GAMMT - Chapter 64
Chapter 64: Hong Yan
Gao Yang City was once quite famous in Beluke Province. True to its name, which sounded like "stubborn lamb," it had dominated the bottom of the provincial high school and college entrance exam rankings for decades. About ten years ago, Jingyang City's ranking was actually just a few spots above the bottom. Perhaps the worse a student's grades, the more they enjoy mocking others, because Jingyang always felt a sense of superiority over Gao Yang. Whenever the exams rolled around, they loved to put Gao Yang down. If students from the two cities ever met in public, a fight was inevitable, and Gao Yang was always on the losing end.
It wasn't just the students; their parents shared the same mentality.
If you hit a wall on the south side, you might as well find a shortcut on the north, right?
Gao Yang City was the most famous bridge in all of Beluke Province—a bridge for everyone to trample on.
Until, that is… Jingyang City grew weaker with each generation, creeping ever closer to Gao Yang's position at the bottom.
The meeting of these two underachievers was always amusing. Is it satisfying for the pot to call the kettle black? Why don't you try taking another fifty steps yourself?
So, if they encountered Gao Yang in this exam, and Gao Yang's candidates turned out to be quite formidable, the expressions on the faces of the people from Jingyang would be awkward indeed.
At the very least, the people in the waiting area were quite anxious.
"This has to be intentional. Why did they have to be grouped with people from Gao Yang?"
"Are the people from Gao Yang that strong? We haven't heard any news from them before."
"Are you stupid? If Gao Yang really produced some impressive talents these past few years, would they announce it for other cities to be on guard? You know that online information in each province and city is controllable, especially when it's related to educational assessments. The departments in each city have the authority to block it. Anyone in the Education Ministry caught selling information would be sentenced to prison."
Under these circumstances, their lack of understanding of Gao Yang's true situation was understandable.
It was a real miscalculation.
But some were more optimistic. A pot-bellied parent, who had often belittled Gao Yang's candidates in the past, now said with disdain, "A change in quantity can lead to a change in quality. Gao Yang's population is larger than ours, so it's not surprising for a few strong candidates to emerge from so many. Our city has its share of powerful people too. Look at you all, scared stiff."
"Relax, it's fine."
Just as he finished speaking, the four figures on the screen formed a joint array. From the center of the arcane totem, hundreds of crimson, burning bats flew out, spinning like a fiery scarlet storm that swept through the entire Gnome horde.
The tall, sturdy, and powerful Gnomes were consumed by the flames, screaming as they turned into black charcoal. They soon fell to the ground, becoming charred corpses emitting scorching white smoke.
It was already night, the sky dark and heavy. A light rain was falling, sizzling as it hit the scalding corpses.
In the rain, the three young men and one young woman looked exceptionally grim, especially the one in the middle dressed in black. He was of average height and build, but his whole body seemed to glow because he was bald.
His bald head reflected the firelight, making him look like a steaming hot braised egg.
This braised egg spoke.
"The villagers in this village died in strange positions. They were all tortured before death, but it doesn't seem like a game like ours, more like an interrogation. I think this village must have a protective array, and Little Skinner is afraid of it."
"The village chief's house is up ahead. Let's find it quickly. We're making a bit too much noise, and I'm worried Little Skinner's side will notice and come to stop us."
After a pause, the braised egg smiled. "But I'd rather hope he sends someone."
The red-haired girl raised an eyebrow. "That would prove the protective array really exists, and this dungeon favors our methods."
"Exams, after all, are always more formulaic than real dungeons. They leave some leeway to give us room to perform."
The group spoke casually, their thoughts clearly in sync, but they all deferred to the braised egg's arrangements.
The four moved with extreme speed, quickly becoming afterimages as they approached the village chief's house.
They were unaware that the power they displayed in their casual team-up had left the people of Jingyang with a lump in their throats. This was especially true when someone saw a top trending post from a friend in Gao Yang: Heard Jingyang's elite candidates got wiped out and stuffed into a coffin? I'd love to see the looks on the faces of those pots calling the kettle black.
