With a creak, the stone door of the secret chamber was pushed open, exhaling stale air like the maw of the Netherworld.
Lin Feng's face, usually considered rather handsome, was now twisted with anxiety and a gloomy malice, as if an invisible hand was squeezing his chest, making every breath a struggle.
He slammed the stone door shut behind him. The dull thud echoed in the silent chamber, heightening the oppressive atmosphere.
The moment he entered, his sharp gaze swept across the room like a falcon, missing not a single corner.
He muttered to himself, his voice dropped so low as if he feared startling something, or as if he were conversing with unseen ghosts.
This neurotic tension made even Lin Xinghe, lurking deep in the shadows, break out in a cold sweat.
Usually gentle, refined, and unfathomable to others, Lin Feng now looked precisely like a cornered, frantic beast, desperate for a straw to clutch.
He rushed in a few steps to a row of dust-covered bookshelves, his hands frantically rummaging through old scrolls and yellowed classics.
He tossed the paper about roughly, producing a rattling, tearing sound—not as if he were searching, but as if he were venting his frustration.
The veins at his temples throbbed violently, and his breathing grew heavier. It seemed as though with every second he delayed, a sword hanging above his head would fall.
Lin Xinghe reined in her aura to the absolute limit. The Power of the Sword Soul flowed within her like a gentle stream, seamlessly fusing her with the surrounding darkness.
At that moment, she seemed to transform into a cold rock, deliberately slowing even her heartbeat.
Her eyes, still bright in the darkness, locked unwaveringly onto Lin Feng. She sneered inwardly: "Let's see what kind of mischief you can drum up! This guilty thief's demeanor clearly hides a monumental secret."
Just as Lin Feng grew so frantic he was ready to overturn the bookshelf, low growls rumbling in his throat, another hurried sound of footsteps approached from outside the secret chamber.
The footsteps were heavy and chaotic, revealing that the newcomer was also deeply unsettled, driven by a burning, hair-trigger urgency.
"Thud, thud, thud!"
Lin Feng's figure froze instantly. His ears pricked up like a startled rabbit, and the color drained from his face, leaving an unhealthy pallor.
He whirled around to stare at the stone door, lowering his voice with a hint of thinly veiled panic and vigilance: "Who is it?!"
A thought stirred in Lin Xinghe's mind, and she silently muttered: "Just in time!" Her body shrank further into the depths of the shadows, nearly merging with the cold stone wall, leaving only an imperceptible slit to observe the movement outside.
For a moment, the atmosphere inside the secret chamber reached an extreme of tension, like a tightened bowstring that would snap at the slightest touch.
"Young Master! This is terrible! Something huge has happened!" A male voice, suppressing terror and anxiety, came from outside the door, followed immediately by even more violent banging. "Bang, bang, bang!" It sounded as if he might break the door down the very next moment.
Lin Feng's expression shifted repeatedly. He swiftly pulled an unassuming sheepskin roll—which he had placed at the very core—from a pile of messy scrolls, along with several thin sheets covered in bizarre talismans, and hurriedly shoved them into an inconspicuous secret compartment at the back of the bookshelf.
His movements were extremely fast, showing he was thoroughly familiar with the place.
Having done all this, he slightly steadied his breathing and shouted in a deep voice: "What's all the panic for? Come in!"
The stone door swung open, and a middle-aged man wearing the attire of a Lin Family elder stumbled in, his face full of panic. The moment he caught sight of Lin Feng, he blurted out anxiously, "Young Master, just now... just now someone broke into the array eye on the west side of the Forbidden Land, and it seems... it seems they triggered the Soul-Devouring Array!"
Lin Feng's pupils abruptly constricted, and he demanded harshly, "Did you see who it was? Where were the Forbidden Land guards?"
Panting heavily, the elder shook his head repeatedly: "It was too dark, and the intruder's movement technique was bizarre. The guards only caught a glimpse of a black shadow and couldn't catch up. The person seemed quite familiar with the Forbidden Land, bypassing several open sentries directly. Now that the Soul-Devouring Array has been activated, I'm afraid... I'm afraid it has already alerted the grand elders who are in seclusion!"
