Chapter 34
The rain in the south of the Yangtze River finally caught up with the wind from the north.
Lead-gray clouds weighed heavily on the densely packed black-tiled, white-walled buildings of Hangzhou. The air was thick with steam, carrying the lingering, sweet, and decaying aroma of canal mud. Gu Linzhi's figure melted into the deepest shadows of the street corner, like a drop of ink seeping into the cracks between the damp bluestone slabs. He had changed into a half-worn indigo cotton short jacket, mud-stained straw sandals, and a sweat towel draped over his shoulders, its original color unrecognizable. His face was deliberately smeared with dust and dirt, obscuring his overly sharp features and the striking scar. The wound under his ribs was tightly wrapped with rough cloth. Numbness, like a cold vine, stubbornly clung to half his chest, making every breath feel heavy and stagnant. Only his eyes, through the rain curtains dripping from the eaves, remained cold, sharp as a hawk's, silently scanning the magnificent pavilion ahead, its lights dim and the faint sound of stringed instruments.
Ningxiang Garden.
He escaped from Linqing Gate with Ge Ping's account book, Youzhou's broken arrow, and the wisteria petal found in the mud at the explosion site, which was almost trampled to pieces but still retained a strange and cold fragrance. All the clues, as if guided by an invisible hand, eventually pointed to this den of debauchery that was the most famous in the south of the Yangtze River.
Fine raindrops fell silently, wetting his temples and handkerchief. The air was filled with the mixed smells of powder, alcohol, and greasy food, and the faint, familiar, cold scent of wisteria. It was even more distinct in the damp air, like an icy snake, coiling around his senses.
The target was inside. The woman who left flower petals at the Linqing Gate attack site, the key figure who might be closely connected to the beeping copper whistle, the Northern Di, and that shocking murder.
Carriages and horses streamed past the vermilion-lacquered gates of Ningxiang Garden. Guests, dressed in elegant attire, filed in, at the attentive greetings of servants in green robes and caps. The sounds of laughter, stringed instruments, and the coquettish voices of women intertwined into a curtain of extravagance. Gu Linzhi's gaze passed through this cacophony and settled on the corner gate. It was relatively deserted, save for a few sturdy servants carrying fresh vegetables and fish, being directed by a middle-aged man who looked like a manager to unload and weigh the goods.
Chance.
Gu Linzhi lowered his bamboo hat and emerged from the shadows, his steps deliberately heavy and clumsy as he blended in with the servants waiting to unload the cargo. He hunched his back slightly, mimicking the man next to him, draping his handkerchief over his shoulder. He asked in a gruff voice, "Brother, has the boat carrying the fish and shrimp arrived yet? The boss is pushing hard."
A fat-faced man next to him wiped the rain off his face and muttered impatiently: "You're asking for my life! Look, weren't two baskets just carried in? There are more at the back, wait!" He pointed to the wet bamboo baskets that were being carried away by two servants inside the corner gate.
Gu Linzhi stopped talking, standing silently in the rain, his gaze like the most precise mechanism, quietly locked on the two servants carrying the fish basket and hurriedly heading towards the kitchen. Their figures disappeared around the corner of the corridor.
The rain grew heavier, splashing tiny drops of water on the bluestone slabs. After the steward finished counting a batch of goods, he waved to a few servants to go in and unload them. Gu Linzhi followed the crowd, head bowed, shouldered a not-too-heavy bag of rice, and stepped steadily into the corner gate of Ningxiang Garden.
Inside the doorway was another world. The clamor and scent of cosmetics suddenly thickened, mingling with the steaming heat and fishy aroma of the kitchen. Winding corridors led to different courtyards, each ablaze with carved beams and painted buildings, each ablaze with lights. The sounds of stringed instruments, mingled with the flirtatious banter of men and women, drifted faintly from the brightest-lit pavilion ahead.
Gu Linzhi carried the rice bag and followed the servant in front of him seemingly casually, but his eyes were like invisible tentacles, quickly capturing the details of the environment: the direction of the corridor, the position of the guards, the possible hiding of secret sentries, the path to the kitchen... and the direction of the source of the faint but clearer cold fragrance of wisteria.
Just as he passed a moon gate leading to the side yard, a gust of wind, carrying a stronger scent of rain and... the strange, cold fragrance of wisteria, blew towards him from deep within the side yard! Gu Linzhi's footsteps paused almost imperceptibly. That fragrance, the source was right there in the side yard!
He carried the rice bag and walked forward a few steps calmly. In the shadow of a corner where miscellaneous items were piled, he put the rice bag down naturally, blending into the background, as if he was just taking a short rest. When the person in front of him walked away, he flashed and retreated back to the Moon Gate like a ghost.