The post already had millions of views, meaning millions of people in Gao Yang were following it.
Damn it!
The people of Jingyang were fuming, collectively exploding with anger. Even the Xie Clan, Lan Clan, and Teng family set aside their usual rivalries, united in their fury toward Gao Yang.
They were completely consumed by it.
Zhou Linlang was an outsider. Having been born and raised in the provincial capital, at the very top, she didn't quite understand this regional chain of contempt, this petty squabbling among the weak. Seeing the group of parents rolling up their sleeves and banging on tables in anger left her a bit dumbfounded.
Was it really… necessary?
Meanwhile, the Gao Yang quartet had already entered the village chief's house. The moment they stepped inside, they were certain of the protective array's existence.
The braised egg was very professional. He took out a pair of black gloves, the kind villains use for their dirty work, snapped them on, and got to it.
Fu Chuan didn't even need to use her insight to know that these four had high stats. Their mental power was likely no less than fifty thousand points each. The joint array they had just used was known as the most energy-efficient among group arrays, a real "little darling," but its power was considerable. It just had high requirements for mental power and control, which were necessary to compress and mobilize the mental power and elements.
Jingyang was in for some serious trouble this time.
Fu Chuan became even more hesitant to use her pupil technique to probe them. After all, the little locust wasn't with her, so she had no enhancement. Although her talent was Blue-tier, what if one of them also had a Blue-tier talent that could counter hers?
She obediently lay low and waited. Before long, she heard the four of them chatting as they searched inside.
"This is so hard to find. Was this village chief a secret agent or something?"
"If it were easy to find, those Gnomes would have found it already."
"It would be great if all four of us had strong insight-based gene talents. Lao Lu, can you see anything with yours?"
The braised egg had a cold, almost wolf-like demeanor. He glanced at the girl who had spoken so informally and said coolly, "Call me Lao Lu one more time, and I'll call you Auntie Wu."
Wu Xiaomei grumbled, "If only we had the Xie Clan's Golden Glory Pupil, we could see through anything in minutes. I could even tell if you four have hemorrhoids."
At her words, her three companions fell silent.
What a pervert!
One of them's face darkened. "You've got some nerve. The Xie Clan is an Orange Blood family. Their gene talents are Orange-tier at a minimum. Their most famous inherited talent is the Golden Glory Pupil. I heard that when an Orange Blood Xie Clan expert reveals their Golden Glory Pupils, they can stack it with their Orange Blood's genetic power to instantly crush an opponent's soul. Didn't the first Xie ancestor break through to Purple Blood during the war? Although he was surrounded and killed, the moment he broke through, he instantly killed the strongest Purple Blood expert, terrifying the other Purple Blood masters so much that they had to go all out and use all their trump cards to finally bring him down. That ancestor relied on his upgraded Purple Radiance Pupil. And you're treating their strongest gene talent as a mere insight ability? As long as a gene talent is strong enough… it's actually ranked among the empire's five great pupil techniques, alongside the Petrification Pupil Technique of the Purple Blood Snake Demon family."
Wu Xiaomei was stunned. "It's that powerful? But I heard from our principal that the Xie Clan in Jingyang is from the same lineage as the Xie Clan in Beluke… He has some connections with the nobles over in Beluke and knows this secret, though few people in Jingyang do. But looking at the Jingyang Xie Clan, their gene talents seem pretty average. They're mostly good at insight."
Lu Shu spoke lightly, "If an eighteenth-tier branch family were as powerful as the main branch, then the nobility would be too overpowered. Besides, the Jingyang Xie Clan is a nest of vipers, from top to bottom. They excel at scheming and plotting. But they're all connected like a string of gourds on a vine, one generation after another. Who knows, a quantitative change might lead to a qualitative one. It's not impossible for someone with extremely high talent to appear. I remember the principal saying that when the Demon Orchid Xie Clan's talent reaches a certain level, their insight can not only see through physical matter but can also perceive organic life forms. For example, they can sense the flow of energy in your body and the changes in your bloodline genes. It's a very high-end form of insight."
