THE CRIPPLED SON-IN-LAW UNLOCKED IMMORTAL CULTIVATION

Chapter 18: What Came Through the Western Passage

Grandfather Zhao moved before anyone else could react, ordering the guards to secure the western grounds while the bronze instrument continued vibrating on the table. Its needle pointed toward the passage, and the symbol beneath its glass glowed with the same strange light I had seen on the hidden panel.

“Seal every entrance to the western wing. Nobody leaves the estate until I give permission,” he commanded.

The guard who had delivered the warning bowed and hurried away. Grandfather Zhao turned toward me, his expression hardening as he noticed that I had not moved.

“Ryan, stay close to the others. Do not approach the passage unless I tell you.”

I lowered my head without answering. Obeying him openly would only invite more questions, but I had no intention of allowing him to decide what I should discover. Something was waiting beyond that entrance, and the energy coming from it was already stirring the presence inside me.

Keep your power hidden, the entity warned. Whatever emerges must not recognize what you carry.

I followed the patriarch and the guards through the western courtyard, keeping my breathing steady as the pressure increased. The closer we came to the entrance, the more difficult it became to distinguish the strange energy from the familiar force moving beneath my skin.

The concealed doorway stood open.

Its stone panels had separated without leaving a single crack in the surrounding wall, revealing a dark passage that seemed deeper than the space beneath the estate could possibly allow. A cold mist drifted across the ground, carrying a faint metallic smell. Several guards had formed a line before the entrance, but none dared step closer.

One of them was already kneeling, struggling to breathe.

Grandfather Zhao raised his hand and released his spiritual pressure. A pale current spread from his body, pushing the mist away from the guards and restoring some order to the courtyard. For a moment, I thought his strength might be enough to contain the disturbance.

Then the pressure from the passage struck back.

The patriarch's current broke apart, and he took a step backward. His expression changed before he could hide it. Whatever was inside possessed enough power to challenge him without even showing itself.

The weaker guards dropped to their knees. I remained standing, though I deliberately allowed my shoulders to sag as if the pressure were affecting me too. The energy did not feel like an ordinary attack. It moved through the courtyard in slow waves, searching the people gathered there.

It is looking for something, I thought.

It is searching for a familiar presence, the entity replied.

Before I could ask what it meant, a shadow appeared inside the passage.

The guards raised their weapons. Grandfather Zhao stepped forward, gathering energy around his hands, while I watched the darkness carefully. A figure emerged through the mist, walking without hesitation despite the pressure surrounding him.

He looked like a man who had spent years in a place untouched by the modern world. His robe was old and torn near the sleeves, and dust covered his shoulders. Long strands of dark hair fell around a face that appeared neither young nor old. There was no visible weapon on him, yet the guards seemed more frightened as he approached.

His eyes moved across the courtyard before settling on Grandfather Zhao.

“You have allowed this place to become a graveyard,” he said.

Grandfather Zhao's expression darkened. “Identify yourself. No one enters this estate through a sealed passage without answering to me.”

The stranger ignored the demand and examined the guards. His gaze finally reached me, lingering on my wrist beneath my sleeve. I felt the faint mark there grow warm, but I kept my hand still.

“Does your family still offer human sacrifices to maintain its cultivation?” he asked.

The question silenced the courtyard.

Grandfather Zhao's jaw tightened. “That matter has nothing to do with you.”

“So the practice continues.”

“You will answer my questions before making accusations.”

The stranger gave a quiet, humourless smile. “You still believe the seal belongs to your family. That explains why you have learned so little.”

I watched the patriarch carefully. His anger was obvious, but beneath it lay something more troubling. He recognized the symbol embroidered near the stranger's collar, a broken circle crossed by three narrow lines. His eyes had fixed on it for only a moment, yet the reaction was enough to tell me that the mark was not unfamiliar to him.

“Where did you get that symbol?” Grandfather Zhao demanded.

“It was on the robe of the man who carried the seal before you began changing the records.”

The stranger's attention returned to me. I felt the entity withdraw deeper into my consciousness, as though it wanted to make itself impossible to detect.

Do not draw upon me, it warned. Not even to defend yourself.

I understood the danger. If this stranger could recognize the entity, a single careless movement might reveal everything. I kept my energy compressed and allowed the courtyard's pressure to settle over me.

The man walked closer. Each step made the mist shift around his feet, but the ground remained untouched.

“You,” he said, looking directly at me. “What is your name?”

“Ryan Shaw.”

His eyes narrowed. “And what happened to your spiritual roots?”

