SON OF THE MANOR

CH4

Chu Xuan collapsed onto his knees inside the inner pavilion, his expensive robes stained with mud and his hands trembling violently. He couldn't lift his head to meet the burning gaze of Chu Tianyou, who sat rigidly on a gold-carved jade throne. The air inside the room was dangerously hot, vibrating with a tense, chaotic energy that smelled faintly of scorched copper.

"Speak before I incinerate you right where you kneel," Chu Tianyou growled, his knuckles turning white as he gripped his dragon-bone bow. "Vane and his entire execution team are dead, and you crawl back here empty-handed. Give me a reason why I shouldn't take your head."

"Young master, it... it wasn't my fault," Chu Xuan stammered, his teeth clicking together as a cold sweat rolled down his back. "The long clan trash didn't die in the abyssal lake. He returned, and he isn't alone anymore. Saintess Ji Qingwu has taken him under her protection."

Tianyou’s eyes widened slightly, a sudden spike of raw panic flaring through his veins before he quickly forced his expression to turn cold. Ever since the previous night, his grand gold core cultivation had vanished into a hollow vacuum, leaving him a secret, raging cripple. He couldn't let anyone in the sect find out about his ruin, or his position as the top genius would evaporate.

"Ji Qingwu protected that mana-less slave?" Tianyou hissed, his voice dropping into a vicious whisper that shook the silk curtains. "Why would the cold Saintess interfere with our family’s property? Did the trash find a way to beg for her charity?"

"He survived my venomous Shadow Needle solely because she handed him the legendary Azure Heart Pendant," Chu Xuan explained quickly, desperate to shift the blame. "He used the defensive artifact to deflect my strike, and the needle accidentally hit our own lead executioner. The trash is hiding behind her skirt."

Tianyou let out a harsh, mocking laugh, though his heart was hammering against his ribs like a trapped beast as he analyzed the report. He didn't fear the useless Long Jingchen, but he desperately needed to find the mysterious thief who had siphoned his eighteen years of cultivation. If the trash siblings were connected to that anomaly, he needed them isolated from the Saintess.

"He thinks a defensive trinket can protect a slave forever," Tianyou snarled, leaning forward to look directly at the guards standing by the doorway. "Listen to me carefully. Discretely deploy our highest-level spiritual surveillance arrays around the perimeter of the Starlight Manor immediately."

"Should we launch an open raid, young master?" the lead guard asked, bowing his head as he awaited the command.

"No, you fools! Do it silently!" Tianyou roared, smashing his fist against the armrest of his jade throne. "I do not want the elders or the other houses to know there is an anomaly on this mountain. Just watch the manor, find the reason behind my cultivation collapse, and ensure those trash siblings are brought back to my pavilion no matter what."

***

Meanwhile, the massive obsidian doors of the Starlight Manor closed with a heavy, thumping echo, completely sealing out the prying eyes of the inner sect. The entrance hall was quiet and cool, the air smelling of clean pine and starlight incense that instantly eased the tension in the room. Ji Qingwu walked ahead, her white silk robes rustling softly against the polished marble floorboards.

The moment the heavy doors locked into place, the cold, distant Saintess did something that would have shocked the entire Grand Sovereign Palace into absolute silence. She turned around, her eyes filling with a sudden, deep sorrow as she sank smoothly to her knees right before Long Jingchen.

"Master Jingchen," Ji Qingwu whispered, her head bowing low as her trembling hands touched the cold floorboards. "Six long years... I have waited six years to finally fulfill my sacred promise to your late mother, Lady Olivia. Please forgive me for acting so cold in public."

Jingchen didn't move an inch, his arms remaining wrapped tightly around his sleeping, pale sister as he looked down at the kneeling Saintess. His violet eyes remained completely neutral, a dark layer of quiet distrust filtering through his mind as he remembered the years of absolute starvation. He didn't lift his hand to help her up, nor did he let his repossessed Primordial Chaos power leak out by even a fraction.

"Get up, Saintess Ji," Jingchen said, his voice flat and devoid of any servant's fear as he walked past her toward the inner couch. "For six years, my sister and I ate rotting food while you sat on the highest peaks of this palace. Why should I believe a single word of your sacred oath today?"

