Chapter 49 The Collapse of the Peony Soul
Shao Yanzhe stared blankly at the black coffin, which was more than half a person tall, in front of him. It looked strangely familiar.
He looked up and saw a red figure standing on the coffin.
Then, he met the gaze of Madam Yin, who was raising her eyebrows slightly as she looked at him.
He stammered, "Madam Yin? This, this coffin is...?"
Lady Yin flew up and floated lightly to the front of the coffin, sat on it, and gently swung her legs.
She turned to look at him and laughed, saying, "Of course, it's my coffin."
Shao Yanzhe knew, of course, that the coffin belonged to Madam Yin. However, her original body was lying inside the coffin. If she came into contact with too much yin energy, it would be troublesome if she rose from the dead.
"Won't the corpse rise to life?" he asked hesitantly.
Madam Yin shook her head: "Don't worry, it won't happen."
"No, it won't, it will just cause her spirit to shatter." Xuan Yao said weakly, lying on Shao Yanzhe's back.
Shao Yanzhe was startled and subconsciously looked at Madam Yin, only to see a fleeting look of surprise in her eyes.
The surprise wasn't that her spirit would shatter, but that Xuan Yao actually knew.
"Move the coffin away first. I can hold on for a while longer. Madam Yin, why don't you go to Prefect Han? He must have a solution."
As Shao Yanzhe spoke, he reached out to push the coffin placed on the Yin Xue, but was stopped by Madam Yin.
"Don't waste your energy, it's too late."
Madam Yin smiled gently at Shao Yanzhe, flicked her sleeve, and sent the man and the cat a little further away.
Fine, dense black cracks slowly appeared on her originally fair face, making her look like a cracked white porcelain doll.
She took out her own spiritual core from her body and showed it to them.
“My spiritual core had problems long ago, and it was only a matter of time before it collapsed. The person I wanted to kill is already dead, and my wish has been fulfilled. This extreme yin acupoint also appeared because of me, so it is only natural for me to solve it.”
Shao Yanzhe looked at the round bead in her hand. The original black color on it was stained with dark red, and there were also white mixed in. The three sides were incompatible with each other but wanted to destroy each other, splitting the bead into countless pieces. It looked like a beautiful obsidian blood-red ice crack enamel bead.
It is indeed beautiful, but the cracks look very deep, as if it would crumble into a pile with the slightest touch.
Shao Yanzhe opened his mouth, but finally spoke with a dry voice, "Isn't there any other way?"
He already had the answer as soon as he asked the question.
If there were any other way, Lady Yin would not have risked her life to resolve that extremely yin deficiency.
As expected, Madam Yin shook her head: "The spirit core is the core of all spirit objects. If a spirit object's body is damaged, it can still be saved, but if there is a problem with the spirit core, there is no way to save it."
Shao Yanzhe was about to say something when Madam Yin waved her hand.
"Alright, stop arguing. You guys should stay away first, otherwise if anyone gets hurt, all my efforts will have been for nothing."
"By the way, once my spirit core shatters, there won't be anything left. You won't have to dig my grave anymore. I'm also tired of having a grave and being tied down by one!"
After she finished speaking, she flicked her wide sleeves and threw Shao Yanzhe and Xuan Yao out, along with Leng Zhijie, who had opened his eyes at some point. They flew over the wall of the luxurious mansion and finally landed on the road leading into the mansion.
Looking into the distance, he saw that the luxurious-looking mansion was surrounded by a vast expanse of peonies still in full bloom, appearing vibrant and full of life.
The next moment, a black mist violently churned and boiled in the courtyard, enveloping the luxurious mansion. From a distance, it looked like a gaping maw of abyss, swallowing the beautiful house whole.
Suddenly, a huge red peony emerged from the black mist. Its large, supple petals, like giant hands, enveloped and devoured the black mist until it was completely consumed.
