A man suddenly opened the door and entered. The two maids instantly fell silent and huddled to the side.
He was a man in his forties, with a beard on his chin, and dressed in luxurious robes.
As soon as he entered, he walked to the bedside, pointed at the girl on the bed, and scolded, “If you didn’t want to marry, you should have just smashed your head at Magistrate Lin’s door. Tomorrow is the wedding day, where am I supposed to find someone for him to marry?!”
“It’s said that commoners shouldn’t fight with officials. Your actions have made County Magistrate Lin lose face. Die if you want to die, why did you have to drag our entire Song family to accompany you in death?!”
The man’s anger escalated as he spoke and he even stomped his feet in frustration.
“I raised you up, and although I might not have done a good job, I’ve endured hardships. I didn’t mistreat you. Why do you want to harm me like this?” The man fumed, his beard bristling. “Why do you repay kindness with hatred?”
“I told you to stay at home, but you insisted on going to Qingcheng Sect to pay respects. Now look at what happened. You caught the eye of that county magistrate. It’s not my fault. Why does the disaster have to fall upon our Song family in the end?”
The two maids lowered their heads and the thin maid spoke up, “Master, isn’t there any other way? We are under the Emperor’s feet now, governed by the law. Even if that man is the county magistrate, he can’t forcibly take a maiden. You can’t blame the miss for this. It’s the county magistrate’s fault. If he didn’t resort to force, how could this tragedy happen? Why do you only blame our miss? Could it be that you’re picking on the weak? You’re afraid to confront the county magistrate, so you vent your anger on our poor deceased miss?”
While speaking, the thin maid suddenly burst into tears, “Miss, my poor miss, my unfortunate miss, wuu wuuuu.”
The man addressed as “Master” froze, and his entire demeanor softened, “Enough, enough, it’s not your miss’s fault! It’s all my fault, it’s all my fault!”
“Ahh!” The man stomped his foot in frustration, then turned and left the room, cursing under his breath. “So annoying, not a single person makes my heart feel at ease! You pity your Miss, who pities me? Ah!!!”
After the man had left, the plump maid turned to the thin maid, “You’re quite audacious to oppose the Master like that.”
“Sigh, Master is just a paper tiger, he’s very cowardly,” the thin maid sneered, showing disdain in her eyes. “He’s the kind who becomes weak when you’re strong and strong when you’re weak. The more you indulge him, the less he knows his place. You have to be tough with him; only then will he be afraid. Although I know about his cowardly nature, I haven’t confronted him before. It’s because he scolded our Miss, it made me extremely angry.”
“If a tiger doesn’t show its might, does that mean it is a sick cat?”
The plump maid: “You did show your might, but our Miss is still lying on the bed. Judging by Master’s attitude, he’s not daring to bury the Miss yet. Should we just let her lie here?”
She reached out and touched the girl’s face, as if trying to close her eyes.
As soon as her hand left, the two women screamed in unison.
Plump maid: “Miss’s eyes, why are they shedding bloody tears?”
Thin maid: “Wuuu, Miss must have suffered injustice, that’s why her seven apertures are bleeding.”
Plump maid: “What kind of injustice could make Miss shed bloody tears? Is it because she was forced to marry County Magistrate Lin?”
Thin maid: “Come, come, let’s find Master and ask him to come and see!”
After saying that, the two women supported each other and stumbled out of the room.
Once they were gone, Red Fox Bai Lixin finally emerged out from under the table.
He walked to the bedside, agilely leaped onto the bed using a stool, and approached the girl.
He saw that the young girl, who initially had her eyes open, now had two lines of bloody tears flowing from the corners of her eyes. The bloody tears followed her cheeks, streaming down to her mouth and then down to her chin.
A strange foul smell emanated from the girl’s mouth. Bai Lixin was stunned for a moment, then he cautiously used his claws to pry the girl’s mouth open. He saw that the inside of her mouth was pitch black, as if she had eaten something unusual before her death.
The pitch-black substance covered everything inside her mouth, but in the dark environment, there seemed to be something different from a normal oral cavity.
Bai Lixin wanted to examine further, but because he only had paws and no hands, it was very inconvenient to use them.
If he still had hands now, things would be much simpler.
