Oh no! My grandmother made me shoulder the responsibility for eight households!

Chapter 291 Trip to Dongshan

The main hall was already brightly lit, with more than thirty tables set up neatly.

When Lin Chen brought his family in, the Eighteen Arhats and the One Hundred and Eight Hidden Dragon Guards were already seated.

The three hundred Great Snow Dragon Riders have their own barracks area, which is not here.

Upon seeing Lin Chen enter, everyone stood up.

Lin Chen smiled and waved his hand, "Sit down, sit down, don't be so formal. It's a family dinner today, so please order whatever you like."

Zhuge Liang, fanning himself with a feather fan, walked over and sat down next to Li Chunfeng.

The eighteen Arhats put their hands together in prayer and chanted a Buddhist mantra in unison.

The 108 Hidden Dragon Guards sat down silently, like a group of shadows.

Lin Chen helped the old lady sit down at the main table, and Su Wanqing sat down next to her.

He sat in the main seat, with Liu Ruyan on his left and Zhao Mingyue on his right.

Lin Nian'er insisted on squeezing between him and Liu Ruyan. The little girl had been having a blast today and was still very energetic, her eyes shining.

"Uncle, Uncle, this table is huge!"

Lin Chen smiled and placed a piece of meat on her plate, saying, "Only a large body can hold you."

Lin Nian'er happily put it in her mouth, her mouth full of oil.

The food and drinks were served one after another.

Lin Chen glanced around and saw everything imaginable: flying creatures, running creatures, and swimming creatures.

The most extravagant dish was the main course in the middle—a whole roasted lamb, golden and glistening, its aroma filling the entire hall.

Wen Ruoxi's eyes widened. "How much silver would that cost?"

Qin Shuyan calmly said from the side, "It's not expensive. A Spirit-Nourishing Sheep from the Snowy Mountains of the Western Regions costs ten thousand taels."

Wen Ruoxi: "..."

Xiao Yulou had already started eating, mumbling as he gnawed on a lamb leg:

"Delicious! Delicious!"

Chu Yueyao slowly sipped her soup.

Ye Qingying remained aloof and indifferent, but she ate with relish.

Lan Fenghuang and Liu Shengxue sat together, eating their meals in silence.

Yao Yao and Qing'er, along with a few other girls, chattered away, pointing and commenting on the dishes on the table.

Qin Xin and the other three ate elegantly, their every move exuding good manners.

After finishing the meat in her mouth, Lin Nian'er set her sights on the whole roasted lamb:

"Uncle Ba, Uncle Ba, I want to eat that!"

Lin Chen tore off a piece of the tenderest meat for her, and she took it and started to gnaw on it.

The old lady couldn't stop smiling as she watched the lively scene.

She raised her wine cup, gesturing to Zhuge Liang and Li Chunfeng.

"Gentlemen, you've worked hard. This Dongshan has been built to an eye-opener for me."

Zhuge Liang quickly stood up: "You flatter me, Madam. This is our duty."

Li Chunfeng also stood up, raised his cup and said, "Grandma is too kind. It is all thanks to the lord's skillful command."

Lin Chen chuckled beside him, "Alright, alright, we're family, no need for formalities, sit down and eat."

The two sat down, laughing.

After several rounds of drinks and five courses of food,

Lin Chen stood up, raised his wine cup, and gestured to the Eighteen Arhats and the One Hundred and Eight Hidden Dragon Guards:

"Brothers, let me raise a toast to you all!"

The eighteen Arhats chanted the Buddha's name in unison and raised their wine cups.

The 108 Hidden Dragon Guards silently raised their glasses.

Lin Chen drank it all in one gulp.

Everyone drank it all.

The old lady looked at Lin Chen with eyes full of love.

"Chen'er, come, have a drink with your grandmother."

Lin Chen picked up his wine glass and clinked it against the old lady's.

"Grandma, are you happy today?"

The old lady smiled so hard her eyes narrowed into slits: "So happy, so incredibly happy."

Looking at this large family, and at this beautiful land, I feel my life has been worthwhile.

