Secret Passage (Part Two)
A few streaks of blood rose on her cheeks. She lowered her eyes, her upturned corners flushed, yet possessed a captivating beauty that seemed incongruous with her features, as if a breathtakingly enchanting scene had been painted on a blank sheet of paper.
Liu Xu paused for a moment, controlling himself not to look at the corpse, and then realized: "Third Sister!"
Upon hearing this, Xie Lingxi responded with a leisurely air, even fiddling with the butterfly hairpin for a moment, and laughed, "I know, I'll scare him a little."
After saying that, she put away the hairpin, carefully wiped it several times, and put it into her sleeve.
In the corner, Mo Shen collapsed to the ground, finally gasping for breath.
He was nearly scared to death. A delicate young woman killed someone with a hairpin without even blinking. Besides, her strength was incredible. A eunuch's neck may be thin, but it shouldn't be enough to pierce his throat with a hairpin.
Seeing his appearance, Xie Lingxi mocked, "So cowardly, yet you dare to do something as serious as exterminating nine generations of your family."
She said this intentionally to him. According to her memories from her previous life, this inspector was known for his outspokenness and boldness in the court. He was the kind of person who could scold his sons all day long without changing his expression, right in front of his father.
As for Xie Lingxi's deep impression of him, it was because of his unclear death, which ultimately became evidence used to falsely accuse Xie's father of manipulating the court and indiscriminately killing innocent people.
In this life, she naturally wouldn't let any of that happen.
As expected, Mo Shen stumbled to his feet, leaning against the wall, and mumbled incoherently, protesting, "I didn't do it! I have a clear conscience! I am upright and honest! I am aboveboard!"
He staggered two steps and kicked the eunuch: "You bullying eunuch! You deserve to die!"
Xie Lingxi looked at her quietly: "Then why are you here?"
"They forced me to this! They forced me to this!"
Trembling, he hid behind Liu Xu. Seeing that the man was wary, he cautiously grabbed his sleeve and said, "My lord and my wife, I was blindfolded and tied up when I was brought in. They said that if I didn't comply, they would kill me first, and then kill my parents, wife, and children..."
As he spoke, tears streamed down his face. "You two are truly remarkable. If you can help me out of this predicament, I will repay you a thousandfold in the future!"
Xie Lingxi listened, glancing at the flickering candlelight in the inner room, and asked, "Is there anyone else in here?"
"I don't know, I opened my eyes and I was here!"
This was bad. Xie Lingxi and Liu Xu exchanged glances, both sensing an unspoken tension in each other's eyes. Liu Xu looked down at Mo Shen, who was hiding behind him, and said, "Let go."
Seeing that he still had his back to Xie Lingxi and dared not look at her, she laughed and said, "Why are you afraid of her? She's just a gentle and refined young lady."
Mo Shen finally agreed to loosen his clothes, but still kept his distance from them, fearing that he might lose his life if they weren't careful.
The three followed the light into the inner room, and just as Mo Shen had said, it was empty except for a table with several large wolf-hair brushes on it and a stack of Xuan paper on the left. One could vaguely imagine the leisurely interests of the owner of this secret cave.
Xie Lingxi stroked the table and examined it for a moment: "This person does have quite a refined taste."
She beckoned Liu Xu over, and sure enough, she saw the marks left by friction all over the table. The paperweight sat quietly beside it, its surface smooth and warm to the touch, as if covered with a layer of fine leather.
Several areas are carved with bright red peonies, which are very lifelike.
"This flower seems familiar."
Xie Lingxi was pondering when she saw Liu Xu stride out with the paperweight, followed by Mo Shen carrying a candle, which cast shimmering shadows of flowers on the screen.
The brushstrokes and lines are indeed those of the same person.
It was clearly an auspicious flower, yet she managed to detect a hint of demonic energy in it.
Xie Lingxi leaned closer by the candlelight, and a faint smell of blood reached her nose. She turned around and saw Liu Xu standing five steps away, examining the painting on the wall.
Could it be... this screen?
She stared suspiciously at the flamboyant peony, sniffing out a faint, nauseating fishy smell, like a piece of skin that had been left out for months and hadn't been properly cleaned.
This idea was truly terrifying. Before he could explain it to Liu Xu in detail, he heard Liu Lang let out a rather startled cry.
"This, this is—!"
Xie Lingxi looked back: half of the stone wall was illuminated, and this place was actually the height of four eight-foot-tall men! Eerie flames raged wildly in the stone cave, and the unlit parts were as deep as dark wells.
The most terrifying thing is that, upon closer inspection, the wall, which is beyond the reach of normal people, is covered with fans embroidered with peony and peony patterns. They are small and exquisite, and each one is slightly different, as if they are unique.
Liu Xu tiptoed to take down a fan. As soon as he held it in his hand, a strong smell of blood filled the air. He flipped the fan handle over and over, and inadvertently noticed a flaw in an inconspicuous part of the fan surface. It was crimson like the sunset and shaped like a butterfly in flight.
Rather than calling it a flaw, it's more accurate to say that it's something inherent to this fan.
Xie Lingxi finally realized how familiar the butterfly looked. In her astonishment, she slapped away Liu Xu's hand that was picking up the fan, exclaiming, "This is a birthmark!"
"Xiao Die, the top courtesan from the Jiaofangsi who went missing a few days ago, had this birthmark on her left back near her shoulder!"
This missing person case remains unsolved, making it difficult for the authorities to explain themselves. It's estimated that a final verdict will be reached in a few days.
