Chapter 29 The Mystery in the Lake
"Xian Zhenyu." Cang Ming read out its name.
Wei Ci said to Cang Ming, "This place is rarely visited by ghosts. Ordinary ghosts and monsters that enter the forest never return. If I hadn't happened to visit this time, I would never have known such a place existed."
Cang Ming nodded calmly and said, "The underworld is unpredictable and indeed mysterious."
As if to welcome the arrival of the few people, a slender bridge flew out like a ribbon, crossing the frozen lake, and extending from the island to the feet of the group.
Tian Xinshu took Hua Yi across the bridge, and finally waved his hand to put his zombie-like body on the ground.
Hua Yi curled up limply on the ground, twitching a few times before slowly opening his eyes. Cang Ming hurried over the bridge and helped him up.
The brother and sister looked up at the thatched cottage before them. Surrounded by the icy lake and snow-capped trees, the wisp of smoke rising from the kitchen was as charming as the candlelight at a family dinner.
Cang Ming was deeply moved by this warmth and affection. She said to Hua Yi, "Look, little brother, you're home."
Hua Yi began to tremble again. He said hoarsely, "No."
Tian Xinshu said from the side: "Yier, go in." Her cold voice made Hua Yi shiver violently and burst into silent tears.
Hua Yi sobbed and said with difficulty: "No... I'm ashamed... I can't face him..."
Cang Ming said gently but firmly: "How can this be shameful for you? It is the evildoers who are shameless, you are innocent!"
Hua Yi said painfully: "I am not clean..."
Cang Ming corrected him, "You are clean."
The wooden door of the hut was suddenly pushed open with a bang, and a woman rushed out anxiously, staring blankly at Hua Yi who was lying on the ground and being supported by Cang Ming.
Her face was calm and peaceful, her skin was slightly sagging, and there were fine wrinkles at the corners of her eyes and on her forehead.
Cang Ming said: "Excuse me, I am..."
The woman suddenly pushed her away, squatted down and hugged Hua Yi: "Where have you been, child?! How long has your mother been waiting for you?"
Hua Yi was hugged by his mother and immediately struggled to run away. His mother held him tightly and said, "Mom, I thought I heard you crying just now. What's wrong with you? Are you wronged?"
Hua Yi stopped struggling. He leaned on his mother's shoulder and burst into tears. He grabbed his hair with his hands in shame, clenched his teeth, and was unable to speak.
His mother suddenly hit him hard, then hugged him tightly and said sadly: "You don't have any ability to make money. I'm almost worried to death. I really don't know how you survive out there..."
Wei Ci walked over and gently pulled Cang Ming up, and the two of them stepped aside.
Cang Ming looked at the mother and son with worry, not knowing how to start. At this moment, Tian Xinshu suddenly spoke: "Senior Sister."
…
Cang Ming felt his mind was blank.
That day in the Black Cave, Tian Xinshu once laughed at many female heroes in one breath, saying that they were either old, ugly, or had given birth to children with men.
Unexpectedly, the "most beautiful woman in the world", the senior sister whom Tian Xinshu regarded as a god, was actually a plain-looking woman with a child.
Cang Ming looked at Wei Ci, ready to exchange a meaningful look, but then he remembered his perverted stalker behavior and immediately looked away. Wei Ci whispered, "General."
The woman hugged Hua Yi and said to Tian Xinshu, "Shu'er, did you find him? Thanks to you... Please help me get him in..."
Tian Xinshu helped Hua Yi up, and the touch of ice and snow made Hua Yi shiver even more violently.
The woman then turned to Cang Ming and Wei Ci and said, "Are you two Shu'er's friends? You brought Yi'er back home, and I don't know how to express my gratitude to you. The child had a quarrel with me and ran away at night. I couldn't find her no matter how hard I tried..."
As she spoke, she ushered them into the small hall of the thatched cottage. She deftly poured several cups of hot tea, lifted the kettle high, and quickly turned off the water. Once the door closed, a warm breeze filled the hut, and the rich aroma of rice porridge lingered. While the tables and chairs were simple and the paint on the wooden cabinets peeled, everything had been polished to a shine.
As soon as Hua Yi came in, she rushed into a small room, locked the door, and said nothing. The room was as quiet as a snowy field, as if there was no life in it.
Tian Xinshu said hesitantly: "Senior Sister, I..."
"Leave him alone, this ignorant fellow." The woman frowned and stared at the closed door for a moment. Then, turning to Cang Ming and Wei Ci, she said generously, "My name is Li Xian Zhen. This is the place my junior sister found for us. Dinner is almost ready. I'll make a few more dishes. Please stay, my dear friends."
Li Xianzhen's smile was very touching. She didn't know what happened to her son who ran away from home. She would soon have to find out.
Cang Ming forced a smile at her, even feeling the urge to flee before the storm hit, and even considered sending his subordinate, Wei Ci, to speak. She dreaded hearing heart-wrenching cries, or seeing faces twisted by grief. She worried she would burst into tears, too, eventually drowning out the others.
But in order to prevent the tragedy from happening, she stepped forward and walked to Hua Yi's door, cleared her throat and said, "Little brother, we are all here, don't be afraid."
Hua Yi didn't answer.
Cang Ming thought that perhaps he had finally returned to a safe and familiar place, and fell into a deep sleep.
