Chapter 40 Part 2

Wu Yinyu suddenly thought of the Ancestral Genealogy Book in the Wu Family Forbidden Room. She desperately wanted to confirm whether the name at the bottom was really Wuxian.

“Go rest,” Yu Zezhi said, extending her hand toward her. “The guest room upstairs is clean. It was tidied up just two days ago.”

“Two days ago?” Wu Yinyu repeated, her tone deeply meaningful.

“I meant to invite you for a short stay, but you had already checked into the hotel,” Yu Zezhi admitted.

Wu Yinyu always felt like Yu Zezhi was casting a line to hook her, in every sense.

She grasped the hand Yu Zezhi offered, using the leverage to stand. She let out a short laugh. “Seems Boss Yu’s goodwill is something I’m destined to accept.”

This time, she didn’t let Yu Zezhi carry her. She held the railing and walked up by herself. Though her pace was slow, at least she didn’t fall.

The guest room was indeed tidied, clean and neat. The essential oil in the aroma diffuser must have been recently replenished; one step closer and you could smell the fresh, crisp scent of tea.

That fragrance, oddly enough, was quite similar to the incense Wu Yinyu usually used.

“Get some sleep,” Yu Zezhi said, stepping back and closing the door.

That nap didn’t go very well for Wu Yinyu. It felt as if the back of her head had just touched the pillow when she slammed right into a dream.

This time, what she saw upon opening her eyes wasn’t the Thousand-Layered Pagoda, wasn’t the forest of Gourd Pagodas, and wasn’t the ice-and-jade-carved White Jade Capital.

It felt as if she had crashed into early spring, the time when grasses grow tall and orioles flit through the air. Everywhere was bustling, full of mortal life and vitality.

What met her eyes wasn’t the steel and concrete of the modern world, but pavilions, terraces, and towers. The streets were paved with large slabs of stone. In the distance, vendors hawked sugar figurines and rouge.

Her joints, just like in the present world, ached faintly. Beneath the pain, she could still feel a bone-deep chill. The people below were dressed lightly, yet she was freezing, forced to gulp down several cups of strong liquor just to stay warm.

This must have been before the interrogation. Because the person who would interrogate her, dressed in a red robe with a white outer jacket, was now sitting quietly across from her. It seemed the two of them hadn’t yet reached that point.

She spoke with feigned nonchalance. “I’m afraid I can’t endure this much longer. But I’m not willing to accept it.”

The person across from her refilled her wine without a word.

As carelessly casual as the preceding sentence was, the next one was spoken with a soft, lingering tenderness.

“And I can’t bear to leave you either. I haven’t tasted enough sweetness yet.” She lifted her wine cup, a sardonic smile on her lips as she climbed onto the table, nearly knocking over the wine flagon.

The person across from her flipped their wrist, catching the mouth of the flagon.

She crawled across the table, crashing into that person’s embrace. Not only did she wrap her arms around their neck, but she also took a mouthful of wine and, holding it in her mouth, passed it over, lip to lip.

The wine liquid dampened both their lapels. That strong, heady fragrance of alcohol seemed to pickle right into the bone.

She tugged at the other’s collar to sniff it. The crimson flush on her cheeks looked as if it had been steamed out by the alcohol fumes. “If I did something wrong, what would you do?” she asked.

Lian Sheng still didn’t answer.

She let out a scoff, smoothing out the damp patch on the other’s garment. In a slow voice, she said, “You can rest assured, I swear an oath not to harm a single person, nor consume a single soul. Otherwise, may lightning strike me down.”

As she spoke, the surroundings suddenly shifted. A horde of Unkempt-haired Monks appeared, baring fangs and claws, their bodies drenched in blood, utterly malevolent.

Wu Yinyu was startled awake again. She sat bolt upright, her heart hammering wildly, her hands and feet trembling uncontrollably. But what she didn’t expect was, upon opening her eyes, she could still see a group of Devil Buddhas advancing toward her.

Wu Yinyu nearly screamed. Only then did she realize that the Unkempt-haired Monks before her were clearly… ink wash paintings on the wall.

How was that possible?

She whipped her head around, scanning the room to confirm that this was, indeed, the Yu residence.

The curtains couldn’t fully block the light; it was obvious that the bright sun still blazed outside.

Wu Yinyu immediately looked at the wall clock. Five in the afternoon. She hadn’t expected to sleep this long.

The Devil Buddhas covering the wall all seemed to be staring at her. The person who had drawn the strokes must have been filled with intense resentment; the brushwork was heavy, the ink splatters wildly unrestrained.

Downstairs, Yu Zezhi had just opened the door for an employee from the hotel. The person had delivered what she’d requested: Wu Yinyu’s clothes, and a brocade box from the Cuihui Eight Treasures Pavilion.

The employee left after handing over the items, happily accepting the tip Yu Zezhi gave before leaving.

Yu Suhan shuffled over, her slippers padding and slapping. Standing on tiptoe, she looked at Yu Zezhi’s hand. “What’s that?”

“It’s Ms. Wu’s things,” Yu Zezhi said.

Yu Suhan dropped her heels back flat, hugging her rabbit. “Oh.”

Yu Zezhi patted the girl lightly on the head. “Sit for a bit before we go out for dinner. I’ll go call Ms. Wu.”

The girl was obedient. Hearing this, she plopped down on the sofa and didn’t move a muscle.

