167: Chapter 167: Has our Qian family failed in any way to entertain us?

Lu Cheng frowned slightly.

He recalled Qian Shuying's talent…

White Tiger Wealth-Suppressing Seal, Geng Metal Tiger Pattern.

It was impossible for the connection between these two to be mere coincidence.

"So…" Lu Cheng began, his voice lowered, "is Shuying the key to unlocking the Golden Toad?"

Qian Fuyun nodded.

He was bound to a stone pillar, the chains digging into the flesh of his wrists, and with every breath, blood foam seeped from the corners of his mouth.

"They need Xiaoying's blood." Qian Fuyun's voice was as hoarse as sandpaper scraping against a slate.

"The Geng Metal Tiger Pattern is an atavistic manifestation of the White Tiger bloodline.

The White Tiger Seal has suppressed the Golden Toad for so many years that it has long since become intertwined with the Golden Toad's power.

Only by using the fresh blood of the White Tiger bloodline can the seal be broken."

He looked at Lu Cheng, his eyes filled with something indescribable—was it hatred, helplessness, or the self-reproach of a father unable to protect his daughter?

"Breaking the White Tiger Seal requires two procedures.

The first is to activate all the Pools of Ten Thousand Wishes, using the wish power collected by the gold leaves to feed the Golden Toad and awaken it from its slumber.

The second…" He paused.

"is to use the fresh blood of the White Tiger bloodline, dripping sacrificial blood into every gold pool to melt and break all the suppressing chains."

"The branch families and the Origin Organization captured Xiaoying and locked her in the lowest level of the main courtyard.

Her blood will be drawn and distributed to every gold pool."

Lu Cheng nodded.

Qian Congrong and the other branch families had been deceived by the Origin Organization, believing that breaking the White Tiger Seal would allow the Golden Toad to bestow blessings upon the Qian Family once again.

They did not know that the White Tiger Seal was the final lock protecting the Qian Family; once the Golden Toad fully recovered, the first things it would devour would be the wish power, lifespan, and bloodline of everyone in the Qian Family.

Lu Cheng shifted his gaze from Qian Fuyun's face, scanned the underground space, and continued to ask,

"Have you seen the little girl who came with Qian Shuying?"

Qian Fuyun was taken aback.

He frowned and thought for a moment, then shook his head.

"No," he said. "Since I was locked in here, I haven't seen Shuying herself again.

They only told me that she had also been captured and was locked beneath the main courtyard.

As for the person with her… I have no impression of them."

Lu Cheng's brows furrowed.

Chu Xiuxiu had sent him a message afterward.

Calculating by the timeline, it should have been after Qian Shuying brought Chu Xiuxiu back to the Qian Family that Qian Congrong's people moved to capture Qian Shuying, and Chu Xiuxiu might have escaped during the chaos.

But Chu Xiuxiu hadn't sent any messages since then. Was she hiding, or had something else happened?

Lu Cheng took out his terminal and glanced at it.

There were no new messages on the screen; Chu Xiuxiu's chat box still remained on that brief distress message.

Lu Cheng shook his head, stopped thinking about it, took a step forward, and approached the chains on Qian Fuyun.

Seeking Good Fortune and Avoiding Bad Luck hummed in his mind.

Lu Cheng's fingers stopped half an inch from the surface of the chains.

"As I thought…"

He withdrew his hand and carefully examined the chain.

The dark golden sealing inscriptions embedded on the surface of the chain were flowing slowly, each ring of inscriptions flashing in sync with those on the other chains at the exact same frequency, like a heartbeat.

This chain itself was an extremely dangerous existence…

Every single chain was a node.

If one node was broken, the inscriptions on the other nodes would immediately sense the energy change and trigger an alarm.

At that point, it wouldn't just be the guards at the door rushing in.

The entire manor's security system would know someone was sabotaging things underground.

Given the defensive strength of the Qian Family Manor and the Origin Organization, they could surround this place completely within minutes.

Seeing Lu Cheng's movement stop in mid-air, Qian Fuyun spoke…

"This thing cannot be broken right now."

He said, his tone carrying a calmness like someone who had nothing left to lose,

"The Origin Organization added linked inscriptions to it; moving one part triggers the whole.

I tried it before; I used my remaining Source Power to strike it once and almost attracted all the guards outside."

The old man Qian looked at Lu Cheng, wanting to say something but hesitating… finally, he spoke…

"Go save Shuying and Duo… Duo…" At this point, his lips trembled. "Go save my daughter and son first."

"They are locked in the lowest level of the main courtyard, and the activation progress of those gold pools is faster than here.

Once Xiaoying's blood is drained to a certain extent, her Geng Metal Tiger Pattern bloodline will be completely squeezed dry."

Lu Cheng looked at him.

Qian Fuyun's face was covered in blood and grime, his eye sockets deeply sunken, his hair gray and white.

He tugged at the corner of his mouth; the movement pulled at the wounds on his face, causing him to gasp in pain,

"I won't die from staying here another day or two.

But Xiaoying and Duoduo are having their blood drained every minute."

Lu Cheng nodded.

He didn't say anything more and turned to walk towards the stone steps.

After taking two steps, he stopped again.

"I will bring them both out," he said, without looking back.

Qian Fuyun let out a muffled grunt behind him, not knowing if it was a laugh or a cough.

Walking out of the secret door, he returned to the front hall of the small building.

Lu Cheng paused at the doorway.

The guard on the left swallowed again.

"Team Leader Lin… is the data collection finished?" he asked, his tone very cautious.

Lu Cheng licked his lips.

