Tang Xiangyin lifted her gaze toward the sky. The mist drifting around them shifted slowly, and a soft shaft of moonlight spilled across her delicate face.
"You all should rest. The moon is about to rise." She spoke without preamble, her words landing strangely in the silence.
Zhao Lingyi frowned. "And what if the moon comes out?"
Tang Xiangyin pressed her lips together. "When the moon rises, I have to rest. Father said Xiangyin cannot be outside. I must stay quietly in my room. Ru Meng, let's go quickly, otherwise Father will scold me when he comes out!"
"Father?" Zhao Lingyi and the others looked at one another in confusion.
Before they could ask more, Tang Xiangyin's expression turned anxious. She grabbed Yao Ranran's hand and spun around, hurrying back toward Qinmei Courtyard.
Zhao Lingyi reacted at once, reaching to block their way. "Miss Tang, you cannot leave—"
Tang Xiangyin never looked back.
But Yao Ranran turned in time to see Zhao Lingyi and the others swallowed whole by a thick, rolling fog.
The crescent moon slipped free from the clouds overhead. Its pale, chilling glow wrapped around Tang Xiangyin, as if veiling her in silken gauze.
…
Tang Family Ancestral Hall.
"If we're talking about the heaviest yin qi, how could I ignore this ancestral hall?" Pu Dingping dragged Jiang Shengxiang along like a man carrying a scrawny chicken.
"Senior Brother…"
Pu Dingping shot him an impatient look. "What now?"
Jiang Shengxiang's eyes bulged in horror. "The Mist… the Mist took them all away!"
The fog surged, coiling through the air. Pu Dingping immediately summoned the Ink-Shadow Lamp, its faint green flames flickering weakly, barely illuminating Jiang Shengxiang's face.
Pu Dingping's expression hardened. "What's going on here?"
Jiang Shengxiang clung to his leg, trembling violently.
He regretted it. He should never have refused when Yun Hui tried to take him away earlier!
No matter what, following the righteous disciples of Yungu Sect would have been better than sticking with these demon cultivators!
Pu Dingping swept a wary glance around. The Tang family memorial tablets had already vanished into the dense white fog. The chill in the mist sank cold fingers down his spine.
"Senior Brother?"
"Xiao Jiang!"
"Who's calling me?" Jiang Shengxiang turned his head.
Pu Dingping instinctively turned as well. "Wait, something's wrong—"
But the moment he realized it, the man clinging to his leg was gone.
Instead, a face identical to his own grinned back at him from the mist.
…
Target: Tang Xiangyin ???
Constitution: Heavenly Underworld Six Yin Body ???
Spiritual Root: None
Cultivation: None ???
Yao Ranran lowered the Ancient Appraisal Mirror and gently placed a hand on Tang Xiangyin's shoulder. Her voice was soft. "Miss, is the treasure you lost… yourself?"
Tang Xiangyin froze mid-step.
She didn't turn around, but Yao Ranran could feel her body go rigid beneath her palm.
"Guess wrong, and you die!"
Tang Xiangyin spun, fingers curling into claws, lunging straight at Yao Ranran with a feral cry.
Their eyes met. Yao Ranran's gaze was steady and clear, reflecting the faint embarrassment flickering across Tang Xiangyin's face.
"Why aren't you afraid of me?" Tang Xiangyin faltered, then awkwardly withdrew her hand.
Yao Ranran patted her head lightly. "Ru Meng has served Miss for years. How could I ever be afraid of you?"
Tang Xiangyin pouted. "You're not Ru Meng!"
Yao Ranran froze. "You figured it out?"
Tang Xiangyin lifted her chin proudly. "Of course. Ru Meng isn't nearly that clever!"
Yao Ranran: "...You're right."
"You guessed correctly." Tang Xiangyin fixed her with a solemn stare. "I won't kill you, because you gave the right answer."
Yao Ranran slowly withdrew her hand from Tang Xiangyin's pale neck. Her tone was calm. "You won't kill me because I could kill you."
Tang Xiangyin: "…"
Why was this person so strong… and so impossible to fool?
"Don't you want to claim me?" Tang Xiangyin asked suspiciously.
Yao Ranran shook her head. "I'm not interested in lilies right now."
"Lilies? What does this have to do with flowers?" Tang Xiangyin tilted her head in confusion.
Yao Ranran stared at her genuine bewilderment, momentarily speechless. "I'm the one with the dirty thoughts here… clearly she didn't mean that."
"Nothing. Lilies are beautiful. You're beautiful too," Yao Ranran offered instead.
On any other day, Tang Xiangyin would have basked in such praise. But standing before someone more beautiful than herself, her vanity shriveled instantly. Her brows furrowed with faint sorrow. "You guessed the right answer, but you cannot break this trap."
"What trap?"
"The hide-and-seek trap."
"No one's ever broken that?" Yao Ranran blinked. "Were these people all idiots before they died?"
Tang Xiangyin sighed. "It isn't as simple as you think. Since the trap was set, over a thousand cultivators have perished here. Among them were prodigies who reached Foundation Establishment at twenty, geniuses who formed their cores at a hundred, heirs of great clans, phoenix daughters, qilin sons, and seeds of cultivation sects. Any one of them could have shaken the Eastern Wilderness.
Yet no matter how brilliant, no matter how hard they struggled, none of them broke free of this childish snare."
Her gaze fell on Yao Ranran, her sigh growing heavier. "All the more impossible for you, a mere first-level Qi Refinement cultivator."
Yao Ranran frowned deeply.
This world really wasn't kind to her.
Even the dead mocked her cultivation!
She muttered thoughtfully, "Maybe the only way to solve it is… to not be too strong."
Tang Xiangyin cast her a weary glance, then took her hand. "Come with me."
"Where are we going?" Yao Ranran watched the mist parting ahead, uncertain.
Tang Xiangyin's expression softened with sympathy. Her voice grew gentle. "To the Tang Family Ancestral Hall. I'll let you choose the finest resting place, so future generations can honor your spirit."
Ancestral hall? Resting place?
Yao Ranran's eyes widened. She jerked her hand free. "You're cursing me to die?!"
Tang Xiangyin's tone was sincere. "I only wish to fulfill your final wish before death."
"My final wish is not to pick out a good spot for a memorial tablet!" Yao Ranran snapped. She shook her head quickly. "No way, I'm not dying. You're not going to fulfill any wish of mine!"
She had nearly let herself be tricked!
"Everyone who comes in thinks the same. Yet they all died. Not one even got a good place for their memorial." Tang Xiangyin's voice carried painful honesty.
A thought struck Yao Ranran. "All who die here… their memorials are placed in the Tang Family's ancestral hall?"
Tang Xiangyin nodded. "Yes. The hall is already crowded. But I like your face, so I wanted to give you the chance to pick a good spot in advance."
"Thank you, really… thank you!"
Yao Ranran pressed her palm to her forehead. Her own family's ancestral hall never placed outsiders' tablets. A bizarre custom like this deserved a closer look.
"Miss Tang, take me there."
Tang Xiangyin blinked in surprise, then her lips curved into a bright smile. "Ru Meng, you've finally figured it out!"
Yao Ranran's face stayed wooden. "Yes. I've figured it out!"
"Whatever she says, it's pointless to argue."
Tang Xiangyin's cheeks flushed faintly as she clasped her hand, voice trembling with excitement. "I'll take you right away!"