A Secret Chamber

[Ding~ You have received a new quest. Emperor Jing has ordered you to hurry to the Southern Border and secretly receive the Master of Heavenly Secrets. Mountain bandits run rampant along the way, so watch yourself, or one careless slip could get you killed.]

[Ding~ You have received a special quest from Old Taoist Xu: use venomous creatures from the Southern Border to secretly control your target. Completing this quest will earn you substantial rewards.]

[Ding~ The emperor has sent you to secretly investigate the Former Dynasty Princess's Tomb and uncover its connection to the Heavenly Pardon-Blessed One. Rumor has it that the female ghost there is irresistibly seductive and has long yearned to find a man with powerful yang essence for dual cultivation.]

[Ding~ Investigate the old emperor's cause of death and continue secretly aiding Prince Huai, Zhu Zigui, while ensuring your identity remains concealed.]

"...!"

The ten players hidden throughout Prince Huai's Residence activated their main quests almost simultaneously. Some needed to remain undercover, while others had to take action-even travel far afield.

By picking up the Nation-Guarding Sword, Ren Ye had instantly advanced the entire "scenario enactment."

Inside Tranquil Heart Hall.

Ren Ye stood behind the throne, the Nation-Guarding Sword in hand, his mind perfectly clear.

The strange phenomena inside the hall had vanished, and everything slowly settled into stillness.

Had I really obtained an unparalleled divine weapon that easily?

Wild with joy, Ren Ye studied the Nation-Guarding Sword with burning eyes. I fucking knew it! I'm the chosen one, the protagonist of this world! ...

[Congratulations, Heavenly Pardon-Blessed One. The Nation-Guarding Sword has sensed the Heavenly Pardon Qi emanating from you and is eager to acknowledge you as its master. However, the spirit within the Nation-Guarding Sword appears to be missing. You must find it to fully restore the sword's former supernatural powers. At present, it is merely a little sharper than an ordinary weapon.]

"Fuck! If it doesn't have any special powers, what the hell are you hyping it up for?" Ren Ye cursed in disappointment. "All that fuss, and it's only a little better than a kitchen knife?"

So I have to find its spirit to restore its original powers? Forget it. That can wait. No point rushing. Right now, he only wanted to see where the secret passage led.

Ren Ye looked up at the split wall. The secret passage was pitch-black, exuding an eerie sense of the unknown.

Feeling a little uneasy, he turned and instructed Er Leng, "My trusty general, go on. Head down there!"

Er Leng blinked his little eyes, brimming with "wisdom," his expression hesitant.

"What? Do you expect your prince to scout ahead for you?"

"That's not what I meant." Er Leng scratched his head. "I can go down there. I can even die for you. But could you please not make me service the warhorses?! To be honest, Your Highness, I'm a little scared...!"

Ren Ye was inwardly exasperated. This guy really is a blockhead. He can't even recognize a joke. "Go down and take a look. If you do well, I'll allow you to mate only with mares."

"Do you mean it, Your Highness?" Er Leng's eyes lit up.

"...Yes!"

"As you command." Overjoyed, Er Leng bounded into the passage as though he had no idea what fear was.

Holding the Nation-Guarding Sword against his chest, Ren Ye waited briefly in the hall before hearing Er Leng shout from the tunnel, "Your Highness, we're rich! There's loads of gold, silver, and jewels down here, and no traps!"

"Wait a moment."

Despite Er Leng's call, Ren Ye did not hurry into the secret passage. Instead, he left the hall and called out in the corridor, "Lian'er!"

"Here, Your Highness." Lian'er approached with a smile, her eyes soft and watery, her manner slightly shy.

"Turn around," Ren Ye instructed.

Lian'er gave Ren Ye a puzzled glance, then obediently turned her back.

A familiar masculine scent drifted into her nostrils. Her heart fluttered wildly, and her pretty face flushed crimson.

Lian'er had been intimate with Zhu Zigui before and knew the prince had peculiar tastes. Whatever the surroundings, whether it was day or night, whether others were present or not, he might indulge in illicit pleasures.

Surely not. His Highness isn't going to do it here...

Feeling him slowly approach and gently stroke her back, Lian'er grew terribly nervous and lowered her head in embarrassment.

