53: Chapter 53 What I'm drinking isn't tea, it's your lives.

Flames danced in Withered Money's eyes, reflecting his twisted and deranged grin.

The screech of ink-vine tendrils crushing bronze abacuses mingled with the crackle of burning ledgers, composing a chaotic symphony.

"A rebel leader? Based on this lie you can't even burn away completely?" Chen Fan's voice was cold as ice, his gaze locked onto the ink ball hurtling toward him.

【Memory Devour】!

These four words roared in Chen Fan's mind like an alarm bell. The combat instincts granted by the system allowed him to react instantly.

He neither met the attack head-on nor retreated; instead, he executed an extreme sidestep and head movement.

His body moved faster than his thoughts—a raw intuition honed through countless life-or-death struggles.

Hiss—!

The ink ball grazed his left shoulder, and a chilling, bizarre power instantly invaded him.

In that instant, Chen Fan's mind went blank; a crucial part of him felt as if it had been violently ripped away.

"Totem Critical Hit... how do I use it?" This thought flashed by, followed by a wave of helplessness.

His most relied-upon, powerful killing move—the method to execute it—was completely erased in a flash!

Withered Money's maniacal laughter grew louder: "Hahaha! Did you see that? This is the authority of the 'Recorder'! I can record everything, and naturally, I can erase everything! Your power, your memories, before my 'Devour,' are nothing more than characters that can be freely overwritten!"

At this critical juncture, a translucent phantom, carrying an aura of sorrow, struggled out of the inkstone in the corner.

It was Ink Mother's residual spirit!

She was no longer the vague outline from before; her form was slightly more solid now, her face filled with determination and rage.

She didn't lunge at Withered Money. Instead, she threw her entire remaining strength, without hesitation, into colliding with the ink ball that had just passed Chen Fan and was about to dissipate!

"Don't... trust... the ledger!"

The hoarse cry didn't come from her mouth but manifested as a spiritual imprint, transforming into four distorted ink characters fiercely carved onto the wall behind her!

The ink ball and Ink Mother's residual spirit collided with a roar, exploding into a torrent of pure, chaotic information flow.

The devoured memory fragments poured back into Chen Fan's mind like a bursting dam!

Everything about 【Totem Critical Hit】—from charging up to release, from technique to timing—every detail returned with perfect clarity.

Furthermore, Ink Mother's final cry before her spirit vanished acted like a sudden awakening, instantly enlightening Chen Fan!

"Don't trust the ledger..." he muttered, the confusion in his eyes vanishing, replaced by a terrifying sharpness. "I understand... I understand! The ledger is a trap; everything recorded on it is a lie you want me to see! Su Shuang sheltering a defector is fake, and the record erasing the truth is also fake! The real secret isn't what's recorded, but what you deliberately 'didn't record'!"

He suddenly looked down at the dried tea dregs he had pulled from the stove.

The scent of Fox Blood Powder still stung his nostrils, but now, he smelled something deeper.

Beneath the lie lay another concealed truth.

The smile on Withered Money's face froze. He hadn't expected Chen Fan to break free from the influence of 【Memory Devour】 so quickly, nor had he expected him to immediately see through the mystery.

"Nonsense!" he roared, and more ink strands spread out from beneath his feet, attempting to turn the entire kitchen into his domain.

But Chen Fan was faster than him!

Without any further hesitation, he grabbed the tea dregs mixed with Fox Blood Powder, didn't even look, and stuffed them directly into his mouth!

The dry, bitter taste exploded on his tongue, and the sharp dregs even cut his mouth.

But Chen Fan didn't care. He fully activated his critical hit system!

Buzz—!

The familiar system vibration sounded again, but this time, the prompt was entirely different!

【Detecting 'Concealed Fox Power' within Host's body. Special Material Source confirmed!】

【Devour conditions met. Initiating Secondary Devour Procedure!】

【Effect: Critical Hit × 2 Triggered!】

【Devour Successful! Congratulations to Host for acquiring the Special Ability—Taste of Shadow Cloak (Passive): Your aura and presence will merge with the shadows. Under system-level scanning and locking, you will gain a brief state of 'Data Blur,' achieving dual invisibility on both physical and informational levels. Duration: 15 minutes.】

A cool and subtle power instantly flowed through Chen Fan's entire body.

He felt as if he had become a wisp of smoke, a faint breeze, able to instantly merge into any surrounding shadow at will, remaining undetected.

"Not good!" Withered Money sensed the drastic change in Chen Fan's aura. A sense of crisis originating from the 'Recorder' instinct made him terrified.

He no longer cared about silencing Chen Fan. He turned and tried to melt into a pool of ink, escaping through the crack under the door!

"Trying to leave? Too late!"

Chen Fan's voice seemed to come from all directions, yet it also seemed nonexistent.

Withered Money looked around in terror but couldn't locate Chen Fan's figure at all.

He only felt a chill down his spine, and an unprecedented sense of crisis enveloped his heart.

The next second, Chen Fan's figure materialized ghost-like behind him.

