Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Light shone from the deceased’s room.

The Second Young Master stepped forward and knocked on the door. “Father, are you in? I have something to discuss with you.”

There was no movement inside.

The Second Young Master knocked again. “Father?”

Silence still reigned within the room.

The deceased did not seem to be inside, and the old woman Qin Nan had seen twice was nowhere to be found in the courtyard either.

The Second Young Master hesitated for a moment, but he soon chose to push the door open and enter.

The deceased hadn’t locked the door, so the Second Young Master walked straight in. The furnishings were almost identical to how they would be five years later when the murder occurred. Qin Nan took a quick look around and lost interest, shifting his gaze back to the Second Young Master.

The Second Young Master scanned the room.

The deceased was indeed not there.

Looking puzzled, the Second Young Master muttered to himself, “Where did Father go? Strange.” He seemed ready to leave, but halfway out, he suddenly stopped. He turned his head and stared intently at a wall.

Qin Nan followed his gaze.

There was nothing strange about the wall; it was just a wall.

The Second Young Master in the Script clearly knew the layout of the deceased’s room better than Qin Nan did. He stood there staring at the wall for a long time before walking straight toward it.

He tapped on the wall.

Hearing the sound, Qin Nan was taken aback. It was actually hollow?

The Second Young Master was also visibly stunned, seemingly not expecting his hunch to be correct. He scanned the surrounding area, feeling around and pressing on things. Whether the mechanism was simply too basic or he truly had the luck of a blind cat finding a dead mouse, the wall actually opened for him.

Behind the door was a somewhat dark passage.

Without much hesitation, the Second Young Master took a candle from the room and entered the secret passage by its light.

Qin Nan didn’t need to move; as the Second Young Master went deeper, his surroundings changed in real-time.

The passage was very dark, but before long, the space ahead opened up.

Beyond the passage was a secret chamber. It was filled with candles, making it as bright as day and allowing one to take in the entire scene at a glance.

The chamber was large but mostly empty, and it was exceptionally-eerie. White candles were lit all around the room, and in the center sat a coffin.

The Second Young Master was clearly dazed with fear by what he saw. It took him a while before he could find his footing and walk toward the coffin.

The coffin was open, and a person-or rather, a corpse-lay inside.

The Second Young Master looked at the person in the coffin in shock. He hesitantly reached out to check for breath. There was none, and the body had long since gone cold. Terrified, the Second Young Master stumbled back several steps.

Qin Nan was also somewhat bewildered.

A secret chamber inside the deceased’s bedroom, and a corpse hidden within that chamber?

This was simply beyond belief.

The corpse in the coffin also lacked a face, so Qin Nan couldn’t identify it. However, judging by the build and clothing, it appeared to be a woman. As Qin Nan was pondering this, a line of small text suddenly appeared before his eyes.

[The Second Young Master discovers a female corpse in the coffin. Her features bear a striking resemblance to the Eldest Miss.]

The Eldest Miss?

Qin Nan was shocked.

In other words, this female corpse was likely connected to the Eldest Miss.

As Qin Nan was processing this, the Second Young Master suddenly gasped again. His face was tilted toward the ceiling, and his entire body began to tremble slightly. Confused, Qin Nan followed his line of sight.

Shit.

Qin Nan couldn’t help but curse under his breath.

On the ceiling above them was a massive Taiji Diagram. However, the original black and white colors had been replaced with black and red. Under the flickering candlelight, it looked exceptionally macabre. Not only that, but Qin Nan suddenly looked down at the spot where he was standing and quickly scrambled a few steps back, exiting the area.
A Taiji Diagram was etched above their heads, and another lay beneath their feet.

The difference was that the red portion of the diagram on the floor was flowing. Faintly, the metallic scent of blood hung in the air, suggesting that the crimson sections of the Taiji Diagram they were standing on were likely composed of actual blood.

Qin Nan was starting to reach his limit.

Wasn’t this supposed to be a melodramatic soap opera script? How had it suddenly turned into a horror story?

The Second Young Master was clearly even less able to process the sight before him, but then the sound of footsteps echoed from outside.

The Second Young Master’s face went pale. He scanned the room frantically, but the secret chamber offered no real place to hide. He couldn’t risk a face-to-face encounter with whoever was coming under such bizarre circumstances; he wasn’t about to gamble with his life.

He had only one choice.

Behind the coffin.

If the newcomer didn’t wander around, he might just avoid detection.

With no other options, the Second Young Master practically crawled behind the coffin, huddling tightly against it. Though he knew he couldn’t fully conceal himself, he curled into the smallest ball possible.

The footsteps drew closer.

It was the deceased man.

He walked up to the coffin and looked at the woman inside, a tender smile on his face. “Axian, you’ll be coming back to life soon. I’ve raised our daughter well; she will be a perfect vessel for you. When you return, you mustn’t find me too old. Sigh, it was all my fault-I sired so many sons and so few daughters. But it’s fine now. I’ve raised them all, and once they marry, they’re bound to have daughters. I’ll have enough people to save you very soon.”

The man’s tone was full of gentle affection, but the content of his words was bone-chilling.

What did that mean?

Qin Nan was completely bewildered by this development.

This wasn’t just a horror script; it was a horror script with supernatural elements. Resurrection? And the implications of the dead man’s words were staggering.

The woman in the coffin was the Eldest Miss’s biological mother. The deceased intended to resurrect her by placing her soul into the Eldest Miss’s body. And the key to this resurrection involved daughters or granddaughters related to the deceased?

Qin Nan suddenly looked down at the Taiji Diagram that looked like it was made of blood.

He didn’t need *their* blood, did he?

A terrifying hypothesis formed in Qin Nan’s mind.

The deceased intended to kill his own daughters or granddaughters and use their blood to save the Eldest Miss’s mother?

Far from being a mere profligate womanizer, the man was a fanatic. To save his lover, he had sired so many children, only to plan on slaughtering his own offspring just to bring his sweetheart back? Qin Nan was speechless. What kind of twisted plot was this!

Yet, this somehow connected the dots with previous clues.

During the introductions, Lin Junruo had mentioned that the deceased doted on her.

Of course he did. She was the future body for his lover; how could he not dote on her? And as for why the Third Young Master was married while the Second Young Master-who clearly had a sweetheart-remained unwed? It was because the Second Young Master didn’t dare to marry!

If he hadn’t known the truth, it would be one thing, but once he knew, how could he possibly drag the woman he loved into this? No one could guarantee whether they would have a son or a daughter. Beyond just his sweetheart, the Second Young Master likely didn’t want to ruin any girl’s life. Moreover, rather than risking the loss of his own flesh and blood, it was better to never have children at all.

Then, Qin Nan’s thoughts suddenly shifted to the Third Young Master and the Third Young Lady.