Honestly, the people outside couldn't hear what they were saying at all.
Weren't the screens public? Yet the audio was censored.
Zhou Linlang and the others weren't surprised. The students were surely discussing the great noble families. Overly sensitive topics were generally not broadcast in a public examination like this, including discussions about nobles and the imperial court. The students probably knew this, so they weren't afraid of their conversation being overheard.
But they couldn't hear it. Fu Chuan, however, could.
What changes?
Bloodline gene changes?
Hearing this, Fu Chuan's mind went blank, her thoughts a chaotic mess. It wasn't just the fear she felt from learning more about the Xie Clan; it was an instinctive thought that struck her—in that case, as the daughter of the third branch of the main lineage, was that girl truly so useless that she hadn't awakened a single gene talent? If she remembered correctly, her father's generation, her grandfather's, and several generations before that were all Orange Blood experts… How mutated would one have to be to completely suppress the family's excellent genes, to be so useless that even Xie An, who wasn't very strong back then and could only be considered part of an eighteenth-tier branch, couldn't see through her?
And later, as Xie An gradually grew stronger, especially after absorbing Xie Yao's Blue Blood, he had come into contact with her… Would she have been able to see the changes in his bloodline genes?
If she wasn't mistaken, that woman was a researcher. A researcher at the level of an ordinary person would at least have a very high IQ.
In a small place like Jingyang, her colleague and friend suddenly came to watch the exam. Judging by Shen Qixi's reaction, she didn't seem to know the other person very well, clearly surprised by her arrival.
So, why did she come?
Beluke City was very far from Jingyang, at least a five-day flight away.
That meant she came specifically for this.
Fu Chuan suddenly felt a sense of dread, like a venomous snake coiling around her heart.
Especially when she heard Lu Shu add, "Still, commoners like us shouldn't make enemies of the great nobles. When a great noble kills someone or wipes out a family, they can execute first and report later."
Fu Chuan: "…"
You haven't even fought me, you braised egg, and you've already dealt me 120,000 points of mental damage.
Fu Chuan was feeling down, but at that moment, the braised egg and his team weren't just chatting; they had found something.
"Here!"
They discovered something unusual under the floorboards marked by the bloody handprint of a fallen corpse.
"So twisted. It's eight meters deep. How did they hide it?"
"The village chief probably moved it down there at the last minute when he sensed danger."
"Let me use my control over the earth to bring it up."
With such a small amount of elemental energy available, moving earth eight meters deep was tantamount to wishful thinking, but they had a trump card.
Fu Chuan saw them take out Vitality Element Essence Beads, and quite a few of them.
The ground began to shift, and finally, the object was pushed to the surface.
Everyone, along with Lu Shu's team of four, saw the object.
Their perspective had been following these four, and they were just as surprised to see what it was—just a clan emblem.
"A clan emblem?"
"Could this emblem control the protective array? But why does this totem look so familiar?"
Lu Shu's face suddenly darkened, and he said coldly, "This is a noble's clan emblem. This totem belongs to the Jingyang Xie Clan."
Holy crap!
The four of them, and everyone outside, were shocked.
Zhou Linlang and the others were also a bit surprised. Xie Keli had been here? And dropped his own clan emblem?
Could he have an earth-burrowing arcane art, and after getting control of the protective array from below, he accidentally…
"No way, someone from the Xie Clan is that strong?"
"I haven't heard anything. I just know one of the older brothers is taking the college entrance exam, and below him is a bunch of useless illegitimate brothers, like a string of gourds."
The gourds in question: "…"
Damn it, these candidates from Gao Yang City are so annoying.
