The words had barely fallen when Yan Jiaojiao fainted, hitting the ground with a muffled thud.
Yan Ruliu opened her eyes at almost the same moment, a look of ecstatic joy flashing in her gaze. She turned to look at Yan Jiaojiao on the ground. "Success!"
Chen Wenyu also rose and kicked Yan Jiaojiao, confirming she was indeed unconscious. She then glared fiercely at Yan Jiaojiao and said, "If you had been sensible and agreed to take the exam for Liu'er, I would have given you some poison and spared your life. But you just had to..."
Chen Wenyu let out a few cold laughs, her face showing smug satisfaction.
She had been scheming in this small courtyard for most of her life. She couldn't defeat Yan Jiaojiao openly, so why would she be unable to play dirty? Chen Wenyu had a hundred ways to make Yan Jiaojiao disappear!
With this thought, Chen Wenyu vented her anger by stomping on Yan Jiaojiao's waist, her toes grinding back and forth. "You foolish, dull pig of a little slut, just like your short-lived mother!"
Yan Ruliu watched this scene with great satisfaction.
If not for her injuries making her unable to move, Yan Ruliu would have loved to pounce and tear Yan Jiaojiao to pieces, completely forgetting that she was the one who had first committed more egregious acts of humiliation against Yan Jiaojiao, leading to her current predicament.
After venting her anger, Chen Wenyu called out to the guards outside, "Drag her to the dark room."
Mama Chen, leading two guards, pushed the door open. The two guards hesitated when they saw Yan Jiaojiao lying on the ground, not daring to touch her.
Chen Wenyu slapped one of them. "Hurry up!"
The guards no longer dared to delay. The two of them quickly lifted Yan Jiaojiao by her limbs and carried her out. Mama Chen led the way, and the three of them took several turns along the garden path, stopping in front of a hidden artificial rockery.
Mama Chen cautiously looked around to ensure no one else was present. Then, she pressed a spot on the rockery and twisted a nearby stone. A door suddenly opened in the rockery, leading downwards into darkness.
"Quick!"
Mama Chen urged, and the guards quickly entered with Yan Jiaojiao. The door of the rockery closed behind them, leaving no trace.
Mama Chen walked deeper inside, repeatedly tapping and twisting the walls.
They walked for a full quarter of an hour before reaching the innermost prison cell. With a nod from Mama Chen, the guards stepped forward, shackled Yan Jiaojiao, and then retreated after closing the cell door.
Mama Chen stood behind them and gestured for them to leave. The two guards hurried out.
However, as soon as the guards stepped into the passage, countless arrows shot towards them. Pitifully, before they could react, they were riddled with arrows, falling lifelessly.
It turned out that Mama Chen had been constantly moving when she came in earlier, disarming the hidden mechanisms in the passage. Now that her purpose was served, she eliminated the guards to prevent them from leaking secrets.
Mama Chen's expression remained unchanged. She took out a small porcelain bottle from her embrace, walked forward, and poured some liquid onto the two bodies. Smoke billowed from their corpses, accompanied by a pungent smell as they slowly corroded, leaving behind only two puddles of foul-smelling blood!
Mama Chen nodded with satisfaction, put the small porcelain bottle back into her embrace, and stepped into the passage, her figure gradually disappearing into the darkness.
Silence returned to the prison cell, with only the lingering pungent smell bearing witness to the brutal events that had just transpired.
Yan Jiaojiao, lying on the floor, suddenly opened her eyes and sat up with a roll.
"You're still a long way from knocking me out."
Saying this with disdain, Yan Jiaojiao pulled a silver hairpin from her hair and inserted it into the lock of the handcuffs, opening them in a few swift movements.
Having lived for three thousand years, these rudimentary locks were nothing more than toys.
Yan Jiaojiao easily regained her freedom and swaggered out of the prison cell.
That's right, Yan Jiaojiao had not fainted at all!
From the moment Yan Jiaojiao stood in front of Yan Ruliu's door, she had immediately detected the scent of the knockout gas.
If she were still a mortal without a core, she would have succumbed upon entering. However, having cultivated to the third stage of the Red level, even if it was a low grade, it was enough for her to hold her breath for over half an hour.
Therefore, Yan Jiaojiao was merely playing along, pretending to fall into Chen Wenyu's trap.
Yan Jiaojiao took out a Memory Pearl from her embrace, which recorded everything that had just happened. She tossed the pearl up and caught it, standing up and looking around.
"Let's see how many secrets this pair of scheming mother and daughter actually have!"
This was a rectangular dark room with a passage in the middle and several rooms and cells on either side.
The stone walls were thick and hard, so even if someone inside screamed their lungs out, no one outside would hear a sound.
Looking at the large, well-constructed dark room, Yan Jiaojiao couldn't help but marvel.
Chen Wenyu truly had a dominant influence in the Yan family.
After all, even with Yan Zhengfeng often away on business, building such a dark room without being detected would require immense privilege and substantial financial resources.
It was no longer surprising that the first wife, Song Zhi, had died at her hands.
Having figured out the layout, Yan Jiaojiao naturally intended to explore.
With the tragic fate of the guards as a cautionary tale, Yan Jiaojiao moved with extreme caution, fearing she might accidentally trigger a mechanism.
However, despite her precautions, Yan Jiaojiao still stepped on a loose stone, instantly activating a mechanism!
From Yan Jiaojiao's center, the walls within a five-meter radius on both sides began to press inwards. If this continued, Yan Jiaojiao would be crushed into a meat paste!
Yan Jiaojiao tried to use her teleportation skill to escape, but just as she was about to break through the five-meter range, she collided with a transparent barrier.
It was a trap combining mechanical mechanisms and magical arts!
"Chen Wenyu managed to hire such a master?" Yan Jiaojiao fell to the ground, unable to suppress her question.
The walls had already narrowed to just two people wide, and they were about to crush Yan Jiaojiao.
Yan Jiaojiao gritted her teeth, reached into her embrace, and threw out a talisman. Instantly, a rock emerged from the ground, holding back the walls that continued to push inward.
Yan Jiaojiao breathed a sigh of relief and felt her embrace for talismans.
There were less than ten talismans left from the original owner. In the future, she would have to use them sparingly unless absolutely necessary.
There was no time for further lamentation, as the walls began to creak and groan under the pressure of the rock.
The rock summoned by the talisman would not hold for long. The walls were still shrinking, and it was only a matter of time before the rock was crushed.
Yan Jiaojiao's gaze fell upon the front, and with a wave of her hand, the barrier from before took shape.
As expected, the barrier did not seal the passage flatly. Instead, it formed a complete semicircle, encompassing the door at the front of the passage.
What was inside that required Chen Wenyu to go to such great lengths to erect a barrier?
Yan Jiaojiao held her breath and tried to gather spiritual energy in her hand to form a spiritual sword. It should have been easy to cleave the barrier.
However, after much effort, Yan Jiaojiao swung out a small dagger with a "bang"...