Inside the gate, a relatively quiet corridor led to a small, independent building nestled among tall trees and flowers. In the courtyard in front of the building, several tall wisteria trees grew. Though not in bloom, their sturdy branches stretched out in the rain, adding to their majestic beauty. It was from here that a unique, cool fragrance permeated the air. Inside, the building was lit with warm yellow lights, and the faint sound of a pipa flowed, like pearls falling on a jade plate, yet carrying an indescribable sense of loneliness and alienation.
The target is there!
Gu Linzhi held his breath and huddled behind a dense clump of banana leaves beside the moon gate. His gaze penetrated the rain curtain and locked onto the doors and windows of the small building like the most patient cheetah.
Time slowly drifted by amidst the sound of rain. The pipa's sounds were sometimes rapid, like raindrops hitting banana leaves, sometimes soft and melodious, like the gurgling of a spring. After an unknown amount of time, the carved wooden window on the second floor of the small building creaked open, halfway open.
A woman's figure appeared in front of the window.
She didn't wear the elaborate bun common in Ningxiang Garden. Instead, she held her long black hair loosely with a simple white jade hairpin. A few strands, dampened by the rain, clung to her smooth forehead. She wore a moon-white satin gown, devoid of any embroidery, except for a faint silver thread pattern around the neckline and cuffs. The dim light from the lanterns hanging from the eaves outside the window framed her profile—peerless and beautiful, yet with an almost transparent aloofness, as if she were otherworldly. Her eyes were particularly striking. In the dim light, their pupils took on an extremely rare, almost transparent light gray, like frozen ice crystals, devoid of any warmth, reflecting only the endless rain outside.
Su Wanwan.
Gu Linzhi's heartbeat quickened slightly, almost imperceptibly, amidst the numbness beneath his ribs. It was her! The owner of the wisteria petals at the Linqing Gate explosion site! Those eyes, that icy, repelling aura, were completely out of place in this Ningxiang Garden's glitz and glamour.
She didn't look downstairs. Instead, she leaned forward slightly, extending a slender, white hand to gently brush against a string of bronze wind chimes hanging from the eaves outside the window. The chimes were of quaint design, their bodies intricately carved with strange, un-Middle-earth patterns. Her fingertips didn't actually touch the bells, but simply glided across them, an inch or two away, extremely slowly. As her fingertips moved, the chimes, seemingly without any wind, began to move, swaying from side to side with an extremely subtle, yet audible, rhythmic movement! As if drawn by an invisible force!
“Ding… Ding ding…”
An extremely subtle, yet remarkably steady ringing sound pierced through the dense patter of rain and reached Gu Linzhi's sensitive ears! This ringing sound… the rhythm and frequency of this ringing sound surprisingly bore a heart-pounding resemblance to the life-threatening whistle beneath the Linqing Sluice! Though the timbre was different, that unique, unnatural, precise frequency fluctuation was identical!
Su Wanwan's fingertips rested on the wind chime, her icy grey eyes lowered slightly, as if feeling the vibration of the chime, or perhaps waiting for something. Her expression was focused and cold, like a lifeless jade sculpture.
Just then!
At the entrance to the main corridor, light and shadow flickered as a towering figure, dressed in the uniform of a Ningxiang Garden security guard, entered with steady steps. Rain trickled down the edges of his bamboo hat and straw raincoat. His face was expressionless, his eyes sharp as an eagle's as he scanned the courtyard with professional vigilance.
He walked downstairs to the small building, but didn't go up. Instead, he raised his head slightly and bowed respectfully to the moon-white figure in the second-floor window, his movements precise and silent. Then, like a door god, he stood silently under the eaves, his back to Gu Wanwan's window, facing the courtyard entrance, his sword pressed. His towering figure almost blocked half of the entrance, like a rock, shutting out any outside prying eyes.
Gu Linzhi's gaze fell on the burly guard's hands, resting on the hilt of his sword. Those hands were unusually large and thickly callused, especially at the base of his right hand, where a deep, bone-deep scar clung like a centipede. These were no ordinary guard's hands! These were the marks of years of heavy weaponry, especially... powerful bows and crossbows!
The earth-shaking crossbow at Linqing Gate!
Gu Linzhi's breathing hitched slightly. That terrifying power, that massive arrow that tore through the black-sailed boat! The cold inscription "Youzhou" on the arrow shaft! All the clues instantly connected in his mind, forming a cold chain! This iron-towered guard, even if he wasn't the one wielding the crossbow himself, must have been involved in that murderous plot! And now, like the most loyal mastiff, he stood guard downstairs from Su Wanwan's apartment.
