“Xiao Ran’s” cool and gentle beauty was now ten times more terrifying than a malevolent ghost. The facial mask used for disguise had been torn apart by Huo Qi Lang, leaving only half a face, dried and wrinkled from being on too long. Half of the original face had one eyeball gouged out by Tuoba Sanniang, with blood and tears flowing from the empty socket.

The entire body was twisted and contorted, collapsed on the ground like a broken marionette, with four snow-white human tendons extracted from arms and legs hanging beside. Even Huo Qi Lang found this scene cruel, sighing, “Third Senior Sister went too far.”

Tuoba Sanniang was unrepentant, instead blaming Wei Xun: “It’s all because that dead brat struck my pipa with one palm. Without changing strings, I can’t play melodies at all. Now I’m still missing one of the five strings.”

Bao Zhu’s vision darkened, waves of nausea surging from her stomach. She covered her mouth and ran out of the cellar. She had thought her courage was decent—as long as she didn’t face actual ghosts, she would absolutely not lose composure. Who knew that witnessing Tuoba Sanniang’s scene of extracting living human tendons would still be unbearable, causing her to flee in panic on the spot.

Huo Qi Lang immediately chased after her.

That fake bride disguised as Xiao Ran—neither side dared touch him. Originally he was respectfully kept in the bridal chamber, but after Huo Qi Lang tore off half the painted skin, his entire face became half yin and half yang, immediately scaring away all ordinary people. His treatment instantly declined, and he was confined to the cellar. Meeting the vicious-handed Pipa Devil, it wasn’t long before he was tortured beyond human recognition.

Bao Zhu supported herself against a tree trunk and vomited for a while, having completely forgotten all the questions she wanted to ask. Shisan Lang went to find servants to bring tea for her to rinse her mouth.

After arriving at the Pang family, she had first reminded Steward Pang to quietly search whether prophetic texts were hidden in the house, then planned to interrogate the fake bride. Before entering the cellar, Huo Qi had advised her not to look, but she insisted on her own way, never expecting to bring such suffering upon herself.

Huo Qi Lang wanted to stroke Bao Zhu’s back for comfort but was wary and didn’t dare be too attentive, only able to speak without touching, gently consoling: “Third Senior Sister’s methods are top-notch. Whatever the Court of Judicial Review’s prison could extract, she definitely extracted. Whatever you want to know, just ask Third Senior Sister.”

After catching her breath for a moment and finally stabilizing her mind, Bao Zhu organized her thoughts and first asked those around her: “You’ve learned disguise techniques. Does mastering this skill mean you can impersonate anyone’s face?”

Huo Qi Lang shook her head, “The face is actually least important—the difficulty lies in body type and voice. For instance, I could never impersonate Miss Xiao. I’m much too tall compared to her. Even if the face were identical, it would be obviously fake. Disguising as Old Sixth would be more suitable.

As for voice, you must listen closely beside the original for a long time to imitate it perfectly. So I suspect this guy either has poor skills and can’t mimic voices, or only met the original once or twice without long-term contact, so could only keep pretending to be mute.”

Bao Zhu looked up at Huo Qi, thinking she was even taller than Wei Xun. The range of people she could disguise as wasn’t large, showing this disguise technique wasn’t omnipotent. If caught after infiltrating enemy camps, the consequences would be extremely miserable.

While the two were talking, a hoarse cry suddenly came from the treetops in the courtyard. Bao Zhu immediately readied her bow. Just as the string was drawn, a silver-gleaming flying knife went straight to the source. The sound stopped abruptly, and something fell from the treetop. Bao Zhu glanced over to see a large crow’s corpse, head completely separated from body.

Tuoba Sanniang boasted with a bright smile: “See that? That’s what you call clean and decisive. If one strike doesn’t kill and you need a finishing blow, it shows insufficient skill.”

Within twenty paces, bows and arrows have slight delays for drawing and aiming, while concealed weapons can strike upon release, taking advantage of quick adaptation. Different weapons excel at different distances, and people have different specialties—this was normally uncontroversial. But having witnessed Tuoba Sanniang’s methods with the fake bride just now, Bao Zhu had no desire to compete with this woman more terrifying than ghosts.

