Chapter 5: Parental Love (Part 5): From Today On, I Take You as My Master Part 1

Liu Ying heard this, but instead of asking where the secret chamber was first, he wore a face full of worry and said, “You… are you alright?”

Her appearance was already exposed, so there was no need to hide it anymore. Shang Shan dangled the mask and buckled it onto the top of her head, her fingertips twisting the thin string and tying it at the break under her chin.

“No problem,” she said after securing the last knot, suppressing her hidden anger. “I’ll lead the way for you.”

She walked straight over without any precautions, but she didn’t spare Mu Qian Tan a single glance, brushing right past her.

Li Biyuan’s little heart trembled. ‘She’s angry? This is totally screwed, ahhh!’

The spiritual power she had just gathered instantly scattered. For the first time, Mu Qian Tan didn’t say anything and just shot Liu Ying a look, signaling him not to stand there dumbfounded and to hurry up and follow.

Shang Shan walked out of the courtyard and stopped under a pine tree. After a brief check of the direction, she confidently headed that way.

She had said earlier that she came to the Liu Residence to catch rats, so this was probably only her second time, yet she moved through the place as if she lived there. The original story said the female protagonist had an excellent memory and could always remember any path she walked once. It seemed that was true.

After weaving through the chaotic corridors and bridges with seven twists and turns, Shang Shan stopped in front of a more remote building. “It’s right here.”

Liu Ying said, “This is indeed Liu He’s room.”

Shang Shan pushed the door open and entered. “Come with me.”

The three of them entered the room, and sure enough, no one was inside. She passed through the gauze curtain and went straight to the wardrobe, opened the door, swept aside the hanging clothes with her arm, and groped along the wall.

While she searched for something, Mu Qian Tan walked to the bedside and looked down to observe. The bed was left in the state as if the owner had just gotten up, but a layer of dust had already settled on the surface. Clearly, he had gotten up in a hurry and hadn’t rested here for a long time.

Mu Qian Tan scanned it a few times and coolly thought, ‘This Liu Family brother has definitely lived too cushy a life and developed bad habits. He ruined a perfectly good family like this. If I were his dad, I’d stand at his bedside every night and nag him to death.’

Perhaps she had found the mechanism, as a click sounded from the wardrobe, followed by the rough grinding noise of a massive stone rubbing against the wall. A few seconds later, a large hole appeared in the wall, pitch black inside, with wisps of rotten stench continuously pouring out.

Mu Qian Tan thought again, ‘The authors these days really have nothing new to write. Back when I was a kid, there were already plot devices like this. It’s been over a decade, and they’re still using it. Can’t they put in a little more effort?’

She commented here and there like a critic. Li Biyuan finally couldn’t hold back after hearing it and hesitantly said, ‘Can I say something? You’re so harsh.’

Mu Qian Tan replied, ‘Mm.’

Li Biyuan coughed dryly twice. ‘Also, just because ancient people did it, does that mean modern people can’t? A hidden chamber in a wardrobe might be cliché, but it’s practical. Why bother with so many new details? Not everyone reads seriously anyway. Wouldn’t that be a waste?’

Mu Qian Tan said, ‘Oh.’

‘…’ She wasn’t listening at all!

Over there, Shang Shan stepped aside and pointed into the hole. “Have you been here before?”

Liu Ying leaned in to look. It was unlit inside, like the mouth of a giant beast, bottomless, emanating a damp, deathly chill like a tomb that made one want to step back.

“No.” He shook his head. “I’ve hardly ever entered this room, and I’ve never heard Liu He mention it.”

“I found it by accident too.” Shang Shan crossed her arms and pulled all the clothes out of the wardrobe, piling them on a chair. “I was chasing a yellow-furred rat and came to this room, then happened to find that mechanism. I suspected there was a rat nest inside and wanted to check it out, but these kinds of secret chambers often hide the owner’s secrets. After hesitating a few times, I still didn’t go in.”

The original book said the female protagonist was clever and calm, but influenced by the scorching dragon blood, she always seemed impatient and irritable. As long as her emotions stabilized, she could display her intelligence. This situation proved it.

Mu Qian Tan listened to the setting supplement and lightly hummed from behind her.

Liu Ying said, “You think Liu He is in there?”

Shang Shan replied, “Anyway, there’s definitely something in there.”

The inside was dim, and going straight in would likely cause a fall. She looked around the room and found a storage cabinet that might hold gold, silver, or treasures. She smashed the cabinet face open with her elbow and rummaged out a gold hairpin. She checked it against the moonlight outside the window, nodded, and asked, “This counts as your family’s stuff. Can I use it?”

