Chapter 76 Searching for Ghosts
After the flower stone entered, the Guanyin statue twisted its body and slowly closed.
The insect in the cage became even more restless, constantly ramming forward, seemingly trying to follow Hua Shi into the cage. Lin Chengye used his inner strength to protect it beforehand, preventing its cries from being heard.
She continued to gaze at the earth and its creatures with compassion, completely unaware that the seeds of evil were being sown within her own body.
“It really is here.” Lin Chengye raised an eyebrow. Actually, she had a strange feeling, and she believed that Wei Jingchen felt the same way. Although neither of them was completely convinced of the other’s worth, they could not deny that they had an innate understanding with each other.
“I remember how Huashi opened this door. We’ll go in when she’s gone a little deeper underground and the sound of the door opening can’t be heard anymore.”
After all, they had the fleshworms to guide them, so they didn't need to follow Hua Shi's footsteps; they could keep a distance. After about an incense stick's time, Lin Chengye reached out and touched the incense burner, intending to move it.
"etc."
Cai Wenyou suddenly reached out and pressed Lin Chengye's hand down, whispering.
"That woman didn't leave; she's still waiting behind this door."
Lin Chengye was startled, and cold sweat broke out on his palm as he held the incense burner. She nodded and made no further movement. The three of them stood there like they were in a silent game of chess until another incense stick burned. Then, Cai Wenyou's ears twitched again. She released Lin Chengye's hand and nodded.
"She's gone far away, you can go in now."
"She is more cautious than I imagined."
Lin Chengye let out a breath, even feeling a rare sense of lingering fear. If he had just pushed open the door, Hua Shi, being a person without martial arts skills, would surely have had a way to protect herself, or there might have been some trap that could have injured the two of them.
She quickly moved the incense burner in order, and waited for the bottom of the Guanyin statue to split open into a deep tunnel that seemed to go down to the bottom. Then she grabbed Cai Wenyou and pulled him in. Lin Chengye couldn't help but use his internal force to transmit his voice.
“Bringing you here was absolutely the right decision. I already thought you were knowledgeable and well-informed, just in case. I never imagined you were so much more capable than I thought.”
"Hmph." Cai Wenyou couldn't help but smugly curl the corners of his lips.
She had always lived in such praise, but after only one day out with Lin Chengye, she felt incredibly frustrated. She hadn't been of any help and instead realized that she had actually been living a peaceful life in the lake all along. Only then did she finally regain some spirits.
"Let me tell you, this is the unique skill of the Idle Talk Manor, the Sound of All Things! It can hear the faintest sounds in the world, discern their traces, and trace their origins."
"It's really convenient, and it suits your sect perfectly." Lin Chengye was amused by Cai Wenyou's matter-of-fact manner and twitched the corner of his lips.
To outsiders, this skill might seem perfect for tracking and assassination, or even, if one were willing, for intelligence trading. Yet, the founder of the Idle Talk Manor only uses it to listen to gossip and enjoy afternoon tea. He must have been quite an extraordinary person.
Some might think this is a waste of the skill, but isn't it also a way to use it? Lin Chengye, on the contrary, felt that this was where the most attractive thing in the martial arts world was hidden.
"I'll leave the rest to Young Master Cai. There might be some kind of trap here. Listen carefully to how Hua Shi gets through it."
“If the God of Spring speaks, I will certainly not fail in my mission.” Cai Wenyou quickly retorted, sensing the teasing in Lin Chengye’s words.
She snapped her fingers, and at that moment, the Guanyin Gate behind them closed. Instantly, the blackness of the secret passage surged up like an inky wave, enveloping the two of them. The acrid dust and the musty smell of this sunless place became especially clear.
Cai Wenyou's expression hardened, and he stopped speaking, focusing intently on listening to Hua Shi's movements. Just as Lin Chengye had said, this secret passage was extremely complex, even containing several mechanisms, and its movements could only be discerned through the Myriad Manifestations Sound Hearing.
The deep tunnel blurred one's five senses, and Lin Chengye only felt that the road was extremely long, seemingly leading all the way to the underworld. In such an environment, it was extremely easy for one's mind to become distracted.
To regain their senses, Cai Wenyou and Lin Chengye gripped each other's hands tightly, pinching each other hard every now and then.
"stop."
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Cai Wenyou gripped Lin Chengye's hand tightly. She pressed her ear against the tunnel wall and whispered.
"The woman named Huashi stopped, but..."
Cai Wenyou's eyes suddenly widened.
"No, that's not right, there's one more person!"
"Relay what they said to me, don't miss a single word."
Lin Chengye held Cai Wenyou's shoulder. In the darkness, she could hear her own heartbeat growing louder and louder, almost making her eardrums ache. Only then did she suddenly realize that she hated, hated to the extreme the person who had caused all of this.
Beneath his palm, Cai Wenyou's body trembled, not out of fear, but as a subconscious reaction to being so close to the truth.
They were all waiting, waiting for the moment when the ghost would bare its fangs.
...
Hua Shi stood quietly, lantern in hand, waiting for something. She impatiently kicked at the pebbles beneath her feet. For some reason, she felt uneasy today, but she was more cautious than usual; there was absolutely no one following her.
Suddenly, a small lantern slowly appeared in the darkness, flickering like a will-o'-the-wisp. Hua Shi's eyes lit up, and she exclaimed in delight.
"elder sister!"
Tap, tap, tap.
The man clearly didn't know martial arts either; his footsteps echoed in the dark underground.