He didn't directly attack Withered Money's body. Instead, he clenched his right fist, his arm muscles bulging, a massive power gathering in his palm. Aiming at the bluestone floor tiles beneath his feet, he slammed out with devastating force!

"Break for me!"

【Charged Critical Hit × 3!】

Boom!!!

An extremely muffled, massive sound shook the entire kitchen violently!

The explosive power didn't erupt upward but was precisely channeled downward by Chen Fan, traveling along the hard floor tiles like an underground shockwave, blasting toward the source of those ink strands—Withered Money's feet!

Crack! Crack-crack!

Centered on where Withered Money stood, the ground instantly cracked like a spiderweb!

The ink lines connecting to him, which seemed unbreakable, had their foundation instantly severed by this immense force rising from underground!

Pfft—!

Withered Money was struck as if by lightning, spitting out a mouthful of blood mixed with ink, stumbling forward.

The severed ink lines writhed frantically, like dying venomous snakes.

And at the fracture points, something that didn't belong to ink leaked out—it was shimmering, semi-transparent memory fragments!

The largest fragment slowly materialized and unfolded before Chen Fan's eyes.

The scene showed a woman with a haggard face but determined eyes. Her appearance resembled Su Shuang by seventy percent, but she looked much more weathered.

She was in a dark cellar, carefully burying the last packet of tea seeds wrapped in oil paper into a hidden compartment in the wall.

Her movements were gentle and devout, as if she were placing a rare treasure.

After finishing, she leaned weakly against the wall and whispered to the compartment, her voice full of defiance and hope:

"As long as the tea doesn't die, Qingqiu... will not perish."

The scene abruptly ended there.

Chen Fan's heart clenched violently. Qingqiu! He had heard this word in Su Shuang's murmurs!

Ignoring the dying Withered Money, he rushed to the wall shown in the memory fragment in three quick steps, reaching out to feel the rough surface.

Soon, he found a loose brick.

He pried it hard, and the brick fell away, revealing a pitch-black compartment behind it.

Inside the compartment lay three tea packets sealed in the same oil paper.

Chen Fan reached in and took them out; they were cold to the touch and felt heavy.

The packets had no labels, completely blank, as if their very existence was a secret that could not be recorded.

Without hesitation, he tore open one packet.

An indescribable, strange fragrance that seemed capable of blocking all perception rushed out.

Just as he was about to examine the tea leaves closely, the system alarm in his mind sounded sharply, with unprecedented severity!

【Warning! Warning! 'Illegal Anti-Surveillance Substance' detected!】

【This substance can interfere with the system's underlying data stream and distort causal judgment! Holders will be defaulted by the system as 'High-Risk Lurkers,' and surveillance levels will be raised to maximum!】

Chen Fan's pupils contracted sharply.

Illegal Anti-Surveillance Substance? High-Risk Lurker?

He understood instantly.

These tea leaves were not markers mixed with Fox Blood Powder at all. On the contrary, they were weapons to fight against the 'System'!

Su Shuang, or rather, the 'Qingqiu' behind her, were not rebels; they were the resistance!

Withered Money, slumped in the corner, looked at the tea packet in Chen Fan's hand, his face a mixture of fear and despair. He used the last bit of strength he had and murmured:

"It's useless... you can't escape... 'They' are drinking tea every day... the entire Heavenly Scroll World is under their surveillance..."

"They drink tea every day..." Chen Fan chewed over the sentence, and a terrifying conjecture formed in his mind.

If the enemy drinks 'tea' every day, it must be the 'tea' approved by the system, used for monitoring.

And the one in his hand was the 'tea' capable of resisting surveillance.

One positive, one negative; one life, one death.

He carefully tucked the three tea packets into his chest. They felt as heavy as three bombs ready to detonate.

He turned and looked toward the bed in the inner room where Su Shuang still lay in deep sleep.

Her delicate eyebrows were slightly furrowed, as if she were enduring immense pain even in her dreams.

Chen Fan's gaze became incredibly gentle, yet utterly resolute.

He walked to the bedside, leaned down, and whispered, so softly only he could hear:

"So, you weren't waiting for someone to avenge you."

"You were waiting for someone who could personally brew this tea, hand it to 'Them,' and turn it into a nightmare."

He stood up straight, his gaze sweeping over everything in the kitchen, finally resting on the three precious tea packets.

A corner of the secret had been revealed, but a larger mystery followed.

How exactly should these tea leaves be used to maximize their effect?

Swallow them directly?

Or brew them like ordinary tea leaves?

No, that was too simple.

Su Shuang's mother's devout posture and the unprecedented warning from the system all indicated that this object was extraordinary.

Its power must require some special ritual to awaken.

Chen Fan slowly walked to the stove and solemnly placed the three tea packets, which determined life and death, onto the cold chopping board.

Their blank packaging, under the dim firelight, resembled three sheets of white paper awaiting the writing of destiny.

His eyes were calm as water, but his heart was churning with stormy waves.

This was a crossroads; one wrong step would lead to eternal damnation.

But these tea leaves were both the key to the truth and the only sharp blade he could grasp to strike back against the invisible giant hand.