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墨書 Inktalez
Although the tone was questioning, Yin Yuan still sensed the underlying anxiety in those words. He looked into Xing Ruyi's eyes and asked, "What happened?"
"A Niu is dead! He was killed!" Xing Ruyi said, gradually regaining her composure and relaxing. "Also, A Niu's soul is missing!"
"A Niu?"
Yin Yuan had considered many possibilities, but he never imagined that the person who had met with misfortune in the residence would be the assistant A Niu. A Niu had not been by Fox Demon’s mother's side for long, and he was an ordinary mortal without any significant background or abilities. Yin Yuan could not fathom who would choose this moment to take his life. It would be one thing to take his life, but to not even spare his soul—could it be... Yin Yuan's gaze shifted slightly as he said, "Yesterday, Mother married Father Fox, so there is something I haven't told you."
"Is it related to A Niu?"
"On the surface, it seems unrelated; after all, humans and demons are on different paths, and A Niu didn't possess anything special." Yin Yuan's expression grew serious. "But since A Niu is dead and it happened at such a critical time, with his soul mysteriously missing, I think there might actually be some special connection between these seemingly unrelated events."
"Oh dear, you're going to drive your mother crazy! Hurry up and tell me what happened!"
"Last night, after Father Fox and Fox Demon entered their room, several red lights suddenly flashed. Deer Lady and I went out to investigate. We both sensed demonic energy."
"Demonic energy?"
"Of course. This demonic energy was neither from Father Fox nor from you, Mother; it came from the Yun family, which attracted a large number of demons overnight. We don't know if their arrival is related to you, but since it was your wedding night with Father Fox, we couldn't allow any accidents to happen. After discussing with Deer Lady, we decided to split up and check things out. Along the way, we also hunted some game."
"What about Deer Lady?"
"I don't know. When you arrived, I had just returned. If nothing unusual happened on Deer Lady's side, she should have returned home by now."
"No! Deer Lady hasn't come back!"
As soon as Yin Yuan finished speaking, a voice interrupted him. Xing Ruyi turned toward the sound and saw the fox materializing.
"Deer Lady hasn't returned?"
The fox's expression was extremely grave—something Xing Ruyi had never seen since knowing him. An uneasy feeling spread through her heart as she instinctively walked over to the fox and gently took his hand.
"You look terrible; did something happen? What about Pixiu Uncle? Is he alright?"
“Pixiu Uncle is missing!” The fox looked up at Xing Ruyi: “And that mysterious figure is also gone. Additionally, I found this at the scene. It seems there was a fierce battle last night, but it was brief; otherwise, with my Daoist Practice, I would have sensed it.”
“That’s not right! If Pixiu Uncle really fought with that mysterious figure, the commotion would have been significant. Even if Father was deeply immersed in Mother’s gentle embrace, he wouldn’t have been completely unaware. Unless they set up a barrier during the fight.”
“Impossible! Pixiu is impulsive and somewhat arrogant; he wouldn’t be able to consider so much during a battle. As for the mysterious figure, he might be capable of such a thing, but Pixiu wouldn’t give him that opportunity.” The fox shook its head. “We must have overlooked something.”
“What did we overlook?”
Xing Ruyi stared blankly at the fox, realizing her mind was completely empty at that moment. Despite having experienced so much, she still panicked when faced with a situation.
“The scent! Did you arrange for Deer Lady to burn incense in our new house last night?”
Xing Ruyi shook her head.
“I don’t have the habit of burning incense before sleeping, and I doubt Deer Lady would think to make such an arrangement on a whim. After all, we are not an ordinary newlywed couple; although we are married, we’ve been living together before the wedding. Besides wishing for an early heir, Deer Lady wouldn’t care about these formalities.”
Xing Ruyi added, “What was that scent you mentioned earlier? Was it the scent of Osmanthus Honey?”
“Osmanthus Honey?” The fox raised an eyebrow.
As for A Niu’s cause of death, Xing Ruyi had not yet confronted him, so she didn’t understand why the Fox Demon brought up Osmanthus Honey. However, seeing her frown and the hint of anxiety in her eyes brought her back to reality.
“Did you find out about A Niu’s cause of death? Is it related to this Osmanthus Honey?”
Xing Ruyi nodded: “You still haven’t told me what that scent was.”
“I’m not sure either. Since neither of us has any clues right now, let’s go back to the new house and see if I overlooked something or if we’ve already fallen into someone else’s scheme.”
Xing Ruyi looked up at the fox and said nothing further.
Yin Yuan also caught on to the implication in the fox's words; a hint of anger flickered in his brows, causing his elegant blue robe to change color instantly—his inner garment red and outer garment black—giving him a somewhat eerie resemblance to the Demonic Soul of the Ghostly Fetus.
The new house still looked the same as when Xing Ruyi and the fox left in the morning, with no signs of anyone having entered. This meant that if someone had tampered with their new home yesterday, the three of them, given their Daoist practice, would certainly have noticed something amiss.