Huo Qi sensed Bao Zhu’s fear and naturally positioned herself in front. Seeing no response, Tuoba Sanniang snorted, picked up the crow’s corpse to examine it, and discovered the feathers under its wings were dyed blue—definitely not natural.

Huo Qi Lang glanced at it and said, “The Pang family is being watched. Many sects use this method to transmit messages.”

Bao Zhu said, “I thought they’d use carrier pigeons or something.”

Huo Qi Lang said, “Few martial world rogues can read. Agreeing on content beforehand and distinguishing by colors is sufficient. It’s not limited to pigeons—all kinds of birds, beasts, foxes, and dogs can be used.”

Shisan Lang hurriedly explained: “Our sect uses fireworks made by Fifth Senior Brother.”

Tuoba Sanniang spat disdainfully: “Whatever secrets Canyang Academy has, you all spill to outsiders. Look at your pathetic showing!”

Bao Zhu didn’t want to continue verbal disputes and asked directly: “What did you get from that fake bride?”

Tuoba Sanniang said straightforwardly: “Quite a backbone—absolutely wouldn’t mention his own affairs. Only extracted one sentence: when he snuck into the boudoir, it was already empty. The bride wasn’t in their hands.”

With this sentence, Bao Zhu’s doubts finally settled.

Tuoba Sanniang mocked: “You said I was putting on mysterious airs, but aren’t you the same? Claiming seventy to eighty percent confidence, wandering around for half the day—what results do you have?”

Bao Zhu said: “I already know that disrupting the wedding and kidnapping the bride were two unrelated groups. One group knows court rules well, using sinister and vicious methods, attempting to exterminate both Xiao and Pang families in one stroke. The other group should be martial world people like you, also using martial world methods. Their purpose was to publicly disrupt the wedding, targeting Pang Liangji.

As for the seventy to eighty percent confidence, it comes from statistics of Court of Judicial Review cases over the years. When women die violently, mostly it’s the husband’s family—either the husband or the parents-in-law. In this case, with bride Xiao Ran missing, both former husband’s Lu family and current husband’s Pang family are suspects. But since the Pang family was also victimized, the greatest possibility falls on the Lu family.

Xiao family head seeks wealth without benevolence, forcibly remarrying his daughter, already becoming bitter enemies with the Lu family. Though former husband Lu Dan is dead, his parents and brothers live on, with high official backing in court. The vicious scheme to borrow court power to eliminate both Xiao and Pang families has very sufficient motive.”

When Tuoba Sanniang heard “former husband’s Lu family,” her eyes shifted, but she remained silent. After Bao Zhu finished her eloquent analysis, she countered: “Miss Xiao’s dead husband’s remarriage was decided long ago. How could they endure until now to act?”

Bao Zhu said calmly: “For the ten heinous crimes of treason, husband’s and wife’s clans implicate each other. Xiao Ran was after all once a Lu family woman. The Lu family had to endure until the six rituals were complete, completely transferring Xiao Ran’s ownership to the Pang family before acting. Any mistake implicating themselves—wouldn’t that be lifting a rock to drop on their own feet? Moreover, by convention, accusers can receive half the criminal’s property as reward. This vicious scheme kills two birds with one stone. The Pang family’s gold and silver mountains were probably targeted long ago.”

Court conspiracy’s filthy viciousness—a few small pieces of paper could lead to wholesale execution and extermination, far beyond what martial world private grudges could compare to. Tuoba Sanniang, as a veteran assassin, having heard and witnessed much, knew Bao Zhu’s analysis was very reasonable. Though unwilling to admit it verbally, she said with a smile: “Unless you have evidence to nail the Lu family, you can’t recover Miss Xiao.”

Bao Zhu said: “My purpose in coming here is achieved. I’ll return to the Xiao family to search for evidence.”

At this moment, Steward Pang came hurrying with an ashen face, lightly nodding to Bao Zhu—clearly the search for prophetic texts had results. This was a calamitous matter, millions of times more important than whether Pang Liangji could marry successfully.

“Master commands me to follow Miss Jiu, providing flexible assistance as circumstances require, only begging you to save our Pang family’s lives!”

Bao Zhu nodded agreement and immediately led people out of the Pang residence, returning again to the Xiao family. Household manager Xiao Ren brought a thirteen or fourteen-year-old maid before Bao Zhu, saying: “This maid served beside my sister since childhood. When she married into the Lu family, she went along too. Before and after the wedding I was busy with trivial matters and couldn’t attend to everything. She must know something.”

