Chapter 29 Part 2

The sensation was especially intimate, tinged with a hint of presumptuous intrusion.

“Boss Yu is impressive,” Wu Yinyu said slowly.

“Is that impressive?” Yu Zezhi paused, then said coolly, “It’s just pinning up hair.”

Twenty minutes later, the driver arrived, holding out Lu Sansheng’s clothes. “Miss, here are the clothes. There’s one thing I must tell you: when I was leaving, I saw the Lu family’s car. They seemed to be heading toward the hospital. I don’t know if they noticed me.”

“No matter.” Wu Yinyu took the clothes and said, “Go back.”

The driver nodded and left, not daring to linger. He guessed that Wu Yinyu was planning some ritual, which was why she had specifically sent him to borrow clothes.

In the unlit house, Wu Yinyu felt her way in the dark, fitting Lu Sansheng’s clothes onto the rooster.

The garment meant for a person hung loose and empty on the rooster. The chicken didn’t squawk or crow, only occasionally turning its head alertly, looking at something unknown.

“In a moment, I’ll use this chicken to track his soul. I’ll also release some Little Ghosts. His soul has been out of its shell too long; if frightened, it will surely seek a living creature to inhabit.” Wu Yinyu fumbled and untied the red string from the rooster’s legs.

“Why didn’t you use this method that day?” Yu Zezhi watched with lowered eyes.

Stroking the rooster’s wings, Wu Yinyu looked up and said, “This method only works in smaller areas. Besides, if Lu Sansheng’s soul and this chicken are too compatible, it might not come out. The previous Soul Calling was meant to guide his soul back into his own body.”

Yu Zezhi nodded. “Sounds quite risky.”

“It seems Boss Yu truly doesn’t know everything.” Wu Yinyu took three sticks of incense from the drawer under the coffee table, and also brought out a brocade box.

The Wu Family was in this line of work, so it wasn’t strange for the hall to be filled with such objects. Inside the drawer, besides incense and a brocade box containing incense ash, there were several palm-sized small octagonal mirrors.

“Boss Yu, do these mirrors look familiar?” Wu Yinyu picked up a mirror and asked.

“Not familiar.” In the darkness, only faint moonlight spilled into the room. Yu Zezhi narrowed her eyes slightly to examine it.

Wu Yinyu stroked the mirror’s surface. “Just like the last time Boss Yu trapped the old ghost in a mirror, my mirrors also hold quite a few Little Ghosts.”

“The Wu Family raises ghosts?” Yu Zezhi raised an eyebrow slightly.

“Not at all. They’re just some Little Ghosts I captured but haven’t had the time to send away.” Wu Yinyu laughed. “Here they come. Watch closely, Boss Yu.”

As soon as she finished speaking, she sharply slapped the rooster and shouted Lu Sansheng’s name. Immediately afterward, she smashed the small octagonal mirror on the floor.

The mirror shattered with a crash. Sinister, evil energy surged out, rampaging wildly through the room. The rooster, which hadn’t made a sound before, suddenly squawked loudly, flapping its wings and running frantically across the floor.

Wu Yinyu followed the rooster, occasionally calling out Lu Sansheng’s name. The rooster, as if guided by someone, even though it was its first time inside, navigated the Wu house with practiced ease.

Yu Zezhi followed unhurriedly. Seeing the rooster stop in front of the Wu Family Shrine, she furrowed her brow and asked, “Here?”

The rooster was utterly motionless. Meanwhile, the ghosts that had escaped from the mirror were still darting everywhere, the Yin Energy they brought with them making one’s spine prickle with cold.

But Wu Yinyu sensed no living soul here. The Shrine Hall was empty—there wasn’t even a Household Guardian.

She didn’t know why the Wu Family’s Household Guardian had vanished. From as long as she could remember, she had never once seen it, nor heard Wu Qiyu mention it. It seemed the Household Guardian had disappeared long ago.

The rooster standing before the Shrine Hall’s door fluttered a few times and then rammed into the door with reckless abandon, banging against the wooden door with thuds, its head bleeding from the impact.

Wu Yinyu opened the door. A surge of Ink Qi rushed out violently. However, the Ink Qi didn’t crash into her; instead, it hurled itself entirely onto the rooster. The rooster didn’t even cry out. It keeled over on the ground, dead.

By the time Wu Yinyu came back to her senses and tried to locate the Ink Qi again, it had already dispersed to who knows where.

The Shrine Hall doors were open. The house was silent and desolate. The rampaging ghosts didn’t dare venture inside.

Yu Zezhi glanced indifferently at the lifeless chicken on the ground, lifting a leg to step over it. She walked past Wu Yinyu into the Shrine Hall, heading purposefully toward the Spirit Table. Reaching out, she probed the incense ash in the burner.

The putrid stench in the ash had faded. Clearly, the ash-eating thing hadn’t come back. The incense ash in the burner definitely wasn’t consumed by the Ink Qi.

“The people were taken by that wisp of Ink, but the incense wasn’t eaten by it.” Yu Zezhi rubbed her fingers together.

Her hands still dirty, Wu Yinyu didn’t want to add another layer of grime. She simply bent down and moved her face toward Yu Zezhi’s hand.

