Chapter 30 - Twenty-Eight: Beneath the Lin Household

Chapter 30: Chapter Twenty-Eight: Beneath the Lin Household

Lin Yue stared at the glowing marker.

It was impossible.

The location couldn’t be wrong.

She checked it again.

Then again.

Then a third time.

The golden marker remained exactly where it was.

Beneath the Lin household.

Her childhood home.

Her family’s ancestral residence.

Madam Zhao’s courtyard.

Her father’s study.

The old storeroom.

The kitchen.

The ancestral hall.

Everything she knew.

Lin Yue swallowed.

"No."

Lumi looked at her.

"No."

Lumi tilted her head.

Lin Yue pointed at the map.

"This is impossible."

Lumi nodded.

Lin Yue stared at her.

"You agree?"

Lumi shook her head.

"Then why did you nod?"

Lumi shrugged.

Lin Yue sighed.

"Wonderful. Even the magical Guardian has stopped making sense."

Returning Home

Lin Yue left the Golden Space immediately.

She returned to her room just before dawn.

She sat on the edge of the bed for several minutes.

She couldn’t sleep.

Her mind kept returning to the same sentence.

Previous Keeper identified.

Status: missing.

Location found.

Beneath the Lin household.

She thought about her family.

Her father.

Her stepmother, Madam Zhao.

Her grandparents.

The servants.

The old courtyard.

The ancestral hall.

Nothing seemed unusual.

Except—

the old well.

She suddenly remembered it.

The well had always been there.

Older than the current house.

Older than her father’s generation.

Perhaps even older than the family records.

Her grandmother had once told her never to play near it.

At the time, Lin Yue had assumed it was simply because the well was dangerous.

Now she wasn’t so sure.

Breakfast

Lin Yue arrived at breakfast looking distracted.

Her stepmother, Madam Zhao, immediately noticed.

"You didn’t sleep."

Lin Yue sat down.

"I slept."

Her father looked at her.

"For how long?"

She hesitated.

"Enough."

Shen Rui glanced at her.

"That’s not an answer."

Lin Yue glared at him.

He calmly continued eating.

Madam Zhao smiled.

"You two have become very comfortable arguing."

Lin Yue nearly choked on her tea.

Shen Rui hid a smile.

Her father looked amused.

"Good."

Lin Yue stared at him.

"What’s good?"

"You finally have someone willing to argue with you."

"Father!"

Everyone laughed.

For a few minutes, the mysterious underground chamber disappeared from her mind.

Then Madam Zhao casually said:

"By the way, your grandmother wants you to clean the old storeroom."

Lin Yue froze.

"The old storeroom?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because apparently you’ve turned the farm into a warehouse."

Her father nodded.

"That is accurate."

Lin Yue sighed.

"I’ll do it."

Her stepmother, Madam Zhao, smiled.

"Good."

Lin Yue lowered her eyes.

The old storeroom.

The old well.

The ancestral courtyard.

Perhaps the clues were closer than she thought.

The Storeroom

After breakfast, Lin Yue entered the household’s oldest section.

Dust covered the shelves.

Old farming tools leaned against the wall.

Broken baskets.

Ceramic jars.

Wooden boxes.

Old account books.

Dried herbs.

Family records.

Lin Yue began sorting everything.

Keep.

Repair.

Sell.

Recycle.

Discard.

Her grandmother appeared in the doorway.

"You’ve always liked organizing things."

Lin Yue smiled.

"Things make more sense when they’re organized."

Her grandmother chuckled.

"You weren’t like this as a child."

"What was I like?"

"Curious."

Lin Yue paused.

"Curious?"

"You were always asking questions."

Her grandmother smiled.

"Especially about your mother."

Lin Yue’s hands stopped moving.

"My mother?"

Her grandmother nodded.

"You were very attached to her."

Lin Yue slowly turned.

"What was she like?"

Her grandmother’s smile faded slightly.

"Why are you asking?"

Lin Yue hesitated.

"I don’t remember much."

Her grandmother looked at her for a long moment.

Then sighed.

"Your mother was a strange woman."

Lin Yue smiled faintly.

"That sounds familiar."

Her grandmother laughed.

"Yes."

Then her expression became thoughtful.

"She was clever."

"How clever?"

"Too clever for her own good."

Lin Yue’s heart began beating faster.

A Mother’s Habits

Her grandmother continued.

"She studied plants."

Lin Yue looked up.

