Chapter 337: The Underground Secret Room
“The entire Ninglan Township Fort has been occupied by our people, but the old city lord has not been seen, and we found many fragments…”
“Alright.” Ninglan Qiuyu waved his hand to stop the other from continuing.
If he kept talking, things would become quite bloody. He did not care about the dead or the fallen Dream Demons; to him, they were all enemies.
To him, this was just a game, a game in which he became the city lord after entering Ninglan Township Fort.
At this moment, he had arrived at the city lord’s office hall in the center of Ninglan Township Fort, in the very seat where his father had once sat. Every time he came here, memories of being scolded in the past surged to the forefront of his mind. But now, all of this had changed; the game had swapped to him sitting here.
Every corner of this place was stained with the dirt of turmoil, the bloodstains frozen and turned black, and even the city lord’s main seat looked the same.
He couldn’t believe that his father would d*e so easily.
After being a son for so many years, could he not understand what his father was thinking?
This position would eventually be his; he had heard this sentence many times, but what did it matter?
This position was rightfully his now.
He remembered when he was a child, curiously rummaging through the cabinets here, only to be scolded by his father when discovered, and as a result, the cabinets were locked.
At this moment, the traces of the locked drawer on the huge desk had been forcibly pried open.
He boredly and tirelessly opened every drawer, but he no longer felt the sense of wonder he had as a child.
Those who came here thought Ninglan Qiuyu was looking for something, which was not inappropriate; however, if they knew that this boy about to become the new city lord of Ninglan New City was merely reliving his childhood joy, they probably wouldn’t believe it even if they were beaten to d*ath.
“Hm?”
While rummaging, Ninglan Qiuyu suddenly found a small box placed in the middle of the central drawer. The box was exquisite and somewhat out of place here.
Without hesitation, Ninglan Qiuyu opened it. He expected to find many things inside, but upon opening it, he found just a key.
Ordinary, extremely plain.
He picked up the key, examining the tooth marks and shape, and a big door he had forgotten about came to mind from long ago.
That was a memory from long ago, actually from the basement of Ninglan Township Fort; he had been there when he was very young, but no one knew what it was.
Upon obtaining this key, Ninglan Qiuyu felt a strong impulse to go investigate it.
“Ninglan Qiuyu, so quickly sitting in the city lord’s position, are you trying to experience the responsibilities and burdens of being a city lord in advance?”
Suddenly, a voice called his name, startling Ninglan Qiuyu, and his hand’s movement suddenly froze. Then, as if nothing had happened, he closed the drawer, gripping the key in his hand as he raised his head and saw a familiar face. At this moment, there were very few people who called him by name, and Ninglan Qiuyue was one of them.
“What are you doing here?” Ninglan Qiuyu frowned; he had quite a bit of discontent regarding Ninglan Qiuyue’s arrival.
“Is there anything I can’t come for? You’ve asked me to do something, and I’ve already finished it. Do you expect me to personally get involved in those suppressions?” Ninglan Qiuyue replied bluntly, firing back.
“Then you shouldn’t leave your people and come here alone; coming here will only complicate matters for me.”
“What trouble could I bring you? Aren’t you the one who is wary of me? I just came to take a look at our father; where is he?” After rebutting, Ninglan Qiuyue scanned the area. Besides the bloodstains, there seemed to be nothing else.
“I don’t know.”
“Don’t know? What does that mean?” Ninglan Qiuyue frowned, well aware of the father’s attitude toward Ninglan Qiuyu’s rebellion; it was just a game of power.
“Literally, if you’re free, please go do what you need to do.” Ninglan Qiuyu stood up and spoke, then left.
Since there was no result to everything at present, he didn’t mind taking this time to go check there. His father would never just leave that key here abruptly; he knew his son well, at least on the surface.
Ninglan Qiuyue watched as Ninglan Qiuyu left without saying anything further. It wasn’t that she didn’t have questions for her brother, but she knew very well that even if she asked, there would be no outcome.
“Didn’t see father…” she muttered softly as she turned around, and at that moment, Tan Han’s figure followed.
“Has everything settled?”
“It should be, at least the Ninglan Township Fort is completely under control.”
“It’s unbelievably simple.” Tan Han remarked.
“It should be like this; let’s go. It seems we are not welcome here… by the way.”
“What?”
