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Hui Niang rushed out of the bedroom like a whirlwind. Xing Ruyi glanced at the fox but had no time to ponder the conversation she just had with Hui Niang. She stomped her foot and ran out after her.
"Hey!" A sigh came from the doorway. Yin Yuan leaned against the door, watching Xing Ruyi's retreating figure and shook his head. "Ever since we left Luoyang, my mother has become more and more like an ordinary person, losing that calmness she once had."
"Your mother was always an ordinary person!" the fox remarked, casting a glance at Yin Yuan. "Have you seen enough of the excitement?"
"My Uncle Chang is too slow. He hasn't even arrived yet; how can the show begin? Without the show starting, where's the excitement for me to watch? But you, Father, why are you still standing here? Aren't you worried that my naive mother might be schemed against? Don't forget, she can't use that ghostly technique anymore."
The fox shot another glance at Yin Yuan, performed a spell, and vanished from sight.
Yin Yuan touched his chubby nose and entered the house. The Human Skin brocade robe was still on the ground, but it had been altered slightly to fit its previous owner, Hui Niang. As he looked at the clothes on the floor, his eyes suddenly brightened. He walked over and carefully folded the robe. "This Human Skin brocade robe is quite a good item; since no one else wants it, I might as well keep it."
Hui Niang burst out of the house and ran all the way to a cave on the back mountain before stopping.
"Hui Niang!" Xing Ruyi chased after her, panting heavily. When she reached Hui Niang and saw her only crying without any other issues, she breathed a sigh of relief. "Madam, are you alright?"
Hui Niang pressed her lips tightly together and pointed at the cave half-covered by wild grass. She closed her eyes and slumped down onto the ground.
"What’s inside that cave?"
Xing Ruyi looked at the dark cave, partially concealed, resembling a wild beast's open mouth hidden in the night. A chilling wind blew out from the cave, instantly conjuring many terrifying scenes in her mind. She hadn't felt this kind of fear in a long time, especially since meeting the fox. Perhaps because she hadn't used ghostly techniques recently, she felt as if she had reverted to her state before encountering the fox—impatient and somewhat timid.
Hui Niang stared at the dark cave, merely sobbing softly. Seeing Hui Niang like this reminded Xing Ruyi of what the fox had said to her earlier.
Hui Niang had inadvertently overheard a conversation between her in-laws. Her mother-in-law asked her father-in-law if everything was handled smoothly. He replied that if it weren't handled smoothly, how could he dare return to see her? Coupled with what Butler Yun had said about Mother-in-law Hui Niang while they were at Yun's residence, everything clicked into place for Xing Ruyi.
Taking a deep breath, Xing Ruyi pushed aside the dry grass in front of the cave and took a step forward. Just as she was about to take another step, the fox appeared.
"Wait!" The fox grabbed Xing Ruyi's arm. "It's very dark inside; without a torch, how will you go in?"
"You're here?" Xing Ruyi looked into the fox's eyes and relaxed completely. "It's okay, my eyes have already adapted to the darkness here. Besides, I just wanted to go in and take a look, to see if this cave is as I imagined."
The fox looked at Xing Ruyi and shook his head helplessly. "Do you want me to accompany you?"
"Of course! You know I can't use ghost techniques and can't illuminate myself with Eerie Flame." Xing Ruyi hugged the fox's arm. "When I was at the Yun residence, I heard Butler Yun mention a couple of things about Mother-in-law of Hui Niang, who runs a special business that deals with the dead. But no matter how much I think about it, I can't imagine Hui Niang's parents being involved. After all, they are family; would Mother-in-law of Hui Niang really harm Hui Niang's biological parents?"
"It seems you're not that foolish after all. You've figured out what I said about Hui Niang."
"Yes! I admit my intelligence has been a bit lacking lately." A hint of melancholy appeared on Xing Ruyi's face. "After coming to the Golden Tang Dynasty, because of you and having ghost techniques by my side, I felt like I had become remarkable, as if nothing in this world could affect me. But after what happened with the bell, I suddenly realized that I'm just Xing Ruyi, someone who panics in difficult situations, lacks ideas, and often needs others to care for and protect her."
"You are you, the one and only Xing Ruyi in this world. Even I have had my share of being pushed off the stage. So, Fox Demon, promise me to let go of yourself. What happened with the bell is not your fault and has nothing to do with you." The fox gently embraced her. "Come on, I'll accompany you inside to take a look. You don't have to feel like you're relying on me; as your husband, it's my duty to protect you in critical moments."
Xing Ruyi looked up and deeply into the fox's eyes before saying, "Okay!"
