Han Su’s window was originally a small mechanical room with several dark openings on all sides. When an explosion erupted below, the room immediately began to sway precariously. The walls cracked, and the ceiling started to collapse. As a massive stone block plummeted towards them, Mu Qingyan swiftly embraced Cai Zhao and rolled into a lower left opening.
Unexpectedly, the staircase behind this opening had already been shattered by the tremors. Consequently, Mu and Cai tumbled down the broken stone wall. Despite their high cultivation levels, they were bruised and battered all over. Fortunately, recalling their experience in the ice cave of Xueling where hot springs had struck them, they clung tightly to each other, refusing to let go regardless of how they were tossed about.
After rolling for an indeterminate time, they fell like dumplings through a high opening, landing on flat ground with Cai Zhao on the bottom and Mu Qingyan on top.
Already dizzy from the fall and now crushed beneath a tall, slender young man, Cai Zhao felt numb all over and couldn’t help but let out a painful groan. Mu Qingyan chuckled softly, his chest vibrating against the girl beneath him.
Cai Zhao, like a small elephant fallen into a mud pit and unable to climb out, whimpered in pain. With a bitter expression, she complained, “Those novels are all lies! Aren’t these situations supposed to have the man on the bottom and the woman on top?” She lamented that instead of the woman lying on the man’s broad chest, speaking sweet nothings with both apology and joy, she was about to be flattened like a meat patty.
Mu Qingyan laughed quietly, “I told you to read fewer novels. You’ll have plenty of bitter experiences in the future.”
Looking around, they discovered they were in a deep, square tunnel. The floor and walls gleamed with a cold, iron-like sheen. The chill permeated the air, and luminous pearls were embedded in the walls every few zhang, emitting a soft glow.
Cai Zhao pounded his shoulders vigorously. “Get up quickly! You’re crushing me!”
Mu Qingyan, his face buried in her delicate neck, breathed warmly and spoke in a soft, heated voice, “My waist hurts. I can’t get up.”
Angrily, Cai Zhao threatened, “If you don’t get up now, I’ll make your face hurt!”
Unfazed by this meager threat, Young Master Mu pressed his body even closer. He took her pink, plump fist and brought his jade-like face near, taunting, “Go ahead, hit me. If you have the guts, just beat me to death.”
Cai Zhao sighed helplessly, “… In novels, it’s usually the woman who says such things.”
Mu Qingyan smiled brilliantly, his radiance illuminating mountains and rivers. “Then what happens next? Does the woman get hit?”
Dazzled by his smile, Cai Zhao suddenly felt that being a meat patty wasn’t so bad. She answered awkwardly, “After such coquettish behavior, the man naturally can’t bring himself to hit her.”
Smiling coyly, Mu Qingyan said, “So that’s how coquettishness works. Why don’t you act coquettish for me then…”
Cai Zhao replied in confusion, “Sure, I often act coquettish with my aunt… Wait, no! How did it become me acting coquettish? Shouldn’t you be the one doing it?”
Mu Qingyan leaned in closer, his high nose almost brushing against the girl’s cheek. “As long as you like it, I’ll act coquettish for you.”
Cai Zhao’s eyes were filled with the man’s beautiful obsidian orbs. Unconsciously, she wrapped her arms around his neck, wanting to bite his pale red thin lips. Suddenly, the young man’s expression turned cold. He quickly pushed himself up and moved away from the girl.
With a cold gaze, he sat on one knee nearby and said frostily, “Heaven and earth have proper laws, and humans have etiquette. Even in a place with no one around, men and women shouldn’t be touchy-feely. What if it leads to a grave mistake?”
Cai Zhao, still lying on the ground, thought to herself, “I curse your ancestors!”
Slowly sitting up, she said angrily, “This humble girl advises Young Master Mu to take some medicine when we’re done with this. Your illness is quite severe.”
Mu Qingyan snorted coldly, reaching out his long arm to pat the dust off the girl’s clothes.
“Don’t touch me,” Cai Zhao said, slapping his hand away.
Mu Qingyan switched hands and continued dusting her off. “I’m doing this for your good. You’ll understand in the future.”
“I know my limits. Stop nagging!” The young girl was extremely uncomfortable.
Mu Qingyan’s eyes flashed. “Fine. Since you say you know your limits, make an oath to me. Swear that you won’t flirt with anyone before we’re married, or I’ll go kill Song Yuzhi and Zhou Yuqi.”
Cai Zhao was puzzled. “Huh? Why is Third Senior Brother involved?”
Mu Qingyan became furious. “See? You have something going on with Song Yuzhi. Otherwise, why would you focus on him instead of scolding me for making you swear such an oath?”
Cai Zhao thought to herself, “I want to give him medicine right now.”