The enormous red peony grew even more alluring, its large petals fluttering slightly in the wind, and a white light slowly emanating from its stamen, rapidly spreading outwards.
In an instant, the enormous red peony was enveloped in white light.
Shao Yanzhe squinted slightly because of the somewhat dazzling white light, and saw the peony that looked like a white flower suddenly burst open.
Upon seeing this scene, his eyes widened suddenly, his pupils contracted sharply, and all he could see was the huge peony in the distance turning into specks of white light and slowly fading away from the sky.
Countless red peony petals fell from the sky, like a grand rain of peony petals. Some landed on the leaves, some on the soil, some were blown further and further away by the wind, and some landed in the river and drifted away with the current.
Shao Yanzhe raised his hand and caught a red peony that fell in front of him. The peony landed right on the jade hairpin pen in his palm. A moment later, the peony disappeared, but a bright peony shadow appeared on the jade hairpin pen, blending with the red on the pen, appearing and disappearing.
He couldn't help but show a look of surprise, never expecting that the peony flower would be integrated into the jade hairpin brush, which made some secret thoughts rise in his mind.
After examining it carefully, he discovered that the peony flower was simply carved on the jade hairpin pen, without any reaction. It seemed that what he had seen before was all his imagination.
He could only put the matter aside for the time being and investigate it later when he had free time.
Shao Yanzhe looked at Leng Zhijie, who was standing not far away, staring blankly at the rain of peonies. Since Madam Yin had also thrown him out, he would respect her decision, ignore Leng Zhijie, and head towards Jiangzhou City.
As for the house behind him, now a ruin under the rain of peonies, he had no intention of going to see it; he respected Madam Yin's wishes.
Just as the peony burst open, in Kyoto, the chief minister Gu Huiming, who was writing, paused. A drop of ink fell from the tip of his brush, spreading across the rice paper and forming a large ink stain.
He glanced down, frowned slightly, put down his brush, picked up the stained Xuan paper, and placed it on the flickering flame of the candle beside him.
A corner of the Xuan paper quickly caught fire, and the violently leaping flames rapidly devoured the white Xuan paper, leaving behind scattered black ash that resembled fluttering black butterflies.
He tossed the nearly burnt Xuan paper into the charcoal brazier beside him, his calm eyes fixed on the paper as it was finally consumed by the flames before he looked away, picked up a towel, and casually wiped his fingers.
Soon, a man dressed in a black robe walked in, a hint of crimson peeking out from the fluttering hem. He stood straight in front of Gu Huiming, his presence barely noticeable, and did not utter a word.
Gu Huiming then looked at him and said, "The arrangements in Jiangzhou have been disrupted. Go and find out what happened."
The man, with a stern face, bowed and clasped his hands in acceptance of the order: "Yes!"
After saying that, he left cleanly and decisively, leaving Gu Huiming lost in thought in the study.
When Shao Yanzhe returned to Jiangzhou City, it was three days later. He had traveled for two whole days and was finally brought to Jiangzhou City by a truck he encountered on the way.
He returned to his residence in a disheveled state. After washing up, he saw Zhou Jiming waiting outside.
Seeing his furrowed brow, I knew he must have come to see me about something.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
Zhou Jiming said, "Prefect Han's men have arrived outside."
Shao Yanzhe paused for a moment, but did not stop.
"Okay, I understand, please wait a moment."
Then, he placed the equally cleaned Xuan Yao on the chair next to the desk, stood in front of the desk, and began grinding ink.
Zhou Jiming looked at him curiously and asked, "What are you doing? Didn't you already finish the provincial examination?"
Shao Yanzhe didn't tell the truth; he just made up an excuse: "I suddenly had an inspiration, and if I don't write it down, I'll forget it soon."
Zhou Jiming nodded, agreeing that it was true. Inspiration was rare, so he didn't urge him to hurry up.
Soon, Shao Yanzhe wrote an article and several poems, which were full of profound literary talent.