“Perhaps Lu San’s soul truly is at the Wu house, just hidden. The Ink Qi doesn’t want us to find him.” Yu Zezhi fixed her gaze on Wu Yinyu.

Wu Yinyu had been stared at by Yu Zezhi in this way several times before. Seeing the look, she stepped back a pace, folding her arms in front of her. “From Boss Yu’s look, it seems you think I’m in league with that Ink.”

“You misunderstand.” Yu Zezhi brushed the ash from her fingers. “Aren’t we the ones on the same pirate ship?”

Wu Yinyu turned and walked out of the Shrine Hall, picking up the dead chicken on the ground. Furrowing her brow with a bit of annoyance, she said, “The Lu family should be here soon. I have to clean up.”

By “clean up,” she meant tossing the dead chicken into the kitchen and trapping the Little Ghosts that had been running loose in the house back into their mirrors.

After doing this, Wu Yinyu washed her hands meticulously. She turned her head to see Yu Zezhi standing outside the door. Unhurriedly, she said, “Elder Lu will surely want to search the Wu house later. Unfortunately for them, I can’t find anything, and they won’t be able to either.”

“Who do you hope I’ll help?” Yu Zezhi asked very bluntly.

Wu Yinyu dried her hands and turned around, leaning against the sink with a teasing smile. “I thought Boss Yu would help me. After all, you followed my car here, didn’t you? We haven’t even made it to the ends of the earth, and you already want to run?”

“I’m not running.” Yu Zezhi raised an eyebrow. “Want a taste of smoke?”

“A little.” Wu Yinyu licked the corner of her mouth. “How did you know?”

“You seemed a bit listless. It’s on the table, right? I’ll get it for you.” Yu Zezhi turned and headed toward the living room.

Wu Yinyu followed, but not to decline the help. She just said, “Actually, Boss Yu, help whoever you want. I haven’t even figured things out yet. I can’t have Boss Yu following me into a blind box.”

Yu Zezhi slowed her pace and looked back at her.

Wu Yinyu wrapped an arm around herself and said slowly, softly, “Just don’t lie to me, Boss Yu. I know Boss Yu is a businesswoman, with a sharp mind. As for me, my brain is constantly smoke-damaged; I’m easily fooled.”

“Is that so?” Yu Zezhi responded without emotion, picking up the smoking pipe and tobacco box from the table.

Wu Yinyu pinched some tobacco shreds and had just placed them in the pipe bowl when she saw Yu Zezhi strike another match for her. Raising an eyebrow slightly, she said, “I originally thought Boss Yu was a flower on a high, unreachable peak. I didn’t expect your heart to be unexpectedly warm.”

After lighting the tobacco, Yu Zezhi shook the match out, bent down, and tossed it into the ashtray.

“That’s Wu Wanying’s. I don’t use that one,” Wu Yinyu said.

Yu Zezhi took the matchstick out. Seeing a small jar nearby, she confirmed it was the right one before dropping it in. “You keep things so separate?”

“Must. Even sharing a bed can lead to different dreams. We’re just living under the same roof, each with our own hidden agendas. Boundaries inevitably have to be clear.” Wu Yinyu took a drag through the green agate mouthpiece.

The Lu family indeed arrived. It was Lu Dongqing who rang the doorbell.

Wu Yinyu went to open the door, respectfully greeting, “Elder Lu,” without a trace of shame for having left early.

Lu Dongqing surveyed the interior. Without rushing to state his intentions, he first asked, “Wanying isn’t back yet?”

“Mm, a big boss like him is naturally quite busy.” Wu Yinyu stepped aside to invite Lu Dongqing in. “Please come in, Elder Lu.”

Quite a few Lu family members followed behind. Their expressions were varied.

Upon entering, Lu Dongqing immediately spotted Yu Zezhi. Not surprised, he said, “Zezhi is here too.”

Yu Zezhi nodded slightly toward Lu Dongqing, responding very flatly.

The Wu house rarely had guests, and the tea set had been sitting in the cupboard untouched for a long time. Wu Yinyu was about to take it out when she was interrupted.

“Yinyu.” Lu Dongqing leaned on his cane, looking around. “I didn’t come here for tea, so there’s no need to brew any.”

Wu Yinyu paused. It seemed Lu Dongqing didn’t want to beat around the bush either. She could only ask, “Did Elder Lu come because of the warning from the Spirit Writing?”

“You also left early because of the warning, didn’t you?” Lu Dongqing had always appreciated this younger generation member. Although it involved his own grandson, he still didn’t want to speak too harshly.

Wu Yinyu closed the storage cabinet and faced Lu Dongqing squarely. “That’s right. If Lu San’s soul suddenly ended up at the Wu house, I’d have no way to defend myself. I had to come back early and take a look.”

“And after coming back, did you search?” Lu Dongqing’s expression softened slightly, knowing that before matters were clear, he shouldn’t misdirect his anger or provoke a dispute between the two families.

Wu Yinyu smiled and raised a hand. “My search doesn’t count. Elder Lu, since you’re here, please feel free to look around.”