Chapter 112 A Close Call

"Nonsense!"

Fan Muqi was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, his hair standing on end. "If you are not a spy for Marquis Wu'an, why did you follow him back to the North and even stay in his mansion after arriving in Yuyang! You are clearly lying. You know that I am now working for Diting and trying to divide us."

Although the cause and effect were unclear, Qin Qinian and Shi Rongyue pieced together a rough outline from Fan Muqi's two statements.

A defeat? That probably involved my father's (my second maternal uncle's) war in the south.

"You're being incredibly unreasonable. Qin Yanzhou's mother is in the mansion, accompanying my father, so of course he should be here too," Qin Qinian said, frowning.

Shi Rongyue continued, "The victor is king, the loser is villain. Your father is not as good as my second uncle. He lost, and that's that. Even if the Northern Army had been defeated, it's not certain that your father would have let the Qin family off the hook."

Fan Muqi's mind went blank for a moment, filled only with Qin Qinian's words, "Qin Yanzhou's mother."

Does Inu-chan have a mother?

There shouldn't be any.

“You’re lying to me. If his mother were still alive, why didn’t she come to see him even once in seven whole years…”

Fan Muqi murmured, and after saying the first sentence, she seemed to draw strength from it, her eyes hardening, "If he had a mother, and could stay by the side of Marquis Wu'an as you say, there would be no possibility that Quan Jie would be sent away for seven years!"

"Qin Yanzhou was unfortunately abducted when he was young, and was later found by his mother," Qin Qinian explained.

This was after he saw Qin Yanzhou covered in scars and pestered him to find out what happened. After being questioned eighteen times, the man finally told him that he had been abducted as a child and separated from his mother.

Upon hearing Qin Yanzhou's words, he belatedly realized that a missing person notice had been issued in the North some time ago. Later, when he went back to look at it, he found that the notice was indeed looking for "Qin Yanzhou," except that "Qin Yanzhou" was a nine-year-old child.

Qin Qinian didn't ask why it didn't match up, because he had already come up with an explanation: it must be to cover up the truth!

Of course, those things are not important. What is important is to correct this young lady who slandered Qin Yanzhou.

Qin Qinian: "A few months ago, the Northern Lands entrusted a group of merchants to issue a search notice to the whole country. The person they were looking for was him. His surname is Fan, and he was defeated in battle. Your father is Fan Yanzhou, right? That search notice must have been sent to Yanzhou as well. If you are in Yanzhou and pay attention, you will definitely know about this matter."

Fan Muqi paused for a moment.

A missing person notice?

Back when she was still at home, she would often go out to play with the young lady of the Li family, and it seemed that she had indeed heard of a missing person notice in the county.

Judging from her expression, Shi Rongyue knew that Fan Muqi had probably heard about it.

Her father has been defeated in battle, so her family would never have brought her to Yuyang. Moreover, Qin Xiaolangjun mentioned the "Qinglian Sect" earlier. Could this woman be a member of the Qinglian Sect?

My second uncle is determined to suppress the religious sect. If he could win over this young lady, it would be a wonderful thing.

So Shi Rongyue said, "If you don't believe me, you can come back to the Qin residence with us and meet Madam Dai. She looks very similar to Young Master Qin. Once you meet her, you'll know that we are not lying. We hope you will cooperate and tell us everything you know about the Qinglian Sect."

"Yes, you can come back to the manor with us. But you must be careful what you say in front of Madam Dai. Don't be stubborn and incorrigible again, or if my father hears your nonsense, he'll wring your head off," Qin Qinian said seriously.

Fan Muqi was jolted, as if struck by an invisible force, and staggered backward.

She slowly lowered her eyes, avoiding looking at the three of them.

"You just mentioned Di Ting. Has Di Ting also come to Yuyang? Where is he now?" Qin Yanzhou stepped forward.

His step was like a thunderclap, startling the birds on the branches and waking Fan Muqi.

Fan Muqi staggered back two steps, his expression changing repeatedly, showing surprise, disbelief, inner turmoil, and pain.

She suddenly looked up at Qin Yanzhou, her gaze complex, like a painting painted with various colors.

Fan Muqi gave Qin Yanzhou a deep look. "Didn't you want to know about Di Ting? He used to be in the bookstore, but it seems he left later. Come with me. There's a secret passage in this room. After you go through it, you'll reach another place. There's another leader of the Qinglian Sect there. I think he can be on equal footing with Di Ting."

Qin Qinian asked suspiciously, "You're really that kind?"

From the beginning, she had been leading Qin Yanzhou here, and now she was making them take a secret passage. Could it be a trap?

Fan Muqi sneered, "There wasn't originally. There are many traps hidden in that secret passage. When Di Ting first asked me to lure you here, he intended to kill you with the traps, but I have changed my mind now. Quan Jie, since you keep saying that you served the Qinglian Sect, then come with me to find him. I want to ask him face to face."