"Huashi!" The man's voice sounded somewhat fearful.
The figures of the flowers and stones, similar to those of the person, were reflected on the tunnel wall. When the two were close, their shadows overlapped and intertwined, like twin flowers growing side by side.
“Hey, sister, there’s no blood on your hands today.”
Hua Shi pulled Qing Shi's hand over and examined it carefully, somewhat delighted.
Unlike her, Qing Shi's face was deathly pale. He staggered toward Hua Shi, muttering to himself.
"No, no, one's missing, one's missing... why hasn't one come back yet..."
Seeing her sister like this for the first time, Huashi grabbed Qingshi's hand in fear. But no matter how she asked, Qingshi didn't answer, only repeating the same sentence.
"One is missing...one is missing..."
...
Hua Shi didn't know why her sister had to stay underground every winter since the emperor ascended the throne, only returning to their dwelling late at night. When she returned, her hands were always stained with thick, sticky blood, though mostly not her own. Occasionally, there would be small cuts, like ants had gnawed at them.
Hua Shi felt sorry for her and would always light a lamp to carefully wipe it away for her.
In the past, she would always pester Qing Shi with questions, asking him what he was doing and where he had gone. However, Qing Shi, who had always gone along with her, remained tight-lipped about this matter and refused to say anything. One evening, he even looked at Hua Shi very seriously and said...
"Huashi, this is the only thing that's impossible. You... know nothing, I won't involve you."
That was the first time Huashi had argued with her sister. She gritted her teeth and said it on purpose.
"If you don't tell me, I'll ignore you."
But she regretted it as soon as she finished speaking. She saw that Qing Shi's face turned pale in the candlelight, and he opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something but hesitated, as if he had been stung by Hua Shi's words.
But in the end, Qing Shi still didn't say anything. Seeing this, Hua Shi suddenly got angry and really ignored Qing Shi from that night onwards, and stopped wiping away the bloodstains for her.
She and her sister have relied on each other for so long, what is there that she can't say or tell her? She's not a child anymore, she can help her sister with responsibilities.
But this one-sided cold war didn't last long. Hua Shi watched as Qing Shi returned late every night, dragging his tired body, sitting alone under the lamp wiping the blood off his hands, looking dejected.
In the end, she couldn't bear it, and Hua Shi's nose tingled. She knew she was being unreasonable, and what could Qing Shi do if she didn't tell her? It must be for her own good. Her sister would never harm her.
Just as Huashi was about to bow her head and apologize, she suddenly heard a soft sigh. Qingshi walked to her bedside, patted her shoulder, leaned down, and whispered in her ear in an extremely gentle tone.
"Alright, I'll take you somewhere. From now on, you'll wait for me there in the dead of night. But you're not allowed to go any deeper. Just take one look at me and leave. As for the rest, Hua Shi, please don't ask any more questions, okay? Forgive your sister."
"Please forgive your sister, okay?"
Those words were like a breeze, blowing into Huashi's already guilty heart. She threw off the covers, hugged Qingshi tightly, nodded repeatedly, her voice choked with emotion.
"good!"
Qing Shi chuckled softly, patting Hua Shi's back as she had when they were children, comforting her younger sister. To her, Hua Shi was her treasure, her very life.
Suddenly, as if he had thought of something, Qing Shi's eyes darkened, and he asked in a low voice.
"Huashi, do you think... Her Highness... has changed?"
"Your Highness the Eldest Princess...?"
Hua Shi didn't quite understand, but after thinking for a moment, she said...
"Things have changed, it seems to have changed since the late emperor passed away. But...aren't they all His Highness? We just need to listen to His Highness."
"So...you like His Highness very much, don't you?"
Qing Shi stroked Hua Shi's face, looking into Hua Shi's eyes. But there was something in her eyes that Hua Shi couldn't understand—a kind of confusion, a kind of sadness, a kind of empty helplessness.
Hua Shi keenly sensed from that that her sister seemed to not want her to answer "yes." But she was even more puzzled and blinked.
"Yes, I would do anything for Your Highness. I only care about you two, my sister and Your Highness, and I would give my life for you. Shouldn't my sister feel the same way?"
“I used to think that way too.”
Qing Shi's hand slid down Hua Shi's face. She looked down at the bloodstains on her hands that she hadn't wiped clean and muttered to herself.
"Yes, that's what I think too?"
The last syllable of his words was light and airy, as if he were asking himself.
...
"Sister, what's wrong with you? Don't scare me."
Hua Shi was so flustered she almost cried as she cupped Qing Shi's face in her hands. In her eyes, her sister was always gentle, even if she was a little timid, she would never be like this.
"Is something missing? Can we come back tomorrow?"
“No, no, we won’t be coming back. This winter… this is the last one, it’s over, finally over.” Qing Shi suddenly grabbed Hua Shi’s hand. She gripped it tightly, and Hua Shi hissed in pain. Qing Shi calmed down a bit, and she spoke in a trembling voice.
"I'm sorry. Let's go home, Huashi, let's go back..."
"I'm sorry, you two."
Suddenly, a voice broke the sisters' tender embrace. Qing Shi's eyes widened, and she pulled Hua Shi behind her, staring in horror at the woman who emerged from the tunnel.
Her clothes blended almost seamlessly into the darkness, and every step she took felt like stepping on a heart of bluestone, crushing her heart into the dust.
"Neither of you are leaving today."
Author's Note: Posting an article always feels like submitting homework; I'm a little nervous, wondering if anyone will like it, haha.
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