The whispers of the library and the underground
The sudden pull was like an invisible thread tied to the depths of her soul, the other end sinking into the cold floor beneath her feet, sending faint but persistent tremors through her. Su Nian froze on the spot, the tip of her pen spreading a small blot of ink on the rough paper.
underground?
Beneath this "space of slumber," is something drawing in, or rather, echoing, Xie Chen's fragments of soul?
This discovery both surprised and puzzled her. She was surprised because it was completely unexpected, and puzzled because she wondered if it was a trap or an opportunity. Was Xie Chen's placement of her here a coincidence, or was it intentional? Did he know the secrets of this underground place? Was that cold, piercing gaze also related to the existence of this underground realm?
She forcefully suppressed the urge to explore immediately. The ground was solid stone, perfectly sealed, with no obvious signs of traps or mechanisms. In her current state, acting rashly would be tantamount to suicide. She needed information, she needed power, she needed to understand this ancient castle and its owner better.
The library that Derrick mentioned is of particular importance at this moment.
For the next two days, Su Nian behaved even more "well-behaved." She maintained a regular schedule, diligently carrying out her "health regimen" and "research," and even when the maid brought her food, which had been slightly modified in quality (today there was an extra small piece of soft white bread), she simply thanked her politely without making any further requests. She needed to lower the guard of her surveillance personnel, at least until she gained access to the library.
She devoted most of her energy to trying to guide that faint wisp of icy energy and to more carefully sensing the pull from the ground. The pull was sometimes strong, sometimes weak, like the breathing of a sleeping beast, rhythmic and mysterious. She vaguely sensed that it wasn't malicious, but more like an... unconscious attraction, like a magnet encountering iron filings.
Finally, on the evening of the third day, Derrick appeared silently at the door again.
“Miss,” his stern voice broke the silence of the room, “the master has granted your request to view the library.”
Su Nian's heart skipped a beat, but she maintained a perfectly balanced expression of surprise and gratitude: "Thank you very much, butler. Please also convey my thanks to His Majesty for his permission."
Derrick's grey eyes lingered on her face for a moment, as if trying to read more from her eyes, but Su Nian concealed it well. "Please come with me." He turned and gestured for Su Nian to follow.
As he walked through the deeper, more winding corridors, the air seemed to grow even more stagnant, filled with the scent of ancient paper, leather, and an indescribable odor akin to a mixture of dried blood and dust. Finally, Derrick stopped before a massive double door constructed of black iron and dark wood. There was no keyhole; only a complex array of dark red crystals, like veins, embedded in its center.
Derrick extended his pale finger and drew a simple rune in the air. The rune touched the crystal array, and a dark red light flowed over it like ripples on water. The heavy door slid open silently inward.
“You may read here until the midnight bells ring.” Derrick stepped aside. “Most of the texts inside are written in vampire ancient language, abyssal language, or ancient elven language, and some have mental imprints that allow direct access to information. Please do not damage any scrolls, and do not enter areas marked as restricted.” His warning remained calm, yet it brooked no argument.
"I understand, thank you." Su Nian nodded, took a deep breath, and stepped into the vampire prince's library.
The door closed silently behind her.
The sight before her made her hold her breath instantly.
It was less a room and more a magnificent circular hall. The high dome was inlaid with luminous pearls emitting a soft white light, mimicking the layout of the starry sky. Countless enormous, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves stood like a forest, densely packed with books, scrolls, and even documents made of some kind of biological membrane or metal sheet from various materials. Some scrolls, emitting a faint glow, floated in the air, drifting slowly like fish. A tranquil and vast aura of knowledge permeated the air.
This place holds the accumulated wisdom of the vampire clan and even the world over a long period of time.
Su Nian composed herself, not wasting time marveling. Her goal was clear—to find records related to souls, contracts, ancient powers, and possible "underground secrets."
