Chapter 78 Secret Passage
After shaking off Cheng Yuan, Chu Jianshan did not rush to leave, but instead searched for a place inside Linyi Gate.
The woman had said that her son, Ah Shui, had been kidnapped by people from Linyimen. Whether he was imprisoned or tortured, there must have been a place where they gathered.
Taking advantage of the guards changing shifts, Chu Jianshan secretly slipped to a house. The house was dilapidated, with very low eaves, barely enough to stand upright, clearly not the residence of a nobleman.
Chu Jianshan pushed the door, but it didn't budge.
Now that it was late at night and all was quiet, it was not appropriate to break down the door and make a commotion. So Chu Jianshan took out the teleportation talisman that Bai Qianfan had prepared beforehand, slipped it through the crack in the door, imbued it with spiritual power, and recited the incantation before the talisman hit the ground. It then passed through the door without leaving a trace.
Very well, Chu Jianshan raised his hand and burned the talisman. He already didn't know how many times he owed Bai Qianfan a thank you.
The room was pitch black, but the boundaries of the walls were clearly visible. It was unusually small, not like a place where people could be imprisoned.
Chu Jianshan paused for a moment, then felt his way along the wall until he found a mechanism. Since there was no space above ground, he would have to find it underground.
With a clatter, cracks appeared in the center of the ground, and then the stone slabs separated and fell, forming a stone staircase that led straight into the darkness below.
"This mechanism is quite ingenious."
Chu Jianshan sighed and then jumped down through the gap beside him, without taking the stone steps.
He controlled his strength, using his spiritual power to slow down just before landing, making it almost silent.
Before Chu Jianshan could straighten up, the oil lamps on both sides of the wall in front of him lit up one after another, illuminating a path ahead.
Chu Jianshan raised an eyebrow slightly. This thing didn't distinguish strangers by their voice, but by their aura.
This reminded him of the previous encounter with Mianling, and goosebumps instantly crawled up his arms.
Looking around, there were no traps on the ground, so Chu Jianshan walked forward with peace of mind. In the quiet secret passage, the only sound was the crackling of the oil lamp burning, as if it had been specially opened up for him.
After walking for about half an incense stick's time, Chu Jianshan finally saw the end.
He stood in front of the wide-open door, staring at the scene before him, and almost stopped breathing.
The dense black dots, neatly arranged, filled the seemingly endless pit, like dark clouds pressing down on the city, giving people a slow feeling of suffocation.
Chu Jianshan adjusted his breathing and jumped inside. Only in the dim light of the oil lamp could he make out the dark dots in front of him; they weren't objects, but people.
Although these people wore iron masks, their exposed skin revealed a sallow complexion and protruding eyes, with almost only the whites of their eyes showing. In other words, they didn't look like living people.
Chu Jianshan reached out and touched the thing's skin; it was as hard as iron, which further convinced him of this.
The entire underground area of Linyi Gate is filled with these living dead.
Chu Jianshan closed his eyes tightly, his fingertips trembling slightly, as he frantically pondered all of this.
Since Linyi Sect was able to collect so many of these things, it was naturally not something that could be accomplished overnight. It would probably have taken the foundation laid by several generations of sect leaders. In other words, this practice had been maintained for at least several hundred years.
But with such a long time span, how can it be ensured that each generation of sect leaders keeps their mouths shut and that everyone is willing to do the same thing? Unless…
Every generation of sect leader is a puppet.
Chu Jianshan's breathing quickened, and a name instantly flashed into his mind. If it really was him, things would likely become even more complicated.
"ah……"
The sudden groan startled Chu Jianshan, who abruptly took two steps back.
Upon closer inspection, he realized the voice came from the person in front of him. He was still alive?
Chu Jianshan immediately moved closer to him, trying to keep him alive with his spiritual power. The man also had a will to live and tried his best to cooperate with Chu Jianshan.
"Who are you?" Chu Jianshan asked softly, "Why are you here?"
After waiting for a while, the person in front of me slowly opened their chapped lips: "Water..."
"Water?" Chu Jianshan frowned. He couldn't very well ask for water right now, so what did he mean by that word?
"Ah... water," he said again.
Chu Jianshan's mind snapped.
He suddenly grabbed the man's hand. According to the woman, her son had a circular birthmark on his arm. If it really was him...
A black birthmark caught Chu Jianshan's eye.
Chu Jianshan's heart sank. The result he least wanted to see had happened. He was afraid that most of the people who had disappeared in Qingyao City were here.
"For...for my sister."
Ah Shui spoke again, struggling to prop herself up on her arm, wanting to hand the jade pendant in her hand to Chu Jianshan.
The jade pendant was of poor quality and had a broken corner. Chu Jianshan reached out and took it, noticing that the weight was also wrong, and suspected it was a fake.
"What did they do to you?" Chu Jianshan's throat tightened.
"To...my sister, to cure her illness..." He kept repeating these words, his mind no longer clear.
Chu Jianshan understood immediately. After hesitating for a moment, he severed his spiritual connection and watched as the stiff arm of the person in front of him slowly drooped down.
The living are dead; their souls should return to their hometowns, and their bodies should be laid to rest. But here…
Chu Jianshan looked up and saw so many wronged souls.
"You got me drunk just to see these people?"
A familiar voice came from behind, but Chu Jianshan didn't turn around; his eyes remained fixed on the living dead in front of him.
"You're not drunk."
“Yes,” Cheng Yuan walked up behind him and said slowly, “I’m on guard against you.”
Chu Jianshan felt as if his heart was being squeezed tightly by a hand. He took two deep breaths before he could speak, "What kind of evil magic is it that requires so many people to be sacrificed?"
