As darkness fell, the dishes she had cooked had gone cold, and the rice in the bowl hadn't been touched much.
Bi Xie rubbed her forehead, the delicious food Ah Jiu made and the image of him smiling and attentively serving her food lingering in her mind.
Ever since he learned to smile, he has often smiled at her.
He was handsome, and his smile was both beautiful and pleasing to the eye. Every time he smiled at her, she would occasionally smile back at him with her eyes half-closed, and he would become as energetic as if he had been injected with chicken blood. He would circle around her several times, forgetting to eat, and just staring at her. When she was practicing Taoist arts, he would definitely bother the old lady next door to make her some sesame cakes.
He said he wanted to eat it, but actually it was always her who ate the sesame seed cakes.
As she thought about it, the anger in her heart dissipated. She frowned and looked at the dark sky outside. The door frame was rattling loudly in the cold wind. The weather, which had been sunny during the day, looked like it was going to rain at night.
Bi Xie walked into the courtyard and glanced at the dark, starless sky.
Although I know that Ah Jiu will not be in any danger, and that only the people who encounter Ah Jiu will be in trouble, I still can't help but worry.
She ran into the kitchen, grabbed the noodles she had bought for the old lady, and knocked on the old lady's door next door.
The door was opened from the inside after a while.
Inside stood a little girl with her hair in two buns. Her almond-shaped eyes were still slightly red, as if she had just been crying. When she saw her, she was taken aback at first, but then asked without any fear, "Who are you?"
“I live next door, and this is the noodles Grandma ordered,” she paused and said, “Grandma told me that it’s your birthday in a few days.”
Bi Xie knew that the old woman had a granddaughter. The old woman used to raise her grandson and granddaughter by selling sesame cakes. Later, the old woman got old and her health was not good, so she handed the sesame cake stall over to her granddaughter. The grandson was said to be working in the mansion of a wealthy family outside.
After moving into her new home, she went into seclusion for a while and hadn't seen her grandmother's granddaughter. These past few days, she heard from Ah Jiu that she had gone out to run errands, and she never expected to run into her when she came back today.
She handed over the noodles without any intention of exchanging pleasantries; she still needed to find Ah Jiu.
Unexpectedly, the little girl suddenly grabbed her hand, stared at her, and said, "You, you also live next door? Then who is Brother Ajiu to you?" Her house was at the end of the alley, and Brother Ajiu's house was right next door. When did Brother Ajiu's house have a girl?
“He is me…” Bi Xie paused, looking at the little girl, “Have you seen Ajiu? Where is he?”
"Answer me first," the little girl said, pursing her lips and a hint of panic flashing in her eyes.
Bi Xie frowned, pondering her relationship with A Jiu. Siblings? She and A Jiu didn't look alike at all. Master and servant? A Jiu's appearance didn't seem very believable as a servant. Under the scrutinizing gaze of the young girl, she blurted out, "He is my childhood sweetheart."
The little girl's face showed a look of astonishment.
The old woman, leaning on her cane, walked to the door of the main room and froze there.
After a long silence, the old woman, her eyes red with tears, said, "A-Xie, we're so sorry, A-Jiu. A-Jiu is probably in grave danger now. It's all because Xiao-Ying was so thoughtless." She slammed her cane heavily on the ground twice, and, sobbing uncontrollably, tried to kneel before Bi-Xie, "We're so sorry, so incredibly sorry—"
Jiang Ying rushed over: "Grandma, it's all my fault. I should have stopped Brother Ajiu. I shouldn't have told him about the monster. It's my fault. When I think about how my brother might have been eaten by the monsters in Master Qi's mansion, I just... I just..." The grandmother and granddaughter hugged each other and cried bitterly.
Bi Xie frowned and took a few steps forward. "What exactly happened?"
"What's wrong with Ajiu?"
A moment later, amidst the choked sobs of the grandmother and grandson, Bi Xie finally learned where A Jiu had gone—to the residence of Master Qi.
Grandma's grandson, Jiang Fan, works as a servant in Master Qi's household. Because he lives far away, Jiang Fan cannot come back to see his grandmother and sister every month. But no matter whether he can come back or not, he will send his wages home every month without fail to buy medicine for his grandmother and supplement the family's living expenses.
But just a month ago, Jiang Fan mentioned in a letter home that a monster had recently appeared in the mansion. Master Qi had invited a Taoist priest from Liangyi Mountain to perform a ritual, but the priest died suddenly while foaming at the mouth during the ritual. Furthermore, people in the mansion began to disappear one after another, including Zhang Biao, who was from the same village as Jiang Fan. However, Master Qi said that the monster in the mansion was gone and that the missing people had left on their own.
In his letter, Jiang Fan asked them to go to Zhang Biao's house to see if he had returned home.
As expected, Jiang Ying went to Zhang Biao's house but did not see Zhang Biao.
She walked home dejectedly. This usually strong and capable girl was crying as she walked when she was spotted by Ajiu, who was so angry she couldn't tell which way was which.
Jiang Ying was one of the few people he knew. Seeing her crying so sadly, he stopped in mid-air and jumped in front of her, asking her why she was also unhappy.
Jiang Ying had been holding it in all the way, and when she saw him, she thought of her brother and tearfully told him everything.
"I understand," Bi Xie said, looking at the two who were still crying. After thinking for a moment, he still comforted them, "It'll be alright. If your brother is still alive, Ajiu will bring him back."
Jiang Ying looked up at her with red eyes: "Brother Ajiu is very powerful, isn't he? I saw him fly," and then disappeared in front of her in an instant.
Bi Xie glanced at her with a deep look, but did not answer her. Instead, he asked for the location of Master Qi's mansion. After returning home, he sighed, took out two Swift Wind Talismans he had drawn earlier from under his pillow, stuck them on his ankles, and slipped into the street where the cold wind was howling and a downpour could happen at any moment.
Although she had been in seclusion for two months, practicing breathing exercises every day before sunrise and under the moonlight, her current cultivation level was vastly different from before, like the difference between the ocean and a drop of water.
Therefore, the Swift Wind Talisman drawn was not as effective as the one Cheng Ling had given her at Fan Hai Peak, and it did not arrive at Master Qi's mansion until the following night.
Under the cover of night, the entire mansion was quiet and still.
The hurricane that started last night has continued into tonight. The sky is pitch black, and a mountain rain is imminent. The two lanterns at the entrance of Master Qi's mansion, perhaps blown out by the cold wind, hang eerily in front of the gate like two drooping heads.
Bi Xie glanced at it and his scalp tingled. It would be strange if there wasn't something fishy going on in this mansion!
She hesitated for a moment at the gate of the mansion. With her current cultivation level, if she rashly rushed in and bumped into a monster, she would definitely be going to see the King of Hell immediately.
But if Ah Jiu were in Master Qi's mansion...
He knew he possessed extraordinary intuition, but he was also a bit of a fool; what if he fell into a monster's trap...?
Just as she was lost in thought and confused, unsure whether to go in or not, a scream suddenly came from inside the mansion.
The scream was amplified countless times in the silent night, sharp, piercing, and extremely shrill. Bi Xie frowned and looked in the direction from which the scream came. He clenched his fists and then relaxed them, then clenched them again. He went around to the back of the wall, took a few steps to adjust his breathing, and then leaped up.
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