Chapter 337: The Underground Secret Room
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 337: The Underground Secret Room
"The entire Ninglan Township Castle has been occupied by our men, but the old City Lord is nowhere to be found. We found many fragments..."
"That’s enough." Ninglan Qiuyu waved his hand, cutting the man off.
Any further and the description would have turned gruesome. He didn't care about the dead, nor did he care about the slain Dream Demons. To him, they were all simply enemies.
To him, this entire affair was a game—a game where, upon stepping into Ninglan Township Castle, he became the City Lord.
He was currently in the City Lord’s administrative hall in the center of the castle. He looked at the seat in the very middle, the place where his father used to sit. Every time he had come here in the past, memories of being reprimanded would flood his mind. But now, everything had changed. The game had shifted, and it was he who sat there.
Every inch of this place was stained with the filth of the uprising. Blood had coagulated and turned black; even the City Lord’s primary seat was no exception.
He didn't believe for a second that his father would die so easily.
Having been his son for so many years, how could he not know what his father was thinking?
This seat will be yours sooner or later. He had heard that phrase countless times. But so what?
Now, the seat was finally his.
He remembered being a child, curiously rummaging through the cabinets here. After being caught and scolded by his father, locks had been installed on every single one.
Now, the marks of violence were clear on the massive desk; the locks had been brutally pried open.
He pulled open every drawer, bored yet meticulous, but the feeling from his childhood never returned.
The people standing nearby assumed Ninglan Qiuyu was searching for something important. There was nothing wrong with that assumption, but if they knew that this youth—the soon-to-be City Lord of Ninglan New City—was merely revisiting childhood joys, they wouldn't have believed it even if they were beaten to death.
"Hmm?"
While searching, Ninglan Qiuyu suddenly found a small box placed right in the center of the middle drawer. The box was exquisite, looking somewhat out of place in these surroundings.
He opened it without hesitation. He had imagined many things might be inside, but when it clicked open, there was only a key.
It was ordinary, utterly mundane.
He picked up the key, observing the patterns of its teeth and its shape. A memory of a door from long ago—one he had almost forgotten—surfaced in his mind.
It was a very old memory of the Ninglan Township Castle basement. He had been there once when he was very young, but no one knew what was kept inside.
The moment he held the key, Ninglan Qiuyu felt a powerful urge to go and investigate.
"Ninglan Qiuyu, taking the City Lord’s seat so soon? Are you looking to experience the burdens and responsibilities of the office ahead of schedule?"
The sudden use of his full name startled him. His hands froze for a split second before he nonchalantly closed the drawer, palming the key as he did so. He looked up to see a familiar face. At this point, there weren't many people left who would address him so directly, and Ninglan Qiuyue was one of them.
"What are you doing here?" Ninglan Qiuyu frowned, clearly displeased by her arrival.
"Is there some reason I shouldn't be here? I’ve finished what you asked me to do. Did you expect me to personally join the suppression efforts?" Ninglan Qiuyue’s tone was blunt as she fired back.
"Even so, you shouldn't have left your people to come here alone. You’ll only get in my way."
"How could I possibly get in your way? Or are you just being defensive? I only came to check on my father. Where is he?" After her rebuttal, Qiuyue scanned the room. Aside from bloodstains, there seemed to be nothing else.
"I don't know."
"You don't know? What does that mean?" Qiuyue frowned. She knew exactly how their father felt about Ninglan Qiuyu’s rebellion. It was nothing more than a game of power.
"Exactly what it sounds like. If you’re so bored, go do what you’re supposed to be doing," Ninglan Qiuyu said as he stood up and walked away.
Since there were no results here yet, he didn't mind taking this time to check that place. His father would never have left this key here so abruptly without a reason. He knew his son well—at least on the surface.
Ninglan Qiuyue watched him leave but said nothing more. It wasn't that she didn't have questions for her brother, but she knew asking would yield no answers.
"So he hasn't seen Father..." she muttered to herself as she turned around. Tan Han had caught up to her by then.
"Has the dust settled?"
"I suppose so. At least Ninglan Township Castle is fully under control."
"It was unbelievably simple," Tan Han remarked.
"It was meant to be. Let’s go; we don't seem to be welcome here... Oh, wait."
"What is it?"
