Lu Dongqing let out a heavy sigh. His cloudy eyes were startlingly red. He was also in a difficult position, yet he still spoke kindly, “Yinyu, you know I haven’t been able to sleep soundly these days, terrified that I wouldn’t hear my two grandsons knocking if they came back. I’ve exhausted every method, just hoping they’d return home soon. Since the spirit writing indicated this place, I had no choice but to come and try.”
“I understand. Go ahead and search.” Wu Yinyu raised her arm, a gesture allowing the Lu family to search freely.
“Thank you.” Lu Dongqing shot a glance at the people behind him.
Lu Beicheng was not among the crowd. It seemed that, with blood streaming from his eyes, he was in no condition to travel.
Possessed by a ghostly evil, he would need thorough “treatment” no matter what. But having just lost two grandsons, Lu Dongqing probably couldn’t bring himself to do it.
Wu Yinyu’s lips curved up almost imperceptibly. She could barely fend for herself right now; other people’s family affairs were none of her business.
Lu Dongqing took the compass and peach wood sword handed to him, drew a deep breath, and ascended the stairs, asking, “Yinyu, may I look inside the upstairs rooms?”
“Of course.” Wu Yinyu was completely open.
Lu Dongqing didn’t stand on ceremony then. His heart pounded wildly, as if he had a connection to his missing grandsons. He had a strong premonition that Lu Yiqi and Lu Sansheng were definitely here!
Besides the rooms belonging to Wu Yinyu and Wu Wanying, the upper floor also housed a study, a music and chess room, and even the rooms that had once belonged to Wu Qiyu and Song Youzhi.
Wu Qiyu and Song Youzhi’s rooms were naturally empty, but they hadn’t been neglected. They were maintained so well they appeared lived-in.
Lu Dongqing knew no one was inside, yet he still knocked before entering, as if exorcising a fierce ghost from another’s home—one had to greet the household immortal first.
After making a round upstairs, Lu Dongqing found nothing. He couldn’t find a single trace left by Lu Yiqi and Lu Sansheng.
His heart sank. The sliver of hope he’d desperately grasped became elusive and fleeting again. He even began to wonder if the Lu family’s Fate Altering Spirit Writing had been wrong.
Seeing Lu Dongqing come downstairs looking dejected, Wu Yinyu wasn’t surprised. She simply walked to the window, pinched some pipe tobacco, and took a puff before asking, “Elder Lu, would you like to walk around the yard?”
“I’ve troubled you enough. I’ll take a look outside.” Lu Dongqing didn’t refuse. Leaning on his cane, his steps were already unsteady. After searching upstairs, he had even less strength to support himself, his legs feeling weak and limp.
“It’s no trouble.” Wu Yinyu followed him out, even generously introducing, “This is a hundred-year-old loquat tree. When it bears fruit, I can send some to you, Elder Lu. They’re very sweet.”
“Thank you.” Lu Dongqing’s entire body was tense, his gaze darting everywhere.
Wu Yinyu added, “The vegetable garden has been neglected for a long time. I heard it’s been left unused ever since Grandfather passed away. A space was cleared nearby to raise chickens and ducks, and just around that corner is the Wu Family Shrine.”
Lu Dongqing knew all this. He and Wu Cangbai had clashed for years. They didn’t share an irreconcilable hatred, but whenever they met, they inevitably argued fiercely. Perhaps they were just destined to clash.
When he learned Wu Cangbai enjoyed farming, he had mocked him many times, telling him not to go down to the Two-World Sea, but to just work the fields at home instead.
Unexpectedly, Wu Cangbai later fell gravely ill and just passed away. After that, the Wu family changed heads several times, until it came to Wu Wanying. Only then did the relations between the Lu and Wu families ease somewhat.
As they were about to reach the shrine, Wu Yinyu deliberately glanced at Yu Zezhi, dawdled as she moved next to her, and nudged her with a bent elbow.
“What?” Yu Zezhi asked in a hushed voice.
“Getting close.” Wu Yinyu stated confidently.
“Only this kind of close?” Yu Zezhi glanced sideways at her.
Wu Yinyu withdrew her hand and said slowly, “Certainly not. Try something else next time?”
The chicken blood on the shrine door hadn’t been completely wiped off. Now, under the dark sky and the dim courtyard lights, the traces of blood on the door would escape notice unless one was specifically looking for them.
But Lu Dongqing, unwilling to overlook a single clue, slowly bent down outside the door. He reached out to touch the door, then turned his head and asked, “Yinyu, why is there blood here?”
Wu Yinyu shot a subtle glance at Yu Zezhi, then answered half-concealingly, “I won’t lie to you. I just used a Soul Searching Technique. The chicken ran around the yard, crashing into things, and accidentally bumped into the door. Afterwards, it was dazed and then just died.”
Lu Dongqing’s pupils constricted, but not because Wu Yinyu had used such a spell. It was because even such a Soul Searching Technique had failed to retrieve Lu Sansheng’s soul.
