Chapter 112

"Complete nonsense!"

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

Although they didn't know the full context, from Fan Muqi's words, Qin Qinian and Shi Rongyue managed to piece together the gist of it.

Defeat in battle? That most likely involved his father's (her second uncle's) military campaigns in the South.

"You are being quite unreasonable. Qin Yanzhou's mother is in the mansion, keeping my father company; of course, he would be here too," Qin Qinian said with a frown.

Shi Rongyue added, "The winner takes all. Your father was no match for my second uncle; a defeat is a defeat. If the Northern Army had lost, it's highly unlikely your father would have spared the Qin family."

Fan Muqi's mind buzzed violently, completely consumed by Qin Qinian's phrase "Qin Yanzhou's mother."

Did Quanjie have a mother?

He shouldn't have one.

"You are lying to me. If his mother is still alive, why hasn't she come to see him even once in seven whole years..."

Fan Muqi muttered. After finishing her initial sentence, she seemed to draw strength from it, her gaze turning fierce. "If he had a mother, and if she could stay by the Marquis of Wu'an's side as you claim, there is absolutely no way Quanjie would be sent away for seven years!"

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

This was something he had learned after seeing Qin Yanzhou covered in scars and pestering him for the truth. After being asked for the eighteenth time, the other party finally told him that he had been abducted as a child and separated from his mother.

Hearing Qin Yanzhou's words at the time, he belatedly recalled that a missing person notice had been issued in the North a while ago. Later, when he went back to check, the notice was indeed looking for "Qin Yanzhou," except the "Qin Yanzhou" on it was a nine-year-old child.

Qin Qinian didn't ask why the details didn't match, because he had already come up with a reason himself: it must have been to avoid drawing attention!

Of course, that wasn't important. What mattered was correcting this young lady who was slandering Qin Yanzhou.

Qin Qinian: "A few months ago, the North entrusted a group of traveling merchants to distribute a missing person notice across the world, and he was the one they were looking for. Your surname is Fan, and there was a military defeat; your father is Fan of Yanzhou, right? That missing person notice must have reached Yanzhou as well. If you were in Yanzhou and paid any attention, you would definitely know about this."

Fan Muqi froze for a moment.

A missing person notice?

In the past, when she was still at home, she would occasionally go out to play with the young lady of the Li family. She seemed to recall hearing about a missing person notice in the commandery.

Seeing her expression, Shi Rongyue knew that Fan Muqi had probably heard of it.

The other party's father had been defeated in battle, so her family couldn't possibly have brought her to Yuyang. Moreover, Young Master Qin had previously mentioned the "Green Lotus Sect." Could this girl be a member of the Green Lotus Sect?

Her second uncle was dedicated to suppressing the sect. If they could incite this young lady to defect, it would be a wonderful thing.

Thus, Shi Rongyue said, "If you don't believe us, you can return to the Qin mansion with us and meet Lady Dai. She looks very much like Young Master Qin. Once you see her, you will know we are not lying. At that time, we hope you will cooperate and tell us everything you know about the Green Lotus Sect truthfully."

"Yes, you can return to the mansion with us. However, you must watch your words in front of Lady Dai and not be stubborn anymore. Otherwise, if my father hears you speaking nonsense, he will twist your head off," Qin Qinian said seriously.

Fan Muqi shuddered all over, as if struck by an invisible, massive force, and stumbled backward a step.

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

"You just mentioned Diting. Has Diting also come to Yuyang? Where is he now?" Qin Yanzhou took a step forward.

His step was like a sudden crash of thunder, startling the birds on the branches and snapping Fan Muqi out of her daze.

Fan Muqi stumbled back two steps, her expression changing repeatedly. There was shock and doubt, disbelief, as well as conflict and pain.

She suddenly looked up at Qin Yanzhou. Her gaze was complex, like a painting smeared with various colors.

Fan Muqi took a deep look at Qin Yanzhou. "Didn't you want to know about Diting? He was originally in the bookstore, but it seems he left later. Come with me. There is a secret passage in this room; walking through it will take you to another place. There is another leader of the Green Lotus Sect there, who I observe is on equal footing with Diting."

Qin Qinian was suspicious. "Are you really that kind-hearted?"

From the beginning, she had been luring Qin Yanzhou to this place, and now she was asking them to take a secret passage. Could it be a trap?

Fan Muqi sneered. "Originally, I wasn't. That secret passage is filled with hidden traps. Initially, Diting asked me to lure you here with the intention of killing you with those traps, but I have changed my mind now. Quanjie, since you keep saying you used to work for the Green Lotus Sect, then come with me to find him. I want to ask him clearly face to face."

With that, Fan Muqi turned and walked away.