She moved among the towering bookshelves, her fingers tracing the spines of the books, some cold, some warm. She couldn't decipher most of the titles, relying only on the occasional fluctuations of mental imprints she sensed to discern the contents. She saw epics describing the rise and fall of the thirteen vampire clans, forbidden manuscripts recording dark magic, and massive tomes illustrating creatures from other planes…
Finally, in a relatively secluded corner, where the bookshelves were made of an older, darker material, she stopped. The books here exuded an even more obscure and weathered aura.
She carefully pulled out a heavy book bound in some kind of black leather, its cover blank. Opening it, the words inside twisted like wriggling worms, and as she focused her attention, a blurry stream of information flooded her mind:
"...The Origin Bond transcends bloodlines, pointing directly to the core of the soul... Coexistence brings prosperity, separation brings decay; it is one of the oldest bonds among all realms..."
Soul Contract!
Su Nian's spirits lifted, and she carefully "read" on. However, the record was incomplete, mostly describing the horror and irreversibility of this contract, but vague about how to form, identify, or break it. It only mentioned that this contract would create a deep connection between the souls of the two parties, and the state of one party would significantly affect the other.
She put down the book and picked up a silvery metal scroll beside it. Upon touching it, she sensed diagrams of a "soul-binding array" and a malevolent ritual that used specific environmental energies to imprison and weaken souls. This sent a chill down her spine, and she immediately put it back.
Just as she was focused on her search, the feeling of being watched returned, more elusive than when she was in the "Sleep Chamber," as if it had merged into the atmosphere of this vast sea of books, making it difficult to pinpoint its source.
Is it Xie Chen? Is he also observing her every move here in some way?
Su Nian forced herself to ignore the feeling and continued searching. She needed to find something more valuable.
Time slipped by unnoticed. Su Nian perused dozens of books that might be related to the soul, but gained very little. They were either too profound to understand or contained only fragmented information. The records regarding what might be hidden beneath the ancient castle were particularly baffling.
Just as she was feeling a little frustrated and preparing to turn to other areas, her gaze was drawn to an inconspicuous scroll held in a dark crystal box on the top shelf. The scroll was neither paper nor leather, but had a dull, dark gold color, and it showed no signs of spiritual imprinting, as if it were an inanimate object.
But for some reason, it gave Su Nian a strange sense of familiarity.
She stood on tiptoe and laboriously removed the crystal box. The box wasn't locked; she gently opened it, and inside lay the dark gold scroll. The instant her fingers touched the scroll—
Buzz!
Deep within the soul, those few golden specks of light that had always existed quietly suddenly emitted an unprecedented, clear, and rapid throbbing! It was like a call for a long-awaited reunion!
At the same time, extremely faint energy ripples, which were of the same origin as the golden light in her soul, suddenly appeared on the surface of the dark gold scroll!
Su Nian was shocked and almost dropped the scroll.
This scroll... is related to Xie Chen's soul essence?!
She suppressed her excitement and carefully unfurled the scroll. There were no words on it, only a chaotic, dark golden scene, like the beginning of a cosmic nebula. At the center of the scene was an extremely small yet complex rune that made her soul tremble—the composition of that rune and the pale blue icy mark deep within her soul shared a mirror-like, contradictory yet unified spirit!
Just then, a deep voice, carrying a barely perceptible fluctuation, rang out behind her without warning:
"What did you find?"
Su Nian froze, abruptly closed the scroll, quickly put it back in the crystal box, and turned around.
Xie Chen had silently appeared a few steps behind her without her noticing. He was still dressed in dark casual clothes, his blood-red amber eyes calmly looking at her, his face expressionless. But Su Nian keenly noticed that his gaze towards the crystal box seemed... a little deeper than usual.
He stepped forward slowly, past Su Nian, and picked up the crystal box with his slender fingers. He didn't open it, but simply ran his fingertips along the cold surface of the box.
"Most of the books here are dry and boring," he said casually, his gaze returning to Su Nian's face with scrutiny. "It seems you are quite interested in this 'ancient knowledge'?"
