Seven Cubs, Seven Fathers, Zero Days Off

Chapter 231: Chapter 229: The Secret of the City Lord Mansion

The Sea Witch continued, ”If I’m not mistaken, this piece of stone from the cliff has lit up with the Divine Prophecy. That means all the cliff faces in Sea Cliff Valley must now be illuminated with the same words. The cause of all this is the birth of the Princess. The prophecy has been revealed.”

”And coincidentally, Prince Cangyue brought the little princess back today. This verifies the prophecy; it is an undeniable fact.”

”The little princess’s condition is not a common illness. Instead, just as the prophecy shows, her soul has already begun its sacrifice.”

The Sea Witch’s last words struck Lan Cangyue like a sledgehammer.

He froze, staring blankly at Xi Xi on the bed.

The color drained from his face.

”Impossible. Xi Xi was just born. She’s so adorable... How could this be happening? Impossible. Absolutely impossible...”

He couldn’t accept it.

He descended into a panic, looking to the Sea Witch in utter desperation.

”Wizard, you’re lying to me, aren’t you? Just trying to scare me? This whole prophecy thing isn’t real. It’s just a story for children! How could there actually be a real prophecy?”

He stared at the Black Cliff Stone in the Wizard’s hand.

”This stone must be fake, too! You must have used some kind of Magic to carve the words on it, right...?”

Just then—

”Reporting, Your Majesty! It’s an emergency! A large patch of light has suddenly appeared on the Black Water Stone Wall at the base of Sea Cliff Nu! It looks like something is glowing in the black water—it’s incredibly bizarre!”

The soldier’s frantic report cut off Lan Cangyue’s words, leaving them stuck in his throat.

The Mermaid King and the Queen exchanged a look of shock.

’The Sea Witch was telling the truth!’

’Light appearing on the cliffs of Sea Cliff Nu... The Divine Prophecy must be appearing on the stone wall.’

They both turned to Lan Cangyue, his face ashen, their own eyes filled with heartache and an inability to accept the truth.

The royal family had finally been blessed with a princess after so long. It should have been a time of great celebration, but now, she had become the one chosen by the prophecy.

How could anyone bear it?

They had only just met their granddaughter...

They hadn’t even had a moment to cherish her...

While Lan Cangyue was at a complete loss, unsure how to react to this sudden turn of events...

「Meanwhile, in Li City.」

Shen Yue and Huang Ziyue were making their way through the streets, heading for the dense forest west of the city.

As they neared the western outskirts, they saw a group of men who looked like guards from the City Lord Mansion herding a group of prisoners.

The guards were driving them on roughly, punching and kicking them along the way.

The prisoners were all members of the Low level Beast Clan. They seemed terrified of being beaten, walking with their heads bowed, not daring to make a sound.

One of them collapsed, seemingly convulsing, but the guards just kicked him repeatedly until he was unconscious. Then, as if tossing out garbage, they carelessly threw him into a pond outside the city.

Upon seeing this, Shen Yue didn’t hesitate for a moment, telling Huang Ziyue to rescue the man.

After being fed half a drop of Vitality Water, the man, who had been on the verge of death, quickly opened his eyes.

Upon seeing Shen Yue and Huang Ziyue, the man immediately began to tremble and shake his head, looking terrified.

He stammered, letting out strange croaks, and his terrified expression startled Shen Yue.

Shen Yue looked at him.

”Relax. You’re not going to die. And you can speak now.”

The man’s eyes widened and he clutched his throat, only then realizing he could already make sounds.

He tried to open his mouth.

He had been a mute for more than a decade. Upon realizing he could speak, his eyes instantly reddened with tears.

Shen Yue saw that under his black outer robe, he was wearing the green uniform of a City Lord Mansion attendant. She had been right; the people being driven out were all servants from the City Lord Mansion.

Shen Yue spoke to the attendant on the ground, her voice devoid of any warmth.

”Why did the City Lord drive you out? Tell me what you know, and I can cure your illness. If you don’t talk, I can make you a mute again right now.”

”Or, I can just throw you back into the pond.”

Hearing this, the attendant on the ground flinched and shrank back.

He hugged his body in fear.

He was clearly still too afraid to speak, but he was also terrified that Shen Yue and Huang Ziyue would actually throw him back into the pond.

Seeing this, Shen Yue simply gave Huang Ziyue a meaningful look.

A short while later, after experiencing Huang Ziyue’s ”methods,” the attendant told them everything he knew.

”Yes, we’re all attendants from the City Lord Mansion. Be-because we saw and learned things we weren’t supposed to, the City Lord poisoned our throats to make us mute, so we could never speak again.”

”He also said that if we let anyone know the secrets of the City Lord Mansion, he wouldn’t let us leave Li City alive.”

Shen Yue and Huang Ziyue exchanged a look.

’This Hu Tu really does have secrets.’

Shen Yue said, ”Go on.”

The attendant hugged himself tightly.

”Y-yes... yesterday, two of the City Lord’s children died young again. A few distinguished guests also arrived at the mansion, and the City Lord was afraid they would find out about his affairs, so he drove all of us longtime servants out.”

”He even submerged us in water overnight and beat us before driving us out.”

As he spoke, the attendant rolled up his sleeve, revealing a body covered in wounds.

Shen Yue narrowed her eyes at the crisscrossing scars on the attendant’s body.

She got to the main point.

”Why did you use the word ’again’? What do you mean, ’died young again’?”

Hearing Shen Yue’s question, the attendant’s expression grew wary.

He glanced around nervously.

Only after confirming they were alone did he dare to speak.

”I-it’s because, before this, the City Lord had already lost five children...”

Shen Yue was shaken.

Even Huang Ziyue’s expression turned grim.

But then, the attendant lowered his voice and added, ”But I’ve heard that before our batch of attendants even joined the mansion, the City Lord had already lost two children to ’accidents.’ So all in all, including Young Master Le and Young Master Qi, that’s nine children in total.”

”Don’t you think that’s strange? Who wouldn’t find that strange?”

As she listened, Shen Yue felt a cold chill creep up from the soles of her feet.

’Nine children?’

’Nine of them died young?’

’It would be one thing if they had all died from accidents or illness. But what if they hadn’t?’

’What kind of monster would do that?’

She never imagined she would uncover such a dark secret about the City Lord Mansion.

At this point, the attendant seemed to recall something else and quickly added, ”Oh, right! I also discovered something else that was really strange. One time, I was on duty with a few other attendants in front of the Lady’s chambers. That night, we saw three City Lords, all wearing identical clothes, enter her room one after the other.”

”But the few of us on duty never saw any of the earlier ones come back out...”

After Shen Yue dismissed the men, she took a closer look at the path ahead.

She then realized the dense forest was so deep that she couldn’t see its end.

From a distance, she could see the miasma rising from the mountain.

But after a closer look, he realized it wasn’t that simple. From the wisp of an aura that had lured him away, to the person who attacked Shen Yue from the shadows, and then the severed tail...