Li Qingtin froze for a moment. "Senior Brother, what are you suspecting?"
Zhao Lingyi looked up at the sky, his tone thoughtful. "Only after we go to the back courtyard will I know if my guess is correct."
"Then I'll take this old maid with us, so she doesn't pull any tricks from behind and ruin our plan!" Yun Hui yanked at Jiang Shengxiang's collar, staring at him with suspicion.
"You cannot take Yu Zhu away!" Tang Xiangyin suddenly cried out.
Jiang Shengxiang struggled desperately. "This servant may look coarse, but I am not a ghost, Miss… Elder Sister Ru Meng, please save me!"
Tang Xiangyin gripped his hand and pleaded, "Yu Zhu is useless. Keeping her by your side serves no purpose. Why not… why not take me instead?"
Tang Xiangyin thrust out her hands with a face full of resolve, as if ready to sacrifice herself.
Yao Ranran quickly dragged her back, shielding her behind her. Her voice was firm. "No. Miss is the master of the Tang residence. I will not let her leave my sight, not even for a moment!"
Yun Hui's gaze swept between the three of them. Suddenly, he flung Jiang Shengxiang aside and seized Yao Ranran's wrist. "Since your mistress cannot leave, then you will come with us!"
Jiang Shengxiang was tossed to the ground. Before he could even catch his breath, he heard them say Yao Ranran was to be taken away. He shouted in panic, "No! This servant… this servant has been with Ru Meng since childhood, inseparable! I cannot be parted from her!"
Yun Hui frowned deeply. "This won't do, and that won't do either… Fine. You stay, and the two of them come with me!"
Jiang Shengxiang: ???
"No… fine, fine! This servant has no objections anymore!" Jiang Shengxiang looked at the palm so close to his face and crouched down pitifully.
"Please don't hit me…"
"Yun Hui, how can you raise your hand against women so carelessly?" Li Qingtin stepped forward and shielded Jiang Shengxiang.
"Senior Sister Qingtin! Does she look like a woman to you?" Yun Hui grumbled, but obediently lowered his hand.
Jiang Shengxiang gazed at her radiant figure, moved to the point of tears. "Many thanks to Fairy Qingtin for protecting me. If Fairy Qingtin wishes to take me along, I am willing to follow!"
Li Qingtin's eyes slid over him coldly, then she looked up at the darkening sky. "It is late already. We must hurry and set out. Yun Hui, what you said earlier makes sense. She is the mistress of Tang residence, and she is the maid. Bringing both is just right."
Yao Ranran cast Jiang Shengxiang a look full of sympathy, leaving him a silent farewell: "Take care on your path."
"Fairy Ranran…" Jiang Shengxiang wept soundlessly.
…
Just as Zhao Lingyi's group departed, Pu Dingping and his companions arrived.
"Senior Brother, there's a graceful woman on a swing ahead. Could she be Miss Tang?" Zhu Kehong's eyes nearly bulged from staring.
Pu Dingping made a gesture with his eyes. "Go and ask."
Zhu Kehong licked his dry lips and chuckled. "Senior Brother, watch me!"
Hehehe.
Anyone who could appear here would never be a normal woman. Ghosts loved such tricks, showing up suddenly to frighten people.
But Zhu Kehong was no easy prey.
"Strike first, or suffer later!"
He spread his fingers like claws, creeping up behind her.
He suddenly shouted, "I suddenly appear! Aaaah—ghost!!!"
"Ahhh, ghost!!!"
Jiang Shengxiang jumped so hard he let out a string of frightened farts, his pose anything but elegant.
Pu Dingping pinched his nose and seized Zhu Kehong by the back of the neck, lifting him up with one hand.
"Useless fool! Would a ghost be afraid of another ghost?"
Zhu Kehong trembled, pointing at Jiang Shengxiang's face. "But he, he, he…"
"He only looks old and ugly!" Pu Dingping said mercilessly. His eyes flicked down at Jiang Shengxiang's chest before adding, "And flat."
Zhu Kehong peered more carefully and froze. "Senior Brother… you're right…"
A killing blow to both body and pride. Jiang Shengxiang felt both terrified and wronged.
"I should have stuffed something in my robes…"
Pu Dingping loomed over him. "Where is your mistress?"
Jiang Shengxiang noticed the three small flame patterns embroidered on his robe and confessed immediately. "The young miss was taken away by the immortals who entered earlier."
Pu Dingping narrowed his eyes, a cruel glint flashing there. "Liars are chopped into paste and fed to the dogs."
Jiang Shengxiang raised his hand. "I swear to the heavens, if even one word of mine is false, may thunder strike me dead without mercy!"
"Ghosts are already dead. You are not one." Pu Dingping's grin twisted unnaturally.
Zhu Kehong got up. The group closed in around Jiang Shengxiang.
"Not a ghost, then even easier to handle."
"Fairy Ranran, save me!" Jiang Shengxiang's figure was soon swallowed by the crowd.
…
"It just had to be a locust tree." Zhao Lingyi's gaze fixed on the towering tree.
"Locust wood harbors ghosts, steeped in heavy yin. And beside it, a deep old well—something must be wrong there." Li Qingtin looked at the well.
Yun Hui frowned. "Senior Sister, let me go down. If there are ghosts below, I'll try to lure them out."
Zhao Lingyi shook his head. "No. The well's condition is unknown. None of us can go down."
"If no one goes down, how will we know what lies inside?" Yun Hui's voice carried irritation.
Zhao Lingyi said nothing, instead turning his gaze toward Yao Ranran and Tang Xiangyin.
Tang Xiangyin paused, then said softly, "I have sent people to search the well many times. Nothing I sought was ever down there."
"Many times? Who went?" Yun Hui pressed.
Tang Xiangyin's gentle eyes turned toward Yao Ranran. "Ru Meng, you and Yu Zhu went below before, did you see anything?"
All eyes fell on Yao Ranran.
She answered evenly, "There were corpses beneath."
Tang Xiangyin's expression did not change, though her gaze tightened.
The disciples of Yungu sect were horrified.
"Corpses buried in a well… what purpose does this Tang residence serve?" Li Qingtin's chest rose sharply, anger in her eyes.
Zhao Lingyi looked at Yao Ranran. "Young lady, how long has this Tang residence stood?"
Yao Ranran did not answer. Instead, she turned to Tang Xiangyin. "Miss, do you remember when the residence was first built?"
Tang Xiangyin twisted her handkerchief, her gaze distant. "I… I do not know. I was already here when I was very small."
"This young lady knows nothing at all. Where is the bearing of a true mistress? Senior Brother Zhao, if needed, we can use harsher means to make them speak the truth!" Yun Hui bared his teeth, feigning menace.
Yao Ranran remained utterly unmoved, even suspecting he was trying to act cute.
Tang Xiangyin bit her lip softly. "Will you be staying the night here, then?"
"Stay? We want nothing more than to leave as soon as possible! As for treasures, this young master cares nothing for them!" Yun Hui kicked at the edge of the well, his temper rising.
The Yungu sect disciples exchanged glances.
Yun Hui was the Sect Master's son. Of course he did not care for treasure within the secret realm.
"You… you truly do not want my treasure?" To everyone's surprise, Tang Xiangyin showed a different side.
Yun Hui blinked.
Zhao Lingyi cut in quickly, "We only wish to leave. We covet nothing of Miss Tang's treasure. Miss Tang, have you perhaps remembered something?"