Basement filled with treasures?

The door to the basement opened.

Outside the ancestral home was still the dark stormy atmosphere with rain pouring down heavily, yet now, it didn't affect the people inside at all.

The entrance appeared like a dark mouth; it was completely dark and leaked a scary aura out of it. Like the mouth of a creepy ghost opened wide and ready to devour children.

Still holding Wine's hand, Ethan smiled and walked inside. The moment he passed the line of the door, the wooden door closed abruptly by itself with a Bam. Startled, both involuntarily stiffened before Ethan tightened his grip on Wine's hand and said, sounding calm and nonchalant, even while his heart beat with adrenaline, "Don't worry, I've heard first time entering a clan basement is quite the creepy experience."

"Heard…?" asked Wine meekly, looking around and finding herself above a staircase. It was a long staircase, barely visible in the dimly lit space. Looking through the sides, she couldn't even see how deep it went — all below was hidden in darkness. Scared, she looked at Ethan, tightening her grip on his already tight hands.

"Yes, heard it from a wise man," he replied.

"Teacher…you haven't been here before?" she asked, feeling very unnerved by the dark stairs and their green-painted steel rails, but she was more excited rather than frightened, though; After all, this was the mysterious room…and she was about to discover its secrets!

Ethan smiled casually and asked, "Do you know what other thing I heard?"

He changed the subject.

Wine shook her head, feeling more and more eager to go down; just… what was hidden there?

Was it a pile of gold, like Meimei said? Or was it something humans shouldn't do or know, as Violet-head had said? Her childish heart itched with curiosity.

Ethan saw her eagerness and chuckled as he said, his voice as nonchalant as before: "I heard there are often child-eating monsters in those basements, fed children at regular intervals to keep them at bay."

Wine felt a chill run down her spine as she turned to look at her teacher's face, her face pale with fear, and saw him laughing instead,

"Pffft, look at that face of your's girl. It's pale like a ghost."

Wine's little heart calmed down, and her heartfelt words involuntarily came out without restraint, "Don't scare me like that!" she exclaimed and breathed out in relief. Oh gods, that was scary.

"Hold onto me tightly, girl," Ethan smiled seeing her reaction; he could feel his heart warm due to her cozying up to him, little by little. he cautioned, "It's just a joke, you know? Now don't fall and focus on your steps; the steel here is supposed to be quite slippery. I heard many had fallen here. Do you know? Some even call it the land of echoes due to that."

"Steel? Land of echoes? What are those?" she asked as she took her slightly sweaty hands out of his and then clung to his robes instead, which was easier to cling on to, as they slowly descended the stairs. The metal steps made clanging sounds with each of their steps, she waited for his answer, but it didn't come. A strange silence settled in between them. The only sound that kept echoing was the footsteps; the only constant feeling was the cold steel's touch on their bare feet, which gave birth to a strange tension until they both soon stopped in their tracks.

The surroundings were still dimly lit, without even a light source; the stairs were the same dark green too…but below their feet, there was no more another foothold, but just darkness. There were no steps below to take.

"Do you trust me, Wine?" Ethan suddenly asked.

Wine looked at the darkness, the hollow feeling of looking at an abyss overwhelmed her, but a firm hold which she had discarded earlier returned, taking her hands into it and bringing warm comfort.

"I just asked you, Wine, Do you trust me?"

She blinked, breathed out, and looked at his face. The young master looked as calm and carefree, as authoritative as she remembered. Yet, this handsome, strong man, who the maids couldn't even talk to face-to-face, was asking for her opinion, his face expectant of an answer.

She couldn't bear to say no.

She nodded.

Her face slightly blushing.

Ethan smiled and took her hand and placed it on his shoulders, and brought his other hand around her slim waist. He then muttered into her ears as he took her in his embrace, his breath touching her ears, "That's good. Otherwise, your teacher would not have known what to do…" His voice silently lingered for a second before he asked, chuckling, "Do I have to tell you to hold tight?"

Startled, Wine immediately clung her free hand to his robes and the other one to his shoulders. Luckily, she was quite tall for a girl her age, standing proudly at 1.43 meters, and Ethan was quite short for a 17-year-old boy, merely 1.75 meters tall; so she could effortlessly reach his shoulders.

Having positioned her safely under his embrace, Ethan clenched his jaws and walked a step to the side, his foot landed on thin air, and he started to fall,

Into the abyss.