As soon as this thought crossed his mind, he suddenly felt a blazing fire burning in his chest.
The next moment, he felt his whole body burning up.
Enduring the discomfort, he lowered his head and glanced at his paws. He saw his paws, covered in red fur, gradually stretching out and slowly taking on the shape of a human hand.
The red fur quickly retracted, gradually turning into fine, long hairs, and human skin soon became visible.
In the blink of an eye, Bai Lixin, who had just been a fiery red fox, was now sitting naked on the bed.
He looked at his own body awkwardly, then hurriedly rushed to the girl’s clothes rack and picked up a random piece of clothing to put on.
The girl was probably about 1.65 meters tall, but the clothes in this era were mostly loose-fitting. Combined with his slender figure, pink robe fit him perfectly even though he was 1.8 meters tall.
There was a bronze mirror in the girl’s room and after putting on the clothes, Bai Lixin walked over to it.
The mirror was somewhat blurry, but he could still see his facial features clearly.
His facial features hadn’t changed; it was still his original appearance. Just a bit different.
The person in the mirror had arched eyebrows and had enchanting eyes, his ink-black long hair falling over the corners of his eyes. Just a glance could bewitch anyone.
Hmm, his fox demon self was, umm, a bit seductive.
Was this a fox demon buff?
The escape system’s voice rang out in his mind: [Ding! Congratulations, player Bai Lixin, for activating the buff “This Damn Charm”.]
[This Damn Charm skill description: No one can resist your charm. Just gently lowering your head or a slight glance back can ensnare the other party deeply.]
[This skill is obtained from the *“The Fox’s Gift”, and is activated upon becoming a “Fox Demon.” Congratulations to player Bai Lixin for finally activating this skill after so long.]
*From the copy with the fox family, the Cheongsam arc.[Friendly reminder, this skill is an active skill with passive effects. The skill activates automatically upon transforming from an animal form to a human form.]
[Passive effect: People who see you will experience varying degrees of psychological changes.]
Bai Lixin: […]
Escape system: [Master Bai Lixin, are you surprised or not?]
Bai Lixin: […I’ve forgotten about this skill after such a long time.]
[Explain the passive skill. What does it mean for people to have different psychological changes when they see me?]
Escape system: [It means they will have different thoughts. For example, some people may sacrifice everything for you, while others may use any means to obtain you. This passive effect depends on their character settings.]
Bai Lixin: [So, this skill of mine might not be a good thing. It might attract perverts and bring me harm, right?]
Escape system: [That’s correct.]
Bai Lixin: [Strange, why do I remember that this skill was supposed to be a fun one? Can I use it normally in everyday situations?]
Escape system: [It’s not like that anymore because after leaving that world, the skill changed along with the alterations in time and space. Now, it’s a normal mental interference skill. Please rest assured, player.]
Bai Lixin: […]
‘Even if you say that, I’m not reassured at all.’
——————————-
In the live broadcast room
[Black screen! So, when God Xin transformed, was he naked?]
[Save me, save me, my nose is bleeding.]
[I’ve already imagined the scene.]
[I’m looking forward more and more to the meeting between God Xin and the big boss, hehehe.]
——————————–
There were rapid footsteps outside, and upon hearing the noise, Bai Lixin immediately hid behind the folding screen.
After a while, the master returned with two maidservants.
The master still carried his aggressive demeanor. He glanced at the girl on the bed, suddenly burst into tears, and sobbed on the bed, “My child, Dad knows you’re suffering inside, but what can Dad do? You are the child of my Song family, my daughter. I should protect you, but I also have to protect the entire Song family.”
“I know you must often mock me in your heart for being weak. But if I’m not weak and confront the county magistrate head-on, we would have been thrown into prison long ago. I could go in myself, but I have an eighty-year-old mother above and a three-year-old child below. Can you bear to let your grandmother and siblings go to prison too?”
“The neighboring Zhou family, wasn’t it because they offended the county magistrate two years ago that their whole family got sealed off? We are innocent, but we can’t resist the emperor’s order.”
He was still crying when he suddenly heard movement behind the folding screen.
Turning his head, he saw traces of fabric swaying behind the screen.
His crying came to an abrupt halt. The master looked over with caution and asked sharply, “Who, who’s there?!”