"She did?"

"Yes."

"She studied agriculture?"

"Among other things."

"What else?"

Her grandmother frowned.

"I don’t remember everything."

She walked to an old cabinet.

"She kept strange notebooks."

Lin Yue immediately followed.

"Where are they?"

"Gone."

"Gone?"

"After she disappeared."

Lin Yue’s fingers tightened.

"When did she disappear?"

Her grandmother looked toward the window.

"Many years ago."

"You never told me she disappeared."

"You were too young."

Lin Yue stared at her.

"Everyone told me she died."

Her grandmother became silent.

Then whispered:

"That is what we were told."

The First Lie

Lin Yue felt cold.

"What do you mean?"

Her grandmother shook her head.

"I don’t know enough."

"But you know something."

Her grandmother sighed.

"Your mother left one night."

"Why?"

"She said she had to protect something."

Lin Yue’s heart raced.

"What?"

"I don’t know."

"Where did she go?"

"I don’t know."

"Did she ever return?"

Her grandmother didn’t answer.

That was an answer enough.

Lin Yue slowly sat down.

The Golden Space.

The Worldseed.

The Guardians.

The Keeper’s Manual.

Her mother.

Everything was beginning to connect.

But not enough.

Not yet.

The Old Account Book

While searching the shelves, Lin Yue noticed something strange.

One account book was newer than the others.

She opened it.

Most pages contained ordinary household records.

Rice purchases.

Seed purchases.

Tool repairs.

Wages.

Taxes.

Then she reached the final pages.

The writing changed.

The entries became strange.

Moon Seed — Received. Silver Root — Stored.Guardian Bloom — Protected.Worldseed — Hidden.

Lin Yue’s breath caught.

She turned the page.

Nothing.

Another.

Nothing.

Then, at the very back, a single sentence appeared.

Never allow the Red Root to find the entrance beneath the well.

Lin Yue stared.

The book fell from her hands.

Shen Rui Arrives

She didn’t hear Shen Rui enter.

"What happened?"

Lin Yue turned.

He saw the book on the floor.

His expression changed.

"What is that?"

She handed it to him.

He read the final entry.

Silence.

Then:

"This isn’t ordinary household accounting."

"No."

"Who wrote it?"

"I don’t know."

He examined the handwriting.

Lin Yue noticed his expression.

"You recognize it?"

"No."

"Then why do you look worried?"

"Because I’ve seen similar markings."

"Where?"

"In the underground chamber."

Lin Yue stared at him.

"The Red Root?"

He nodded.

"The same symbol."

The Family Secret

They returned to the old well.

The stone structure looked completely ordinary.

Moss.

Cracks.

Old rope.

A wooden cover.

Lin Yue examined every stone.

Nothing.

She checked the surrounding soil.

Nothing.

She measured the distance from the well to the house.

Then the ancestral hall.

Then the old tree.

Shen Rui watched.

"What are you doing?"

"Triangulating."

"For what?"

"A hidden structure."

She marked three points.

The well.

The ancestral hall.

The old tree.

A perfect triangle.

At the center—

the old storeroom.

Lin Yue frowned.

"The entrance isn’t under the well."

Shen Rui looked surprised.

"Then where?"

She pointed toward the ground beneath the storeroom.

"Here."

The Hidden Floor

They returned to the storeroom.

Lin Yue removed several old boxes.

Then a wooden cabinet.

Then a pile of farming tools.

Underneath was an old stone floor.

She examined it.

One stone was slightly different.

She pressed it.

Nothing happened.

She tried again.

Nothing.

Shen Rui crouched beside her.

"Perhaps it requires magic."

Lin Yue shook her head.

"No."

"Why?"

"Ancient engineering tends to rely on mechanical principles."

She examined the stone edges.

"There."

A tiny gap.

She inserted a thin metal tool.

Pressed.

Twisted.

Click.

The stone moved.

Shen Rui stared.

Lin Yue smiled.

"Simple pressure mechanism."

The floor opened.

A staircase descended.

The Family’s Hidden Passage

The staircase was ancient.

Much older than the house.

The walls were made from smooth stone.

No dust.

No cobwebs.

Lin Yue frowned.

"Someone has been here recently."

Shen Rui touched the wall.

"You’re right."

There were footprints.

Fresh.

Very faint.

They continued downward.

Lumi appeared behind them.

Lin Yue looked at her.

"You knew."

Lumi lowered her ears.

