Chapter 74

After hearing the names of the dishes, Tao Chuyi tossed her chopsticks aside. The three of them could only stare at the food, none of them daring to take a bite.

What kind of ridiculous names were those? Tao Chuyi pursed her lips, her appetite utterly vanished.

Nangong Yunshang forced a smile onto her face. “Doesn’t this place have any normal food?”

“It does.”

With that, the waiter hurried off to fetch the order. Before long, he returned with a platter of tea pastries. The wooden tray was divided into four compartments, each filled with pastries of a different color.

“These are mung bean cakes, osmanthus cakes, date cakes, and black rice cakes.”

Nangong Yunshang gave a slight nod, dismissing the waiter.

The moment they left, Tao Chuyi reached for a piece of pastry, only to be stopped by Nangong Yunshang.

“Everything in this place is strange. It’s best not to eat anything from here.”

Although Tao Chuyi wanted to dig in the moment she saw food, since her big sister had said no, she held back.

But with nothing to eat, she grew bored and began looking around the private room. Finding nothing amusing, she turned her attention to the ghost mask.

“This Underground City might as well be called the City of the Underworld.”

Zishan was on her highest guard. If anything went wrong, she would have to shoulder the heavy responsibility of protecting the princess and the prince consort. She had thought they were just here for some fun, but now they were in serious trouble.

Tao Chuyi was fiddling with the ghost mask when people suddenly appeared on the intricately carved high platform in the main hall. A lovely woman stood at the front, while four men behind her strained under the weight of a massive object, panting heavily.

They placed the item—covered by red silk—in the center of the platform and took up positions on either side.

The woman then spoke up. “Today we’ve brought some rare treasures. If anything catches your eye, make your bid. The highest bidder takes it.”

Gongs and drums erupted in a clamor, and the hall buzzed with excitement, as if everyone was quite used to such spectacles. Judging by their clothes, some of the patrons didn’t look like they were from Jingyun—perhaps travelers from foreign lands.

The private rooms on the other three sides were also occupied, with servants standing by their masters’ tables, ready to place bets at a moment’s notice.

Tao Chuyi stared at the red silk, burning with curiosity about what lay beneath.

When the four men yanked it away in unison, gasps of admiration rose from the crowd below.

“What is that?” Zishan cried out in shock.

Nangong Yunshang was just as stunned but managed to stay calm, seated in her spot.

“A person vase? A person jar?”

Tao Chuyi counted on her fingers, racking her brain but unable to recall the proper term.

The people trapped inside those vases and jars were all strikingly beautiful, and seeing them fused into the containers was utterly horrifying.

The woman in charge of the bidding began her introduction. “This is an ancient treasure: the Beauty Vase. Crafting one requires tremendous effort and endurance over a long period. After forty-nine days of tempering, the beauty and the vase become one. It can serve as an ornament or even a spittoon—whatever you decide. Starting bid: ten thousand taels!”

The bidding quickly grew heated, but Tao Chuyi’s group remained completely still.

Zishan’s voice trembled with fury. “It’s… utterly depraved!”

Tao Chuyi scampered back to Nangong Yunshang’s side and asked innocently, “Big sister, why would anyone stuff people into vases?”

Nangong Yunshang looked at her, her expression darkening.

“Because the ones who captured them aren’t human. They’re the true demons of this world.”

The crowd went wild over the Beauty Vases, and three of them sold in quick succession. But the last one had a crack in its side, dampening the bidders’ enthusiasm, and it went unsold.

After the auction came song and dance, with the guests gathering to celebrate their prizes. Meanwhile, Tao Chuyi and the others slipped out of the private room and followed the direction in which the Beauty Vases had been carried.

The four men were moving much faster now with their cracked Beauty Vase. Spotting the wine cellar ahead, they flung it to the ground. Their ugly, snarling faces emerged at once, fangs bared.

One of them yanked a horsewhip from the wall and lashed out at the Beauty Vase. The vessel shattered completely under the blow. A agonized scream followed as the woman fused to it gasped her last, barely clinging to life.

“You wouldn’t play the ornamental role? Then off to the underworld as a lowly imp!”

Before the words had even faded, two shadows shot out like arrows, darting toward the men on the left and right.

Tao Chuyi knocked out the one on the left, while Zishan kicked down the one on the right. In the blink of an eye, all four men lay unconscious on the ground.

Nangong Yunshang rushed in from outside and hurried to the woman’s side. The poor soul had no legs and lay in a pool of blood, her breathing faint.

“Miss! Miss!”

Perhaps hearing the calls, the woman suddenly lifted a hand and clutched at Nangong Yunshang’s sleeve, staining the fabric red with her blood.

“Academy… Xia… Qian…hua.”

Nangong Yunshang’s heart jolted. “You mean Miss Xia did this to you? How did she do it? Miss?”

The woman’s lips parted and closed weakly as she haltingly revealed the truth. The orphan girl from the Xia Family had opened a free academy, luring in children from poor families and those with disabilities. She then sold them to the Underground City to be turned into playthings for those with twisted tastes. The disabled ones were even better—they saved a great deal of effort. For the healthy ones, they simply maimed them first.

With that grim confession, the woman breathed her last.

“These animals!”

Zishan spat the curse.

Tao Chuyi gazed at the body. “Big sister, is she dead?”

“At this point, death is a mercy for her.”

Nangong Yunshang wiped the blood from the back of her hand, but the stain on her sleeve wouldn’t come clean.

It was no longer safe for them to return to the restaurant above. They might as well stay in the cellar.

