Chapter 34 Peony Soul Well

The jade hairpin brush was a relic left behind by Yun Weiyue and Yun Suqing. Shao Yanzhe only kept it to remember her, but now the situation is critical and his brush is lost somewhere, so he can only use the jade hairpin brush as a substitute for now.

He took the jade hairpin brush in his hand; it felt warm and smooth to the touch. As soon as his literary energy entered the brush, he noticed that it was much easier to control compared to the ordinary brush he had used before.

He glanced at the peony flowers that were frantically destroying everything around them, and after a moment's thought, he directly used the jade hairpin brush to write an article in mid-air. The content was moderate and peaceful.

With a gentle flick of the tip of the jade hairpin pen in his hand, the literary energy that formed the characters flew towards the peony flower like shooting stars.

As the first literary character burrowed into the peony, the roots that had been frantically destroying the surrounding buildings became gentle.

This article is about a thousand words long. When the last elegant word penetrates into the peony flower, the riotous peony flower becomes quiet again.

"Brother Shao! You're amazing!" Chen Yunhe flattered Shao Yanzhe as he approached him.

Zhou Jiming glanced at Chen Yunhe. This despicable man actually flattered the powerful and belittled the weak. He'd get his comeuppance sooner or later!

Shao Yanzhe put away the jade hairpin pen. He had just used up a lot of literary energy. At this moment, he discovered another function of the black Xie Zhi seal: it could restore literary energy when it was depleted.

In just the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, half of his original literary energy had been restored.

Just as he was about to lead his men away, his gaze inadvertently fell upon something. He looked back and discovered something unusual at the base of the peony.

"Look, isn't there something next to the base of that peony flower?"

Zhou Jiming and Chen Yunhe looked in the direction Shao Yanzhe was pointing. They squinted and saw a knee-high protrusion next to the peony root, but it was too dark to see what it was.

"Yes, there is something there, but we don't know what it is."

Shao Yanzhe took another look, and his intuition told him that the thing was very important.

After thinking for a moment, he said, "Let's go take a look."

"What!" Chen Yunhe exclaimed in surprise. Then he realized that he had spoken too loudly and quickly lowered his voice, saying, "Brother Shao, have you gone mad? What if that peony goes crazy again? We won't be able to escape! If that root pulls, we'll definitely be cut in two!"

He shuddered as he spoke: "I don't want to have to crawl on my hands and knees searching for my lower body when I'm dying! That would be too horrible!"

As Zhou Jiming followed his words and imagined the scene, he couldn't help but feel a toothache.

This kid has such a vivid imagination!

"Don't worry, nothing has disturbed her, and she won't wake up again anytime soon."

Shao Yanzhe made a promise, but seeing their hesitant expressions, he didn't press them.

"You two can wait here, I'll go take a look first."

After he finished speaking, he walked towards the peony flowers.

Seeing this, Zhou Jiming followed, and Chen Yunhe reached out to stop him, but it was too late.

He looked around and saw a dark, menacing mass that seemed ready to emerge at any moment, which sent chills down his spine. He immediately darted out and followed the two people in front of him.

When Shao Yanzhe approached the base of the peony, he saw that the protrusion was actually a well curb made of bricks and stones.

He took out his jade hairpin pen and infused it with literary energy. A faint white halo appeared, and the well curb in front of him slowly materialized.

The well curb looks quite old; the stones on the outside are mottled and fallen off, and a layer of green moss grows in the shady areas.

Shao Yanzhe walked around the well curb and saw that there seemed to have been inscriptions there before, but now only a few scattered characters could be seen: "Leng Yanshan in the second year of Xirui".

"So? Did you find anything?" Zhou Jiming asked in a low voice.

Chen Yunhe listened intently, but her eyes were fixed on the huge peony next to her, afraid that it would move if she looked away for even a moment.

"Nothing has been found yet," Shao Yanzhe replied.

Just as he was about to say something, he noticed that Xuan Yao suddenly stood up, his golden-black cat-like eyes staring at a certain spot, looking wary.

"Shh!"

He quickly withdrew the literary energy from the jade hairpin brush, and the space fell into darkness again.

He pulled Zhou Jiming and Chen Yunhe and hid behind the peony flowers.

Xuan Yao nimbly leaped onto the wall beside him, blending into the darkness.

Zhou Jiming and Chen Yunhe dared not breathe. They covered their mouths and noses with their hands, stared wide-eyed at the peony branches and leaves in front of them, their hearts pounding.

Shao Yanzhe moved closer to the edge, reached out and parted the branches and leaves to reveal a gap so he could look across.

Not long after, in the dim light of the veranda, a figure could be seen slowly walking toward them, and the faint sound of something being dragged on the ground could be heard.

The figure walked toward the giant peony with a clear purpose. Shao Yanzhe narrowed his eyes as he looked at the thing being dragged along, and the more he looked, the more surprised and uncertain his expression became.

It seems that the person was dragging someone?

