Chapter 82

The butler looked troubled. “Miss, I don’t have the key.”

The girl glanced at Ye Fengyun.

“Try them one by one,” Ye Fengyun said, tossing the ring of keys to the butler.

The butler took the keys and tested them one after another, but none of them fit.

Seeing this, the girl grew even more curious. What exactly was hidden inside, and why was even the key so carefully concealed?

Ye Fengyun shoved the butler aside and said coldly, “Stay out of the way.”

He then drove a fist into the doorknob, crushing it flat like a sheet of iron.

The girl stared in shock and covered her mouth.

If that blow had landed on a person, it would likely have shattered every bone in the body.

She looked at Ye Fengyun with a complicated expression, at this man she could no longer see through.

How much strength had he held back when he fought me before?

The thought crossed her mind. If Ye Fengyun had used that punch in their duel just now, she would probably already be dead.

Then Ye Fengyun struck again. The knob caved in and split open, and he forced the door apart.

The three of them entered the deepest room in the basement. What lay before them was a floor scattered with strange markings and papers, along with candles burned down to pools of wax.

There were many bookshelves around them, lined with all kinds of books, though all of them were in foreign languages.

The walls were covered with all manner of intricate symbols, dense and complicated to the eye.

On the floor was a huge circular magic formation, ringed with candles. At its center stood a chair, and to the chair was bound a man. He was gaunt and wan, hanging there as if he had one foot already in the grave. When he sensed someone entering, he only lifted his head weakly to look, then let it droop again with no strength left in him.

“Dad!” the girl cried, rushing forward at once.

“Master!”

The butler recognized him too. Though the man before them looked as if he were already on the brink of death, his features made it clear that he was truly Yun Lanzong.

The butler stepped forward and untied him, while the girl supported him as he rose.

Yun Lanzong looked at them weakly. He parted his lips, but could not summon the strength to speak.

“He’s far too weak. Help him outside first so he can recover a bit. I’ll write you a prescription in a moment,” Ye Fengyun said.

“All right.”

The girl nodded, then looked at Ye Fengyun with an expression full of hidden meaning.

She helped Yun Lanzong toward the exit. Yet Ye Fengyun showed no sign of leaving.

“Aren’t you coming?” she asked in surprise.

Ye Fengyun looked at the surrounding symbols and books. “I’ll leave later.”

The girl frowned, then told the butler to support Yun Lanzong and instructed him, “Take good care of my father. I’ll stay and watch him.”

“Yes.”

The butler gave Ye Fengyun a meaningful look, then helped Yun Lanzong out of the basement.

Ye Fengyun lifted his eyes slightly and looked around. He walked to a bookshelf and casually took down a book entirely written in a foreign language.

The girl came closer and asked, “Can you understand it?”

Ye Fengyun said nothing. He quietly flipped through a few pages.

The usually carefree Ye Fengyun had suddenly turned serious, and that made the girl feel rather uneasy.

“The Black Scripture.”

Ye Fengyun closed the book and returned it to its place.

He crouched down to study the symbols on the floor, his brow furrowing as his expression turned very grave.

“What is it?” the girl asked curiously.