Lu Shu examined the emblem and suddenly said, "This might have been left here by someone else on purpose."
Wu Xiaomei frowned. "You mean it's a frame-up? Someone deliberately left a Xie Clan emblem to make us think they took the item, to get us to fight with Jingyang?"
Lu Shu, however, wiped his eye. "I saw bloodstains in the soil layer below. The energy contained in this blood is very strong. Although it's a small amount, it's definitely there."
One of them immediately pushed the blood-stained soil out. The blue-clothed youth wiped his nose, which suddenly transformed due to a gene talent. It was a dog's nose.
Uh…
Many people almost burst out laughing.
But Fu Chuan didn't laugh. She thought these four were very formidable; each of them had a gene talent. A dog's nose might look funny, but it was very practical.
"This person's defense is very strong, brimming with vitality, thick-skinned. A defensive expert. I think this fits the profile of one person," the blue-clothed youth said, looking at Lu Shu. "Sanqian, the Blood Cow from Dong Chen City. He does have an earth-burrowing arcane art, and he's quite skilled. It seems he not only took the item but also wants to be the oriole waiting in the wings."
"So insidious. That doesn't sound like his style. He must have teamed up with Liu Yun."
"You mean the Liu Yun who's called the number one student from Dong Chen Middle School?"
"That's him. The guy's always been sharp, cunning as a fox. But to make Sanqian bleed this much and then deliberately frame the Xie Clan… it's possible the Xie Clan really has produced someone formidable. A dog-eat-dog situation, and they want to use us as cannon fodder."
"Didn't we pass by a place earlier? Lu Shu analyzed that someone was using others as bait to kill scarecrows. It was probably this Xie person. Sanqian must have escaped later and held a grudge."
Wu Xiaomei laughed in exasperation. "What a brilliant scheme. Using our grudge against Jingyang to make us fight them, while they hold onto the treasure and clean up at the end."
Time was clearly running out. After sorting through their thoughts, the four concluded that the treasure was with Sanqian and his team. Now they had a plan.
"Let's go! Old dog, memorize this scent. We're going after them!"
The four were powerful, confident, and worked together seamlessly. They weren't afraid of those two at all.
Perhaps because the four had called them out, turning them into innocent scapegoats, the camera soon cut to the person in question.
When the audience saw Xie Keli, he happened to be in the restroom.
There wasn't much to see.
They couldn't exactly watch him pee.
"Still, I heard this little brother is our Jingyang's Grand Paramour, able to handle thousands of little pills… I'd love to see that."
"But… needing to use that many pills, doesn't that just prove he can't perform?"
"What do you know? Using that many and not dying, and being able to keep going, that's a real man."
"???"
Zhou Linlang overheard the whispers of some young women and silently thought about what would happen if this person's identity were ever exposed…
With the four gone, Fu Chuan's plan had succeeded. It would basically cause the top students from these two cities to wear each other down, alleviating some of the pressure on her. Yet, her mood hadn't improved much. She quietly returned to the old couple's house, washed her face, and looked at herself in the mirror. She then checked the time.
It was 9 PM.
She had to do something.
"I choose to use my one chance to safely exit the dungeon."
Unlike those who quit the competition to save their lives when in danger, she was choosing to exit while in a safe state. According to the rules, each candidate had one opportunity to leave safely. Many people didn't understand why such a rule existed, but now, many of them did.
Because this dungeon was very difficult.
Exiting allowed one to seek help and get information from their elders.
"Alert: If you choose to exit the dungeon now, you will not be able to re-enter for 12 hours. Do you wish to use this opportunity?"
The 12-hour wait was the price.
No one would choose to exit midway, because in that much time, one could earn a lot of points just by farming scarecrows.
Using the one exit opportunity was usually a choice made out of desperation.
But Xie Keli chose it. Firstly, the little locust had already gathered a good number of vitality beads for her. Secondly, she really needed to go out and handle something. Otherwise, no matter how well she performed in this assessment, she would be dragged down by Xie An.