"Tan Han, would it be convenient to introduce me to the leaders of the other Transcendent Academies? There are some things I’d like to discuss with them."
"I’m not particularly close with them, but if you want to see them, you shouldn't really need a formal introduction from me."
Hearing Tan Han’s words, Ninglan Qiuyue stopped worrying about formalities. Finding the gathering place of the Outsiders was easy enough; she just had to ask.
She had some prior dealings with the Outsiders, though she didn't know all of them.
Students from various Transcendent Academies had already gathered here, their distinct features making them easy to identify.
The most prominent was naturally the Holy Angel Academy, followed by a large group of Elves led by the team from Afuhemi Academy.
The remaining members of the Beast Academy were a disorganized mix.
Tan Han scanned the crowd, looking puzzled. Of the Three Top Academies, the Wizard Academy seemed to be missing.
"Miss, is there something you need? I noticed you’ve looked our way quite a few times. Allow me to introduce myself: Archie Charlie. Just call me Archie."
"Hello, I am Ninglan Qiuyue. My apologies, I was indeed preoccupied with something."
"Ninglan... Oh, I see. May I ask what brings Miss Ninglan to see me?" Archie asked warmly. Upon hearing her name, he had a good idea of the girl's identity.
However, his gaze shifted to Tan Han. He was quite familiar with her—they were old acquaintances. He gave her a brief nod as a greeting.
"It’s like this: I want to understand some of the details regarding your previous combat operations."
"Oh? If you want to know about that, I’m afraid we weren't of much help. There isn't much to tell, but if there’s something specific you want to know, feel free to ask."
Ninglan Qiuyue took the opportunity to learn about the events she hadn't witnessed. There was nothing particularly spectacular; the process sounded almost tedious.
"Our experience really wasn't anything worth noting. Are there any other questions?" Archie asked again, as polite as ever.
"That’s about it. Oh, one more thing. Before you moved out, did my brother—Ninglan Qiuyu—have you perform any screenings for Dream Demons?"
"Screenings for Dream Demons? What kind of screening do you mean?" Archie asked, his brow furrowing.
"Checking yourselves or your belongings to see if any Dream Demons were parasitizing them. To be honest, not long ago, I was ambushed by a Dream Demon. If I hadn't discovered it in time, the consequences would have been unthinkable." As she spoke, Ninglan Qiuyue touched the pendant at her chest, her voice tinged with lingering fear.
"What? Dream Demons have methods like that?!"
"My brother didn't tell you?"
"He did not. Perhaps... considering the battle was imminent, he didn't want to damage morale with such a procedure," Archie said, shaking his head.
"An incident like that happening would damage morale far more than a screening. Even I understand that such a low-level mistake is unacceptable," Tan Han interjected.
"While it was indeed improper, you can't criticize someone for being imperfect after the fact. At least the current situation proves his gamble paid off."
No matter how much Ninglan Qiuyue disagreed internally, the reality was that no accidents had occurred.
"By the way, Archie, I wanted to ask—have you seen anyone from the Wizard Academy?" Tan Han asked.
"That is one of the things puzzling me as well. I saw people from the Wizard Academy earlier, but they disappeared later. I suspect..."
Archie didn't finish his sentence. There were many factions within Ninglan New City. They had chosen Ninglan Qiuyu because they wanted to use force to restore stability to the city and find a way back home.
They had identified the Nightmares as the key to the problem, and everything else had followed from there.
"Never mind that for now. Even if time was tight before, we should take this chance to screen everyone. So, I have to ask again: do you really have no effective means of detecting the presence of Dream Demons?"
Ninglan Qiuyue had already discussed detection methods with Tan Han. Tan Han had offered several suggestions, such as True-Seeing Spells, detection spells, and scanning spells, but none had been verified. Tan Han couldn't guarantee they would work.
She had learned from Tan Han that different Transcendent Academies had their own unique methods, so she thought it best to have the Outsiders try as many as possible.
"I’m not sure if the Divine Arts I’ve mastered can find a hidden Dream Demon like that. But... if I may ask, how did you discover that Dream Demon earlier?"
"Teacher Xiao Han found it. Oh, Teacher Xiao Han is Yang Yuehan, a student from the Witch Academy."
