Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Dark red blood flowed out of the house, dissolving in large swaths of blood.

Thunder roared—

"mother!"

The old lady of the general opened the door in a daze and saw her daughter trembling all over: "Mother, I'm scared."

The general's wife poked her head out: "You spineless coward, get in here."

The daughter hugged the old lady and said, "Mother, I've been so scared since my sister-in-law passed away. I'm always uneasy. I'll invite a Taoist priest to come another day."

The old lady pushed her away: "What can your good-for-nothing sister-in-law do to us? Look at yourself. You are the legitimate daughter of the General's Mansion. Who would dare to touch you? I have killed many people with my sword. Do you think I'm afraid of her?"

"No! I have a feeling something big is going to happen tonight—"

*Pfft*

In the darkness, a ghastly white face emerged from behind the old lady, holding her head in his hand, blood stained his lips: "The second one."

Before the girl could utter a sound, those hands snapped her neck, threw her head to the ground, and the baby crawled over and began to eat. Weng Xian counted again: "The third one."

The General's Mansion was shrouded in a black mist, and the plaque above the gate fell to the ground.

On the deserted street, Weng Xian walked in another direction, his simple, tattered clothes staining the places he passed by with a bewitching red.

The Wang family.

Chen lit the oil lamp with a tinderbox, saying, "Your leg pain on rainy days needs to be treated." The man bit his cheek slightly, his face full of frustration, "Do you think I don't want to get it treated?"

Mrs. Chen started massaging his hands, saying, "You're not short of money."

The man stretched out his legs: "That money was ill-gotten, I don't need it!"

Upon hearing this, Madam Chen raised her eyebrows and said, "What do you mean by that! If I hadn't sent that Shen woman there, do you think my son would have had the money to go to the capital for the imperial examination?"

"If you have no money, then don't take the exam! You sent Shen to the General's Mansion! You've disgraced the Wang family! Our Wang family has been a family of scholars for generations!"

Madam Chen snorted, "A scholarly family? They're nothing but money-grubbing merchants. Gu Cuiying said the other day that if you don't send Madam Shen over, you'll lose both your money and her!"

"I'm used to being the villain, so what's wrong with doing it a little longer? Wang Chen, stop pretending to be incorruptible. How many lives have you taken in your business dealings? Is the money you've earned truly clean?!"

Chen hurled insults, and the two argued.

The oil lamp flickered, and Wang Chen glanced at it.

A hand descended from the sky and gouged out his eyes. Chen's face turned deathly pale, and she remained motionless. The next second, the hand grabbed Wang Chen's head and lifted it up lightly, separating the body from the head.

Chen stared blankly, her eyes filled with terror.

Weng Xian dropped the head he was holding and floated lightly to her ear: "One hundred and twenty-eight."

Chen opened her mouth, and Weng Xian let out a bitter laugh.

Thunder roared, and the sky was filled with the patter of rain accompanied by fierce winds.

The next morning—

"Blood! Blood! Blood everywhere!!" With screams, countless people followed the flow of blood, and the two groups of people went to the Wang family and the general's mansion respectively.

"Go push it." The two men were pushing and shoving each other in front of the door.

The burly man swallowed hard: "Get out of the way!"

The gates of the general's mansion were pushed open, and everyone gasped. Someone screamed, and everyone staggered back dozens of steps. Inside the mansion, countless corpses hung in the air, intertwined, and thick blood turned the entire ground red.

Overnight, the news spread throughout the neighborhood.

"Do you know the tragic state of the General's Mansion!"

"I know! Oh my, over a hundred people, all neatly arranged! I don't know who could be so cruel!"

"Cruel? That general isn't a good person either. I think he's a good person."

"Do you have a death wish? How dare you speak ill of an official of the imperial court like this? If an official dies, and his entire family is wiped out, the government will be in big trouble."

The group gathered around, speaking in hushed tones: "What about the Wang family?"

"The Wang family? So what if the Wang family is dead? It's just a pity about all that money and the Shen family. The Shen family was so gentle and kind, it's such a shame that they died such a tragic death."

"You don't know?" someone leaned closer.

"What?"

"The body of Lady Shen was found in the General's mansion. Her limbs were broken, and she was made into... made into..." The speaker struggled to finish, and someone urged, "What?"

Stop keeping me in suspense!

"Renyi!"

Before anyone could react, the man rushed forward: "Tell me, what happened to the Shen family?"

"They were...they were turned into Yi people..."

The storyteller twirled a fan in his hand and said, "Thus, Wang became the top scholar in the imperial examination and became the last surviving descendant of the Wang family."

His throat was dry from talking, so he raised his teacup and took a sip. Someone below asked in confusion, "Where is Weng Xian? Why didn't he kill Wang?"

The storyteller gently shook his head.

The crowd below began to discuss, and Meng Yingying listened intently. When the discussion suddenly ended, she seemed to want more. She reached into the plate and ate all the raisins she had offered. Meng Yingying's expression was still dazed, while Zhou Xiuqi remained calm and expressionless.

"My lord, today's story was truly captivating. That Wang must love his wife." A sweet, coquettish voice rang out, almost making Meng Yingying's bones melt. She pricked up her ears to listen.

“Madam, you are too naive. If Wang truly loved his wife, why would he tolerate his mother's mistreatment of her? To say he didn't know is a lie; he's just evading the truth,” the man said.

The woman disagreed, saying, "After Shen's death, Wang might not necessarily change his mind."

The man replied, "I am a man, and Wang is at the prime of his life. Why wouldn't he change his mind?"

The woman said in a coquettish voice, "You must be just like that Wang!"

The man quickly coaxed in a soft voice, "How could that be, Madam? I swear that you are the only one for me in my life."

