Reborn as the Last van Ambrose-Chapter 141: Shen Lao’s Truth

The passage leading away from the stomach was a nightmare of pulsing walls and shifting anatomy. Grim pressed himself against the fleshy tunnel as they climbed upward, the creature’s awakening causing the entire structure to shift and contract around them. The red bioluminescent veins embedded in the walls provided just enough light to navigate, but the constant motion made every step treacherous.

"This way," Lin called, her ice barrier flickering as she fought to maintain it against the acidic environment. "The passage opens up ahead."

They emerged into a vast chamber. Unlike the organic curves of the stomach, this space was clearly artificial—the walls were carved and even what appeared to be crude furniture scattered throughout. But most shocking of all were the figures moving in the shadows.

"Prisoners," Suanni breathed, his flames casting shadows as the prisoners began to look at them.

Most were clearly mad, gibbering to themselves or cowering from the light. Centuries of imprisonment in the belly of a creature had broken their minds, leaving them as hollow shells of whatever they had once been. But one figure stepped forward with purpose.

He was ancient even by dragon standards, his scales were a deep midnight blue. Scars covered his body. His eyes, when they fixed on Lin, held a recognition that made her step backward involuntarily.

"Princess Lin," the ancient dragon said, his voice like gravel grinding against stone. "You have your mother’s eyes. And her beauty. Though I suspect that’s where the similarities end."

"Who are you?" Lin demanded, ice forming defensively around her hands.

The dragon smiled, revealing teeth that had been filed to sharp points. "I am Shen Lao, once Dragon General of the North Sea, lover of your mother, and according to your father’s judgment, traitor to the realm."

Lin’s face went pale, her ice barriers flickering. "That’s impossible. My mother never—" freēwēbnovel.com

"Never what?" Shen Lao interrupted, circling them like a creature that had just found a new toy to play with. "Never took a lover before she was wed to your father? Never had secrets she kept from the court? Never bore a child that wasn’t Ao Shun’s?"

The words that Shen Lao said struck a chord in Lin’s heart. Around them, the other prisoners had begun to take notice, shambling closer with the desperate hunger of those who hadn’t seen new faces in centuries.

"You’re lying," Lin whispered, but her voice lacked conviction.

Shen Lao laughed, a sound like breaking ice. "Look at yourself, child. Your scales have that blue-black sheen that marks my bloodline. Your mother told you that you inherited unusual coloring from her grandmother, didn’t she? Another lie to protect Ao Shun’s precious pride."

Grim stepped protectively closer to Lin, his hand moving to his sword hilt. "Even if what you’re saying is true, what does it matter now?"

"Oh, it matters," Shen Lao replied, his gaze never leaving Lin’s face. "It matters because your ’father’ discovered the truth shortly before your mother’s death. It matters because her accident was no accident at all."

Lin’s ice barriers shattered as her concentration broke completely. "No. Father would never—"

"Your father is many things, but he is not a kinslayer," Shen Lao said almost gently. "He arranged for your mother to have an accident, yes. But he expected her to survive, perhaps with injuries that would keep her confined to the palace. He didn’t expect her to choose death rather than face the shame of her deception being revealed."

The Leviathan’s heartbeat thundered around them, each pulse causing the chamber to shift slightly.

"Why should we believe anything you say?" Suanni demanded, flames flickering higher around his mane. "You’re a convicted traitor."

"My treason was loving a woman who belonged to another," Shen Lao replied. "I tried to convince her to leave with me, to start new lives in the outer seas. She refused, choosing duty over love. So I remained as her secret companion, content with secret meetings."

He gestured to the carved walls around them. "When Ao Shun discovered our relationship, he could have simply executed me. Instead, he chose a more elaborate punishment. Forced to live forever with the knowledge that my love caused his wife’s death."

Lin sank to her knees, overwhelmed by the revelations. "All this time... he let me believe..."

"That you were his daughter," Shen Lao finished. "Because despite everything, Ao Shun raised you as his own. He never treated you differently, never let his knowledge change how he saw you. In that, at least, he showed honor."

The chamber shuddered more violently as the Leviathan’s movements became more erratic. Other prisoners were getting agitated, sensing change in their eternal prison.

"If you could escape," Grim said suddenly, "what would you do? Start a revolution against Ao Shun?"

Shen Lao’s eyes gleamed with dark amusement. "You think like a strategist, human. Yes, I could overthrow him if I chose. Do you think these walls truly hold me?" He gestured around the organic chamber. "I have the same power as Ao Shun—I can fly, I can command the deep waters, I can rally the dissatisfied to my cause."

"Then why haven’t you?" Grim pressed.

"Because," Shen Lao said, his gaze shifting to Lin, "my daughter needed to grow up safe. Revolution would have made her a target, a symbol to be used by both sides. I chose to remain here, to let her believe in the father who raised her, until she was strong enough to handle the truth."

"And now?" Lin asked quietly, looking up at him.

"Now you are grown. Now you can choose your own path," Shen Lao replied. "But first, we must survive this creature’s awakening."

Shen Lao nodded, his attention shifting to their immediate situation. "The gill chambers are through there," he pointed to a passage carved into the creature’s ribcage. "I’ve spent centuries mapping her anatomy. But the path is treacherous, and she’s beginning to wake up."

"You’ll help us?" Lin asked, looking up at him with eyes that held a mixture of hope and fear.

"You are my daughter," Shen Lao said simply. "Whatever else has happened, whatever lies have been told, that truth remains. I will not let you die in this place."

He moved toward the passage, then paused. "But know this, Lin—if we survive, if we escape this prison, Ao Shun will face a choice. He can continue the lie and accept you as his heir, or he can reveal the truth and watch his realm tear itself apart over questions of legitimacy."

"And if he chooses the truth?" Lin asked quietly.

Shen Lao’s smile was as sharp as his teeth. "Then the North Sea will have its first civil war in a thousand years. And your true father will no longer be content to rot in the belly of a beast."

Around them, the Leviathan’s heart thundered with increasing strength. But now their escape was complicated by revelations that could reshape the entire political structure of the North Sea.