"Yang Yuehan..." Hearing that name, Archie’s eyelid twitched involuntarily. It was clear he had some unpleasant memories associated with that name.
"Did you not ask her what method she used?" Archie finally managed to ask.
"That... I’m afraid the method Xiao Han used is something we cannot replicate," Tan Han said. She knew about things like Spirit Vision and the Floating World Level—heights she could never hope to reach.
"True. After all, the methods of your Witch Academy rely on Spellbooks. Without a Spellbook, they are meaningless," Archie agreed.
"Perhaps," Tan Han didn't correct him. "But we really should conduct a screening. Let’s notify the other Transcendent Academies."
* * *
Meanwhile.
Ninglan Qiuyu walked alone down a deserted corridor. He had dismissed his followers; there were things that others shouldn't know, like the basement. There was definitely a secret there, and he wanted to be the first to know it.
As he walked, his pace quickened. He reached into his side pocket and pulled out the carefully stored key.
As he descended deep into the dark underground, the atmosphere became as gloomy and damp as a dungeon. There was a strange smell in the air, along with a faint scent of blood.
Suddenly, Ninglan Qiuyu stopped. He leaned down and lightly wiped the floor with one hand. It was blood, and it hadn't fully dried yet.
He stood up and looked toward the end of the path. He seemed to realize what was waiting there.
When he reached the end, the door looked exactly like the one in his memories. Back then, his father had scared him by saying a demon was imprisoned here, and that if he ever snuck back, the demon would eat him.
And now, he was back.
He held up the key; it matched the lock perfectly.
As he inserted the key, the sound of metal on metal echoed through the corridor. Every movement he made created a sharp resonance that grated on his nerves. What he was doing was simple—just inserting a key and turning it—yet it felt momentous.
Click.
With a crisp sound, the door unlocked.
He pushed open the heavy door. Inside was a small secret room, and within it, a figure that Ninglan Qiuyu knew all too well.
Ninglan Qiuyun, his father. Ninglan Qiuyu wasn't surprised; in fact, he had expected this.
"So you’ve come, Ninglan Qiuyu. You haven't changed; you still love rummaging through that drawer of mine," Ninglan Qiuyun said. His voice was weak.
"Weren't you waiting for me? What is this place?"
"I don't know. When I hurriedly took over the position of City Lord, I was just like you—I knew nothing about it. I stayed busy until I forgot about this place, until... that Dream Demon mentioned it. I suspect... this is likely the World Luck gathered by Ninglan New City that protects our continued existence."
"World Luck?!"
"It’s just a guess. World Luck is such an ethereal thing. To believe in it is to stop acknowledging the generations of effort put in by the pioneers of Ninglan New City... But when I actually saw it, I understood. It is precisely because of our efforts that World Luck protects us."
As Ninglan Qiuyun spoke, the look in his eyes shifted from confusion to resolve. He looked up at his son.
"You are the son I am most proud of. Once certain mistakes are made, there is no turning back to fix them. Falling into the Dream Demon’s trap was the greatest mistake of my life. I leave Ninglan New City to you. You must try to become a qualified City Lord, not a child who refuses to grow up."
"..."
"The position of City Lord represents responsibility and much more. Anyone and anything in Ninglan New City can be sacrificed, including the City Lord. Only Ninglan New City itself cannot be sacrificed."
"Anyone can be sacrificed... just like my mother?" the silent Ninglan Qiuyu suddenly asked.
"Yes... but... Ninglan New City is in your hands now. I only hope you will carry it forward well."
"You don't need to worry about that. But more importantly... what exactly is kept here?"
"I don't know... but it is something left behind by the First Generation Ninglan City Lord. Perhaps... you should feel it for yourself."
Ninglan Qiuyun finished speaking and stepped aside. The object he had been obscuring finally came into Ninglan Qiuyu’s view.
It was an exquisite, circular piece of art.
It was a finished product carved from a piece of high-purity white crystal, hollowed out and emitting a soft, translucent light. It seemed to contain an extraordinary power.
Even more striking was the object at its center, held like a star surrounded by the moon, looking completely out of place within the white crystal.
Ninglan Qiuyu stepped forward and looked closely. He realized it was a seed—ethereal and flickering, yet its outer skin was withered and even cracked.
"This is... a seed?"