The pipa music had ceased at some point. The small building was completely silent, with only the rustling of rain on banana leaves and the subtle, eerie tinkle of wind chimes. Su Wanwan still stood by the window, her icy grey eyes gazing into the endless rain, as if waiting for something, yet as if nothing concerned her.
Gu Linzhi lay frozen in the shadows of the banana leaves, like a stone statue. The numbness in his ribs seemed to intensify in the damp, cold rain, and every heartbeat pierced a deep, dull ache. The scene before him: the icy Su Wanwan, the eerie tug of wind chimes, the towering guardsmen who looked like crossbowmen... The waters of Ningxiang Garden were deeper, colder, and more deadly than he had anticipated. This was no simple place of pleasure, but a den of poison lurking deep within the gentle land of Jiangnan!
He slowly withdrew his gaze, his figure silently retreating backward, completely blending into the deeper shadows of the banana trees. Forcing his way in was the worst option; he had to find a way through. That guard... was the only opening.
The rain fell tirelessly, washing away the carved beams and painted buildings of Ningxiang Garden, making them even colder and clearer. Gu Linzhi's patience, pierced by the icy rain and the numbness spreading beneath his ribs, was like tempered iron, awaiting the most fatal blow.
-
As the night deepened and the dew grew heavier, the bustle of Ningxiang Garden gradually faded into a drunken dream. Only the small building "Shuyu Pavilion" where Su Wanwan lived was still lit with a few warm yellow lights, like a lonely island in the endless rain.
Gu Linzhi clung like a gecko to the cold, slippery, mossy shadows of the Shuyu Pavilion's back wall. His chosen position was incredibly tricky, a blind spot completely covered by dense banana leaves and creeping, withered vines. Even leaning out of an upstairs window, it would have been extremely difficult to spot. Icy rain trickled down the tiles and walls, soaking his shoulders and back, bringing a biting chill. However, the coldness temporarily suppressed the numbness in the wound under his ribs, sharpening his thoughts.
Target: Su Wanwan's personal maid. This type of person often holds their master's most vulnerable secrets.
Time crawled slowly amidst the sound of raindrops. After an unknown amount of time, the side door on the first floor of Shuyu Pavilion creaked open softly. A young maid, about fifteen or sixteen, wearing a green bodice and twin buns, cautiously emerged carrying an empty mahogany tray. She gently closed the door behind her. A hint of weariness etched on her face, she walked briskly down the corridor, heading to the kitchen to wash.
Now is the time!
Gu Linzhi moved in the shadows. Without making a sound, like a ghost melting into the rain, he struck with lightning speed the moment the maid passed through his hiding spot, a blind spot in his line of sight! One hand precisely covered the maid's mouth and nose, the other gripped her shoulder like an iron clamp, and with immense force, he dragged her irresistibly into the cold corner completely obscured by banana leaves and vines!
"Ugh!" The maid's terrified whimper was covered tightly, her eyes widened with extreme fear, and her body struggled violently.
"Don't move!" Gu Linzhi's low and cold voice was like a death knell ringing next to his ear, carrying an unquestionable breath of death, "If you dare to scream, I will break your neck." His fingers tightened slightly, clearly transmitting strength.
The little maid froze instantly, her body shaking like a sieve, tears welling up in her eyes, mixing with the rain and flowing down, only boundless fear and pleading remained in her eyes.
Gu Linzhi slightly relaxed his hand covering her mouth, but his fingertips were still clasped next to her slender carotid artery. His cold gaze pierced into her eyes like a real knife: "Answer my question, and you live. If you say anything false, you die."
The little maid nodded desperately, making whimpering sounds in her throat.
"Su Wanwan, does she always hide a very thin, very tough, almost transparent silk thread in her sleeve?" Gu Linzhi's voice was very low, and every word was like a falling ice bead.
A trace of confusion flashed across the maid's eyes, followed by a deeper fear. She shook her head desperately and sobbed, "No... no... the girl... she only used an ordinary silk handkerchief..."
"You're lying!" Gu Linzhi's fingers applied a little pressure, and the maid immediately felt a suffocating pressure. Her face flushed, and the fear in her eyes was almost tangible. "When she bathed and changed clothes, you served her closely. Have you ever seen any unusual marks on her shoulders and neck?" Gu Linzhi's voice became even colder, carrying the oppressive power of an all-seeing person.
The maid's body trembled violently! Her eyes were instantly filled with disbelief and fear, as if her deepest secret had been exposed! She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but her voice was lost in fear. She could only shake her head desperately, tears pouring out.
This reaction says it all!