Liu Ying had no idea what she planned to do with the gold particles and said, “Go ahead.”

She stuffed the tip of the hairpin into her mouth. Shang Shan’s expression didn’t change as she bit through it and chewed it up like it was some delicacy.

Such a sharp object should have drawn blood upon entering the mouth, yet she ate it. Liu Ying was utterly shocked. “Hey, your mouth…”

Shang Shan waved it off to indicate it was fine and chomped through the entire gold hairpin bit by bit. She remarked that the gold wasn’t pure, then dug out two more gold earrings and a bracelet, eating them all clean. Her teeth were sharp, producing only faint crunching sounds as she chewed the gold like it was pastry, which made Mu Qian Tan’s teeth ache just listening to it.

A timely pang of pain came from her hand; she had already experienced firsthand how formidable this person’s teeth were. But thinking about it now, she hadn’t lost a chunk of flesh, so this girl must have gone easy on her.

After finishing the gold, perhaps feeling it was enough, Shang Shan stood up, patted her belly, took a deep breath, and then exhaled.

Sparks crackled in her throat, followed by a surge of flames that roared out, blazing fiercely and lighting up the entire room.

Liu Ying’s mouth twitched slightly. He realized his worries were pointless; this person was probably no ordinary being either.

Mu Qian Tan’s gaze was indifferent. ‘This is her ability too?’

Li Biyuan said, ‘Gold Swallowing Fire Spitting—it’s a dragon clan trait. The book does mention it, but I didn’t expect her to master it so early.’

Firelight reflected in Mu Qian Tan’s eyes as she murmured, ‘Everything good goes to her…’

Her voice was extremely low; even Li Biyuan didn’t hear it and asked what she said. Mu Qian Tan closed her eyes, hiding the thoughts at the bottom. ‘Nothing.’

Shang Shan extended her palm, and the fireball obediently landed in it. “Let’s go in.”

It turned out she had just made a lighting tool.

The three crawled into the hole and descended. As soon as they finished the staircase section and stepped onto solid ground, the foul stench grew much stronger.

The firelight revealed the scene inside the cave: a narrow, long passage. The front was not yet visible, and the stone bricks on both sides were dark greenish-black, with fine ants crawling in the cracks. Faint, tiny claw scratches sounded occasionally—probably rats.

No one knew what lurked in this dark, damp place. Just thinking of clumps of insects, ants, and rats made one’s scalp tingle and goosebumps rise. Mu Qian Tan frowned, thinking maybe they shouldn’t go in, but the two ahead were already walking deeper without a change in expression, the firelight gradually receding.

She was speechless for a moment, lifted her sleeve to cover her nose, and followed.

After walking about thirty zhang forward, the narrow passage suddenly widened into a chamber. It wasn’t large and was almost empty except for some filth, with only a stone platform in the middle—and incredibly, a coffin sat atop it.

As the three arrived and made such noise, it was as if they disturbed the one in the coffin, who began muttering softly.

Rats squeaked as they scurried past their feet, matching the eerie scene in the room. Mu Qian Tan furrowed her brows deeply, her impatience growing, and she stiffly asked, “Is the one talking your brother?”

Liu Ying stared fixedly at the coffin, seemingly trying to identify something. As the firelight revealed the coffin’s details, his expression grew more shocked, turning into gut-wrenching fear by the end.

“This… this coffin is my mother’s.”

Could the one muttering in the coffin be his mother?

But though the mutters were soft, they were clearly from a male voice.

Mu Qian Tan gathered spiritual power near her ear and listened carefully to his words.

“I did something wrong, but they were wrong first, weren’t they?”

“This is the only skill I have. If I can’t make them suffer, everyone will look down on me—everyone will!”

“Mother can forgive me, right? You’ve always loved me the most. You’ll definitely say I did nothing wrong….”

He called the coffin owner “mother,” so the speaker had to be Liu He. Listening closely to the content, it was basically confirmed that he was behind all those messed-up events.

Mu Qian Tan turned and said, “You go back now and bring your daughter here.”

She no longer hoped Li Biyuan could find the Transcendence Method; there was no need. Now that they had Liu He in hand, the one who tied the bell must untie it. Just force him to withdraw the evil arts directly?

If she couldn’t transcend the dead, couldn’t she “transcend” the living?

Liu Ying also realized who was in the coffin. He quickly steadied himself and turned to run out, his footsteps fading into the distance.

Only two remained standing in the chamber. Mu Qian Tan glanced at the girl beside her and realized they would have a long time together afterward. Wanting to break the ice, she said, “Move the fireball forward a bit and check the situation.”