On a dark and windy night, a man, who was not sleeping and was dragging a person who looked dead, came to a well.

This scene looks exactly like a murder and body disposal!

The figure arrived at the well, but instead of throwing the person he was dragging into it, he took out a tinderbox and lit the torch he was holding in his other hand.

The warm yellow flames flickered and burned, illuminating the area around the well.

The face of the person holding the torch was revealed, and it turned out to be Leng Zhijie, whom Shao Yanzhe was looking for!

He looked down at the ground and saw a person lying there, his life hanging in the balance, wearing a familiar robe. It was Liu Mingyuan, whom he had thought had gone out to meet Madam Yin at night.

Liu Mingyuan was dragged along with his eyes closed. His robes were torn in places, and his miserable appearance truly evoked sympathy.

After a few seconds of sympathy, Shao Yanzhe saw Leng Zhijie stick the torch into the ground and start working, digging around the well with an iron shovel.

At this moment, Liu Mingyuan, who was lying on the ground, slowly woke up. He sat up, touching the back of his head which was throbbing with pain, his face blank, completely unaware of what had happened.

He turned his head and looked around, and saw Leng Zhijie standing in front of him with an iron shovel in his hand.

Seeing Leng Zhijie's expressionless face, she recalled the scene before he fainted and was so frightened that she retreated and tried to get up and run away, but Leng Zhijie's cold voice rang out.

"I advise Brother Liu not to act rashly, otherwise, I can't guarantee where my shovel will end up."

Upon hearing this, Liu Mingyuan's legs went weak, and he collapsed to the ground with a thud.

With a pale face, he said, "Brother Leng, let's talk this out, please don't resort to violence!"

Leng Zhijie snorted coldly, grabbed Liu Mingyuan, dragged him to the well curb, and tied him up with a rope.

He took out a dagger from his sleeve and squatted down in front of Liu Mingyuan: "Brother Liu, can I borrow some blood?"

As he spoke, his movements were swift and decisive. He made a long cut on his arm, then pulled out a bowl from somewhere and began to watch the blood flow from the wound.

Liu Mingyuan felt a chill on his arm, followed by a tingling pain in his scalp. His face contorted in pain, and he wanted to open his mouth to howl, but when he met Leng Zhijie's icy gaze, he swallowed the cry of pain that was about to come out.

At this moment, he couldn't help but feel regret. If he had known this would happen, he would have stayed in his room and gone to sleep.

The physical pain brought Liu Mingyuan, who had been blinded by lust, back to his senses. Recalling his previous harsh words to Shao Yanzhe, he wished he could slap himself twice.

Brother Shao, I'm so sorry!

While Liu Mingyuan was filled with remorse, Leng Zhijie poured the blood from the bowl into the newly dug ditch.

"Brother Leng, please let me go. Don't worry, I will never tell anyone your identity! I promise!" Liu Mingyuan said, trembling.

Leng Zhijie glanced at him: "What identity could I possibly have? Besides, I don't believe a lustful bastard who's easily driven by his hormones can offer any guarantees. A dead man is better at keeping secrets, isn't he?"

Liu Mingyuan's expression instantly turned gloomy, realizing that he had truly lost his life this time because of his lust.

He made up his mind that if he was lucky enough to survive this time, he would definitely change his lecherous ways.

Now, he could only stare at Leng Zhijie, unable to understand what he was doing.

"Brother Leng, since I'm about to die, can you tell me what you are?" He was so curious that he couldn't help but ask.

Leng Zhijie remained busy with his own affairs, only coldly remarking, "Just be a good sacrifice and don't ask about anything else."

Liu Mingyuan awkwardly shut his mouth.

Shao Yanzhe watched Leng Zhijie's actions, then looked at Zhou Jiming beside him, signaling him to explain what was going on.

Zhou Jiming, barely daring to breathe, glanced at the ground. The shallow grooves that Leng Zhijie had made with a shovel formed a somewhat eerie pattern.

He sketched the image in his mind, and soon his eyes widened as he realized its purpose.

"I……"

The moment the word left his mouth, he realized he was in trouble.

As expected, Leng Zhijie's cold voice rang out.

"Who's there! Show yourself!"

Shao Yanzhe had no intention of hiding any longer, after all, he couldn't just stand by and watch Liu Mingyuan be sacrificed as a offering.

He emerged from behind the peony, and Zhou Jiming followed him out. Chen Yunhe hid behind him and also went out.

Upon seeing the three of them, Leng Zhijie raised an eyebrow in surprise, clearly not expecting them to appear here.

"What brings you three gentlemen here?" he asked.

Shao Yanzhe smiled slightly and said, "Let's take a walk."

Leng Zhijie remained noncommittal. He glanced at Liu Mingyuan, whom he had tied up, and sighed, "Why are you three brothers taking a walk instead of resting in your rooms? Now that you've seen us, we can't let you live any longer."

After he finished speaking, he raised the shovel in his hand and smashed it down on Shao Yanzhe's head.