Qin Yanzhou followed for two steps. Hearing footsteps behind him, he turned to look at Qin Qinian and Shi Rongyue. "You two wait here."

"No way!"

Qin Qinian flatly refused. "Although you're a good fighter, what if ten or eight people suddenly swarm in? Two fists are no match for four hands. If you're attacked from the front and back, there will always be blind spots. It's different if I go with you. We can stand back-to-back, invincible against the world."

"It's still unknown whether there are truly no other people here. We cannot leave Miss Shi alone," Qin Yanzhou disagreed.

Qin Qinian paused.

That was true.

If he and Qin Yanzhou left, and some local ruffian popped up to do something untoward to Rongrong, he would have to apologize with his life.

"Quanjie, are you coming or not? If not, then forget it," Fan Muqi said coldly from inside.

After saying this, she turned into the inner area, and her figure could no longer be seen.

Shi Rongyue glanced over there, then looked at Qin Yanzhou, her large light brown eyes reflecting the figure in front of her. "How about we go together? We shouldn't miss this opportunity. If we let her slip away through the secret passage, we might not be able to find her again. It's better if I follow along too. Anyway, my little cousin has already informed the city patrols we just ran into, asking them to point the way for Captain Hu."

Qin Qinian perked up. "Right, right. We've already told the city guards we saw along the way to run back. Hu Bao is receiving them one by one, so he'll definitely guess we're here. In a quarter of an hour at most, Hu Bao and his men will arrive."

Even if they were truly ambushed, they only needed to hold out for a quarter of an hour to wait for reinforcements.

Once reinforcements arrived, they could turn the tables and capture them all in one fell swoop. With severe interrogation, were they afraid they wouldn't uncover all of the Green Lotus Sect's forces in Yuyang?

Qin Yanzhou had arrived earlier than the two of them and didn't know what happened afterward. Hearing them say this now, he hesitated for a moment before finally nodding.

The group of three walked inside.

This was just a two-courtyard compound with limited space, and connected right next to it was the room.

The door to the room was wide open. In the spot where a bed had originally been placed, the bed was now moved aside, revealing a dark, eerie passage leading straight down.

The passage was more than eight feet wide, allowing two adult men to walk side by side. And Fan Muqi was currently standing at the entrance of the passage.

Seeing them come over together, with Shi Rongyue among them, Fan Muqi twitched the corners of her mouth, seemingly wanting to reveal a mocking smile, but ultimately failing. "You really can't bear to leave her behind for even a moment."

Shi Rongyue sensed the other party's hostility. Initially puzzled, she then saw Fan Muqi looking at Qin Yanzhou and suddenly understood something.

However, Fan Muqi didn't seem to expect an answer. After dropping that sentence, 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 slanted downwards. After descending several stone steps about the height of two people, the path leveled out, no longer as steep as before.

Qin Qinian kept an eye on his surroundings as they walked. Even when they first came down, he was quite surprised.

These were stone steps, not an ordinary dirt slope.

Building stone steps required transporting stones and carefully fitting them together. The manpower and resources spent were completely incomparable to simply piling up a dirt slope.

This secret passage was built with great care and looked very solid. Judging from the heavily worn stone steps, it had existed for at least a dozen years, if not longer.

It was highly likely that it had existed even before his father took over the entirety of Yuyang.

The further they went in, the wider the surroundings became, shaped like a funnel. There were no candlesticks or lamps set up along the four sides of the passage, but many small bronze mirror shards were cleverly installed everywhere.

Light was brought in from an unknown source, and after multiple refractions, it became an invisible lamp lingering in the passage. The surroundings were still dim, but not so dark that one couldn't see their own fingers.

There was no need to hold a torch to move forward.

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

Fan Muqi, who was in front, did not answer.

Shi Rongyue whispered, "Little cousin, now is not the time to talk about this. Keep a close eye on her. She said earlier that she planned to assassinate Young Master Qin with a hidden mechanism. She changed her tune later, but who knows if..."

Shi Rongyue walked in the middle, separated from Fan Muqi only by Qin Yanzhou. Coupled with the silence of the passage, although she lowered her voice, Fan Muqi still heard fragments of her words.

Fan Muqi turned her head in anger. The twisted gold wire and pearl-bearing butterfly jade hairpin on her head flapped its golden wings up and down with her dramatic turn. "Do you see that small protruding stone five steps ahead? That is a mechanism!"

Shi Rongyue immediately fell silent.

Qin Qinian looked nervously at the small protrusion. "You, you come closer. Don't go near there."

Fan Muqi sneered. "Rest assured. Since I said I would take you to find him and ask him clearly, I won't make a move against you right now."

