At this moment, a soldier from the Great Wall Guard lifted the tent flap and said, "Lord Bai, a dispatch from Chang'an has arrived. Lord Mulan requests your presence."
Bai Ye snapped back to attention and nodded. Then, to the soldier's dumbfounded expression, he put away the gachapon machine.
Mulan's tent was next door. As Bai Ye entered, Mulan held out a letter and said, "It's confirmed. Those automatons were lost from the Ten Thousand Phenomena Craftsmanship."
Bai Ye responded, "Oh?"
Mulan continued, "About a month ago, a batch of automatons went missing from Chang'an. Lord Di of the Dali Temple had been investigating, but without any leads. Who would have thought that batch would appear at the Great Wall."
Bai Ye asked, "What do we do now?"
Mulan replied, "Chang'an has instructed us to handle it ourselves."
Bai Ye was speechless, "That's too perfunctory."
Mulan sighed, "It's not that Lord Di is perfunctory, but Chang'an is experiencing a period of turmoil. Many things have happened in Chang'an recently, and the Dali Temple is overwhelmed. They simply can't spare any personnel."
Bai Ye inquired curiously, "Many things have happened in Chang'an too?"
Mulan nodded and gestured towards a pile of documents to the side, "Yes. To investigate the automatons, I've also gathered some intelligence from Chang'an. You can see it's all piled up there."
Bai Ye looked at the mountain-like files and remarked, "It seems like there's no less going on here than in our area."
Mulan agreed, "Exactly. So, it's understandable that Lord Di can't spare people and wants us to handle it."
Bai Ye nodded and casually picked up a file, flipping through it. He then frowned.
"Hmm?" Bai Ye murmured, "The Heart of Dawn was stolen?"
Mulan nodded, "Yes, this is what's causing the most headaches for Chang'an."
"Wait a moment," Bai Ye's eyes lit up, "Let me think. I think I know something."
Bai Ye didn't know much about the stories in the hero regions, as there were simply too many small areas within them.
In his previous life, Bai Ye had only visited Chang'an, the Land of Fallen Gods, and...
The Primordial Domain!
The Primordial Domain was a forbidden zone. Its origin was the shattering of an item called the Heart of Dawn, which led to the opening of a cross-world channel. A large amount of primordial energy surged from this channel, forming the Primordial Domain forbidden zone, filled with illusions known as the Dark Heart Worlds.
Thinking about it this way, things started to make sense!
In his previous life, Bai Ye had gone to the Primordial Domain around the middle of the World War progress. The Primordial Domain was already open, and one could simply enter.
However, currently...
Bai Ye pondered. With the current strength of the chosen ones, entering and exiting the Primordial Domain would be nearly impossible.
After all, using his current strength as a benchmark, entering the Primordial Domain would be a sure death, and this was even with the advantage of his past life's memories.
Therefore, the Primordial Domain forbidden zone was definitely not open yet. But the Heart of Dawn was related to the opening of the Primordial Domain forbidden zone, which meant...
"This hidden quest is actually a prelude to the opening of the Primordial Domain forbidden zone?"
Bai Ye felt he had discovered the key.
It was important to note that the Primordial Domain forbidden zone was not in Chang'an city but in a place called the Valley of Glory.
As he thought, Bai Ye took out some documents to examine and said, "Show me the map of the Great Wall."
Mulan, unsure of his intentions, handed him a sheepskin map.
Bai Ye quickly scanned the map and then took a deep breath, "I see. Their goal is to transport the Heart of Dawn out of Chang'an."
Mulan asked, confused, "Hmm?"
Bai Ye continued, "Give me a map of Chang'an as well."
Mulan produced a new sheepskin map and handed it to Bai Ye.
Bai Ye drew a circle on Chang'an's location, then cross-referenced it with the documents, drawing more circles on the map.
Next, Bai Ye had someone fetch the documents related to the Great Wall from his tent. He constantly compared the troubled areas in the documents and drew circles on the map.
"Their strategy is to wear us down with constant disruptions, making us rush around, and then they can smuggle the Heart of Dawn out of Chang'an," Bai Ye said as he drew circles. "Isn't the Dali Temple swamped? Is the matter of the Heart of Dawn being ignored?"
Mulan replied, "It's not entirely ignored. I heard Lord Li Bai is investigating..."
Mulan paused and thought.
"Your conjecture might be correct. Only Lord Li Bai is investigating the Heart of Dawn, and the Dali Temple simply cannot spare any personnel," Mulan said. "But what does it have to do with us?"
"That depends on where they intend to send the Heart of Dawn," Bai Ye continued drawing circles on the map. "We'll have the answer soon."
A moment later, Bai Ye picked up the two maps, compared them, and a smile spread across his face.
He had guessed correctly!
Bai Ye pointed at the map, "Look, this is the enemy's objective."
Mulan glanced at it, "The Valley of Glory?"
Bai Ye nodded, "Look at the map of Chang'an. Besides the incidents within the city, there are almost no incidents in the southwest outside the city."
Mulan nodded, "Mhm."
Bai Ye continued, "Now look at the Great Wall. Recently, horse bandits, barbarians, and demonic creatures have appeared frequently, attacking merchant caravans everywhere and even the Great Wall. The market at Jade City Pass, in particular, has been exceptionally lively. There have been over a dozen cases of merchant caravans being robbed. However, in the opposite direction of Jade City Pass, to the northeast, there have been almost no incidents. Do you know why?"
Mulan narrowed her eyes, "East of the Great Wall, towards the northeast, is the Valley of Glory."
"Exactly," Bai Ye said. "It's simple. They're causing trouble in Chang'an to transport the Heart of Dawn out, with the Valley of Glory as their destination. And they're causing trouble at the Great Wall to prevent their actions from being exposed, as the Great Wall could quickly send reinforcements."
Mulan nodded, "So, the recent frequent incidents are all happening in areas far from the northeast. Jade City, being in the opposite direction, has had particularly many incidents. This way, even if they receive news, gathering personnel would be difficult."
Bai Ye declared, "Correct!"
Mulan grabbed the map and said, "I'll go see Commander Li Xin immediately."
Mulan, being decisive, grabbed the map and left Bai Ye behind, rushing off.
Meanwhile, Bai Ye...
"You have helped the Great Wall Guard uncover the secret of the automatons and received the mission reward: Shadow Battle Axe x1."
Bai Ye's hidden quest was complete!
The next second, a black battle axe appeared in Bai Ye's hand.
...