Shangguan
Even so, the hot-tempered young lady patiently waited for them and even agreed to let Wen Xiaofeng ride in her car. Although she was arrogant, she was quite sensible and knew what was important. The malfunction of the soul-searching device was a serious matter, and since Wen Ya knew some of the inside story, she could reluctantly put aside her personal grudges for the time being.
Si Mucheng found the driver, explained that he had met a friend and was planning to ride back to the city in his friend's car, and immediately settled the charter fee and even transferred an extra 200 yuan to him.
The driver was overjoyed and said politely, "Oh my, this is too much."
"It's nothing, it's my pleasure, please accept it. Thank you for your hard work today."
The driver, satisfied with his generous payment, drove off. Only after his car entered the country road did Si Mucheng turn and walk towards a pink Mercedes-Benz G-Class parked by the roadside. Shangguan Qin was already in the driver's seat, looking at him with an impatient expression.
Si Mucheng couldn't help but sigh, "She really is a young lady; this car is just as flamboyant as she is."
Although Si Mucheng still distrusted Shangguan Qin, Wen Ya seemed very calm, sitting upright with little expression on her face.
Si Mucheng initially admired Wen Ya, because Shangguan Qin's driving skills were quite fierce, and he was almost overwhelmed by several sudden stops. After another sudden stop, Si Mucheng sighed and was about to praise Wen Ya for her skill, as she hadn't reacted at all in this situation, when he suddenly noticed that her hands on her knees were trembling slightly.
Si Mucheng was stunned for a moment, and upon closer inspection, he could easily see the sweat on Wen Ya's neck.
Although the heat outside was intense, the car was cool with the air conditioning on, so it wasn't hot enough to cause so much sweating. Therefore, Si Mucheng confirmed that Wen Ya's sweat was cold sweat.
Wen Xiaofeng seemed to sense that something was wrong with her, and pressed her head against her shoulder, her cheek touching hers.
Is this... feeling unwell? Motion sickness?
Having spent so many days together, Si Mucheng had never seen her get carsick. Besides, all the travel today, all in that Didi private car, hadn't made her feel uncomfortable at all.
So it's...nervousness? Why be nervous? Fear? And what is it that you're afraid of?
Si Mucheng couldn't understand it. He glanced at Shangguan Qin, who was driving in the front row. The young lady was furious because of a car that had cut in front of her, clearly suffering from road rage. Si Mucheng said leisurely, "Drive slower, young lady. Safety first."
Shangguan Qin glared at him in the rearview mirror: "Shut up!" Then he stepped on the gas again and overtook the car in front.
Si Mucheng felt the push-back sensation and secretly observed Wen Ya. Sure enough, because of the accelerator, her fingers trembled even more violently.
Was it because they were afraid of the car going too fast? Si Mucheng already had the answer in his heart.
Even though she was so scared, she didn't utter a sound.
Si Mucheng sighed, reached out, and gently placed his hand on Wen Ya's. Her fingers were icy cold, whether from fear or the intense cold, she didn't know. But Si Mucheng wasn't afraid; his palm was warm. This sudden warmth made Wen Ya's fingers involuntarily shiver.
Si Mucheng's hands remained motionless, his puppy-dog eyes looking at her with a gentle and innocent expression: "Master, are you feeling a little carsick? You don't look well."
Wen Ya's lips twitched slightly, but she didn't speak.
Shangguan Qin quickly turned around and glanced back, as if he had finally seized an opportunity, and sneered, "I really didn't expect Wen Ya to have a moment like this. You actually get carsick??"
Wen Ya didn't say anything, but pinched her brow.
Shangguan Qin wanted to tease her again, but then she seemed to remember something. She frowned, and after a moment, slowed down the car, cleared her throat, and unusually backed down: "I'm in a good mood today, so I'll take care of you. If you really feel dizzy, tell me, don't throw up in my car!"
Wen Ya wasn't carsick, but she didn't want to make any excuses at the moment. She just exhaled a breath of stale air, trying to ignore the subconscious fear stemming from her memory caused by the slightly unstable speed of the car.
The sky outside the car was gradually dyed orange, and the clouds on the horizon were layered, forming a fiery sunset.
They returned to Yucheng before sunset, and Shangguan Qin drove directly to her villa. After parking the car, Si Mucheng got out and, seeing the magnificent estate, couldn't help but scoff, "As expected of a young lady from a wealthy family."
Shangguan Qin ignored his sigh, only snorted coldly, and beckoned to them, "Come with me."
She climbed the steps, with Wen Ya following behind without looking to the side. Si Mucheng, though his family was quite well-off, was clearly not in the same league as Shangguan Qin's family. He whispered curiously to Wen Ya, "So, how do you make money as a celestial master?"
Wen Ya had heard about the Shangguan family's affairs, so she explained to him, "Besides what her ancestors accumulated, there was also what her father earned. I heard that Shangguan Qin's father wasn't interested in this line of work, so he went out to do business."
"This business looks like it's going to be huge."
If Shangguan Qin's father hadn't been unwilling, her grandfather would still be in charge of the Shangguan family.
The group entered the villa. The villa had a rather old-fashioned style, and the staircase to the second floor was directly opposite the gate. Just then, someone came down from the second floor. Surrounded by people, she was wearing a white Zhongshan suit, leaning on a cane, with gray hair that was neatly combed. Her face was serious, and when she saw Shangguan Qin, she called out to her, "Xiao Qin? You're back."
