Chapter 41

Chapter 41: Hidden in the Tomb

Fang Xu Cheng’s first reaction was panic.

For years, ever since he’d latched onto Second Lady Hu and Mo Chou, he’d lived behind a smiling mask. Every breath had been measured, every word rehearsed, terrified that one slip would cost him his backer.

Wear a human face long enough, and even your nerve shrank.

Then his panic snapped into fury, vicious light spilling into his eyes.

He was already in too deep. At a moment like this, he couldn’t allow outsiders to learn the truth.

He chased after the shadow without hesitation. “Stop!”

His henchmen exchanged quick looks. Two stayed behind. The rest sprinted after him.

Among Fang Xu Cheng’s men, the two strongest were Golden Core cultivators—and they’d already been sent to search the Parasol Tree. The ones left behind were only at the Foundation Establishment Stage.

Against them, Bai Meng Jin didn’t need talismans at all.

She slipped from beneath the concealment cloak, lifted a finger, and sent a thin, sharp thread of spiritual power snapping through the air.

Both henchmen crumpled without so much as a shout.

“Go,” she murmured.

She grabbed Ling Bu Fei and darted inside the hut.

Second Lady Hu lay where they’d seen her, still bound, her breathing shallow and uneven. Bai Meng Jin knelt and checked her condition with quick, practiced hands.

“Her injuries are bad,” Bai Meng Jin said, “but the poison is worse.”

She drew in a careful breath near Second Lady Hu’s lips, then her expression hardened. “Snow Mountain Ice Toad venom. It freezes spiritual power. It’s incredibly rare.”

Ling Bu Fei’s eyes narrowed. “He had it prepared.”

“He’s been waiting a long time to strike.” Bai Meng Jin made a soft, contemptuous sound.

Ling Bu Fei dug into his storage and produced a small bottle. “Antidote pills. Think they’ll work?”

Bai Meng Jin popped the seal, sniffed once, and nodded. She eased one pill between Second Lady Hu’s lips and guided her throat with a touch of spiritual power.

“Your medicine is good,” she admitted. “It’ll keep her alive.”

But not unscathed.

Second Lady Hu’s cultivation would suffer. There was no avoiding that now.

Bai Meng Jin helped her sit up, supporting her weight.

Ling Bu Fei glanced toward the door, tense. “Where do we go? There’s only one exit from this valley. If we run into him—”

“And there’s only one concealment cloak,” Bai Meng Jin finished. “It won’t hide all three of us.”

She was already weighing options—cover Second Lady Hu with the cloak and let herself use a concealment art, take the risk of being seen, lure Fang Xu Cheng away again—

Before she could speak, Second Lady Hu’s eyelids fluttered.

Her gaze was unfocused, but there was stubborn life in her.

“Senior?” Bai Meng Jin leaned closer. “Can you hear me?”

Second Lady Hu’s lips moved. A breath scraped out. “The… tomb…”

Bai Meng Jin stilled. “What tomb?”

“There’s… space inside,” Second Lady Hu whispered, each word dragged out like it cost blood. “The incantation is…”

Her voice faltered.

Bai Meng Jin’s eyes flashed.

So Second Lady Hu had prepared an escape route after all.

Outside, the ward at the valley entrance pulsed—triggered again.

Fang Xu Cheng was coming back.

Bai Meng Jin didn’t hesitate. She wrapped Second Lady Hu in her spiritual power, grabbed Ling Bu Fei’s wrist, and leapt.

The world dropped into darkness—

Then snapped bright again.

They stood inside a stone chamber.

It was arranged like a woman’s bedroom: simple but elegant. Dresses hung neatly on a rack. A faint, lingering fragrance clung to the fabric like a ghost of warmth.

Mo Chou’s things, Bai Meng Jin realized.

Second Lady Hu had missed her daughter so violently she’d built a room for her inside a memorial tomb—as if Mo Chou might come home and sleep here again.

They laid Second Lady Hu on the bed.

“Senior,” Bai Meng Jin asked softly, “how do you feel?”

Second Lady Hu managed a weak smile. “Not dying… yet.”

“Rest,” Bai Meng Jin said. “Our cultivation is too low to force this poison out for you. You’ll have to drive it out slowly yourself. That antidote will buy you time.”

Second Lady Hu nodded, then sat cross-legged and began circulating her method, jaw tight with focus.

“Hey.” Ling Bu Fei’s voice came from across the room. “Look.”

Bai Meng Jin followed his gaze.

