, was built into an impregnable fortress by Bai Yan.

The mansion, with its four courtyards and four entrances, was guarded by guards armed with crossbows. The inner courtyard was also guarded by five-bag disciples of the Beggars' Sect who had defected to the other side. Ordinary people couldn't even get close to the Bai Mansion, and even second- or third-rate martial artists would find it difficult to break in. If Yang Pan were to rashly try to break in with his current strength, he would probably only end up dead.

"Now we can only wait until nightfall to see if we can get close to them from the hidden stakeout."

The lotus pond mentioned by the spy before leaving was a reminder to Yang Pan to meet there that evening. It seems that the other party has more information that has not been written down and needs to be discussed in detail in person.

After finishing his meal in the guest room, Yang Pan sat cross-legged on the bed, passing the time with cultivation. He didn't cultivate internal energy, but instead chose to practice the method of hard qigong. Now that he had lost the aid of the elixir, it was impossible to make rapid progress in internal energy cultivation in a short period of time; only by constantly practicing the method of hard qigong day and night could he become more proficient.

He is about to face a formidable enemy, and the faster his "toughness" ability, his trump card, takes effect, the safer he will be.

Time is like fine sand, always slipping away quickly without us noticing.

As the sun gradually set and the sky was once again bathed in starlight, the entire Jiuyuan County slowly fell silent. The daytime hustle and bustle was gone, and so were the spies scattered throughout the area.

......

At the end of the dirt road on West Street, there is a lotus pond. In the summer, the pond is full of lotus flowers, and the croaking of frogs rises and falls around the pond.

Yang Pan stood quietly in the night. It was the hour of Hai (9-11 PM), and he had been waiting for a quarter of an hour. According to the informant he had met during the day, this was the time for the rendezvous.

Just as Yang Pan was wondering why the other party hadn't arrived yet, a slight sound came from the dirt road not far behind him. Yang Pan turned around and saw a black-clad, masked figure rapidly flying towards them.

Her movements were light and agile, as nimble as a raccoon cat. Apart from the sound of her clothes rubbing against the surrounding weeds, there was not a sound when her feet landed.

Seeing this, Yang Pan felt a pang of envy. Although he followed a bold and powerful style, it didn't mean he was completely indifferent to agility and lightness of movement.

After all, whether it's for escaping from an enemy or traveling, having a skillful movement technique or lightness skill would undoubtedly be a great help.

Consider the Golden Goose Skill of the Quanzhen Sect, which is said to allow one to walk more than ten steps in the air when fully mastered, almost like a short flight. And then there's the Spiral Nine Shadows of the Nine Yin Manual; when fully mastered, one can transform into nine shadows with a single step, blurring the lines between reality and illusion.

These light-body skills, no matter which one Yang Pan masters in the future, will inevitably greatly increase his strength.

Unfortunately, he's more like a land tank now, barely able to rampage around, but when he encounters a more agile enemy, he can only fight them hand-to-hand.

The figure in black rose and fell a few steps to Yang Pan's side, then pulled down his mask to reveal the face of the innkeeper he had seen during the day.

"My name is Nian Jiu. May I ask your name, brother?" Nian Jiu asked Yang Pan, clasping his hands in a fist salute.

This year, Jiu looked young, probably only twenty-one or twenty-two years old. Although there is a title of "brother" in the Beggars' Sect, it is only after everyone knows each other's strength. If they meet someone from the same sect outside and do not know each other's strength, they will still call each other "brother" first.

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