Chapter 63 The Lament of a Foolish Woman (Thirteen) The Embroidered Chamber
Song Qiling practically rolled down the slope.
The damp wind, carrying the stench of blood, wafted into my nose and quickly filled my chest, causing a sharp, piercing pain.
Suddenly, a soft vine quickly wrapped around her waist, lifting her up and easily dissipating the force of her fall.
Amidst the howling wind, Gu Lianzhou's voice rang in my ears: "Senior brother, hold on tight to me."
The vines around her waist pulled her forward, and in the next instant, half of her cheek pressed against a warm chest.
Song Qiling instinctively opened her arms and hugged the person in front of her. The strong, powerful heartbeat came through her clothes and thumped in her ears.
After about half a cup of tea's time, she finally touched something hard under her feet. She couldn't help but look down and ask, "What is this?"
Gu Lianzhou's heart suddenly skipped a beat.
Oh no, my senior brother saw it after all.
Following Song Qiling's gaze downwards, his eyes sweeping over the "dodder," he hurriedly asked, "If I say... it's the demonic energy within me manifesting, would you believe me, Senior Brother?"
Song Qiling grabbed the vine that she hadn't had time to retract with a suspicious look, squeezed it in her palm, and then glanced at her junior brother, "I believe you."
Gu Lianzhou's face went blank for a moment: "?"
His senior brother's trust came so suddenly that he had no time to prepare, which made even the dodder stiffen up.
“This thing does obey you. It’s not a bad thing that it can be used by you.” Song Qiling let go of her hand and saw that the vine was still reluctant to let go of her wrist. She raised her eyebrows slightly and continued, “You told me before that your eyes saw something unusual. I thought it was just some ethereal demonic energy. I never thought it could actually take shape.”
She turned her head to look at the faint light source, tugged at her wrist to break free from the vines' restraints, and said, "That's fine too. Once inside the illusion, it can still be of some use."
"Senior brother, aren't you afraid it will go out of control?" Gu Lianzhou looked down at the dodder hidden in the shadows at his feet and took a half step back uncomfortably.
Unexpectedly, the senior brother chuckled and said, "I think it listens to you very well, so it shouldn't cause any trouble for the time being."
Upon hearing this, Gu Lianzhou's throat bobbed slightly, and after a long while, he finally let out a sluggish sigh.
He had been living in constant fear these past few days, not knowing why. If he had known earlier that his senior brother was so open-minded, he wouldn't have kept it a secret.
Song Qiling lowered her eyes to look at the bluestone path beneath her feet, silently shedding a tear in her heart.
She had long known that Gu Lianzhou had a peculiar fate, born with a bit of bad luck, but she never expected that he would have such a rare constitution, able to coexist with demons.
Compared to Chu Yue and Uncle Nie, the demonic energy within him was nothing more than a drop in the ocean.
If we restrain and discipline him while his mind is still pure, that demon should not amount to anything.
Thinking this way, I felt relieved.
Above the damp bluestone pavement, red paper lanterns lit up one by one, floating in mid-air, emitting a blood-red dim light that made the entire long street look like a hellish inferno.
Looking at the scene before him, Song Qiling's chest heaved as he let out a long breath: "Having been hit by Chu Yue's Demon-Locking Talisman, Luo Qingyu will probably fight to the death and forcefully unleash her illusory form to strangle the one who cast the talisman."
Following the direction the red lanterns extended, her gaze was fixed on the tall buildings at the end of the road, and she squinted her eyes.
“At this moment, the monster is irrational and cannot distinguish between us and Chu Yue, so,” she paused, then said in a deep voice, “we must make thorough preparations and act with caution.”
Gu Lianzhou nodded: "Of course."
“The Void Formation Eye should be ahead, which is also the cave where Luo Qingyu is entrenched.” Song Qiling looked coldly at the churning demonic mist in the distance. “Our purpose in coming here is only to find our Martial Aunt safely. We must avoid any direct conflict with her. If we encounter her, running away is the best course of action.”
Upon hearing this, Gu Lianzhou couldn't help but ask, "Then what about Uncle Chu..."
"He won't die, don't worry about him." Song Qiling raised her hand and pulled out two yellow talismans from her waist, handing one to Gu Lianzhou. "This is a talisman for concealing one's aura. Keep it in front of your heart."
Gu Lianzhou took it and did as instructed.
Once they were ready, the two walked toward the tall building at the end of the road.
It wasn't quite a tall building; with the dim light, Song Qiling could barely make out the three-story structure.
The rooftop, covered with black tiles, glowed with a deep crimson hue under the lanterns, resembling the arched back of a giant serpent coiled up. In the shadows, the carved lattice windows were covered with mottled cobwebs, as if no one had visited this place for a long time.
Upon approaching, one sees a dusty plaque hanging in the center of the entrance, with two large characters written in gold paint.
"Embroidered Pavilion?" Gu Lianzhou read softly from the plaque, unaware that a pink figure flashed past behind him.
Song Qiling guessed, "Perhaps it was Miss Luo's former residence in the human world."
As soon as he finished speaking, a pebble rolled to his feet, touched the tip of his shoe, and stopped.
Song Qiling's face darkened, and without a word, she pushed Gu Lianzhou, "Inside the building!"