Zhou Xiuqi noticed that she was silent, so he tapped the table twice: "Did you understand it?"

Meng Yingying gave an irrelevant answer, saying, "Senior brother, if it were you, would you change your mind?"

Zhou Xiu paused, his lips tightening. Meng Yingying thought he was unhappy and gave an awkward smile: "I was just asking."

"Won't."

"Even if the one I love dies, my heart will not change. I will protect her, and I will not fear countless reincarnations." His voice was flat, as if it were a thought that just came out of his mouth. Meng Yingying's heart stirred slightly. Zhou Xiuqi's character was indeed very attractive: upright and righteous, with the world in his heart. The words he spoke at this moment might not be credible if spoken by others, but when he said them, they were convincing. He would definitely do what he said.

"Did you understand the wonder of this story?" Zhou Xiuqi asked.

"What?" Meng Yingying replied after thinking for a moment.

"Weng Xian, coffin boy, don't you understand?" Zhou Xiuqi's brows twitched slightly as he saw her blank expression. "Have you forgotten why we came to Liuzhou?"

"We only came here because an immortal appeared in Liuzhou. Master gave us this opportunity to gain experience, and you really think this is just for sightseeing?" he said coldly.

Meng Yingying's memory flashed, and she quickly added, "No! I just didn't realize it for a moment."

"Why would such a story circulate among the people?" Meng Yingying asked.

After thinking it over, Zhou Xiuqi said, "If someone spreads the word, someone will naturally believe it."

With his gaze fixed on the stage, the storyteller raised his teacup and took a sip.

A moment later, the storyteller packed up his things, and Hua Liu, who was beside him, took them for him and said, "You've earned quite a bit today, your mother will definitely thank you. You should go home quickly, or your father will scold you again."

The storyteller winked at her: "Worried about me?"

Hua Liu lightly tapped her shoulder and laughed, "How dare you tease me! You deserve a beating." She raised her hand slightly, about to strike, but the storyteller grabbed her hand, saying, "If you hurt me, my mother will be heartbroken."

Upon hearing this, a barely perceptible sadness flashed in Hua Liu's beautiful eyes, and she withdrew her hand.

Seeing her secretly saddened, the storyteller said, "Sister Hua Liu, you raised me to be this big. My mother's will has already been fulfilled, so you don't need to worry about it."

Hua Liu's expression softened, and she urged, "Stop talking and hurry up and change your clothes."

The storyteller went inside, and after Hua Liu wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, the two of them came out from the corner and pressed themselves against the wall.

Zhou Xiuqi glanced at her: "Go poke an eye and look inside."

Meng Yingying exclaimed in a low voice, "But he's a boy."

Zhou Xiuqi poked a hole with his finger: "She is a woman."

As a wisp of smoke drifted in, the storyteller felt dizzy, and a thud came from inside the room. Meng Yingying went in first and was surprised to see the way the storyteller had fallen inside; it really was a woman.

Meng Yingying helped her put on her clothes, which she hadn't finished dressing, before going outside and knocking on the door twice.

Zhou Xiuqi walked in, took out a talisman, and shook it in front of the woman.

The woman suddenly opened her eyes and saw the two Taoist priests from before. The surprise in her eyes quickly turned into calm as she looked at them.

Zhou Xiuqi cupped his hands and said, "I apologize for any offense. I have a few questions to ask you, young lady."

When she came in, the woman was removing her makeup. Now she looked half male and half female, giving her a kind of androgynous beauty.

Meng Yingying remained silent, looking at her with a strange sense of familiarity.

How did you learn this story?

"Naturally, I learned it from a book," she said, turning her head away.

“Lying,” Zhou Xiuqi said coldly.

Meng Yingying saw the woman glare at Zhou Xiuqi and say, "You blind man, I say it is, so it is."

Meng Yingying looked at Zhou Xiuqi. Although his eyes were covered with gauze, he was not actually blind; he could see clearly through the gauze.

"Then let me rephrase the question: Who gave you permission to spread this?" Zhou Xiuqi asked again.

"I already said I read it in a book myself, no one asked me to spread it," the woman scoffed.

Meng Yingying could tell that she was adamant about not knowing, and since they couldn't do anything about it, they could only leave her like this, refusing to answer any questions she might ask.

"You said you read it in a book, and I'd like to find it and take a look. Could you tell me which book it is?" If we just bombard him with questions, we'll find out. Zhou Xiuqi is always very rigid in his actions, and if we can't get the answer out of him, he might resort to coercion.

To avoid this situation, she decided to make a statement first.

The woman then turned her gaze to her, scanning her up and down, and said fiercely, "Why should I tell you?"

Meng Yingying chuckled: "If you don't say, does that mean you don't have it?"

"Who are you? Why do you have to keep asking questions after coming here to listen to a story?"

Meng Yingying found it strange and looked her in the eye, asking, "What benefits did he give you that you won't tell me?"

"Wealth and glory?" she asked, and the woman snorted.

"A bright future?" Meng Yingying continued, without changing her expression. How could someone who had managed to blend into the Cui Xiang Lou for so long without being discovered be asked such a question so easily?

“This concerns the people of Liuzhou. If you conceal it, she will come to your mother tomorrow.” Zhou Xiuqi’s voice was calm and steady. The woman’s eyes flickered slightly, as if she had thought of something, but she still did not speak.

Zhou Xiuqi turned and left. Meng Yingying took one last look at the woman before following Zhou Xiuqi.

"Biyun Temple." She suddenly said from behind. Zhou Xiuqi stopped but did not turn around: "Thank you."

She followed Zhou Xiuqi downstairs.