Behind the back gate of Wangting Manor lay a stretch of mountain forest, where a mountain stream flowed into the manor, serving as its water source. A Shui stepped under the moonlight, glanced at the direction of the moon, and silently walked along the path of the stream. Shen Langhun and Zhu Yan followed behind her. After walking about fifty or sixty feet, they gradually saw a small house built by the stream, its interior illuminated by a serene light. A Shui paused and whispered, "There's a secret passage in that house, but it's likely inhabited by someone unaware. Please don't harm any innocent people."
Shen Langhun strode forward and knocked on the door. Inside, they found a pale-faced young man who looked terrified at the sudden intrusion. Zhu Yan lowered his head and entered first, completely ignoring the man. The man let out a couple of incoherent sounds—he was mute. A Shui felt a pang of guilt but couldn’t explain further. She gave him a slight nod, then circled the room before lifting a wooden plank beneath the bed, revealing a dark passage. "This might be the entrance to the secret tunnel."
The design of this tunnel was identical to the one at Good Cloud Mountain. The mute man, suddenly discovering a hidden passage beneath his bed, was utterly shocked, gaping in disbelief. The three of them descended the steps slowly and soon disappeared into the passage.
The tunnel was damp and cold, as if it had never been used before. Moreover, it was an exit, not an entrance, with many narrow passages designed for one-way movement from the inside out. Fortunately, A Shui was slender, and both Shen Langhun and Zhu Yan had refined internal energy, allowing them to navigate the tight spaces without difficulty. After descending more than thirty steps, they were met with complete darkness. Shen Langhun lit a firestarter, revealing yet another stretch of dark, damp passage. A Shui walked forward without hesitation, her expression calm, though inwardly she was slightly startled.
She was a bold woman, seemingly unafraid of demons, monsters, or wild beasts. Had they not arrived in time earlier, would she really have ventured here alone? She had saved Lin Bu by herself, raised a child alone, and chosen to leave Tang Lici—unlike He Niang, she never seemed to consider herself weak. Shen Langhun glanced sideways at Zhu Yan, whose eyes remained lowered as he walked straight ahead, indifferent to whether their guide was a woman.
The passage was so narrow that it was impossible to move past Zhu Yan to stand in front of A Shui, yet it was perfectly straight. Shen Langhun’s footsteps were nearly silent, and A Shui’s were light, but Zhu Yan’s steps were clear and deliberate. He made no effort to conceal his movements, just as he showed no wariness toward the tunnel. Whatever lay ahead, he was absolutely confident in his ability to retaliate—and kill.
The house above ground was only about fifty or sixty feet from Wangting Manor, but in the dark tunnel, the three of them felt as though they had walked for half an hour before a faint light finally appeared ahead.It was an eerie blue glow, appearing in the darkness like a ghost peering from ahead. A Shui waved at Shen Langhun, who quietly extinguished the fire starter. The three of them slowly approached the blue light. The glow seeped through the gaps in the wooden planks. A Shui stepped aside, and Zhu Yan peered through the cracks. Behind the planks was a very narrow space, lit by a small oil lamp. The blue glow came from a pale blue chest beneath the lamp—about ten feet long and three feet wide—resembling a coffin. The material of the coffin was neither stone nor wood, and even from behind the planks, one could sense its icy chill, as if it were an Ice Coffin. But there was no one inside.
No one was behind the planks. With a push of his left hand, Zhu Yan reduced the wooden planks to ashes without a sound. He stepped over the remnants and entered Wangting Manor. Before him lay an eerie blue Ice Coffin, its presence filling the small wooden cellar with white mist and even forming patches of frost.
Shen Langhun followed Zhu Yan, and the three stepped into Wangting Manor. The place housing the Blue Ice Coffin was a tiny cellar with a set of stairs leading upward. A thought flashed through Shen Langhun’s mind—this passageway was narrow and straight, allowing only one person to pass at a time. A single obstacle placed here would be enough to block any pursuers.
Zhu Yan strode forward, his eyes slightly closed, his footsteps silent. He seemed to have realized this might be the coffin holding Xue Tao. Though his eyes were shut, he could still navigate around obstacles effortlessly. The stairs weren’t long—just a dozen steps. A Shui gripped Willow Slayer tightly in her hand as she looked past Zhu Yan’s back. Above was a larger room filled with rusty iron cages, their appearance chilling. Shen Langhun’s gaze swept over the cages, his expression indifferent, as if he had never been imprisoned in such things himself. The three moved forward quietly again. Behind the cages stood porcelain jars, emitting the same icy chill as the Ice Coffin—likely containing Frozen Jade or ice.
As they advanced, A Shui suddenly shuddered. The next room held several hanging corpses. She had seen dead bodies before and wasn’t afraid, but these were mutilated—some with gouged eyes, others with severed noses, and some with missing organs—their appearances horrifying. Shen Langhun lightly patted her shoulder. A Shui gritted her teeth and kept her head down, pressing forward.