The cave was very dark; besides the cold air, there was a nauseating smell lingering in the air. That smell was familiar to Xing Ruyi; it was a mix of dampness from the cave and decay from corpses. She instinctively moved closer to the fox. The fox snapped his fingers, and the cave instantly lit up. Only then did Xing Ruyi see several glowing orbs floating in mid-air; she had no idea how the fox had created them.
At that moment, Xing Ruyi wasn't curious about the glowing orbs; she saw two corpses. One was half-lying not far from the entrance of the cave; it seemed that it had struggled before dying and even attempted to crawl out of the cave but ultimately succumbed here.
From examining the corpse, it appeared to be a male body, around forty to forty-five years old. The fatal wound was in his abdomen, likely caused by a sharp weapon thrusting in quickly. The assailant had struck hard and fast; there were also some marks left by the weapon on corresponding bones.
"It looks like two stabs!" Xing Ruyi examined the corpse closely again. "On the back, around the waist area, the assailant stabbed again. It was just as quick and precise; however, perhaps due to some struggle from the deceased, it didn't prove fatal. From these marks on the ground, it seems he tried to escape for help but was forcibly pulled back by the assailant before receiving another stab."
Xing Ruyi stood up and glanced outside the cave. It was equally dark outside, but she could faintly hear Hui Niang's soft cries. She sighed and looked into the fox's eyes. "This person must be Hui Niang's father, right? The location of this cave is so remote and hidden that ordinary people wouldn't come here or follow a stranger here easily. Hui Niang kneeling outside crying clearly indicates she knows what's going on and recognizes that her loved ones are inside this cave."
Then Xing Ruyi went to examine the female corpse. As she approached, she gasped softly. Although it was a female skeleton before her, it seemed too clean—clean like a human model lying white in the cave. As she got closer, she realized that this wasn't the natural color of the bones but rather that they were wrapped in a layer of fine soft material.
"What is this? Silkworm silk?" Xing Ruyi looked at those things and picked up a dry twig from nearby to poke at one of the fine threads. "How could there be such things on this skeleton? Even silkworms wouldn't spin silk around a skeleton like this so meticulously. Fox, do you know why?"
The fox shook his head and walked over to take a serious look at the female skeleton as well. "This is Yun Hui's mother; that first Human Skin garment fell off her body. As for how this Human Skin garment was generated, I don't know; I only know that this cave is quite strange."
The fox manipulated the glowing orbs in mid-air, and as they moved, Xing Ruyi noticed deeper within the cave, there were many white cocoons. Some of those cocoons were large, the biggest resembling a water barrel, looking quite terrifying.
"Are there really cocoons this big in the world? No! I mean, are there really silkworms this large?"
The fox remained silent, raising a hand to slice through the nearest cocoon. When it broke open, a white skeleton fell out. Judging by the size of the skeleton, it appeared to be that of a young boy, no older than fifteen.
"Do you remember the scene you saw at Hui Niang's house? These people must have been wrapped up in their own silk, but the outcomes after being wrapped are vastly different," the fox said, slicing open another cocoon, but this one was empty. "Inside these cocoons, some only have skeletons left, some have turned into pools of blood, and others, like this cocoon, leave nothing behind."
"What about this one?" Xing Ruyi pointed at Hui Niang's corpse. "Where did her cocoon go?"
"Human Skin Brocade?" The fox softly uttered those four words. "I'm not sure what makes her different from those people, but strangely enough, she transformed. Instead of becoming a large cocoon like them, she directly turned her flesh into clothing—what you saw earlier as Human Skin Brocade.
You already know the function of Human Skin Brocade. It can perfectly repair skin and, when matured, can even grant longevity to the wearer. However, in its early stages, the side effects are quite pronounced; it consumes all the flesh and blood of the wearer to sustain itself. The lady from Yun Manor and her maid Red Willow were both sustenance for this garment. Hui Niang was able to escape because this Human Skin Brocade was originally made from her Mother's flesh, which created a connection between them. Additionally, we arrived just in time to save her."
"This is too insane; it's practically a story from Fang Ye Tan."
Suddenly, Xing Ruyi recalled something else the fox had mentioned earlier. The reason he helped the elderly man in the building remove his Human Skin Brocade was for himself, yet after taking it off, he never gave it to himself. She had asked the fox if there were any side effects associated with that Human Skin Brocade. Now it seemed that this matured Human Skin Brocade must also have flaws unknown to her. But the fox knew them; that's why he abandoned the thought of using Human Skin Brocade for his own longevity.
"Does that matured Human Skin Brocade also have an irresistible flaw? The reason why the building's Master wanted to remove it surely isn't just because he was tired of living so simply, right?"
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