Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
There is a saying in folklore: if someone who has died in your dreams calls you, you must never agree to follow them, for that is a one-way ticket to the Underworld, with no return!
Luoyang City · Ruyi Rouge Shop
When Yin Yuan saw the fox appear, his first reaction was to sneak away while munching on a chicken leg. However, he was blocked at the door by Xing Ruyi, who had already seen through his intentions.
The fox smiled and said to Chang Tai, "Lord Chang, I apologize; my adopted son needs some proper discipline!"
Chang Tai stood there, speechless, as the situation felt quite awkward for him. He could dismiss Yin Yuan's words as childish nonsense but dared not speculate on what the fox might think upon hearing them. He looked at Xing Ruyi, whose full attention was on Yin Yuan.
She grabbed Yin Yuan's ear again and said, "What did you do at the charity house? You were stirring up trouble for no reason; you must have done something bad to divert our attention."
Yin Yuan finished the chicken leg and mumbled with a mouthful of bones, "Actually, it’s nothing much. I just thought that beautiful sister marrying that ugly son of the Deputy Minister of War was a bit unfair, so I hid her away."
Chang Tai was shocked!
It was one thing to believe in ghosts or monsters, but for a three-year-old child to not only run into their capital's government office alone but also hide a corpse was simply terrifying. Could it be that their government office was this weak?
With a serious expression, he said nothing and turned to leave the Rouge shop.
"What's wrong with Brother Chang?"
"He was scared by what you just said!" The fox looked at Chang Tai with some sympathy and pointed at Yin Yuan. "In the future, don’t joke about your mother! Not because it will hurt her, but because it will hurt others. Do you understand?"
Yin Yuan chewed on the bones and nodded. "I will go apologize to Lord Chang!"
"You’d better not!"
"Why?"
"The prestigious Yamen in the capital is considered an important place. You, a child, wandering in and out as if it were a deserted area, what do you think others will think?"
"Treat me like a martial arts master!" Yin Yuan said with a mischievous smile. Seeing that Xing Ruyi and the fox had serious expressions, he lowered his head and added, "Alright, they might think I'm a monster. But I just went to the charity house, and with Grandpa One-Eye there, plus I look so cute, everything should be fine."
"I hope Lord Chang thinks the same!" The fox shook his head gently and glanced at Xing Ruyi.
Xing Ruyi playfully stuck out her tongue and said, "Did I forget? I thought after what happened with Rouge, Brother Chang would be used to these things." As soon as she finished speaking, she suddenly slapped her forehead in frustration and exclaimed, "Oh no! I almost forgot! Brother Chang wouldn't really hire a coroner to examine my sister's body, would he?"
"Fox Demon!" The fox looked at her helplessly.
"Wait for me to explain when I get back!" Xing Ruyi said hurriedly as she lifted her skirt and ran out.
Inside the charity house of the Yamen in the capital, her sister's body lay peacefully in the coffin. To prevent decomposition, the Li family had placed many ice blocks around the coffin. Her sister was dressed in a bright red wedding garment, and aside from being slightly pale, she looked almost like a living person.
"Why can't we call the coroner over?"
Chang Tai felt both excited and puzzled as Xing Ruyi caught up with him. He didn't understand why she had just suggested calling a coroner to examine her sister's body at Rouge but suddenly changed her mind and decided to come herself.
Chang Tai trusted Xing Ruyi's medical skills; besides, she possessed abilities that even Liu from Jishengtang did not have.
The exorcism at Sister-in-law Village, helping Hui Niang clear her name, and the soul-calling bell that transformed into Rouge all seemed intricately connected to the Fox Demon. Watching Xing Ruyi's retreating figure, he felt that his understanding of her was dwindling and becoming increasingly unfamiliar.
What Chang Tai was thinking, Xing Ruyi was unaware of; she was solely focused on her sister in the coffin. "Brother Chang must have forgotten that this sister is the chosen daughter-in-law of Li Tai. If we openly call a coroner over to dissect her body, do you think Li Tai would let us off easily given his character?"
Chang Tai shook his head but then replied, "But this sister's cause of death is suspicious. As a constable in the Yamen, I have the right to uncover the truth!"
"Though this may be the case, Li Tai may not necessarily think so." Xing Ruyi said, pulling out a slender silver needle that was as long as her middle finger, and aimed it at her sister's throat and stomach. In a moment, the silver needle turned black.
"What is this—"
Xing Ruyi pulled out the needle and held it up to her nose to sniff, "It's a Hooked-Wort!"
Luoyang, Sister-in-law Village
Wang Shi heard Qiao Qiao's cries in her dream. Terrified, she wanted to hide, but her body involuntarily got out of bed and began to move step by step toward the outside.
The moonlight was bright, illuminating Midnight Village. Even the barking of dogs, which usually annoyed her, had vanished without a trace. A breeze brushed past her ears, cold and chilling, like a hand that had just climbed out of a well.
Wang Shi recognized the path; it led to the well.
She struggled desperately to turn around, but her feet would not obey her. All she could hear were Qiao Qiao's calls.
"Mother-in-law, mother-in-law, come quickly!"
"Qiao Qiao! Qiao Qiao! Don't hate me; I had no choice! It was for your uncle and for your brother!" Wang Shi muttered to herself, cold sweat trickling down her forehead and sliding into her collar, sending chills down her spine.