Cheng Yuan remained silent for a moment before speaking: "What you really want to ask is whether I was involved in this, right?"
"So," Chu Jianshan turned around, his eyes reddening as he looked at him, "did you or didn't you?"
"You'll believe me if I tell you?"
I believe you.
"No." Cheng Yuan replied firmly.
With the breath that had been hanging in his throat finally dissipating, Chu Jianshan was finally able to breathe again.
"This is the first piece of good news today."
"Are you that scared?" Cheng Yuan approached him, his gaze as if interrogating a prisoner. "What are you afraid of?"
Chu Jianshan also looked up at him, showing no sign of weakness, but offered no explanation.
"Chu Jianshan," Cheng Yuan called out to him, as if urging him on.
Chu Jianshan asked, "Why aren't you calling me Master anymore?"
Cheng Yuan said in a low voice, "I couldn't tell these two people apart for a long time."
“You’re sulking,” Chu Jianshan said.
"No."
"Then why don't you tell me who you'd prefer me to be?"
"It seems that my problem came first." Cheng Yuan was not caught in Chu Jianshan's trap and instead turned the tables, throwing the question back at him.
“You’re afraid I’ll go astray, afraid I’ll collude with the Linyi Sect, afraid I won’t be the Cheng Yuan I used to be,” he said, getting closer and closer to Chu Jianshan, cornering him. “Ultimately, you still have expectations of me.”
The atmosphere quieted down, and the two looked into each other's eyes. He clearly saw a glimmer in Chu Jianshan's eyes. As if possessed, Cheng Yuan lowered his eyes and slowly moved closer to his lips.
Chu Jianshan turned his head to avoid the kiss, and it naturally landed on his cheek.
Cheng Yuan chuckled and asked him, "Chu Jianshan, what are you expecting? Is it this?"
Chu Jianshan glared at him: "If I had known that Linyi Sect would teach you to be like this, I would have preferred not to have saved you in the first place."
Cheng Yuan raised an eyebrow and smiled, "Finally, you admit it, Master."
Chu Jianshan turned his head away from him, saying, "Whether you admit it or not, you've already guessed most of it. What's the use of me being stubborn now?"
Cheng Yuan was clearly satisfied with the answer, and kissed Chu Jianshan on the corner of his mouth again, pinching his chin so he couldn't dodge.
Chu Jianshan was so overwhelmed by the kisses that he finally understood. It wasn't a fit of pique. When he called someone Chu Jianshan and when he called someone Shizun, it all depended on his mood. He would call someone Chu Jianshan when he was angry, but if they were in bed, he would probably call someone Shizun all night.
"Why are you blushing?" Cheng Yuan asked deliberately.
Chu Jianshan snapped out of his daze and elbowed Cheng Yuan away, using all his strength.
Cheng Yuan grunted, but wasn't annoyed. He smiled and followed Chu Jianshan back into the secret passage.
"Have you been here before?" Chu Jianshan asked.
Cheng Yuan shook his head: "I've never been here before."
Chu Jianshan found it quite novel, "Qiao Yi let you sit in this position, but he doesn't allow you to get close to here, so the ways you can help him are greatly limited."
Cheng Yuan guessed, "Perhaps they're looking for a suitable opportunity?"
Chu Jianshan subconsciously denied it, saying, "Given his personality, he shouldn't be so indecisive."
Cheng Yuan guessed again: "Then what are they waiting for?"
That's possible," Chu Jianshan thought for a moment and said, "Perhaps he's waiting for an opportunity to completely control you."
"Am I not under his control right now?"
“It’s different,” Chu Jianshan said. “Although your body is currently under his control, your heart is not the same as theirs. He is a man who cannot tolerate even the slightest imperfection. He will make you completely and willingly submit to him.”
Cheng Yuan snorted coldly, "Then he probably won't have that chance in his lifetime."
“Don’t underestimate him,” Chu Jianshan advised. “In short, be careful in all your actions at Linyi Gate from now on, and don’t be rash.”
"Okay," Cheng Yuan said softly.
"You and that Ji Ziyan..." Chu Jianshan changed the subject, hesitatingly asking, "When are you getting married?"
"Half a month later." Cheng Yuan's eyes darkened as he suppressed his emotions.
"Half a month later..." Chu Jianshan calculated the date and replied, "That's not an auspicious day."
"You still want an auspicious day?" Cheng Yuan was furious. "You're so happy to see me marrying someone else?"
"It's all just an act anyway, it's no big deal," Chu Jianshan said, indicating that he didn't care.
"What do you mean it's no big deal!" Cheng Yuan was furious. He grabbed Chu Jianshan and forced him to stop. "You think it's no big deal that I marry another woman?"
"Yes, my marriage to her was just a scheme by Qiao Yi to win over his old subordinates, but Najib and Nazha followed the same steps. What difference is there between the real and the fake? How can you not care?!"
"I..." Chu Jianshan was speechless, utterly puzzled: "Can't I trust you? You can't possibly have any real feelings for her."
"no!"
Typing out the name Cheng Yuan completely baffled Chu Jianshan. He couldn't trust him, nor could he not trust him? Truly, a man's heart is unfathomable.
"I don't understand you." Chu Jianshan shook off Cheng Yuan's hand and walked forward on his own.
"Chu Jianshan! Come back here!" Cheng Yuan shouted from behind.
Chu Jianshan quickened his pace.
"Are you leaving again?"
A casual remark made Chu Jianshan stop in his tracks.
After a few seconds of silence, she turned around and reassured Cheng Yuan, "I can't stay here forever."
[Author's Note]
...Quietly updating one chapter.
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