Chapter 164
by Need_More_SleepChapter 164: Secret Room
After arriving in Sunshine City, compared to Fanzui City, the overall environment truly felt like the countryside.
Neon-lit skyscrapers, more advanced infrastructure, clean streets, orderly greenery—and most importantly, the countless security cameras that gave an overwhelming sense of safety.
To a former resident of Fanzui City, stepping into this place was like Grandma Liu wandering into the Grand View Gardens (Red Chamber). It was hard to imagine such a massive gap between two neighboring cities.
There were also all kinds of bizarre internet-famous shops and even street stalls. Whether the quality was guaranteed was unclear—but the prices certainly lived up to the “internet-famous” label.
Drawn by the aroma, Mi Xiaoliu walked over and saw a vendor pouring real beef into a bowl of instant noodles.
Customers standing in front of the stall were holding up their phones filming, chattering on about things like “The boss has been doing this for years” and “With this much meat, it’s practically charity.”
Mi Xiaoliu looked around in confusion.
So many people in Sunshine City seemed to have cameras growing out of their faces.
“Want some?” Raven patted Mi Xiaoliu’s head.
Mi Xiaoliu nodded.
Raven walked over and raised her phone, pretending to film. “Boss, how much for a bowl of beef noodles?”
As a frugal woman—and a Sunshine City native—she knew vendors often gave more meat when you looked like you were filming.
“Thirty,” the vendor replied.
Mi Xiaoliu tugged on Raven’s sleeve and shook her head at her. “Don’t want it anymore.”
“……”
Why was this child being so distant? She herself had already long since treated her like her own daughter (Or daughter-in-law), without the slightest reservation.
But this was just the price of street food in Sunshine City.
A whole year had passed, and this city really hadn’t changed a bit.
…
It took nearly twenty minutes by bus to get home.
Yiwen’s old home was in a courtyard neighborhood on the south side of the city. You could barely call it a small villa. Not only did it only have a front yard, but the yard was so small that planting a single tree would cast shade over most of it.
From the outside, it certainly couldn’t compare to high-rise apartments in terms of appearance—but in terms of comfort, it was definitely better. You could raise a dog and let it run wild in the yard. You didn’t have to worry about someone partying on the rooftop in the middle of the night.
You didn’t have to worry about neighbors complaining if you partied in the middle of the night. And you didn’t have to worry about being stuck without an elevator during a citywide blackout.
Several houses stood close together, but there were no signs of life. Ever since Yiwen’s address was exposed, her neighbors’ lives had been affected too—a fact she did feel somewhat guilty about.
“I just don’t get why we even came back,” Toby grumbled as he helped Mi Xiaoliu carry her luggage.
Because Mi Xiaoliu wasn’t strong, Yiwen had originally planned to help her carry it, but Raven didn’t want to miss the opportunity to let her son show off in front of Mi Xiaoliu.
Toby, the silly boy, was clearly very reluctant.
Of course, that complaint wasn’t directed at Mi Xiaoliu—it was just that this house was truly hard to look at.
Red paint had been maliciously splashed across the wall, and crude phrases like “Internet Princess Go Die” and “XXX Was Here” were scrawled across the door.
The front door had even been forcibly pried open, and the windows inside smashed. It was unclear whether the interior had been looted.
They weren’t necessarily acting out of righteous indignation—more likely, they used it as an excuse to openly vent the malice in their hearts.
That’s the downside of not living in a gated community—there’s no property management to help with security issues. Though even if there were, they might not care anyway.
Whether it was when Yiwen was being attacked, or when her name was cleared, this place had somehow become a trendy online check-in spot.
Only the titles of the videos had changed. Previously, they were laced with sarcasm, now, they still have sarcasm—only now it was aimed at the perpetrators instead of her.
One topic, two streams of revenue.
Judging by this scene alone, this place really wasn’t much better than Fanzui City.
Had this been two months ago, seeing her former home wrecked like this would have made Yiwen feel awful. But now, all she wanted to do was laugh.
Not a happy laugh.
The only thing that felt bitter was letting Mi Xiaoliu see this awful sight. If she had known her old home had ended up like this, Yiwen definitely wouldn’t have invited Mi Xiaoliu along.
Raven was also a bit embarrassed. “I’ll go clean up. Toby, you get a room ready for Xiaoliu.”
“Why is it always me?” Toby grumbled in real frustration, refusing to budge.
Why did he have to serve Mi Xiaoliu the moment he (she) showed up? At this point, he was just short of bringing him (her) tea and water. What was up with Mom? Didn’t she used to always side with him?