After saying this, Fan Muqi turned and left.

Qin Yanzhou took two steps and, hearing footsteps behind him, turned to look at Qin Qinian and Shi Rongyue. "You two wait here."

"That won't do!"

Qin Qinian refused outright, "Although you are very good at fighting, if ten or eight people suddenly rush in, you will be overwhelmed and unable to defend yourself. It would be different if I went with you. We can stand back to back and be invincible."

"It is still unknown whether there is anyone else here, so we cannot leave Miss Shi alone." Qin Yanzhou disagreed.

Qin Qinian paused, speechless.

That's true.

He and Qin Yanzhou left, in case some thugs came along and tried to take advantage of Rongrong, he would have to die to atone for it.

"Are you coming or not, Inu-gaku? If not, then forget it." Fan Muqi said coldly from inside.

After saying that, she turned and went inside, disappearing from sight.

Shi Rongyue glanced over there, then looked at Qin Yanzhou, her large light brown eyes reflecting the figure in front of her: "Why don't we go together? We can't miss this opportunity. If she slips away through the secret passage, we might not be able to find her again. I might as well go with her. Anyway, my little cousin has already informed the city patrol he just met and asked them to give Captain Hu directions."

Qin Qinian straightened up. "That's right. We've already sent all the city guards we saw along the way back. Hu Bao will meet them one by one, so he'll definitely guess we're here. Hu Bao and the others will arrive in a quarter of an hour at most."

Even if they are ambushed, they only need to hold out for 15 minutes to wait for reinforcements.

Once reinforcements arrive, we can turn the tables and wipe them out in one fell swoop. Then, we can subject them to severe torture; surely we'll uncover all of the Green Lotus Sect's influence in Yuyang.

Qin Yanzhou had arrived before the two of them and was unaware of what happened next. Now, hearing what they said, he hesitated for a moment before finally nodding.

The three of them walked inside.

This is just a two-courtyard house with limited space; the rooms are connected to it.

The room was wide open, and where the bed had originally been, it had been moved, revealing a dark, straight passage leading downwards.

The passageway was over eight feet wide, wide enough for two adult men to walk side by side. Fan Muqi was standing at the entrance of the passageway at that moment.

Seeing them all come together, including Shi Rongyue, Fan Muqi twitched his lips, as if trying to reveal a sarcastic smile, but ultimately failed. "You really can't bear to leave people behind for even a moment."

Shi Rongyue sensed that the other party was hostile. At first, she didn't understand why, but when she saw Fan Muqi looking at Qin Yanzhou, she suddenly realized what was going on.

However, Fan Muqi didn't seem to want a response. After saying that, she turned and entered the secret passage.

Qin Yanzhou followed, Shi Rongyue was in the middle, and Qin Qinian brought up the rear.

The passage initially sloped downwards, but after ascending several stone steps about two people high, the passage became gentler and less steep than before.

Qin Qinian walked around while keeping an eye on his surroundings, and he was quite surprised when he first came down.

These are stone steps, not ordinary dirt slopes.

Building stone steps requires transporting stones and carefully assembling them, which is completely different from the manpower and resources required to simply pile up an earthen mound.

This secret passage was built with great care and looks very sturdy. Judging from the well-worn stone steps, it has been there for at least a dozen years, or even longer.

It is highly likely that it already existed before his father took over the entire Yuyang.

The further you go in, the more open the funnel-shaped passage becomes. There are no candlesticks or lamps on the four sides of the passage, but many small copper mirrors are cleverly installed in various places.

Light was introduced from somewhere, and after being refracted in many ways, it became an invisible lamp that lingered in the passageway. The surroundings were still dim, but not so dark that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

There is no need to carry a torch forward.

Qin Qinian's expression was solemn. "Miss Fan, do you know who built this passage, and when it was started and completed?"

Fan Muqi, who was ahead of him, did not answer.

Shi Rongyue whispered, "Little cousin, now is not the time to talk about this. Keep a close eye on her. She initially said she planned to assassinate Young Master Qin using a trap, but then changed her mind. But who knows if she's still capable..."

Shi Rongyue walked in the middle, separated from Fan Muqi only by Qin Yanzhou. The passage was quiet, and although she lowered her voice, Fan Muqi still heard a few words.

Fan Muqi turned around angrily. The golden butterfly-shaped hairpin in her hair, with its twisted gold thread and pearl, fluttered its wings as she turned her head sharply. "Do you see that small protruding stone five steps ahead? That's the mechanism!"

Shi Rongyue immediately booed.

Qin Qinian looked nervously at the small bump, "You, you come closer, don't get near there."

Fan Muqi scoffed, "Don't worry, since I said I would take you to find him and get to the bottom of things, I won't lay a hand on you now."

She looked at Qin Yanzhou the whole time, and only used the word "you" instead of "you all," referring to him alone.

