Yan Qing didn't know where these women ultimately went, but she remained quite curious. According to this version of events, the Fallen Flower Cave Woman was just a somewhat tragic story; how could she have such a great reputation—and be associated with sorcery?

The contents of this story are highly suspicious. Yan Qing recalled the scene in front of the cave today, which seemed to be a wedding between the Fallen Flower Cave Maiden and the Cave God.

Throughout the entire wedding, what impressed her most, besides the bride, were the terrified onlookers. They didn't seem to be there for the wedding; they all looked like they wanted to run away. She didn't believe there wasn't something fishy going on.

Yan Qing quickly dressed and then instructed Lingxi to wake up the unconscious maids in white on the ground.

She lay down on the bed and fell into a coma.

Lingxi moved quickly. She had just lain down when she heard the screams of the maids outside, followed by the sound of uneven footsteps.

The door was pushed open, and a maid ran to the bedside. Seeing Yan Qing "unconscious," she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Second Miss, Second Miss! Wake up—"

Several maids in white carefully nudged her a few times before Yan Qing finally feigned sleepiness and waved her hand—

"So noisy—" Then she turned over and went back to sleep.

The maid in white, growing impatient, continued to push her. Yan Qing reluctantly opened her eyes, looking completely bewildered, and asked...

"Hey, what's wrong with you guys?"

The first maid in white, with a mournful face, said, "Second Miss, wake up! We've probably been tricked by the neighbors again! We were all drugged just now!"

"That's right!" a maidservant immediately chimed in. "Second Miss, they're bullying us like this, are we just going to put up with it?"

Yan Qing rubbed her eyes. "Across the street? There are several across the street. How can you know who it is? —Didn't you say we were all confused?" She hadn't just studied the terrain for nothing; there were three identical courtyards across the street.

"Of course! Who else could it be but the young lady!" At this, all the white-clad maids protested.

"Miss, isn't it because you have a good temper that she's been bullying us so much!"

So that's what happened! Yan Qing was a little puzzled. Wasn't this young lady the Fallen Flower Cave Girl? Wasn't she supposed to have been mentally impaired for a long time? Why did it sound like that wasn't the case?

Yan Qing deliberately put on an innocent expression, "This morning, didn't my eldest sister already get married? She's a Luohua Cave girl, we just need to be patient for a few days."

“That’s different, the young lady clearly—” A maid in white blurted out instinctively. But she was glared at by the first maid in white and dared not finish her sentence.

Yan Qing glanced at the maid at the head of the group; it seemed that she was the one in charge here.

However, as a young lady, she could be willful and unreasonable.

So Yan Qing simply put on a stern face, "What, what is it that my eldest sister is clearly...? You're not trying to say that my eldest sister is faking her madness, are you?"

She noticed that when she said "feigning madness," the white-clad maid opposite her visibly contracted her pupils sharply.

It seems she guessed right.

Seeing Yan Qing's stern face, the maids realized they had said the wrong thing. However, the young lady's situation was an open secret throughout the village, so they weren't exactly breaking any clan rules, were they?

The lead white-clad maid remained silent, appearing quite shrewd. However, the two behind her were quite different; both began to tremble involuntarily. Ultimately, the one who had uttered the wrong words couldn't hold back any longer and knelt down before Yan Qing.

"Second Miss, please, please don't send me to the clan's disciplinary hall. I promise I will never speak recklessly again!"

So this girl's name is Xiao Lian! The "Discipline Hall" she mentioned must be where the clan punishes those who have made mistakes. Everyone seems terrified of this place.

"Alright, I'm not some tyrant, just pretend I didn't hear that. I'm hungry, you two—" She pointed to the two people at the front,

"Go and get me some food—Xiao Lian, stay here."

The lead white-clad maid suddenly raised her head and glanced at her silently. However, under Yan Qing's uncompromising glare, she ultimately retreated in silence.

"Yes, Second Miss."

After everyone left, only she and Xiaolian remained in the room. Xiaolian was still terrified because of what she had said earlier, and Yan Qing had to comfort her several times to put her at ease.

"But, Second Miss, Sister Mingguang is—" Xiaolian hesitated for a long time before finally speaking.

"Sister Mingguang, she is the Third Elder's person. The Third Elder dotes on the young lady the most, otherwise he wouldn't have chosen her to be the Falling Flower Cave maiden—that's too biased."

Yan Qing secretly raised her eyebrows. So this girl from the Falling Flower Cave really had something going on! No, she had to keep probing.

"Xiao Lian, do you think this Falling Flower Cave Girl is really that magical?"

Mentioning this, Xiao Lian immediately shuddered; this instinctive fear was impossible to conceal.

"Second Miss," she was almost in tears, "the unsuccessful girls from Falling Flower Cave and their personal maids are all going to be sent to the Cave God as part of their dowry! I... I don't want to go there! Second Miss, can you think of a way?"

What? Yan Qing immediately thought of her room full of red clothes. Could she be one of the ones who were rejected?

No wonder there was a room full of ghost marriage clothes for the dead, and not even the good kind. Turns out they were just burial objects!

That won't do; she still wants to live a good life.

Yan Qing's face also fell. "Now that the ceremony is complete, we have no other way out but to wait for death. Sigh—"

Her words made the other person even more upset. Xiao Lian looked quite young, and the prospect of death was too much for her. Perhaps her will to survive was too strong, because she actually revealed a secret.

"Second Miss, the Eldest Miss's ritual was never completed!"

"What?!" Yan Qing sat up straight. "Don't talk nonsense, the consequences are beyond what we can bear!"

Xiao Lian, abandoning her previous sobbing and whining, resolutely repeated herself.

“I didn’t say anything wrong, it’s true—I secretly saw it last night, the young lady was actually drinking the blood of a living person!”