"Did it go out to play in the cemetery?"

Hongye couldn't help but speak up.

Kang Ge'er shook his head: "Sister Hongye, she was picked up from the dry well in the yard."

Qin Yuan suddenly stood up and said, "Then let's go take a look."

Kang Ge'er led the way, and the group walked towards the side courtyard in the southeast corner, where ancient trees reached the sky, and shadows loomed after the sun began to set.

"Achoo!" Hongye couldn't help but shiver. "It's strangely cool and creepy."

Kang Ge'er said, "They say this place has been abandoned for many years and no one has lived here for a long time."

Qin Yuan bent down slightly to take his hand and asked, "Are you cold?"

Kang Ge'er shook his head: "I'm just a kid, I have a lot of temper."

Cui Ming smiled.

Kang Ge'er said, "What Rong Mama said is true, I'm not lying to you, my hands are warm."

As she spoke, she reached out and took Cuiming's hand again.

Cui Ming quickly withdrew her hand and said, "My hands are cold, don't let them get cold on Young Master Kang."

Qin Yuan touched it and asked in surprise, "Why are your hands so cold right now? I'll give you a few acupuncture needles when I have some free time."

Kang Ge'er was taken aback and asked, "Is Auntie so powerful? Sister Cuiming didn't do anything wrong, why did she prick her?"

"That's right, if you don't listen, I'll stab you."

Qin Yuan laughed and scared him.

The group chatted and laughed as they arrived at their destination.

As expected, it had been abandoned for a long time. All that could be seen were broken walls and ruins. Standing outside, you could see that the yard was overgrown with tall weeds, and if you squatted down, a child could hide inside.

Gu Shiliu, accompanied by several guards, stood in front of the house. Beside them stood two monks, their hands clasped together, heads bowed, muttering something.

Sixth Master Gu squatted on the ground with his back to him.

"What brings you here, Madam?"

Gu Shiliu looked up and saw it, then hurriedly asked a question.

Qin Yuan smiled and said, "I heard from Kang Ge'er that the Xu family's child picked up a skull, so I came to see what happened."

Gu Shiliu looked troubled: "Madam, there is grass and moss everywhere here, so it may be difficult to walk. Besides, this skeleton looks quite old. I don't know when it was thrown into this dry well. It would be better if we didn't come in, to avoid any bad luck."

Qin Yuan smiled and said, "It's alright. I came to take a look. After all, this is our family temple, and the ancestral tablets are here to protect us."

Gu Shiliu wanted to persuade her further, but Qin Yuan had already walked in.

Having witnessed much of what ordinary people would find frightening in her previous life, she was unafraid of the things that Lin Ziqi had seen while serving in impoverished counties in Jiangxi.

Hongye and Cuiming followed her in to help her up.

Kang Ge'er was hugged by the nanny beside him and coaxed, "Young Master Kang can just wait outside. This is an adult matter, we shouldn't go over and cause trouble."

Kang Ge'er nestled in the nanny's arms, nodded, and stared straight at the people in the courtyard.

The courtyard was very desolate.

The house was dilapidated; the collapsed half was covered with vines, while the remaining half of the roof was covered with dry weeds that stood upright and rustled in the wind.

Stepping on the messy footprints left by everyone on the thick layer of decaying leaves and moss, Qin Yuan and the others stumbled their way to the dry well they had surrounded.

Once they had stopped, Qin Yuan asked, "How long has it been since anyone lived here?"

The older monk had long, drooping eyebrows that seemed to express his constant compassion for all living beings. Upon hearing this, he immediately said, "Female benefactor, no one has lived here for at least several decades."

After asking for his Dharma name, Qin Yuan inquired, "Master Zhiguang, approximately how long have you been at the temple?"

The monk Zhiguang said, "It has been more than 30 years. My master came from Shu to visit friends in the capital. He was introduced to a temple in the Marquis's mansion and stayed there. I followed him here to meditate and served my master until his passing. After that, I stayed here."

Qin Yuan looked at Master Gu, who was squatting on the ground staring at the skull and muttering incantations. She listened carefully and realized that he was reciting "The Skull Poem".

"...The thorn bushes have covered the hills, a chilling wind blows, lotus leaves sway in the breeze, a sorrowful sight. Skull! Skull! Green grass serves as a felt mat, the moon as a lamp. So desolate, not a single brother comes to visit... Whose family did you die first? Rain and wind beat you like snow and frost... Skull! Skull! All that remains of you are a pair of eye sockets. How fleeting is life..."

At the end, he added, "Tonight my family is performing a ritual to pray for the souls of my deceased wife; why don't we agree to go to the Western Paradise together..."

Qin Yuan sighed, "If that's what Sixth Brother thinks, why not have someone set up an incense burner and candles by this dry well, and have someone come over to chant sutras for a salvation ceremony?"

Sixth Master Gu stood up and asked, "Third Sister-in-law, is this alright?"

Qin Yuan nodded and said, "Of course."

The two monks relaxed slightly and said with a smile, "You are kind-hearted. You have given this wandering ghost a place to go. He will surely be blessed in the future."

Qin Yuan nodded and said, "We don't ask for anything in return, we just want our clansmen and families to be safe and sound."

With his hands behind his back, Master Gu sighed, "When a person dies, it's like a lamp going out. I wonder what kind of person this person was in life, yet he's abandoned here. Perhaps his parents, brothers, and sisters are still at home missing and longing for him?"

Gu Shiliu scratched his head, unsure how to respond.

Qin Yuan smiled and said, "Sixth Brother also said that when a person dies, everything is gone, and there is no point in thinking about it anymore. We can't get anything out of the skeletons. If a person doesn't waste their time while they are alive and treats their relatives and friends well, then they haven't lived in vain. Don't you agree?"

Sixth Master Gu nodded: "Third Sister-in-law is right. But lately I've been feeling quite emotional. I feel like these past years have been like a dream, and I've wasted a lot of time. Just now when I saw this person... I suddenly felt sad."

Qin Yuan glanced at the two monks standing to the side and coaxed Sixth Master Gu, "It's shady here, so we shouldn't stay here too long, lest we catch a chill and feel unwell. Leave the rest to Sixteen."

The uncle and aunt bowed to the dry well before leaving.

Qin Yuan remained silent the whole way back to the meditation room before saying, "Go and call Gu Shiba here."

Seeing her solemn expression, Hongye hurriedly went to call Gu Shiba.

A short while later, Gu Shiba arrived.

Qin Yuan whispered, "Go find Sixteen later and tell him what I said. Find a few people to guard the courtyard and perform the ritual so that the monks can't touch anything in the courtyard."

Gu Shiba asked, "Does Madam feel that..."

Qin Yuan said, "Who would die in a dry well? They must have been dumped here. That monk Zhiguang said he's been staying at the family temple with wandering monks for over thirty years. Judging from his appearance, he's at least fifty or sixty years old, but his accent isn't from Sichuan. It's a Beijing accent with a Yuzhou accent. This is suspicious. We should also thoroughly investigate the monks in the family temple to prevent it from becoming a den of iniquity. If something serious happens in the future, the Marquis's mansion won't be able to escape responsibility."

Gu Shiba said admiringly, "I'll go tell Shiliu right away to keep a close eye on things and make sure they don't have a chance to cover it up."

Qin Yuan responded, then suddenly remembered something and asked, "Why haven't I seen Baozhu much today?"

Gu Shiba said, "Seventh Miss went to the nearby Shuijing Nunnery to see Aunt Wen."

Qin Yuan thought she had misheard and asked in surprise, "Who?"