Her chest felt empty. After falling, Jiang Sui didn’t have time to think and instinctively grabbed Lu Yunze’s arm, while he reflexively held onto her shoulders.
The two of them, still clinging to each other, rolled down the slope together, not knowing how long they slid before finally landing on the hard ground.
“Ow, my head itches. My body feels a bit odd.”
Although their heads spun after tumbling all the way down, that last jolt didn’t make Chen Yunze feel much pain; instead, his body ended up lying on something rather soft, which, to be honest, was actually quite comfortable.
When Lu Yunze lifted his head and his vision cleared, the first thing he saw was the Hidden One’s icy face.
Even though the two of them had drifted down together, it was undoubtedly Jiang Sui who had landed underneath. Not only did she bear the brunt of another person’s weight, but Chen Yunze’s face was also perfectly nestled between her two large breasts.
“…Hey, let go.”
“If you want to let go, could you please get up now? You’re crushing me.”
It had to be said, being pressed beneath Ah Yunze, the girl’s figure at this moment truly brimmed with charm. Her long violet hair splayed across the ground, and her large breasts were flattened by the posture, spreading out enticingly.
As Lu Yunze awkwardly lifted his head, the two of them found their waists tightly pressed together. The warmth from her body sent a rush of heat through Lu Yunze’s lower back.
Realizing what was happening, Chen Yunze hastily crawled off her and rolled away to the side to calm himself down.
Jiang Sui also got up and straightened her clothes, making sure that the Maid Uniform underneath hadn’t been discovered by Lu Yunze.
If he saw that both the Hidden One and Jiang Sui were wearing matching Maid Uniforms and had appeared together in the same place, things would get very complicated. She really didn’t want to reveal her identity as a Secret Arts Practitioner.
After getting up, Jiang Sui began to examine the surroundings, still puzzled as to why there would be such a complicated Magic Array inside a perfectly ordinary room.
Where had that Magic Array sent them?
All around were rocks. Because Lan City’s climate was humid, droplets of water hung from the stone walls. The temperature here was clearly higher than outside, but there was still a flow of air.
If air could circulate, that meant this place had an exit.
“What is this place?” Chen Yunze couldn’t help but grumble, looking at the girl beside him.
Jiang Sui understood what he meant and replied coldly, “If you still think I’m playing tricks, then I have nothing more to say.”
“I’m not doubting you. I just wanted to ask if you know where this is,” Ah Yunze chuckled.
“I don’t know.” Jiang Sui folded her arms.
“But… from the looks of it, this seems like a Ritualist’s Workshop.”
Workshop?
The moment he heard that word, Chen Yunze thought of all sorts of things. A Workshop could be a research facility like a modern lab, it could be an ancient, mysterious experimental chamber, or even a sinister, inhumane site…
“Shall we take a look around and see?” Jiang Sui suggested.
“Good idea, just what I was thinking.”
Lu Yunze’s agreement was no surprise. There was no irreconcilable grudge between him and the Hidden One.
If he hesitated, Jiang Sui still had the killer move of revealing “the girl in the Maid Uniform” to make him see their current situation clearly. It was better to work together and get rid of their shared predicament.
Jiang Sui had a hunch that this place was definitely connected to Jin Huancheng.
After reaching an agreement, the two of them set off to explore.
At first, the things they saw suggested the cave was naturally formed, with nothing much worth noting. But before long, they arrived at a completely different place.
If the previous area could be called a passage, then this was a spacious hall, with the stone walls showing obvious signs of artificial construction.
Here, many tables and chairs were placed, and strange patterns were carved onto the stone pillars encircling the central Pit, which was layered in tiers.
At the deepest part of this oddly shaped space stood a massive Stone Statue.
The statue had a bizarre form: a figure in a thick robe, its face hidden beneath a hood, and countless tentacles stretching out from under the robe.
A cold wind from who knows where brushed Lu Yunze and Jiang Sui’s nerves, the whistling sound in their ears seeming like the incantations of ghosts from an abyss.
This place had been giving them an uneasy feeling ever since they set foot inside.
“Haunted house or what?” Ah Yunze grumbled.
Jiang Sui didn’t reply; her heartbeat was racing, as if an invisible hand had gripped her heart.
What’s happening? What is this feeling?
Ever since entering, it felt like something strange had been watching her, deliberately guiding her to seek out the source of that gaze.
The two of them split up to investigate this eerie place.
Lu Yunze walked to a table, casually picking up some strange materials and flipping through them, one by one.
