Even if they were lucky enough not to be treated as nourishment and managed to guess the source, the source was actually outside the demon realm...
It was truly one trap after another, leaving absolutely no way out.
Cheng Yue spoke calmly, “Every demon realm has a realm eye. If we find it, we'll have a chance to get out.”
Ning Zhou shivered, clutching his wooden club. “That's easy to say, but the larger the demon realm, the harder the realm eye is to find. Wuzhou City is so big—where are we supposed to look?”
Song Yao didn't reply, her gaze drawn to the figure outside the courtyard.
Her Fourth Junior Brother stood amidst the howling wind, talisman light flickering around him as his robes whipped wildly in the air.
His long hair fell over his shoulders, revealing a delicate, expressionless face.
The heavens and earth were vast, the talisman array grand and majestic.
Standing in the midst of this chaos, he actually exuded a trace of youthful vigor she had never seen in him before.
The Ming family's Eldest Aunt and Second Uncle possessed formidable cultivation, and the others were no pushovers either. With seven or eight of them forming a sword array, they wouldn't be easy to fend off.
As a talisman cultivator, he had managed to hold them back for so long with just the few talismans in his hand.
Compared to their last meeting, he had made significant progress.
But no matter what, they couldn't afford to delay any longer.
There were many of them, and only one of her Fourth Junior Brother. If his energy was depleted, none of them would be able to escape.
Song Yao averted her gaze. “The realm eye must be hidden in the safest place in all of Wuzhou City. It won't be in some street or alleyway. Wherever there are the fewest people and where it is the hardest to reach, that's where the array eye will be.”
The Child-Protecting Goddess couldn't let outside intruders find the realm eye, nor could she let the citizens who already lived in the city discover it.
If it were hidden in the city, and some citizen accidentally touched it and escaped, it would be a major headache for the Child-Protecting Goddess.
Hearing this, Ming Ran suddenly looked up. “I know a place that no one can go to!”
Song Yao: “Tell us.”
Ming Ran spoke rapidly, “Our Ming family has a book tower at the northernmost part of the estate, right next to the back mountain. Underneath the tower is the Ming family's sword tomb. Except for my parents, my Eldest Aunt, and my Second Uncle, no one else knows how to get in.”
Ning Zhou was taken aback. “But aren't your parents unconscious? And your Eldest Aunt and Second Uncle are currently under the Child-Protecting Goddess's control. Doesn't that mean we can't get in either?”
Ming Ran fell silent for a moment, then said dejectedly, “Right.”
Ning Zhou: “...”
He couldn't help but sigh once more, “How cunning!”
Crippling everyone who knew about the vault or turning them into her minions... this way, even if others knew where the realm eye was, they wouldn't be able to enter.
Just what kind of cultivation and realm did this demon have?
Song Yao rubbed her eyes, cutting off their pessimistic thoughts. “There's no point in overthinking it. Let's go take a look first.”
As soon as she spoke, everyone immediately agreed.
Ming Ran led the way, turning through several narrow alleys and avoiding the sword and talisman light still clashing on the main street, before scaling the wall from a narrow passage tightly hugging the back of the Ming family estate.
Once they scaled the wall and crossed two corridors, they were in the Ming family's inner courtyard.
The fire had already died down.
The air was thick with a heavy smell of burning.
Several main rooms had been burned down to charred frames, their eaves mostly collapsed. Scorched wood lay piled haphazardly on the ground, with a few embers still glowing dark red.
The moonlight broke through the dark clouds, spilling over the ruins. The ground was covered in a mess, looking unspeakably desolate.
Ning Zhou was so shocked his mouth hung open. “Why did those demons burn your house down too?”
Song Yao paused slightly and cleared her throat. “I burned it.”
Ning Zhou: “? What did you say? You started it? Are you crazy?”
Ming Ran, who was walking in front, suddenly turned around and glared at Ning Zhou unhappily. “What's your problem? Little Master started the fire to kill the demon infants! If not for this fire drawing my Eldest Aunt and Second Uncle's attention, how could we have burned all the demon infants to death so easily?”
Song Yao nodded. “Exactly, exactly.”
After nodding, she vindicated herself, “Once this is over, I will personally apologize to Hall Master Ming and Daoist Huachao.”
Now that she was an honest person, she couldn't just start a fire and walk away without a care like before.
Ning Zhou: “...”
No wonder she was so practiced when she had him burn the demon infants just now; she had already done it once.
Ming Ran shook her head and continued walking in. “Apologize for what? It's just a house. No need. Our Ming family has plenty of money. Let's go.”
Ning Zhou followed behind, incredibly curious. “Isn't it said that sword cultivators are exceptionally poor? Why is your family so rich?”
“My Eldest Aunt is in business, and my mother and father teach swordplay outside every day. The tuition isn't cheap.”
Ming Ran was very proud. “Besides, our Ming family is a sword cultivation clan. We don't need to buy swords from outside. There are plenty of swords in the sword tomb, which already saves us a lot of money.”
Ning Zhou wailed in envy, “I hate rich people. Why am I the only orphan?”
Song Yao lazily raised her hand. “Me too.”
Ning Zhou's eyes lit up. “You too? I feel much better then. Let's rely on each other from now on.”
Ming Ran: “Why do you two get to rely on each other? I want to rely on Little Master too!”
Ning Zhou: “You have parents. What are you trying to rely on each other for?”
Cheng Yue: “...You guys are so noisy. Aren't we in a hurry?”
With her reminder, the few of them quickened their pace, bypassing the burned inner courtyard and passing through a bamboo grove to reach the deepest part of the Ming family estate.
Inside the book tower, several night-luminescent pearls glowed. All four walls were lined with bookshelves, densely packed with scrolls and bamboo slips. The air was thick with the scent of old paper and ink.
Ming Ran walked over to a potted plant in the corner. Without a word, she pulled out the plant and inserted her sword into the soil.
With a soft click, the ground began to vibrate.
The heavy bookshelves around them creaked dully as they slowly began to rotate.
Soon, a downward-sloping passage was revealed in the gap between the bookshelves.
Stone steps descended one by one into the depths of the darkness.
“Below is our Ming family sword tomb. Let's go...”
Ming Ran stopped mid-sentence, her heart trembling.
—Footsteps were coming from the passage.
Unhurried, stepping on the stone stairs one by one, sounding exceptionally clear in the quiet book tower.
The footsteps drew closer.
Out of the darkness, a pair of embroidered shoes with brocade patterns stepped out of the passage first.
The owner of the shoes followed, revealing a face identical to Ming Ran's under the faint light of the night-luminescent pearls.
Her features, figure, hair accessories, and even the tiny mole between her eyebrows were exactly the same.
Only the expression on her face was completely different from Ming Ran's. There was no impatience, no panic, only a condescending indifference as she looked at the people before her, as if looking at a group of ants who didn't know their place.
She stepped out of the passage, her gaze finally landing on Ming Ran, the corner of her mouth curling into a cold arc. “Didn't Father and Mother say not to let outsiders come here?”
She tilted her head, as if scolding a disobedient child. “Ming Ran, do you want to disappoint Father and Mother?”
Rate on N.U.
