Chapter 124
Chapter 124
“Once whatever is in the Zhu Pan River resurfaces, disaster will engulf all of Wufu Town. No one will be able to emerge from the upheaval unscathed-not the Dou Family, not the Pawnshop, and of course, not Seventh Master either.”
Dou Zhile’s expression was grave. “In fact, once the Ghost Soldiers form ranks, the Pawnshop may well be the first place to suffer.”
I nodded, completely agreeing with him.
The Wufu Town Pawnshop was a Pixiu that swallowed sinister, baleful objects, taking things in but never letting them out. It appeared to be the safest place in all of Wufu Town, but in truth, it was the most dangerous.
The Dirty Things inside the Pawnshop were always waiting for their chance.
“Before fighting even breaks out outside, the Pawnshop’s Formation may already have shattered, unleashing countless ghosts within. Even with Seventh Master’s thousand years of Merit, there may come a time when it is drained to the last drop,” Dou Zhile said. “The Thousand-Soul Banner may not be of much use against the ranks of Ghost Soldiers, but it can help suppress the vengeful souls inside the Pawnshop. As long as the Pawnshop’s Formation holds, all of Wufu Town will remain stable!”
My fists clenched involuntarily. It seemed I had no choice but to find the Thousand-Soul Banner.
With that in mind, I asked, “Old Dou, if I want to find her, where should I start looking?”
“Huicheng,” Dou Zhile replied. “The last time I exchanged letters with my Martial Aunt, she was in Huicheng. But that was more than thirty years ago. After that, I was never able to contact her again.”
Huicheng?
Why was it Huicheng again?
Dou Zhile gave me a detailed address. As soon as I returned to the Pawnshop, I called Tang Tang and asked the Tang Family to help me search for her in Huicheng.
The following evening, Tang Tang video-called me. “Junior Sister, I have one piece of good news and two pieces of bad news. Which do you want to hear first?”
“The good news first,” I replied.
“The good news is that we found Yu Chengfeng’s residence,” Tang Tang said. “More than fifty years ago, Yu Chengfeng was a prominent figure in Yin-Yang and feng shui circles. Even my aunt had heard of her.
“Over thirty years ago, she settled in Huicheng and bought a house near Wangting Mountain. She moved in with her last female disciple, but passed away soon afterward.”
That was one piece of good news and one piece of bad news, more or less what I had expected.
I asked, “What’s the other bad news?”
“Ten years ago, Yu Chengfeng’s last disciple was brutally murdered,” Tang Tang said with difficulty. “She left behind an orphaned daughter whose eyes had been gouged out. Her whereabouts remain unknown to this day, and no one knows whether she’s alive or dead.”
Her whereabouts were unknown, and no one knew whether she was alive or dead… That was the most painful answer of all.
When you couldn’t find someone but couldn’t let them go, they were destined to remain a worry for the rest of your life.
A blind orphan, forced to hide and run from place to place — how hard must these past ten years have been for her?
Was she still alive?
By lineage and seniority, she would count as my Senior Sister.
Senior Sister… There was something subtle and intimate about the title, something that made me instinctively want to be close to her.
If she was still alive and we met one day, I would make sure to treat her exceptionally well.
I composed myself and continued, “Tang Tang, can you find out who gouged out my Senior Sister’s eyes?”
“She’s your Senior Sister?” Tang Tang grew even more serious. “We’re still investigating. From the information we currently have, Wangting Mountain was definitely involved. The same goes for her mother’s death.”
Tang Tang paused as if something had just occurred to her. “Oh, right. When I spoke to my aunt on the phone last night, she speculated that the calamities suffered by the Yu lineage may well have been connected to a Thousand-Soul Banner.”
So when Yu Chengfeng died, she must have left the Thousand-Soul Banner to her last female disciple.
Ten years ago, Wangting Mountain set its sights on that Thousand-Soul Banner, bringing fatal disaster down upon them.
That meant there was no telling whether the Thousand-Soul Banner was currently in Senior Sister’s hands or still on Wangting Mountain.
“Tang Tang, I’ll have to trouble the Tang Family to keep looking into Senior Sister and the Thousand-Soul Banner. Please,” I said earnestly.
“There’s no need to be so formal with me. Even if you hadn’t asked, we’d still keep investigating,” Tang Tang said. “Oh, right. My aunt also asked me to check with you. Wufu Town seems rather unsettled lately. Would you like her to send some people over to help?”
I shook my head. “I appreciate your aunt’s offer, but that won’t be necessary for now.”
I had already asked more than enough of the Tang Family. This matter involved far too much, and I didn’t want to drag them into it as well.
For the next few days, we remained constantly on edge.
Yet the Huang and Bai Families made no moves.
Four nights later, I woke from a sound sleep, struggling to breathe. The moment I opened my eyes, I found myself staring into a pair of eerie green feline eyes.
I switched on the light and, sure enough, the Black Cat was sprawled across my chest. When it saw that I was awake, it meowed at me as though it had something to say.
But I didn’t speak cat.
When I ignored it, the Black Cat began pacing back and forth across my body, looking increasingly agitated.
Just then, muffled thunder rumbled outside. It sounded like rain was coming.
A room should have felt at least a little stuffy before a thunderstorm, but only then did I realize just how cold mine was. Yin Wind seemed to be howling through the corridor beyond my door.
What was going on?
I threw off the covers and got out of bed. The instant I opened the door, Yin Wind struck me full in the face, knifing into my room.
The Black Cat shot out and raced toward the rear of the Pawnshop.
There was no time to put on a coat. I immediately ran after it.
In the Front Courtyard, the Old Locust Tree thrashed its branches wildly beneath the ravaging Yin Wind, like a horde of demons dancing in the darkness.
Even more frightening was the well beneath the Old Locust Tree. Strange gurgles were rising from it, like water boiling in a pot — or a drowning person endlessly sinking and bobbing back to the surface…
All the strange phenomena in the Pawnshop had appeared far too suddenly tonight. I didn’t dare investigate them recklessly, so I could only keep following the Black Cat toward the rear.
Only after entering the Main Courtyard did I see the storm clouds churning overhead. They hung impossibly low, creating the suffocating illusion that they would come crashing down at any moment and bury me alive.
The doors to the Main Courtyard stood wide open. Li Qingying seemed to have just gotten up as well. She stood at the threshold, staring toward the west.
What was she looking at?
The door to the West Room was locked. I had fiddled with the Old Bronze Lock more than once before, but I had never managed to open it.
The room’s windows had also been sealed shut, making it impossible to see what was inside.
Later, Liu Junyan had opened the East Room, and we had consummated our marriage there. Only then had I finally seen the East Room in its entirety.
After that, I had stopped being quite so curious about the West Room. I’d assumed it was probably laid out much like the East Room.
The Black Cat leaped over the threshold and ran toward the West Room as well.
I hurried over. Hearing my footsteps, Li Qingying turned to look at me. “Xiao Jiu, you’re up too?”
“Mm,” I replied, moving to stand beside her and looking west.
That was when I saw someone I never expected to see — a familiar figure.
“Liu Junyan… Why are you out here?”
Wasn’t he in seclusion inside the Black Coffin?
Surely it wasn’t time for him to emerge yet.
He was standing before the West Room. The Old Bronze Lock on its door had already been opened and now lay on the ground.
His right hand was pressed against the door. Beneath his palm, great swaths of black energy spread outward, as though countless savage beasts and demons were about to burst free from within…