Chapter 108 - Mourning Morning (Part II) (Patreon)

When the rat entered the torture chamber, Lucian immediately noticed the palm-sized runes carved across the back wall. Unable to perceive the Qi flow directly, he commanded the rat to approach Wang Chen first and was unsurprised when the small critter slammed into an invisible barrier.

Runes on the wall lit up alongside others carved on the ceiling, forming an array of eight runes.

Makes sense, he thought. In his experience, no prisoner, dead or alive, would be left unshackled. However, why did this Qi barrier appear? How could the rat trigger one trap and not the other? Only the guard triggered the water blades in the corridor.

Probing the invisible wall cautiously, he began forming theories.

Perhaps the Qi wall was always present, and the formation merely reinforced it, he thought, and the rat tilted its tiny head. The previous corridor traps, on the other hand, likely remain dormant until activated by Qi.

Lucian understood that both his true vampire body and the shapeshifted forms created through the Rune of Sloth lacked Qi, which explained why the rat had safely entered the hidden chamber. Of course, when he actively cultivated and gathered Qi, he would trigger the traps. But this rat here wasn't the one with his cultivation base!

The problem now is how to disable this formation, Lucian thought. Then, he controlled the rat to climb the wall.

With its enhanced physique, the creature’s tiny claws easily carried it upward. Through its enhanced vision, Lucian observed the unfamiliar runes. He did not waste time deciphering its structure. Instead, he ordered the rat to scratch it.

Though the claws could not significantly damage the stone itself, they quickly scraped through the dried substance forming the rune’s lines. Then, after several scratches disrupted the pattern and disconnected random sections, the rune flared brightly before sputtering out completely.

Noticing the success, the rat immediately scurried toward another rune.

After the fourth rune on the wall was damaged, a sudden loud breathing sound filled the chamber.

It came from Wang Chen.

Dropping back to the ground, the rat hurried over to inspect him while Lucian carefully noted everything he saw.

His fingernails were torn out, Lucian observed, guiding the rat closer to Wang Chen’s unconscious face. Several teeth missing, some burn marks across his throat, chest, and nose. This kid suffered a bit.

Part of Wang Chen’s cheek had been carved away entirely, exposing flesh beneath and allowing Lucian to see inside.

For him to have lost consciousness, the true damage should be internal, Lucian thought, and the rat narrowed its eyes. I can assume there was psychological torture as well.

Wang Chen’s face was locked in a scowl, showing that his dreams weren’t sweet or peaceful at all.

What surprised Lucian most, however, was something else entirely. Despite clearly having urinated and defecated himself during the torture, there was not a single tear track visible on Wang Chen’s face.

Maybe it wasn't a waste of time to come save him, Lucian thought.

Refocusing and aware that time was limited, he climbed onto Wang Chen’s body, activating the Rune of Lust and sending a powerful intent directly into the young man's mind.

“Wake up,” the rat commanded.

A moment later, Wang Chen jolted upright and vomited onto the floor. He was gasping violently for air, his heartbeat accelerating wildly. Then, with bloodshot eyes, he gritted his teeth and forced himself to stand.

“Where are you, you bastard?!” he roared, his rough voice carrying neither fear nor visible pain.

From the way Wang Chen’s fists trembled and clenched tightly, Lucian sensed an overwhelming fury burning within.

“What did you do to Little Meng?!” Wang Chen shouted, scanning the room frantically before rushing toward the exit.

His movements were roughly comparable to Lucian’s speed before undergoing two rounds of enhancement through the Curse of Sloth, though with far less finesse.

Not wishing to waste time dealing with Wang Chen’s emotional outburst, Lucian transmitted another intent directly into his mind.

“Calm yourself.”

Wang Chen halted abruptly, twisting his head and body. He was searching desperately for Lucian’s location, as the sensation of Lucian’s intent was far too distinctive for him to mistake it for anything else.

“Benefactor!” Wang Chen exclaimed. “Did you find Little Meng? That black-robed cultist bastard has her!”

“Elder Black Scale is dead,” Lucian informed him calmly. “Control yourself. If Bai Xiaomeng were with me, she would already be hugging you.”

Biting his lip while his thoughts raced, Wang Chen nodded slowly and asked, “Where is she? Which direction?”

Lucian initially intended to say there was nobody else nearby, but remembering that Qi formations capable of sealing sound might also conceal scent, he couldn’t be sure. Besides, there could be valuable artifacts or resources hidden below, and Wang Chen had repeatedly proven useful by transporting goods.

“Search for her,” Lucian ordered as the rat climbed down Wang Chen’s shoulder.

At the same time, he ordered more rats to come down and enter the hidden chamber. They had collected enough Blood Essence, and using it only to cultivate wouldn't be as efficient as searching for fine loot. After the fight against Black Scale, Lucian learned that some artifacts were worth the trouble of looking for.