After he gave all of these to Xuan Yao, the previously listless Xuan Cat immediately perked up, comfortably lying on the bed, its tail swishing back and forth from time to time, returning to its former self.
Seeing Xuan Yao like this, he finally felt relieved.
"You rest for a bit, I'll leave for a bit, I'll bring you some dried fish when I come back!"
Upon hearing the keyword, Xuan Yao immediately perked up his ears and turned to look at him: "Meow!"
Zhou Jiming left the room first and waited outside. As Shao Yanzhe turned to close the door, his gaze fell on Xuan Yao's tail, and his eyes darkened for a moment.
He clearly remembered that Xuan Yao had a lot of golden fur on its tail, but after returning from Madam Yin's mansion, those golden furs disappeared.
Thinking back to when Yin energy entered his body, Xuan Yao supplied him with energy, which protected him from the harm of that Yin energy.
Could it be that those energies were the culprit that caused Xuan Yao's golden hair to disappear?
Thinking of all this, he couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache; Xuan Yao had done all this to help it.
He originally wanted to ask about the specifics, but given Xuan Yao's arrogant nature, he figured he wouldn't tell him the details.
He could only pretend he didn't know and figure out a way to help it recover later.
Shao Yanzhe followed Zhou Jiming to the front hall and saw the people waiting there. Unexpectedly, the people waiting inside were not the subordinates of Prefect Han that he had thought. Prefect Han himself was also waiting there.
He quickly stepped forward, clasped his hands in a salute to Han Yuzhang, his face full of guilt and unease: "Prefect Han, I apologize. It took me some time to wash up, which is why I'm late."
Han Yuzhang didn't seem to care at all: "It's alright, it was just that I came here abruptly and in a bit of a hurry."
Shao Yanzhe sat down in the seat below him and asked, "I wonder what urgent matter the Prefect has to discuss with me that would trouble you to come all this way?"
Han Yuzhang took a sip of his tea, gently set it aside, and after a moment of thought, said, "On the night that Scholar Shao went to the restaurant, when you went to chase after that thief, did you see that thief kill someone?"
Shao Yanzhe was taken aback, then pondered for a moment and said, "I didn't see that. I chased after him a bit too late. I only saw him leave at a very fast speed from afar. He disappeared after only a short while. I didn't see him kill anyone. Who did that ghost kill?"
Han Yuzhang said, "It's those two officials from the Heavenly Net Edict."
Shao Yanzhe looked at him in surprise, not expecting that Leng Yanshan would actually attack the people of Tianluozhao.
However, even if he knew that those were people from the Heavenly Net Order, he would still take action.
"Are you sure they were killed by ghosts?"
Han Yuzhang nodded: "It's confirmed. The coroner has already examined it. The neck was broken by hand, and there are still traces of a ghost on it."
"Lord Han, I'm sorry, I didn't see it with my own eyes."
Han Yuzhang shook his head: "It's nothing. I came here today to find out where that thief is now."
After a moment's thought, Shao Yanzhe did not hide anything: "That thief has already been annihilated, sir, there is no need to worry."
Han Yuzhang glanced at him, a look of surprise flashing in his eyes, then said calmly, "Then I am relieved. In that case, I will take my leave!"
As he spoke, he stood up.
Seeing this, Shao Yanzhe and Zhou Jiming also stood up and followed Han Yuzhang to the door.
Han Yuzhang returned to his residence with his subordinates. He dismissed his attendants, took out a piece of paper, and began to write. The content was not much, only briefly mentioning the people of Tianluozhao and that the thieves who killed members of Tianluozhao had been executed. He also emphasized the discovery of a promising talent.
After writing it, he sealed the envelope and handed it to his subordinate: "Send it to the capital and give it to Marquis Changping."
He watched his subordinates leave, a hint of worry flashing in his eyes. He wondered how the person who knew about the Heavenly Decree would react if two of them died. He only hoped that it wouldn't implicate Shao Juren.
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