Standing before the endless rows of crystal cages hanging across Floor Four. Auntie Qin adjusted the cuffs of her cyan Peace Pharmacy robes and narrowed her sharp physician’s eyes at the heavy black locks bolted onto every cage door.
Even though Empress Luo Qingxue had frozen the central furnace core to prevent a mass detonation, each individual cage lock still housed a vicious secondary trap installed by the Chief Author. A cluster of spring-loaded Soul-Shatter Barbs designed to pierce inward and shred a trapped parent’s spirit if anyone tried to pry the bars open with brute force.
“Careful with the lock cylinders, Nian’er,” Auntie Qin said briskly, drawing nine gleaming [Peace Pharmacy Golden Acupuncture Needles] between her slender fingers.
“Whoever designed these cages used a parasitic meridian knot inside the keyhole. If you tear the chains before I paralyze the spring-barbs, the needles inside the lock will sting the parents on the way out.”
Fifteen-year-old Gu Nian nodded once, his expression focused and steady. Meanwhile, he stood beside the woman who had bandaged his scraped knees and brewed his winter cough syrup ever since he was eight years old.
“You block the barbs, Auntie Qin,” Gu Nian said, golden-black Warm-Sun Chaos Qi swirling around his forearms in controlled, gentle waves. “I’ll cut the chains on your count.”
