Chapter 43 Part 2

Wu Yinyu knelt beneath the Thousand-Layered Pagoda. Seeing the lightning bolts and fierce flames again now, her heart understood—she was in the dream once more.

This time, the Immortal in the red dress and white outer robe walked through fire again. The flames could not catch the hem of her clothes, nor burn her skin.

Wu Yinyu saw her face clearly. Sure enough, it was identical to Yu Zezhi’s.

It had to be said, this appearance suited Yu Zezhi much better. Right now, her brow bore a red lotus Forehead Ornament, and the corners of her eyes were lined with red thread. Perhaps because her expression was stern, it didn’t look bewitching at all.

After hearing the interrogation, Wu Yinyu involuntarily raised her head and heard herself say, “Lian Sheng, you shouldn’t resent me. You should thank me.”

It sounded like there was some enmity between her and Yu Zezhi, but it was more complicated than mere enmity.

“You massacred the Buddhas of Little Enlightenment Ruins. That is fact,” Lian Sheng stated.

Wu Yinyu let out a deeply disdainful scoff. “This matter is indeed true. But were my intentions false?”

A clap of thunder roared in the sky, shaking hearts with dread.

When Wu Yinyu woke, she was shocked to find herself standing outside again. She couldn’t understand why, even after changing residences, she would still dare to walk out while sleepwalking. She wasn’t familiar with the roads around the Yu residence at all.

Her hands felt heavy. Still incredibly drowsy, it took her a moment to look down. She saw her ten fingers covered in mud, and that Prayer Wheel was lying in her palm.

Wu Yinyu nearly threw the Prayer Wheel away, but she abruptly checked her strength, barely stopping herself.

“What are you doing?”

Wu Yinyu followed the voice and looked up. There was Yu Zezhi, having pushed open the window upstairs.

It was just at the break of dawn, the surroundings still dim and shadowy. After Yu Zezhi’s question, other windows also swung open in unison, and several Paper Effigies poked their heads out.

Wu Yinyu looked at the Prayer Wheel in her hand and confessed, “Last night, I buried the Prayer Wheel in the dirt. When I just woke up, I found myself having dug this thing up again.”

Yu Zezhi was still in her sleeping robe, looking like she had just woken up. With a slightly nasal voice, she said, “The Paper Puppets told me about this. I didn’t believe it then.”

“It was never this clingy before Song Youzhi gave it to me,” Wu Yinyu said, feeling a bit wronged.

“The binding power of the Prayer Wheel is gradually fading. The painting inside is likely about to awaken.” Yu Zezhi rested her arms on the windowsill. “Could it be that it’s not the Prayer Wheel that can’t leave you, but you who can’t leave it? That’s why you dug through the earth for it.”

A chill ran down Wu Yinyu’s back.

After the sky was half-bright, the Paper Puppets in the house were still moving and playing freely, showing no fatigue after the entire night.

Wu Yinyu packed her personal belongings. When she saw Yu Zezhi emerge from her room, she finally said, “I want to go back to the Wu family house for a look.”

This time, not a trace of red could be seen on Yu Zezhi. Her Horse-Face Skirt was black and gold, her hair pinned up. On the surface, she appeared less free-spirited and casual than before.

“Are you looking to walk right into the lion’s den?” she asked, her words sharp.

Wu Yinyu shook her head, smiling. “I can sneak in. I only want to go to the shrine hall. I want to figure out why I asked you to send me to the Wu family in the first place.”

Yu Zezhi didn’t refuse, simply saying, “Fine.”

“I won’t have the keys, but as capable as Boss Yu is, you can surely get the door open,” Wu Yinyu said meaningfully.

Yu Zezhi again said, “Fine,” the picture of compliance.

Wu Yinyu didn’t want to reveal for now that she had actually recalled quite a few things. After all, at the moment, she couldn’t even muster her strength and still had to rely on this person.

Getting into the car, they could still see a group of Paper Effigies in the Yu house, craning their necks to peek out.

It was only six o’clock now; the sky was still deep blue, with faint light seeping through.

Wu Yinyu watched the person driving, who seemed utterly without attachments, much like that Immortal sitting cross-legged in the Pagoda Forest. But… Yu Suhan was still inside the house.

Frowning, she asked, “Just leaving like this? Does Suhan know?”

“She knows. I told her last night,” Yu Zezhi said as she drove away. “The nanny will arrive at daybreak. The house is guarded by Paper Effigies now. There’s nothing to worry about.”

This was truly treating Paper Puppets like household staff. Fortunately, Yu Suhan had grown up accustomed to such sights; otherwise, she’d surely be scared sick by the paper figures running all over the house.

The car couldn’t be parked right next to the Wu residence. They had to leave it in a nearby parking lot and walk the rest of the way.

Having lived in the Wu Family Old Residence for over twenty years, Wu Yinyu was extremely familiar with the place. Finding a blind spot in the Surveillance Footage, she tried to climb over.

She was wearing a Qipao that reached mid-calf; climbing over easily was out of the question. Hitching up her skirt, she climbed with great difficulty, requiring Yu Zezhi to support her from below.