As his voice fell, a tall and slender figure walked out.
“Why are you wearing my daughter’s clothes…” The man first noticed the clothes, then followed the garment upward. As he looked, his voice trailed off upon seeing the person’s face and his words changed abruptly. “So beautiful!”
It was Bai Lixin who had come out.
Bai Lixin stared at the man’s clean face. “I can save you. I’m willing to marry the county magistrate instead of your miss.”
‘You’ve been crying for so long, yet there is nothing on your face.’
The man was dazed for a moment and it took him a long time to come back to his senses. “Who are you?”
When he spoke again, his voice had softened a lot, as if afraid of frightening the beauty in front of him.
Bai Lixin stared at the girl on the bed for a few seconds before he began to fabricate a story. “I met your miss when she went to the Qingcheng Sect to offer incense. She shared her suffering with me and said she felt sorry for the troubles her family would face. She feared that they would suffer for her. She might not be at peace even after death.”
“I saw that your miss was so young and pitiful, so I promised her that if she truly wanted to leave, I would handle things for her afterward.”
“As for who I am, you can call me ‘Immortal’.”
The man’s eyes widened. “Could it be that the Immortal Lady is from the Qingcheng Sect?”
Bai Lixin spoke cryptically, “Heaven’s secrets must not be revealed.”
And also, don’t call me immortal Lady, it’s Immortal!
To test his skill, Bai Lixin stared into the man’s eyes and silently activated the “Charm” skill.
The system’s voice instantly rang out.
[Ding! Congratulations, player, the charm skill was used successfully. Target NPC: Master Song. Effect: Master Song believes in your words wholeheartedly.]
The next second, the man, who had been hesitant, had a dazed look in his eyes for a moment. When his eyes cleared again, his expression was very serious. “So that’s how it is. Thank you very much. You’re truly our family’s great savior, saving us from dire straits.”
It seemed like the charm skill was quite effective. No issues were found for the time being.
Bai Lixin glanced at the man and walked over to the girl.
He opened the girl’s mouth again and reached inside, quickly finding something hard.
Under the watchful gazes of the master and the two maidservants, he took out the object and placed it on the ground.
All three of them looked over.
It was a hard thing, only the size of a fingernail. It was covered in sticky black fluid, making it hard to discern what was inside.
Bai Lixin took out a tissue from his backpack and wiped it. The three people were shocked to see him conjure things out of thin air and they looked at each other in astonishment, increasingly convinced that Bai Lixin was indeed an “Immortal.”
Bai Lixin wiped it for a while, cleaning the dirt on the surface.
Finally, he saw what was beneath the dirt.
The thin maid asked, “What is this? How did it end up in my miss’s mouth?”
Bai Lixin: “This is a small section of finger bone. Be careful not to break it, but you can still vaguely see its shape.”
“What?!” The thin maid exclaimed loudly, “A finger bone? How did this end up in our miss’s mouth?!”
Bai Lixin looked at the girl’s obviously bizarre corpse. “Did your miss really commit suicide?”
Both the plump and thin maids turned to the man.
The man took out a crumpled letter from his pocket. “She left this in her room. When we found her, she had already died. This is her handwriting, and she left the house by herself.”
Bai Lixin took the envelope and opened it. On it, a few words were written in small characters.
— I wish to ride the wind back, please don’t miss me, my family.
— Unfilial daughter, Song Ran, Farewell
Song Ran, it seemed to be the name of this young miss.
“Where did you find Miss Song’s body?” Bai Lixin continued questioning.
While the buff was still active, he would make use of it to inquire.
Indeed, the man didn’t hesitate much before answering, “At the Chengfeng Pavilion. It’s a small pavilion by the river, and it’s inscribed with ‘I wish to ride the wind back’. ‘Riding the wind back’ in the letter refers to the Chngfeng Pavilion.”
“When I found her, she was lying down inside the pavilion. She had already passed away by the time I got to her.”
“I was a step too late.”
Bai Lixin asked, “Did she have a lover?”
The three of them exchanged glances, then the thin maid nodded, “Our miss met a gentleman at the Qingcheng Sect. She said that gentleman was her soulmate. She claimed that he often visited her dreams, and in those dreams, they were a married couple for several lifetimes. So our miss believed they were destined to be together.”