“Alright, alright. What time is it now? Why are you bringing up all this nonsense? Let’s figure out how to get out of here first!” As always, it was up to the sensible and practical one to maintain order.
Mu Qingyan raised his head and snorted, refusing to respond.
Cai Zhao put her hands on her hips, about to get angry, when her gaze shifted. She noticed his torn sleeve and several alarming bloody scratches on his pale hand from the broken stones.
Remembering his unhesitating protection of her under Han Su’s threats and coercion earlier, her heart softened. “Sigh, I haven’t apologized to you yet. I thought I could help by coming to the Youming Huangdao, but you already had a good plan. Not only did I fail to help, but I almost got you into trouble. I shouldn’t have been so presumptuous. The world is vast, and I’m not as capable as I thought…”
Hearing these words, Mu Qingyan softened. “No, you risked coming to the Youming Huangdao because you were worried about me. That makes me very happy.”
Cai Zhao looked at him, and Mu Qingyan looked back.
Silence.
“Wait a minute,” Cai Zhao narrowed her eyes. “You had Uncle Cheng wait for me at the bamboo retreat outside Qingque Town for days. This shows you not only anticipated I would come looking for you but planned for Uncle Cheng to guide you. With your cunning, how could you not have realized that my identity would make Nie’s faction even more frenzied? You should have tried to dissuade me from coming.”
Mu Qingyan averted his gaze guiltily.
“You deliberately spread false information to confuse Nie Zhe, so you couldn’t have sealed off all the passages. Those disciples who saw the Yanyang Blade must have leaked some information to Nie Zhe while spreading the news about your strong army planning to attack Jile Palace head-on. So, my identity couldn’t be kept secret. Why didn’t you try to stop me from coming to Youming Huangdao?”
Mu Qingyan coughed lightly to hide his guilt. “You should trust me. I would never put you in danger.”
Cai Zhao replied expressionlessly, “I believe that. You wanted me to come to your side but also knew my identity couldn’t be completely hidden. You originally planned to hide me away, didn’t you?”
“I was going to have Uncle Cheng hide you until after the Nie faction was overthrown,” Mu Qingyan said with a bitter smile. “In the entire cult, only Nie’s faction truly hates your aunt to the bone. The Yanyang Blade has sent many of Nie Hengcheng’s trusted generals to their graves. Back when Nie Hengcheng held power in the cult, his troops were always at the forefront.”
Cai Zhao snorted, “Of course. My aunt isn’t bloodthirsty. Even for people in the devil cult, as long as they don’t cause trouble, my aunt often turns a blind eye. If Duan Jiuxiu hadn’t gone crazy and massacred the Qingfeng Temple, my aunt wouldn’t have bothered with him.”
Mu Qingyan smiled bitterly, “Indeed. That’s why those who didn’t get along with Nie Hengcheng, like Elder Chou Baiqiang, even when forced to carry out missions, only put in minimal effort. How could they have any deep grudges against your Cai family?”
Cai Zhao thought for a moment, then suggested, “If that’s the case, why don’t you let Uncle Cheng and me hide while you and the others go after Nie Zhe?”
Mu Qingyan sneered, “Would you be comfortable letting your Third Senior Brother enter Jile Palace with me? If Song Yuzhi gets hurt, you’d blame me!”
Cai Zhao couldn’t help but exclaim, “Then you could let Third Senior Brother hide with Uncle Cheng and me!”
“Sure, let you two hide together and pour your hearts out to each other. I might as well die!” Mu Qingyan retorted.
Exasperated, Cai Zhao cried, “If Third Senior Brother and I wanted to pour our hearts out to each other, we would have done it long ago on the journey here! Why wait until now? You should drink some calming tea and come to your senses!”
Unusually speechless, Mu Qingyan sighed, “I thought I had thoroughly investigated Nie Zhe’s surroundings and that Jile Palace wouldn’t pose a significant risk, so I brought you in. I didn’t expect Han Su to still be alive. Ah if I had known, I might as well have let you and Song Yuzhi hide and talk about me behind my back.”
Cai Zhao couldn’t help but laugh, “You’re truly unbelievable. I’m impressed, really impressed!”
Mu Qingyan tugged at the girl’s sleeve, his eyes full of apology. “It’s all my fault for putting Zhao Zhao in such danger.”
“Forget it!” Cai Zhao took a deep breath, calming herself by repeating the four-word mantra of “harmony and wealth” in her mind.
“Let’s put the past behind us and focus on the present!” She waved her hand. “Where are we now?”
Mu Qingyan explained, “I heard from my father that there’s a vast underground palace beneath Jile Palace, built by the fifth-generation cult leader, Mu Donglie. This must be it.”