Fu Chuan couldn't help but recall the history of noble law. Had a great noble ever killed a prospective candidate?
It seemed so. They had not only killed prospective candidates but had also assassinated figures at the level of principals and Ministers.
After the killing, there would be no evidence, and the relevant departments wouldn't even dare to investigate.
Weren't the ones who made the rules the great nobles and the upper echelons of imperial power?
Fu Chuan touched her face. What was a nobody like her in comparison?
If the other party already knew Xie An's secret, the Xie Clan was doomed. Even if she revealed her true identity… would they care?
An existence of that level would likely eliminate all future troubles with a single strike.
She was afraid she wouldn't even get a chance to explain before being instantly killed.
Xie Keli exited secretly, and no one knew he had left.
Appearing in the empty inner corridor, she didn't go out immediately but remained invisible to observe the situation outside.
Xie An was gone.
This was not normal. The patriarchs of the other two families were still there. He had always been slick and good at keeping up appearances. While she was inside taking the assessment, why would he, as her father, leave?
Unless something had happened that forced him to attend to something more important.
It seemed Qin Yu's appearance had given him a sense of crisis.
The man had a guilty conscience.
But the problem was… Qin Yu also seemed to be gone.
Fu Chuan saw that the woman was no longer by Shen Yunyi's side. She didn't know if she had gone to the restroom or somewhere else.
She couldn't have followed Xie An, could she?
Just as Fu Chuan was feeling suspicious, she saw Qin Yu enter from outside, carrying a bag with drinks and snacks. After sharing some with Shen Yunyi, she took a few sips of her drink, looked around casually, and chatted with Shen Yunyi.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
A moment later, the woman walked over with her drink…
She passed by the corridor. Fu Chuan, terrified, hid in the deepest corner, trying to create a safe distance. Judging by the sound of her footsteps, the person went to the restroom on that side. Later, it seemed she casually tossed the drink bottle into a trash can outside the restroom.
A few minutes later, the woman came out of the restroom and returned to the stands.
But an invisible person appeared in front of the trash can.
Crouching in front of the trash can and fishing out the drink bottle, Fu Chuan thought to herself: Am I some kind of pervert? When did I sink to this level…?
Repeatedly doing things that went against her nature, Fu Chuan felt she would eventually develop schizophrenia.
She had to break free and establish an identity that was truly her own as soon as possible.
After her clandestine activities, Fu Chuan left the education center with a heavy heart. She then went as fast as she could to a private gene testing lab in Jingyang City. Before reaching the restricted area, she had already used Mimicry to change into another person and, following her usual routine, paid for a VIP card.
"How much for the highest-level VIP?"
The receptionist had a strange expression. Many people came to private gene testing labs these days, but usually for one purpose: to check if a child was theirs.
For genuine genetic testing, the annual physicals and exams were sufficient. Those were public, official, and the most authoritative. There was no need to come to a private lab…
Perhaps her stare was too intense, because Fu Chuan offered an explanation: "Sorry, I have many children."
You… you suspect they're all not yours?
The receptionist: "…"
That's not really something you need to apologize for.
"One hundred million. The highest VIP level. Are you sure you want to get it?"
"Yes, please. I need it to be fast and more precise. 100%."
An uncultured nouveau riche, she thought.
The receptionist maintained her professional smile and processed the request. As soon as Fu Chuan entered the private VIP testing room, she placed the materials she had collected on the machine.
First was the blue blood liquid from the coffin. The gene report came out quickly. As expected, it was far more complex than that of an ordinary Arcanist. High-end genes, after all.
Next, Fu Chuan took out the drink bottle Qin Yu had used. She swabbed the rim with a reagent and placed it for testing.
It wasn't just hers. She also had samples from Xie An, Xie Qingyan, and even from Xie Keli's body.
She had been to both of their rooms, more than once. She had been extremely wary of them back then, and once she had a plan, she naturally made thorough preparations.