Su Nian's heart pounded in her chest, and she tried to keep her voice calm: "I just want to learn more...maybe I can find a faster way to stabilize my mind and purify my blood." She couldn't be sure if Xie Chen had noticed the unusual resonance between the scroll and her soul.
Xie Chen didn't speak, but simply looked at her quietly, his gaze seemingly able to pierce through all pretense. For a moment, only the soft glow of the luminous pearl and the silently flowing tension filled the library.
Suddenly, without warning, he changed the subject:
“Derrick said you’ve been very ‘quiet’ lately.”
Alarm bells rang in Su Nian's mind. Was that a casual remark, or was it loaded with meaning? Did it mean she hadn't made any further requests, or... had it noticed her focus on the underground traction?
"I'm new here and need time to adjust to the environment, so I don't want to bother you too much," she replied cautiously.
A faint, ambiguous smile seemed to appear at the corner of Xie Chen's mouth, vanishing in an instant. "Adapt..." he repeated the word, his gaze sweeping over the crystal box again before casually placing it back on the bookshelf, as if it were just an insignificant item.
“Midnight is approaching,” he reminded him, his tone returning to its usual languidness. “The knowledge here is vast as the ocean, but not all of it is suitable for… mortals to touch.”
After saying that, he stopped looking at her, turned around, and his figure disappeared silently behind the huge bookshelf, as if blending into the shadows.
The chilling feeling of being watched vanished as a result.
Su Nian stood rooted to the spot, her back soaked with cold sweat. The oppressive feeling she had just experienced was far stronger than ever before. He must have sensed something! Something about the scroll, something about her unusual attention…
She dared not linger any longer and immediately turned to walk out of the library. Derrick, as expected, was waiting outside the door like a ghost. When she came out, he bowed slightly and silently led her back to the "Sleep Chamber".
Back in that familiar cage, Su Nian leaned against the door, her mind unable to calm down for a long time.
The trip to the library yielded far more than expected, but it also brought greater mysteries and crises. What exactly was that dark golden scroll? Why did it resonate with Xie Chen's soul fragments? And why were the runes on it so similar to her Ice Soul Mark? What did Xie Chen's final, meaningful words and actions hint at?
She walked to the center of the room, feeling the continuous, faint pull from the ground beneath her feet.
At this moment, the sense of attraction seemed to have become clearer because of her experience in the library. She could even vaguely sense that the source of the attraction was not an inanimate object, but rather carried an extremely faint, vast, and ancient life force, as if it had been dormant for countless ages!
A startling conjecture flashed through her mind like lightning—
Could the secret sealed or dormant beneath this ancient castle be... Prince Xie Chen's true, complete soul? Or perhaps, the core source of his power? And the fragments in her soul are merely a tiny, elusive part?
If that's the case, then her previous "restoration conjecture" might have another explanation—it's not about changing the environment to trigger the laws, but rather that the closer she gets to his complete soul origin, the more her own soul and heritage can be nourished and repaired!
The idea made her tremble with excitement.
But what followed was an even deeper chill. If the underground was truly his soul's physical body, then what terrifying truth lay hidden behind his surveillance, his probing, and his current "fragmented" state?
Just as her mind was in turmoil—
"Thump..."
A dull thud, as if from the deepest part of the earth, faintly reached her senses through the soles of her feet.
That's not an illusion!
The slumbering entity underground... has moved?!
(End of Chapter 53)
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Next Chapter Preview: Is the impact from underground a prelude to awakening or a loosening of the seal? What secrets does the dark golden scroll conceal? Beneath Xie Chen's seemingly calm scrutiny, has he already discerned the anomaly deep within Su Nian's soul? Faced with a potentially awakening complete soul, how will Su Nian survive in this precarious situation and seize this opportunity that accompanies both danger and chance? The whispers from beneath the ancient castle grow ever clearer…
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