C34 The Secret Chamber

The thatched hut in the bamboo forest was decorated with red ornaments, full of wedding joy. Ethan never thought his master’s cinnabar could be used like this—painting the walls with red turned the whole room warm and festive. Li Fei wore a red Taoist robe, and so did Ethan. He never realized his master had loved red so much. A Taoist priest in bright red? His master had been truly eccentric, but in a weirdly cool way.

“Xiao Yuan, come help me move the bed. This stone bed doesn’t feel right here,” Li Fei said. She refused to settle for anything less than perfect on her wedding day.

“Got it. Everything here is made of bamboo—why is the bed stone? Even the floor is stone. My master was so strange.” Ethan walked over, ready to lift.

But no matter how hard he pushed or pulled, the stone bed didn’t move an inch. It was rooted to the ground like it was part of the mountain.

“Damn thing! Why won’t it budge?!” Ethan cursed. He kicked the dragon’s eye carved on the bedhead in frustration. The stone was harder than steel, and he hopped back in pain.

“Calm down, little weirdo. We have all the time in the world. We’re here to live in peace, remember?” Li Fei smiled. Her feelings for him were a mix of lover, sister, and guardian.

“I just want to marry you already!” Ethan laughed. “Call me little weirdo, and I’ll call you old monster. That makes us a perfect couple.”

Li Fei was about to reply when she froze.

“Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Ethan listened. A low, rumbling sound came from underground.

Before they could react, the stone bed flipped upside down. A dark hole opened beneath them.

They both fell screaming into the blackness. The bed slammed shut above them, sealing the chamber.

They landed hard on the stone floor. Complete darkness surrounded them.

“Old monster! You okay? Where are we?” Ethan whispered. He’d never known his master had hidden a secret chamber under the bed. Now he understood why his master had forbidden him from touching it.

Once, he’d thought his master was crazy. Now Ethan realized the old Taoist had been the wisest man he’d ever known. Humans were cruel to those who saw the truth—they called them mad and pushed them aside.

“I don’t know! Grandfather never let me in his room either! This must be where he hid all his secrets!” Li Fei’s voice trembled. For all her power, she was still a woman afraid of the dark.

“I’ve got this.” Ethan focused his energy. A small flame appeared on his fingertip—red, yellow, and blue.

Li Fei gasped. “Three Pure Fires! That’s impossible! Only the purest of heart can summon that! And you need to be a virgin! How?!”

Her eyes widened in the dark.

“You can do fire too,” Ethan shrugged. He had no idea how powerful he was.

“Not like this! I was 150 before I could make flame—and mine only has two colors. Now that I’m no longer the Saintess… I only have red.”

“Colors matter?” Ethan asked, feeling completely ignorant in front of his 200-year-old fiancée.

“Of course! Red is heart fire, yellow is wisdom fire, blue is spirit fire. Together, they’re the strongest flame under heaven. Legends say only immortals could wield it. It can burn water itself and melt any substance.

One in ten thousand can master heart fire. One in a million can master two. You have all three… and you’re not even a virgin! That’s why you’re my little weirdo.”

Ethan laughed loudly. “So I’m an immortal! Too bad—I’ll just use it to light fires and cook for you. Eco-friendly, right?”

Li Fei rolled her eyes. “You waste divine power on dinner! Let’s look for treasure!”

Ethan’s flame lit up the huge underground chamber. At the center stood a table with a covered lamp.

He lifted the cover.

Blazing white light flooded the room. It was no lamp—it was a night pearl the size of a fist, glowing like a tiny sun.

“Holy hell! The old man was rich! He never fed me well as a kid!” Ethan muttered. The pearl alone was worth a fortune.

Li Fei was less impressed. “Look at all those boxes. Maybe there are books about the Dragon Pearl.”

They pried open the boxes. Gold ingots, ancient jades, priceless antiques—enough wealth to rival the world’s richest men. Gold was the cheapest thing here.

Behind the piles of treasure, they found another hidden door.

Inside was an armory. Every kind of weapon imaginable, all ancient divine blades, shining sharply. Ethan’s head spun—this collection could fund a museum.

Another hidden door.

This time, it was a study.

Books and bamboo scrolls covered the shelves, written in ancient scripts. Most were unrecognizable to Ethan—except one.

He pulled it out. Quotations from Chairman Mao.

Even his crazy master had kept this as a treasure.

“Here! Notes on the Dragon Pearl! In Grandfather’s handwriting!” Li Fei exclaimed, her voice shaking with excitement.

Ethan leaned in, but the characters were traditional and complicated. He couldn’t read them.

“Translate. I can’t understand these old characters.”

Li Fei laughed. “Our mighty mayor can’t read ancient Chinese? Good thing your assistant is here.”

“Just read it!” Ethan snapped, embarrassed.

Li Fei’s smile faded. She began to translate, her voice low and serious.

“The Dragon Pearl is not of this world.”

Ethan frowned. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

“The Earth has cycles—four seasons of civilization: winter, spring, summer, autumn.”

“We still have those,” Ethan said.

“Not the seasons of weather. The seasons of life.

Hundreds of billions of years pass between each great civilization.

Winter: all is chaos, no life at all.

Spring: single-cell life appears.

Summer: the world is ruled by powerful beasts with their own civilization and mysterious powers. They ruled the Earth.”

Ethan stared. “Beasts had civilization? That’s crazy.”

“Humans are animals too. Why can’t beasts have civilization?” Li Fei said quietly.

Ethan fell silent. She was right. Humans were just arrogant beasts.

“Humans took the world from the beasts. But humans are shortening the cycle. We are in the autumn of civilization—rich and powerful, but destroying ourselves. Soon, we will fall into winter again. The cycle repeats.”

“So the Dragon Pearl…”

“It belonged to the beast civilization. It holds infinite energy and power humans cannot understand. For generations, geniuses studied it, but none unlocked its secret.

Once, twelve great clans ruled the world together. They treasured the Pearl as the symbol of ultimate power. Each clan leader poured their life energy into the Pearl before dying.

Many died from its unstable power. Nearly 200 leaders died from its energy waves. It was called the Holy Pearl… and the Death Pearl.

When the Dragon Clan conquered the world, they renamed it the Dragon Pearl.”

Li Fei finished, her face pale with worry.

Ethan’s heart sank.

“So I’m carrying a time bomb filled with the energy of a dozen dead clans. My chances of surviving are tiny.”

Knowing the truth only made the fear worse. Counting down to death was torture.

Li Fei took his hand. “But you’re already getting better! You summoned the Three Pure Fires! Nothing is impossible for you.”

Ethan forced a smile. “Enough of this. Let’s go back up and get married. I don’t care when I die. As long as I’m with you, I’m happy.”

He grabbed a set of clean clothes from the chamber—old, but usable.

“Come on. My bride awaits.”

Li Fei smiled through her worry.

Whatever secrets lay below, their life together was starting now.