Yu Zezhi carried Wu Yinyu’s things upstairs but didn’t deliver them immediately. She glanced thoughtfully at the brocade box in her hand, then turned toward the study.

The study was for her use alone. No one else would enter rashly, not even Yu Suhan.

She casually set down the things in her hands. Leisurely, she opened the brocade box, then untied the one fastened at her own waist and swapped it with the one inside the box.

Only after doing this did she go to knock on the door of Wu Yinyu’s room.

Inside the room, Wu Yinyu, still in shock and not yet calmed, asked instinctively, “Who?!”

“It’s me.”

Hearing Yu Zezhi’s voice, Wu Yinyu closed her eyes, let out a slow breath, and said, “Come in.”

She paused, then added, “Just you alone.”

Only Yu Zezhi entered, since the little girl was still sitting on the sofa downstairs.

Entering the room, Yu Zezhi finally understood why Wu Yinyu had asked so urgently. It was because of the Devil Buddhas covering the wall.

She swept a largely unconcerned glance over them. Handing over the items, she said, “Delivered from the hotel. I checked you out for you.”

Wu Yinyu’s hands had no strength. She jutted her chin. “Would you mind setting them here for me, Boss Yu?”

“Not going to check if anything’s missing?” Yu Zezhi asked.

Wu Yinyu shook her head. “Nothing indispensable.”

Yu Zezhi looked at the brocade box containing the jade in her hand and set it down without a word. Only then did she turn to examine the legion of Devil Buddhas on the wall.

To be honest, seeing was believing. She had only heard before that Wu Yinyu had drawn things on the walls. Only now did she witness what these Devil Buddhas looked like. She wasn’t startled or panicked. She just stood there, gazing steadily, scrutinizing every single one, taking in all the ink stains covering the wall.

Perhaps because Yu Zezhi looked far too earnest, Wu Yinyu had the illusion that this person was seriously appreciating art.

She leaned back, adjusting the thin blanket over herself. With a slightly apologetic air, she said, “I told you I shouldn’t have come. See, I’ve dirtied your house.”

After studying the wall for a while, Yu Zezhi offered a calm compliment. “Quite the artistic talent.”

Wu Yinyu quipped, “Then this talent of mine awakened a bit late. For the past twenty years, I didn’t even know I was good at drawing.”

“Not too late. And it won’t stay dirty. It’ll disappear soon,” Yu Zezhi said evenly. “Just like it did before, isn’t that right?”

“I suppose so,” Wu Yinyu pressed her brow.

She couldn’t fathom it. After waking up, she didn’t even have the strength to lift a finger. How could she possibly have had the energy to draw these loose-haired monks while sleepwalking?

Yu Zezhi turned her head to look at her. Her posture was composed and collected, her tone neither salty nor bland. “I’ve told you everything I know. But you seem to be hiding something from me.”

Wu Yinyu immediately thought of the Prayer Wheel hidden in her bag. Feigning confusion, she said, “What could I possibly be hiding from you? If I could sort things out clearly, I would’ve spilled everything long ago.”

“Madam Song has been paying me considerable attention these past few days. We had a brief chat last night, and she called again this morning, saying she gave you something when you left the Wu family.” Yu Zezhi was frank.

Wu Yinyu understood instantly. Song Youzhi likely felt Yu Zezhi was suspicious and had deliberately set out bait. Unexpectedly, Yu Zezhi didn’t bite the hook, instead bringing the bait right before her eyes to dangle.

She leaned askew and laughed, pulling her hair, which had been pinned behind her back, forward. Meaningfully, she said, “My mom has already brought it to this point, yet instead of asking her, you come asking me.”

“I want to hear it from you,” Yu Zezhi said, looking at her.

Wu Yinyu found it hard to describe the feeling stirring in her heart right now. It was a bit like the moment in her dream when she saw the jade pendant shatter—her whole heart pounding like a pestle, her head spinning dizzily.

“But Boss Yu,” she said, sitting up straight. Though still listless, she straightened her posture. “I don’t know if I should trust you. I’ve been tormented relentlessly lately, and I still have absolutely no clue what’s going on.”

She reached out to feel the bedside cabinet. Her limp fingers fumbled around for ages but couldn’t find the smoking pipe.

Seeing this, Yu Zezhi reached out and pushed the pipe into her hand.

Clutching the stem, Wu Yinyu lowered her head to sniff the pipe bowl. “One more thing. After I left the Wu family, Elder Lu and Elder Feng must have been secretly tracking my whereabouts. Do you have any idea how many spells I’ve fended off these past few days?”

“I’m not going to hand you over,” Yu Zezhi exhaled softly. She bent down, pressing her hand against the edge of the bed so the mattress dipped slightly. “If I had that intention, I would have driven the car straight to the Lu and Feng families long ago. Why would I still have come back here?”

Wu Yinyu stared fixedly at the person beside her. That elusive, faint fragrance lulled her into a drowsy state.

To be honest, hiding something at the Yu house was like shoving meat into a tiger’s mouth. If she wanted to keep it from Yu Zezhi, she’d first have to bypass the house full of paper effigies.

“Made up your mind yet?” Yu Zezhi asked, looking at her levelly.

Wu Yinyu simply pulled her satchel over. In a slow voice, she said, “Presumably, the day Boss Yu went to ‘visit’ me at the hotel, you were looking for this thing, weren’t you?”

She took the Prayer Wheel out of her bag and placed it on the bedsheet. “The day I got it, I soaked it in Charm Water, and it released a lot of Ink.”