Chapter 187
Chapter 187
The temperature in the room was far too low. I crouched down and carefully reached toward the Ghost King Butterfly Mark on Tang Xun’s lower back. Before I could even touch it, a biting chill crawled up my fingertips, nearly coating them in frost.
I immediately pulled my hand back.
The Ghost King Butterfly’s yin-cold aura was incredibly intense. Since it had also come from an ancient tomb, its origins had to be anything but ordinary.
Finding its owner would not be easy.
What in the world had been happening to the Tang Family lately?
As we left the room, I asked Tang Tang, “You said my Senior Sister once calculated your father’s fortune?”
Tang Tang nodded. “Yes. She must have noticed something from my father’s Facial Features, because she asked for his Eight Characters afterward. She spent quite a while calculating before she gave us that warning. We were too careless.”
Yu Nian’s skill was beyond question. If she had taken the initiative to perform a divination and even left them with a warning, then this matter was definitely not simple.
Still, no matter how many precautions one took, some things were destined to happen. Escaping this Calamity did not necessarily mean one could escape the next Calamity.
I asked, “Did you investigate how your father was afflicted with Flower Gu? Have you found any clues?”
Aunt Tang had gone to the ancient tomb in search of the Crystal Orchid because of something Uncle Huo had told her.
Uncle Huo’s relationship with the Tang Family ran far too deep for him to deliberately harm Aunt Tang.
What happened to Tang Xun could be considered an accident.
But Tang Ao being afflicted with Gu… that was probably deliberate.
“We investigated,” Tang Tang said. “Based on the clues we currently have, we’re afraid the Song Family may be involved.”
When the incident involving Song Ruoqing occurred, Tang Tang had stepped forward, and the Tang Family had worked with us to resolve it.
The Song father and son had both died in a car accident, causing the Song Family-once the most powerful family in Huicheng-to fall from grace. But even a dead centipede remained intact. It was only natural for the surviving members of the Song Family to seek revenge.
Thinking deeper, the Song Family had originally risen to prominence by offering the clan’s Dragon-and-phoenix twins as a Sacrifice to Wangting Mountain. However, I had never heard anything about the Song Family knowing how to use Gu.
Gu?
The conversation I had previously had with the Teahouse Proprietress, Gu Yan, flashed through my mind once more.
Gu Yan had said that Gu Die had been escorted from Southeastern Guizhou by the clan leader. Their original intention had been to take Gu Die to Huicheng.
However, Gu Die escaped along the way and fled all the way to Wufu Town, where she met Gu Yan.
And Gu Die was the Gu Saintess!
Could the Song Family’s retaliation against the Tang Family be connected to those Gu practitioners?
If the two sides had joined forces, this would become extremely difficult to deal with.
The Tang Family was only their appetizer. Their true target was us!
The Song Family wanted revenge. The Tang Family was one of their targets, and our Pawnshop was the other.
As for those Gu practitioners, they wanted the Buddha Eyes in my possession.
Of course they would hit it off immediately.
Even more frightening was the fact that Witchcraft and Gu shared the same roots. The Witchcraft and Gu Sorcery practiced in the Shiwandashan Mountains were inextricably linked, and certain forms of Corpse-Nurturing and Corpse Control also fell under the domain of Witchcraft.
After Gu Die died, her corpse had been placed under someone’s control.
These factions had woven themselves into a single web, their threads tangled together so tightly that they could no longer be separated.
Once the time was right, that web would descend upon us from above, vast enough to blot out the sky.
If we failed to prepare in advance, there was a good chance they would catch every last one of us in their net.
Downstairs, Liu Junyan and the others had evidently learned the general situation as well. Hui Moqiong’s expression was grim. He had probably reached the same conclusion I had.
I sat down beside Liu Junyan and carefully explained Tang Xun’s condition to them.
