THE CRIPPLED SON-IN-LAW UNLOCKED IMMORTAL CULTIVATION

Chapter 12: The Secret Han Carried

The object beneath Han's coat began glowing before anyone could move.

“Ryan Shaw.”

The voice came from the small object, carrying the same strange certainty I had heard beneath the underground chamber. Zhao Lei immediately drew his weapon and pointed it at Han, while the injured guard stumbled away from the vehicle.

Han raised both hands. “I didn't know it could do that.”

“Then explain why you took it,” Zhao Lei demanded. “You hid something from us, led us into danger, and now this thing knows Ryan's name. Start talking.”

“I found it beside the broken seal. I thought it was evidence, so I picked it up.” Han swallowed, his eyes fixed on the object beneath his coat. “I intended to give it to Grandfather Zhao.”

Before Zhao Lei could respond, the object released a pulse of energy. The vehicle's doors flew open, and the portable monitoring device on the passenger seat flickered before going dark. A sharp vibration passed through the ground beneath us, making the injured guard cry out.

I stepped back, studying the object without touching it. Its surface was dark, with a faint symbol that appeared whenever the energy pulsed. I had seen part of that pattern beside the underground entrance, where the strange current had responded to my presence.

Whatever Han had taken, it was connected to the chamber.

“Put it on the ground,” I told him.

Han hesitated, looking toward Zhao Lei for permission. That small movement told me how frightened he was, but it did not prove whether he feared the object itself or the consequences of being caught with it.

“Do what he says,” Zhao Lei ordered.

Han carefully removed the object and placed it beside the vehicle. The moment it touched the ground, the glow weakened, although the energy around it remained strong enough to make the hairs on my arms rise.

Zhao Lei kept his weapon raised. “You will explain this to Grandfather Zhao yourself. If you've been hiding anything else, I suggest you tell us before we return.”

“I've told you everything I know,” Han replied. His voice trembled, but he did not look away. “I didn't create the seal, and I didn't know someone was beneath it.”

“You expect us to believe that?”

“I expect you to remember who was almost killed when the entrance opened. If I'd known what was down there, I wouldn't have taken this assignment.”

His answer sounded reasonable, yet I remembered how carefully he had handled the inspection papers and how he had concealed the object while the rest of us were trying to escape. I needed to know whether those actions came from fear, obedience, or a motive he had not admitted.

I moved closer, stopping before I reached the object. The primordial energy inside me stirred, responding to the faint pulse coming from its surface.

The sensation was different from what I had experienced at the chamber. Earlier, the energy beneath the property had seemed to recognize me. This time, the object felt as though it were searching for something inside my body.

I kept my breathing steady and focused on the exercise Master Shen had indirectly encouraged me to develop: sensing energy without drawing it inward. The glow weakened slightly when I controlled my own current, then brightened when my concentration slipped.

The object was responding to me, but I could not tell whether it wanted to connect with my power or simply detect its presence.

“Don't let it establish a deeper link,” the primordial entity warned.

I kept my expression unchanged. “What happens if it does?”

“You are not ready to find out.”

The answer irritated me. The entity had warned me about the chamber, reacted when the entrance opened, and then remained silent while the team struggled to escape. Now it expected me to obey without explaining the danger.

“You keep telling me what not to do,” I thought. “When will you tell me what I'm facing?”

“When you are capable of surviving the answer.”

I suppressed my anger before it could feed the energy inside me. I had learned enough to know that frustration made control more difficult, and I would not allow the entity to use my impatience against me.

Zhao Lei noticed me watching the object. “You recognize it, don't you?”

“No. But it reacts when I approach.”

“That's not the same as knowing nothing.”

“It's the truth, whether you like it or not.”

He lowered his weapon slightly, although suspicion remained in his eyes. “Then stay away from it. We have no idea what it can do.”

For once, I agreed with him. Whatever connection existed between the object and my power, I had no intention of testing it while we were stranded beside an unstable cultivation site.