“Tan Han, can you conveniently introduce me to the leading figures from other Extraordinary Academies? I have some matters I want to discuss with them.”
“Although I don’t know them very well, you shouldn’t need me to introduce you to meet them.”
With Tan Han’s words, Ninglan Qiuyue didn’t care too much about the formality. Finding the gathering place of the outsiders could be easily learned by asking around a bit.
Besides, she had some connections with the outsiders before, but she didn’t know every one of them.
And by now, many students from various Extraordinary Academies had gathered here; at a glance, the characteristics were obvious.
The most eye-catching were the Holy Angel Academy, followed by a group of Elves gathered together, naturally led by the team from Aphhemia Academy.
The Beast Academy, on the other hand, seemed quite mixed.
Tan Han scanned the area, also somewhat puzzled; it seemed that one of the three top academies, the Wizard Academy, was missing.
“Miss, do you need anything from me? I’ve noticed you have been looking this way quite a few times. Let me introduce myself: I am Achir Chali, just call me Achir.”
“Hello, I’m Ninglan Qiuyue. Sorry, I had some matters just now.”
“Ninglan… oh, I see. What does Miss Ninglan want from me?” Achir asked gently, having gathered some understanding of the girl’s identity upon hearing her name.
However, his gaze turned to Tan Han. He was quite familiar with her, considering her an old acquaintance, and he simply greeted her as a form of acknowledgment.
“I want to know about some details regarding your battle earlier.”
“Oh? As for this, we actually didn’t help much, so there isn’t much to say. But if you wish to know something, just ask away.”
Then, Ninglan Qiuyue took this opportunity to learn about some things she hadn’t seen; there was nothing particularly remarkable, and the process even felt somewhat dull.
“We really don’t have much to talk about. Are there any other questions?” Achir asked again as usual.
“Oh… that’s about it. By the way, let me ask, before your action, did my brother, Ninglan Qiuyu, conduct a sweep for Dream Demons with you?”
“A sweep for Dream Demons? What type of sweep do you mean?” Achir frowned in question.
“Just checking whether oneself or carried items have a Dream Demon residing in them. To be honest, I was ambushed by a Dream Demon not long ago; if I hadn’t discovered it in time, the consequences would have been unthinkable.” Ninglan Qiuyue said as she took out the pendant from around her neck, her tone carrying a hint of fear.
“What? Dream Demons have such means?!”
“Did my brother not tell you?”
“He did not; perhaps… considering the upcoming battle, it wasn’t appropriate to dampen morale this way.” Achir shook his head.
“This kind of thing happening is even more serious than any decline in morale caused by a sweep. Even I understand such a basic error.” At this moment, Tan Han spoke up from the side.
“Although there are indeed issues, you can’t blame a person’s imperfection after the fact. At least everything now shows that he made the right gamble.”
Though Ninglan Qiuyue had many unwilling thoughts in her heart, the reality was that nothing unexpected had occurred.
“By the way, Achir, I want to ask, have you seen anyone from the Wizard Academy?” At this moment, Tan Han also asked.
“This is also one of my puzzling questions. Previously, I had seen people from the Wizard Academy, but later there were none. I suspect…”
At this point, Achir did not finish his sentence, as there were so many influences within Ninglan New City. They chose Ninglan Qiuyu to restore the order of Ninglan New City with violence first, then find a way back.
They locked the key issue onto the Nightmare, and then subsequent events followed.
“Forget it; even if time was tight earlier, while now, it’s best to conduct a sweep of everyone, so I still want to ask again: do you really have no effective means to check for the presence of Dream Demons?”
Ninglan Qiuyue had previously discussed with Tan Han about checking for Dream Demons, and Tan Han had given several suggestions, such as breaking spells, reconnaissance spells, scanning spells, etc., but none of these had been validated, and Tan Han could not guarantee they would work.
Then she learned from Tan Han that different Extraordinary Academies had their own unique methods, and perhaps they could ask outsiders to try more.
“I’m not sure if the divine techniques I possess can uncover such hidden Dream Demons, but… may I ask how you discovered that Dream Demon earlier?”
“It was Teacher Xiao Han who discovered it—oh, Teacher Xiao Han is Yang Yuelan, a student of the Witch Academy.”
“Yang Yuelan…” Upon hearing this name, Achir’s eyelids twitched involuntarily, clearly recalling some not-so-pleasant memories.
