CHAPTER 2476  CLOAK AND DAGGER HALL

While the Treasury Minister's residence was indeed near the edge of the grounds, Lin Mu didn't expect for the assassins to be hiding so near to it.

Lin Mu spread his immortal sense and observed the distance between the two locations, finding it to be barely three kilometers apart.

"Three kilometers… they managed to hide all this time with such a small distance and even avoided the Immortal Sense of others." Lin Mu hadn't expected them to be this covert.

While Immortals didn't usually scan underground, in high security areas like the Imperial Grounds, it would certainly be done to check for anything suspicious. Lin Mu had even read about an assassin a few hundred years ago in the past where the assassin had hid basically buried himself underground when some landscaping work was being done.

He had stayed hidden for several months before finally striking out when his target was passing over the place he was buried in. Of course, he still died when the guards poured in, but his target had been killed too.

As such, the people in charge of security scanned everything with their Immortal Sense, even the ground to be sure of it. For them to have missed the tunnel was unexpected, making Lin Mu suspect whether there was some corruption underway.

'How did they manage to avoid detection so far? Not to mention develop a secret hideout this close.' Lin Mu wondered.

The Furniture Workshop was located barely a hundred meters from the Wall of the Imperial Grounds. Which meant that it was in the prime district where a lot of Aristocratic families and clans lived along with rich merchants.

Getting a place there was not easy at all and there were little to no sales of land. Making a shop was even harder, as one would have to be highly influential and rich to do it. 'Did they have the backing of some Noble?' Lin Mu thought to himself. To him, the background of these assassins became more and more mysterious.

"Let's see what else they're hiding…" Lin Mu muttered to himself and went further.

He arrived in the first room where a lot of worktables and tools were present. As soon as he appeared there though, the faint scent of Pine filled his nose.

'Hmm… it's definitely similar to what Little Shrubby told me about.' Lin Mu thought to himself and arrived in the second hall where a lot of the unfinished furniture was kept. Here the scent of pine got stronger and he could also smell the Pine Resin itself. "This is probably where they got the traces of the Pine Scent on them. It is strong enough that it won't go away even after washing throughly." Lin Mu reckoned. "Besides, they probably didn't think that they would get caught from something like the scent of Pine." The Servant girl had also only gone there when she was asked to bring Fragrant Wood, so even if someone thought she was smelling of Pine, she had a legitimate excuse for it.

"Phase." Standing in front of the closed wooden door, Lin Mu didn't knock and instead sank down into the ground.

He wished to spy on them first and make sure that he could take them out all at once.

He moved through the ground, while keeping his immortal Qi fluctuations contained, leaving basically no trace of it. Once inside, he extended a tendril of his Immortal Sense and carefully listened in.

He moved through the ground, while keeping his immortal Qi fluctuations contained, leaving basically no trace of it. Once inside, he extended a tendril of his Immortal Sense and carefully listened in.

"…half the Daggers have been moved, but the rest will not be mobilized." Lin Mu heard a woman who was in the middle of a conversation.

"Tell them to hurry. There's a chance we might have to move the 'workshop' if 'Little Cloak' fails." Another woman replied.

"But was it wise to pick Little Cloak for this? She is still too fresh." A man with a gruff voice asked.

"It was the Great Daggers decision. We cannot question it." The first woman estated.

"Regardless of it, we simply need to finish the other assignments as soon as possible. The payment that new 'Empire' is willing to send is more than what we'd make in a year from our regular commissions." As soon as Lin Mu heard this, his ears perked up.

'That is most definitely the Black Ying Empire.' Lin Mu thought to himself.

After all, it was the only new Empire that could exist right now. "Great Dagger, was it good to take their Commission?" the man with the gruff voice asked in doubt. "The Feng Imperial Court has been up and arms with them and have been striking down all their traces. If they discover that our Cloak and Dagger Hall was behind it our hundreds of years of legacy will be erased." The man asked in a concerned voice.

A man who had been busy reading a document finally lifted his head and looked at the man.

"Eight Dagger, while you have the martial skills, you lack the wits to look ahead." The man named Great Dagger spoke. "If we can finish this commission, we'll finally be able to rise above our current status that we've been stuck in for the last hundred years.

Besides, our goals align. We both wish for the weakening or the removal of the Feng Imperial Family. Only when they are gone, will we be able to finally thrive and gain true power." He explained, a hint of anger in his voice.

~THUD~ owns this.

"Forgive me Great Dagger, I'm simply too stupid to understand." The man named Eight Dagger quickly kowtowed, knowing that he had slighted his superior.

"Besides, the commission was taken on by the Prime Dagger and Prime Cloak themselves. Even I cannot question their wisdom." The Great Dagger stated.

Lin Mu continued to listen to their conversation and leaned a lot about them. With all that, a background for the so called 'Cloak and Dagger Hall' was created in his mind.

'They're a relatively new power that have been trying to gain power huh… They're certainly ambitious and do have a little strength to back it up.' Lin Mu analyzed.