Tian Xinshu was uncharacteristically silent when he arrived at Xian Zhenyu, and didn't even make a sound to mock Cang Ming for being cowardly and incompetent.
Li Xianzhen lived on an island in the middle of a lake in the ghost world, and it had probably been a long time since she had received any living visitors. She clapped her hands with joy and brought out a bowl of frozen wild fruit from the kitchen. She walked around the room, distributing the fruit to several people, and said enthusiastically, "This is really unbecoming. We only have wild fruit at home, and we can eat it after it thaws."
Cang Ming took a frozen fruit and bit it absentmindedly with one of his fangs.
Li Xianzhen gently stroked Tian Xinshu's hair with his fingertips and said to Cang Ming and Wei Ci, "Don't be afraid of my junior sister. Although she looks like a sculpture, she is smart and interesting."
Cang Ming: “…”
Wei Ci snorted openly. Li Xianzhen glanced at him and smiled at Cang Ming again.
Her palm unconsciously stroked the corner of the wooden table, and she sighed and said, "These broken tables and chairs were made by my husband himself."
Cang Ming listened in silence, still trying to think of how to tell Hua Yi. Wei Ci stared casually at the lake outside the window.
Li Xianzhen said with nostalgia: "My husband was a poor scholar. I ran away from my parents' home to be with him..."
Tian Xinshu didn't say anything. If it was Cang Ming who eloped with a man, she couldn't even imagine how Tian Xinshu would despise and slander her.
"It's really rare that Shu'er has made friends." Li Xianzhen looked at them with a smile, and suddenly sighed, "My mother's family suffered a great disaster ten years ago, and there is no one left. Later, my husband died, and Shu'er found this place for us mother and mother to live. Although it is the underworld, it's not bad, right?"
Cang Ming smiled faintly and said, "King Tianxin Shu has deep affection for you and often says that he was personally taught poetry, calligraphy, and dance by his senior sister. Miss Li, you must come from a family of scholars."
Li Xianzhen waved her hand and smiled, "No, no, I didn't even have a name before. Before I got married, I was called Li, and after I got married, I was called Hua Li. I only gave myself a name after I moved here."
Without stern words, he asked, "You and Tian Xinshu are fellow disciples. I presume you are from the same lineage?"
Li Xianzhen laughed heartily and said, "There's no such thing as a sect. We've fooled you. Shu'er was only five or six years old when she was fostered in my home, and she was only ten when I got married. She learned some basic skills from me, but she refused to accept me as her master, and only called me Senior Sister."
Cang Ming nodded reluctantly, while Wei Ci still looked like he didn't want to talk to anyone. Li Xianzhen, however, didn't mind their indifference at all. She chatted and laughed by herself, "My mother and I finally settled down here on this island. You two look like promising young people, unlike me, who used to take Yi Er with me, doing odd jobs everywhere."
Cang Ming said: "It's okay to do odd jobs. We all do odd jobs."
Li Xianzhen shook his head and said, "No way! I found a part-time job copying documents for the government, but I was constantly criticized and tortured. In the end, I might as well have been selling insoles on the street."
Cang Ming said, "Yes, business is also very good, not bad."
Li Xianzhen looked at Tian Xinshu tenderly. "Since we came here, I've been doing some needlework, and my junior sister has been selling it for me. We use the money to buy firewood, rice, oil, and salt and bring them in. We, mother and I, live in seclusion, and it's like living in a paradise."
Tian Xinshu looked at her senior sister, her snow-white, pupilless face expressionless. Her voice trembled slightly, "Senior sister, but I'm sorry for you, Yi'er..."
"Oh, yes, I almost forgot about this kid." Li Xianzhen turned around and shouted to the small room, "Yier, what are you doing? We have guests here. I won't scold you for now. Come out quickly."
After shouting a few times, Hua Yi's voice suddenly broke out: "Why don't you come to me! Why don't you come to me!"
He burst into tears, as if he wanted to blame all the grievances on his mother.
Li Xianzhen was stunned. Tian Xinshu said loudly, "Yier, your mother has been looking for you day and night. Later, she was afraid that you would not see anyone when you returned home, so she asked me to go out and look for you."
Hua Yi's sobs became even more miserable, until she finally lost all her tears. Li Xianzhen looked at the door worriedly, "What happened to him? This kid must have suffered a lot out there."
Cang Ming walked over slowly, leaned on the door panel and whispered, "Little brother, come out. You still have your mother. You can still see her. Isn't this great?"
Wei Ci looked at her solemnly, his thick black eyebrows lowered.
At this moment, Tian Xinshu opened his mouth in frustration and said, "What kind of nonsense is this? If I let you see your mother again, on the condition that you be raped once, would you be willing?"
Cang Ming was speechless at this strange question. Are you willing?
Wei Ci's dark eyes were like an icy pond, revealing a faint murderous intent: "Switching the pillars and substituting one for another, making unreasonable sophistry."
"Wait!" Cang Ming stared at Tian Xinshu's snow-white eyes, "How did you know?"
Tian Xinshu was speechless. Cang Ming repeated himself sternly, "I'm asking you, how did you know he was...?"
Li Xianzhen had been staring at Tian Xinshu sleepwalkingly. Suddenly, he interrupted their conversation and asked blankly, "What did you just say?"
Cang Ming tried his best to say tactfully, "Brother Hua Yi, he..."
Li Xianzhen asked in a lost voice, "He was raped?"
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