Chapter 114: Nail That Scares The Sayy Mansion

As the old lady prepared to intensify her aura, her eyes suddenly caught a glimpse of something around Flippy's neck.

Her piercing gaze narrowed, focusing intently on the pendant he wore. The pendant itself was ordinary, but what hung from it was anything but.

It was a nail, small and black, yet it radiated an overwhelming sense of oppression, like a dark star in the room.

Her breath caught in her throat as she recognized the nail's significance.

It was no ordinary nail; the nail was imbued with a dark and ancient power, one that was capable of suppressing even her formidable aura.

The coldness in the room receded almost immediately as she reined in her energy, her previous aggression now tempered by caution and respect.

The middle-aged man beside her, noticing the sudden change in her demeanor, looked puzzled.

Anna Sayy, too, was visibly confused, her earlier anger now replaced with uncertainty as she glanced between the old lady and Flippy.

Ruchir and the others, though equally bewildered, could feel the atmosphere shift. The intense pressure that had gripped their hearts just moments ago lifted, and while they were still tense, the immediate fear began to ebb away.

The old lady cleared her throat, her tone suddenly much calmer and almost deferential. "Young man," she addressed Flippy, her eyes flicking back to the nail, "that... pendant of yours is quite intriguing. It carries a presence that one must be careful with. I would advise you to keep it safe."

Flippy, who had been oblivious to the earlier tension, merely blinked and looked down at his pendant.

"Oh, this old thing?" he said nonchalantly, fiddling with it between his fingers.

"I got it from some guy on a mountain. It looked cool, so I kept it."

The old lady's lips tightened into a thin line. "Yes, it's... very cool," she replied, her voice strained. "It seems to carry a significance that I hadn't expected."

Ruchir, still trying to make sense of what was happening, couldn't help but notice how rattled the old lady seemed.

His mind raced with questions: What is it about Flippy's pendant that made her back down? Is this nail really that powerful?

Anna Sayy stepped forward, her voice uncertain as she addressed the old lady. "Elder, should we...?"

But the old lady waved her off with a gesture. "There's no need for further action."

She turned to the middle-aged man by her side.

"Escort them back to the market, unharmed."

The man nodded, though his confusion was evident in the way his brow furrowed.

Still, he obeyed without question, stepping forward to lead the group out of the room.

As they were being escorted out, Ruchir couldn't resist a final glance back at the old lady.

He saw her eyes lingering on Flippy's pendant, a look of deep contemplation on her face.

Just before they exited the room, she spoke again, her voice carrying a weight of sincerity and caution.

"I hope that if you ever come across the chest we seek, you will return it to its rightful owner," she said, her tone almost imploring.

"The reward for such an act could be quite... fruitful."

Ruchir nodded, his mind still buzzing with confusion, and replied politely, "We'll keep that in mind, ma'am. If we find anything, we'll do the right thing."

Garret, ever the joker, added with a nervous laugh, "Yeah, yeah, we're all about doing the right thing. No chests here, though. Just regular folks doing regular things."

The old lady's gaze softened slightly, though there was still an edge to it as she watched them leave. "Remember my words," she said quietly, almost to herself.

After they left the mansion, the heavy silence inside lingered like a dark cloud.

Anna Sayy, her mind swirling with questions and frustrations, finally spoke up as they walked down the dimly lit corridor.

"Grandmother," she began, her voice barely above a whisper, "why did you let them go like that? We had them right where we wanted."

The old lady, known as Lady Sayy, didn't respond immediately.

Instead, she walked a few steps ahead, her fingers idly twisting the beads of her bracelet.

The dim light cast long shadows on her face, making her expression unreadable.

When she finally stopped, her grip on the beads tightened, and with a sharp motion, she crushed them into dust.

"Our investigation department," she said coldly, "has been incredibly lazy."

The crushed beads fell from her hand like sand, disappearing into the dark floor.

"They should have known. They should have reported this to me sooner."

