CHAPTER 684: CHAPTER 615: JIANG FAMILY

A certain hidden mountain range in the S Continent is shrouded in a veil-like mist all year round.

When the last ray of sunset sank into the ink-blue horizon, the colossal entity lurking at the core of the mountains—the Jiang Family’s main residence "Yue Que"—slowly opened its eyes like a slumbering ancient beast.

The night was like thick ink, spilling over the layered flying eaves of "Yue Que," adorned with gilded chiwen. In the next moment, the glazed tiles covering the massive building complex lit up sequentially. These were no ordinary lights but nanomaterial that absorbed solar energy during the day and now streamed out a gentle, cold jade-like moonlight, illuminating the entire mountain range like an Immortal Realm. The flowing light meandered between the tiles, tracing ancient and mysterious cloud patterns, resembling a jade dragon coiled atop the mountain.

This building has long surpassed the concept of a "residence."

Its exterior layer is not cold cement or steel but a vast intelligent water curtain wall that can automatically adjust its light permeability with the tides.

The slightly salty mountain breeze brushed by, causing the water curtain to ripple. At the center of the ripples emerged intricate, intricate Chinese ruyi cloud patterns, a perfect fusion of technology and ancient charm.

The main hall’s towering dome is composed of three thousand six hundred individually controllable glazed skylights.

During the day, they serve as light channels. At night, the skylights slide open silently, transforming into an endless open-air observatory.

More breathtaking is the interior side of the dome, embedded with the most advanced holographic projection system.

With a delicate touch of the controller’s fingertip, millions of stars unfurl overhead, the galaxy vast and the stars shifting—this is not a fake sky but a system’s precise replica of the star map of Chang’an from the prosperous Tang era, preserved in distant memories. Standing beneath it feels like being lost in a thousand-year dream.

Every handrail along the corridor, cool to the touch, is a perfect blend of millennium cold jade from the deep sea and high-strength carbon fiber, retaining the natural warm texture of jade while possessing a frightening strength enough to withstand a missile impact. The seemingly ancient potted dwarf pines on the terrace are actually genetically modified "millennium pines," with rugged roots entwined with miniature air purification and humidity regulation devices, even the pine needles’ fresh fragrance can be precisely adjusted according to the indoor environment.

The central chandelier hanging from the main hall’s ceiling is not an ordinary chandelier but strings of artificially cultivated, perfectly round and translucent luminous pearls, each embedded with a microchip inside, changing brightness and rhythm according to the pace of the banquet and the guests’ emotions, hiding technology within luxurious details.

The most breathtaking is the main passage connecting each level—the "cloud staircase." This giant arc-shaped staircase running through the building’s main body is made with each of its warm jade steps precisely cut and polished from a single piece, stepping barefoot on it, warmth rises from the soles. The smooth, delicate cold jade handrails on either side, when someone approaches, will silently pop out extremely thin holographic light curtains on the side, real-time translating different languages, rolling encrypted clan news.

The holographic technologies of Little Deer Ridge leave netizens amazed and they exclaim that technology changes the world.

Little do they know, there is a vast family in a hidden corner that has long pushed these technologies to their peak!

The staircase leads deeper to where the true core of the island is hidden...

The Jiang Family inner residence.

Only the Head of the Jiang Family and a few core members can live here.

The mountain wind is piercing, but upon entering the inner residence, it is transformed into a virtual cliff coastline by high-tech screens.

Jiang Yu loves the seaside; unfortunately, she spends most of her time indoors handling business and can’t visit the seaside often, so her lookout is perpetually projected into a virtual coastline.

The unique salty wind from the sea curls up Jiang Yu’s loose strands of brown hair at her temples.

She stands alone here, her brows furrowed, lost in thought.

A cashmere shawl gently drapes over her shoulders as Jiang Ming silently appears beside her, his broad, warm palm carrying a comforting strength, firmly pressed against his wife’s tense back.

"Feeling tense?" His voice is low and gentle, steady like a rock, "Xiaoxing’s flight will land in less than three hours, seeing you, it’s as if you’re ready to wield a sword and head to the battlefield."

Jiang Yu turns, grasping her husband’s wrist, her voice steady yet carrying an indisputable coldness: "How is this any different from going to the battlefield? Jiang Ke, that woman has been missing for five years, neither alive nor dead."

Her fingertip draws through the air, instantly transforming the coastline view back into the real mountain ranges.

Jiang Yu pointed indifferently towards the depths of the cloud-turning mountains, "That meticulously planned explosion back then, she dared collude with the notorious S Organization, ruthlessly attacking her niece to seize power. Now, she still clutches half of the Family Head Seal, hiding in the shadows like a venomous snake—" Her teeth leaked a cold analysis, "Zihu... traded his life for these five years of peace; perhaps they’re coming to an end."

Jiang Ming enveloped his wife’s hand in his palm, attempting to convey strength: "The ’Heavenly Net’ defense system Zihu left behind covers the entire archipelago, even a single strange sparrow flying in would trigger alarms and lockdowns. Besides, Jiang Ke’s remnants from back then have been thoroughly purged by us, she is now truly alone, clapping with one hand."

"Clapping with one hand?" Jiang Yu shook her head, "You’ve forgotten what she holds? It’s the Family Head Seal that can command the generationally inherited ’Shadow Guard’ to act only upon the seal’s command. That half a seal, perhaps..."

She sighed, "She’s been silent for five years, either truly dead or... she’s waiting. Waiting for Xiaoxing to return. Waiting for her sole, greatest threat—my daughter, to step into this carefully woven web."

Meanwhile, high in the sky, a luxurious passenger plane was smoothly traversing clouds, heading towards the S Continent International Airport.

The Jiang Family owned private jets, but Yan Yueqing didn’t want to draw too much attention to her return, fearing Jiang Ke’s remnants might tamper with it, so she chose a relatively more public travel method.

In the first-class cabin, she closed the file in her hand, closed her eyes, and rubbed her aching brow with her fingertips.

Next to her, a man with blond hair and blue eyes, dressed in extravagantly elegant attire, gracefully removed the sunglasses from his nose, revealing a pair of blue eyes as cold as North Sea ice.

His gaze carried undisguised admiration and curiosity, locking firmly onto Yan Yueqing’s cool and flawless profile.

"A melancholic beauty always captivates," the man spoke in fluent Chinese with a slight foreign accent, his tone deliberately lazy and confident.

He pushed a card with a gold-embossed name forward, the diamond insignia embedded in one corner of the card sparkled dazzlingly under the cabin lights. "Kains Lowell. Lovely lady, you may call me... ’Prince of the North Sea.’"

He deliberately emphasized the last few words with a sense of superiority.

Yan Yueqing didn’t even lift her eyelids, as if the man was just a puff of air: "Sorry, not interested."