Chapter 64 The Lament of a Foolish Woman (14) Today, let me play the villain for once...

All things in the world are interconnected, mutually generating and mutually restraining.

The puppet was afraid of fire, so they took fire to burn it, but the embroidered pavilion was also a wooden house, so they couldn't burn it too recklessly.

Song Qiling had to guard against the attacks of the maid puppet and also had to take care of Gu Lianzhou, who was injured. For a time, his hair was disheveled and he looked miserable.

The flames snaked upwards, nearly burning the hem of her dress. She stomped out the flames in front of her and staggered backwards.

The puppet moved like a fish among the beams and pillars, taking the opportunity to climb onto the crossbeams. Its fingers tapped the beams and pillars, producing a crisp clapping sound. The puppet's threads, as thin as hair, darted in the shadows, and if one was not careful, they would entangle her throat.

"Are you ever going to stop?!" Song Qiling snapped, throwing two copper pellets with her backhand.

With a muffled "rolling" sound, the two round beads stopped touching the table leg.

The maid puppet turned its head, looking at the copper ball below with a puzzled expression. Then, a thick white mist gushed out from the ball-shaped mist, instantly filling the narrow space.

The entire embroidered building looked as if it had fallen into a cloud cave.

"Cough—" Song Qiling turned around and helped her junior brother, leading him deeper into the embroidered building. At this moment, she could no longer care about anything else, only hoping to get away from these puppets.

Her fingertips touched something sticky and warm, and she froze instantly. She turned her head to look at Gu Lianzhou's pale profile and gritted her teeth, saying, "You have to hold on, don't collapse here."

After walking briskly for a moment, Song Qiling turned slightly and looked at the antique display shelf that had appeared out of nowhere to the side.

After exploring this embroidered building for a long time, Song Qiling finally came across a set of furnishings she had never seen before. Without thinking twice, she crawled into the back.

Seeing that the road in front of her was getting narrower and narrower, she turned around and pulled down a nearby wooden frame to block the road.

After knocking down four wooden frames in a row, Song Qiling finally breathed a sigh of relief and helped his junior brother sit down against the wall.

Even if the maid puppet discovers their presence, she won't be able to break in for a while, giving her enough time to catch her breath.

The intense heartbeat gradually calmed down, but the breathing beside her became more rapid. Song Qiling turned to look at her junior brother, and her heart skipped a beat: Oh no, this guy has probably lost too much blood.

She shifted her position, knelt in front of Gu Lianzhou, grabbed the hem of her clothes and tore it, the action as practiced as if she had rehearsed it a hundred times.

Clutching the strip of cloth, she used one hand to grasp his wrist and pulled him aside. Her gaze fell upon his bloodied and mangled shoulder, and her pupils widened slightly. "How did he get so badly injured?"

If the puppet string were even half an inch off course, it might sever his lifeline.

"The puppet came silently, and I... couldn't dodge it." Gu Lianzhou forced a smile, "Senior brother, I'm the one who dragged you down."

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Song Qiling frowned, and to accommodate Gu Lianzhou's height, she moved forward a few steps, holding the strip of cloth, and stretched out her arms to wrap it around his shoulders. "Although it is in an illusion, the pain is no less than in reality. Just bear with it."

"Mmm." Gu Lianzhou obediently responded, feeling his shoulder suddenly tighten and the cloth strip touching his wound. He subconsciously closed his eyes.

Warm breath brushed against her earlobe, pausing a few times before a frustrated muttering rang out. Strands of hair brushed against her cheek, lightly touching and elusive, like a cat's paw gently scratching.

Gu Lianzhou's eyelashes fluttered slightly as he quietly opened his eyes. His senior brother's back was as straight as a pine tree, and he was half-lying on him, carefully and cautiously wrapping bandages around him.

He looked up and saw a small chin peeking out from between her drooping hair, which looked inexplicably beautiful.

He was momentarily dazed.

This senior brother is actually like a woman.

"Does it hurt a lot?" the senior brother suddenly asked.

Gu Lianzhou paused for a moment, then slowly shook his head: "It's alright."

Song Qiling looked down at her waist and couldn't help but ask, "Your vines are out of control again?"

Gu Lianzhou gasped for breath and looked down following his senior brother's gaze. He saw a dodder vine had somehow attached itself to his senior brother's waist and was slowly tightening.

Gu Lianzhou felt a heat on his face, took a deep breath, and stepped back a few inches. The dodder then sensed this and withdrew from Song Qiling's body.

He explained in vain, "It seems to really like my senior brother."

After saying that, he secretly glanced at Song Qiling's expression, only to hear the other party say nonchalantly, "It's really bold to like a demon hunter."

Suddenly, Song Qiling felt a tight grip on her shoulder. She released her grip, turned around, and sat down against the wall. Looking around, she sighed, "I underestimated the Vengeful Woman. Although we were hit by the Demon-Locking Talisman, we are still in her lair. Our every move is probably under her control."

She picked up the tinderbox that had fallen to her feet, puffed out her cheeks, and blew it back on. The green flame glowed faintly, "It seems much brighter than before. Let's rest for a while and then continue onward."

Gu Lianzhou clenched his fist, feeling his limbs gradually warming up. His gaze fell on the end of the road. "I have a feeling that something is watching us from there."

Song Qiling gave a slight smirk and said casually, "Naturally, the closer we get to the center of the illusion, the stronger the demonic energy becomes, and the greater the danger we will face."

Since they had trespassed, it was understandable that Luo Qingyu didn't welcome them. Therefore, she said, "You will hide behind me in a moment and protect your life."

