AUBTN -Chapter 185 The Emblem

Lu Yan made a swift decision. “I’ll go in first and scout the way.”

“No, it’s too dangerous.” Yu Qing immediately objected.

“We don’t know what’s under the water. What if—”

“Heh, President Yu, why don’t you just say you want me to go instead?” Shen Jue chuckled, his tone teasing.

Yu Qing put her hands on her hips, looking completely justified. “Exactly. You go!”

Shen Jue suddenly turned to Su Hewan with a pitiful expression, acting spoiled. “Wanwan, your bestie is bullying me!”

Su Hewan couldn’t help but laugh and shook her head. “Come on, you’re a grown man—stop acting cute. It doesn’t fit your image at all!”

Lu Yan looked thoroughly disgusted. “Let’s go together.”

Yu Qing and Su Hewan exchanged amused glances.

One after another, they dived into the icy pool, swimming toward the dark, mysterious opening.

Time passed second by second, and on the shore, Su Hewan and Yu Qing felt their hearts rise to their throats.

After what felt like forever, just as they were about to lose patience, Shen Jue and Lu Yan’s figures broke through the surface almost at the same time.

“Inside… it’s empty!” Lu Yan wiped the water off his face, a hint of excitement in his eyes.

“Beyond the entrance is an upward slope. It’s not submerged—you can breathe!”

The four of them no longer hesitated.

Shen Jue gathered some dry wood and flint, quickly making a simple torch.

With Lu Yan and Shen Jue each protecting Su Hewan and Yu Qing, they took turns diving through the opening.

What lay beyond was a whole new world.

It was a natural cave that had likely existed for countless years. The air was damp, and strange, irregular stalactites were everywhere. The steady drip of water echoed in their ears, making the place eerily quiet.

Shen Jue lit the torch, and the warm orange glow instantly drove away the surrounding darkness.

“Wow… this place is beautiful!” Yu Qing exclaimed as she looked at the glistening stalactites under the firelight.

“Don’t let your guard down. Stay close to me,” Shen Jue said, walking at the front with the torch, his expression alert.

The passage twisted and turned, leading to an unknown destination.

After walking cautiously for about the time it takes an incense stick to burn, a relatively spacious stone chamber appeared ahead.

It looked like someone had lived here for a long time. In the center stood a stone table and stools, all covered in a thick layer of dust.

“Seems we’re not the first to discover this place,” Lu Yan said in a low voice as he looked around.

Holding the torch, Shen Jue slowly approached one side of the stone wall. The firelight illuminated faint markings on its surface—something seemed to be carved there.

He stepped closer and brushed away the dust with his sleeve.

A complex and ancient emblem gradually came into view.

The design resembled neither a dragon nor a phoenix, yet also both—intertwined and coiled, exuding an indescribable aura of nobility and authority.

Beside the emblem, there was also a clearly carved Chinese character, written in elegant strokes: Su.

“Huh? Su?” Yu Qing, sharp-eyed, was the first to notice.

“Isn’t that your surname, Wanwan? Why is it carved here?”

As soon as she spoke, everyone’s gaze turned in unison toward Su Hewan.

Su Hewan froze completely.

The moment she saw the emblem and that “Su” character, it felt as if thunder exploded in her mind.

Fragments of hazy memories—ones that didn’t belong to her—surged in like a tidal wave—

A snowy night, flakes swirling through the air. A graceful, noblewoman pressed a cold jade pendant into the hands of a young girl. Tears streamed down her face as her voice rang with despair and anguish:

“Live… Take it with you, and live on…”

The scene shifted—icy river water, endless darkness. The jade pendant slipped from the girl’s neck…

The final image froze on the pendant itself.

On its front was carved the exact same intricate emblem as the one on the stone wall.

On its reverse side, there was unmistakably an ancient, rustic character engraved—“Su.”

“Wanwan? What’s wrong? Why do you look so pale?” Yu Qing noticed something was off and quickly stepped forward, supporting her with concern.

Su Hewan suddenly snapped back to her senses, her whole body trembling uncontrollably.

When she had transmigrated, the original owner of this body seemed to have been wearing that jade pendant.

She had always thought it was just an ordinary ornament…

But at this moment, Shen Jue’s expression had already turned unusually grave.

His gaze slowly shifted from the emblem on the stone wall to Su Hewan’s face.

Others might not recognize it—but as the Director of the Eastern Depot, in charge of the empire’s deepest secrets, how could he fail to recognize this emblem?

This… was the totem of the royal family of the former Great Yuan dynasty!

He suddenly recalled the jade pendant he had once seen on Su Hewan.

At the time, he had only thought it exquisitely crafted and hadn’t given it much thought.

But now, the emblem on the stone wall overlapped perfectly with the jade pendant in his memory!

A chilling speculation surfaced in his mind, sending a cold shiver through his entire body.

Su Hewan… could she be a surviving descendant of the former imperial family?

If this identity were ever exposed, it would be a crime of the highest order—punishable by the extermination of nine generations, with no chance of redemption!

Clang—!

The torch slipped from Shen Jue’s hand and fell to the ground.

Under everyone’s shocked gaze, he suddenly turned around, drew the flexible sword from his waist, and began frantically slashing at the stone wall!

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Sword light flashed sharply, stone fragments scattering everywhere.

In just a few breaths, the mysterious emblem and the engraved “Su” were completely destroyed, leaving behind nothing but a chaotic mess of scratches.

“Shen Jue! What are you doing?!” Lu Yan was the first to react, stepping forward to restrain him.

But Shen Jue seemed not to hear him. Only after confirming that no trace remained on the stone wall did he finally stop.

He turned around, his gaze as sharp as a blade as it swept across the three of them. His voice was hoarse and icy cold.

“Everything you saw here today—bury it in your stomachs!”

“This matter is far too strange. No one is allowed to utter even half a word about it!”

He fixed his eyes on Su Hewan and said, word by word: “Especially you! Forget it. Pretend you’ve never seen it!”

Though Yu Qing and Lu Yan didn’t understand, they could both sense the gravity of the situation from Shen Jue’s unprecedented severity and ruthlessness.

And Su Hewan, meeting Shen Jue’s eyes—filled with both warning and concern—slowly nodded.

Lu Yan picked up the fallen torch and wedged it back into a crack in the stone.

The flickering flames cast shifting shadows across the four of them, illuminating their vastly different expressions.

Yu Qing glanced at Su Hewan’s deathly pale face, then at Shen Jue’s dark expression. She cautiously tugged at Lu Yan’s sleeve, silently asking with her eyes: What is going on?

Lu Yan gently patted the back of her hand, signaling her to stay calm.

Yet his gaze remained fixed on Shen Jue—sharp as a hawk’s, filled with scrutiny and suspicion.

Unlike Yu Qing, he was not careless or simple-minded.

As the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he had witnessed countless strange and secretive matters.

Shen Jue’s reaction was far too extreme—far beyond what could be explained by merely calling this matter “strange.”

That emblem… that “Su” character… must hide some kind of secret.

And this secret was clearly closely tied to Su Hewan’s origins.

Shen Jue—the Director of the Eastern Depot, a man who treated all under heaven as mere grass—had actually revealed such a loss of composure for the sake of another person.

Lu Yan’s mind filled with doubts.

But he also understood that here and now was absolutely not the right time to press further.