Legend of the Heroes of Another World's Divine Tower

"Look! It's my sister-in-law! She's out!"

A bandit lying on the ground, his eyes still glazed over, happened to glance up and saw Lin Ruyan leaning against the door. As if he had discovered something rare, he struggled to sit up, pointed at her, and shouted incoherently.

This shout, like a pebble thrown into muddy water, temporarily broke the decadent atmosphere. Many of the bandits, dazed, raised their heads, struggling to focus their gaze on the emerald green figure at the doorway.

For these desperate outlaws who live on the edge, this reclusive and charismatic "bandit's wife" possessed an air of mystery. More importantly, she was the "great benefactor" who had recently enabled some of them to break through their level barriers.

"Wake up, all of you! What kind of posture is this, all crooked and wobbly! Hurry up and thank your sister-in-law for her kindness!"

A slightly more lucid leader swayed to his feet, his tongue still a little tied, but his tone was full of exaggerated gratitude.

"If it weren't for my sister-in-law, we wouldn't even have a chance to break through to the next level! Hahaha!"

"That's right! That's right!" Someone nearby immediately chimed in, drunkenly raising the soul-suppressing lamp in their hand as if offering a toast.

"My sister-in-law's research... hiccup... is all for everyone's bright future! Don't you agree?!"

"Yes! Thank you, sister-in-law!"

"Long live Sister-in-law!"

In an instant, the courtyard was filled with a cacophony of thank-yous, mixed with hiccups and silly laughter.

Everyone who spoke had a look on their face that was a mixture of awe, gratitude, and excitement amplified by drugs and alcohol.

Among them, those bandits with faint, menacing dark patterns on the back of their necks reacted the most intensely, their eyes filled with the most fanaticism.

They were the first to use the Soul-Devouring Agent "developed" by Lin Ruyan and successfully break through the level limit.

At this moment, they struggled to appear more respectful, but the dark patterns seemed to pulsate slightly with their emotions, making their smiles look distorted and strange, and their voices of thanks exceptionally loud, as if demonstrating their loyalty and excitement to the source that had given them this "power".

Lin Ruyan leaned quietly against the door. Faced with this sudden, noisy, and distorted "gratitude," her face showed little expression, except that her beautiful elfin ears twitched almost imperceptibly, and a complex emotion flashed deep in her eyes.

-

The interior corridors of the mansion were more steadily dimmed than the front yard, with only the faintly glowing moss embedded in the walls providing illumination. Shangguan Qiluo was contemplating whether to move a chair from the living room or find one nearby when suddenly—

The door to the bathroom next door creaked open a crack.

Immediately afterwards, a small hand, covered in mud and bits of grass, cautiously peeked out from under the door, groping around as if trying to make sure no one was outside.

Then, half of her small face was pressed against the crack in the door, and one eye nervously peered into the corridor.

Shangguan Qiluo paused, her sharp gaze sweeping over them.

Even in the dim light, even with only half a face and one eye visible, she instantly recognized the furtive figure.

"Lin Chi!"

She lowered her voice and almost shouted through gritted teeth, rushing to the toilet door in a few strides, and braced herself against the door to prevent the person inside from closing it again.

"What the hell are you doing! You crawled back through that rat hole that only you know about again? If you're coming back, couldn't you at least give me a heads-up? Your mother was worried sick! I had to cover for you!"

Lin Chi, who was in the restroom, was clearly startled by the sudden "arrest" and froze for a moment.

He had just sneaked back into the mansion through the hidden passage outside, a passage known only to him and his already mentally unstable father, intending to return to his room unnoticed as usual.

"Sister Qiluo?" He breathed a sigh of relief upon recognizing the person, but then tensed up again, whispering through the crack in the door, "Why are you on the first floor?"

"How dare you ask!" Shangguan Qiluo was so angry that she wanted to pull his ear, but she was afraid of making too much noise, so she could only grind her molars and growl.

"Do you know how much later than usual you are today? Your mother noticed you weren't home on time a while ago and is now standing at the front door waiting for you! She's been waiting anxiously!"

"Huh?!" Lin Chi's face fell instantly, and his eyes widened in shock.

Why didn't you stop her?

"I wanted to stop him! My young master!" Shangguan Qiluo rolled her eyes, her wine-red pupils filled with "You heartless little bastard."

"But your mother is such a shrewd person. She told me to come down and 'meet' you first! Otherwise, do you think I would have wanted to go to that mess in the front yard... tsk, never mind. Anyway, I've accomplished my mission now, caught red-handed."

As she spoke, she gestured with her chin toward the front yard outside the door, then crossed her arms and looked at Lin Chi with an expression that said, "You decide what to do."

Lin Chi's face scrunched up in a grimace, and his fingers, gripping the door crack, turned white from the force.

He glanced at Shangguan Qiluo, and it was as if he could see his mother's worried figure at the door through the wall.

"You made your own mess, so clean it up yourself. Now, right now, crawl out of your 'rat hole' again the way you came!" Shangguan Qiluo said irritably.

"Then, right there in front of the main gate, looking exhausted, preferably with a bit of dust on your face, appear before your mother as if you've just rushed back! Apologize properly, saying you ran into a little trouble on the way and made her worry sick!"

"Hurry up! Don't dawdle! If you're any later, your mom will rush out looking for you!"

Helpless, Lin Chi could only grimace and mouth "I understand" to Shangguan Qiluo from inside the door before gently closing the bathroom door.

Hearing the footsteps outside the door fade away, he didn't dare to delay and immediately found his way to the entrance of the secret passage—a hidden trapdoor concealed behind an old water trough.

After finally managing to crawl out from the other end, the exit was in a dense pile of rocks behind the mansion, almost completely covered by vines.

The cool night air, mixed with the unique dampness of the forest, rushed towards him. He carefully protected the Soul-Suppressing Lamp at his waist as he crawled. At this moment, the light was stable, but the area it illuminated was limited.

He glanced back at the mansion's faintly glowing outline, protected by golden patterns, gritted his teeth, and began running around the mansion's perimeter towards the front gate.

After all that commotion, by the time he could finally see the outline of the front gate, bathed in the dim yellow light of the Soul-Suppressing Lamp and a hazy, colorful glow, he no longer needed any disguise.

Her face was flushed red from running, her hair was stuck to her skin with sweat, her chest heaved violently as she gasped for breath, her collar was askew, and her sleeves and trouser legs were covered with mud and grass juice that she had picked up while running in the dark passage.

The way he looks now is exactly like a naughty boy who doesn't know his place, plays around until he forgets the time, and then runs home like crazy, making you both angry and heartbroken.

He stopped, gripped his knees, and gasped for breath to calm his overly labored breathing and racing heart. Then, he lifted his heavy legs and ran step by step toward the familiar, emerald-green figure at the door.