She wanted to analyze the genetic difference between the main and branch lineages of the Demon Orchid Xie Clan, and whether there was any hope of salvaging Xie Keli's genes. The words of the braised egg and his group had not only terrified her but also made her quite envious. If Xie Keli could awaken this talent in the future, it would be worth the trouble Xie An had caused her.
The four reports came out quickly, all at once.
Fu Chuan examined the five reports in succession, mainly for comparison.
"If she knew Xie An was problematic, then she must have been lying in wait all these years. Her talent is definitely not that of an ordinary person. According to the Demon Orchid bloodline talent, it would be incredibly easy for her to disguise herself as Qin Yu."
"Genes don't lie."
First group: Xie Yao and Qin Yu.
Second group: Xie Yao and Xie Qingyan.
Third group: Xie Yao and Xie Keli.
And a fourth group…
After reading the reports for the first three groups, Fu Chuan's face grew paler and paler.
The first group alone was enough to terrify her.
"Blood relationship… a blood relationship exists."
"This person really is that sister. She's here, and she's so strong that probably no one, not Zhang Ruo, Zhou Linlang, or Xie An, can see through her disguise."
Fu Chuan felt a throbbing pain in her head. She took a deep breath to calm herself.
At the end of the day, she was just an ordinary person. The impact of such an intense crisis was undeniable. She exhaled slowly, checked the time, and continued reading the reports.
First group, second group.
Huh?
Fu Chuan suddenly paused, repeatedly comparing the reports of the second and third groups.
"Why does Xie Keli's gene sequence have more overlap with Xie Yao's than Xie Qingyan's does?"
"Logically, Xie Qingyan should have inherited the stronger Xie Clan genes. This…"
Fu Chuan was puzzled. Could it be that Xie Keli wasn't a child of the Xie Clan?
She silently compared Xie An's and Xie Keli's reports.
The father-son relationship was a basic match.
Then…
When she placed the hair gene reports of Xie An and Xie Qingyan together and analyzed them seriously according to genetics…
Her expression froze.
No paternal relationship.
Fu Chuan: "…"
Ah, this was a lot of information to process. Let her sort it out.
Right now, there were two conclusions.
1. Xie Yao's sister was here, most likely for revenge.
2. Xie An, that deadbeat stud, had been cuckolded by his deceased first wife.
"But the genes of the legitimate eldest son aren't that easy to fake. He has to go through the gene pool time and again, and he has to display the Xie Clan's gene talents. How did he manage it so flawlessly that no one in the Xie Clan suspected anything?"
"It doesn't seem like his maternal family had a strong enough background to help him."
"If a coincidence is too perfect, it means it's not a coincidence. There's a coherent logic behind it. If the beginning of this logic was the death of Xie Keli's mother, and Xie An's series of strange attitudes toward Xie Keli… which indirectly caused Xie An to have a stress reaction to the events of the past, then correspondingly, Xie Yao's sister must have also sensed Xie An's sense of crisis. If he tried to escape or resist, she would naturally make her move in advance."
"The domino effect. One move affects the entire situation."
"Then, working backward, who would be intimately familiar with Xie An and Xie Keli's affairs? Naturally, a member of the Xie Clan. She has an inside man in the Xie Clan."
"He acts as the inside man, getting revenge on Xie An and also protecting himself, since he's posing as the legitimate eldest son. And she gives him enough support, even using her own genetic abilities to help him fake the Xie Clan's gene talents… A perfect collaboration, just waiting to close the net."
Fu Chuan finally sorted everything out. The next step was to solve this problem, to save herself.
Xie An wasn't worthy of dragging her down to her death.
So, should she contact this Qin Yu now and offer her allegiance? Become the next informant?
Or…
Fu Chuan left. She had already used up two hours. Only 10 hours remained.
Two hours later, while cursing the ridiculously vast geography of this world, Fu Chuan infiltrated the Xie estate. As soon as she entered, she noticed there were quite a few people.
