Chapter 56 Part 3

Perhaps because the inn had so few guests, everyone who came was treated as an honored guest. Just as in the morning, when there were tea and pastries and congee and noodles, now that noon had arrived, someone knocked on the door saying the meal was ready.

There were only two people coming and going at the inn: one was the “Innkeeper,” the other, naturally, the Waiter. That Waiter bustled about hurriedly, not only having to clean inside and outside the inn but seemingly also busy in the kitchen.

Judging by the voice, the person outside wasn’t the Innkeeper, so it could only be the Waiter.

Yinyu went to open the door and saw a young man in short garments standing outside. He looked fairly honest. His sleeves were rolled up, perhaps afraid of getting them dirty, and he hadn’t let them down despite the cold.

The Waiter bowed, forcing an ingratiating smile. “Ladies, the meal is prepared downstairs. Shall I bring it up?”

Yinyu couldn’t see any Ghostly Qi on this person. If it truly was possession, with a living body as cover, it was indeed hard to tell. She shook her head. “We’ll come down to get it ourselves in a bit.”

The Waiter smiled naively, even chuckling twice, then pointed down the corridor. “Then this humble one will get back to work.”

Yinyu called out to him, stopping him. “Has the Innkeeper returned?”

“Not yet. The Innkeeper won’t be back until evening,” the Waiter said.

Yinyu nodded. Seeing the Waiter walk away, she closed the door.

Although she had answered that way, she had no intention of going downstairs. Who knew if the food had been tampered with?

“Let’s go down and look.” Lian Sheng wouldn’t go hungry; she was only afraid Yinyu would endure the hunger.

Look they must. Yinyu turned around lazily, listlessly saying, “I’m tired.”

“Do you need me to carry you?” The corner of Lian Sheng’s mouth lifted slightly.

“That would require a sedan chair carried by eight bearers.” Following the joke, Yinyu quipped, but as soon as the words left her mouth, she added, “Forget it. Boss Yu is too busy to do two things at once. You’d probably need eight pairs of hands. That would be ugly.”

“You only fancy what’s good-looking?” Lian Sheng asked in an extremely faint tone.

Yinyu glanced sideways at her, smiling as if she wasn’t. “It’s not just any good-looking will do, either. I’m very picky.”

Lian Sheng stood up. “I’ll bring some food up for you. You rest.”

Yinyu didn’t refuse. She sat down and slumped onto the table. Strands of hair coiled around her cheeks, making her face look startlingly pale, far whiter than Jade-Plate Paper.

Slumped over like this, Yinyu fell into a dream again. Since arriving at Wisdom Water Red Mountain, this was the first time she had dreamed.

In the dream, there were no pavilions carved from ice and jade, only wooden flying eaves and black tiles. The snow filling the sky was also black, like a Celestial Immortal splashing ink—broad, vast swathes of it.

Fortunately, the black snow couldn’t block the sunlight. Everywhere was still bright. This snow wasn’t bone-chillingly cold either; it disappeared completely before hitting the ground, leaving behind a touch of spring breeze.

Someone sat beside her, a wine cup gently swirling in their hand. Rich, fragrant Immortal brew splashed out, spilling onto the back of her hand.

Yinyu brought her lips to the back of her hand, neither annoyed nor angry. Instead, she laughed and said, “Did you do that on purpose? Why not spill it on my body? What’s the point of spilling it on the back of my hand?”

The person across from her wore a Lotus Pattern Red Jade at her waist. It was Lian Sheng.

“Now that we’re out, we don’t have to follow Little Enlightenment Ruins’ rules anymore. Are you happy following me?” Yinyu asked, a smile playing on her lips.

Lian Sheng didn’t respond. Her gaze was fixed as she tipped her wine cup and slowly savored a sip.

“Is my Dark Snow Heaven beautiful?” Yinyu asked again.

Lian Sheng pointed out the window and asked flatly, “Why are there Painting scrolls set up everywhere?”

“Naturally, to come and go freely, to protect all living beings.” This statement seemed brimming with righteousness, yet Yinyu’s posture was leisurely and casual. She even swirled her eyes as she took a sip of wine.

“I’ve never seen anyone pour so much sincere heart into the place they protect.” Lian Sheng couldn’t hold her liquor. Just a light sip had already brought a rosy blush to her face.

Yinyu slumped over the table, touching her icy fingertip to the other’s flushed cheek. “But I clearly have times when I’m even more heartfelt, yet someone turns a blind eye.”

Although Lian Sheng’s brows were still furrowed, her eyes were already drunk and hazy. With a somewhat dazed expression, she grasped Yinyu’s fingers.

…

Yinyu was shaken awake. Having only slumped on the table for a short while, she was already sore all over. Opening her eyes, she saw a food box on the table.

Lian Sheng opened the food box and took out the dishes one by one. “The Innkeeper isn’t at the inn. I asked the Waiter; he said he went out.”

Yinyu opened her bleary eyes and rubbed her brow. “Where did he go?”

“I don’t know. He goes out at this time every day.” Lian Sheng held out a pair of chopsticks to her. “I’ve checked it; it’s edible.”