Ji Qingwu stood up slowly, her face pale but resolute as she followed him into the inner chamber, her eyes fixed on Xiaoxiao’s hollow cheeks. "I had no choice, Jingchen. The Three Sovereign Houses watched my every move after the massacre, hoping to find any excuse to erase your bloodline completely."

She stepped closer, her voice dropping into a desperate whisper as she reached into her sleeve to pull out a small silver jar. "If I had shown even a flicker of warmth toward you over these years, Meredith and Tianyou would have slaughtered you both in your sleep. I had to look distant just so you could live."

Jingchen laid Xiaoxiao gently onto a luxurious bed of spirit-silk, carefully drawing the warm blankets up to her chin before turning around to face the Saintess. "A pretty story, Ji Qingwu. But a tiger doesn't trust the hunter just because she holds a medicinal jar. Who is to say you don't have your own hidden motive for keeping the last Long heirs alive?"

"I don't expect your trust yet, but I will prove my loyalty," Ji Qingwu said, placing the silver jar gently into his hand. "This is the Celestial Core Salve. It will permanently heal Xiaoxiao’s bones and veins from the spiritual extraction arrays, ensuring she never feels that agony again."

Jingchen looked down at the silver container, his fingers tightening around the cool metal as the system ran a silent scan behind his eyes. The salve was genuine, rich with a soothing starlight energy that would instantly mend his sister's damaged frame. A rare spark of true emotion softened his gaze for a split second before his mask returned.

"This will soothe her veins," Jingchen muttered, his voice remaining quiet. "But she will still need the legendary Nine-Sun Elixir to fully maximize her recovery and burn away the lingering frost in her marrow."

"Yes, but for now, she will sleep peacefully without pain," Ji Qingwu said, letting out a soft sigh of relief before her expression turned dead serious. "Jingchen, you must remain inside this manor and act like a normal servant for the next few days. The Chu clan is absolutely furious right now."

"Furious about what?" Jingchen asked, a cold, hidden smile tucking at the corner of his lips as he masterfully feigned a look of innocent confusion.

"Someone infiltrated the inner pavilion last night and completely siphoned away eighteen years of Chu Tianyou’s gold core cultivation," Ji Qingwu explained, her voice tense. "The patriarchs are running a mountain-wide search sweep. If you disappear now, they will frame you for both the dead guard in your shack and the theft of his destiny."

Jingchen looked away, his face remaining as still as stone while his inner soul let out a silent laugh of pure, vindictive satisfaction. The Chu family was running around like headless chickens, hunting for a high-tier master, while the true thief was sitting right under their noses. "Let them search," he said quietly. "A trash like me couldn't possibly steal a genius's power."

"It is a dangerous time, Jingchen," Ji Qingwu continued, her hand resting against the wooden pillar as her gaze turned toward the eastern peaks. "But there is something far worse you need to know. I found a soul-shattering secret while researching the capabilities of the Heavenly Dagger that killed your parents."

Jingchen’s body froze, his violet eyes instantly snapping back to her face with a terrifying, heavy pressure that made her breath catch. "What secret?"

"Your parents... Lord Long and Lady Olivia... they are not dead," Ji Qingwu whispered, the words hanging in the quiet room like a heavy sentence. "The Three Sovereign Houses didn't kill them six years ago. They used the Heavenly Dagger’s forbidden magic to trap, freeze, and suspend their lives."

Jingchen took a sudden, violent step forward, his hands slamming onto Ji Qingwu’s shoulders with a force that made her starlight aura flicker in alarm. "What did you just say? They are still alive? Where are they?!"

"They are preserved deep within the inner sanctum of the Sovereign Vault," she said, her voice shaking under the intense grip of his fingers. "For six long years, the trio families have been systematically mining an unparalleled primordial magic directly from your parents' living essence. That is the true secret behind their sudden, unbeatable power."

