The Secret Passage

"A-Asleep, I'm asleep," An Shiyaya replied immediately after glancing at Ye Shuang beside her.

The person outside hesitated for a moment. "May I come in for a bit? Miss Yaya, I'm worried someone might have snuck in."

Ye Shuang immediately shook his head at An Shiyaya.

"I just took off my clothes to sleep," An Shiyaya said, thinking quickly on her feet.

"My apologies for the intrusion. Please have a good rest."

The voice outside gradually faded away.

Only then did Ye Shuang slowly let out a sigh of relief. After repeatedly confirming that there was no sound outside, An Shiyaya finally spoke up, "Mr. Ye, did that scare you?"

"Pretty much. It was like a horror game, especially with that terrifying old lady just now." Ye Shuang's mouth twitched. At that moment, An Shiyaya turned on the lights.

As the room lit up, Ye Shuang finally noticed the layout. Pink decorations filled the space, and on one of the walls hung countless bottle caps, displayed as carefully as action figures.

"This... there must be hundreds of them, right?" Ye Shuang was a little surprised by An Shiyaya's collection.

"It's pretty weird, isn't it? Having a hobby like this." Having her little quirk discovered by Ye Shuang, An Shiyaya started to feel shy. She fidgeted awkwardly; despite her mature, womanly figure, she acted just like a little girl.

"No, it's actually quite nice to have a hobby." Ye Shuang shook his head. Then, he noticed the computer desk not far away. It was also decorated in pink and equipped with a microphone, a webcam, and other gear.

It looked like a live-streaming setup. And hanging on the chair was a pair of lace panties, colored in purplish-red.

Ye Shuang was speechless.

He could only pretend he didn't see it and asked An Shiyaya beside him, "Yaya, can you find a way to get me out of here?"

"Well..." An Shiyaya hesitated for a moment before saying, "There should be people patrolling outside right now, and there are many people hiding near the main gate. Mr. Ye, you won't be able to get out."

"Are they all as terrifying as that old lady just now?"

"No," An Shiyaya shook her head.

"Oh, that's good then." Ye Shuang breathed a sigh of relief. If even that old lady couldn't catch him, he actually still had a chance.

"They are basically all stronger than Granny Cai," An Shiyaya said.

"Is everyone in your Anshi family this ridiculously overpowered?!"

"No way. Actually, I don't know how to do any of those things," An Shiyaya scratched her head, looking bashful.

Ye Shuang was speechless again.

Why couldn't he feel happy about that?

"Is there really no other way then?"

"As for a way out, there actually is one," An Shiyaya said.

"What is it?"

Just as Ye Shuang spoke, the sound of a lock turning came from the door.

What?!

The old lady holding a lantern pushed the door open and appeared in the room. She looked left and right, and her gaze finally landed on An Shiyaya, who was sitting on the edge of the bed. "I am sorry, Miss Yaya. Did I frighten you?"

"Um, Granny Cai, why didn't you knock? What if I was doing something..." An Shiyaya forced a smile.

"It is an emergency, Miss Yaya." The old lady looked around again, and her eyes finally locked onto the bed beside An Shiyaya—the blanket was bulging, as if something was hidden underneath.

The old lady walked over, holding a rope in her other hand. "Miss Yaya, this matter involves the Eldest Miss, after all. You must not hide anything from us."

"Um, I don't understand what you mean."

By now, the old lady had reached the bed. She slowly reached out her hand.

Whoosh.

The blanket was lifted high, revealing what was inside—

A stuffed toy.

Granny Cai was silent.

"What are you doing, Granny Cai? There is no one in my room," An Shiyaya said immediately, putting on a slightly hurt expression. "Besides, I have some rather private things in my room..."

"I am truly sorry, Miss Yaya. I will leave right now." The old lady had no choice but to bow and apologize repeatedly. Finally, realizing she couldn't find anyone, she had to leave with her lantern.

The door was closed once again.

After confirming she couldn't hear any more sounds, An Shiyaya got up, walked to the door, and locked it from the inside.

After doing all this, An Shiyaya looked behind her.

And Ye Shuang crawled out from under the bed.

"That was really a close call with that terrifying old granny." Ye Shuang leaned against the bed and let out a breath, keeping his voice low for fear that the old woman might hear something and rush back in.

If an old lady was already that scary, he couldn't imagine how formidable the guards patrolling outside were.

"Sigh." Ye Shuang felt helpless.

"Mr. Ye, actually... I do have a way to leave," An Shiyaya whispered as she knelt beside Ye Shuang.

"You're going to help me beat those people up and leave?"

"Eh, that won't work for now."

"..."

Then An Shiyaya explained, "Actually, every room in the Anshi estate has a secret passage. In case of emergencies, these passages can lead to the outside, meaning outside the Anshi family grounds."

"Grandma once said that a crafty rabbit having nine burrows is the only truth to surviving in this world."

"You guys even have escape tunnels?" Ye Shuang was a bit surprised. This was straight out of a novel's plot.

In ancient times, wealthy households would have secret passages or bunkers, but they were mostly used to hide embezzled silver.

"Yes, Mr. Ye." After An Shiyaya finished speaking, she stood up and walked to a certain spot in the room—

Behind a hanging painting, she fumbled around for a moment and finally pressed down hard.

"This way."

Ye Shuang stood up and followed An Shiyaya, only to notice that an extra door had magically appeared inside the bathroom.

"This is really amazing," Ye Shuang couldn't help but exclaim.

An Shiyaya walked in, and Ye Shuang quickly followed.

The passage was very quiet. The walls were built with stone bricks, and a faint smell of earth lingered in the air. However, it wasn't dim at all, as there were lights on both sides.

"Which way do we go?" Ye Shuang asked An Shiyaya beside him as he looked at the branching paths.

"Follow me, I've walked this path before," An Shiyaya said.

"Alright."

...

"You can't find him? How is that possible?" An Shiyu sat in her room, holding her phone with a slight look of confusion.

"He turned on invisibility," Anshi Yi, who was beside her munching on potato chips, said.

"Keep searching. The house is full of informants; there's no way we can't find him." An Shiyu seemed very calm, confident that Ye Shuang absolutely couldn't escape.

Unless he could fly into the sky or burrow into the earth.

"Speaking of which, our family has secret passages, right?" Anshi Yi suddenly remembered something.

"We do, but the old man doesn't know how to navigate them," An Shiyu said.

"True."

Right at that moment, the bathroom door next to them suddenly opened, and two people walked out. It was none other than Ye Shuang and An Shiyaya.

The two girls looked over in astonishment, while Ye Shuang also stood frozen, his mouth slightly agape.

"Huh?"

The four of them stared at each other in stunned silence.