Mermaids Weep (15)
Yao Yao floated in the water, raising her hand to examine the scale in her hand in the sunlight streaming through the surface. The scale shimmered with iridescent colors under the light, breathtakingly beautiful and captivating. Yao Yao felt the thickness of the scale, confirming that it was indeed a heart-protecting scale. However, a thin, long crack had already appeared along the edge of the scale, indicating that it had lost its miraculous properties and, apart from its unique color, was no different from an ordinary scale.
The moment Yao Yao opened the wooden box and saw it, her mind went completely blank. The Heart-Protecting Scale, now ineffective, was far more fragile than ordinary scales, especially since this one had been out of water for years; even a gentle squeeze would turn it to dust.
The cracked heart-protecting scale seemed to be silently telling her of its owner's sorrow. Yao Yao hesitated for a moment, then carefully took the scale out and wore it. She submerged herself underwater, using the current to infuse it with her spiritual power to maintain its shape. Although she didn't know what kind of suffering and torment the scale's owner had endured, this did not diminish her determination to take the scale back to her clan for a memorial ceremony.
Yao Yao stared at the scale in a daze when she suddenly heard Lin Shiyou roar furiously. Realizing she couldn't stay there any longer, she put away the scale and slowly surfaced to observe the situation.
"Go look in the water! That bastard might still be hiding there!" Lin Shiyou roared furiously from very close by.
Startled, Yao Yao quickly submerged back into the water to hide herself. Knowing she had been exposed, she had no choice but to find a way to leave as soon as possible. Fortunately, Lin Fang had built a lake that seemed to have no end in sight, and with a swift movement, Yao Yao swam towards the other side.
The servants began to go into the water one after another to search for the person, and several wooden boats shuttled back and forth on the lake. Judging from their posture, it was clear that Lin Fang wanted to lay a net across the entire lake, but unfortunately, his opponent was a merman.
Yao Yao, being a creature naturally drawn to the water, nimbly evaded several searches by using the boulders in the water, swimming towards areas on the lake where the noise was least. Finally, after much maneuvering, she found a place where not a sound could be heard, slowly surfacing to confirm that there was indeed no search around before confidently stepping onto land. This place seemed much more eerie than the rest of the mansion; dense trees obscured her view. Yao Yao looked around and noticed that one side was much brighter. She took a few steps in that direction when she suddenly heard a servant's voice: "Has this area not been searched?"
Yao Yao took a half-step back alertly, but stepped on a fallen leaf on the ground. The leaf made a sound, which frightened her so much that she froze on the spot and dared not move.
"There seems to be a sound inside?" The servant had sharp ears and took a few steps closer, wanting to go in and find out.
But suddenly his companion behind him slapped his shoulder hard and warned, "Hey, only the master and the steward can go over there. Anyone else who goes in has never come out again!"
The servant blinked innocently and asked curiously, "Is it really that exaggerated? What kind of place is this?"
"Don't ask questions! If anyone's going to investigate, it'll be the master and the others who do it, not you." His companion yanked hard and dragged the curious servant away.
Yao Yao listened silently, and only took a step forward when their footsteps faded into the distance. But she immediately heard the footsteps of another group of people. This group, like the two servants before them, stopped at the entrance, discussed for a while, and then left.
Yao Yao realized that there might be some incredible secret hidden deep within this forest. Since there were people outside and they didn't dare to come in, she decided to go inside and find out for herself.
Thinking this, Yao Yao turned and walked deeper into the forest. This forest didn't even have a proper stone path, only a bare yellow mud path worn by people. Yao Yao followed the yellow mud path to the end and found a mud house at the end. The door of the house was locked and the windows were sealed tightly. The inside was dark and gloomy, but a few weak groans could be faintly heard.
Yao Yao leaned closer to the window and peered inside. Several pairs of pale eyes stared at her, startling her. When she looked more closely, she realized they were several men and women with their hands and feet bound.
Yao Yao steadied herself and asked into the room, "Who are you?"
The group exchanged glances, and a young man with a hoarse voice asked her, "And who are you? What's your relationship with the Lin family?"
"I...I am Yao Yao, and I have no relation to the Lin family."
"It's okay, what are you doing here? You don't look like you were captured."
Were you arrested?
"Can't you tell?" The young man raised his hand dejectedly. "We've been locked up here for many days. We can't even remember what day it is outside."
Looking at them, Yao Yao suddenly remembered the topic she had overheard them discussing in Han Chengyu's study, and her mind clicked instantly. "Are you rogue cultivators?!"
"How did you figure that out?" the young man asked, stunned. "Who exactly are you?"
"I know people from the Han family! They're trying to save you!"
"The Han family..."
The people inside were clearly agitated upon hearing this, as if they had seen a glimmer of hope for survival amidst their despair.
"Great! Are we saved?"
"With so much silence for so many days, I thought we were doomed."
The room instantly became lively, no longer as lifeless as before. After the initial excitement, the young man in the lead asked Yao Yao again, "Can you rescue us?"
