White Deer Steep, Yoyo
"Young Master Ming, it's been a long time. You've finally returned to Wutongmu."
A melodious female voice came from the second floor. Everyone looked up and saw a girl in a purple dress gracefully walking down the stairs, waving a round fan in one hand and lifting her skirt with the other, just like a fairy from Mount Gusha.
"Miss Wen Teng, your news travels fast," Jiang Bai laughed, raising his chin at Wen Teng, "Why didn't you ask Young Master Ming to redeem you today!"
Wen Teng walked up to Shen Qiexing, gave him a coquettish glance, covered her mouth with her fan, and chuckled at Jiang Bai: "How could I dare? If Young Master Ming loses his temper with Master Ming again, it will upset the old man."
It turns out that Mingyue Chi's quarrel with Master Ming was not only because of his lack of learning and skills, but also because of his romantic history.
The Ming family were both important officials in the court and extremely wealthy, so it's no wonder that Wen Teng wanted Ming Yuechi to redeem her, even if it was just to be a concubine in Ming Yuechi's room. It would be better than entertaining guests in this brothel every day.
The young men who came with him were all carrying beauties. Wen Teng smiled at Shen Qiexing and said, "Come upstairs with me."
He happened to be able to read the part of Wen Teng's memory related to Mingyue Chi. Wen Teng seemed to be very shrewd, and he was afraid of being exposed in front of Wen Teng.
The woman's room was filled with a faint fruity fragrance, and light purple gauze curtains were everywhere. She led Shen Qie to sit down in the main room and sighed.
"Young Master Ming, how many times have I told you not to mention my affairs in front of Master Ming? But look at you! Do you know how worried I've been about you these past three months?!"
Wen Teng's brows furrowed with a hint of urgency, which seemed genuine.
Strangely enough, this Wen Teng girl doesn't seem to be the way Shen Qiexing imagined.
“I’m sorry, Wen Teng,” Shen Qie Xing said smoothly, “I will listen to you from now on.”
“Really?” Wen Teng poured him a cup of tea and handed it to him. “Then you should study hard. It wasn’t easy for Master Ming to raise you to this age. Do you really want to anger him to death?”
There's nothing in this tea, which is normal.
Shen Qiexing took the drink and downed it in one gulp, then snorted, "You know, I've never liked sitting in that schoolroom listening to the teacher's lectures since I was little. My father is doing this because he really wants to force me to my death."
"Here we go again, huh?" Wen Teng tried to massage his shoulders, but he dodged her without batting an eye. Undeterred, Wen Teng brought out a plate of peanut brittle from the room behind him, picked up a piece, and said, "Didn't you say you'd listen to me in everything? Okay, calm down and have some snacks."
Shen Qiexing took it and was about to put it in his mouth when he suddenly angrily handed it back to Wen Teng: "I have no appetite, you eat it yourself."
Wen Teng, used to his temperament, laughed and said, "It's such good food, why not eat it? I was just worried about not having enough to eat."
A moment later, her body went limp and she collapsed onto the table.
Shen Qiexing placed a seal on the door, then closed his eyes and sent his divine sense into Wen Teng's mind.
—
Wen Teng first met Mingyue Chi on an autumn afternoon.
At that moment, she was being harassed by a man with ill intentions. Mingyue Chi was drinking with his group of cronies when he heard the commotion. Without thinking, he picked up a wine jar and smashed it on the man's head.
The man, his face covered in blood from the blow, cursed and threatened to cause trouble for Ming Yuechi. But when he saw what Ming Yuechi looked like, he smiled sheepishly and complimented him on how well he had done the blow.
No one dared to provoke the Ming family, let alone offend Ming Yuechi. Precisely because he was a spoiled brat, he never considered the consequences of his actions. If he was unhappy, he would spit on your hand and punch you, no matter who you were.
After Mingyue Chi chased the man away, she turned around and was instantly captivated by Wen Teng's tearful beauty. From then on, she was hooked and ran to the Jade Boat every day.
At first, Wen Teng was only grateful to Ming Yuechi for saving her life, but she couldn't resist Ming Yuechi's persistent pursuit. He was humorous and witty, never putting on airs, but he was a little unambitious. Gradually, Wen Teng fell in love with him uncontrollably.
But she genuinely wanted him to be happy.
She always advised Mingyuechi to study more and avoid upsetting her family, but Mingyuechi would always brush her off. Wenteng, on the other hand, was persistent and her first words to Mingyuechi were always to encourage her to study. Mingyuechi was also a strange person; she would hate anyone who made her study, but she just couldn't bring herself to hate Wenteng and grew to like her more and more.
It was Mingyue Chi who first offered to redeem Wen Teng from his servitude.
He didn't want Wen Teng to be helpless and submissive every day anymore. Despite Wen Teng's repeated reminders not to mention this to his family, he still told Master Ming firmly that he wanted to marry Wen Teng.
He said he would never marry anyone but Wen Teng in this lifetime.
—
Shen Qiexing's eyelashes trembled slightly, and he finally woke up.
It was quite touching, but he didn't care about their love story.
He was more concerned about why Huang Sheng's figure appeared in this memory.