Anna stared at her grandmother, taken aback by the sudden outburst.

She had seen her grandmother angry before, but this was different—a cold, controlled fury that made the air around them feel even more oppressive.

"But what do you mean?" Anna pressed.

"What did they miss?"

Lady Sayy turned to face Anna, her eyes burning with a fierce light.

"In our current situation, there are people we absolutely must not offend.

That little guy's pendant—the nail on it—isn't just some ordinary trinket. It's the nail of that person."

Anna's heart skipped a beat, and a chill ran down her spine. "That person?" she echoed, her voice trembling slightly. "Do you mean…?"

"Yes," Lady Sayy cut her off sharply, her tone laced with anger and frustration. "The nail he carried around his neck belongs to someone so powerful that if he wished, he could crush our Sayy Duke Mansion without even lifting a finger."

Anna felt her blood run cold. She had grown up in the powerful and prestigious Sayy Duke Mansion, where tales of invincibility and unchallenged power had been the norm.

The idea that there was someone out there who could single-handedly destroy everything they had built was almost too much to comprehend.

"But… how powerful is this person?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. "Even in our prime, with all our strength, could we—"

"—stand against him?" Lady Sayy finished, her voice dripping with bitter amusement.

"No, Anna. Not even in our prime could we hope to match his current strength. He is beyond us, beyond what we could ever hope to achieve, and that pendant… that nail is a testament to his power."

Anna was shocked into silence, her mind reeling from the revelation.

The middle-aged man, who had been silent until now, finally spoke, his voice steady but heavy with the weight of the situation.

"It is as the Lady says," he murmured, "the opponent we face is one who can crush empires if he so desires. We have underestimated him, and it nearly cost us everything."

Lady Sayy turned her gaze back to Anna, her eyes sharp as daggers.

"And that's not all," she continued, her tone more dangerous with every word.

"The aura coming from that Ruchir boy—it was not his own. No, that was the aura of the Raven Master himself."

Anna gasped, her mind struggling to keep up with everything she was learning. "Raven Master?" she echoed, incredulous. "Are you saying he's the Raven Master's disciple?"

Lady Sayy nodded grimly. "It seems so. The Raven Master does not take disciples lightly. If this boy is under his wing, then there are forces at play here far greater than we initially thought."

"Someone wants us to be dragged down, humiliated."

"This is a scheme against our Sayy Duke Mansion, and we've been playing right into their hands."

The realization hit Anna like a physical blow. Everything they had done, every step they had taken, had only led them deeper into a trap.

"But who?" she asked, her voice filled with desperation. "Who would want to do this to us?"

Lady Sayy shook her head. "That's what we need to find out. But before that, we must clean up our own house."

Her eyes flashed with fury as she turned to the middle-aged man. "Call those investigation department bastards."

"I will personally see to it that they're punished for their incompetence."

The middle-aged man bowed deeply. "It will be done, my Lady," he said. His tone was calm, but there was an undercurrent of tension in his voice, a recognition of the storm that was about to descend on the investigation department.

Lady Sayy turned back to Anna, her expression softening just slightly. "Anna, you must understand the gravity of the situation. We are treading on very dangerous ground."

"One wrong move, and it could mean the end of everything."

Anna nodded, still dazed. "I understand, Grandmother. But what do we do now?"

Lady Sayy sighed, the anger in her eyes replaced by a deep weariness. "Now, we must tread carefully. We must find out who is behind this and why they are targeting us."

"And we must ensure that we do not provoke those who can destroy us with a single thought."

She turned to the middle-aged man again. "Prepare the necessary arrangements. We cannot afford any more mistakes."

"Yes, my Lady," the man replied, bowing again before leaving to carry out her orders.

As they watched him leave, Anna couldn't help but feel a deep sense of unease.

The world she had known, the world where the Sayy Duke Mansion was the most powerful force, was crumbling around her.

And for the first time, she realized just how fragile that power truly was.