Bao Zhu glanced at the little maid, knowing that when noble ladies married, accompanying maids were also part of the dowry list. She asked: “Didn’t the Lu family withhold all of Xiao Ran’s dowry? Why could this girl follow back to her natal home?”

Xiao Ren said: “That’s what’s strange. When my sister returned home, she came with nothing. After several months, this girl came knocking, saying she was driven from the Lu family for stupidity, had nowhere to go, and wanted to return to her original master’s service. My father always grips property extremely tightly. Such a maid is worth thirty strings of cash—he couldn’t bear to discard her. So after questioning her briefly, he kept her.”

The little maid cried with tears covering her face, apparently already frightened by interrogation. Xiao Ren knew the extreme danger of prophetic texts. After Bao Zhu left earlier, she gathered all suspicious clues and sorted them carefully, now presenting them together.

Bao Zhu asked directly: “What message did the Lu family have you deliver to Miss Xiao?”

She naturally carried an aura of authority without anger, more powerful than family head Xiao Shilian who frequently flew into rages and hit people. The little maid fell to her knees with a thud, crying and confessing: “The mistress there had me secretly deliver a letter to Miss. After I came to this house, I gave it to Miss. She immediately burned it after reading. I can’t read a single character—I don’t know what the letter said!”

Bao Zhu thought that given her status, she shouldn’t have known the letter’s contents anyway. This testimony already confirmed the Lu family’s role in the case, though it remained unclear what role Xiao Ran played.

Bao Zhu asked again: “What did Xiao Ran do on the wedding day?”

The little maid answered: “Everything else was as usual. The hairdresser applied Miss’s makeup and arranged her hair. We were to help her put on the bridal gown and jewelry, to dress her completely and have a look. But Miss didn’t seem very happy. She had all of us leave—she wanted to dress herself.”

At this time, Fourth Senior Qiu Ren emerged from the inner residence, telling Bao Zhu and Huo Qi: “They still have half a pot of unfinished drugged wine. The henbane soaked overnight has turned sour, but there’s no added datura. Probably some outsider learned the sisters-in-law planned to use drugged wine to trick the groom and secretly added another ingredient. Henbane’s prickling sensation can mask datura’s fishy smell. Eldest senior brother has a cat’s tongue—can’t eat spicy or irritating things. He swallowed it whole without knowing.”

Huo Qi Lang laughed: “What bad luck. Third Senior Sister searched a packet of powder from the fake bride.”

Upon hearing this, Qiu Ren’s eyes lit up: “A fingernail’s worth is enough to drug cattle and horses unconscious. That packet is good stuff. Don’t let that woman waste it. I’ll go ask her for it right now.” He hurried off.

Bao Zhu carefully pondered everything from the beginning. The Lu clan’s motive for revenge against both Pang and Xiao families was very clear, but this group of martial world people’s purpose remained vague.

Feeding the Pang family horses croton seeds, adding datura to drugged wine, breaking the banner pole to attack the wedding procession, ambushing the tent-spreading ceremony—all were to make the Pang family publicly lose face before the watching crowds, causing Pang Liangji and his escorting senior brothers to lose prestige.

Then why did they scheme so deliberately against a disabled wastrel whose martial arts were lost and who was about to retire from the martial world? Wei Xun and the others didn’t take this kind of bloody hostile confrontation seriously—perhaps they had old grudges and didn’t want outsiders to know the details.

Bao Zhu still couldn’t understand. She instructed Xiao Ren to watch the little maid carefully and returned once more to Xiao Ran’s boudoir to see if any clues were missed.

Huo Qi Lang said: “This room is too dark even with lamps lit. Should we move all the furniture outside to examine carefully?”

Bao Zhu was slightly surprised: “You really have strength with nowhere to use it.”

Huo Qi laughed: “Old Sixth pays well. With daily wine and meat, naturally I have muscle strength. If I were hungry, I’d surrender first before any fight started. I heard that for his golden basin hand-washing ceremony, he actually had a basin made of real gold. Did you know? ‘Golden basin hand-washing’ is just a figure of speech—using copper basins is already very extravagant in the martial world.”