Xiao Die's fan fell to the ground along Liu Xu's thigh. The heavy fan lay on the ground, spun half a circle, and then fell silent. This tormented Liu Xu greatly—how could he not know that when he rode through Chang'an City and passed by the Jiaofangsi, it was this courtesan who peeked out and caused everyone to tease him again.
Now the beauty has perished, and the cold-blooded woman has been transformed into a masked figure. It's like a ghost story written by a heartless scholar!
"This..." He looked up at the thousands of round fans above him, and a huge wave of grief surged into his heart. "Who is the owner of this stone cave?! How dare they be so audacious!"
Such a life-or-death power deserves to be thrown into a cauldron of boiling oil and cooked over a raging fire after death!
And just now, only one henchman died. How many more pitiful and hateful people in this world are there who aid and abet evil?
Thinking this, she wrapped her clothes tighter and turned to Xie Lingxi, saying, "Third Sister, I never thought that the words in the book would come true one day. We young and beautiful girls must be careful with our skin, lest it be stolen."
Xie Lingxi: "Don't be so ridiculous..."
Seeing that the two were on high alert, Mo Shen followed suit and wrapped himself up tightly. However, he was too thin, and looked more like a bony pole.
Liu Xu was puzzled: "My lord, you don't need to be afraid. This flower thief's interest is not in you."
That traitor has his eyes set on what I'm holding!
He walked timidly behind the two men and said with a wry smile, "Gentlemen, let's hurry up and go."
The three of them stepped through the eerie atmosphere of the house and returned to the inner hall, only to find that there was only one door that could be opened. When they knocked on the stone wall on the side, the sound was crisp, as if it were hollow.
—That means there's a passage!
But the stone wall was seamlessly joined, making it impossible to see any hidden door within. Xie Lingxi slowly looked over by candlelight and vaguely saw water droplets seemingly rising from the wall, hanging down ghostly from the vines.
It seems this place is not far from the ground.
Xie Lingxi had a sudden inspiration. She picked up a vine and pulled it. Suddenly, a rumbling sound came from the stone wall, and large and small stones and gravel fell down as it swayed. She quickly pulled the two people to her side, and the three of them hid in a corner, holding their heads together for support.
Overwhelmed by the successive blows, Mo Shen nearly lost his breath: "My lord!"
He gripped Liu Xu's clothes tightly, as if grasping a lone boat in an abyss, "Look, the door over there is open!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a stone door collapsed with a crash, revealing countless treasures inside the cave, including more than a dozen luminous pearls the size of goose eggs.
At that time, maritime transport was not well-developed, and most of the rare treasures obtained from the sea were presented as tribute to the emperor. However, Xie Lingxi, who frequented the palace, had never seen such a clear and bright moonlight.
"This—," Mo Shen stammered, his eyes half-closed from the glare, "These luminous pearls from the South China Sea, only two were obtained by the palace last year! Who is so audacious as to hide them all under their wing!"
At this moment, Liu Xu casually said, "If he hid it, it doesn't matter. I just don't understand, how did he get it?"
After saying that, he looked at Xie Lingxi meaningfully.
Little did Xie Lingxi know that while it was true that powerful families held absolute power, her Xie family disliked disputes and never participated in factional struggles. Although the family was wealthy, they did not possess ill-gotten gains.
However, even if she found the luminous pearl, she would never hand it over to the palace.
Call her selfish or malicious, she blatantly puts the family's interests first!
Each of the three harbored their own secrets and approached with suspicion. Behind the piles of treasures was a curtain woven from beautiful necklaces. Xie Lingxi lifted it open, revealing a large bed in front of her.
It looks like a living room.
The bed was spotless, and several old paintings and calligraphy works hung on the wall above the bed, the signatures of which were no longer very clear.
Inside the low cabinet below were two pots of orchids, still blooming luxuriantly in the darkness, their plump leaves swaying in the breeze created by the three of them entering.
Xie Lingxi was very sensitive to items with writing on them, so she summoned two people to search through boxes and cabinets, hoping to find some evidence of treason. But no matter how they searched, they found nothing.
A few quarters of an hour later, just as the three of them were resting against a pillar, having failed to find anything, they heard the voices of one or two people coming from the other side.
The sound grew louder as it approached, as if it were about to enter.
"Your Highness's plan is brilliant! Those people are right here, at Your Highness's mercy."
The prince seemed to have tapped the speaker on the head, and the man cried out, "Ouch!"
Then another voice scolded, "Look at the terrible idea you came up with! If they dare to steal my luminous pearl, I will hold you accountable!"
He had guessed correctly. The three of them each took a luminous pearl for illumination. Upon hearing this, they looked at each other, hesitating whether to put it down or not, when they heard the master speak again: "Go, bring me the new skin I found."
"Oh, my esteemed Your Highness, the skin is right here, still alive and kicking. Ah Qian was killed by them, but considering he found the skin for Your Highness, even if he didn't do anything meritorious, he still put in the effort. Your Highness, please don't forgive these trespassing thieves!"
The master chuckled sinisterly, "Do you even need to tell me? I'll go in and tear them to pieces!"
Then, the voices gradually subsided, and several footsteps sounded particularly clear in the cave, advancing step by step with a "tat-tat" sound.
The candle that had been burning for so long finally went out, leaving only the luminous pearl shining in the darkness.
Xie Lingxi was unaware of how many people were outside and dared not make any rash moves. She saw Mo Shen bowing and beckoning to her by the bedside, and just then she looked puzzled. Liu Xu kicked her under the bed and gestured for her to come over.
Mo Shen touched his lower back: "Ouch—you're incredibly strong, my lord!"
Liu Xu squeezed in, leaving Xie Lingxi a space that was neither too wide nor too narrow, "Slow down—Third Sister, come in quickly!"
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