Chapter 152 – The Gentlest Protection, Curse Lifted - Part 2

Yan Yu nodded. “Well, about half a month ago, I had another strange dream. It was the same one where Sheng'er and I were stuck in that dark house, where I couldn’t move and the figure in white stood at the window. Normally, Sheng'er was never afraid in that dream. She’d wander around the room, just like before.

“But this time, there was someone new, a man. He had his back to me, so I couldn’t see his face. Then someone outside knocked on the door. Sheng'er wanted to open it, but she couldn’t. The figure in white turned around... Her hair was hanging down, covering her face. A woman.

“She opened the door anyway and dragged the man over to it. Suddenly, a charred hand, completely burned black, reached in from outside. That woman in white handed the man to that scorched hand, and in exchange, the hand gave her a slip of white paper. It was like they were making a deal. Then...then I saw the man’s face. It was Bear.”

Yan Yu’s voice trembled with fear as she recounted the nightmare she had kept bottled up. Now that she was in Li Yuan’s arms, she finally felt safe enough to show her vulnerability.

“Do you think that dark house in my dream is some sort of ghost domain? Why would Sheng'er and I be trapped in it?”

Li Yuan tightened his arms around her. “The piece of paper, did you see what was written on it?”

She nodded shakily. “It said

one mace

—it was like a price tag. It was money. The ghost sold Bear in exchange for that payment.”

“One mace,” Li Yuan echoed in his mind, though his face remained calm. He remembered that one mace equaled ten candareens, and one candareen was worth ten cash. Pang Yuanhua had mentioned that in the Clock Mansion, almost no one had a full mace. Such a sum was enormous.

It dawned on him that one mace would very likely be enough to reclaim his doll from the carpenter ghost if it were put up for sale. But why would Bear command such a high price? And what kind of deal had been struck in that eerie dream?

If it was really that lucrative, why not become a roaming hero, capturing people like Bear to supply that ghost? Even taking only twenty or thirty percent would be plenty of profit.

But Li Yuan quickly shoved that absurd thought aside. His mind returned to the nature of ghosts within the ghost domain. Everyone he knew—Old Ding, General Mammoth, and Pang Yuanhua—had all confirmed that these ghosts weren’t formed simply by resentful spirits.

Yet a person’s lingering attachment could still give rise to a strange connection. For instance, the carpenter ghost seemed intimately tied to Shen Jiliang, mirroring the man’s traits and even the method of killing was related to carpentry. The ghost domain in that case was Shen Jiliang’s carpentry workshop.

Following that line of reasoning, maybe this black market ghost domain also stemmed from someone’s deep attachment in life. The ghost in question had revealed these traits—

First, it wouldn’t harm anyone surnamed Yan. Second, the ghost domain itself might be akin to the black market’s iron cages used for live

goods

. Third, it dealt in selling people, and the first one sold was Bear.

Li Yuan closed his eyes thoughtfully, then simply held Yan Yu close without explaining his theories, offering her comforting words instead. He asked, “Have you noticed anything unusual?”

She thought for a moment and shook her head. “No. Everything seems normal.”

He gave her a gentle smile. “Then you’re likely overthinking. It’s not some vengeful spirit.”

Yan Yu still looked uneasy. “But...it’s really strange.”

Li Yuan said, “I’ve actually seen ghosts. I’m even cursed by one. Which of us knows more about this, me or you?”

She breathed out slowly, then nodded. “I guess I’m just spooking myself.”

Li Yuan flashed a teasing grin. “But maybe it’s a ghost after all. Better make sure Sheng'er never picks up that paper money on the table. Who knows, the moment she does, the ghost might appear!”

𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Yan Yu jumped, heart pounding, and clutched him tightly. When she glanced up, she caught the mischievous glint in his eye. Realizing he’d been toying with her, she gave him a playful smack on the arm. “You scoundrel!”

They chatted a while longer, savoring one another’s company, then parted ways. As Li Yuan watched her ride off, his eyes narrowed slightly.

He was quite certain it was another ghost domain, one that manifested as a nightmarish dream. But he also had a bigger suspicion he needed to test. Still, whether or not he proved himself right, he wouldn’t tell Yan Yu. If she realized the truth, she might do anything to get her hands on that

one mace

, because she and Sheng'er would want to lift his curse at all costs.

But trying to steal a ghost’s money rarely ended well. So he’d given her just enough of a hint to keep her away from it.

Not far away, Yan Yu sat astride her horse, gazing down at the ground. She knew her husband well. If he was joking like that, it meant he was actually warning her in a roundabout way.

“So it really might be a ghost?” she murmured, shuddering. Then she frowned.

“Why hasn’t it harmed me? Is it just waiting for the right buyer to sell me for a good price?” But she’d been stuck in that haunted house for over two years in her dreams and had never sensed actual malice. Sheng'er had even been able to come and go in that place.

“Bear... Not harming anyone surnamed Yan... Selling him... And those iron bars that looked so much like cages covered in black cloth...”

The more she thought, the deeper her suspicions grew. “And that one mace, he clearly cares about it. He’s just pretending otherwise so I won’t let Sheng'er near it. He’s worried we’d get hurt.”

She sighed inwardly. “He needs that one mace. But I can’t make a rash move or let Sheng'er know, either.”

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The very next day, the Blood Blade Sect launched a swift investigation. Two days later, reports reached Li Yuan one after another.

In the Fortune Trading Company, a hired hand surnamed Lu had been found boiled alive outside the camp. Yet neither his clothes nor the surrounding tents showed any sign of burning, eerie evidence pointing to that same scorched ghost hand.

