Chapter 125 The Peach of the Lu Family, The Haunted House
As luck would have it, Qingyu and her group heard about the haunted house not long after entering the city. They weren't particularly interested at first, but then the conversation turned to the Li and Lu families—
Whether they are acquaintances or relatives, they will always come to visit when something happens.
...
The main hall of the Li family.
When Li Ruojun arrived, he had already set off for the Ji family. He had heard that the Ji family of Qingzhou was skilled in feng shui, and that haunted house was even bestowed by the previous demon-suppressing envoy, Ji San.
Now that Miss Lu has lost her soul in that house, although the reason is unknown, matters of the soul cannot be delayed. To show his sincerity, Li Ruoliang sent Li Ruojun to Liaocheng, Qingzhou, where the Ji family's ancestral home is located.
"I've heard of you all before, but I'm afraid I've made a fool of myself today."
Li Ruoliang smiled faintly and, after a few pleasantries, looked at everyone present and said...
"We don't know the specifics either. Lu Zhitao and Axin often played together, but they always knew their limits. Who would have thought they'd go to that abandoned house..."
Zhang Xuan frowned. The young man said, "Lu Zhitao... can't speak now, so what about your cousin? Is she also unable to speak?"
"Well, this old man can explain. Miss Li was traumatized and was delirious when she was rescued. She was talking nonsense. After I administered acupuncture, her emotions stabilized somewhat, but she still..."
While listening to their conversation, Uncle He explained the current situation of the two women, "As long as Miss Li gets more rest, she will regain her senses. However, Miss Lu is in some danger."
Li Ruoliang nodded slightly, agreeing with Uncle He's words. However, the young man was not in a hurry. After all, it was Lu Zhitao who had the accident, not Li Ruoxin. As long as the Li family did what they should do, that was enough.
Qingyu and the others didn't say much, after all, they didn't have a good impression of that Miss Lu either. However, it was still a life, and they couldn't take it lightly. After thinking for a moment, Lin Fanxiang said...
"Although I don't know anything about summoning spirits, I have seen similar things before. Why don't you let me go and see Miss Lu?"
In a Miao village in Southwest China, a spiritual practitioner summons the soul of a dragon pearl by forcefully gathering the spiritual power of the crowd. Although the process is difficult for others to understand, Lin Fanxiang, being from the Lin clan, gained some new insights while watching and began to have a vague understanding of this soul-summoning practice.
Although she wasn't exactly an expert in this area, she was going to take a look; perhaps she could find a way to improve Lu Zhitao's condition.
Just as Uncle He was about to agree, he realized he was still someone else's retainer, so he chuckled awkwardly and looked at Li Ruoliang, who naturally nodded.
"If that's the case, then I'll have to trouble Miss Lin to make the trip."
In fact, Li Ruoliang didn't like the girl named Lu Zhitao. Her poor background was nothing to worry about, but she was too ambitious. After becoming friends with his younger sister, she became even more arrogant and loved to use her connections to bully others. Sometimes she would get away with something, and sometimes she would make a fool of herself. His silly younger sister always protected her.
He was usually busy with his own affairs, and he thought it would be good for his sister to have a playmate, as long as she didn't do anything wrong. Who could have imagined what would happen today? In retrospect, it was also his fault as the older brother.
The mentally unstable Li Ruoxin can't explain the haunted house incident, so we can't just let Lu Zhitao lose her life for nothing. If we can save her, we should do our best to do so.
Lin Fanxiang was about to nod and go with her uncle to the guest room to check on Lu Zhitao when a woman's voice suddenly came from not far away—
"No! You mustn't save her!"
"Hey, Fourth Miss! Fourth Miss! Don't run away!"
Slowly and in a daze, Li Ruoxin lifted her skirt and ran over, with two maids chasing after her. When she finally reached the room, she was almost falling to the ground.
Seeing this, Li Ruoliang stood up, and the young man strode out to support her, then said coldly, "What are you doing? What kind of behavior is this, making such a racket!"
"elder brother!"
"It was Lu Zhitao who ruined me! Brother, she tricked me into going to the haunted house!"
"Brother! No!"
Li Ruoxin looked up, her clothes disheveled, her face weak, her lips bloodless. Before she could even speak, two streams of tears flowed down her face, making her look incredibly pitiful.