Cai Zhao looked around, noting the straight, deep, and spacious corridors. She commented, “Such a large underground palace! Wouldn’t it have hollowed out the entire foundation of Jile Palace? Aren’t they afraid it might collapse?”
“It won’t. The entire underground palace is made of refined iron mixed with various secret steels, topped with enormous jade rocks. It’s not only incredibly sturdy but can bear more weight than mountain stones,” Mu Qingyan explained.
Cai Zhao was amazed but then realized something, “But the mechanical room Han Su was in earlier was made of stone, wasn’t it?”
Mu Qingyan scoffed, “That was probably added by Nie Hengcheng in the gaps of the underground palace years ago. Such sneaky tricks are laughable.”
Cai Zhao nodded, “Right, that stone room was small and fragile, yet full of intricate mechanisms. It must have been built by someone meticulous and fussy, unlike the grand design of this place, which shows great skill without being overdone, and has an imposing presence.”
Mu Qingyan sighed, “Indeed, that’s how the cult’s historical records describe Cult Leader Mu Donglie. It’s a pity he didn’t lead for long.”
Surprised, Cai Zhao asked, “Did he die young? Who could have killed such a formidable cult leader? Or did he die of illness?”
Mu Qingyan replied, “No one dared to kill him, and he wasn’t ill. He didn’t die—he passed the leadership to his nephew, instructed his subordinates to assist well, and then disappeared into seclusion. Years later, some claimed to have seen him behind that towering snowy mountain in the Western Regions, but who knows if it’s true.”
Cai Zhao’s mouth gaped open. After a while, she said, “… I didn’t expect there to be such a carefree person among the devil cult leaders.”
“What carefree? I’d say irresponsible. Abandoning everything on a whim, who knows what he was thinking? He’s the one who needs medicine,” Mu Qingyan said disapprovingly. “Let’s not talk about him. We need to find a way out.”
Cai Zhao looked around, “We can’t go back the way we came; it’s all blocked. We can only find a way out through this underground palace.”
“Alright,” Mu Qingyan said, patting his robe as he stood up and helped the girl to her feet. “Let’s explore the vision of this Mu family ancestor.”
Cai Zhao looked ahead and behind, “Which direction should we go?”
“It doesn’t matter. Let’s start walking and see,” Mu Qingyan suggested.
Cai Zhao agreed.
As Mu Qingyan began to move, the girl behind him tugged at his sleeve. He turned, puzzled.
Cai Zhao hesitated, then asked quietly, “Back then, did Madam Sun have you before marrying your father?”
Instantly, a chill crept into Mu Qingyan’s eyes, and his body stiffened.
After a moment, he returned to normal and said flatly, “That’s correct.”
He picked up a wooden stick from the ground—a remnant of Han Su’s shattered wooden wheelchair that had rolled down with them. Lighting it with a fire starter, he held it high to lead the way.
“If it weren’t for me, Father might have left the Hanhai Mountain Range long ago,” he said matter-of-factly.
His tall figure cast a long shadow in the tunnel. Cai Zhao suddenly felt a tinge of bitterness.
She grabbed Mu Qingyan again and, after some thought, said, “My aunt was only fourteen when she ran away from Peiqiong Manor. One night, she woke up, drank some cold tea, packed her belongings, and set off. She even wrote her farewell note on a steamer cloth…”
Mu Qingyan’s eyes lost some of their coldness. “Why a steamer cloth? Was there no paper in Peiqiong Manor?”
“Because she needed to bring dry food,” Cai Zhao explained seriously. “My aunt snuck into the kitchen at midnight to steal cold steamed buns. She realized she should leave a note for Uncle Zhou but was too lazy to go back to her room for paper and pen. So, she wrote a few words with bean paste sauce on a steamer cloth, slipped it under Uncle Zhou’s door, and considered it done.”
“Your aunt is truly free-spirited,” Mu Qingyan said with a hint of a smile. “But didn’t she take Lei Xiuming’s clothes and jade crown?”
“Yes, but she didn’t take them for free. She exchanged them for snow lotuses!” Cai Zhao couldn’t help but laugh, feeling warm and admiring as she spoke of her late relative.
“My aunt used to say that the notion of ‘everyone has their fate’ is often the result of one’s nature. Those who are meant to leave will find a way to leave no matter what, while those who stay always find reasons to be tied down.”
“So, if your father had reasons he couldn’t leave for many years, how can that be blamed on you?” She held onto Mu Qingyan, looking at him steadily. “It’s not your fault. Remember, it’s not your fault.”
Mu Qingyan’s long lashes quivered slightly. After a while, he gave a soft “Mm” and took the girl’s hand, walking towards the deep, dark tunnel ahead.