"You knew there was something here."

Lumi nodded.

Lin Yue crossed her arms.

"You could have told me."

Lumi looked away.

"Don’t pretend you can’t understand me."

Lumi suddenly became fascinated with the ceiling.

Shen Rui laughed.

"She definitely understands."

The First Chamber

The staircase ended at a circular chamber.

A stone table stood in the center.

On it were several objects.

A dried golden flower.

A metal key.

Three seed containers.

And a small wooden box.

Lin Yue approached.

She opened the first seed container.

Inside were tiny silver seeds.

The Golden Space reacted immediately.

[ANCIENT SEED DETECTED.]

Lin Yue smiled.

"What kind?"

[FOREST RESTORATION SPECIES.]

She opened the second.

[WATER PURIFICATION SPECIES.]

The third:

[SOIL REGENERATION SPECIES.]

Lin Yue stared.

Her mother had been preparing ecological restoration resources.

Long before Lin Yue was born.

The Wooden Box

She opened the wooden box.

Inside was a letter.

The paper was old.

But perfectly preserved.

Lin Yue unfolded it.

The handwriting was familiar.

She had seen it in childhood.

Her mother’s handwriting.

Her hands began trembling.

She read.

To my daughter,

If you have found this place, then the Golden Space has chosen you.

I am sorry.

I wanted to tell you everything.

But I could not.

There are people searching for the Worldseed.

They believe the Keeper controls it.

They are wrong.

The Keeper serves it.

Remember this.

Never build a kingdom that requires you to sit on the throne.

Build a home where everyone can stand without you.

If the Guardians awaken, protect them.

If the Red Root comes, do not fight it with greater power.

Break its monopoly.

And if you ever wonder why I left—

I left because someone had to make sure they followed me instead of you.

Lin Yue stopped reading.

Tears filled her eyes.

Shen Rui quietly stepped beside her.

She continued.

The final sentence was barely visible.

I have not abandoned you.

I am waiting for you to become strong enough to find me.

Lin Yue lowered the letter.

Her voice trembled.

"She was alive."

The Second Door

Before they could say anything else—

the chamber shook.

A deep sound echoed beneath the floor.

Thump.

The Golden Space reacted.

Lumi’s mark glowed.

A wall opened.

Behind it was another passage.

This one was different.

The walls were covered in golden roots.

Lin Yue approached.

A familiar sensation spread through her.

The Golden Space was calling.

She stepped inside.

Shen Rui followed.

The passage ended at a door.

A golden symbol appeared.

Lin Yue touched it.

The door opened.

And beyond it—

was not another chamber.

It was a forest.

A real forest.

Impossible.

It stretched beyond sight.

Ancient trees.

Golden leaves.

Silver streams.

Strange flowers.

Animals moving silently through the undergrowth.

Lin Yue stared.

"This isn’t underground."

Shen Rui looked around.

"No."

"It can’t be."

Then Lumi stepped through.

The moment she entered—

every tree bowed.

Lin Yue’s eyes widened.

The forest recognized her.

Not as its owner.

Not as its ruler.

As its Keeper.

The Mother’s Trail

A golden path appeared between the trees.

Lin Yue followed it.

One step.

Then another.

At the end of the path stood a small wooden cottage.

Smoke rose from the chimney.

Lin Yue stopped.

Someone was inside.

A shadow moved behind the window.

She couldn’t breathe.

Shen Rui whispered:

"Lin Yue..."

The door opened.

An elderly woman stood there.

Her hair was silver.

Her face was older.

But Lin Yue knew those eyes.

She had seen them in her dreams.

The woman stared at her.

Tears immediately filled her eyes.

"My little Yue..."

Lin Yue couldn’t move.

The woman whispered:

"You finally found me."

Lin Yue’s lips trembled.

"Mother?"

The woman smiled.

"Yes."

Then—

the forest suddenly turned red.

Every Guardian cried out.

The cottage shook.

A mechanical alarm echoed through the trees.

[RED ROOT BREACH DETECTED.]

The woman looked toward the horizon.

Her expression changed.

"They found us."

Lin Yue grabbed her mother’s hand.

"Then we run."

Her mother shook her head.

"No."

She looked at Lin Yue.

"We don’t run anymore."

Behind them, the golden forest began awakening.

Hundreds of Guardian lights appeared among the trees.

Her mother smiled.

"Now we build."

And far beyond the forest—

the Red Root army began marching toward them.