"It's finished," he said, mimicking the slimy tone of Supervisor Lin,

"You two… have worked hard. Would you like to grab some late-night snacks together tonight?"

Both guards shook their heads simultaneously…

"No need, Team Leader Lin, we still have to work the night shift," the guard on the right said quickly, his voice half an octave higher than usual.

"How boring."

Lu Cheng walked between the two of them, and he could feel four gazes sticking to his back until he turned the corner of the stone path and they disappeared.

He quickened his pace.

…

On the other side.

Inside the banquet hall.

Su Wan stood at the edge of the crowd, her fingertips gently pressing against the gold contract leaf in her sleeve, her brows furrowing bit by bit.

Ever since she obtained the soul-calming glazed lamp, her soul power was much stronger than before…

The entire banquet hall was emitting… a foul stench…

Su Wan's gaze swept across the banquet hall.

Those who had already written down their wishes and injected their Source Power into the gold leaves were all starting to emit that scent.

For some, the scent was fainter, with only a wisp of dark golden mist, now visible, now invisible, coiling around their fingertips.

For others, the scent was terrifyingly strong.

For example, a noblewoman in a deep purple dress who had just written "Eternal Youth" on the gold leaf; at this moment, an extremely faint copper coin mark had already appeared on the back of her hand.

That mark was hidden beneath her skin, flashing on and off as if it were breathing.

Take another example: an elderly man with graying hair.

What he wrote was "Extend lifespan by twenty years."

The gold leaf was held in the palm of his hand, and as soon as the Source Power was injected, Su Wan saw a hunched shadow faintly emerge behind him.

That shadow was clinging to his shoulder, its mouth pressed against his ear, as if it were laughing.

Yet the old man didn't notice a thing.

He was even whispering and showing off to the person next to him.

"This thing from the Qian Family is quite interesting."

"I really felt my internal Source Power become a bit smoother just now."

Hearing this, the person next to him, whose expression had previously been hesitant, was immediately swayed.

People are just like that.

Seeing others take advantage is more painful than suffering a loss oneself.

Especially in an occasion like this.

Major forces from South District 7 were all present, and no one wanted to be the one to miss out on the opportunity.

Su Wan's gaze crossed the crowd and looked toward the ceremonial platform.

On the platform, Qian Congrong's smile remained the same.

He stood beside the Pool of Ten Thousand Wishes, hands behind his back, the expression on his face as gentle as an elder hosting a family celebration.

But in Su Wan's eyes, the gold pool behind him was no longer a pool.

It was a mouth.

A half-open mouth, waiting to be fed.

Every time a gold leaf fell into the pool, the layer of golden liquid at the bottom would gently ripple.

Then, a wisp of dark golden thread, invisible to the naked eye, would extend from the pool and silently coil around the wrist of the person who threw the leaf.

Those people were still laughing.

Still talking.

Still looking forward to their wishes coming true.

They had no idea that from the moment they wrote down their wishes, they had already been targeted by something.

Qian Congrong's gaze slowly swept across the crowd below.

He watched those who had voluntarily written down their wishes, the smile in his eyes deepening.

Good people, indeed.

They are all good people.

Dressed in fine clothes, wealthy, all of them speaking of caution, yet their hands were faster than anyone else's.

Those wanting longevity.

Those wanting to break through.

Those wanting family prosperity.

Those wanting their offspring to succeed.

Those wanting to annex their rivals' businesses.

Those wanting their enemies to die violent deaths.

Those wanting to remain at the top forever.

Wonderful.

The heavier these wishes were, the faster the Golden Toad would wake up.

Qian Congrong even felt he should thank them.

If not for the greed of these people, this centennial ceremony really wouldn't have gone so smoothly.

The curve of his mouth lifted a little higher.

But the next second, his gaze suddenly stopped.

At the edge of the crowd…

Su Wan lowered her eyes, her expression calm.

Zhou Jinan held a wine glass with a perfectly appropriate smile on his face, seriously appreciating this so-called centennial ceremony.

As for that "Lu Cheng," he kept his head down, half his face hidden in the shadows, looking like he didn't want to talk much.

The smile on Qian Congrong's face didn't change.

But the temperature in his eyes turned cold.

These three people…

Why didn't they make a wish?

If it were just one person being cautious, it might be understandable.

But with all three of them not moving, that wasn't caution…

It was suspicion…

If he remembered correctly… the person in the middle was from the Zhou Family…

Qian Congrong's fingers pressed lightly inside his sleeve.

In the shadows beside the stage, a middle-aged man in a black uniform immediately looked up.

Qian Congrong didn't turn his head, but his lips moved imperceptibly.

"Go ask."

"See if the distinguished guests from the Zhou Family are uninterested in our Qian Family's gold contract, or…"

His voice paused for a moment.

"Look down on our Qian Family?"

The middle-aged man lowered his head slightly.

Subsequently, he walked out of the shadows beside the stage, bypassed the crowd, and walked toward the direction of Su Wan and the others.

Su Wan noticed it immediately.

The soul-calming glazed lamp in her sleeve vibrated slightly, and a faint blue light flashed across her palm and vanished.

Zhou Jinan also saw the person coming.

The smile on his face didn't change in the slightest, but the finger holding the wine glass tapped the side of the glass lightly.

Once.

Twice.

This was a reminder.

The middle-aged man in black soon walked up to the three of them.

There was a professional smile on his face, and his tone was so polite that no fault could be found.

"Three distinguished guests."

"Old Master Qian noticed that you haven't written anything yet, so he specifically sent me over to ask."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the gold leaves in the three people's hands.

"Is there anything about our hospitality at the Qian Family that is lacking?"