“At first, I worried that our miss might consider eloping or doing something foolish because of this love. I didn’t want to see either of those outcomes. However, the marriage was imminent, and Miss showed no signs of unhappiness. Instead, she looked radiant every day, saying she was eagerly waiting to become a bride.”
“I thought our miss had come to terms with everything. No one kept a close watch on her and she could come and go freely.”
“But last night, we discovered that Miss had suddenly disappeared and there was this letter on the table.”
“Afterward, we searched for Miss throughout the night. Since she was to be married the next day, we didn’t dare to search openly but had to do so secretly. Finally, we found her at the Chengfeng Pavilion by the river late last night.”
“That’s the whole story.”
A gentleman?
Visited in dreams every day?
Married for several lifetimes?
Bai Lixin narrowed his eyes. “Do you know who this gentleman is?”
Both the plump and thin maids shook their heads simultaneously. The thin maid said, “We don’t know. Miss only mentioned it once. As far as I know, they only met once.”
Love at first sight?
It probably wasn’t that simple.
His gaze fell on the girl lying on the bed again, slowly moving over her. When his eyes landed on the girl’s hand peeking out from the blanket, he paused.
He lifted her hand, carefully examining it.
The girl’s palm was fair, but her fingers were an odd black color.
The crevices if her nails were filled with a sticky black substance.
He brought the fingers to his nose and sniffed, and was nearly overwhelmed by the pungent odor.
Despite being in human form now, his beast form’s excellent sense of smell remained intact.
There was a black substance in her mouth, and a black substance on her hand.
What were these?
Bai Lixin slowly placed the girl’s hand back under the blanket. “I understand now. I need you to do a few things for me.”
“First, prepare a room for me.”
“Second, bury your Miss properly. Unhappiness in life should not lead to suffering in death. Lay her to rest as soon as possible.”
“Third, find the wedding dress prepared for tomorrow and deliver it to me.”
The man and the two maids were stunned. Nevertheless, they nodded and hurriedly went to fulfill his requests.
In the time it took for an incense stick to burn, they had arranged a room for Bai Lixin and delivered the wedding attire.
A man suddenly opened the door and entered. The two maids instantly fell silent and huddled to the side.
He was a man in his forties, with a beard on his chin, and dressed in luxurious robes.
As soon as he entered, he walked to the bedside, pointed at the girl on the bed, and scolded, “If you didn’t want to marry, you should have just smashed your head at Magistrate Lin’s door. Tomorrow is the wedding day, where am I supposed to find someone for him to marry?!”
“It’s said that commoners shouldn’t fight with officials. Your actions have made County Magistrate Lin lose face. Die if you want to die, why did you have to drag our entire Song family to accompany you in death?!”
The man’s anger escalated as he spoke and he even stomped his feet in frustration.
“I raised you up, and although I might not have done a good job, I’ve endured hardships. I didn’t mistreat you. Why do you want to harm me like this?” The man fumed, his beard bristling. “Why do you repay kindness with hatred?”
“I told you to stay at home, but you insisted on going to Qingcheng Sect to pay respects. Now look at what happened. You caught the eye of that county magistrate. It’s not my fault. Why does the disaster have to fall upon our Song family in the end?”
The two maids lowered their heads and the thin maid spoke up, “Master, isn’t there any other way? We are under the Emperor’s feet now, governed by the law. Even if that man is the county magistrate, he can’t forcibly take a maiden. You can’t blame the miss for this. It’s the county magistrate’s fault. If he didn’t resort to force, how could this tragedy happen? Why do you only blame our miss? Could it be that you’re picking on the weak? You’re afraid to confront the county magistrate, so you vent your anger on our poor deceased miss?”
While speaking, the thin maid suddenly burst into tears, “Miss, my poor miss, my unfortunate miss, wuu wuuuu.”
The man addressed as “Master” froze, and his entire demeanor softened, “Enough, enough, it’s not your miss’s fault! It’s all my fault, it’s all my fault!”
“Ahh!” The man stomped his foot in frustration, then turned and left the room, cursing under his breath. “So annoying, not a single person makes my heart feel at ease! You pity your Miss, who pities me? Ah!!!”
After the man had left, the plump maid turned to the thin maid, “You’re quite audacious to oppose the Master like that.”