Gu Lianzhou stumbled, and saw his senior brother throw two fire-igniting talismans forward with his backhand. In an instant, flames shot up ten feet high, illuminating the surrounding scenery.
On both sides of the stone path, countless scarlet eyes lit up in the darkness, revealing their true forms by the firelight.
A group of wooden puppets with double buns, paper faces, and red nail polish stood silently in the distance. Hearing the noise, they twisted their necks and looked over in an extremely eerie manner.
Gu Lianzhou composed himself, looked up at the gate of the embroidered building, and said with a grim expression, "Senior brother, the gate is locked."
On the vermilion gate, beneath a pair of taotie-shaped door knockers, rusty iron chains wrapped around the door knockers several times, with a fist-sized copper lock at the end.
"I'll hold them off, you figure out how to break down the door." Song Qiling looked at the puppets approaching her without turning her head and said, "Don't you have vines? Now's the time to use them."
Vines? Dodder?
Gu Lianzhou's mind stirred slightly, as if he had heard his call. Several dodder vines stretched out from his feet, touched the patina on the door, and retreated half an inch with obvious disgust.
What time is it and you're still being picky?
Gu Lianzhou frowned slightly, staring intently at the copper lock, and slowly closed his eyes. The dodder vine extended into the keyhole, moving forward according to its feel, until it reached a dead end, at which point it split off another dodder vine to push up the bolt.
With a crisp "click," the copper lock fell to the ground.
"The door is open!" Gu Lianzhou exclaimed softly, reaching out to pull off the iron chain on the door. Out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a black shadow moving at incredible speed toward him. The next instant, he saw a puppet being slammed heavily against the door.
Wood chips mixed with dust flew towards his face. Before he could react, his senior brother rushed over, kicked away the struggling maid puppet, and shouted at him, "Hurry up! There are too many puppets, I can't stop them."
Upon hearing this, Gu Lianzhou didn't dare to delay. He quickly tore off the chain and threw it aside. The door loosened, and the two of them immediately ducked and crawled inside.
As soon as she entered, Song Qiling braced herself against the door with her hand and fumbled for the bolt in the darkness to lock it before sitting down against the door, panting heavily.
"Bang--"
"Bang bang—"
One after another, the puppet maids relentlessly charged at the door, as if they wouldn't stop until they broke it down.
"Grandma, you really can't tell friend from foe!" Song Qiling cursed under her breath, took out a tinderbox from her bosom, puffed out her cheeks and blew on it. The greenish-blue sparks flickered, and a wisp of light illuminated half of her face, making her look like a wandering ghost.
She glanced at Gu Lianzhou beside her, "Are you scared?"
Gu Lianzhou asked, puzzled, "What are you afraid of?"
"Have you ever heard of a vengeful woman?" Song Qiling smirked and said self-deprecatingly, "I was just wondering why Luo Qingyu had such great abilities, that she could transform into human form and walk in the world, and even develop intelligence, and look no different from ordinary people."
She stared at the green dot in her hand, "Until on the arena, Chu Yue called her the Wraith, which reminded me of some past events."
"Senior brother." Gu Lianzhou turned back to look at the rickety door and couldn't help but ask with concern, "Is this past... very long?"
If it's long, will they be able to finish telling it?
“It’s not long.” Song Qiling stood up, left the trembling door, and walked deeper into the embroidered building. “Those are all things I saw and heard when I was a child. If we leave this place safely, I will tell you about them.”
Gu Lianzhou paused for a moment, then followed. "Is this place more dangerous than before?"
“Of course.” Song Qiling raised the tinderbox, barely able to see the road ahead. “A phantom that could trap Chu Yue here must be extremely dangerous.”
Glancing at the strange green light, Gu Lianzhou asked, "Why is the firelight this color?"
Song Qiling smiled and said, "Because the demonic energy here is too strong, once it turns completely blue, it means that Luo Qingyu is not far away."
Upon hearing this, Gu Lianzhou looked around and saw many tables and chairs stacked around, which seemed to be a place for drinking tea and eating.
Following my senior brother's footsteps for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, we came across a mottled vermilion octagonal table at the corner, which was exactly the same as the one we had seen before.
“It’s back again.” Song Qiling sighed softly, picked up a stool, dusted it off, sat down, looked up at the broken door, and let out a short “Ah.”
The red paper lantern shone through the doorway into the house, seemingly mocking her as it spun leisurely in the air.
She felt a chill run down her back as a gust of wind swept towards her neck. Song Qiling ducked to avoid it, and with a "clang," the jade hairpin that held her hair back broke.
Kicking away the stool and stepping back, one could see a maid puppet rising into the air from the darkness, its ten fingers interlaced, taut with silver puppet strings.
It was much better than when we were outside the building.
Song Qiling touched the empty back of her head, feeling a lingering fear. If she had been slower to dodge, it wouldn't have been the hairpin that broke off, but her head...
However, Gu Lianzhou was not so lucky.
She turned to look at her junior brother, who was clutching his shoulder, her gaze hardening slightly. Blood was gushing from his shoulder, instantly staining his outer robe red. Yet, the fool seemed oblivious to the pain, standing silently in place.
The string of reason snapped in an instant.
Song Qiling turned around and looked at the maid puppet slowly approaching her, her knuckles clenched so tightly they cracked, and said, word by word, "You're courting death."
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