A dressing mirror stood against the wall—except it wasn’t reflecting them.

It showed the hut.

Fang Xu Cheng burst back through the door, eyes blazing. He’d chased the decoy, realized too late, and returned to find the henchmen sprawled on the floor and Second Lady Hu gone.

He kicked one hard. “Where is she?!”

The other guards rushed to rouse them, babbling half-coherent reports. The two he’d left behind could only repeat exactly what had happened—they’d seen nothing but two shadows, then darkness.

Fang Xu Cheng’s face twisted as he paced. “Who’s been sneaking around and ruining my plans?”

His eyes narrowed as his thoughts turned. “And when I came back from the valley entrance… I didn’t sense anyone leaving. They shouldn’t be out of the valley yet.”

He paused, breathing through his nose. “Whoever it is must be below Nascent Soul Stage—or they’d dare face me head-on.”

Some of his tension eased. He raised both hands and formed seals.

Spiritual light spread through the valley like a net being thrown.

New wards.

He was closing the mouth of the trap.

“Hmph,” Fang Xu Cheng said, voice sharp with satisfaction. “Lock the gate and hunt the dog. Let’s see how long you can hide.”

He sat and drank tea to steady himself, the picture of forced calm.

A while later, searchers returned. “Family Head, we didn’t find Young Sect Master Ling. He might not be on the Parasol Tree.”

Fang Xu Cheng’s cup clinked as he set it down too hard. “Are you sure you didn’t miss anything?”

“Probably not…”

That was not the answer he wanted.

Fang Xu Cheng’s gaze sharpened. “Could it really be him?”

He shook his head once, as if denying it could make it untrue. “No. He can’t use spells…”

A subordinate hurried in. “Family Head, I heard a Cinnabar Cloud Palace disciple was taken too. Elder Yi Ming is searching.”

Fang Xu Cheng’s face tightened.

He’d never caused this much trouble in his life. For years, he’d stayed tucked beneath Second Lady Hu’s shadow, feeding on her authority. Now he’d gone straight against two sects from the Upper Three Sects.

Two sects.

Two enemies.

Two sets of elders who wouldn’t forgive him if they found the truth.

Fang Xu Cheng’s expression twisted. Then he bared his teeth.

He’d already tried to kill Second Lady Hu.

What were two more pups?

At worst, he’d kill them too.

It was dangerous, but if he didn’t do it, he wouldn’t survive once the Limitless Sect arrived.

Either way, it was a dead end. Better to gamble.

Maybe Young Sect Master Ling didn’t have any treasure that could replay the past.

“Search,” Fang Xu Cheng ordered, voice turning cold. “Don’t miss a single inch of ground in this valley. Dig three feet down if you have to. Find them.”

“Yes.”

Inside the tomb, Ling Bu Fei watched the mirror and sneered. “What nerve. He really wants to silence me too.”

“That’s what happens when a dog is cornered,” Bai Meng Jin said.

She stared at Fang Xu Cheng’s face in the mirror, thoughtful. “If he’s willing to take that risk just to avoid the Limitless Sect… does he know something?”

Ling Bu Fei blinked. “You mean he framed my father for more than just convenience?”

Second Lady Hu’s eyes opened a slit, her breath still ragged from poison and effort. “Back then… he came back alone.” Her voice trembled with old grief. “If he’d told me A Chou died under a Devil Creature’s palm, I would have blamed him too.”

She swallowed. “He lied mainly to clear himself. As for why he chose your father as the scapegoat… I don’t know.”

Ling Bu Fei frowned, working through it. “Right after the battle ended, the rumor about my father betraying the sect—shouldn’t have spread far yet.”

He looked at Second Lady Hu. “Senior. Had you heard anything then?”

She thought, slow and strained. “No. It started spreading… later.”

Bai Meng Jin’s voice sharpened. “Then Fang Xu Cheng might have known something in advance. That’s why he chose your father as a shield.”

“And when the rumors exploded,” Ling Bu Fei finished, “you’d believe him even more.”

His hand slammed down on the stone table. “Damn it!”

His eyes burned. “Because of people like him, my father gets saddled with blame again and again.”

Bai Meng Jin’s gaze flicked through the chamber—mirror, bed, stone walls, the faint hum of a Formation beneath their feet.

Then she smiled, sudden and sharp. “I have an idea.”

Ling Bu Fei looked at her. “What kind of idea?”

“One that’s risky,” she said. “But don’t you want the clue yourself?”

He hesitated only a heartbeat.

“Then let’s try.”