I felt the guards turn toward me. Grandfather Zhao looked displeased that the stranger had taken an interest in me, but he did not interrupt.

“My roots were damaged from birth,” I replied. “There is nothing unusual about that.”

“Yet you are still standing.”

“I have been standing for most of my life.”

A few guards exchanged uncertain looks. The stranger studied my face, perhaps trying to decide whether I was mocking him. I gave him nothing else to examine.

Without warning, he lifted one hand.

A wave of spiritual pressure swept across the courtyard, stronger than the previous one. The guards were thrown backward, and one crashed against a stone pillar. Grandfather Zhao raised a barrier, but its surface trembled under the force.

The pressure reached me a moment later.

I redirected it through the alternative pathway, allowing the energy to pass around my body rather than collide with the entity. The movement was small enough to remain hidden, but it left a sharp ache beneath my ribs.

The stranger lowered his hand.

“You have an unusual way of enduring pressure,” he observed.

“I am not as weak as your question suggests.”

His gaze sharpened, and I realized that my answer might have drawn more attention than I intended. I lowered my eyes, pretending exhaustion, while the entity remained silent.

Grandfather Zhao moved between us. “You have entered my estate, threatened my guards, and questioned my family. Tell me why you came.”

The stranger looked at him with open contempt. “I came because the retired seal awakened. I expected to find the person responsible, but instead I found a family that has forgotten what it was guarding.”

“The seal was entrusted to the Zhao family.”

“No. Your ancestors were entrusted with keeping it closed. There is a difference.”

The patriarch's expression changed. “What lies beyond the passage?”

“Something your family was never meant to control.”

“Then why was the seal given to us?”

“To keep foolish men from opening a door they could not close.”

The stranger's words struck harder than an insult. Grandfather Zhao stepped forward, but the man did not retreat.

I watched the patriarch's hands. He was gathering energy again, yet he seemed uncertain whether an attack would accomplish anything. His authority had always depended on making everyone around him afraid. The stranger showed no sign of respecting it.

I decided to ask the question that mattered most.

“Was Jian Luo the last bearer of the seal?”

The stranger's attention shifted to me. “You have heard his name.”

“The archive clerk told me.”

“Then the clerk has survived longer than I expected.”

“What happened to Jian Luo?”

For the first time, the stranger's expression changed. His eyes carried something that looked almost like regret, although it disappeared before I could be certain.

“He made the same mistake many people make when they encounter power beyond their understanding. He believed he could command it.”

“Did he die?”

“No.”

The answer left me more confused than before.

The stranger looked toward the open passage. “Jian Luo became part of the reason that door had to remain closed. His choice prevented something worse from escaping, but it also left the seal connected to a power that should never have been disturbed.”

The entity reacted violently inside me. A sharp pulse passed through my chest, and I nearly lost control of my breathing.

Do not believe everything he tells you, it warned.

I kept my expression unchanged. “If Jian Luo is alive, where is he?”

“That is not a question you are ready to have answered.”

“You came here to warn us, yet you refuse to explain anything.”

“I have explained enough for someone who still believes he can control what is happening.”

His eyes settled on my wrist again. The mark beneath my sleeve burned, and I pressed my fingers against my palm to hide the reaction.

“Listen carefully, Ryan Shaw. Jian Luo believed he could control the power behind that door. The next time it opens, it may not send someone out. Something may come through looking for the person who awakened it.”

“Why are you warning me?”

The stranger turned away. “Because the last bearer failed, and I will not watch another fool make the same mistake.”

He walked toward the passage as the mist began gathering around his legs. Grandfather Zhao ordered the guards to stop him, but nobody moved. The stranger reached the entrance and paused beneath the carved symbol.

For a brief moment, the mark on his robe glowed.

The doorway began closing.

Grandfather Zhao reacted immediately. “Stop it! Keep that entrance open!”

Several guards rushed forward, releasing their energy against the stone panels. Their attacks struck the formation and scattered without leaving a mark. The patriarch joined them, but the passage continued closing as though the entire estate had become powerless before it.

The stranger disappeared into the darkness.

I felt a burning sensation beneath my wrist. When I pulled back my sleeve slightly, a second symbol had appeared beneath the first, its shape matching the broken circle on the stranger's robe.

The entity finally spoke, and its voice carried a tension I had never heard before.

That man was not supposed to be alive.

I stared at the closing entrance, trying to understand what it meant, but the entity offered no explanation. The stone panels met with a deep rumble, sealing the passage once more.

Then a voice sounded inside my mind.

It did not come from the entity, and it did not come from the courtyard.

“We have found the new host.”