Chapter 19

It was already past four in the morning. An ordinary person staying up this late would be exhausted to the point of mental sluggishness.

Wu Yinyu was tired, but she wasn’t particularly sleepy.

One could say that for a while now, she hadn’t wanted to sleep, all because of the strange White Jade Pavilion in her dreams.

At this point, she wasn’t so anxious anymore. But Yu Zezhi seemed to feel no fatigue at all.

Could someone really take a brief nap on a sofa and then be full of vigor? No matter how she thought about it, it seemed impossible.

She was the one who had dragged Yu Zezhi back to the Wu residence; she couldn’t very well keep the woman from sleeping all night. She decided to say, “Tomorrow. Let’s take it down a bit later. No need to rush at this very moment. If we keep staying up like this, I’ll start feeling both heartache and guilt over Boss Yu.”

Yu Zezhi was unmoved by the overly ambiguous words. She only asked, “Does the Wu family have a ladder?”

Wu Yinyu fell silent for a few seconds, then said slowly, “Yes, but it’s in the basement. I’ll trouble Boss Yu to wait a moment.”

“Go ahead.” Yu Zezhi turned toward the Spirit Table. “I’ll wait here for you.”

Sleepless the whole night, Wu Yinyu already felt heavy-headed and light-footed. Still, she walked out of the shrine hall and went down into the basement from the side of the main house.

The basement was piled with various junk. Unlike the shrine hall, which was cleaned daily, it was covered in cobwebs inside and out, with a thick layer of dust accumulated on the floor.

To protect from dust, many of the large items in the basement were covered with white cloths. At a glance, it was an undulating expanse of white. For a moment, she couldn’t tell where the ladder was hidden.

Wu Yinyu paused. It suddenly dawned on her: shouldn’t Yu Zezhi have just sent a Paper Puppet up to fetch the hemp rope? What need was there for a ladder?

Deliberate.

A fine one, this Yu Zezhi. Either she was purposely sending her away, or she was luring her down here to see something.

Since she was already here, Wu Yinyu could only play along with Yu Zezhi’s scheme. She casually lifted a corner of a white cloth and started searching for the ladder.

The moment she lifted the white cloth, the cabinets and an iron bed hidden underneath suddenly appeared before her eyes.

The light in the basement was poor; the bulb seemed about to go out, flickering intermittently.

The old iron bed lay silently under the white cloth. But where had it come from?

This iron bed was identical to the one in the photos. It seemed to be the very bed the woman from twenty-three years ago had slept in.

But as far as Wu Yinyu could remember, she had been to this storage room countless times and had never seen such an object here.

Her heart tightened sharply. She stared at it for a few seconds before bending down to touch the wooden board of the bed, wanting to know if this was an Illusion brought on by Ghostly Evil or sorcery.

Yet the object smelled of no decay. It felt solid and angular to the touch, making it impossible to distinguish truth from falsehood.

There were some uneven marks on the wooden board, as if something had been carved into it.

Leaning closer, using the flickering light, she finally made out the carvings. They looked both like writing and like exotic tribal patterns.

She said “like” because she had never seen such script forms before.

This definitely wasn’t casually scratched. Each stroke was exceptionally distinct; it didn’t look done at random.

Wu Yinyu simply took out her phone and photographed the carvings.

After taking the picture, she dropped the white cloth back down. Tired, she stretched her waist and bent her arms backward. Suddenly, her wrist felt cold.

Some kind of liquid had dripped down, too suddenly, its chill startling her into a shiver.

The light was still flickering. Wu Yinyu stepped aside and hurriedly checked her wrist. On it was a drop of ink that had slightly splattered.

The ink color was very deep. She stood still, back tingling, wiping it forcefully and repeatedly.

After some rubbing, the ink stain did lighten, but not because it was being smeared away. Rather… it seemed to be seeping into her skin.

In just a few seconds, her wrist was perfectly clean again.

Wu Yinyu instinctively looked up to search, but the storage room ceiling was low; where was any Ink Qi?

She had been somewhat drowsy before, but now she was wide awake. Summoning her strength, she moved the ladder out.

Coming out of the basement meant climbing a short, narrow flight of stairs.

The ladder in Wu Yinyu’s hands bumped and scraped, clattering as if it would fall apart. Yet after coming up, she didn’t inspect the ladder. Instead, she glanced at her wrist.