The man had come from Southsky under the company’s employ.

Li Yuan unrolled a painting. Though the man depicted was bearded, Li Yuan recognized him; it was Bear. Narrowing his eyes, he set the scroll aside and picked up a fresh stack of documents, black market logs. They recorded details of live good, albeit vaguely, typically just the region or group such cargo hailed from.

He skimmed page after page, finally halting on one.

It detailed a batch of live goods sold two winters ago, sourced from the mountain stronghold of a bandit leader called the Fragrant General. A certain slave broker had picked them up at a bargain price.

Everything matched up.

“Feng’er...” Li Yuan mulled over the name for a long time. “That ghost is Feng’er—or maybe it isn’t strictly her, but whatever’s haunting the black market is definitely tied to her obsession."

Finally, he decided not to involve his wife in any direct investigation. If something happened to him, he had his shadow blood technique as a last resort; but if something happened to her, there would be no turning back.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

A new day dawned on Silver Creek. A carriage from the Hundred Lotus Manor was rolling slowly down the street, while Blood Blade Sect servants patrolled nearby. Now and then, a disciple passed by.

Suddenly, the carriage halted beside a young female disciple named Yue Ling. She had once been an outer disciple assigned to Li Yuan, but now she was an inner disciple and had already reached the eighth rank.

The curtain lifted, revealing a graceful woman inside the carriage.

“Yue Ling,” she called softly.

Yue Ling quickly bowed. “Madam Yan.”

Smiling, Yan Yu beckoned. “Hop in. I’ll give you a ride.”

Yue Ling hesitated, then climbed aboard. After some small talk, Yan Yu said with a laugh, “My husband’s been looking into certain matters lately, but the information still isn’t enough. He asked me to see if you’ve heard anything new.”

Yue Ling gave a nod of understanding. “Please reassure the Blood Blade Patriarch. We’ve already found a witness from the Fortune Trading Company who will be brought to him soon. As for those women taken from the Fragrant General’s stronghold, those the slave broker purchased...we’re doing our best to identify them. Sometimes the broker hires people to sketch portraits of the live goods and circulates them among potential buyers. We’re following up house by house. Hopefully no one’s thrown the sketches away yet.

“We’ve also sent people to Southsky to investigate that bearded man with the surname Lu.”

Bear’s real name, Lu Ergou, flickered through Yan Yu’s mind.

Meanwhile, Yue Ling continued, “Rest assured, the Patriarch is like the Heavens here in Gemhill. We’ll spare no effort in carrying out his will.”

Yan Yu smiled warmly. “Thank you. You’re all working so hard.”

She picked up a dainty box from beside her and handed it over. “Our tavern has been experimenting with new crumbly sweets. They pair well with wine, but they’re also delicious on their own.”

“Crumbly sweets? I haven’t seen them for sale at the Ginger Tavern.”

“They’ll appear in a few days,” Yan Yu said with a laugh, pressing the box into Yue Ling’s hands. “Go ahead, take them.”

Yue Ling knew better than to refuse. These sweets might not be lavish, but they were a friendly, thoughtful gift and a little mark of honor. She bowed again. “Thank you.”

Initially, many people had assumed Yan Yu was just a country girl. Yet over the years, anyone with eyes could see that she was poised, gracious, and compassionate; she had a sterling reputation in town. Apart from the fact that she wasn’t a martial artist herself, there was hardly a flaw to be found in her.

When Yue Ling stepped off the carriage, Yan Yu quietly instructed the driver, “Old Zhou, take us to the shanty district.”

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

The wheels rolled on until they reached the rundown neighborhood.

When the carriage stopped, Yan Yu opened a creaking door and stepped into a decrepit house thick with dust. She cast a glance over her shoulder at the carriage before letting the door close behind her. The dim interior grew darker, quieter, the only light filtering through a thin gap around the door. It fell across the grayish floor and an old copper mirror in the corner.

“The two-year-old letter and the money are still right where I left them,” she noted silently, her heart oddly calm as she walked inside.

Then, in the hush of that cramped room, she spoke as if to someone invisible. “Sheng'er can see you, can’t she?”

Her voice echoed in the dark, eerie and unsettling. But she herself showed no fear, moving purposefully to the mirror. “That day I brought Sheng'er, she reached her arms out toward this spot. She wanted you to hold her, right?

“In my dreams, I’ve seen that strange, black-cloth cage. You must want me to visit you... If I’d known, I’d never have let you go in the first place. You could’ve stayed with us...and things would’ve turned out fine.”

She leaned over the dusty copper mirror, speaking softly. “My foolish little sister... You’ve been with me this whole time, haven’t you?”

There was no answer, just silence, like the murmurs of someone talking to themselves. Yan Yu showed no impatience. She picked up a comb from a side table and began gently smoothing out old, brittle strands of hair that had been left there long ago.

Then she whispered, “Feng’er, come out and see me.”

At her words, the old mirror’s surface seemed to ripple, as if disturbed by invisible waves. When it stilled, an image resolved into view. It was a pale woman’s face, etched with deep cracks and weeping blood from sightless eyes. Where each crack lay, something grotesque squirmed—a cluster of tiny, ghastly female ghosts, each one part of a whole.

They pieced themselves together into a single countenance, Feng’er’s face.

Yan Yu felt her heart seize, as though it might stop altogether. A chill spread over her skin in a wave of goosebumps. But she kept a calm smile, eyes wide open, quietly gazing at the female specter in the mirror. In the gentle tone one might use with a younger sister, she said, “It’s been a while.”