“Where is that chicken now?” he immediately asked.
Wu Yinyu pointed. “In the kitchen.”
Watching Lu Dongqing hurry inside with his people, Wu Yinyu remained calm and unhurried. She was certain Lu Dongqing couldn’t find Lu Sansheng’s soul.
After all, the soul was hidden by that mass of Ink Qi.
Yu Zezhi leaned her shoulder closer, gazing straight ahead. “I thought you would hide it.”
“Hiding it would only breed discord.” Wu Yinyu bit down on her cigarette holder, her words muffled. “Wu Wanying works diligently every day to maintain the relationships between the Five Gates. If I muddy the waters, he’ll be furious enough to faint.”
“I thought your relationship as siblings was terrible. I didn’t expect you still consider him,” Yu Zezhi said.
Wu Yinyu shook her head. “No, that’s not it. Wu Wanying is very good.”
An ordinary person wouldn’t praise someone like that, especially when they were ostensibly blood siblings.
Yu Zezhi looked sideways, studying Wu Yinyu’s expression. What she said seemed to come from the heart.
“Besides, even if I didn’t say it, Elder Lu would find out eventually.” Wu Yinyu narrowed her eyes. Even though there wasn’t a shred of tobacco in the pipe bowl, she still bit on it, mumbling, “On this point, my conscience is clear, so there’s no harm in saying it.”
Yu Zezhi didn’t respond.
Wu Yinyu’s eyes darted towards her, her voice drawn out long as she asked, “What? Is Boss Yu worried about me?”
That final lilt was light and quick, like a fledgling bird skimming the water.
Yu Zezhi let out a flat, cold chuckle. “Think what you like.”
Who was setting a hook for whom was unclear. Both had a grip on the pole, and neither was willing to be the fish.
Lu Dongqing rushed into the house and saw a chicken lying in the kitchen. The thing was cold but not entirely stiff, meaning it had died recently. He boldly examined the feathers on the rooster, then checked its head, and indeed found traces of blood.
He was actually somewhat angry inside. This soul-searching method could easily lead to disaster, and Wu Yinyu hadn’t mentioned a word to him, an elder, before doing it.
The person behind him asked, “Elder Lu, this chicken…”
“Did you inspect everything thoroughly just now?” Lu Dongqing averted his gaze from the dead chicken on the chopping board.
The person who spoke earlier answered, “We inspected everything carefully. We didn’t find Third Young Master’s soul.”
Lu Dongqing stared out of the kitchen, realizing that only the Wu Family Shrine remained unsearched within the entire Wu residence. With the search incomplete, the worry lodged in his throat still hung there. He decided, “Let’s go see the Wu Family Shrine.”
Over there, Wu Yinyu, anticipating Lu Dongqing’s determination to search every corner of the Wu home, had already opened the door. Seeing Lu Dongqing return with his men, she said respectfully, “Please, Elder Lu.”
Lu Dongqing nodded slightly. Taking a deep breath, he stepped into the Wu Family Shrine.
Unlike the Lu family’s, the Wu Family Shrine was strangely empty, the offerings seeming slightly shabby. Fortunately, incense was burning and the spirit table was wiped clean, so it didn’t appear disrespectful.
Lu Dongqing handed his compass and peach wood sword to someone beside him. He took three incense sticks from the offering table, lit them from a candle flame, and carefully placed them in the censer.
His eyes immediately found his old friend’s name among the many spirit tablets on the table. His feelings were truly complex. With Wu Cangbai’s passing, that old friction had vanished completely. Occasionally hearing or seeing this name even stirred feelings of loss and longing.
Having offered incense, he had also greeted the spirit.
Only then did Lu Dongqing take back the compass and wooden sword. He sprinkled charm water and glutinous rice in the four corners of the room, sat cross-legged on the ground, and began to search for souls.
Wu Yinyu didn’t enter. She just stood outside, arms folded, watching. Occasionally she bit on that green agate cigarette holder, just to satisfy an oral fixation.
That dark, somber green actually suited her, making her face look so pale it seemed inhuman.
Unexpectedly, Yu Zezhi also didn’t go in. She also just stood outside, but unlike Wu Yinyu, who watched carelessly, she stared without blinking, so focused it was as if she were the one in the room searching for souls.
After an exhaustive search, Lu Dongqing still found nothing. Helped to his feet by those beside him, the thread of hope lodged in his throat vanished completely. He swayed, his hands and feet trembling uncontrollably.
How could the warning from the spirit writing be wrong? The thing that possessed Lu Beicheng must be powerful, making his eyes bleed. How could it produce an inaccurate warning?
Lu Dongqing was nearly hopeless, feeling his two grandsons might truly never return. His reddened, cloudy eyes finally glistened. Living over eighty years, this was his first time feeling so utterly powerless.
He turned and walked out of the shrine. He had entered leaning on his own cane, but when he came out, without the support of those beside him, he might not have been able to take a single step.