Yao Yao awkwardly touched her face and replied somewhat embarrassedly, "I'm sorry... the whole manor is looking for me, and I can't get out by myself..."
Upon hearing this, those pairs of eyes suddenly dimmed again. So many days of waiting had left them utterly heartbroken.
“But I have companions outside! As long as I contact them with a sound transmission talisman—” Yao Yao suddenly stopped halfway through her sentence. She took out the already wet talisman paper from her body and found that the water-soaked talisman paper had already torn into several pieces.
Yun Yanqiu said he was going to give her a talisman, but he didn't mention that the talisman paper wasn't waterproof.
At this moment, Yun Yanqiu, whom Ye Yingying was reminded of, was sitting quietly with her in a teahouse not far from Lin Fang's residence, awaiting news. The thick smoke billowing from the fire had attracted the attention of most people on the street, and the acrid smell of smoke had even entered Ye Yingying's nose. When she learned that it was inside the residence that was on fire, Ye Yingying's heart skipped a beat: Yao Yao made such a fuss?
As expected of an infiltration technique learned from storybooks, this feint was incredibly dramatic. However, even after the fire had burned for half a day and the smoke had dissipated, Yao Yao still hadn't contacted them, which inevitably raised suspicions.
"Is something wrong with Yao Yao? Why hasn't she contacted us for so long?" Ye Yingying couldn't help but ask.
Yun Yanqiu stared at the motionless communication talisman on the table, her mind racing. With such a huge fire, the manor must be in complete chaos. If she wanted to escape, she could have taken advantage of the confusion to leave. Why hadn't she come out for so long? Was she hiding?
Just then, a group of servants, sweating profusely, rushed out of the manor, frantically searching the streets for various utensils. A tea drinker nearby, having overheard the commotion, immediately ran back to share the firsthand news: "Holy crap, it seems the Third Master is planning to empty the entire large pool in the manor!"
The news came as a bolt from the blue, and the teahouse erupted in chaos.
"Really? Isn't that lake in the Third Master's mansion huge? If we emptied it out completely, wouldn't that kill everyone working there?"
"Is this fire really that hard to put out? Do we have to empty the entire pool to put it out?"
"Wasn't the fire already extinguished? I didn't see it continuing to burn. Is there really a need to use lake water to put out the fire?"
"Could it be that one of the concubine's lovers set the fire and, in desperation, jumped into the lake?"
"Hey! You know what, it really does sound like something that would happen in the Third Master's mansion!"
The people in the teahouse were buzzing with discussion. Ye Yingying and Yun Yanqiu, who were standing nearby, looked on with complicated expressions. Yun Yanqiu, in particular, seemed to have suddenly realized something and slowly said, "She might not be able to contact us anymore..."
Ye Yingying paused, then immediately realized what she meant, awkwardly licking her lips: "Then let's go now..."
Before the words were finished, a carriage sped past, its loud hooves and imposing decorations drawing attention. The carriage stopped in front of Lin Fang's residence, and several burly men carrying swords alighted. The leader shouted, "The Lin family ancestral home invites the Third Master to pay his respects!"
The leader's voice was loud and clear, and since it was the ancestral home that had come to invite people, the servants who had been flustered at the door just moments before dared not delay in the slightest and immediately went in to inform the master.
At this moment, Lin Fang was still personally directing the search on the lake. Upon hearing the servant's report, his anger instantly subsided. Seeing that the thief hadn't been caught yet, and Lin Shiyou's group had already come to arrest him, Lin Fang's legs went weak and he collapsed onto the wooden boat, thinking about what might happen next. Steward Qian came to help him up, constantly saying comforting words, but Lin Fang's soul had been terrified. He was just an empty shell, like a piece of wood, as Steward Qian and the servants helped him ashore, and then he was shakily pushed and shoved into the carriage arranged by the ancestral home.
Just as he was about to get into the car, a scene suddenly flashed through Lin Fang's mind. He turned around abruptly, grabbed Manager Qian by the collar, pressed his face very close, and said with bloodshot eyes and a ferocious expression, "And that forest! That forest hasn't been searched yet!"
Manager Qian was startled by Lin Fang's sudden action and quickly agreed, not forgetting to reassure him: "Don't worry, sir, I'll arrange for someone to search right away."
"It must be in there! That bastard must be hiding in there! Catch him and bring me what he stole! You must bring it to me!"
Lin Fang was forcibly pushed into the carriage. Without the slightest hesitation, the driver flicked his whip and drove off with the man.
Manager Qian stood at the door, watching the carriage gradually disappear into the distance. Once the carriage was out of sight, he put his hands behind his back and instructed the people behind him, "Alright, tell everyone inside to rest."
Seeing that the farce was finally over, the servants breathed a sigh of relief and hurried inside to deliver the message.
Steward Qian turned around, looked at the slightly peeling plaque above the door, and muttered to himself, "It seems things are about to change in this mansion..."
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