Shangguan Qin looked up and smiled: "Grandpa."
Wen Ya calmly observed him for a moment, and realized that this was Shangguan Zheng, the head of the Shangguan family.
Shangguan Zheng also saw Wen Ya and Si Mucheng at this moment, and asked as he came downstairs, "Who are these two?"
“This is Wen Ya.” Shangguan Qin stepped forward and took Shangguan Zheng’s arm. “She’s that…”
She wanted to introduce him further, but Shangguan Zheng had already nodded: "I know, a child of the Wen family." He said to Wen Ya, "How is your maternal grandfather?"
The Wen family and the Shangguan family were not close. Over the years, the North and South had been governing themselves independently and did not interfere with each other or exchange information much. Therefore, Shangguan Zheng was unaware of the news of Wen Ya's maternal grandfather's death.
Wen Ya calmly said, "My maternal grandfather passed away a few days ago."
Shangguan Zheng was slightly taken aback, clearly not expecting this. After a while, he sighed and said, "Please accept my condolences."
Wen Ya nodded and thanked her.
“Oh, right, Grandpa,” Shangguan Qin remembered something important and whispered to Shangguan Zhengdao, “Wen Ya knows about the Soul Searching Device malfunctioning.”
Shangguan Zheng's expression suddenly turned serious. After thinking for a moment, he instructed the young man beside him, "Have the kitchen prepare dinner for two more people." The man acknowledged and left. Only then did Shangguan Zheng say to Wen Ya, "If it's convenient, please come to the reception room to talk."
Wen Ya came here for this matter, and followed the Shangguan family to the first-floor reception room.
Shangguan Zheng kept Shangguan Qin behind and sent the others away, so there were only the four of them in the reception room.
After pondering for a moment, Shangguan Zheng asked, "Wen family girl, do you know why the magical artifact malfunctioned?"
Wen Ya shook her head: "This matter is indeed very strange, because the soul-searching device of the Zhao family of Yuhuang Temple also malfunctioned, and Old Master Zhao could not find the reason. If your spiritual artifacts have all malfunctioned, if I'm not mistaken, it is highly likely that the Jiang family's soul-searching device is also useless."
Her words made some sense. Although it hadn't been confirmed, it wasn't a coincidence. Shangguan Zheng frowned. If one family's magical artifact was unusual, it could be said that the artifact itself was faulty. But if several families' artifacts were useless, then it might not be related to the artifacts at all.
"Under what circumstances would a magical artifact malfunction?" Shangguan Qin asked from the side.
Wen Ya didn't know much about spirit artifacts, but Shangguan Zheng had dealt with these things all his life and had some insights: "It's possible that there's a problem inside the spirit artifact, but there are no experts in the world who can repair spirit artifacts, and there isn't much information available, so if it's really broken, it would be tricky."
Si Mucheng became curious and asked Wen Ya in a low voice, "What exactly does a soul-searching device look like?"
Wen Ya recalled what she had seen at Yuhuang Temple and replied, "It looks a bit like a compass, and there should be talismans inside."
"Is it possible that something suddenly broke all the soul-searching devices, like a short circuit that burned out all the appliances in the house?" Shangguan Qin started to have wild ideas.
But her words inexplicably reminded Wen Ya of her Soul-Returning Lamp. When the Soul-Returning Lamp first activated, would it have any effect? And when did the Soul-Searching Device malfunction?
However, Shangguan Zheng quickly dismissed this possibility: "Spiritual artifacts are difficult to destroy by external forces, let alone destroy them simultaneously without anyone noticing. Besides, the soul-searching device isn't unusable, it's just malfunctioning."
“Then,” Shangguan Qin continued to use his imagination, “could there be something that prevents the soul-searching device from pointing at ghosts? Like a signal jammer, once it’s turned on, there’s no signal for miles around.”
A brief silence fell over the reception room after she spoke. Shangguan Zheng suddenly said, "Why didn't you mention this possibility before?"
Shangguan Qin said happily, "So it's possible? Wow, I'm so smart." Then he replied to Shangguan Zhengdao, "You never told me these things before, how would I know? So you should ask me more often in the future. See how useful I am?"
Shangguan Zheng pondered, "That's possible. What kind of thing could it be? Another magical artifact? Or a magic array?"
As soon as he mentioned the magical artifact, Wen Ya involuntarily pressed her handbag. Was it really because of the Soul-Returning Lamp? But Zhao Wentian had said that his family's Soul-Searching Device had malfunctioned a year ago, and the strange behavior of the Soul-Returning Lamp was a recent occurrence.
Without changing her expression, she asked, "May I ask, when did the Shangguan family's soul-searching device malfunction?"
Shangguan Zheng sighed: "About a year ago."
Wen Ya nodded: "Yuhuang Temple is one of them."
Since all the soul-searching devices from different families malfunctioned a year ago, it couldn't be because of the Soul-Returning Lamp. Wen Ya couldn't quite explain her feelings. She pondered, "What kind of magic array could affect the soul-searching devices?"
"Grandpa, do you know of any magic array like this?" Shangguan Qin asked.
Shangguan Zheng frowned even more, and said only, "I need to investigate."
Wen Ya thought she should still ask Old Master Zhao.
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