Guest courtyard.

Yan Sanhe was curled up under the covers, only half her pale face visible.

Pei Yu sat by the bed and couldn’t diagnose anything for a long time, nor did he expect to diagnose anything—this girl’s pulse had always been strange.

Better to use needles.

As soon as one needle went in, Yan Sanhe’s eyes flew open.

“Oh my goodness!”

Li Buyan was overjoyed and rushed over to hold her tightly in her arms. “You scared me to death, scared me to death, Yan Sanhe—you scared me to death…”

“I…”

Yan Sanhe had just started when she realized she had no strength at all. She could only nestle her head into Li Buyan’s arms, indicating she shouldn’t worry.

Seeing that Yan Sanhe still couldn’t speak, Pei Yu quickly said: “One needle isn’t enough—let me give a few more!”

More needles?

Yan Sanhe said weakly, “Don’t bother. I’m just tired.”

Tired?

Pei Yu turned his head and glared viciously at Second Master Zhu.

Do you know what the punishment is for false military reports?

Death!

Second Master Zhu looked aggrieved at his elder brother, suffering in silence.

At the doorway, Xie Zhifei’s heart returned to its place. His head knocked against Zhu Qing’s back as he took two deep breaths—thank goodness, thank goodness.

“Has Third Master awakened?”

Xie Zhifei’s head shot up.

Long-buried memories came rushing back.

She had been sickly since childhood, taking medicine year-round, frequently running high fevers that left her unconscious. When she woke, she would always ask: “Where’s my brother?”

Where’s my brother?

Where’s Third Master?

This long-absent tone of voice twisted Xie Zhifei’s heart into a mess. He quickly lowered his head, forcing back the heat in his eyes.

“Awake, awake.”

Young Master Pei pushed Zhu Qing aside from behind, stepped into the room, and said: “He’s just weak like you.”

Yan Sanhe struggled to lift her head.

At the end of her gaze, Xie Zhifei was being carried by Zhu Qing, his brows furrowed, quietly watching her.

Winter sunlight filtered through the gaps in the window from behind him. In the interplay of light and shadow, Yan Sanhe couldn’t quite make out the expression on his face.

But inexplicably, she felt this person was worried about her—because his brows were furrowed too tightly, all scrunched together.

“Zhu Qing, put me in a chair!”

“All of you, get out!”

Two voices rang out almost simultaneously, except Li Buyan’s voice overpowered Xie Zhifei’s.

Everyone looked at Li Buyan in shock, not understanding why she would suddenly explode like this.

“Out—”

Li Buyan drew her soft sword from her waist and slammed it heavily on the table.

Young Master Pei was so frightened he stepped back: Brother, what’s gotten into her?

Xie Zhifei endured his dizziness: I don’t know.

“Buyan.”

Yan Sanhe knew what was driving Li Buyan’s fury. She propped herself up to sit and said softly: “I really am just tired.”

“Do you think I’m a three-year-old child?”

Li Buyan’s chest rose and fell—clearly she was furious to the extreme.

“What happened in the ice cellar?”

“Why did Boss Zhu also disappear?”

“Why did you faint while he’s perfectly fine?”

“How did your finger get cut?”

“Did Boss Zhu’s heart demon change?”

Question after question was thrown out. Yan Sanhe thought weakly: This girl has a brain; she just doesn’t like to use it.

“Why, before you left Yunnan Prefecture, did your expression show… resolve!”

—

Everyone’s gaze shifted from Li Buyan to Xie Zhifei.

Xie Zhifei smiled bitterly to himself.

Even people as oblivious as Li Buyan and Pei Mingting had noticed something was wrong—this heart demon must definitely be unusual.

He slid down from Zhu Qing’s back and, supporting himself against the doorframe, struggled into the room.

Xie Zhifei hadn’t wanted to ask, but the fear and worry hidden in his heart had been provoked by Li Buyan’s increasingly loud questioning.

