Appearance
Feng Yi walked into the library of the Imperial Tutor’s Mansion with a lantern in hand. The Imperial Tutor didn’t like reading, but as prominent families in the Southern Capital all had to have a library to show their deep cultural heritage, the Imperial Tutor followed suit and built one. This library was not the trendy wooden structure but was built entirely of stone and clay, resembling a sacrificial altar from a distance. Inside, books were piled up haphazardly, and it was evident that the Imperial Tutor had never glanced at them.
Feng Yi groped around with his lantern in the library, not knowing where to start. Eventually, he found a book, looked at the title, and then placed the book on the third shelf of the fourth bookcase on the left. After another round of searching and finding, he placed another book on the first shelf of the second bookcase on the right. After placing seven books like this, there was a faint sound in the library, and the bookshelves trembled slightly, causing dust to fall, revealing an entrance on the ground. A staircase extended downward, disappearing into the darkness, with a faint glimmer of light.
Feng Yi then blew out the lantern and proceeded to descend the stairs, with the door to the secret room closing slowly behind him. As he descended the stairs, which took a turn underground, the surroundings suddenly became bright as day, illuminated by a hundred and fifty-nine lamps, making the entire underground chamber as bright as daylight. In the centre was a Yellow Lu altar, but ordinary Yellow Lu altars were usually outdoors, whereas this one was underground.
The Yellow Lu Altar of Xia Yuan, with the stars out of alignment, the sun and moon obscured, the weather erratic, endless warfare, rampant epidemics, famine rampant, death unexplained, lonely souls wandering, new ghosts troubled by grievances. If one could adhere to the ritual and practice, calamities could be alleviated, blessings bestowed upon the living, and the underworld blessed. From the emperor to the common people, all could establish it.
Feng Yi walked around the altar and then calmly lifted a hollow white porcelain cover on it, revealing a red candle burning with a blue flame inside.
This was the heart candle of an evil spirit.
Immediately, red spots appeared on Feng Yi’s hand back, spreading rapidly to his forearm. He instinctively took a step back, flipping his hand back and forth to examine it, shaking his head and sighing, “Ghost aura is really too dirty.”
Frowning as if extremely repulsed, he pinched the heart candle with his index finger and thumb, moving it far away from his body to a nearby table and began to tinker with it.
Duan Jingyuan felt that something was off when she left home today. She couldn’t pinpoint what it was, but felt something strange, and her eyelids were twitching vigorously.
Perhaps it was because of her troubled mind, she rummaged through the embroidery patterns in the familiar embroidery shop but couldn’t find one to her liking. Just as she was about to leave, a servant informed her that there was another batch of patterns reserved by someone else in the backyard. Duan Jingyuan didn’t want to return empty-handed, so she asked the servant to take her there to have a look. If there were any patterns to her liking, she would discuss it with the shopkeeper.
The servant smiled warmly and led her and the maid into the backyard. Just as Duan Jingyuan stepped in, her mouth and nose were covered with a handkerchief, and a pungent smell assailed her senses. Duan Jingyuan gradually lost consciousness, realizing that the servant was unfamiliar and overly attentive.
After some time passed, Duan Jingyuan woke up in a strange room, feeling dry-eyed and throbbing headache. She tried to rub her temples but found herself unable to move, her limbs and mouth bound, and something stuffed into her mouth. When she turned her head, she saw her maid, Biqing, in the same situation, her eyes wide with fear and confusion, emitting intermittent sounds from her gagged mouth.
The door opened, and Duan Jingyuan looked up to see a familiar face, Wang Qi, who had been harassing her for days, wearing luxurious clothes and proudly leading three people into the room.
Duan Jingyuan instantly understood what was happening, glared at him, and made some muffled sounds.
“Two weak girls who have been drugged and have no strength left, how can you defy the heavens? It’s boring to tie you up so tightly. Quickly untie Miss Duan and Miss Biqing,” Wang Qi waved his hand, smiling maliciously.
The men who looked like servants came up to untie Duan Jingyuan and Biqing. Duan Jingyuan tried to escape as soon as her limbs were free, but she was too weak to even stand, let alone run away. Biqing rushed over and hugged her.
She forced herself to remain calm and said, “Wang Qi! What do you want to do! I warn you, I am the legitimate daughter of the Duan family. If you dare to touch me, my father and my brother will not let you off!”
