Chapter 3 After dinner, it was already late at night...

After dinner, darkness fell in the blink of an eye. Several figures appeared at the entrance of the alley with a century-old banyan tree. It was Wei Yin and Li Chang, each carrying a lantern and walking carefully ahead. Their maid, Cuiwei, followed anxiously behind them, clutching a bundle of something. The banyan tree's huge canopy cast a wide shadow, enveloping them.

The location of this alley is particularly eerie. Looking down from above, it resembles a severed human head, with the alley entrance located at the neck position, making it look very strange. No wonder it is called "Severed Head Alley".

Although it rained late last night, the road surface is not wet after being exposed to the scorching sun all day today.

A hot night breeze blew by, and Cuiwei was so flustered that she could not even speak clearly. "Madam, Miss, I have inquired and found that Scholar Lu lived at the head of this dead-end alley before his death."

"Why is this alley named like that? It sounds unlucky."

Li Chang covered her nose with a handkerchief and earnestly instructed her younger sister beside her: "Cousin, don't be afraid later. There are three of us, and I also had Cuiwei bring black dog blood. No matter how high his cultivation level is, he won't dare to come out and cause trouble easily."

Wei Yin nervously clutched the amulet in her hand and obediently nodded to her cousin.

The two masters and the servant reluctantly walked into the alley. Inside were rows of old houses, some with most of their eaves gone. Only a handful of families lived in the alley, and it was even quieter at night, with no sound of people.

Strangely enough, although it was already dark, the daytime heat had not completely subsided, and even the night breeze was still scorching. The group had been sweating a bit from walking, but after walking into the alley for a short while, they suddenly felt no heat at all, and even felt a slight chill on their backs.

Li Chang, who had just been wiping her sweat with a handkerchief, now put it away.

Lu Hun's family was located at the head of the acupoint.

Under the moonlight, several small courtyards were seen side by side, with the gates of each courtyard tightly closed, making it seem as if no one lived there. Only outside the fence of one of the houses sat an old woman who looked very old, and by the moonlight, she was laboriously sewing an old garment.

Wei Yin and Li Chang watched the old woman mending clothes alone in the dark under the moonlight, and neither dared to approach her rashly.

Although Li Chang felt a little uneasy, she instinctively shielded her younger sister Wei Yin behind her and stepped forward to ask, "Grandma, did Scholar Lu live here before his death?"

The old woman did not respond, whether because of her age or something else.

Wei Yin and Li Chang then looked down at the old woman's feet, trembling.

The moonlight cast the old man's pale shadow.

Li Chang felt relieved and boldly asked twice more.

The old woman heard this and looked up, but the other person's face quickly made Wei Yin and Li Chang gasp.

The old woman looked very old, probably over a hundred years old. Her face was chapped and wrinkled like old tree bark, and it was clear that she must have worked extremely hard in the sun and wind when she was young.

The old woman remained silent, instead raising her senile old eyes to look at Wei Yin and Li Chang.

Li Chang mustered her courage and spoke up: "My family name is Wei. Scholar Lu used to study at my Wei family school."

The old woman suddenly realized, and her eyes immediately cleared. She hurriedly said, "So it's Miss Wei. I remember you. The Lu family's child did indeed study at the Wei residence before."

Seeing that she spoke normally, Wei Yin grew bolder: "Grandma, do you recognize Lu Hun?"

“Yes, I recognize them.” The old woman, seeing that the two women, though exuding wealth, were also friendly, told her everything. “Miss Wei, I live next door to Scholar Lu. We share the same surname. When Old Madam Lu was still alive, I heard her mention that if it weren’t for the kindness of the eldest son of the Wei family, her poor grandson probably wouldn’t have been able to afford to study, let alone achieve any success in the imperial examinations. You see, the courtyard next door with the big locust tree is the Lu family’s…”

Following the direction pointed out by the old woman surnamed Lu, Wei Yin looked up and saw a huge locust tree soaring into the sky from the low courtyard next door. It was midsummer, and the moon was bright, so he could see the locust flowers blooming in clusters, like a fairy tree shrouded in mist.

The gate to the Lu family's courtyard was not locked, but slightly ajar. Grandma Lu walked over and pushed the gate open. No one had lived there for many years. Although the houses in the courtyard were simple, they were surprisingly clean and tidy, with only locust blossoms scattered all over the ground.

"I don't have much to do on weekdays, so I just tidy up this yard occasionally," Granny Lu said, then sighed deeply. "Speaking of Lu, I watched him grow up. He's truly the most filial child I've ever seen. His parents died early, leaving only him and the old lady at home. The old lady is blind, so in those years, he not only had to study but also take care of her. I remember when he was seven, he scalded his entire arm red with boiling water while making chicken stew for the old lady to nourish her, but he didn't cry once. He was afraid the old lady would be sad if she knew, so he told us not to tell her..."

Wei Yin looked at Granny Lu, who was crying and wiping away her tears with her sleeves.

In her few memories, Lu Hun was usually quiet and reserved in the school, and a faint gloom often shrouded his brows.

She only knew that he lived with his blind grandmother and what her cousin had just said about him; she knew nothing else.

Judging from what Granny Lu said, Lu Hun seemed to be extremely filial and sensible.