A thin line of light appeared across the object's surface. The symbol became clearer, revealing a circle crossed by three uneven strokes. I memorized its shape, comparing it with the marking I had seen near the stairs, but the pattern disappeared before I could examine it further.

The voice returned through the object, quieter than before.

“The seal has been disturbed. Someone will come looking for what was hidden beneath the property.”

Zhao Lei stepped forward. “Who is coming?”

The object remained silent.

I crouched at a safe distance. “Who are you, and how do you know me?”

A faint vibration passed through the ground. For several seconds, I thought the voice would answer, but the glow faded until the object looked like an ordinary piece of dark metal.

The primordial entity offered no explanation. Its silence made me suspect that it recognized the symbol, although I could not prove whether it was hiding something or simply lacked the knowledge I needed.

Han picked up the object using a folded cloth and placed it inside a small metal case from the vehicle's emergency kit. He closed the lid and secured the case before stepping away.

“We should return to the estate,” he said. “The guard needs treatment, and Grandfather Zhao must hear about the disturbance before anyone else approaches the property.”

Zhao Lei nodded, but his attention remained on me. “We will report everything, including the way that thing reacted to Ryan. I'm not taking the blame for whatever happens next.”

I understood his position. He had nearly been injured, and the patriarch would demand answers. If I concealed too much, Zhao Lei might accuse me of deliberately interfering with the investigation. If I revealed my abilities, Grandfather Zhao would have even more reason to investigate the source of my survival.

“We report the damaged seal, the missing caretaker, and the energy disturbance,” I said. “We also report that the recovered object produced an unexplained reaction. We don't claim to understand something we haven't examined.”

Zhao Lei frowned. “You want us to leave out what happened when you approached it?”

“I want us to report facts instead of guesses. If you believe I caused the disturbance, tell Grandfather Zhao what you actually saw.”

He looked ready to argue, but the injured guard groaned as Han helped him into the vehicle. Zhao Lei finally put away his weapon and took the front passenger seat.

The journey back began in uneasy silence. Han sat beside the injured guard, keeping the metal case between his feet. I watched him from across the vehicle, wondering why the object had been taken from the entrance and whether he had known it would react to me.

I also thought about Crystal. She had access to parts of the Zhao family's records, and she had already discovered that the sacrifice ritual had been changed under Grandfather Zhao's authority. If the recovered object appeared in those records, she might recognize its significance.

But involving her without understanding the danger could put her at risk. I needed evidence before asking her to take another step against her family.

The primordial entity stirred again.

“Your curiosity will get you killed if you let others decide what you should know.”

“Then help me understand what I'm dealing with.”

“You must learn to control your power before you reach for every answer.”

I looked at my hand. The pain from redirecting the energy had faded, but my fingers still felt weak. I had prevented the team from being buried, yet the effort had left me vulnerable. Whatever waited beneath the property could be far beyond my current abilities.

I needed strength, but strength alone would not solve this problem. I needed to understand the risks, recognize the people manipulating events, and learn when an unanswered question was safer than a reckless attempt to solve it.

The vehicle slowed as the Zhao estate came into view. Before we reached the main gate, Han's phone rang. He answered, listened briefly, and then turned toward us with a troubled expression.

“Grandfather Zhao wants the entire team in the ancestral hall immediately,” he said. “He knows about the object.”

Zhao Lei straightened. “How could he know? We haven't sent the report.”

Han checked his phone again, but the message contained no explanation. I looked at the metal case near his feet and felt the primordial energy shift inside me.

Someone had informed the patriarch before we returned, or he had been expecting the object to be recovered.

When we entered the ancestral hall, Grandfather Zhao was already waiting. His gaze moved from the injured guard to Han, then settled on me with an intensity that made it clear he had heard more than a routine report.

“Put the object on the table,” he ordered. “Then tell me why it called Ryan by name.”

Han opened the case.

The object began glowing before he could lift it out.

Grandfather Zhao took an involuntary step backward, and for the first time since I had known him, the family patriarch looked genuinely afraid.