“Didn’t you ask what method was used?” Eventually, Achir squeezed out this question.
“This… I’m afraid the method Xiao Han used is something we cannot replicate.” At this moment, Tan Han spoke. She understood many things, like Spirit Vision and Floating World levels, which were beyond her reach.
“Indeed, after all, the methods used by your Witch Academy rely on spellbooks; without spellbooks, there’s no meaning.” Achir concurred.
“Perhaps.” Tan Han did not correct him, “But we really should go check; let’s notify the other Extraordinary Academies.”
…
At this moment.
Ninglan Qiuyu walked alone down an empty corridor, dismissing those who had followed him. Some matters could not be known by others, like the basement; there must be secrets inside, and at least until he knew, he did not want anyone else to find out.
As he walked, his pace became more urgent, and he took out the key that he had carefully placed in one of his pockets.
Until he ventured deeper into the dark underground, where the atmosphere felt like a dungeon—gloomy and damp, with a strange smell and a faint scent of bl**d.
Suddenly, Ninglan Qiuyu stopped, bending down to lightly rub a hand on the ground, where there were still fresh bloodstains.
Then he stood up, looking towards the end of the path; he seemed to know what was there.
Upon reaching here, it seemed exactly like the big door from his memories. Back then, his father had frightened him by saying that demons were imprisoned there, and if he came here secretly again next time, he would be eaten by that demon.
And this time, he had come back here again.
He raised the key and compared it to the keyhole, and it matched.
As he inserted the key, the metallic sounds echoed around him, each action produced a fierce echo that stimulated his nerves. Clearly, what he was doing was very simple; it was just inserting the key into the keyhole and turning it.
Click.
With a crisp sound, the door opened.
As he pushed open the heavy door, the inside seemed to be a small secret room, and within it, a figure that Ninglan Qiuyu found very familiar came into his view.
Ninglan Qiuyun, his father; Ninglan Qiuyu was not surprised, or rather, he had anticipated this moments ago.
“You’ve come, Ninglan Qiuyu. You still haven’t changed; you like to rummage through my drawer.” Ninglan Qiuyun spoke, but his voice was laced with weakness.
“Weren’t you waiting for me? What is this place?”
“I don’t know; when I hastily took over the position of city lord, it was just like you. I knew nothing about it, and then I got busy until it was forgotten, until… that Dream Demon mentioned it. I guess… this probably is the fortune that gathers to protect our continuation in Ninglan New City.”
“Fortune?!”
“I’m guessing; fortune is something so elusive. Believing in its existence is tantamount to abandoning acknowledgment of the efforts of generations of pioneers in Ninglan New City… But when I truly saw it, I understood that it is precisely because of our efforts that fortune will protect us.”
As Ninglan Qiuyun spoke, the confusion in his eyes shifted to determination, and he then raised his head to look at Ninglan Qiuyu.
“You are my proudest son; some mistakes, once made, cannot be corrected. Falling into the trap of the Dream Demon is the biggest mistake I made in this life. The Ninglan New City is now entrusted to you, and you must strive to become a qualified city lord, not just a child who doesn’t grow up.”
“…”
“The position of city lord represents responsibility and so much more. Anyone and anything in Ninglan New City can sacrifice, including the city lord, with the exception of Ninglan New City itself.”
“Anyone can sacrifice… just like my mother?” The silent Ninglan Qiuyu suddenly spoke up at this moment.
“Yes… but… Ninglan New City is now in your hands, and I just hope you will continue it well.”
“You don’t need to worry about that, but compared to this, what exactly is hidden here?”
“I don’t know… but this is something left by the first-generation city lord of Ninglan. Perhaps… you should personally go and feel it.”
After Ninglan Qiuyun finished speaking, he moved aside half of his body, letting the being he had been blocking finally come into Ninglan Qiuyu’s view.
It was a round, exquisite piece of art.
It was a product carved out of high-purity white crystal, its surface exuding a soft glow, translucent and seemingly containing extraordinary power.
What was even more eye-catching was the thing within that seemed to be held by a multitude of stars, contrasting starkly with the white crystal.
After Ninglan Qiuyun took a closer look, he could distinguish that it appeared to be a seed, ethereal and fleeting, yet its skin was dry and even cracked.
“This is… a seed?”