Lin Chen said earnestly, "Grandmother, there will be even better ones in the future."

The old lady patted his hand: "Alright, Grandmother will wait."

It was quite late when the banquet ended.

Everyone went back to their respective courtyards to rest.

Lin Chen first escorted the old lady and Su Wanqing back to their courtyard, then went to check on Liu Ruyan and the other pregnant women to make sure they were all settled before heading towards the main courtyard.

After taking only a few steps, Zhuge Liang and Li Chunfeng came to meet them.

"My lord, the passage leading to the mountain's interior and the teleportation array are in your study and behind the main hall, respectively. I'll take you to see them."

Lin Chen nodded and followed Li Chunfeng and Zhuge Liang to the back of the huge screen wall in the main hall.

A huge array plate was carved on the ground, with dense array patterns. When Li Chunfeng stepped on it, the array plate lit up with a blue light.

"My lord, just step in."

Lin Chen stepped onto it, and there was a slight tremor beneath his feet. A flash of white light appeared before his eyes—

When I opened my eyes again, I was already inside the mountain, on a huge platform.

Lin Chen looked up and was momentarily lost in thought.

The entire space is hundreds of feet high, with a nine-layered structure, layer upon layer.

Each level has stone railings and corridors along its edges, and the walls are covered with intricate patterns, one after another, as dense as a spider web.

Every so often, a fist-sized dot of light shines through the wall, like a star embedded in the mountain.

Li Chunfeng pointed to those points of light,

"Those are the array bases on the ground of the mountain. There are a total of 365, all hidden in the rock strata, and they cannot be seen from the outside at all."

If an enemy attacks, these nodes can be activated instantly to protect the foundation of the mountain range.

Zhuge Liang lightly waved his fan and replied:

"We are now at the bottom level, which is the largest space, a hundred feet high. The ninth level at the top is only ten feet high."

Each layer is thirty zhang thick, all reinforced with arrays, and each layer is covered with a grand celestial array. With all nine layers activated, even celestial beings would have to kneel.

"Moreover," Zhuge Liang pointed to some small holes in the wall in the distance.

"These ventilation openings connect to the outside of the mountain. They are cleverly designed so that wind can come in but people cannot."

There's also a light-guiding array on top, which draws sunlight down during the day and makes the luminous pearl light up automatically at night.

Lin Chen nodded and scanned the entire first floor with his divine sense.

A thousand Snow Dragon Riders and five hundred elite Shu soldiers were stationed here, and it didn't feel crowded at all.

The living area, activity area, and training area can easily accommodate another 3,000 people.

The grain reserves are full of grain, enough to feed 100,000 people for ten years.

The medicinal herbs in the medicine warehouse were neatly stacked.

The armory was also crammed full.

After observing, Lin Chen turned to look at Zhuge Liang and Li Chunfeng, opened his mouth, and uttered a sentence.

"You two have made such a big deal out of this?"

Zhuge Liang chuckled lightly, "For the sake of the Lin family's everlasting legacy, we must proceed with utmost care and prudence."

Li Chunfeng interjected, "If time weren't so tight, we could have done even better. We can only wait until we have more time to gradually reinforce and build upon it."

Lin Chen waved his hand, "We'll talk about that later. Does anyone outside the area know about the construction inside the mountain?"

Zhuge Liang gently waved his fan. "Only Chunfeng and I have seen the design drawings."

The main force of the construction was the Great Snow Dragon Cavalry and five hundred elite Shu soldiers.

The three thousand craftsmen recruited who had signed life-or-death contracts had their memories of that period erased after the work was completed, were placed under a protective spell, given ample retirement funds, and were all sent to the northern border.

Li Chunfeng added, "The formation outside the mountain has been activated, and ordinary people can't even find the cave entrance."

Lin Chen nodded, looked at the massive underground city before him, and remained silent for a few seconds.

"Okay, then I'll feel more confident when I'm having fun from now on."

Li Chunfeng and Zhuge Liang exchanged a glance and both smiled.