From beginning to end, she only looked at Qin Yanzhou, and the word she used was 'you' in the singular, not referring to all of them, only to him.

Shi Rongyue pursed her lips.

After walking another distance, the area ahead became even more open. Entering this place, rows of multi-tiered shelves leaning against the wall unexpectedly appeared.

It was unknown how long those wooden shelves had been placed there, as they seemed covered in a thick layer of dust.

In addition, there were many open-mouthed, short-bellied small jars placed on the ground, containing some things inside. In the very center, there was a set of a table and chairs, and on the table unexpectedly sat a faintly glowing coiled-dragon lamp.

A candle was lit inside the lamp. Driven by the heat, the central axis rotated continuously, and the patterns on the lamp's surface rotated one by one.

Several scenes appeared successively: an adult man with an unseen face was leading three children. One of them was slightly shorter, and the other two were slightly taller, looking a bit older.

Turning to another picture: the man disappeared, leaving only the three children playing together. It was still the two taller ones and one shorter one. The taller ones wore white clothes, and the shorter one wore black clothes. Each of the three rode a small foal.

Turning to yet another picture: the child in black had grown up into a young man. Holding a sword in his hand, he was killing a person. Not far away, a young man in white was watching him.

The several pictures rotated continuously. In this dim room, this coiled-dragon lamp produced an indescribable eeriness, easily making people focus all their attention on it and ignore everything else.

For example, a string tied to the coiled-dragon lamp. And the things inside the small jars illuminated by the light, as well as the 'dust' scattered on the shelves.

The 'dust' was white, and the things in the open-mouthed small jars were also white.

And if one looked a little further inside, they could see two passages leading in different directions. That side was slightly darker, making it impossible to see what was inside.

Qin Yanzhou's pupils suddenly constricted.

"The drawings on this lamp are so detailed; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they are lifelike. By the way, why put a lamp here? Could it be for illumination?" Qin Qinian was puzzled.

"It shouldn't be..."

Before Shi Rongyue could finish her sentence, her wrist was suddenly grabbed, and she couldn't help but freeze.

The white-robed young man who was originally walking in front of her grabbed her with one hand and Qin Qinian with the other. Pulling one with each hand, he frantically ran back.

"Hey, what are you doing, Qin Yanzhou! Why are we running? Weren't we going to find that Diting thing?" Qin Qinian was confused. However, he didn't break free from Qin Yanzhou's hand and ran along with him.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew from one of the unknown passages over there.

Shi Rongyue was stunned.

How could there suddenly be wind underground?

And after this gust of wind, Qin Qinian and Shi Rongyue both felt the young man pulling them suddenly yank them forward.

Originally behind Qin Yanzhou, after being yanked by him backhandedly, they both ended up in front of him.

"Qin Yan..."

"Boom!!"

A massive flash of fire and a deafening roar came from behind, and a terrifying blast of air rushed toward them from the rear.

Qin Yanzhou was blown by the blast wave, crashing into Shi Rongyue and Qin Qinian.

The initial explosion triggered a chain reaction. The stone passage shook, and the small bronze mirrors originally inlaid everywhere crashed to the ground, shattering into pieces.

Even the stone blocks overhead were impacted, smashing down with heavy thuds one after another.

The surroundings were pitch black. Shi Rongyue only felt that she was caged in a very small space, with a warm touch right next to her and a hurried breath hanging above her.

Suddenly, something warm fell onto her face.

The smell of blood rushed into Shi Rongyue's nose, and she snapped back to her senses in an instant. "Young, Young Master Qin?"

She tremblingly raised her hand. Unable to see in the dark, she only felt that she had touched a patch of warm, soft skin. The next moment, the figure that had been propped up over her and the person beside her collapsed.

Shi Rongyue's heart suddenly spasmed.

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

Shi Rongyue didn't dare to move. She and Qin Qinian beside her each formed half of a human cushion to catch Qin Yanzhou.

After calling out "Qin Yanzhou" several times with no response, Qin Qinian began to panic. "Qin Yanzhou, answer me, don't scare me! Saving my life is such a huge favor, you have to at least give me a chance to repay you..."

"Little cousin, he passed out. It's not what you think," Shi Rongyue said, moving her hand away from the pulse on the side of the young man's neck.

Qin Qinian's emotions fluctuated wildly, and a thin layer of cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He asked Shi Rongyue again, "Rongrong, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"

"No, Young Master Qin shielded me. I wasn't hit by the falling rocks," Shi Rongyue said softly.

Qin Qinian reached out, trying to feel his surroundings. "It's blocked off here, and there's no room to maneuver. Let's just wait for rescue. Hu Bao and the others should be arriving soon."