“When I tell you to go, you go.” Yiwen patted Toby’s shoulder.
[Nine Yin Skeleton Claw.]
Toby clutched his shoulder, muttering under his breath as he went off to tidy up.
Burglary was inevitable—but thankfully, they’d already taken all the valuables with them when they moved.
The house showed clear signs that people had been living in it. While cleaning the yard, Raven even discovered two homeless men loitering near the gate, who didn’t dare come any closer once they saw someone was home.
Apparently, they had taken advantage of the house being unoccupied and tried to occupy it. That made Raven feel a bit uncomfortable. It didn’t matter whether the homeless were pitiful or not—any normal person would feel disturbed in that situation.
She didn’t make a fuss. She simply handed them the bread she’d brought and told them not to come back.
The house had been burglarized and trespassed. Just because it happened a while ago or involved many people didn’t mean it should be let go. Raven decisively called the police.
Given the conditions, thoroughly cleaning the place and preparing usable bedding was no easy task. Fortunately, they had Yiwen, who was an ability user. Mi Xiaoliu, being a considerate child, also helped out. Even with the whole family pitching in, it still took several hours.
After all, broken furniture needed to be replaced.
Next came the main reason for Yiwen’s return—the study.
This had always been the one place their father didn’t allow her or Toby to enter. As a child, she always felt there had to be some secret hidden inside—and it turned out she’d been right.
A small anime figurine that used to sit on the desk had been taken by someone, though the bookshelf full of academic tomes remained untouched. That was almost too real.
The study was built on the first floor, which was rather odd for a villa. Typically, such quiet spaces were placed on the second or third floor to stay far from the noisy main hall.
Thinking about it now—maybe it was for the secret basement door?
She lightly tapped the floor and discovered that one tile really was hollow underneath. It fit so tightly that you’d never guess there was a hidden door there.
There was no handle, and no switch nearby, but the hidden switch was definitely somewhere in this room. What could it be?
Yiwen didn’t think for even two seconds before stomping hard on that tile. The floor tile instantly cracked into fragments.
Puzzle solving? Solve your ass!
“Yiwen, time to eat.” Mi Xiaoliu suddenly opened the door and walked in, startling Yiwen.
She angrily rubbed Xiaoliu’s cheeks. “Why don’t you ever remember to knock?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Forget it.” Yiwen sighed and bent down to pick up the shattered pieces she had broken, tossing them aside.
With how thick it was, probably just a few hard stomps from a child would be enough to crack it. No wonder they weren’t allowed to play in here before.
A staircase slanting downward appeared—seemed like the basement space was fairly large.
Yiwen swallowed hard and pulled out her phone to turn on the flashlight.
To secretly build something like this behind the family’s back—just what kind of secret was he trying to hide? Officer Chen had said the Sunshine City police knew about this passageway—had they already taken all the clues?
“Xiaoliu, follow me.” She was still a bit timid and didn’t dare to go down alone.
“Mmm.” Not knowing anything, Mi Xiaoliu obediently followed.
Not even a word of protest. So even if she disliked Mi Xiaoliu’s meek and passive nature, Yiwen still couldn’t bring herself to feel any resentment toward her.
The stairs were narrow—too narrow for two people to walk side by side. After a year of no one stepping foot here, a thick layer of dust had built up, making it hard to breathe.
It wasn’t very deep—about the height of one story before reaching the bottom.
Using her flashlight, she found the light switch and turned it on. The space suddenly lit up.
Mom had just paid the electricity bill that morning. No wonder she used to complain about how high the bill was—a thief in the house is the hardest to guard against.
When Yiwen finally got a good look at the basement, her pupils shrank. She immediately blocked Mi Xiaoliu’s view.
“Xiaoliu, get on my back. Absolutely don’t look!”
“Mmm.” Mi Xiaoliu did as told, wrapping her arms around Yiwen’s waist and laying against her back.
Yiwen shifted a bit, but didn’t stop what she considered a somewhat “taking advantage” behavior.
She looked around the room.
“How… how could it be like this…”
It was nothing like what she’d imagined.
Posters covered the walls, two huge display cases full of anime figurines, and even two life-sized figures—completely nude, tied up in shibari rope, casually tossed into the corner…
Faced with this overwhelmingly embarrassing sight, Yiwen felt like she was about to 🥜😈.
Old Chen, this is the “clue” you were talking about?!
[Translator’s Note: See the index page for this Novel if you want to see the Amazon Link for the eBooks.]
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