“Of course I know. You, Duan Jingyuan, are the pearl of the Duan family, the sister of General Duan, with lofty aspirations. But my father is also the Minister of the Household Department in the current court, a hereditary marquis in the family. You dared to ignore me, even gave me a bad attitude in front of Fang Xianye? What kind of person is Fang Xianye? A lowly bastard without parents or background. You go to his seat but not mine?” Wang Qi’s voice grew louder, his expression more distorted, and Duan Jingyuan grew more frightened as he spoke. Whenever he stepped forward, she retreated until her back hit the wall. Wang Qi seemed to enjoy her fear, squatting down and saying, “Do you think your father and brother can really do anything to me? Once we become husband and wife, for the sake of your reputation, your family will definitely marry you to me. Besides, because of Duan Shunxi, my sister is still missing. How does the Duan family plan to repay the debt to my Wang family? And you still have the nerve to confront me about these matters?”
Duan Jingyuan’s face turned pale, gritting her teeth and saying, “No… My brother will never let you off!”
Wang Qi reached out to grab her clothes, but Biqing suddenly grabbed his face fiercely, shouting, “Don’t touch our Miss!”
Wang Qi’s face was scratched, blood appearing, and he stepped back, angrily saying, “Grab and beat her!”
The three servants with Wang Qi immediately grabbed Biqing. Biqing struggled desperately, cursing words like “despicable scum,” “beast,” and “rot in hell.” Duan Jingyuan shouted for them to let Biqing go, trying to crawl up but falling back down.
Biqing wasn’t as heavily drugged as Duan Jingyuan and still had some strength left, but she couldn’t resist the pulling and tugging of the three men. In the midst of the struggle, Biqing was thrown out, her head hitting sharply on the pointed corner of a cabinet. For a moment, her pink figure paused, and then there was a clear cracking sound as she and a vase on the cabinet fell to the ground together. Blood gushed from the back of her head, forming a pool on the ground. She twitched slightly in the pool of blood, her clever mouth unable to utter another word, her eyes staring straight at her mistress whom she had served since childhood.
Duan Jingyuan was stunned for a moment, then burst into tears, crawling towards Biqing and calling her name.
The servants tried to drag Biqing out, but Duan Jingyuan grabbed her arm tightly. She caught a glimpse of Wang Qi impatiently covering his face and approaching her, reaching out his hand.
Duan Jingyuan felt a bottomless despair in an instant. She thought that if Wang Qi dared to touch her, she would bite him, scratch him, gouge out his eyeballs, and fight to make him lose half his life, then she would die herself.
At the moment his hand was about to touch her, at the peak of her despair, when she had decided to fight him to the death, his fingers suddenly fell off.
Although it sounds eerie, his fingers did indeed fall off. His index and middle fingers dropped to the ground, leaving two bloody holes in his hand, the incisions even surprisingly neat.
Wang Qi stood dumbfounded on the spot. When a crow suddenly landed on his shoulder, he finally screamed in pain, clutching his hand. The crows, like black clouds, poured in from the window, densely filling every corner of the room, pecking at Wang Qi’s fingers on the ground.
But those crows cleared a space for Duan Jingyuan and Biqing in the room.
Wang Qi’s servants were pale with fright, dragging Wang Qi to rush out the door. But when they turned around, they saw a stunningly beautiful woman standing in the room, tall and pale, with a mole under her phoenix-like eyes, dressed in a faint red robe, standing with her hands behind her back, her eyes pitch black without any white.
Seeing them turning around, she raised an eyebrow slightly and said, “What’s wrong? Weren’t you happy just now? You’re leaving already?”
Wang Qi pointed at her in horror, “It’s you… from the Duan family…”
“Evil spirit.”
He Simu reached out her hand, and with a snap of her slender and pale fingers, Wang Qi’s three servants immediately lost their heads, their heads rolling on the ground, eagerly devoured by the crows.
Wang Qi screamed and fell to the ground, trembling in fear, wetting his pants, trembling as he begged for mercy.
He Simu gestured with her finger, and Wang Qi was lifted by the neck into the air, struggling desperately to speak. She didn’t look at him but took two steps forward, standing in front of Duan Jingyuan, and asked her seriously, “Do you want to kill him?”
Duan Jingyuan looked at this unfamiliar yet familiar girl in astonishment.
Wasn’t this He Xiaoxiao? It clearly was her, but… it also wasn’t her. The girl in front of her was overly pale, her blood vessels showing a purplish hue, exuding a chilling aura… and her eyes were still pitch black.
This was like the deceased He Xiaoxiao.
Seeing Duan Jingyuan’s fear, He Simu closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, the ghostly aura receded, turning into a pair of black and white clear eyes.