Yinyu took the chopsticks, but she had little appetite. She ate two mouthfuls perfunctorily and swallowed before saying, “A man past seventy, going out in the wind and snow every day. The Waiter doesn’t find it strange, so he’s definitely not human either, right?”

“Wanting to eat Living Souls, yet also wanting to earn money from the living?” Lian Sheng tapped the rim of the bowl, signaling her to take another bite. “Quite interesting, actually.”

Going out in broad daylight couldn’t be for hunting souls. Although Dark Snow Heaven’s yin energy was strong, there was still some yang energy during the day. Even with a living person’s shell as cover, one couldn’t guard against everything.

Yinyu forced herself to take another bite, even chewing was a struggle. She placed her chopsticks on the bowl. “Those siblings are staying here; maybe they already know the inn’s secrets.”

“What do you want to do?” Lian Sheng looked at her for a long moment, then picked up a handkerchief and pressed it to the corner of Yinyu’s mouth.

Yinyu froze, catching the delicate fragrance on the handkerchief. Her nostrils flared slightly twice. “The Kang Family plunders ordinary people’s rice and flour, acting tyrannically in this area, yet they don’t come to cause trouble at this inn. In my view, the inn ‘Innkeeper’ and the Kang Family are probably colluding behind the scenes. If we want to understand the Kang Family and the Altar of the Abandoned, we might as well start with that ‘Innkeeper.’ Yesterday he…”

She scoffed. “Wasn’t he all too eager to tell us everything he knew?”

“Tomorrow, we follow him,” Lian Sheng said in a few extremely faint words, with the most dignified and proper bearing.

That night, the cool breeze whispered. The window rattled loudly, sounding as if someone were knocking.

The bed planks were ultimately too hard. Yinyu found it extremely difficult to fall asleep, so she turned on her side to look toward the window and abruptly caught sight of a face.

The entire face was pressed against the window paper. But because the night was thick and the room unlit, all she could see was a dark, indistinct mass.

Having seen plenty of Ghosts, Monsters, and Evil Entities, how could Yinyu be afraid? She merely sat up, slightly surprised. The moment she moved, the bed planks groaned, waking Lian Sheng, who was sitting and leaning beside her.

Lian Sheng glanced at her, noticed where her gaze was directed, and soon looked toward the window.

The moment their eyes met the two in the room, the ghostly face swooped down and vanished without a trace.

How could Yinyu let it leave just like that? She clutched her collar and walked over. She threw open the window, braving the biting cold wind to lean out.

Lian Sheng walked up behind her and hooked a single index finger into the back of her collar. “Aren’t you flustered at all?”

Yinyu didn’t find any lingering Ghostly Qi. She turned back and smiled. “Back in that other world, I was terribly worried you weren’t afraid. Coming here, it’s become you worrying about me. Feeling like the host now?”

Lian Sheng’s finger was still hooked onto her clothing, lightly touching the back of her neck. Yinyu grabbed that hand, hissing, “Cold.”

Unexpectedly, Lian Sheng went even further, curling her finger and giving the back of Yinyu’s neck a heavy scrape.

Yinyu’s heart trembled at the scrape. She smiled as if she wasn’t smiling. “What are you doing?”

Lian Sheng withdrew her hand and walked over to push the door open. “Let’s go downstairs and look.”

The moment they went downstairs, they saw the Innkeeper sitting drowsily behind the wooden desk. The side door was still wide open, the wind blowing his white hair wildly about.

Sensing someone coming downstairs, the Innkeeper hurriedly cracked open a sliver of his eyes, squinting as he asked, “Ah, why are you two ladies coming down at this hour?”

“Innkeeper, still not resting so late?” Yinyu asked.

“Just dozing off is all.” The Innkeeper sighed. “The door must stay open. If a guest happens to come by, wouldn’t that be like manna falling from heaven?”

Originally, they thought he kept the shop open at night for a living. Now, hearing this, the implication changed.

Yinyu raised an eyebrow. “True. Who wouldn’t want manna to fall from heaven?”

“Are you two planning to go out?” the Innkeeper asked, surprised.

Yinyu nodded, already stepping toward the wide-open door while clutching her collar. “Going out for a look.”

The Innkeeper’s eyes went wide. Stammering, he said, “Going out at this hour? It’s easy for things to happen at night.”

“It’s fine.” Yinyu stepped past the threshold. The cold wind nearly sealed her eyes shut.

Lian Sheng held up the umbrella, shielding the other’s head. Indifferently, she said, “That Ghostly Shadow is quite good at hiding. No trace upstairs or downstairs. To hide so thoroughly, it can only be concealed within a living person’s shell.”

“Are you saying the ghostly face outside the window just now was the Innkeeper?” Yinyu turned her head slightly.

Lian Sheng didn’t turn around, but instead gazed down the long street.

In the distance, it seemed people were coming noisily. One among them was wailing, a cry that could be described as earth-shattering—and extremely familiar.

They saw a group of people rounding the houses, hauling a man in tattered clothes closer. Wasn’t that man precisely Zhong Yutian, who had stumbled away from the Altar of the Abandoned earlier?

Zhong Yutian was quite good at running—clearly terrified of the Kang Family, yet determined to crash right into their faces.