Shi Rongyue pursed her lips.

After walking for a while, the space ahead opened up even further. Upon entering this area, we found rows of multi-tiered shelves placed against the walls.

Those wooden shelves had been there for who knows how long, and seemed to be covered with a thick layer of dust.

Besides these, there were many small, open-mouthed, low-bellied jars on the ground, each containing something. In the very center, there was a set of table and chairs, and on the table was a coiled dragon lamp that was glowing.

A candle was lit inside the lamp, and the axle was driven by the heat to rotate continuously, causing the patterns on the lamp surface to change one by one.

Several scenes appear in succession: an adult man whose face is not visible is with three children, one of whom is slightly shorter and the other two are slightly taller and appear to be a little older.

Turning to another scene: The man has disappeared, leaving only three children playing together. There are still two tall and one short children; the taller one is wearing white, and the shorter one is wearing black. Each of them is riding a small pony.

Then another image appears: the child in black has grown up into a young man, holding a sword and killing someone. A young man in white is watching him from a distance.

Several pictures changed in turn, and in this dimly lit room, the coiled dragon lamp gave off an inexplicable eeriness, making it easy to focus one's attention on it and ignore everything else.

For example, a rope tied to the coiled dragon lamp. And the things in the small jars and the "dust" scattered on the shelves, all illuminated by the light.

The "dust" is white, and the contents of the open jar are also white.

If you look a little further in, you can see two passages leading in different directions. The passages are a bit darker, and you can't see what's inside.

Qin Yanzhou's pupils suddenly narrowed.

"The paintings on this lamp are so detailed, they're practically lifelike. By the way, why put a lamp here? Is it for lighting?" Qin Qinian asked, puzzled.

"Probably not..."

Before Shi Rongyue could finish her sentence, her wrist was suddenly grabbed, and she was stunned.

The white-robed youth who had been walking in front of her grabbed her with one hand and Qin Qinian with the other, pulling them one by one, and then ran back frantically.

"Hey, Qin Yanzhou, what are you doing! Why are you running? Aren't you going to find that Di Ting?" Qin Qinian was confused. However, he didn't break free from Qin Yanzhou's grasp and ran after him.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew in from some unknown passage.

Shi Rongyue was stunned.

Why is there suddenly wind underground?

After this gust of wind, Qin Qinian and Shi Rongyue simultaneously felt the young man who was pulling them suddenly yank them forward.

They were originally behind Qin Yanzhou, but after he pulled them back, they all turned to face him.

"Qin Yan..."

"boom--!!"

A huge burst of fire and a deafening roar came from behind, along with a terrifying gust of air.

Qin Yanzhou was thrown by the airflow and bumped into Shi Rongyue and Qin Qinian.

The initial loud bang triggered a chain reaction; the stone path shook, and the small bronze mirrors that were originally embedded in various places fell down with a "clatter" and shattered on the ground.

Even the rocks overhead were impacted, and they all crashed down with a "bang".

Surrounded by darkness, Shi Rongyue felt as if she were trapped in a very small space, with a warm touch next to her and a hurried breath hanging above her.

Suddenly, something warm landed on her face.

A strong smell of blood rushed into Shi Rongyue's nostrils, and she snapped back to reality. "Young Master Qin?"

She raised her hand tremblingly. In the darkness, she could see nothing, but she felt herself touch a soft, warm skin. The next moment, the figure that had been supporting her and the person beside her collapsed.

Shi Rongyue's heart suddenly spasmed.

"Qin Yanzhou!" Qin Qinian was also startled, wanting to push the person but not daring to act rashly.

Shi Rongyue dared not move, and she and Qin Qinian, who was next to her, each took half of her body to form a fleshy cushion to catch Qin Yanzhou.

After calling "Qin Yanzhou" several times without any response, Qin Qinian began to panic. "Qin Yanzhou, answer me! Don't scare me! You owe me such a huge debt of gratitude for saving my life; you have to give me a chance to repay you..."

“Little cousin, he’s fainted, it’s not what you think.” Shi Rongyue moved her hand away from the young man’s neck, which was resting on his pulse.

Qin Qinian's emotions fluctuated wildly, and a thin layer of sweat appeared on his forehead from fright. He then asked Shi Rongyue, "Rongrong, are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?"

"No, Young Master Qin blocked it for me, I wasn't hit by the stone," Shi Rongyue said softly.

Qin Qinian tried to reach out and explore the surroundings. "This place is blocked, and we can't move freely. Let's wait for someone to come and rescue us. Hu Bao and the others should be here soon."

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Author's note: Can any of you guess how it exploded?

P.S.: Explosives haven't appeared yet; it's not that kind of thing.

PPS: Why enter the secret passage? Referring to Qin San's words, you could say it was an opportunity.

Please, please provide nutrient solution. [Hands clasped in prayer]