“Sigh, Master is just a paper tiger, he’s very cowardly,” the thin maid sneered, showing disdain in her eyes. “He’s the kind who becomes weak when you’re strong and strong when you’re weak. The more you indulge him, the less he knows his place. You have to be tough with him; only then will he be afraid. Although I know about his cowardly nature, I haven’t confronted him before. It’s because he scolded our Miss, it made me extremely angry.”
“If a tiger doesn’t show its might, does that mean it is a sick cat?”
The plump maid: “You did show your might, but our Miss is still lying on the bed. Judging by Master’s attitude, he’s not daring to bury the Miss yet. Should we just let her lie here?”
She reached out and touched the girl’s face, as if trying to close her eyes.
As soon as her hand left, the two women screamed in unison.
Plump maid: “Miss’s eyes, why are they shedding bloody tears?”
Thin maid: “Wuuu, Miss must have suffered injustice, that’s why her seven apertures are bleeding.”
Plump maid: “What kind of injustice could make Miss shed bloody tears? Is it because she was forced to marry County Magistrate Lin?”
Thin maid: “Come, come, let’s find Master and ask him to come and see!”
After saying that, the two women supported each other and stumbled out of the room.
Once they were gone, Red Fox Bai Lixin finally emerged out from under the table.
He walked to the bedside, agilely leaped onto the bed using a stool, and approached the girl.
He saw that the young girl, who initially had her eyes open, now had two lines of bloody tears flowing from the corners of her eyes. The bloody tears followed her cheeks, streaming down to her mouth and then down to her chin.
A strange foul smell emanated from the girl’s mouth. Bai Lixin was stunned for a moment, then he cautiously used his claws to pry the girl’s mouth open. He saw that the inside of her mouth was pitch black, as if she had eaten something unusual before her death.
The pitch-black substance covered everything inside her mouth, but in the dark environment, there seemed to be something different from a normal oral cavity.
Bai Lixin wanted to examine further, but because he only had paws and no hands, it was very inconvenient to use them.
If he still had hands now, things would be much simpler.
As soon as this thought crossed his mind, he suddenly felt a blazing fire burning in his chest.
The next moment, he felt his whole body burning up.
Enduring the discomfort, he lowered his head and glanced at his paws. He saw his paws, covered in red fur, gradually stretching out and slowly taking on the shape of a human hand.
The red fur quickly retracted, gradually turning into fine, long hairs, and human skin soon became visible.
In the blink of an eye, Bai Lixin, who had just been a fiery red fox, was now sitting naked on the bed.
He looked at his own body awkwardly, then hurriedly rushed to the girl’s clothes rack and picked up a random piece of clothing to put on.
The girl was probably about 1.65 meters tall, but the clothes in this era were mostly loose-fitting. Combined with his slender figure, pink robe fit him perfectly even though he was 1.8 meters tall.
There was a bronze mirror in the girl’s room and after putting on the clothes, Bai Lixin walked over to it.
The mirror was somewhat blurry, but he could still see his facial features clearly.
His facial features hadn’t changed; it was still his original appearance. Just a bit different.
The person in the mirror had arched eyebrows and had enchanting eyes, his ink-black long hair falling over the corners of his eyes. Just a glance could bewitch anyone.
Hmm, his fox demon self was, umm, a bit seductive.
Was this a fox demon buff?
The escape system’s voice rang out in his mind: [Ding! Congratulations, player Bai Lixin, for activating the buff “This Damn Charm”.]
[This Damn Charm skill description: No one can resist your charm. Just gently lowering your head or a slight glance back can ensnare the other party deeply.]
[This skill is obtained from the *“The Fox’s Gift”, and is activated upon becoming a “Fox Demon.” Congratulations to player Bai Lixin for finally activating this skill after so long.]
*From the copy with the fox family, the Cheongsam arc.[Friendly reminder, this skill is an active skill with passive effects. The skill activates automatically upon transforming from an animal form to a human form.]
[Passive effect: People who see you will experience varying degrees of psychological changes.]
Bai Lixin: […]
Escape system: [Master Bai Lixin, are you surprised or not?]
Bai Lixin: […I’ve forgotten about this skill after such a long time.]