Lin Feng's face turned as dark as water. He paced back and forth in the secret chamber with his hands behind his back, every step feeling as though it landed on Lin Xinghe's heartstrings.
After a moment of silent rumination, he said coldly, "You know the power of the Soul-Devouring Array; unless holding a specific token, anyone who breaks in will die without a doubt. Immediately seal off all paths leading to the Forbidden Land; no one is allowed to approach without authorization! Furthermore, strictly investigate the recent movements of all disciples within the clan, especially those... who are restless in ordinary times."
The elder repeatedly assented, then hesitated: "Young Master, then... regarding the Sword Tomb..."
A cold gleam flashed in Lin Feng's eyes: "The matter of the Sword Tomb can be ignored for now. The most important thing right now is to steady the situation and not let anyone discover our true purpose. Go down first, pacify everyone, and remember—if a single half-word of tonight's events leaks out, you know the consequences!"
"Yes! Yes! This subordinate understands!" Overawed by the icy aura emanating from Lin Feng, the elder dared not say more. He bowed deeply and hurried out.
After the elder left, the gloomy expression on Lin Feng's face deepened.
He slammed a fist heavily against the bookshelf and cursed in a low voice: "Useless! A bunch of useless trash! Things have to go wrong at this exact juncture!" He stared fixedly at the secret compartment where he had just hidden the documents, his gaze shifting uncertainly as if weighing something.
After a long while, he took a deep breath and drew from his bosom a jade pendant of archaic design. The pendant was entirely jade-green, with a faint, flowing radiance moving across it.
He pressed the jade pendant against a spot on the secret compartment, and with a soft "click," the compartment opened once more.
However, what he retrieved this time was not the documents he had just hidden, but an ancient scroll sealed inside an exquisite sandalwood box.
The scroll was made of some unknown animal hide, dark yellow in color, radiating an untamed and mystical aura.
Lin Feng carefully unfolded it on the desk. Upon the scroll were no words, but an immensely intricate star map, dotted with countless gold-threaded veins fine as spider silk, faintly outlining some profound talismanic array.
At the center of the star map was unmistakably depicted an ancient sword of peculiar design, upon whose blade rivers of stars seemed to flow.
Lin Xinghe held her breath, taking in every detail of this scene.
The talismans and star map on the scroll gave her an inexplicable sense of familiarity, as if they echoed certain patterns on the Sword Tomb Jade Pendant left to her by her Mother.
She was shaken to her core. Could it be that this scroll in Lin Feng's hands was also related to the Sword Tomb?
What on earth was he plotting?
Gazing at the scroll with fanatical concentration, Lin Feng gently traced his fingers over the starlight and veins, murmuring obscure, incomprehensible syllables under his breath as if performing some ancient ritual.
Lin Xinghe knew that tonight's discoveries were already startling enough.
To stay any longer would be taking too much of a risk.
Silently channeling the Power of the Sword Soul, she moved toward the exit of the secret chamber like a ghost, every movement softened to the absolute limit lest a single sound disturb Lin Feng, who was utterly immersed in the scroll.
She had to leave this place as quickly as possible and tell her younger sister, Lin Yuehe, everything she had seen tonight, so they could discuss countermeasures together.
This Lin Feng was even more mysterious and dangerous than she had imagined.
The scroll in his hands, as well as the "Soul-Devouring Array" and "true purpose" mentioned in his conversation with the elder, were like layers of fog shrouding the Lin Family.
The night was as dark as ink. Lin Xinghe's figure quietly melted into the shadows of the deep Lin Residence grounds, while turbulent waves churned in her heart.
She glanced back one last time at the direction of the secret chamber, where a dim, yellowish light still shone, her gaze calm and resolute.
She knew that an even greater storm was about to arrive.
And right through this storm, she had to carve out a path of survival for herself and her sister.
She quickened her pace toward her modest maid quarters, every step exceptionally steady, as if treading upon the very nodes of fate.
The first thing she must do upon returning to her dwelling was to recount every single detail of tonight's discoveries to that sister of hers—one who appeared timid on the outside, yet possessed a spirit equally tenacious within.