It was late at night.
Su Liumeng stood by the window outside the main hall, pausing for a long time.
Behind the sheer curtains, the young girl’s graceful figure was faintly visible.
In her sleep, the girl seemed to be caught in a nightmare. Her expression was completely different from when she was awake; her mouth was puckered slightly in unease.
This vivid appearance while asleep was many times softer than her usual, consistently cold demeanor. These reactions, born of pure instinct, felt far more real.
Su Liumeng stood in the darkness, lost in thought. Her gaze suddenly grew hazy.
She could hardly remember.
How long had it been since Xiaoyan had shown such a vivid, life-filled expression?
Su Liumeng’s heart ached sharply.
The suffocating feeling of being unable to breathe made her want to turn her gaze away immediately. If she stared at the girl for even another second or two, her emotions would shatter.
It was at this moment that the little bundle, who had been using the girl’s arm as a pillow, trembled her cicada-wing-like eyelashes. Her gaze seemed to pierce through the darkness, meeting Su Liumeng’s eyes just as the latter was about to leave.
Su Liumeng was puzzled.
When Si Zhiruo saw Su Liumeng, she thought of her own mother. Her brows furrowed as countless thoughts flooded her mind.
The thousand words and hesitations born from her feelings for her mother ultimately did not cross her lips.
‘I’ll try one more time.’
‘If I still can’t do it after one more try, I’ll ally myself with the person I hate most, Su Liumeng.’
In the dark of night, Su Liumeng was filled with doubt.
The little bundle’s expression didn’t look like a normal stare; it was as if she were undergoing some sort of conflicted struggle.
Si Xinyan remained in a deep, steady sleep.
Su Liumeng took one last look, all her affection turning into a helpless sigh. She could only hope to find the truth behind Xiaoyan’s past as soon as possible.
Heartaches had existed since ancient times. And heartaches could only be cured by medicine for the soul.
When one was trapped by their own childhood, unable to untie the knots in their heart, how could they ever be happy?
“Letting go” was a simple phrase, but how difficult it was to actually achieve.
As soon as Su Liumeng left, Si Zhiruo lowered her head, hugging her mother’s arm dejectedly.
The slight movements of her breathing were already very faint.
‘I still couldn’t help but open my eyes.’
Si Zhiruo’s body stiffened, instinctively wanting to pretend to be asleep.
“It’s only 2:00 AM. What are you doing awake?”
Seeing that she couldn’t hide it, Si Zhiruo buried her head, her voice a series of soft whimpers. “It was Su Liumeng. She came back but didn’t enter the room. She woke me up. It’s not that I wasn’t being good and sleeping.”
“Mhm. Never mind her for now. She definitely has things to keep her busy.”
“Go to sleep,” I said, gently patting my daughter’s back.
Si Zhiruo adjusted her posture. Once she was comfortable, she slowly opened her eyes. “Mom, aren’t you worried about Su Liumeng’s business?”
“She is an independent person with her own life. Even if I care, I can at most just listen. What could I actually do?”
Si Zhiruo pressed her chin against my arm.
She felt that when her mother said those words, her emotions weren’t as calm as her tone suggested.
***
Su Liumeng walked through the Su family ancestral home in the dead of night.
The moonlight was not particularly bright.
She stood in the center of a crossroads, and after confirming her bearings, she continued forward.
“Great Elder.”
Below a wall, an old woman stood with her hands hanging at her sides. Her hunched, thin back blended into the darkness.
Above, a crow let out a hoarse cry into the sky.
Dark clouds happened to blot out the full moon, turning the world into pure, absolute darkness.
“Let’s go.”
Su Liumeng reached out and pulled down her hood, hiding her stunning features in the shadows.
The old woman was the Third Elder of the Su family. She rarely showed her face to the world because she was responsible for the Su family’s “black” operations.
No Great Family lacked dead soldiers. The Third Elder was the person in charge of training and commanding them.
The two entered a dry well, which contained a descending staircase.
The deeper they went down the pitch-black stairs, the more the silence became unnervingly oppressive. The entire passage was extremely cramped, with damp moss growing haphazardly.