She was beginning to sense that the secrets within Wangting Manor were far more terrifying than she had imagined. Passing through the room of corpses, they entered a familiar layout—identical to Piaoling Mei Yuan—with a long, ornate corridor flanked by white doors on either side. From here, all the doors were slightly ajar, silent and seemingly uninhabited.
Zhu Yan walked ahead without hesitation. His extraordinary hearing confirmed that the rooms on either side were indeed empty. Shen Langhun let A Shui walk in the middle while he followed silently at the rear. Halfway down the corridor, Zhu Yan suddenly stopped, listening intently.An almost imperceptible sound came from above, not within the corridor but three feet over the heads of the three. First came two faint creaks, followed by a soft sigh, "...Indeed, without Liu Yan..." The rest was inaudible, as if deliberately hushed. Then someone spoke coldly, "Only today did I learn that Peach Girl is actually a man." The voice was icy and crisp—Bai Suche's.
"Hah! Tang Lici tore the skin off his face. If it can't be replaced, it'll be hard for 'Xifang Tao' to reappear in the martial world," a deep, almost unrecognizable male voice remarked indifferently. "The plan to seize the Central Plains Sword Association might fail." A Shui recognized this as the masked man in black. Then someone let out a strange laugh. "Must we rely on the Central Plains Sword Association or Shaolin to conquer the world? Tao just likes a good reputation. If he'd listen to me, the martial world, the empire—even the throne and military power—would all be within my grasp!" Shen Langhun silently cursed—this was Gui Mudan's voice. Fu Cui had been killed by Tang Lici, yet none of them had shown themselves. It turned out they were gathered here to discuss how to treat Xifang Tao's facial injuries inflicted by Tang Lici.
"Enough. He threw me off a cliff, witnessed by members of the Central Plains Sword Association," Xifang Tao's voice remained melodious and enchanting. "Even if he returns to the Sword Association, he won't amount to much for a while." She suddenly laughed. "I thought Tang Lici was cautious and wouldn't openly turn against me, but it seems I was wrong..." The group chuckled dismissively at Tang Lici's night attack on Xifang Tao. Her tone was gentle and sweet. "My injuries aren't serious. Please invite my cousin up. It's been a long time since I last saw her."
Cousin? Shen Langhun inwardly cursed. With a thunderous crash, debris flew as Zhu Yan, gripping a halberd, struck upward, piercing through the corridor's ceiling. Bricks and stones scattered, revealing a hole the size of a human head. Hidden weapons rained down as the speakers above were clearly startled by the sudden breach. Zhu Yan leaped up, striking again with his halberd. The hole collapsed into one large enough for an adult to pass through, and he emerged like a vengeful spirit rising from the underworld.
"Zhu Yan?" The voices above were filled with shock—no one had expected him to burst from below. Bai Suche glanced at him, hesitated, then retreated into another tunnel. Zhu Yan's gaze swept the scattering crowd, landing on a woman in a pink dress. He lunged, grabbing her arm. She turned with a radiant smile, her fingers brushing softly toward his face. Zhu Yan recoiled instantly, but the wind from her fingers was sharp as blades, leaving two gashes across his cheeks.
Shen Langhun pulled A Shui up. The "woman" in pink was Xifang Tao. As she turned, Shen Langhun glimpsed faint scratches on her cheek—minor but present. A Shui's eyes, however, fixed on the small figure Xifang Tao held by the hand—a slender person in a brown robe, their gender unclear. "Miss Xue!" she blurted out.Shen Langhun and Zhu Yan immediately looked up at the brown-clad figure. Xifang Tao, holding the figure's hand, vanished into the long tunnel in an instant. Zhu Yan struck out with his halberd, shattering bricks and overturning tables and chairs, but the figure had already disappeared without a trace. In that brief moment, Shen Langhun hadn’t clearly seen the person’s face. “How do you know it’s Xue Tao?”
A Shui clenched her fists tightly, her voice trembling slightly. “Her… her face…” She touched her own face. “Half of her face was peeled off. I think… her face is now on Peach Girl’s face.” Shen Langhun’s expression darkened. “Xifang Tao actually sewed his own cousin’s face onto his? How could he commit such an inhuman atrocity?” Zhu Yan let out a low growl from deep in his throat, swinging his halberd in a wide arc. The brick wall before him shattered into pieces as he strode forcefully into the depths of the tunnel, relying on his formidable strength.
“Sir, wait—” A Shui called out urgently, but the bricks crumbled like a spider’s web, and Zhu Yan had already disappeared far into the darkness. Shen Langhun’s muscles tensed as he listened intently. The surroundings were eerily silent, as if the crowd that had gathered here moments ago had turned into ghosts and dissipated. He glanced around—it was a dimly lit chamber with tunnel openings at both ends. Bai Suche and the others had retreated from the rear, while Yu Konghou had taken Xue Tao away through the front.
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