"Mother-in-law, mother-in-law, come quickly! Qiao Qiao is waiting for you in the water!"
Qiao Qiao's voice was as gentle as usual, but Wang Shi heard laughter—sharp and somewhat eerie laughter.
She knew that it was Qiao Qiao's ghost coming to find her.
She was very afraid, but Qiao Qiao's voice seemed to beckon her soul, leaving her nowhere to hide and powerless to resist.
Finally, she arrived at the well, where it was dark, and she could barely see a bucket.
Wang felt her heart tightening little by little. She instinctively clenched her fists, wanting to hold her breath, but her breathing became more and more rapid.
Suddenly, the wooden board that had been covering the well was moved without warning. Wang was pulled forward by a tremendous force and was sucked into the well. At the moment she fell, she saw Qiao Qiao, with hair like a waterfall, looking up at her and smiling in the water.
“Aunt! You’re here!”
Wang was startled and opened her eyes.
“It’s you, Aunt Wang! Why are you so reckless, coming here to seek death in the middle of the night?”
“Yes, yes, we are all saddened by Qiao Qiao’s situation. But aren’t the people from the Government Office searching for her? Why do this?”
“Fortunately, Er Lu was awake late; if no one had seen you, by tomorrow morning, wouldn’t you be just like Qiao Qiao?”
“What are you talking about, Uncle?”
“I’m just being foolish; I spoke out of turn. Aunt Wang, please don’t take it to heart!”
The crowd chattered away, and Wang felt cold all over, even dizzy in her head. After a while, she managed to clear her mind and realized she was lying next to the well, surrounded by villagers from her community.
“What happened to me?”
“What happened? You were feeling hopeless and were about to jump into the well. Luckily, I—Er Lu—was quick!” A scruffy man who looked like a beggar approached. “I couldn’t sleep at night and went out for a drink. When I came back, I saw a woman standing by the well. I thought it was someone’s wife and wanted to touch her. Just as I got close, before I could even reach out my hand, you jumped down. I panicked and just reached out to grab you. Fortunately, I really caught you. When I pulled you up and saw it was you from Lai Fu's Family, no wonder I felt so heavy in my hands.”
“Er Lu, what are you talking about?”
Er Lu exhaled through his nostrils and rubbed his still sore hand. "If I had known it was an old hag, I wouldn't have meddled in this. But now that we're good, I've saved you once, so when dawn breaks, have your family Wang Laifu send me some money for wine. Not much, just enough to buy a jar of Peach Blossom Wine in the city."
The crowd began to chatter, but Wang had no mind to listen, as all she could hear was Qiao Qiao calling her 'aunt' and a chill running down her spine. Just as she was about to get up and head home, she suddenly noticed Qiao Qiao standing behind the crowd, drenched and staring at her with a pair of mischievous eyes.
"Aunt, aren't you going to stay and keep Qiao Qiao company?"
Wang gasped and quickly covered her eyes. "Qiao Qiao! Qiao Qiao! I beg you, spare me! I didn't mean to push you into the well; I had no choice, no choice at all!"
"What? You pushed Qiao Qiao into the well!" Wang Laifeng squeezed through the crowd.
He had been awakened in the middle of the night by a cold wind. When he opened his eyes and didn't see Wang, he thought she was busy with women's matters outside. However, before he could finish that thought, he heard a neighbor calling for him, saying that Wang had jumped into the well out of despair. He rushed over in a panic, only to hear Wang's earlier words.
Qiao Qiao, his niece, had actually been pushed into the well by his own wife.
The villagers around them had speculated various things after Qiao Qiao fell into the well, but hearing Wang say it out loud left them momentarily stunned.
"Report it to the authorities!"
"Yes, report it!"
"Report it! We can't let Wang the murderer go free!"
Wang collapsed on the ground, her face ashen, while Wang Laifeng held his head in despair.
Not far from the crowd, Shengzi let out a sigh of relief and pointed at the group of onlookers. "You all need to remember those faces clearly; when we inquire later, not a single one can be missed. They are all witnesses!"
"Don't worry, Brother Sheng. We'll find out not just their faces but also where they live," replied two Yard Officers squatting beside Shengzi. One of them then asked curiously, "Brother Sheng, how did you know that Wang would come to the well tonight and reveal the truth? Could it be that she really saw Qiao Qiao's ghost?"
"Possible! Possible!" Shengzi stroked his chin, pretending to be profound. He wouldn't tell these two that he had secretly slipped a drug into Wang's water tank. As for what the drug was, he didn't know, nor did he understand why it only affected Wang.
Could it really be like Brother Chang said, a soul-snatching drug specifically designed to capture the souls of murderers?
Thinking of this, he suddenly shivered and quickly shook his head.
"Sheng Ge, what's wrong with you?"
"Get up, get up! I've been squatting for too long; my legs are numb!"
"So what are we going to do next?"
"Return to the city and wait for those villagers to bring the murderer to us!"
"Will they really bring him?" The two Yard Officers looked uncertainly at the villagers. "We're all from the same village; they all share the surname Wang!"
"Don't worry. Even if they don't bring him, Wang will come to the Yamen to confess on her own." Shengzi lowered his head and counted on his fingers. He thought that if these villagers dared to harbor the murderer, he would give Wang another dose of that drug, making her have nightmares every night and see ghosts!
Comment 0 Comment Count