Noticing the furry creature properly, Wang Chen nodded without caring about the pain radiating through his body. He vividly remembered how, before losing consciousness beneath the burning Purple Qi, Elder Black Scale had described in detail what he intended to do to Bai Xiaomeng.

Hurriedly, the pair moved toward the neighboring room, containing a saltwater well alongside an indoor garden.

After walking through the bushes and finding no one, Lucian was about to leave when Wang Chen suddenly gasped.

Seeing the large man kneel abruptly, Lucian feared he had overlooked something important and commanded the rat to investigate. The critter cocked its tiny head in confusion upon approaching and seeing Wang Chen chewing on a yellow flower.

Then, Lucian almost gasped in surprise.

Through the rat’s senses, he watched the wounds across Wang Chen’s body visibly begin healing.

After swallowing the flower, Wang Chen stood up and bowed respectfully toward the rat.

“Thank you, Benefactor,” he said sincerely. “If you hadn’t guided me toward that bush, I would never have noticed the Bull-Head Yellow Orchid.”

Ignoring the misunderstanding entirely, Lucian commanded the rat to go back searching through the plants in the chamber.

Xu Hua’s memories provided him with no true botanical knowledge, though he did possess fragments of information regarding natural treasures capable of improving cultivation or affecting a mortal’s body and soul.

Still, he had never expected to discover anything valuable within what he considered little more than a hidden prison complex.

That’s why Wang Chen’s discovery genuinely surprised him!

As the rat moved through the bushes, Wang Chen followed closely behind.

“This one can’t be removed safely,” Wang Chen muttered regretfully, staring at a crimson flower shaped vaguely like a seahorse. After a second, however, he held a five-petaled azure flower and exclaimed, This is a One-Hundred-Year Blue Scaled Petunia! So rare!”

Noticing how knowledgeable Wang Chen seemed regarding these treasures, Lucian spoke through intent once more.

“Gather everything valuable. I will have the other rats continue searching for Bai Xiaomeng.”

“But Little Meng—”

“I was unable to heal you,” Lucian interrupted coldly. “If she is severely wounded, turning her into a jiangshi may become the only option. If you don't want that, keep searching the garden.”

Wang Chen’s eyes trembled. Without a choice, he grabbed a nearby wooden basket and hurried to gather the plants. He understood how much struggle and self-loathing it had taken during the past four months to accept his own condition.

The weight of five murders rested heavily on his shoulders, and he would never willingly condemn Bai Xiaomeng to the same fate.

Leaving the plump man to his work, Lucian guided the rat toward the next chamber.

From outside, it looked like an office.

Inside this room filled with scrolls and books, two other rats were climbing shelves and dragging scrolls into piles while two more went to the corridor and searched adjacent rooms.

Outside the hidden chamber, the four guards continued carrying out their duties, all secretly controlled by Lucian’s Rune of Lust to prevent anyone from approaching the hidden entrance.

Yet while ransacking the underground chambers, one issue bothered Lucian.

Wang Chen will trigger the corridor traps on the way out, he thought. There must be another exit somewhere. I should have thought about this before. Fortunately, I'm here to take him out.

Then he suddenly paused as the rat’s eyes glowed crimson.

Interesting, Lucian thought. This fool has survived dangerous encounters more times than should be possible... Too many times.

The rat suddenly blinked as the image of thousands of blood vessels shifted in its eyes. This happened with every rat, no matter where they were. However, it was too quickly for Lucian to grasp what it was. The only thing he noticed about the image was the lingering sensation that it was connected to his cultivation.

Very peculiar, he thought, his mind racing as he searched for an explanation. I can't find a clue about what this means in Xu Hua's memories. However, I have a guess about what triggered it.

His vision shifted to that of Wang Chen's back. He could have left him to rot and die in this prison, but he wanted to investigate what happened and use the ghoul as an experimental subject. If Wang Chen wasn't useful, he would have let him die.

But why was Wang Chen useful?

It was because Lucian had saved him through the Rune of Pride. And Lucian only did that because he triggered the silver box with Blood Essence, almost killing one of the two people who could help him leave that forest.

However, was that the end of it?

This kid survived the purge of his mother's clan, while he should have died with it, Lucian thought with deep interest. He survived the attack on the Bai Clan's caravan because of the silver box. He survived the Azure Magpie Forest and Liu Tian's attack because of me. He survived the Ganshou Village because of that random monk.

The blood vessels floating in the air from before didn't appear, but Lucian felt that his sudden awareness of Wang Chen's good fortune was connected to it.

Every single time, someone is in the right place, at the right time, with some reason to save him. Lucian laughed inwardly at the absurdity of it all. He may not know what that meant, but he would keep Wang Chen very close from now on.

While he noted down to keep doing experiments on Wang Chen, the rats outside moved through the city doing different tasks and accumulating Blood Essence for his next plans.