Huang Sheng would visit Wen Teng on the tenth of every month and stay for several hours. Unfortunately, the content of their conversation was deliberately coded, so Shen Qiexing had no way of knowing.
Huang Sheng's expression shifted between solemnity and joy, and it was unclear why she sought out Wen Teng.
However, this was not something that Shen Qiexing cared about.
Wen Teng slowly woke up at this moment. She rubbed her temples and asked in confusion, "How...did I fall asleep? Young Master Ming, what time is it now?"
It was completely dark outside when Jiang Bai suddenly knocked on the door, calling Shen Qiexing down for dinner. Shen Qiexing smiled at her but didn't answer her question, simply leaving the room. Wen Teng watched Ming Yuechi's retreating figure, feeling that Ming Yuechi seemed rather strange today.
—
Lu Yixin huffed and puffed as she drew a formation on the ground with a twig. She brushed the dirt off her body and began the ritual.
"Heavenly spirits, earthly spirits, may the guiding stars appear quickly!"
"Tell me quickly, should I go left or right now?"
She looked at Yun Xinglan with expectant eyes, her doe-like eyes sparkling. Yun Xinglan flicked her nose with her finger and laughed, "You should go up there."
He pointed to the sky, "The paulownia tree is above the clouds."
“But I can’t fly,” Lu Yixin said dejectedly, plopping down on the muddy ground. Her eyes darted around, and she sprang to her feet. “Why don’t you, Xinglan, teach me how to fly?”
This posed a challenge for Yun Xinglan. Flying was a skill passed down from his ancestors, something he learned at birth. How could he possibly teach it to Lu Yixin?
"Let me think about it."
He patted Lu Yixin on the head, moved the arrow on the ground to a different position, and pointed it to the right. "Let's get out of this forest first."
“I’ve already inquired, and it seems there’s an imperial city ahead,” Lu Yixin said, her excitement evident as she looked at Yun Xinglan. “We’re out of money right now, so you can go into the imperial city and continue your swindling spree.”
Very good, the two of them have been subtly assimilated by each other.
Lu Yixin has now mastered the skill of drawing talismans, and has reached a level of perfection that is beyond compare. She can even draw different talismans with both hands at the same time.
"Take a look!" she shouted as she walked through the bustling street, holding dozens of talismans in her hand: "The Wealth-Generating Mantra is now buy one get one free!"
Yun Xinglan went to find a shill, leaving Lu Yixin alone by the stall, drawing talismans and shouting to attract customers.
A burly man walked from the south. Lu Yixin assumed he was the shill Yun Xinglan had hired. While inwardly grumbling about why he always had to hire someone of this physique, she greeted him with a smile.
"you......"
Before she could finish speaking, the man slammed his hand on the table and roared angrily at her, "Where's that guy from last time? Make him come out here!"
Why does everyone like to make things difficult for the table?!
Lu Yixin was startled and leaned back involuntarily, still smiling: "Brother, are you in some trouble? Don't make false accusations..."
"It's you two! I bought a luck charm from you last time, but not only did it not bring me good fortune, my house is haunted!"
These words caused an uproar. Seeing that the people around her were starting to disperse, Lu Yixin quickly said aggrievedly, "You can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want. We only have legitimate talismans here, how could they attract ghosts!"
Yun Xinglan didn't give the wrong talisman, did she?
Come back quickly, she can't handle this alone.
"Take a look," the burly man said, pulling out a crumpled talisman and slamming it heavily on the precarious table. "What kind of talismans are you selling?!"
Lu Yixin took the talisman, unfolded it carefully, and examined it closely. The talisman was flawless; she had drawn it herself, stroke by stroke. How could there be a problem?
With a flick of her wrist, a wisp of spiritual energy, thinner than a hair, emerged from her fingertip and was injected into the talisman. This time, the talisman suddenly moved without wind and spontaneously combusted.
The crowd that had not yet dispersed gasped in surprise. They had all seen it. Lu Yixin hadn't done anything wrong. How did the talisman get burned?
Something's not right! Lu Yixin's expression suddenly turned serious. This talisman contained another kind of aura, an aura she had never encountered before, but she was certain that it was not an aura belonging to mortals.
Could it really be a ghost...?
"Brother, please leave me your contact information," Lu Yixin handed over the cinnabar and yellow paper. "When my brother returns, we will visit him together."
Seeing that Lu Yixin's expression was off and that she was finally taking the matter seriously, the burly man finally calmed down a bit, but he was also a little uneasy. "Little girl, is there really something in my house that attracts ghosts?"
“Don’t worry,” Lu Yixin smiled at him. “Don’t go out today. We’ll be there around sunset.”
Having just seen the burly man off, Yun Xinglan finally returned. Seeing Lu Yixin looking distracted, he asked, "Miss Lu, what happened just now?"
Lu Yixin nodded and recounted the whole story of the burly man. She said regretfully, "I was too hasty just now. I should have waited until you came back to show you that talisman. It's a pity that now there are only these ashes left. I didn't throw them away. Xinglan, can you sense anything from these ashes?"
Yun Xinglan picked up some with her fingertip, sniffed it carefully, and a strange expression appeared on her face.
"What's wrong?"
"This... is the aura of the Spirit Race."
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