Li Ruoliang frowned deeply. With the help of the young man, Li Ruoxin looked at everyone and, half-crying and half-laughing, recounted many things from the past—
The Lu family was originally a prominent clan in Qingzhou, a family of array cultivators. However, a few years ago, a fire broke out in the Lu family for no reason, resulting in the deaths of two of the three direct descendants and injuries to one. The head of the family was deeply affected by this, and his wife fell ill and remained bedridden.
Seeing the decline of the family, the head of the Lu family placed all his hopes on Lu Zhitao, who had survived. Unfortunately, fate played a cruel trick on him. Both of his deceased children had excellent talent in array cultivation, but it was Lu Zhitao who survived. It was her, the daughter with the most ordinary talent, who was the only one who survived.
How tragic is the word "talent"! Young Lu Zhitao endured immense pressure, and the little child eventually fell ill. This led to a major argument between the Lu family head and his wife, and ultimately, Madam Lu's old illness relapsed. Overwhelmed by anger and blood stasis, she fell seriously ill and passed away a few days later. As a result, the Lu family head lost all his spirit and was left to raise his last daughter, Lu Zhitao, all by himself.
Only then did the Lu family truly fall into ruin and disappear from the sight of other clans.
This is Lu Zhitao's past experience, and it is also the real reason why Li Ruoxin became friends with her.
Lu Zhitao often said that she had a wonderful older sister and an obedient younger brother. If the fire hadn't destroyed everything, she wouldn't have been forced into the Daoist path by her father, and her mother wouldn't have died because of it. Her father, in particular, often sighed to her, simply because it was she who survived.
Li Ruoxin grew up under the love and education of the Li family. She felt that nothing should be blamed on Zhi Tao. She was just a child when the fire happened, and her talent was beyond human control. How could she bear all of this? With a chivalrous heart, Li Ruoxin waved her hand and recognized Lu Zhi Tao as her younger sister, taking her with her wherever she went.
Everyone in Qingzhou City knows that the fourth young lady of the Li family and the young lady of the Lu family are close friends. They attend banquets together, go out together, and sometimes even... cause trouble together...
Miss Lu even lived in the Li family's house for a long time, and everyone knew that they had a very good relationship, like sisters.
...
Zhang Xuan: "...Since you two are such good friends, why are you unwilling to save her now?"
Qin Tianshu nudged him lightly. The scholar was speechless. Didn't you see your cousin was just a little better and was sobbing as she spoke? You, her cheap cousin, really know how to talk.
Zhang Xuan paused, then the young man pursed his lips, "I saw my cousin and Miss Lu getting along well a few days ago, but seeing them again today... is really strange."
Li Ruoxin sat in the chair, the woman clutching her chest helplessly, a sorrowful smile on her face, as she recounted everything that had happened in the past few days.
Initially, it was because of the round fan and the silver shop that Li Ruoxin felt really ashamed and even harbored some resentment towards Lu Zhitao. Lu Zhitao, however, felt that it was Qingyu and his group's fault and spoke with a lot of anger.
They started arguing over a few words, and Li Ruoxin regretted it immediately afterward. To save face, she didn't speak to Lu Zhitao for several days, but eventually couldn't hold back and apologized to Lu Zhitao. Lu Zhitao acted strangely at the time, and then said to Li Ruoxin—
The haunted house in Qingzhou has been opened.
“Ruoxin, my mother was born into the Ji clan. She once told me that the house didn’t hide a ghost, but a ghost cultivator who escaped from Fengdu… no, a ghost immortal! Legend has it that as long as someone respectfully requests an audience with the ghost immortal, he can grant the wishes of mortals…”
"Zhi Tao! You're crazy! That's a haunted house! Nobody in Qingzhou City ever goes there! And all this talk about ghost cultivators and Fengdu—that's all just stuff in books—"
"Ruoxin! You just said we were sisters... You're from the Li family, the ghost cultivators won't harm you... Ruoxin! Please come with me! I... I just want to beg you..."
"What exactly do you want? Zhi Tao, you can't keep being so confused!"
"I only ask for power! That's all! Ruoxin, your cousin's taunts echo in my ears day and night, along with my father's admonitions, my mother's cries, and even my older sister and younger brother in the fire... If, if I were also a powerful cultivator, if I were also a chosen one in everyone's eyes, would everything be different... Ruoxin, if I don't try, I'd rather die!"
"Ruoxin, please come with me. We won't tell anyone, we'll just go and beg. Trust me, Ruoxin, everything will be alright, really..."
...
Li Ruoxin closed her eyes, two lines of tears streaming down her face. Finally, she said weakly and ridiculously, "I was foolish. I agreed to her request and went to the haunted house with her..."
