Chapter 14

“Left by an Artifact Spirit? Something like an inkstone or ink stick, perhaps.” Wu Yinyu reached out and pinched the paper effigy, ink stains smearing onto her fingertip.

She paid it no mind, but in the blink of an eye, the ink seemed to seep into her skin, its color inexplicably fading significantly.

“It can’t harm you,” Yu Zezhi said.

“How do you know?” Wu Yinyu frowned. Looking again, her fingertip was already pristine. But how could she feel at ease? Lu Yiqi and Feng Qingshuang had been “eaten” by Ink Qi, after all.

Recalling the mass of Ink Qi that had lunged at her face that morning, she felt again that it shouldn’t be an Artifact Spirit. That thing seemed tainted with the breath of the dead, intensely cold Yin, possessing no soul of its own—appearing to be merely a force of Thought.

“A guess.” Yu Zezhi’s brow was smooth, her expression no different from before. She cast a glance over. “If it wanted to harm you, it would have done so long ago.”

That was true enough. That thing was terrifyingly powerful.

Wu Yinyu lowered her hand and turned her head. “How did you detect it?”

“Ink Fragrance.” Yu Zezhi half-crouched and set the paper effigy down, pushing its “back.” The paper figurine then started running on its short, stubby legs.

When she crouched, the hem of her skirt trailed on the ground, and she didn’t bother lifting it, letting it sweep across the dirt and dust. “I sent the paper effigy to investigate, and only then realized it was truly ink,” she added. “For it to appear here, of all places, it’s likely connected to Lu Yiqi’s disappearance.”

Wu Yinyu couldn’t help but sigh in admiration. “Boss Yu’s sense of smell is remarkably acute.”

“You flatter me,” Yu Zezhi said.

Wu Yinyu confessed frankly, “To be honest with you, tonight, aside from the soul summoning, I came precisely to find this substance.”

“Then how did you know about it?” Yu Zezhi showed not the slightest surprise, just asked the question very normally.

“I went to the Lu family home this morning and saw something,” Wu Yinyu replied.

The paper effigy running across the ground was glancing left and right. Despite its short legs, it moved them so rapidly they nearly blurred, and in no time, it had darted several dozen meters away.

“Follow it,” Yu Zezhi frowned. Though she was following her own paper effigy, her face betrayed a hint of impatience.

The problem was that the paper effigy ran far too fast, as if propelled by the wind.

Wu Yinyu hurried to keep up, panting breathlessly. “Using a paper effigy like a tracking dog… truly your style. Is it tracking the Ink Fragrance?”

“Yes,” Yu Zezhi answered faintly.

At this point, Wu Yinyu no longer held any hope of recovering Lu San’s soul. She only wanted to know what exactly that mass of Ink Qi was, and why it was targeting the Five Gates.

Up ahead, the paper effigy indeed behaved like a dog, stopping every so often to sniff left and right.

This thing was torn out casually by Yu Zezhi, with no eyes or nose drawn on, yet it seemed to possess a face all its own. Its demeanor of sniffing here and there was quite vivid.

It took Wu Yinyu considerable effort to keep pace, never imagining she couldn’t outrun a crumpled piece of yellow paper. Gasping for air, she spoke in fits and starts, “Boss Yu is seeing the ink from the door lintel for the first time, yes?”

Yu Zezhi glanced back before uttering a “Yes.”

“Then you probably haven’t seen the surveillance footage from when Lu Yiqi and Feng Qingshuang disappeared,” Wu Yinyu deduced.

“The Lu family hasn’t approached me,” Yu Zezhi said, her breathing steady.

Wu Yinyu was feeling somewhat oxygen-deprived from running, her head spinning and vision blurring. Her words came out fragmented and broken. “I think you need to see it.”

“Is this what you referred to earlier—the ‘something’ you saw at the Lu residence? Is it connected to the ink stains just now?” Yu Zezhi asked directly.

But Wu Yinyu became coyly mysterious. “You’ll understand once you see it.”

The paper effigy paused by the roadside for a few seconds, then plunged headlong into a flower bed, emerging moments later covered in dust and dirt. Its head was completely smeared with ink, while the stains that had previously been on its hands had vanished.

Yu Zezhi looked back at Wu Yinyu, as if her gaze held hidden meaning.

Wu Yinyu’s eyes widened, and she pointed at her own nose. “Surely you’re not expecting me to crawl into the flower bed?”

Yu Zezhi averted her gaze and let out a very soft laugh. “Naturally not.”

“You scared me,” Wu Yinyu said. She bent over and pushed the flower branches aside, but the light was too dim for her to make out what was inside the flower bed.

With a whoosh, the paper effigy shot right through the flower bed, choosing the shortest route and dashing out.

This flower strip was a full hundred meters long; one had to reach the end before finding a pedestrian crossing. The paper effigy could run fast, but Wu Yinyu and Yu Zezhi couldn’t take that shortcut; they still had to go the long way around.

There were few cars out at night, but Wu Yinyu still waited dutifully for the green light before stepping onto the crosswalk. “Since Boss Yu can control that paper effigy, can’t you just make it slow down a bit?”