[Explain the passive skill. What does it mean for people to have different psychological changes when they see me?]
Escape system: [It means they will have different thoughts. For example, some people may sacrifice everything for you, while others may use any means to obtain you. This passive effect depends on their character settings.]
Bai Lixin: [So, this skill of mine might not be a good thing. It might attract perverts and bring me harm, right?]
Escape system: [That’s correct.]
Bai Lixin: [Strange, why do I remember that this skill was supposed to be a fun one? Can I use it normally in everyday situations?]
Escape system: [It’s not like that anymore because after leaving that world, the skill changed along with the alterations in time and space. Now, it’s a normal mental interference skill. Please rest assured, player.]
Bai Lixin: […]
‘Even if you say that, I’m not reassured at all.’
——————————-
In the live broadcast room
[Black screen! So, when God Xin transformed, was he naked?]
[Save me, save me, my nose is bleeding.]
[I’ve already imagined the scene.]
[I’m looking forward more and more to the meeting between God Xin and the big boss, hehehe.]
——————————–
There were rapid footsteps outside, and upon hearing the noise, Bai Lixin immediately hid behind the folding screen.
After a while, the master returned with two maidservants.
The master still carried his aggressive demeanor. He glanced at the girl on the bed, suddenly burst into tears, and sobbed on the bed, “My child, Dad knows you’re suffering inside, but what can Dad do? You are the child of my Song family, my daughter. I should protect you, but I also have to protect the entire Song family.”
“I know you must often mock me in your heart for being weak. But if I’m not weak and confront the county magistrate head-on, we would have been thrown into prison long ago. I could go in myself, but I have an eighty-year-old mother above and a three-year-old child below. Can you bear to let your grandmother and siblings go to prison too?”
“The neighboring Zhou family, wasn’t it because they offended the county magistrate two years ago that their whole family got sealed off? We are innocent, but we can’t resist the emperor’s order.”
He was still crying when he suddenly heard movement behind the folding screen.
Turning his head, he saw traces of fabric swaying behind the screen.
His crying came to an abrupt halt. The master looked over with caution and asked sharply, “Who, who’s there?!”
As his voice fell, a tall and slender figure walked out.
“Why are you wearing my daughter’s clothes…” The man first noticed the clothes, then followed the garment upward. As he looked, his voice trailed off upon seeing the person’s face and his words changed abruptly. “So beautiful!”
It was Bai Lixin who had come out.
Bai Lixin stared at the man’s clean face. “I can save you. I’m willing to marry the county magistrate instead of your miss.”
‘You’ve been crying for so long, yet there is nothing on your face.’
The man was dazed for a moment and it took him a long time to come back to his senses. “Who are you?”
When he spoke again, his voice had softened a lot, as if afraid of frightening the beauty in front of him.
Bai Lixin stared at the girl on the bed for a few seconds before he began to fabricate a story. “I met your miss when she went to the Qingcheng Sect to offer incense. She shared her suffering with me and said she felt sorry for the troubles her family would face. She feared that they would suffer for her. She might not be at peace even after death.”
“I saw that your miss was so young and pitiful, so I promised her that if she truly wanted to leave, I would handle things for her afterward.”
“As for who I am, you can call me ‘Immortal’.”
The man’s eyes widened. “Could it be that the Immortal Lady is from the Qingcheng Sect?”
Bai Lixin spoke cryptically, “Heaven’s secrets must not be revealed.”
And also, don’t call me immortal Lady, it’s Immortal!
To test his skill, Bai Lixin stared into the man’s eyes and silently activated the “Charm” skill.
The system’s voice instantly rang out.
[Ding! Congratulations, player, the charm skill was used successfully. Target NPC: Master Song. Effect: Master Song believes in your words wholeheartedly.]
The next second, the man, who had been hesitant, had a dazed look in his eyes for a moment. When his eyes cleared again, his expression was very serious. “So that’s how it is. Thank you very much. You’re truly our family’s great savior, saving us from dire straits.”
It seemed like the charm skill was quite effective. No issues were found for the time being.
Bai Lixin glanced at the man and walked over to the girl.
He opened the girl’s mouth again and reached inside, quickly finding something hard.
Under the watchful gazes of the master and the two maidservants, he took out the object and placed it on the ground.