He had to ask.

“Yan Sanhe, are you hiding something from us?”

Resolve?

Those three words completely ignited Li Buyan’s anger. She quickly grabbed the sword from the table.

“Hero Li, Hero Li!”

Young Master Pei had received more shocks today than in an entire year. “Please, have mercy and calm down! Things are chaotic enough already!”

He held this one down while trying to placate the other.

“Yan Sanhe, you’re not really hiding something from us, are you?”

Young Master Pei’s tone was utterly sincere. “Who are we to you? Who is Hero Li to you? Don’t make us worry!”

Yan Sanhe’s gaze moved from Li Buyan to Pei Mingting, finally landing on Xie Zhifei’s face.

That face still habitually wore a slight smile, but inexplicably, that smile made her afraid to look directly at it.

Such careful observation!

“Buyan, help me sit up.”

Seeing that Li Buyan still held her sword, Young Master Pei quickly said: “I’ll do it, I’ll do it!”

“Who asked you!”

Li Buyan threw down her sword, fetched a brocade cushion from behind, and propped it behind Yan Sanhe.

After doing all this, she didn’t forget to glare fiercely at Yan Sanhe: “You’d better tell the truth!”

Yan Sanhe was so weak she could barely open her eyes, her voice no more than a thread.

“In the ice cellar, Boss Zhu’s eyes opened again, and black tears kept streaming from them.”

My heavens!

Young Master Pei bit his fist to keep from making a sound. Turning his head, he saw his own father also biting his hand, his eyes wider than his own.

“So I decided to enter Boss Zhu’s Yin Realm again.”

Young Master Pei quickly released his hand. “Yan Sanhe, what is the Yin Realm?”

Yan Sanhe: “It’s a buffer zone between the Yang World and the Underworld. People with heart demons linger there.”

Young Master Pei’s eyes darted to Xie Zhifei: Brother, did you hear that? The spirit medium can go to the Yin Realm?

His meaningful glance failed.

Xie Zhifei was concentrating on Yan Sanhe’s words and ignored him.

Yan Sanhe: “For some reason, Zhu Yuanmo was brought into the Yin Realm with me. He’s an ordinary person—ordinary people cannot enter the Yin Realm.”

Everyone’s gaze immediately turned to Zhu Yuanmo, who clenched his jaw and said: “I just felt an enormous suction force that pulled me in.”

After he spoke, everyone thought the same thing: How did this person survive?

Yan Sanhe lifted her eyelids slightly. “Zhu Yuanmo, you tell them what happened in the Yin Realm.”

“Alright!”

Zhu Yuanmo’s voice carried the terror of someone who had just escaped death. “The Yin Realm was very cold—so cold that even my bones ached…”

When the last word fell, everyone was terrified to the extreme.

Especially Second Master Zhu, who was so frightened his blood ran cold. “Big Brother, you were so close to…”

“Yes!”

Zhu Yuanmo’s gaze burned as he looked at Yan Sanhe: “Miss Yan saved me.”

Yan Sanhe slowly opened her eyes and said lightly: “My blood, at critical moments, can allow me to return to the Yang World.”

She rarely had to use it.

Normally, she could exit using her will alone.

“I fainted because of the weakness from blood loss. After sleeping and recuperating for a while, I’ll be fine.”

At this point, Li Buyan’s tense shoulders finally relaxed a little.

“As for why my expression showed resolve?”

Yan Sanhe’s gaze met Xie Zhifei’s lightly. “It’s still those two words: extremely dangerous!”

No one spoke.

In the room, there wasn’t even a sound of breathing.

Unable to close the coffin; two people—one old, one young—died that very day; they had finally managed to bring Yan Sanhe back, and on the first day of resolving the heart demon, the lady fainted, Third Madam fainted, and Boss Zhu nearly remained in the Yin Realm.

This wasn’t just extremely dangerous—this was outright perilous!

Deadly perilous!