A cold glint flashed in Gu Linzhi's eyes. The detailed outline's claim that the birthmark was a resemblance to the Northern Di totem was instantly confirmed! He stopped questioning the details of the mark and instead posed a more critical question: "What's the name of the new security guard downstairs? When did he come? Is there anything unusual about him?"
"Tie... Tieshan..." The maid was frightened by the cold murderous intent and blurted out almost instinctively with tears in her voice, "He just arrived the day before yesterday... He was... he was brought in by Manager Cao himself... He was incredibly strong... He... didn't like to talk... He just... just stayed downstairs at the young lady's building... The young lady... didn't seem to pay much attention to him..."
Tieshan! Steward Cao! Gu Linzhi quickly memorized these two names. Steward Cao… the head steward of Ningxiang Garden? Or… someone with deeper connections?
"There was an accident on the canal last night. A government ship was blown up at the Linqing Lock. Did you know about that?" Gu Linzhi stared into her eyes, his voice as venomous as a venomous snake. "Did your daughter... go out last night? Or... receive anything?"
The maid's eyes were blank at first, then she suddenly remembered something and her face turned pale as paper! Her lips trembled, her eyes dodged, and with great fear, she shook her head desperately: "No...no...The girl was playing the piano in the small building last night...She didn't go anywhere...and...no one brought anything..."
Her fear was too obvious, practically screaming, "I know what's going on, but I can't tell you!" Gu Linzhi stopped pressing her, knowing that this was the limit the maid could endure. If he pressed any further, she would probably collapse or alert the guards.
"Very good." Gu Linzhi's voice suddenly became extremely soft, but with an even more chilling chill, "Forget tonight. Forget me. Otherwise..." His fingertips gently brushed across her neck, leaving a cold touch of death, "You and your entire family will disappear silently."
The maid's whole body was shaking violently, and there was only dead despair and obedience in her eyes. She nodded desperately.
Gu Linzhi loosened his hand and shrank back like a ghost, completely disappearing into the darkness where banana leaves and vines were intertwined, as if he had never existed.
The little maid collapsed limply in the cold muddy water, leaning against the slippery wall, gasping for breath, her body shaking like a leaf in the autumn wind. After a long moment, she struggled to her feet, picked up the fallen tray, and stumbled, dazed, into the depths of the corridor, not even daring to look back at the dark corner that swallowed up her fear.
The rain continued to fall. The warm yellow lights of the Shuyu Pavilion seemed to have taken on a subtle chill after the maid's hasty escape.
-
Icy rain trickled down the eaves, forming a small puddle beneath the back window of the Shuyu Pavilion. Gu Linzhi clung to the cold, damp wall, like a stone sculpture. The numbness beneath his ribs, simmering under the dampness and prolonged inertia, felt like a slowly tightening ring of ice. Every heartbeat evoked a creeping stiffness and dull pain. He fought the discomfort, concentrating his attention on his ears.
Inside the small building, the clear pipa music had long ceased, replaced by a near-frozen silence. Outside the window, only the monotonous, lingering rustle of raindrops hitting banana leaves filled the air.
Sudden--
"Squeak."
A very faint sound of wooden hinges turning came from the second floor. It wasn't the sound of a door opening, but more like... the sound of a secret compartment or drawer being pulled open.
Gu Linzhi's breathing almost stopped, and he listened attentively.
Then, there was a subtle rustling sound, like silkworms gnawing on mulberry leaves. This sound was intermittent, with a strange rhythm. It wasn't writing, but more like... some extremely fine silk threads rubbing and entwining with each other.
Ice silk!
The term flashed through Gu Linzhi's mind! The setting of "Ice Silk Hidden in the Sleeves" in the detailed outline became extremely real at this moment! The maid's terrified denial was now completely exposed by the subtle "rustling" sound!
The rustling sound lasted for about half a cup of tea, then stopped. There was another soft "click," as if the secret compartment had been pushed back into place.
After a brief silence, footsteps as light as feathers descended the stairs from the second floor, stopping in the first-floor hall. Then, there was the crisp sound of cups gently colliding, and... the subtle sound of liquid pouring.
Is she pouring tea? Or... something else?
Gu Linzhi's mind was stretched to its limit. He needed proof, irrefutable physical evidence! Ice silk! That strange Beidi totem birthmark! Any one of them would be enough to pierce this fog!
Just then!
“Hula——!”
At the rear side of Shuyu Pavilion, near the wall of the back garden, there was a sudden sound of something heavy falling to the ground, accompanied by painful groans and the noisy sound of branches and leaves being crushed!
