Chapter 39

Chapter 39

The three girls took my hands and led me into the palace.

In an instant, the massive hall burst into life, filled with the sounds of laughter and cheerful chatter.

Young, beautiful girls were everywhere.

They were dressed in various styles, mostly from the Late Qing and Republic of China eras. Some had bound feet, while others sported short, student-style bobs… These girls were generally young and brimming with youthful vitality.

The palace was their domain. They laughed and danced as if they were in Eden, pure and beautiful.

Strangely, several women in modern clothing sat quietly in the corners. Their ages varied wildly-from young girls to women in their forties or fifties-but without exception, their eyes were hollow and vacant, as if they had lost their souls.

What shocked me most was the Goddess Statue enshrined upon the high dais of the palace. She had a serene expression, holding a jade vase in one hand and a willow branch in the other. A faint golden light shimmered around her; she looked exactly like Guanyin!

When I looked at her, she seemed to lower her gaze to meet mine.

Her eyes possessed a certain magic that drew me in deeply. I felt an unconscious urge to move toward her, to kneel and beg for her blessing.

Just then, a faint, ethereal voice drifted in from the distance. It sounded as if it were calling my name from across thousands of miles: “Xiao Jiu, wake up! Hurry, wake up!”

“Get out! Xiao Jiu, get out now!”

As the voice rang out, the entire palace began to tremble.

My temples throbbed painfully. The obsessive, near-fanatical worship I had felt for the Goddess Statue on the dais vanished in an instant.

The surrounding scenery began to shift and warp.

The women who had been singing, laughing, or sitting blankly in the corners all stood up at once.

Then, their clothes began to change, transforming into identical Red Wedding Dresses.

A Black Hemp Rope Loop was cinched around each of their necks.

The ends of the ropes flew upward, looping over the rafters and pulling tight… One by one… row by row… they hung themselves right there in the palace!

Black mist swirled through the hall, and resentment festered until the place felt like hell itself.

The expression on the Goddess Statue atop the dais changed as well. She was no longer kind and merciful. The jade vase and willow branch had vanished, replaced by a Dragon-head Cane.

With a gentle wave of her cane, the women hanging from the beams suddenly became frantic. Their eyes bulged and their tongues lolled out as they reached for me with long, blackened talons.

“Trade with me!”

“Trade with me!”

“Sister, come to me!”

“Don’t fight me for her, she’s mine!”

…

Amidst the shrieks, a howling yin wind swept through the palace, thick with black mist.

Suspended by their black hemp ropes, the women collided and kicked at each other in mid-air, each desperate to kill the others just to claim me.

“Xiao Jiu, wake up! Get out of there!”

Li Qingying’s voice echoed in again. I felt hands grasping my shoulders, shaking my body violently.

My gaze pierced through the heavy black mist to look at the Goddess Statue once more. I felt certain I had seen her somewhere before.

But where?

Suddenly, a pale, skeletal hand clamped down hard on my shoulder, sending a bone-chilling cold coursing through my body.

I jolted. Almost instinctively, I formed a hand seal and chanted an incantation to summon Fengwu.

The moment Fengwu was in my hand, the grip on my shoulder released.

The women hanging from the beams fell silent.

I aimed the bow at the Goddess Statue on the high dais and drew it to full power.

Before I could release the tension on the string, the Goddess Statue waved her cane again.

*Whoosh!*

I was shoved out of the painting. I stumbled backward, but Li Qingying caught me. “Xiao Jiu, you’re finally awake! Are you okay?”

I stowed the bow. I was about to say I was fine when I felt a sinister gaze fixed on me from behind.

I reflexively looked back and locked eyes with the venomous, resentful stare of Mrs. Cai.

I didn’t know when she had woken up, or how long she had been standing there watching me.
The moment our eyes met, she lunged at me. She snatched the Black Hemp Rope from my hands and reached out to strip the Red Wedding Dress off my body.