“Zishan, hurry and rendezvous with General Zhao. Have her forces surround the Underground City and wipe them out when the moment is right.”

Zishan hesitated. “What about you and the prince consort?”

Nangong Yunshang waved her off. “With the prince consort here, I’ll be fine.”

“Understood!”

Zishan saluted and swiftly left the cellar, scaling the back courtyard wall and vanishing from sight.

Tao Chuyi wanted to find a place to bury the woman, but after searching everywhere, she found no suitable spot. Though she didn’t locate any good earth, she did discover a stone door.

She tapped the wall, and it echoed hollowly.

“Chuyi, what are you doing?”

Nangong Yunshang ventured into the dimness and groped around until she found her shoulder.

Tao Chuyi placed her hand over Nangong Yunshang’s. “Big sister, there’s a door here. See for yourself.”

With a gentle push, the stone door swung open, revealing a gap wide enough for one person. They entered one after the other. Nangong Yunshang took a torch from the wall, casting some light at last.

They followed the narrow passage forward, walking for what felt like ages until they reached another stone door.

Tao Chuyi opened it the same way and leaped onto the stone beyond. Peeking out, she realized it was a room.

“Big sister, it’s a room!”

Tao Chuyi emerged first, then turned back to help Nangong Yunshang out.

They brushed the dust from their clothes and took in their surroundings. It was a study.

Hearing footsteps, Tao Chuyi quickly pulled Nangong Yunshang into a cabinet to hide.

A moment later, the door creaked open. A woman entered, followed by two attendants.

It was none other than Miss Xia. She slammed her hand on the table, and the two attendants dropped to their knees.

“What’s the use of keeping you around? A Beauty Vase we worked so hard on got smashed right in our hands!”

“Please calm down, miss. We never expected that wretched girl to choose death over submission.”

Miss Xia stormed to the window, her back to them, her expression hidden.

“Don’t let the master find out about this. One smashed? Find me two more. We’re not running a charity here.”

“Yes!”

She waved them away, and the two withdrew.

Nangong Yunshang cracked the cabinet door open, her gaze fixed on Miss Xia’s back.

“She deserves to die.”

“Big sister, I can catch her for you.”

“Chuyi…”

Before Nangong Yunshang could stop her, Tao Chuyi burst out.

She clamped a hand over Miss Xia’s mouth and dragged her backward. Using silk from the room, she bound the woman hand and foot, then kicked her forward to kneel before Nangong Yunshang.

Miss Xia looked up and paled at the sight of them.

“You… how are you here? Miss Yun… Everything you heard was just nonsense. It has nothing to do with me. For the sake of our friendship from childhood, just let me go!”

That only made things worse. Nangong Yunshang strode forward and slapped her across the face.

“The one I was friends with was Xia Qianhua, not you, Miss Xia. I overlooked you impersonating her. But if you use the Xia Family name to commit atrocities and lose all humanity, I will never let you go!”

Miss Xia panicked completely. When begging failed, her eyes darted around, and she opened her mouth to scream—only for Tao Chuyi to stuff a rag in it.

She struggled futilely and couldn’t make a sound. Miss Xia rolled on the floor, trying to reach the door and bang on it for help. But Tao Chuyi was faster, kicking her back.

At that moment, chaos erupted outside—clashing blades and shadows flickering across the door and windows. It was impossible to tell friend from foe.

Tao Chuyi drilled a peephole in the door and peeked out. She spotted Zishan and nearly opened the door, but then saw the black-clad figures.

“Big sister, there are several groups out there.”

Nangong Yunshang peered out from behind her. Indeed, multiple factions were clashing. Zishan’s people not only had to fight the guards but also fend off the black-clad assailants.

“Let’s head back the way we came!”

But before leaving, Nangong Yunshang’s eyes fell on a broad knife hanging on the wall.

She couldn’t leave this impostor alive.

With that thought, Nangong Yunshang drew the broad knife. She had never wielded such a weapon before, and hefting it was an effort.

Miss Xia’s eyes widened as she backed away, retreating all the way into the corner where there was nowhere left to go.

Nangong Yunshang mustered every ounce of her strength to raise the broad knife high. Just as it was descending, a surge of power steadied her wrist. The blade fell in a clean arc, and Miss Xia squeezed her eyes shut for good.

Tao Chuyi seized Nangong Yunshang’s hand and hurled the broad knife aside. The two turned and bolted back the way they had come.

Along the road, Nangong Yunshang sensed that Chuyi had reverted to that cold, impassive expression.

Yet their original path led straight back into the chaos of clashing factions. Zhao Linglong and her group were tangled in a brutal melee with fighters from the Underground City. No one knew where they had come from, but black-clothed assassins swarmed the scene in overwhelming numbers, striking at both sides indiscriminately.

The two raced onward blindly, with no idea where they were headed. Black-clothed assassins gave chase, closing the gap with every step. Ahead loomed a sheer cliff wall, forcing Tao Chuyi to spin around and face the pursuers head-on.

Nangong Yunshang suddenly cried out in shock as someone yanked her body upward, suspending her in midair.

Tao Chuyi, hemmed in by assassins on all sides, battled fiercely toward Nangong Yunshang’s position. The moment Tao Chuyi was on the verge of reaching her, the assassin gripping Nangong Yunshang flung Nangong outward. She plummeted straight off the cliff.

Every assassin thrust their sword toward Tao Chuyi. Tao Chuyi abruptly abandoned all defense and, right in front of them, leaped off the cliff in pursuit.