"Who?!" Almost instantly, Su Wanwan's low, cold voice echoed from the small building's hallway, a hint of subtle alarm lingering in the background. Downstairs, on the veranda, the towering guard, Tieshan, suddenly swung his sword, his sharp gaze like a searchlight, darting in the direction of the noise.
Chance!
This sudden and unexpected sound instantly attracted the vigilance of everyone inside and outside the small building! Gu Linzhi didn't hesitate at all. Like a cheetah that had been waiting for a long time, the moment Tieshan turned around and Su Wanwan's attention was attracted, his body suddenly jumped up!
His movements were lightning-fast, yet light and silent! With a few precise taps on the slippery, mossy wall, he scaled the edge of the carved wooden window on the second floor of Shuyu Pavilion, which Su Wanwan had partially opened, like a gecko. The warm yellow light from the window illuminated his rain-stained and muddy cheek, and his eyes, cold as a deep abyss and sharp as a knife!
His target was crystal clear—the rosewood dressing table inside the window, covered in plain white brocade! On it lay an ivory comb, several boxes of rouge and powder, and... a newly opened, yet unclosed, rosewood jewelry box! The lid was half-open, and with the light filtering through the window, Gu Linzhi's sharp eyes instantly caught a corner of the box—there, quietly lying a small roll!
The thing was as thin as a hair, and under the light, it showed a nearly transparent, flowing jade-white luster. Curled and entwined, it exuded an extremely faint, yet refreshing chill! It was ice silk!
Found it!
However, just when Gu Linzhi's fingers were about to touch the half-open window frame and his body was about to flip into the window——
A moon-white figure, like a ghost appearing out of thin air, stood quietly in front of the dressing table without any warning! It was Su Wanwan!
She was clearly not completely distracted by the noise in the backyard, or rather, she maintained an unusually vigilant attitude. She had her back to the window, seemingly about to reach for the teacup on the table. But just as Gu Linzhi climbed onto the windowsill, she seemed to have eyes on her back. She turned slightly sideways, naturally, and raised her hand to tidy up a strand of her hair.
It’s just this seemingly unintentional sideways movement and raised hand!
The wide cuffs of her moon-white satin dress slipped down slightly as she raised her hand, revealing half of her fair arms!
And inside the crook of the arm, near the shoulder—
Gu Linzhi's fingers, which were clinging to the window sill and about to exert force, suddenly froze! His pupils suddenly shrank into needle-like shapes in the dim light!
With the help of the bright lights in the room and the dim light from the window, he could clearly see that on the white and almost transparent skin, there was a strange mark the size of a thumb!
The mark was incredibly pale, almost the texture of the skin itself, like icicles formed from naturally frozen snow. It was practically imperceptible except for the perfect angle and lighting. Its shape was that of a highly abstract yet vivid spider! Its body coiled, its eight legs spread out, exuding an unnatural, alien, and sinister aura. The web's threads were incredibly fine, radiating outward in a complex and rhythmic pattern, as if deeply imprinted into the very bones and blood!
Beidi Snow Spider Totem!
The key setting in the detailed outline, that "the birthmark is secretly related to the Beidi totem", was exposed to Gu Linzhi at this moment in such an unexpected yet so certain way!
Su Wanwan adjusted her temples with a perfectly natural, fluid movement, as if it were simply a matter of habit. She didn't even glance back at the window, as if oblivious to the murderous intent lurking outside. She lowered her arm, letting her wide sleeves slide back down, obscuring the fleeting glimpse of the snow spider's mark. Then, she lifted the white porcelain teacup from the table and sipped it gently, gracefully.
Downstairs, Tieshan's heavy footsteps were moving quickly towards the source of the strange noise in the backyard, mixed with a few shouts.
Gu Linzhi clung to the cold windowsill, icy rain dripping down his chin. The numbness in his ribs felt like icy vines entwining his heart, but at this moment, even colder was the chill of knowing a horrific truth. The ice silk was within reach, and the snow spider totem shone suddenly... Su Wanwan, Ningxiangyuan's top courtesan, her true identity was about to be revealed!
He took a deep look at the moon-white figure in the window, and then stopped. Like a shadow melting into the rain, he slid silently down the window sill and disappeared back into the cold darkness covered by banana leaves and vines at the back wall.
The rain fell even harder. The lights of Ningxiang Garden flickered dimly in the drizzle. Gu Linzhi's figure, like a drop of water in an inkwell, vanished completely into the deep darkness of Hangzhou and the endless drizzle. Only the small building named "Shuyu" remained behind him, and within it, the enigmatic woman bearing the mark of a snow spider, wielding ice silk from her sleeves and wielding a strange wind chime. The chess game in the darkness quietly entered a deeper and more treacherous shoal.
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