There wasn’t a single light to guide the way. Even the usually infallible Eye Techniques could no longer function here. From the first second they stepped into the dry well, they had been enveloped by an invisible, massive formation.
The passage of time felt sluggish.
In a place of absolute silence, one’s senses are infinitely magnified, and the subjective perception of time slows down many times over.
After the time it took to drink two cups of tea, the two finally reached the bottom of the stairs.
This was a small space built of stone. At the end were rows of tiny rooms that instinctively inspired fear.
The Third Elder lit a bonfire.
“This is the Su family dungeon. There are seven levels in total, holding the most heinous criminals.”
“The bottom three levels hold Source-level experts.”
At the entrance of the dungeon, a gray-robed old man was sitting in meditation. Even as the two approached, he gave no reaction.
The old man’s eye sockets were sunken, making him look like a skeleton. One of his sleeves hung empty.
“Supreme Elder, this is the newly appointed Great Elder.”
The old man did not respond; even his breathing was faint.
The Third Elder gave Su Liumeng a look, and the two walked past the old man. “The Supreme Fourth Elder has always been like this. Don’t take it to heart.”
“The dungeon and the dead soldiers are under the Third Elder’s responsibility.”
“The first seven elders of the Su family each have their own domain of authority.”
“The Great Elder is responsible for coordinating all elders. These forces will all be under your jurisdiction in the future.”
“Mhm,” Su Liumeng nodded.
This wasn’t the first time she had experienced the unfathomable depth of the Su family.
Take today’s records, for instance. Before this, who would have known that the Su family still had Supreme Elders who guarded the family’s top-secret zones day after day?
Dungeons, dead soldiers, intelligence organizations, assassin networks—any one of these terms would cause an uproar if leaked to the world.
The Third Elder continued her explanation. “There are four Supreme Elders in the Su family. Three of them are stationed in specific locations.”
“The Supreme Great Elder went missing in his early years, and his current status is unknown.”
“All Supreme Elders are former Great Elders who have stepped down.”
“The Supreme Second Elder is currently near the Boundary Stone, deterring any petty fools.”
“There used to be only four Supreme Elders, but now there are five. The previous Great Elder will naturally become the last Supreme Elder upon stepping down.”
Su Liumeng nodded again.
“Once the Head of House’s lineage steps down, they semi-retire to the Discipline Hall.”
“There are currently four chiefs in the Discipline Hall as well.”
“The Supreme Elders and the Discipline Hall chiefs hold the same status; all are rare Source-level experts. The Su family’s Dragon Veins have seven critical life-gates, which are called the Seven Star Formation Eyes. The dungeon’s formation is one of those life-gates, guarded personally by the Supreme Fourth Elder. The seven formation eye locations correspond to the Su family’s seven supreme powerhouses. The Supreme Second Elder guards the gate at the ‘Dragon Head.’ This gate is beneath the Heavenly Ruins, which is the Su family’s hidden foundation that you will visit later. The Supreme Elders and the Discipline Hall chiefs cannot be easily mobilized unless the Su family faces a crisis of life and death. To mobilize them normally, both the Head of House and the Great Elder must sign a Mandate, or the Thirteenth Ancestor must issue a direct order. The Thirteenth Ancestor passed away last year, so for now, they only take orders from the Head of House and the Great Elder.”
The Third Elder opened the formation, allowing Su Liumeng to see the full scope.
“By imprisoning these heinous criminals, we aim to extract their providence to nourish the fortune of the entire Su family. Combined with generations of high-pressure, internal-competition training, this is how we ensure the Su family remains prosperous for ten thousand years.”
“The principles of the other six locations are basically the same. They are either naturally formed high-grade secret realms or artificial providence-nourishing formations.”
“The eyes of these seven locations are vital to the Su family’s Dragon Veins.”
“Therefore, there must be no mistakes.”
Su Liumeng acknowledged each point.
This was the terrifying network of power belonging to the Su family’s Great Elder that she was about to successfully take over.
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