Bao Zhu was momentarily speechless. With the situation already complex to this degree, this person still found amusement in such idle matters. She didn’t know if it was simple big-heartedness or an alternative form of calm composure. Whatever the reason, willing to accompany her this far and follow her orders, only Old Seven remained.

Her mother had once told her that talented people were countless like fish crossing a river, but if they couldn’t be used by her, they were equivalent to nothing. Just regarding obedience alone, this masculine-appearing female wanderer before her was the best choice.

“After finishing Pang Liangji’s matter, do you have other tasks? Where do you plan to go next?”

Huo Qi Lang was startled and answered honestly: “Nothing else. After getting payment, I planned to return to Chang’an to drink.”

Bao Zhu directly issued an invitation: “Why not join under my command and escort me to seek relatives together with your senior brother? My payment is only more than Pang Sixth’s, not less.”

Huo Qi Lang was startled again, immediately excited. Accompanying a charming and lovely little beauty on travels, with high compensation to boot—there was no more satisfying work in the world.

Bao Zhu continued winning hearts: “Wei Xun and the others are men after all—many things are inconvenient. And I have a little… I’m a bit afraid of darkness, afraid of ghosts…”

She paused, thinking that having just recovered from fear of the female ghost Tuoba Sanniang impersonated, and today unfortunately witnessing her cruel methods of torturing prisoners, she would probably have nightmares all night. Better to strike while the iron was hot and recruit Huo Qi to accompany her at night, freeing her from worries forever.

Bao Zhu’s eyes sparkled as she said: “With you here, you could stay in the same room with me, sleep in the same bed—nothing could be more suitable.”

Upon hearing these words, the smile gradually disappeared from Huo Qi Lang’s face. She thought there was no less suitable arrangement than this. Along with Bao Zhu’s warm invitation, an unrestrained killing intent swiftly attacked from the darkness. Huo Qi’s hair stood on end, silently crying bitter tears. Whether this head could remain safely on her neck would depend on how appropriate her answer was.

“What a pity, what a pity. Old Seven can’t take this job.”

For the sake of survival, Huo Qi Lang had to reluctantly decline against her will. Then her mind raced, trying to fabricate a reasonable explanation to fool her: “It’s like this—our sect has an old rule. If one employer hires one of us, they can’t hire a second.”

Bao Zhu frowned: “But isn’t Shisan Lang also traveling with me the same way?”

Huo Qi Lang lowered her head, bowing her back, patiently explaining to her: “That’s different. Little Thirteen hasn’t graduated yet. When Master died, he was assigned to Eldest Senior Brother like a burden. I’m a famous hero. One mountain cannot contain two tigers; one small dried fish cannot hire two raccoon slaves. Understand?”

Bao Zhu heard her speak with such logic and was immediately deeply disappointed, complaining huffily: “Your sect is just a small faction of barely ten people, only one squad’s strength. How can you have so many annoying rules and regulations?”

Huo Qi Lang sighed with regret, thinking: Originally there were no rules at all, but since Wei Da occupied this good position, others shouldn’t dream of encroaching.

Unable to successfully hire her desired subordinate, Bao Zhu could only examine Xiao Ran’s boudoir once more, finally focusing on her bed. This was a new-style high-legged furniture piece, much taller than low-style couches. When first visiting, Huo Qi Lang had already pulled it from the wall to examine the inner side, but this bed was over five feet wide, with layers of brocade bedding spread on top and curtains hanging above and below—not everything had been pulled out.

She said to Huo Qi: “Can you completely drag this bed out for me to see?”

Huo Qi Lang readily agreed: “Flipping it over is no problem either.”

No sooner said than done, Huo Qi Lang rolled up her sleeves, removed the curtains, and directly lifted one side of the large bed, dragging the whole thing out. Before Bao Zhu could say anything, she exclaimed: “Someone hid under this bed before—the dust shows signs of disturbance.”

But Bao Zhu saw a line of crooked, blurred, blood-red writing on the bed’s bottom board: “Where does death lead? Entrusting the body to the mountain slope.”

Beside the verse, in the bed board’s crevice, was wedged a gilded hairpin.

Author’s Note:

舅姑 (jiugu): Ancient term referring to parents-in-law.