Strange?
Had all of the Xie Clan's forces returned?
Were they planning something big?
She quietly made her way to Xie An's residence. Just as she descended, her heart skipped a beat.
Someone was there.
Fu Chuan hid carefully and then saw Xie An.
He was absorbing the blue blood from the coffin.
He seemed very anxious… and then he suddenly vomited a mouthful.
Fu Chuan frowned.
It seemed there was still a barrier between bloodline tiers. The man couldn't fully absorb Xie Yao's blue blood to advance.
A mockery of his efforts, in a way.
Xie An's face was grim. He wiped the blood from his mouth just as his communicator rang. He answered, "Is it arranged?"
"Clan Head, it's all arranged. We've found a place to open the dungeon. We're just waiting for you to lead us there. Once we enter, the commotion from the dungeon will be completely concealed by that cave and the equipment. It won't be detected."
Xie An's expression relaxed slightly. "Wait for me."
"Alright. By the way, Clan Head, the Fu Clan has made arrangements. Are you really determined to send the Second Young Master over? It seems his exam ranking is quite good right now."
This family member wasn't overthinking it; he was just considering the family's interests, thinking that Xie Keli might be useful.
Fu Chuan: "?"
Xie An narrowed his eyes and said slowly, "Although Keli's performance is good, the Fu Clan is too important to our family. With their help, we can suppress the Lan and Teng Families. They've now stated they chose the wrong person… and Guangyu is sick again, who knows how long he has left. That young miss also seems to have relented and is open to a change. What can I, as a father, do? I can't just disregard the family's interests because I can't bear to part with my son. Lan Xuanyu's momentum is too strong. He's already got that side under his control. Once he finishes his exam and takes a powerful master, our family will truly have no way out."
"But, don't we have the support of the main Xie Clan… What does Lan Xuanyu count for?"
These words touched upon Xie An's secret—he felt guilty and didn't dare to contact the main branch at all.
"We must be self-reliant. Things are complicated over there as well. That's all."
"But will the Second Young Master agree?"
"He will. As long as he's given enough benefits and protection, and he doesn't know the situation with the Fu Clan's young miss, he will definitely agree. Do you think he isn't afraid of Lan Xuanyu's retaliation?"
Xie An seemed to know his son well. He tidied up a bit but didn't plan on taking the body with him.
Fu Chuan knew why. The body needed this space and the coffin to maintain its vitality. Once placed in a backpack or other spatial equipment and removed from the protection of this private space, its vitality would greatly diminish, ruining his plans.
Xie An left soon after.
Fu Chuan reappeared, looking at the coffin, her expression shifting.
This Xie An was ruthless enough to plan on selling her a second time. He was probably afraid to kill her because of Zhou Linlang's presence, so he chose this despicable method to sell her off.
The Fu Clan was something else, too.
Changing sons-in-law like changing cabbages, picking whichever one had some value.
And that young miss was willing?
Fu Chuan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. But looking at Xie Yao's body before her, she couldn't help but reach out her hand.
If she took this body, she would have a bargaining chip to negotiate with that "sister." Perhaps she could save her own life?
Fu Chuan stood there in silence for a long time, but in the end, she withdrew her hand.
"Never negotiate with an expert far stronger than yourself, because that's not a negotiation, it's a threat. And the strong have immense pride; they don't accept threats. Even if they accept due to the circumstances at the time, they will definitely deal with you afterward to reclaim their dignity."
"Learn to bow your head, to give things up, to retreat within the safety line. Make the other party believe you are not a threat, that you are controllable, and that you have some value. Only then can you survive."
This was something she had learned from her elders.
Fu Chuan sat down. While observing the vast collection of treasures and materials in the secret room, she used her communicator to search for information.
There were two search queries.