At this moment, Granny Lu pointed to the locust tree in the middle of the courtyard, which was in full bloom, and said, "When Hun'er was alive, he always loved to sit under this locust tree and lean against the trunk to read. Sometimes he was so engrossed in his reading that he didn't even notice the scorching heat or freezing cold. I know that this child actually wanted to earn an imperial title for the old lady so that she could hold her head high. Fortunately, his hard work paid off. He passed the imperial examination on his first try at the age of 10. No wonder people outside said he was a prodigy... Oh right, a gifted child. It's a pity that the old lady didn't live to see that day. Even the child himself was unlucky and went mad for no reason."

Grandma Lu lowered her voice again, her face full of mystery: "Everyone says the child was harmed by the ghosts of the temple, but I know this old woman. Although the child is usually not very talkative and a bit gloomy, he wouldn't be so suicidal. I'm afraid he was..."

"What?" Wei Yin was stunned.

However, Granny Lu realized she had spoken out of turn and immediately changed the subject as if to cover something up: "Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. I'll take you two inside to have a look."

Li Chang stared at the old woman's retreating figure and said, "Yin'er, judging from what Granny Lu said, Lu Hun doesn't seem like a lewd person at all?"

Wei Yin also shook her head.

The Lu family's courtyard was even darker and more sinister. It was a simple courtyard with only a main hall for receiving guests and an inner room, while the kitchen was located outside.

The main room was sparsely furnished, with only a few simple pine chairs casually placed around the table. They were unpainted and crudely made, clearly indicating that the owner couldn't afford them and had made them by hand. The only decent-looking item was a painting of pine trees and cranes depicting longevity, painted in a somewhat rough and unrefined style, hanging on the central wall of the main room, which added a touch of elegance to the bare walls of the house.

"This painting was a gift from Hun'er to the old lady on her sixtieth birthday. The old lady was delighted for days, praising her grandson for practicing until late at night every day to paint this pine and crane painting as a filial act, even though his painting skills were not good..."

As Wei Yin gazed at the painting, a small memory suddenly came to mind.

...

One day, the teacher was late for class, and everyone became restless and started whispering among themselves. Several young women, in particular, were very talkative. Somehow, one of the young women asked about Wei Yin.

"Sister-in-law, I heard that the young master Ji from the Imperial Censor's family came to your residence to propose marriage a while ago?"

Wei Yin seemed to have forgotten to do the homework assigned by the teacher that night, and was currently burying himself in his work at his desk. Upon hearing this, he looked up and thought for a moment.

"That's true, but I declined."

"Ah, I heard that Young Master Ji not only turned down the marriage arranged since childhood in order to marry you, but also tried to persuade Imperial Censor Ji to agree to marry you. He dislikes studying so much, yet he studies hard at home every day for you. How could you refuse such a devoted husband, my dear sister-in-law?"

"Sister-in, you should think it over again, lest you miss out on a good match."

At this moment, another woman chimed in with a laugh, "Why are you in such a hurry? Our sister-in-law is a beauty of unparalleled grace and has no shortage of devoted husbands. In our school alone, there are plenty of men who want to marry her."

"Then, sister-in-law, what kind of husband do you like?"

Fearing that her sisters would keep pestering her with questions and she wouldn't have time to catch up on her studies, Wei Yin casually replied, "My husband, of course, must have beautiful handwriting, beautiful drawing skills, and be handsome as well."

"oh?"

The young woman paused for a moment, then stared at Lu Hun, who was reading a book behind Wei Yin, and chuckled softly: "Lu Hun's appearance and handwriting are the most beautiful and elegant I have ever seen. Even this year's top scholar, He Wenqing, is probably not as good as him."

"What a pity," another person sighed. "Lu Hun is good at everything else, except he can't paint. Otherwise, he would have almost become my sister-in-law's ideal husband..."

Unexpectedly, less than two years after saying this, Wei Yin married He Wenqing, and Lu Hun died on the night he passed the imperial examination.

Wei Yin sighed inwardly and followed Granny Lu further inside.

They arrived at the cramped bedroom, which was divided into two rooms. The front room was probably where Lu Hun's grandmother lived, while the other room, which was more spacious and elegant and filled with books and bamboo scrolls, was probably where Lu Hun studied and slept during his lifetime.

The room was so small that it could only fit a bed and a desk. Several thick books were piled on the desk, while a dark memorial tablet stood conspicuously next to them.

“The child Hun’er was really pitiful. He was all alone since he was a child, without a single playmate. After his death, he didn’t even have a friend to pay his respects.”

As she spoke, Granny Lu took out a bundle of incense from somewhere and lit it: "Miss Wei is coming to see him tonight, he will be very happy. Please, Miss Wei, offer incense to his soul, so that you may bless the young lady and her husband with a loving marriage in the future."

Upon hearing the words "loving husband and wife," Wei Yin felt a chill run down her spine.

She felt inexplicably uneasy.

However, he couldn't refuse the old man's request, so he accepted the incense from him.

But to everyone's surprise, the incense stick, which was burning perfectly, broke in two with a "crack" when Wei Yin inserted it.

As luck would have it, the burning end landed squarely on the back of Wei Yin's hand.

She was in a lot of pain from the burn.

Li Chang, who was about to light incense as well, saw this and dropped the long incense stick in her hand, not daring to light it again.

A note from the author:

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Lu Hun: I disagree