Speaking of the house, she trembled slightly, looking somewhat frightened and terrified, but the girl wiped away her tears and tried her best to calm herself down.
“That place was terrifying, even though I don’t remember it very clearly… We did see something… I don’t know if it was a ghost, I only know that Zhi Tao suddenly changed. She knelt down, and she, she said, she wanted to offer my soul in exchange for her talent… She wanted to use my life as a true sacrifice…”
Li Ruoxin spoke while weeping bitterly. The young girl clutched Li Ruoliang's sleeve tightly, appearing panicked and frightened, but upon closer inspection, her eyes also revealed boundless heartache.
"It was me. I swung my knife at that thing one last time, and pushed Lu Zhitao away with all my might... Then, then I heard the ghost's laughter... It really was! It was a ghost laughing! A very sharp laugh, darting from left to right, from right to left! And then it exploded in my heart... It was like the laughter was coming from inside my head! The person laughing was in so much pain! I was so scared! Brother! I was so scared!"
"Alright! Let's not talk about it anymore! Let's not talk about it anymore, Ruoxin..."
As Li Ruoxin's words became increasingly incoherent and frantic, the girl gasped for breath, her heart pounding wildly. Her eyes widened in terror, and she trembled. Fortunately, Li Ruoliang interrupted her reverie in a deep voice and then gently comforted her.
Li Ruoxin looked up, her eyes already red and swollen, gazing at her brother with a sorrowful expression. "Brother... I'm in so much pain... I don't want to see her anymore... but I also want to know why..."
"Why did she try to hurt me when I treated her so well..."
"Why... I'm so scared, brother..."
The young man glanced at Uncle He, and the old man understood. He immediately stepped forward and, together with Li Ruoliang, held down the dazed and muttering girl. Finally, they quickly administered acupuncture to revive her spirit. In no time, Li Ruoxin fell into a deep sleep in Li Ruoliang's arms, her face still bearing the marks of painful tears.
Everything happened so fast that everyone fell silent upon seeing it. Li Ruoliang picked up the unconscious Li Ruoxin, and with a solemn expression, he apologized to Zhang Xuan and the others.
"Please wait a moment while I have the butler take you to your guest rooms. I'll take my little sister back to her room first... I apologize for any inconvenience caused today."
Zhang Xuan nodded, "Thank you for your trouble, cousin."
...
The main hall has quieted down.
Qingyu sat in the chair and looked at her uncle strangely, "Uncle, why don't you go and see Miss Li?"
Uncle He glared at everyone with annoyance, then patted his robe and sat down opposite them. "It's evening now, and I've finished work... Miss Li needs time. Let's talk about it after she wakes up."
What just happened was too chaotic, but listening to Li Ruoxin's fragmented account, the truth was pieced together—
Lu Zhitao wanted to use Li Ruoxin's life to worship the ghost cultivator, but in the end, it didn't work out for some reason. Lu Zhitao lost her soul, but Li Ruoxin was fine. It's unclear whether this can be considered retribution.
Lin Fanxiang lowered her eyes for a moment, then said helplessly to her friends beside her, "Now... I don't know if I should go see Miss Lu."
Qin Tianshu seemed somewhat puzzled. The scholar gently fanned himself and said, "That haunted house was sealed off by the demon-suppressing envoy years ago, how could they have been allowed to enter so easily... Moreover, this ghost immortal..."
Zhang Xuan shook his head. "Who knows? Sigh."
Uncle He sat next to Zhang Xuan. The old man chuckled and looked around, saying, "It's no use going there. That Miss Lu has lost her soul, and it seems that her soul is still lost in that dilapidated haunted house. It would be strange if we could bring it back."
Qin Tianshu clicked his tongue and then said, "It seems that Miss Lu is not going to get a good result."
Wen Chuan frowned, a rare occurrence for him. The young man said, "But this is only Miss Li's side of the story."
It's not that I doubt the truth of what Miss Li said, but such a matter involving life and death cannot be judged based on a simple impression or one person's statement.
Qingyu smiled upon hearing this. The woman glanced at the round fan in her hand. Just now, when Li Ruoxin mentioned that she accompanied Lu Zhitao to the haunted house out of guilt, she looked at this fan several times and seemed to be in great pain.
What a beautiful fan that caused all this trouble! It's truly frustrating.
She finally laughed, "After all, I'm starting to want to go see that house."
...
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