Chapter 94
Chapter 94
After hearing Steward Wang’s account, even Wuyou, drifting off to the side, couldn’t help feeling indignant on Linglong’s behalf.
“With the way they handled it, it would be stranger if the place wasn’t haunted!”
“But from what I can see, the Yin-Sha Qi in this garden is so heavy that it doesn’t look like only one person died here.”
“There are definitely… several more!”
Xia Ximo spoke as well. “The hauntings probably aren’t only because of that palace maid.”
Steward Wang seemed somewhat guilty, but under her sharp gaze, he continued. “At first, the hauntings began when someone claimed they saw Linglong’s ghost in Qianqiu Garden…”
On the night Linglong died, several eunuchs and palace maids in Weiyang Hall had witnessed what happened.
So even though there had been an explicit order forbidding anyone from spreading the matter, it was inevitable that the palace servants would whisper about it in private.
And on the seventh night after Linglong’s death…
Two palace maids on duty were passing through Qianqiu Garden at night when they heard a piercing wail coming from the woods.
Both of them had heard about the tragic death of the Crown Princess’s personal maid. Terrified, they immediately turned and ran.
However, in her panic, one of the maids accidentally fell. After twisting her ankle, she could no longer move.
When the other maid saw this, she actually abandoned her companion entirely and ran off on her own.
As a result, by the next morning, another corpse had appeared in Qianqiu Garden. It was the maid who had been left behind.
Her manner of death was exactly the same as Linglong’s. It was as if a hole had been torn open in her chest, and blood had spread in a large pool beneath her.
After the incident got out, everyone in the Eastern Palace believed it was Linglong’s ghost taking lives.
From then on, almost no one dared to pass through Qianqiu Garden at night.
Thinking of the miserable state of those two female corpses, Steward Wang felt colder and colder all over. He unconsciously rubbed his arms, then continued, “At first, we thought that after Linglong’s ghost claimed a life, the matter would settle down.”
In truth, however, the situation began spiraling in an uncontrollable direction…
Every month after that, a woman would die in the same manner.
At first, they were palace maids. Then, they were the Crown Prince’s concubines, and even musicians and dancers from the palace.
All told, seven or eight people died one after another.
Steward Wang had lived most of his life, and when it came to ghosts and gods, he had always half believed and half doubted.
But after personally experiencing something like this, he had no choice but to believe.
He had even tried to secretly seek out exorcists and spirit-banishing practitioners, but when the Crown Prince found out, he flew into a rage and had them all driven away.
He even issued a strict order forbidding anyone in the Eastern Palace from believing in ghosts or gods. If talk of a “vengeful ghost taking lives” spread again, whoever was caught would be beaten to death on the spot.
Xia Ximo scoffed. “With something this evil going on, he still doesn’t believe in ghosts and gods? If you ask me, he’s the most ‘evil’ one here.”
After hearing such disrespectful words from her, Steward Wang, for once, did not argue.
Because even he felt that no matter how one looked at the matter, it was steeped in strangeness and wickedness.
He looked at the garden growing more desolate by the day, then thought back to what it had been like when he first arrived at the Eastern Palace. A trace of sorrow he could not hide appeared in his eyes.
“Over the course of this year, ten people have already died. Gradually, let alone at night, no one even dares to pass through here during the day.”
“A perfectly good garden has become this…”
Xia Ximo had no time to listen to him lament. “You’ve explained the situation. If you’re afraid, you can leave first.”
Steward Wang was startled. “Miss, you don’t think I’m joking with you, do you? There really is…”
“A ghost,” Xia Ximo cut him off again. “I know.”
Steward Wang opened his mouth, his face full of disbelief. “Aren’t you afraid you might… be targeted too?”
“I am.”
She answered with a single word, then added, “Afraid those ghosts won’t come out.”
Steward Wang was shocked all over again. He looked her up and down, and another guess formed in his mind.
Could it be that there were experts in the Shadow Bureau who could catch ghosts and ward off evil?
As he stood there in a daze, he caught a glimpse from the corner of his eye of something flashing past amid the hazy shadows of the trees.
Steward Wang’s breath caught in fright, and he pointed. “A… ghost!”
Xia Ximo said, “Not a ghost. A person.”
“…A person?”
Before he could react, the woman before him had already shot forward like a gust of wind, giving chase.
Ever since she had gained that fifty percent of the Earth Lord’s soul power, Xia Ximo’s limbs had become far more agile than before.
Now, she moved as though riding the wind, catching up to the person ahead in mere moments.
“Stop!”
When the fleeing figure realized she had been caught, she simply stopped and stood where she was.
Xia Ximo drew a few steps closer and found that it was a slender woman.
She wore a black cloak, her head lowered slightly, the hood nearly covering half her face.
Hearing footsteps approach, she snapped coldly instead, “I command you. Do not come any closer.”
Of course Xia Ximo did not listen, but Steward Wang, who had followed the sound, suddenly cried out, “It’s Her Highness the Crown Princess!”
At Steward Wang’s voice, Tang Yuelang trembled all over. Only then did she slowly turn around.
“Why is Your Highness here?”
Steward Wang was clearly baffled.
At that, Tang Yuelang’s eyes chilled, but she said haughtily, “If I wish to come out, is there anyone who can stop me?”
“That is not what I meant…”
Steward Wang explained, “This old servant meant that Your Highness knows this garden has already been designated a forbidden area of the Eastern Palace…”
“I do not!”
Tang Yuelang cut him off sharply. “All I know is that this is the back garden of the Eastern Palace.”
When she said the words “back garden,” her voice turned slightly hoarse. The sight had clearly stirred old feelings.
Xia Ximo, however, noticed that the hands hidden inside her sleeves were covered in mud. She must have come here for some other purpose.
She asked bluntly, “Was it you who killed your personal palace maid?”
At those words, Steward Wang’s heart nearly leaped into his throat.
How could this woman dare ask anything at all?
A complicated look flashed through Tang Yuelang’s eyes, but only for an instant before she returned to indifference.
“Who are you? What right do you have to question me?”
Xia Ximo’s expression was even colder than hers. “A life for a life. Of course I have the right to question you.”
Tang Yuelang was faintly overwhelmed by her presence. For a moment, she froze, as if trying to guess Xia Ximo’s identity.
Steward Wang, standing nearby, could not help saying, “Her Highness the Crown Princess, this lady is with Young Marquis Ren. If Your Highness has any grievances-”
“Shut up!” Tang Yuelang interrupted him proudly. “I am the rightful Crown Princess. Even if Ren Fengjue himself came, he would not dare question me like this!”
Xia Ximo narrowed her eyes. No longer willing to waste words on her, she was just about to take another step forward when her foot seemed to tread on something.
She looked down and saw that it was a pearl hairpin.
Just as she was about to bend down and pick it up, Tang Yuelang suddenly rushed forward and snatched the pearl hairpin first.
Seeing how nervous she was about the object, Xia Ximo gave a cold laugh. Her fingers moved lightly, and the pearl hairpin fell to the ground once more.
Tang Yuelang wanted to pick it up again, only to discover that her body had gone rigid in place, unable to move. Terror welled up in her heart.
“Is it yours? And yet you dare snatch it?”
Xia Ximo glanced at her coldly. Then, right in front of her, she bent down, picked up the pearl hairpin, and examined it in her hand.
At the sight, Tang Yuelang’s face filled with both shock and fury, with a faint trace of anxiety beneath it.
“Give that back to me!”