Smack!

Suddenly, a sharp pain flared at the back of her head.

"Hm? What are you doing, Your Highness?" Lian'er stood rigid.

Ren Ye quickly yanked out a tuft of Lian'er's hair, then strode back into the hall. "That's all. You may go."

Lian'er looked back, her face blank with bewilderment. W-why did His Highness pull out a lock of my hair? What new fetish is this?!

Once inside, Ren Ye twisted two or three hairs together and loosely tied them across every door and window in the hall. This would keep anyone from sneaking in without his knowledge.

Why hadn't he pulled out his own hair?

Perhaps because he was wearing a crown, which made it inconvenient. Of course... it might also have been because it hurt too much.

Only after finishing these preparations did Ren Ye enter the secret passage with the Nation-Guarding Sword held against his chest, using a fire striker to light the torches mounted on both walls.

The flickering flames dispelled the darkness. Following the winding bluestone steps some seven or eight meters downward, Ren Ye arrived in a secret chamber.

The room was roughly twenty square meters, its interior almost entirely occupied by assorted shelves arranged in two rows. Only a narrow, cramped aisle remained between them, making the place resemble a private archive.

The shelves held a dazzling assortment of objects: valuable gold, silver, and jewels, antiques, paintings, and calligraphy, as well as numerous weapons, case files, and other items.

Torch in hand, Ren Ye walked through the narrow aisle and found Er Leng standing before an iron door, examining it curiously. "Your Highness, look. There's another door here."

Hm?

Why was there another door inside the secret chamber?

Ren Ye approached to examine it. The iron door was heavy and archaic in design, with faint markings on its surface that were difficult to make out, almost like a mural. A string of Daoist Talismans, red lettering on yellow paper, had been pasted over the door ring.

As soon as he drew closer, Ren Ye felt gusts of icy air seeping through the gap in the iron door. Goose bumps instantly rose along his neck.

"Why does this door feel so cold and creepy, like it leads to the underworld?" As a martial artist, Er Leng possessed abundant yang energy, yet even he felt uncomfortable all over.

Ren Ye stepped forward cautiously, inching closer to peer through the crack in the door.

Rustle, rustle...!

Before the iron door, the flames flickered dimly. Icy gusts blew through the crack into their faces, making the Daoist Talismans flutter.

Ren Ye swallowed, craned his neck forward, and peered through the gap with one eye...

Bang!!!

Just then, a tremendous crash rang from the iron door, as though someone had struck it hard.

Ren Ye recoiled three steps in fright. Er Leng merely flinched before stepping in front of him without hesitation.

Clatter, scrape!

From behind the iron door came the sound of chains dragging across the floor.

Woooo~

Fierce gusts howled, mingled with faint, intermittent wails.

"Fuck!"

Sweat instantly broke out on Ren Ye's forehead. He instinctively grabbed Er Leng. "Don't go any closer."

[You have discovered a sealed secret chamber. According to legend, three eunuchs assigned to night duty at Tranquil Heart Hall once saw someone hanging from a beam in the main hall around midnight, red silk wound around the neck, the body swaying gently in the candlelight...]

[You cannot open the secret chamber at present. Perhaps the Nation-Guarding Sword, with its spirit restored, could break through the Daoist Talismans.]

The Startrace Gate's cold notifications suddenly sounded in his ears.

Hearing that the chamber was connected to a quest, Ren Ye relaxed a little. "Er Leng, let's find the secret edict first. Leave this door alone."

"All right." Er Leng nodded.

With that, Ren Ye wiped away his sweat and turned.

The instant he looked back, his pupils contracted sharply.

In the dim chamber, a face abruptly appeared less than half a step away from him.

It was an aged, deathly pale face, mostly obscured by hair, with bleeding eyes and purple lips. He could not tell whether it belonged to a man or a woman. It simply stared at Ren Ye with venomous hatred...

That single glimpse made every hair on Ren Ye's body stand on end, a chill shooting straight to the crown of his head.

Snap!

Every torch in the secret chamber went out at once.

"Unfilial descendant! Give me back my life! Give me back my soul!!"

A piercing scream erupted.