Jiang Sui, meanwhile, circled the Array of Stone Columns and headed straight for the strange Stone Statue.
The closer she got to the statue, the stronger her sense of unease became, the pressure growing so heavy it was almost suffocating.
She stood before the statue, staring into the shadow beneath its hood, feeling as though the gaze came from there.
Jiang Sui examined other parts of the statue and found it was missing a hand. Judging by the pose, the broken hand was originally holding something, but who knew which careless person had knocked it off.
Her eyes swept around the statue’s base, trying to find any clues for restoring it, but she found nothing.
Just as she was about to turn and leave, a thought struck her, and she took out from her storage bracelet an item she’d long neglected: the Black Lid she’d taken from Hu Ming.
The instant she held the Black Lid in her hand, the Stone Statue came to life!
Slimy tentacles surged from beneath the robe, wrapping themselves around Jiang Sui and dragging her back in front of the statue.
The statue extended its only remaining hand, and beneath the hood, the strange sensation of being watched intensified.
As Jiang Sui struggled against the tightening tentacles and the oppressive gaze, feeling she was about to break—
“Hey, what’s wrong?”
Lu Yunze gently tapped Jiang Sui’s shoulder, and she reacted as if someone drowning had just been pulled out of the water, face pale, gulping for air.
Lu Yunze was momentarily startled. “I only patted you, no need for that reaction…?”
A hallucination?
Jiang Sui glanced again at the Stone Statue—it was back to its old self, and the oppressive feeling vanished with the vision.
“I’m fine, it’s just… this place is really creepy. I’ll probably have nightmares tonight.”
“Are you a child?” Chen Yunze clearly thought she was joking.
Jiang Sui said nothing more, but unconsciously touched her bracelet, a contemplative glint in her eyes.
“Did you find anything?” Chen Yunze asked.
“No. You?”
“I did.” Chen Yunze’s expression turned serious. “This place was built by Jin Huancheng.”
As expected…
“Why would he build a place like this?”
“Not sure. There are only blueprints on those tables, and some very strange journals.”
While speaking, Lu Yunze noticed three Stone Statues tucked away in a corner.
The first two were empty, but only the third one had a lid.
The more mysterious things got, the more curious Ah Yunze became. He lifted the lid and looked inside, then cried out in surprise:
“Jin Shun!”
“Ah !”
Jiang Sui ran over, and after a glance, her scalp tingled.
It was indeed Jin Shun, but it was Jin Shun’s corpse.
After Jin Huancheng got his son’s body back, he had actually hidden it here, what was he planning?
Neither Jiang Sui nor Chen Yunze had any fondness for this guy. They quickly put the lid back on, not wanting to risk having real nightmares tonight.
Having investigated everything else, only the Pit in the center remained.
The two of them approached the edge of the Pit and peered inside.
A strong stench assaulted their noses, the kind found in a freshly used slaughterhouse.
The bottom was smeared with unidentifiable blood, which had long since dried and caked into thick, dark lumps.
Jiang Sui and Chen Yunze exchanged glances, both unsure what this place was for—surely it wasn’t a real slaughter pit?
Beside the Pit stood an Altar, with two square indentations on top.
“Hey, isn’t something missing here?”
Lu Yunze pointed at the two depressions.
“I don’t know, maybe they’re for some kind of ritual items,” Jiang Sui said, as she quietly tucked her bracelet-wearing hand behind her back.
She was very familiar with square-shaped objects, but now wasn’t the time to investigate them—Ah Yunze was still here.
They had finished investigating everything they could. Jiang Sui felt there was no reason to stay any longer.
Since earlier, she’d noticed a breeze coming from one corner, so the exit had to be there.
As for what to do next, it was obvious.
While Lu Yunze was still muttering about how strange this place was, Jiang Sui quietly bundled up some of the journals from the table and stuffed them into her bracelet.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
Though she moved quietly, Chen Yunze still noticed her actions.
Jiang Sui sighed, looked back at him, and then flashed a sly smile:
“Goodbye, Chen Yunze.”
“Wait—”
Before Lu Yunze could react, Jiang Sui’s body melted into a cloud of black mist, slipping past him and darting straight through the unremarkable exit.
Lu Yunze cursed under his breath and dashed after her. When he passed through the exit and emerged outside, he looked around.
All around were trees—this was the Forest behind the Jin Family Residence, and that mansion was not far off.
As for the Hidden One, she had long since vanished without a trace.
Lu Yunze scratched his head, and could only call the police, hoping the professionals would handle this kind of place.