The words hit Jingchen’s mind like a physical hammer, his chest heaving as a wave of monstrous, boiling rage threatened to shatter his concealment mask. His parents were being used as a living battery, tortured every single second for six years just to feed the arrogance of the usurpers. His fingernails dug into his palms until blood dripped onto the floor.

"If their lives are suspended, then I can still break into that vault and bring them out," Jingchen hissed, his voice dropping into a dark, dual-toned resonance. "I can still save them."

"No! It is an absolute suicide mission!" Ji Qingwu cried out, grabbing his wrists to pull his hands away from her shoulders. "The vault is guarded by three high-tier patriarchs and an ancient soul-seal. The moment you touch that door, the entire palace will collapse on your head."

She leaned in closer, her eyes pleading with his. "The only logical path is to find the layout map, infiltrate the vault in the dark, and burn the inner core down to lay your parents to rest. It will instantly destroy the trio families' illegal power source and make them penetrable."

Jingchen outwardly nodded his head, lowering his gaze to hide the murderous, dark fire burning in his violet eyes. "I understand. Giving them peace is the safest way to weaken our enemies," he whispered, his voice sounding completely compliant.

But inwardly, his chest tightened, roaring with a savage, calculative fury that wanted to tear the entire mountain to pieces. Burn his parents? Lay them to rest just to weaken a few common thieves? Never. He would find the layout map, he would shatter that vault door with his bare hands, and he would make sure the Three Sovereign Houses bleed for every single second of agony his family suffered.

"I will stay in the manor tonight and apply the salve to Xiaoxiao," Jingchen said softly, turning back to the bed to break the heavy silence. "Go rest, Saintess Ji. I won't cause any trouble outside your walls."

Ji Qingwu looked at him for a long moment, sensing a strange, heavy stillness around him that she couldn't quite explain, before she finally nodded. "The guards are watching the paths. Do not step outside the main gates tonight, Jingchen. For your sister’s sake."

She turned and walked out of the chamber, the heavy wooden inner doors clicking shut behind her as she left the siblings alone in the dark. The moment she was gone, Jingchen walked over to the bed, gently opening the silver jar and applying the cool, glowing salve onto Xiaoxiao’s legs. Her small, shivering frame instantly relaxed, her breathing turning deep and peaceful as the agonizing pain in her marrow dissolved.

Jingchen stood up straight, his face returning to a cold, unyielding mask of stone as he reached into the shadows of the wardrobe, pulling out a dark linen mask. He walked back to the bed and gently scooped Xiaoxiao into his arms, wrapping his dark cloak securely around her frail frame.

"Wake up, little one, we have to go right now," Jingchen whispered against her ear, his violet eyes narrowing as he glanced at the heavy inner doors. "Saintess or not, I can't fully trust this strange lady who spent six years watching us rot in the dirt, and we need to get the Nine-Sun components as soon as possible."

Xiaoxiao nodded weakly, wrapping her small arms tightly around his neck as she buried her face into his chest, trusting him completely. He closed his eyes, reaching deep into his core to communicate with the mechanical entity vibrating in his soul.

"System," he commanded silently. "Give me the means to walk through their teeth without leaving a trail."

A sharp, electric chime rang out across his consciousness, a translucent blue screen floating before his violet gaze.

[DAILY LOGIN REWARD GRANTED: SOVEREIGN CLOAKING TECHNIQUE (RANK: SSS).]

[EFFECT: COMPLETELY ERASES PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL POWER SIGNATURES FROM ALL HIGH-TIER SEARCH SWEEPS.]

[CURRENT MISSION STATUS: NINE-SUN COMPONENT AND VAULT MAP INFILTRATION ENGAGED.]

Jingchen pulled the dark mask over his face, his body instantly blending into the shadows of the room as the SSS-rank technique activated, making his very existence completely invisible. He flicked his fingers, leaving a faint, deceptive mirror-image of their sleeping forms on the bed to ensure Ji Qingwu believed they were still resting safely inside.

With a silent, weightless leap, he stepped out of the high window with his sister and flew into the midnight rain like a phantom. Completely invisible to the Chu family's elite surveillance arrays, he headed straight toward the Central Medicine Pavilion, stepping into the dark to collect his first debt.