Xing Ruyi was the head of the Ruyi Rouge shop, known for her keen sense of smell. To maintain her olfactory sensitivity, she preferred a simple and fresh decor in both the main store in Luoyang and this newly opened branch at Yun Family Gathering. Occasionally, there would be some flowers in the room, but they were always fresh and seasonal, usually kept to a single type. Most of the time, there were no flowers at all, just some fruits displayed.
Although the new house had more decorations for aesthetics, the Deer Lady clearly did not change Xing Ruyi's established habits. The room only had two bouquets of red roses and some brightly colored fruits that were likely brought back from Qingqiu. Xing Ruyi recognized these fruits; besides apples symbolizing peace, there were also pomegranates representing happiness and prosperity. However, the fox had already identified that the scent he detected did not come from these three items.
Just as the three were at a loss, Yin Yuan's gaze fell upon the two bouquets of roses.
"Did Father Fox bring these flowers back from Qingqiu? They don't seem like ordinary things from this world," he remarked.
"No," the fox replied, also looking at the two red roses. "In Qingqiu, weddings are usually simple and do not follow human customs. However, considering your mother is a mortal, I wanted to give her a beautiful wedding by human standards. Beforehand, I consulted with Deer Lady and Chang Tai privately and shared what I had seen at some human wedding venues with them. Deer Lady thought scattering rose petals was a great idea, but since it was still early spring and the wedding date was approaching, I had no time to return to Qingqiu. These flowers were brought back by Chang Tai."
"Uncle Chang? Even though he is the First Constable of the Capital and familiar with this Yun Family Gathering, where did he find so many flowers all at once?"
"There are only these two bouquets. Most of the petals along the wedding procession were conjured by me as a fox spirit," the fox explained as he approached the two bouquets of roses.
Though he was a fox spirit, he had previously been an innocent male fox spirit who was unaware of worldly matters and did not pay much attention to flowers or fruits. It was only after hearing Yin Yuan's comment that he focused on these two bouquets of roses. Indeed, these seemingly ordinary roses were not from this world; especially the blue halo surrounding the rose petals felt somewhat familiar to him.
As he brushed his hand over them, the originally vibrant roses changed color in an instant.
"This is—"
"Soul-Entrancing Grass!"
"Soul-Entrancing Grass?" Xing Ruyi looked at the roses that had turned blue in an instant and quietly asked, "Isn't that a blue enchantress?"
The fox gently shook his head. "I know what you mean by blue enchantress, but these are not what you see in later generations—those artificially cultivated hybrids of peonies and roses—but rather Soul-Entrancing Grass that blooms in the Underworld."
"But I have never seen them in the Underworld."
"Of course you haven't. This Soul-Entrancing Grass is formed from the tears of female ghosts who are troubled by love; it only grows in the coldest corners beneath Wangxiang Terrace. Although you have been to the Underworld, you have never set foot on Wangxiang Terrace, let alone those corners covered by yellow springs. I heard about this flower from Cui Fujun; when it blooms, its fragrance can enchant people and create various beautiful illusions for them. However, one can become deeply entrapped within it and unable to escape."
The fox pulled out the bundle of Soul-Entrancing Grass from the right side with its hand.
"This Soul-Entrancing Grass can indeed enchant people, but it only works on mortals. The person who placed this Soul-Entrancing Grass in the room clearly did not intend to truly harm you, so they must have tampered with it a bit," the fox said, pouring out the contents of the bottle.
"It’s a talisman written with the juice extracted from Corpse Flower."
Corpse Flower? Xing Ruyi recognized that name. It was known as the devil's flower, capable of creating illusions and confusing people's minds. But now, she was not concerned with the effects of the Soul-Entrancing Grass, Corpse Flower, or the talisman; she wanted to find out who had placed this flower and bottle in the room. Was it Deer Lady or Chang Tai?
"It was Chang Tai!" The fox lightly uttered those three words. "This bouquet was sent over just before the wedding; at that time, Deer Lady was still at Rouge's place. This bouquet was arranged by Chang Tai himself."
"But why would he..." Xing Ruyi looked at the fox eagerly, her body involuntarily shaking slightly. "I can't understand why Brother Chang would do this!"
"Perhaps Chang Tai has his reasons that he cannot avoid," the fox gently embraced Xing Ruyi. "Don't forget, your Brother Chang is always within the public sphere, and the Empress, whom he serves, is someone who could provide him with assistance. Moreover, he is from the Golden Tang Dynasty, and there are bound to be many entanglements behind him. Now that we know who that person is, we also know what has happened to Deer Lady and Pixiu Uncle."
"And A Niu!" Xing Ruyi closed her eyes. "Although I don't understand why he would want to kill A Niu, only someone familiar with A Niu would be unguarded. Furthermore, only he would know my thought process when examining corpses and provide timely misleading guidance. Fox, my heart feels so heavy; I am truly heartbroken!"
Xing Ruyi turned around and fell into the fox's embrace.
When A Niu died, although she felt sorrowful, she managed to hold it back. When Deer Lady and Pixiu Uncle went missing, she worried but still restrained herself. However, this truth before her completely shattered her. Though she was still holding on, tears eventually fell.
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