All three of them looked over.
It was a hard thing, only the size of a fingernail. It was covered in sticky black fluid, making it hard to discern what was inside.
Bai Lixin took out a tissue from his backpack and wiped it. The three people were shocked to see him conjure things out of thin air and they looked at each other in astonishment, increasingly convinced that Bai Lixin was indeed an “Immortal.”
Bai Lixin wiped it for a while, cleaning the dirt on the surface.
Finally, he saw what was beneath the dirt.
The thin maid asked, “What is this? How did it end up in my miss’s mouth?”
Bai Lixin: “This is a small section of finger bone. Be careful not to break it, but you can still vaguely see its shape.”
“What?!” The thin maid exclaimed loudly, “A finger bone? How did this end up in our miss’s mouth?!”
Bai Lixin looked at the girl’s obviously bizarre corpse. “Did your miss really commit suicide?”
Both the plump and thin maids turned to the man.
The man took out a crumpled letter from his pocket. “She left this in her room. When we found her, she had already died. This is her handwriting, and she left the house by herself.”
Bai Lixin took the envelope and opened it. On it, a few words were written in small characters.
— I wish to ride the wind back, please don’t miss me, my family.
— Unfilial daughter, Song Ran, Farewell
Song Ran, it seemed to be the name of this young miss.
“Where did you find Miss Song’s body?” Bai Lixin continued questioning.
While the buff was still active, he would make use of it to inquire.
Indeed, the man didn’t hesitate much before answering, “At the Chengfeng Pavilion. It’s a small pavilion by the river, and it’s inscribed with ‘I wish to ride the wind back’. ‘Riding the wind back’ in the letter refers to the Chngfeng Pavilion.”
“When I found her, she was lying down inside the pavilion. She had already passed away by the time I got to her.”
“I was a step too late.”
Bai Lixin asked, “Did she have a lover?”
The three of them exchanged glances, then the thin maid nodded, “Our miss met a gentleman at the Qingcheng Sect. She said that gentleman was her soulmate. She claimed that he often visited her dreams, and in those dreams, they were a married couple for several lifetimes. So our miss believed they were destined to be together.”
“At first, I worried that our miss might consider eloping or doing something foolish because of this love. I didn’t want to see either of those outcomes. However, the marriage was imminent, and Miss showed no signs of unhappiness. Instead, she looked radiant every day, saying she was eagerly waiting to become a bride.”
“I thought our miss had come to terms with everything. No one kept a close watch on her and she could come and go freely.”
“But last night, we discovered that Miss had suddenly disappeared and there was this letter on the table.”
“Afterward, we searched for Miss throughout the night. Since she was to be married the next day, we didn’t dare to search openly but had to do so secretly. Finally, we found her at the Chengfeng Pavilion by the river late last night.”
“That’s the whole story.”
A gentleman?
Visited in dreams every day?
Married for several lifetimes?
Bai Lixin narrowed his eyes. “Do you know who this gentleman is?”
Both the plump and thin maids shook their heads simultaneously. The thin maid said, “We don’t know. Miss only mentioned it once. As far as I know, they only met once.”
Love at first sight?
It probably wasn’t that simple.
His gaze fell on the girl lying on the bed again, slowly moving over her. When his eyes landed on the girl’s hand peeking out from the blanket, he paused.
He lifted her hand, carefully examining it.
The girl’s palm was fair, but her fingers were an odd black color.
The crevices if her nails were filled with a sticky black substance.
He brought the fingers to his nose and sniffed, and was nearly overwhelmed by the pungent odor.
Despite being in human form now, his beast form’s excellent sense of smell remained intact.
There was a black substance in her mouth, and a black substance on her hand.
What were these?
Bai Lixin slowly placed the girl’s hand back under the blanket. “I understand now. I need you to do a few things for me.”
“First, prepare a room for me.”
“Second, bury your Miss properly. Unhappiness in life should not lead to suffering in death. Lay her to rest as soon as possible.”
“Third, find the wedding dress prepared for tomorrow and deliver it to me.”
The man and the two maids were stunned. Nevertheless, they nodded and hurriedly went to fulfill his requests.
In the time it took for an incense stick to burn, they had arranged a room for Bai Lixin and delivered the wedding attire.