Her movements were crude and fueled by a frantic strength that Cai Bin couldn’t restrain. In the end, it was Li Qingying who delivered a swift chop to the back of her neck, finally knocking her unconscious.

Cai Bin apologized profusely while calling for help to carry Mrs. Cai away.

While they were busy, Li Qingying took my hand and asked, “Xiao Jiu, you look terrible. What did you see in that painting just now?”

I didn’t answer her immediately. Instead, I closed my eyes and replayed every scene from the painting in my mind. When I opened them again, I whispered, “Sister Qingying, I might not be able to take this painting. I don’t have the ability.”

There were too many female ghosts in that painting, and the resentment was overwhelming.

Furthermore, there was the Goddess Statue on the high platform. The moment that cane appeared, I remembered.

That Dragon-head Cane was identical to the one Old Lady Bai held!

Moreover, the features of the Goddess Statue bore a striking resemblance to Old Lady Bai.

She simply looked younger, enveloped in a layer of golden light that gave her a celestial grace.

Could this painting also be related to the Bai Family?

Li Qingying asked tentatively, “Then are you still going to handle the Cai Family’s business?”

This was a job Tang Xun had introduced to me, so of course I wanted to take care of it. Not only did I want to handle it, but I also wanted to do it perfectly so as not to let Tang Xun’s kindness go to waste.

But I knew very well at this moment that I couldn’t handle it.

Ultimately, I shook my head. “One must act according to their strength.”

Li Qingying understood. She told me not to blame myself and went to explain the situation to Cai Bin.

Cai Bin was clearly disappointed, but he was a gentleman. He glanced at the sky, which had long since turned dark, and said, “It’s late, and you two must be exhausted from the journey. Given the situation in my home, I really can’t spare anyone to take you back tonight. Please rest here for the night, and I’ll have someone drive you back to Wufu Town first thing tomorrow morning.”

We had come here in Cai Bin’s car. On this mountainside, if Cai Bin didn’t have the time to send us back, we wouldn’t even be able to call a taxi.

So, we agreed.

Cai Bin prepared a lavish spread of food. After dinner, he settled us into a guest room on the second floor. By the time we finished washing up and got into bed, it was already midnight.

I lay down with Li Qingying, and before long, I heard the sound of steady breathing beside me.

Li Qingying had actually fallen asleep.

I, however, couldn’t sleep at all. The scenes from the painting played on a loop in my mind.

The face of the Goddess Statue on the high platform kept overlapping with Old Lady Bai’s face, making my heart race with unease.

Right then, a faint singing voice drifted through the hallway: “Red Wedding Dress, Black Hemp Rope, fifteenth night, hang them in a row. Don’t cry, don’t cry…”

That voice definitely belonged to Mrs. Cai.

The sound came from the direction of the master bedroom, drawing closer and closer… It passed the guest room door and seemed to head toward the stairs.

I had already made up my mind not to get involved with the painting, but in the middle of the night, Mrs. Cai was singing and heading downstairs. Where was she going?

Had no one in the Cai Family noticed?

As the singing grew more distant, I couldn’t hold back anymore. I crept to the door, opened a crack, and peered out cautiously.

What I saw made me feel as if I had fallen into an ice cellar!

Mrs. Cai had already reached the bottom of the stairs. She was wearing the Red Wedding Dress and holding the Black Hemp Rope.

I didn’t know when the Black Hemp Rope had been braided, but one end was tied into a noose while the other was gripped in her hand. With a toss of her arm, the Black Hemp Rope looped over the massive, magnificent crystal chandelier in the hall and held firm.

Barefoot, Mrs. Cai stepped onto a stool and placed her neck into the black noose.

She… she was going to hang herself!

At a time like this, how could I just sit back and watch?

Even if I ignored the matter of the painting, I had to rush out and save her.

At the very least… at the very least, I had to wake Cai Bin up to save his wife!

But the moment I threw the door open and stood in the hallway, the surroundings suddenly changed.

The Cai Family Villa had transformed into the palace from the painting. And there, at the palace entrance, a White Sedan Chair stood silently…