Chapter 73: The Smile Gradually Becomes Perverted

Chapter 73: Chapter 73: The Smile Gradually Becomes Perverted

Su Han glanced at the map in his hand, then at his father’s retreating back, and instantly understood the meaning behind his words.

It was just... a lot to take in. Even for someone as unflappable as Su Han, it took him a long moment of stunned silence before he could sort through it all.

Jing Country was founded thirteen hundred years ago, and their ancestor had first risen to power in Lingzhou.

Now... with a partial map to the ruins in his hands, Su Han would have to be a real idiot not to put the pieces together.

Clutching the map tightly, Su Han strode after him.

"Father, that Secret Realm... did our ancestor go inside back then?

Did he loot all the good stuff from inside?"

Prince Jing stopped and gave Su Han a cool glance. "I don’t know if our ancestor ever went in, but I found this map in a secret compartment in Prince Jing’s Residence."

Su Han cut him off as he trailed off. "A secret compartment?"

"Mm."

Prince Jing nodded, his trademark smug smile reappearing on his face.

"This was before you were born. Your mother and I had just eloped to Lingzhou, and we were living in the building that would later become Prince Jing’s Residence.

One night, I heard a commotion outside in my sleep. I threw on some clothes, went out, and leaped onto the roof. In the distance, I saw several men in black climbing over the wall into Prince Jing’s Residence, clearly up to no good.

Who do you think your father is? They should count themselves lucky I don’t go looking to cause them trouble, yet these bastards had the nerve to show up at my door and make a mess?

I was pissed, so without a second thought, I ripped a tile off the roof and hurled it at them.

One tile per person. All seven of those black-clad intruders, and not a single one could withstand a tile thrown by me."

Getting to the exciting part of his story, Prince Jing habitually went off on a tangent.

Su Han: "...Father, we’re not talking about the intruders in black right now. We can save your glorious tales for later. For now, let’s talk about the map."

"Oh, the map."

Prince Jing glanced at the map in Su Han’s hands. "Right, didn’t I just say I knocked out seven intruders with roof tiles?

Well, just as I was about to jump down, tie them up, and interrogate them, I discovered this map—made of some unknown beast hide—hidden under one of the tiles I’d lifted.

Su Han: "..."

’So... that’s what you call a secret compartment?’

’Hidden under a roof tile? What on earth was our ancestor hiding, a map or the Exorcism Sword Manual?!’

After complaining internally, Su Han continued to ask, "So after you found the map back then, you never went into the Secret Realm?"

Prince Jing shot Su Han a look like he was an idiot. "How could we not have gone in? Your mother and I used the map to enter that Secret Realm through a secret passage back in the day. I’m even the one who drew part of the map on that beast hide of yours."

Su Han: "...You two weren’t afraid of running into any danger?"

"Danger? There wasn’t any danger. When we went in, the Secret Realm was completely safe. It felt as natural as coming home, and we could take whatever we wanted.

The only thing is that the Secret Realm is a bit too big, and it seems there’s a time limit for how long each person can stay. Your mother and I were in there for half a month, but we only managed to explore a portion of the areas recorded on the map. There were still vast regions we didn’t have time to check out."

Su Han: "..."

’So, after all this time, the legendary Secret Realm really is just a place that hands out free opportunities?’

’Anyone who gets in can just grab all the opportunities and Creations they want, taking as much as they can before the time limit is up?’

’This is the damn ruin left behind by the legendary Second Forbidden Existence?’

’This whole setup... doesn’t seem to match the vibe you’d expect from a legendary forbidden being!’

’Still... at least I can be sure of one thing: this Secret Realm is massive, and it hasn’t been completely plundered clean by my father and ancestors.’

’If I go in now, maybe I can at least get the leftovers.’

’Besides... if I’m not mistaken, my greatest opportunity in the Secret Realm—those trees that might form a Skill Tree—is probably untouched. No one would have been bored enough to mess with them.’

With some of his questions answered, he was about to get up and head to the Array Stone in the grove outside the city to rendezvous with the major powers, open the ruins, and enter together.

After taking just two steps, Su Han suddenly froze.

Wait a minute!

He whipped his head around to look at Prince Jing.

"Father, you said... how did you and Mother enter the Secret Realm back then?"

"Through a secret passage."

Prince Jing said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"A secret passage?"

Su Han was stunned. "The Secret Realm has a secret passage?"

Prince Jing nodded. "It didn’t originally. Judging from the map, it’s a raider’s tunnel that our ancestor dug back in the day."

Su Han: "..."

’Our ancestor... knew that trade?’

’The Hill-Seekers, the Mountain-Movers, the Ridge-Commanders, the Gold-Strikers... I wonder which of these legendary tomb-raiding schools our ancestor was a disciple of?’

After another silent jab, Su Han thought it over. If there was a secret passage, he wouldn’t have to join the bustling crowd from the major powers.

When it came to finding opportunities, it was much better to go alone than to enter with a large group where he could be targeted at any moment.

"Where’s the entrance to the secret passage?"

Prince Jing gave Su Han a suspicious look. "Don’t you have the map? The entrance is under the stone table, right next to that tree you burned down last time."

Su Han stared at the map in his hands for a good long while, then calmly folded it up.

"Alright, got it. See you, Father!"

He turned and headed straight back to his own courtyard.

Standing by the stone table, he sent out his Divine Thought but detected nothing out of the ordinary.

After a moment’s thought, Su Han moved the stone table aside and discovered a crack running down the middle of the stone slab underneath.

He pried the stone slab open along the crack, revealing an opening large enough for one person to pass through.

’Our ancestor’s tunneling skills... are pretty professional.’

Using his Divine Thought to levitate, he slowly descended into the opening. With one hand, Su Han supported the stone slab as he closed it again.

After descending for about thirty to forty meters, his feet touched solid ground again.

The entrance to the raider’s tunnel was not very wide, only allowing for one person to descend at a time.

But the raider’s tunnel grew wider the further down it went, and its walls were all reinforced with Magic.

Once he landed, Su Han saw that the passage before him was an astonishing three to four meters high and six to seven meters wide.

’So... this isn’t a raider’s tunnel, Ancestor. When you dug this passage, you weren’t planning on bringing a whole army to occupy the ruins, were you?’

After another internal jab, Su Han flew straight down the passage.

There was only one passage underground, so there was no fear of taking a wrong turn. After flying at a steady pace for about a quarter of an hour, Su Han saw a light up ahead.

He flew forward for another few dozen meters as the passage ahead grew narrower. After passing through another exit just wide enough for one person, the scene before him opened up dramatically.

Su Han found himself in a Secret Realm that resembled a paradise on earth, surrounded by high mountains, shaded by lush green trees, and filled with the sound of babbling brooks.

"So, this is the ruin left by the legendary Second Forbidden Existence?"

Sweeping his gaze over the green mountains and clear waters of the Secret Realm, Su Han took out the map Prince Jing had given him and unfolded it with a composed air.

As he unfolded the map, he recalled what Prince Jing had said when telling him the location of the secret passage, and he couldn’t help but let out a cold laugh.

"Heh, and he calls himself my father. After being father and son for sixteen years, you still don’t know that your son has a terrible sense of... di... rection..."

He spoke.

And spoke.

And his voice trailed off into nothing...

He stared at the map in his hands—a map where he didn’t recognize it, and it didn’t recognize him.

The smile gradually froze on Su Han’s face.

(Su Han: I heard there’s a miracle cure called "recommendation votes" that can fix being born with no sense of direction. You guys wouldn’t happen to have some, would you?)