Wu Yinyu turned her head to look. Yu Zezhi was staring off elsewhere, standing like a wooden post.

Sitting atop the wall, she swung her legs and extended her hand. “My shoes.”

Yu Zezhi bent down, picked up the pair of kitten-heel shoes together, and handed them up to her.

Wu Yinyu smiled, then jumped down from the wall and put her shoes back on.

The Wu residence didn’t have those nosy Paper Puppets; it was only set up with a few defensive Spells to ward off thieves. But Wu Yinyu had set those up herself before, so she dispelled them with ease.

At this hour, Wu Wanying and Song Youzhi were probably still asleep. The entire old residence was deathly silent, and it seemed subtly different from when she had left.

Wu Yinyu paid it little mind, merely casting a fleeting glance towards her old room. Turning her head, she said to Yu Zezhi, “I’ll have to trouble Boss Yu to help. I don’t have the key.”

Whoever could scare Wu Qiyu and Song Youzhi that badly must have some genuine ability.

Wu Yinyu watched with keen interest, her eyes crinkling deeply.

Sure enough, Yu Zezhi merely raised her hand and tapped on the door lock, and the door opened by itself.

Wu Yinyu stepped over the threshold. Seeing that there were indeed no ghosts or monsters inside helping Yu Zezhi open the door, she looked back and said, “Impressive, Boss Yu.”

Once Yu Zezhi entered, she quickly shut the door, lest Wu Wanying and Song Youzhi saw them.

Yu Zezhi pressed her hands against the Spirit Table and pushed hard. It didn’t budge.

The Spirit Table was already heavy, not to mention all the things placed on it. It couldn’t be moved without considerable strength.

Wu Yinyu was sore and weak all over; climbing that wall had drained all her energy. Now, with her limbs soft and powerless, how could she help?

Unexpectedly, Yu Zezhi merely blew out a breath. Before Wu Yinyu’s hand could even touch the Spirit Table, it creaked and groaned as it slid aside, the spirit tablets on it clattering violently.

Wu Yinyu thought, no matter how capable she believed herself to be, compared to Yu Zezhi right now, she was like an egg against a stone.

“Boss Yu possesses divine might,” she clicked her tongue in praise.

Yu Zezhi glanced sideways at her, took out a lighter, and sparked it with a click. She walked slowly down the stairs.

Left with no choice, Wu Yinyu switched on her phone’s flashlight, carefully supporting herself against the wall as she descended. By the time she reached the bottom, Yu Zezhi had already lit the candles in front of the genealogy book.

The entire ancestral genealogy book was illuminated to a yellow hue. The pavilions and towers painted on it weren’t done with ordinary dye; under the candlelight, they sparkled brightly.

Following her memory, Wu Yinyu found the corner covered in cobwebs and dust. Pointing at it, she said, “Right there. What a pity, I can’t reach it. I really want to wipe it and take a look.”

Her words were heavily loaded with implication, and her eyes were fixed intently on Yu Zezhi.

Yu Zezhi raised a hand. The cleaning rag on the table immediately floated up and flew towards that corner of the genealogy, wiping it clean.

Wu Yinyu was stunned again. “Truly remarkable, Boss Yu. Before, you said you knew nothing. So you were pretending, and all along I patiently explained so much to you.”

The cobwebs and dust in that corner were swept away, and the name hidden underneath was gradually revealed.

Wu Yinyu watched without blinking. “So, Boss Yu, in that Wisdom Water Red Mountain, what kind of important figure were you?”

“An ordinary post,” Yu Zezhi replied.

If the difference between the living and the dead on the genealogy book was merely the colors red and black, then the name hidden behind the cobwebs was… a dark, golden color.

A very wide, horizontal line was drawn across the dark-gold name, clearly a mark of expulsion from the family.

Wuxian.

She was an ancestor of the Wu family, a member of the Gaozu generation. Calculating it, Wu Wanying would be her collateral descendant, a great-great-grandchild.

Wu Yinyu looked up at it, her steps slow as she approached the genealogy book. She pressed her hand against it.

She just needed to close her eyes, and she could see the last place Wuxian had been. It wasn’t at the Wu residence, nor in Wise City.

It was a beach, the shore covered in gravel, with abandoned ships run aground nearby. Red strips of prayer cloth hung from their masts.

Ivory Mast Beach.

But Wuxian hadn’t stayed at Ivory Mast Beach. She had walked all the way into the mountains.

Once she stepped deep into the mountain forest, Wu Yinyu could see nothing more.

That mountain was called Overgrown Mountain—the very place Lu Dongqing had mentioned, the area their ancestors had forbidden them from approaching.

Wuxian had indeed gone to Overgrown Mountain, and had passed through Ivory Mast Beach along the way. All the calamities were truly, intimately connected to her.

“What did you see?” Yu Zezhi asked.

Wu Yinyu snapped back to reality. “Overgrown Mountain. She passed through Ivory Mast Beach and went to Overgrown Mountain.”

Though they said they were leaving the Yu residence, the two of them didn’t actually have a destination.

In a negotiating tone, Wu Yinyu asked, “Would Boss Yu like to go take a look at Overgrown Mountain with me?”