“It would get angry,” Yu Zezhi said, seemingly in jest.

Wu Yinyu let out a snort and pointed at the distant paper effigy, spinning under a streetlamp. “A puppet, getting angry?”

“This one is different,” Yu Zezhi walked over and shooed it with a soft ‘ch’.

The paper effigy, which had been circling the lamp post, took off running again, just like a dog joyfully bolting about.

“Different how? Isn’t it just made of yellow paper?” Wu Yinyu felt grateful she’d worn comfortable shoes; otherwise, her feet would be ruined by tomorrow.

Yu Zezhi smiled, but even her smile was very detached and indifferent. She explained, “Suhan keeps a little dog. I borrowed its soul.”

“Suhan?” Wu Yinyu was stunned. She hadn’t expected the shell of this paper effigy to actually contain a dog’s soul. No wonder it kept circling the lamppost; it had probably spun around for ages before realizing it now only had two legs and couldn’t figure out which one to lift.

“My little sister,” Yu Zezhi added.

Only then did Wu Yinyu recall: Yu Xiangge and Wei Liuxing indeed had two daughters. She had heard from Wu Wanying earlier that the Yu family’s youngest daughter seemed to be only six years old, just starting elementary school. Now left without parents, if no one looked after her, hardship lay ahead.

She secretly studied Yu Zezhi. Although some time had passed since Yu Xiangge and Wei Liuxing’s accident, Yu Zezhi’s expression was placid, showing not the slightest trace of reluctance or grief.

To call Yu Zezhi cold-hearted seemed inaccurate; she had gone out of her way to liberate even an old ghost. A real contradiction.

The paper effigy had run far ahead again. Dogs loved to bolt around anyway, and now in this new body, it felt even lighter, racing as if about to take flight.

Wu Yinyu, however, felt considerably less uneasy. Thankfully, that mass of Ink Qi wasn’t something only she could see.

The dog possessing the paper effigy was actually fairly well-behaved; it hadn’t been distracted by other things along the road. It followed the Ink Fragrance all the way to Fucheng Bridge.

This bridge—Wu Yinyu knew it well. She often drove across it, and had just passed over it that morning on her way back from the Lu residence.

And on second thought, the route from Cuihui Eight Treasures Pavilion to here—wasn’t it exactly the road she took to return to the Wu Family Old Residence?

Wu Yinyu was so exhausted she stopped. Her heart pounded against her chest, but she felt no heat from the exertion; instead, a chill crept up her arms and back.

She had seen that Ink Qi at the Wu residence. Judging by this trajectory, the ink would likely stretch all the way to the Wu family home.

The Ink Qi didn’t harm her, yet lurked at the Wu residence. This wasn’t easily explained, especially since the Wu family had previously had some friction with the other Four Gates and suffered much criticism because of it.

There had been rumors that the Wu family suppressed the other Four Gates simply to “hog all the spoils.” It wasn’t until Wu Wanying became the Family Head that the rumors gradually dissipated.

“Can’t walk anymore?” Yu Zezhi stopped in response.

Wu Yinyu took a copper coin from her brocade pouch and gently rotated her ankle. She had a small frame but prominent joints in her hands and feet, giving her an especially slender, lean look. Her ankle bones seemed as if a few more twists might cause them to snap.

“Can’t walk anymore. How about summoning a ghost to ask?” She slipped off her shoes, took out an incense stick from the bag, and extended it toward Yu Zezhi.

Yu Zezhi looked at the stick held vertically before her and reluctantly took out her lighter.

“Many thanks, Boss Yu.” Wu Yinyu offered her preemptive gratitude.

Yu Zezhi had no choice but to spin the flint. “You’re too polite.”

“Politeness is only proper,” Wu Yinyu beamed.

The sandy beach actually made a perfect spot for planting incense, like one giant cauldron furnace.

Wu Yinyu stabbed the incense into the sand and fanned her hand to help the smoke disperse more quickly.

This time, with no yellow paper available, she simply sat down on the steps, letting her satin Qipao get dirty. She propped her chin on her bent left arm and began scratching at the sand with her right hand.

There were no lights on the beach itself. The streetlamps on the pedestrian walkway meters away cast their glow, illuminating half of Wu Yinyu’s face, making it look sinister and ghastly.

Yu Zezhi recalled her paper effigy. She was true to her name, standing gracefully like the hollow yet straight stalk of a lotus. At her feet, the little yellow paper effigy started running in frantic circles again.

Thankfully, the paper effigy lacked a mouth; otherwise, its noise would have annoyed even the Ghostly Evil.

“What are you doing?” Yu Zezhi asked, looking down.

Wu Yinyu had already dug a shallow “trench” with her hands and was still busily widening it. “I’m digging a coffin to draw the ghosts over. Just incense alone isn’t enough.”

“The Wu family doesn’t typically employ this approach,” Yu Zezhi said evenly.

“Boss Yu understands plenty; how could you not grasp this?” Wu Yinyu lifted her eyelids. Her gaze, like limpid autumn waters, swept askance. Her voice was airy. “In our line of work, innate talent trumps book learning.”