News from Jiangnan: Ethan Xiao has finally spoken!
It wasn’t torture or cozying up to make connections—instead, they used a woman, and without Ethan even knowing, he spoke on his own.
Here, we have to give credit to Felix Fuller. Though he couldn’t dig up all of Jason Riverreach’s secrets, he quickly won Jason’s initial trust.
Felix learned a lot of useful information from Jason, including about Su Rou, whom Jason had kept locked up for years.
Su Rou’s body was covered in burns—neither human nor ghost, practically useless except for her eyes, those hypnotic eyes that could capture souls.
Once Felix discovered Su Rou’s situation, he saw her potential and sent her to Jiangnan, hoping the doctors at the Jiangnan Medical Academy could treat her.
Even if Su Rou couldn’t be fully healed, at least her appearance might improve. Otherwise, her rotting body would terrify people instead of mesmerizing them.
After the Valley Master took charge of Su Rou’s treatment, he devoted himself for a while. Her burnt, decayed muscles couldn’t truly recover, but she looked less horrific than before. Once she regained her inner strength and her eyes’ hypnotic power, the Valley Master immediately used her on Ethan Xiao.
Su Rou had survived extreme highs and lows, making her mentally tougher and more skilled in soul-capturing. With the Valley Master’s drugs clouding Ethan’s mind, Su Rou easily hypnotized him and got the answers she wanted—without Ethan ever realizing it.
“Hmph... Because of your mess, I have to keep my junior brother locked in the valley for life. If I don’t squeeze something out of you, I won’t be satisfied.” The Valley Master’s efforts were driven entirely by personal grudge.
Ninth Royal Uncle’s prediction was spot on. After learning the truth about his junior brother’s feud with Xiao Sword Manor, the Valley Master gave Ethan Xiao two choices: either his junior brother paid with his life and Ethan killed him, or the junior would be locked in the valley depths, forced to plant, harvest, and refine herbs every day to atone for his crimes.
After careful thought, Ethan chose the second option and volunteered to supervise the junior’s daily labor.
Truth is, Ethan had nothing left to live for—his family, career, and loved ones were all gone, and his revenge was complete. With no purpose left, he stayed to watch the junior suffer day after day.
Ethan’s decision to remain gave the Valley Master the chance to exploit him. Using Su Rou, the Valley Master drew out secrets from Ethan about the Heaven-Son Sword—things Ethan had nearly forgotten himself.
The Heaven-Son Sword! A regalia blade of the Lan imperial house, so secret that almost no one in the world knows it exists. Ethan doesn’t know what it looks like or what it does, and as for its current whereabouts, he’s clueless. His father died before he could tell Ethan about the sword, so its secrets were lost forever.
All Ethan knows is that Xiao Sword Manor’s famed Myriad Blades Grove was originally built to guard the Heaven-Son Sword. But after the manor was destroyed by fire, the grove vanished too, and no one knows where the sword went.
Su Rou also learned that Ethan hadn’t been hiding on purpose all these years—he’d actually fallen into a strange, isolated cliff.
The place was bizarre, as if a mountain had split open with just a narrow crack—only wide enough for one person to pass. That’s where Ethan spent those missing years.
Inside were countless broken swords and shattered iron. Ethan once suspected this was the vanished Myriad Blades Grove, but having no will to rebuild, he kept the secret buried and never intended to reveal it.
“No doubt about it—Jason Lan and that mysterious aunt are looking for the Heaven-Son Sword. And the place Ethan’s been hiding all these years is the Myriad Blades Grove. That sword is almost certainly still there,” Serena Feng said.
Nolan Dongling nodded slightly and asked, “What do they want the Heaven-Son Sword for? What’s its use?” That was what really concerned him. He knew Former Dynasty affairs inside out, but he’d never even heard of this Heaven-Son Sword.
“No matter what the Heaven-Son Sword does, all we need to know is that it must not fall into Jason Lan’s hands. We don’t know much about the Former Dynasty, but the fact that Jason’s been searching for it in secret all these years proves it’s no ordinary sword. Didn’t you say there were suspicious points about Xiao Sword Manor back then? Maybe Jason’s aunt went there for the sword and just didn’t find it.” The sword’s purpose would only be clear once they got it.
“Jason Lan doesn’t have long to live. Even if he gets the Heaven-Son Sword, it’ll be useless to him.” News from Liancastle said the drug Serena gave Jason was taking effect—doctors there would soon notice.
“Even if Jason dies, someone else will keep searching. With the Black Riders in Chu City, victory is certain. Our plans are set—why not let Dorian command this campaign on his own?” Serena was fascinated by the Heaven-Son Sword; to her, it was like a missing puzzle piece that could help uncover more of the Former Dynasty’s secrets.
The four emperors had been ruthless back then. Anything and anyone tied to the Former Dynasty or the Phoenixfield Clan was wiped out—histories and royal records destroyed, as if they wanted to erase all traces. In less than a hundred years, people were already forgetting the Former Dynasty.
Chu City never worried Nolan—he was far more interested in the Heaven-Son Sword and anything connected to the Former Dynasty. But he always thought further than Serena did.
“Serena, do you remember the Nine Provinces Map?” A treasure as important as the Former Dynasty’s hoard—could it really be found with just a map? That didn’t sound like something royalty would do.
Serena’s eyes lit up as if she’d suddenly thought of something. “Are you saying the Heaven-Son Sword is connected to the Former Dynasty’s treasure?”
“Not necessarily. I just wonder—can the Nine Provinces Map alone really get you the treasure?” It wasn’t about finding it, but whether you could actually take it.
It’s like the Lowe family’s sea treasure—having the map means you can find it, but that doesn’t mean anyone can actually claim it. Even the Lowe family knew maps could be stolen, so how could the Lan clan not know?
“If just having the map meant you could take the treasure, then anyone who found it—Lan or not—could drain the hoard. That’s definitely not what the original hoarders wanted.” Serena’s eyes grew serious as she looked at Nolan. “When you first heard about the Nine Provinces Map, was there anything else?”
Serena didn’t know who’d given Nolan that tip, but she was sure someone wanted to use him—or even harm him—by feeding him that news.
They hadn’t lied to Nolan, but telling only half the truth could be just as deadly…