“Do you want to kill him?” He Simu repeated.
Duan Jingyuan showed a hesitant expression and shook her head.
Understanding, He Simu nodded. “There are many ways to torment someone, much better than death.”
She waved her hand, and Wang Qi, suspended in midair, fell to the ground. He crawled on the ground, begging for mercy.
He Simu half-turned her head and said, “I told you, I’m not a fairy, I’m a ghost.”
“Yan Zhang,” He Simu called out.
A figure of a woman appeared in the green smoke, wrapped tightly in black cloth, with only her eyes exposed. She half-knelt on the ground and said, “Your Majesty, Yan Zhang is here.”
The Lord of the Fiend Palace, Yan Zhang.
He Simu gestured with her chin towards Wang Qi, who was trembling on the ground, and said, “This man likes girls, and coincidentally, the girls in your palace also like men. Play with him a bit, but don’t go too far. Leave him with his life.”
Yan Zhang glanced at Wang Qi and asked, “How far can we play? To the point of losing consciousness, being inhumane?”
“Yes.”
“I understand.”
Wang Qi, hearing this conversation, directly fainted. He Simu turned back to look at Duan Jingyuan. Duan Jingyuan hugged Biqing in the corner, looking at her with fear and confusion, and she whispered softly, “Who… who are you?”
He Simu walked up to her, and the crows obediently flew up, making way for her. She replied, “He Xiaoxiao.”
Duan Jingyuan shook her head, then shook it again. “No… Miss He… Miss He is human, my brother likes her… a living person.”
He Simu looked at her quietly, without saying a word.
Suddenly, Biqing began to convulse violently, grabbing onto Duan Jingyuan’s sleeve as if she were trying to convey something urgently. Duan Jingyuan immediately lowered her head to look at her, calling out anxiously, “Biqing… Biqing…”
Duan Jingyuan instinctively raised her head to look at He Simu, as if she wanted to seek help from her, but when she saw her seemingly ghostly face, she swallowed her words.
She feared this He Xiaoxiao.
He Simu lowered her gaze to the poor girl in her final moments. She asked, “Biqing, do you have any wishes?”
Tears welled up in Biqing’s eyes as she spoke intermittently, “My… my brother… he’s in trouble… imprisoned… my mother’s all alone…”
“Do you wish for your brother to be released and to provide for your mother for the rest of her life?”
“Yes…”
“In that case, if I were to save your brother and provide your mother with a lifetime of wealth that never runs out, would you be willing to let me devour you?”
Upon hearing the word “devour,” Duan Jingyuan hugged Biqing tightly in great fear, urgently saying, “No, you can’t…”
“Willing…” However, Biqing said like this, trembling as she reached out her hand towards He Simu and grabbed onto the hem of her skirt.
Bending down, He Simu grabbed Biqing’s clothes and effortlessly lifted her up, Biqing’s feet dangling weakly in the air. Then blood splattered, and her head slumped to the side.
He Simu gently placed Biqing back down, letting her lie down properly on the ground. The wind blew in through the window, causing He Simu’s long hair and red clothes to flutter. Several silent crows perched on her shoulders, and blood from Biqing splattered on her face, making her look like a ghost from the legendary blood lake hell.
Duan Jingyuan stared blankly at her.
He Simu squatted down, her black and white clear eyes calm as she looked at Duan Jingyuan, and asked, “Do you have the strength? Can you stand?
She reached out to grab Duan Jingyuan’s hand, but Duan Jingyuan, like a startled bird, immediately shook her off almost rudely, leaving He Simu’s hand hanging in the air.
Yan Zhang interjected from the side, “Bold! You don’t know what’s good for you, daring to refuse Her Majesty…”
He Simu raised her hand to gesture, and Yan Zhang didn’t continue. He Simu stood up, drawing a semicircle in the air with her right hand, and the scroll in the bottle next to her flew into her hand. She held one end of the scroll and handed the other end to Duan Jingyuan, looking down at her.
“If you don’t want to touch me, then use this to help yourself stand up.”
“Or you can stand up on your own. You need to stand up first, don’t indulge in meaningless pride.”
Duan Jingyuan bit her lip and looked at He Simu, hesitating for a moment. Eventually, she reached out tremblingly and grasped the scroll in front of her, using He Simu’s strength to stand up from the ground. Even when she stood up, she was still swaying, holding the scroll tightly and not letting go.
He Simu glanced at her and smiled, “Very good.”
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