1. The connection between a noble family's main and branch lineages.
2. The rules for the heir selection competition of the Beluke Demon Orchid Xie Clan.
After getting her answers, Fu Chuan looked at the treasures filling her vision. She knew that if she were ruthless enough, she could take all the treasures here, forfeit this assessment, become an unregistered person again, and flee to the ends of the earth. She might be able to evade their pursuit and, after a year or two, re-enroll in middle or high school with a new identity.
This was, in fact, a viable path.
Both were risks, but this route was actually safer.
It just required sacrificing time… and living a hard life filled with fear and anxiety.
Which to choose?
A few minutes later, Fu Chuan left the secret room, not having taken a single thing.
She chose to follow behind Xie An, boarding the airship with him and his people.
Three hours later, she arrived at the most secluded high mountain area in the southern suburbs of Jingyang City.
Huh, this place seemed to be not far from that mining area in the southern suburbs.
Her previous judgment might have been wrong. Xie An had his eyes on this place not just to open a mine, but also to control this area and secretly open a dungeon scroll.
She soon saw the mountain cave mentioned by the person on the communicator.
The cave was well-hidden, surrounded by dense forest, with a stream and a loud waterfall in the valley below.
The equipment was set up, capable of blocking detection from all official sensors and shielding them from any passing Arcanists or airships.
The preparations were thorough.
There were also many people. Clearly, this was not a simple dungeon.
Only now did Fu Chuan truly understand why the braised egg and his group spoke of the Jingyang Xie Clan with such a mocking tone. Xie An and his family were truly prolific; it was likely that every man had several women on the outside.
There were over two hundred people with Xie Clan blood here alone.
Most of the Xie Clan's disciples and core members were here. Their appearances were so similar that it was a bit dizzying at first glance.
After counting his men, Xie An's face grew solemn. "Alright, everyone, follow me in."
At his command, the large group swarmed inside.
Fu Chuan didn't go in. She had no intention of taking that risk.
She just hid far away on a mountain ridge, watching and waiting for a result. She was betting that this dungeon was Xie An's graveyard.
Because with such a large-scale mobilization of the Xie Clan, it was impossible to hide it from Xie Qingyan, who had already infiltrated the core of the family's power. If he knew, how could that sister not know?
According to her original plan, all she had to do was wait.
The only question was how long she would have to wait. She looked down at her watch and saw that only four hours remained.
Subtracting the three hours needed to return to the city, she had only one hour left to handle this matter.
"I hope they're efficient. Xie An, don't drag your feet…"
Just as Fu Chuan was hoping for this, she suddenly looked down at the cave entrance in astonishment.
A blood-red light flashed from within. The dungeon's sky curtain had just opened when it closed again.
And the next second… Fu Chuan saw a blood-soaked figure fleeing in terror.
What?
It hadn't even been eighteen seconds!!!
After the dungeon opened, Xie An entered full of confidence, expecting to see some mobs or a BOSS that would drop blood beads for protection…
It seemed there was indeed a BOSS.
The figure was sitting there in an open space, on a chair, hands clasped, smiling at him. And behind this person… a massive, terrifying red shadow slowly emerged from the darkness.
It exhaled a dreadful gas.
A scorching red flame, hot as lava, surged forward.
The sky curtain opened. The staggering, blood-soaked man's skin was nearly scorched off, his burning flesh peeling away. He screamed, using all his strength to flee…
Fu Chuan recognized the man at a glance. It was Xie An.
He had escaped!
She was stunned for a moment, considering whether to go over and deliver the final blow while he was on the brink of death. But suddenly!
She saw where Xie An was fleeing… several red-robed figures appeared like ghosts, surrounding him from the sky and the ground. They didn't make a move, just watched him quietly.
On their robes was a clan emblem.
A vibrant Demon Orchid.
Fu Chuan pressed her lips together, her body about to retreat and leave, when suddenly, she felt a soft breath near the back of her ear.
"Ah Li, your father is over there. Why aren't you going over?"
"Are you waiting for your brother?"
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