Truly clean. The ink had completely seeped inside. When she bent to smell it, even the Ink Fragrance was gone.

As luck would have it, Yu Zezhi walked out of the shrine hall just then. “Let me help.”

She had just approached when she paused slightly at the wrist suddenly extended toward her face.

Wu Yinyu raised her wrist in front of Yu Zezhi’s face. She said nothing, just lifted her chin to signal.

“Did you spray perfume?” Yu Zezhi asked.

Wu Yinyu didn’t ask why the woman hadn’t simply used a Paper Puppet. She only said, “You can’t smell it?”

Yu Zezhi reached out and grasped her wrist, bringing it closer for another sniff. Flatly, she said, “No smell.”

Wu Yinyu withdrew her hand and rubbed her wrist fiercely again, rubbing until the skin was red. “Some ink dripped onto my wrist just now. Don’t know where it came from.”

Yu Zezhi lifted her gaze, openly scrutinizing Wu Yinyu’s expression. Bluntly, she said, “Just like that, and it doesn’t devour you? If I didn’t know you had no reason to harm Lu Yiqi and Feng Qingshuang, I’d almost think you were in cahoots.”

“In cahoots? Boss Yu’s speculation is quite bold. It’s a pity I don’t even understand what it is.” Wu Yinyu narrowed her eyes, took out her phone, and opened the photo she had just taken. In a low voice, she said, “Speaking of which, I just found an iron bed in the basement. It seems to be the one from twenty-three years ago. There are carvings on the bed board. Take a look, Boss Yu. Do you recognize these characters?”

The screen was thrust too close to her face. Yu Zezhi had to lean slightly back. With an uncomprehending look, she said blandly, “It’s your Miss Wu’s own family item, yet you’re asking me?”

“I’m asking precisely because I can’t read it,” Wu Yinyu promptly showed weakness. “Could you take a look for me?”

“Looks like ghost-drawn talismans,” Yu Zezhi commented.

Wu Yinyu actually thought so too. She smiled and said, “Seems Boss Yu doesn’t recognize it either.”

“You should ask someone else,” Yu Zezhi suggested.

“I’ll ask tomorrow.” Wu Yinyu patted the ladder beside her and changed the subject, “I’ll trouble Boss Yu to lend a hand, help me carry this ladder over.”

The ladder was not especially tall. Even standing on its top rung, one could barely reach the rope on the beam.

Standing up there with no support left or right gave a slight feeling of teetering on the edge.

Wu Yinyu touched the hemp rope. After tugging several times, she realized the other end of the rope seemed to be tied down; she couldn’t pull it free.

Untying the rope wasn’t easy. Using force meant her body would inevitably tilt. Tilting too much meant a definite fall. But the knot was tied tightly; without force, it truly wouldn’t come undone.

After fiddling for over ten minutes, she simply sat on the ladder to catch her breath, covering her mouth and nose with her hand to avoid inhaling dust as she panted.

“Not working?” Yu Zezhi asked, steadying the ladder.

Wu Yinyu shook her head. She knew Yu Zezhi wanted her to untie it. She just didn’t want to do it in front of this person.

“Let me try,” Yu Zezhi said, looking up.

Wu Yinyu came down from the ladder but blocked it, preventing Yu Zezhi from climbing up. Shaking her head, she said, “Let’s call it a day. I’ll trouble Boss Yu another time.”

“Now you’re being polite,” Yu Zezhi’s lips curled slightly upwards, her smile exceedingly cool.

Wu Yinyu’s hands and clothes were covered in dust; she felt uncomfortable all over. Seeing that it was almost dawn, she simply raised her arm and tilted her palm toward the door. “Shall I see Boss Yu home?”

“Just lend me a car then.” Yu Zezhi walked out of the shrine hall, raising her hand for the car keys. “Don’t drive tired.”

“Alright, I’ll get them.” Wu Yinyu had to head toward the main house door, joking as she went, “But Boss Yu, aren’t you also driving tired? Or did you secretly get an extra nap in without telling me?”

“Mm, my Soul Wandering in the Void,” Yu Zezhi’s way of joking was unlike anyone else’s.

Wu Yinyu fetched the keys and placed them in Yu Zezhi’s palm. “Whenever you have time, just bring them back to me. Or I can come over to drive it back.”

“I’ll have time tomorrow,” Yu Zezhi said.