She twisted her wrist, then stood up, leaning against the wall. "Leave the rest to me."

-

The further you go, the thicker the bluish-gray mist becomes, as if it's about to solidify and envelop you. A damp, cold feeling creeps up on you, sending chills down your spine.

Song Qiling raised the tinderbox and reached forward, touching a hard, smooth surface with one hand. He wondered, "It seems to be a door."

Thinking this, he pushed forward with all his might, and with a "creak," a dim yellow light leaked out from the crack in the door, shining obliquely onto his face, creating a contrast of light and shadow.

After hesitating for a moment, she simply pushed forward with all her might, revealing the view behind the door.

The afterglow of the setting sun streamed in through the window, illuminating all the furnishings in the room. Song and Gu simultaneously raised their hands to shield their eyes, and then peered through the gaps between their fingers after their eyes adjusted.

But behind the door, the world had changed. What lay before them was no longer the dark and old front hall, but a... woman's boudoir.

Light streamed through the window lattice, casting auspicious cloud patterns on the floor. A landscape screen divided the inner room into two worlds. On the outer side stood a mahogany dressing table with gilded decorations, while on the inner side, a carved canopy bed was draped with blue gauze curtains, with several sachets embroidered with mandarin ducks hanging from the top of the curtains.

"Is this the residence of Master Luo?" Gu Lianzhou, having intruded into someone else's boudoir, was at a loss and stood in front of the door, unsure whether to go in or not.

Song Qiling had already walked inside first, sat down in front of the dressing table, and picked up the rouge box on the table. "Don't just stand there like an idiot. This is a deceptive illusion, not a young lady's bedroom."

Her gaze swept over the jewelry box on the table, and she beckoned behind her, "Come here, do me a favor."

Gu Lianzhou responded hesitantly and took a few steps to sit down next to his senior brother.

Song Qiling handed over the box, "You have some experience in lock picking, do you know how to open this box?"

Experience in lock picking...

Recalling the scene when he entered the embroidery building not long ago, Gu Lianzhou took the box and said helplessly, "What kind of experience is this? Senior brother, please don't make fun of me."

Even so, the lock slammed open the moment the box was opened. Gu Lianzhou was speechless and silently handed the gilded heart-shaped box to his senior brother.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the dodder scurrying quickly to my feet, and I felt helpless: it was quite energetic at the moment.

Song Qiling raised an eyebrow and gave her junior brother an approving look: "I'm afraid you can't find a locksmith as experienced as you in the entire South City."

The two opened the box and looked inside. Song Qiling took out the jewelry and precious stones inside and placed them on the table one by one.

Apart from various earrings, ivory combs, silver hairpins, and exquisitely crafted necklaces, a jade hairpin occupies the last layer of the folding box.

Picking up the jade hairpin and examining it closely, Song Qiling looked up at her junior brother with a smile and teased, "Look, a gourd hairpin."

Her smile was rather unserious, so much so that Gu Lianzhou immediately understood what was going on and didn't know how to respond. He just stared at the hairpin until his ears turned red.

After a long pause, he defended his master, saying, "Perhaps it's not this hairpin?"

But then she saw her senior brother quickly stuff the gourd hairpin into his robes, bend down to rummage through the chests under the dressing table, and a deep, muffled voice came from below, "I haven't even said anything yet, what are you being shy about?"

Upon opening the box, Song Qiling exclaimed in surprise and showed Gu Lianzhou the contents inside.

Inside the large box was nothing but stacks of envelopes.

“Junior brother, have I ever told you that what you see in the illusion is all a manifestation of past memories?” A glint flashed in her eyes. “This letter should record Luo Qingyu’s life story.”

At this point, she hesitated, clutching a corner of the letter: "But it's someone else's private matter after all. It wouldn't be good if we peeked at it."

Gu Lianzhou also squatted down, picked up a letter, and looked at Song Qiling, who was struggling with her expression, "But Senior Brother, didn't you hide a jade hairpin just now?"

This is not gentlemanly conduct...

Song Qiling disagreed with this statement: "Her puppet broke my hairpin, and I asked her for one back. How can that be considered hiding it?"

After a pause, she said seriously, "As a key token, this gourd hairpin may come in handy later."

She gestured with her chin toward the letters in the box: "Like these other items, if we can use them to find my master, then we'll have made the most of them."

"Oh dear." Song Qiling scratched her messy hair and said in despair, "I can't care about that anymore. Let me be a villain for once today."

After saying that, he opened the seal of the letter, reached out and pulled out the yellowed thin paper inside, and quickly glanced at it.

"My dear, seeing this letter is like seeing you in person. Since our last parting, I have been thinking of you day and night, and the pain of separation has been unbearable. Therefore, we have agreed to meet on the sixth day of the sixth lunar month, at the beginning of the hour of Chou (1-3 AM), to meet at the Spring Breeze Pavilion. My feelings are too deep for words to express my deep affection."

Upon reading this, Song Qiling felt uneasy and glanced at Gu Lianzhou with a shifty look. "Nie Fengxi's own handwriting."

The two looked at each other in bewilderment. Song Qiling folded the letter and put it back in, a hint of embarrassment flashing across her face: "Ha... I never expected that Uncle-Master Nie would be such a tender person."

Gu Lianzhou wasn't in much better shape. Looking at the whole box of withered yellow envelopes, he asked with a troubled expression, "Senior brother, shall we continue reading?"

Song Qiling forced a smile and said, "If one letter is the act of a petty person, then this box won't make a difference. Look!"