After listening, Liu Junyan nodded and said, “It’s obvious they aren’t targeting only the Tang Family. They’re playing a much larger game. The Tang Family was merely dragged into it and isn’t their final target. Therefore, I suggest we investigate the Ghost King Butterfly first. Saving Tang Xun should be our top priority.”
Tang Ao’s Flower Gu had already been removed. Even if we tracked down the culprit, what good would it do?
For now, we couldn’t touch whoever was behind it, while Tang Xun was at death’s door.
It was obvious which mattered more.
Tang Tang couldn’t hide her delight at our decision.
As far as the Tang Family was concerned, nothing was more important than Tang Xun’s life.
Tang Tang asked tentatively, “Um… Xiao Jiu, are we handling Auntie’s case according to the Pawnshop’s rules, or…?”
I was just about to say that we were helping Tang Xun as friends or family, not as part of a transaction.
But before I could, Liu Junyan said, “Handle everything according to the Pawnshop’s rules.”
In other words, Liu Junyan wanted the Ghost King Butterfly Mark on Tang Xun’s lower back to be accepted as collateral.
The Pawn Ticket had to bear Tang Xun’s own thumbprint. Since we couldn’t possibly move her to the Pawnshop, Li Qingying had to return and bring the Pawn Ticket and all the necessary supplies here.
Once I had filled out the Pawn Ticket, Tang Tang took Tang Xun’s hand and pressed her thumb onto it.
The instant her thumbprint touched the first Pawn Ticket, an eerie green flame flared across it, reducing it to ashes.
I filled out two more Pawn Ticket forms in quick succession. Without exception, both spontaneously combusted and burned to ash.
What was going on?
This had never happened before.
Everyone’s expression changed.
Rubbing his chin, Hui Moqiong said, “That shouldn’t be possible. Our Pawnshop has already been recognized by the Netherworld Realm. Its very existence makes it a medium connecting the Realms of Yin and Yang, and Xiao Jiu’er can now be considered an Underworld Emissary in the Realm of the Living. Even if the Ghost King Butterfly is the incarnation of some powerful Ghost King, it still shouldn’t dare act so brazenly.”
“That’s true, but…” Liu Junyan said. “What if the other party truly is powerful enough? Or what if he isn’t a Ghost King at all, and his status is even higher than that of a Ghost King…?”
I immediately picked up where he left off. “Not only is his status higher than a Ghost King’s, he must also be a figure of tremendous importance in the Netherworld Realm. Only someone like that could cause the Pawn Ticket to suffer such a backlash.”
Thankfully, the backlash hadn’t struck me.
Tang Tang’s heart had only just begun to settle, but now it sank again. “My aunt offended someone of tremendous importance in the Netherworld Realm. Doesn’t that mean her chances of survival are almost nil?”
Since the Ghost King Butterfly couldn’t be pawned at the Pawnshop, we would have to save Tang Xun as her friends instead.
But now an even greater problem had emerged. The master behind the Ghost King Butterfly was likely someone we couldn’t afford to offend.
The atmosphere turned grim once more.
Liu Junyan asked, “Do you know which ancient tomb your aunt found the Crystal Orchid in?”
Tang Tang shook her head. “I don’t. Auntie never tells me about those things. I rarely even have any contact with the subordinates who’ve gone through life-and-death situations with her.”
That made investigating the ancient tomb nearly impossible.
That night, Tang Tang and I stayed beside Tang Xun’s bed, not daring to leave her for even a moment.
As midnight approached, something suddenly happened on the bed.
Tang Xun seemed to be in agony. She curled into a ball and moaned unconsciously, her lips moving nonstop as though she were trying to say something, though we couldn’t make out the words.
As she writhed, the wings of the Ghost King Butterfly Mark on her lower back slowly began to fold inward, drawing steadily toward the body at its center.
The process was excruciatingly slow, but every tiny change set our nerves on edge.
Just as we had feared, the Ghost King Butterfly had begun to pupate…