Lang Jiuchuan’s aura had gone somewhat cold. She stood staring at the expanse of murky green lake water before her, hands clasped behind her back, inexplicably irritable.

Qiao Yang kept his distance from her, leaning close to A’Piao and whispering, “Proprietor A’Piao, what’s the matter with the Master? She seems very angry.”

It wasn’t that he was a coward who was afraid of a young woman — it was simply that Lang Jiuchuan was currently radiating an aura of fierce, unapproachable ferocity from head to toe.

A’Piao turned to look at Lang Jiuchuan. Since entering the Ren Manor, her emotions had become outwardly visible — that was indeed unusual. He then glanced at Jiangche, who was crouching on Lang Jiuchuan’s shoulder playing the part of a quail, and gave a meaningful look.

Jiangche shook her head. She and Lang Jiuchuan were bound by a heaven-and-earth covenant, and could naturally sense that something was wrong with her emotions. Though this aura of violence and ferocity was being suppressed, the moment it found a breaking point, she would erupt.

Whatever it was about this estate that had gotten to her.

Lang Jiuchuan herself couldn’t quite understand where this emotion was coming from. It was hers, and yet it didn’t feel entirely like her.

The Ren Manor — whether it had some karmic connection to her or not, it had stirred up something violent within her.

A’Piao walked over and asked, “Is something wrong? What made you so unsettled the moment we came in?”

“Go back and gather whatever you can find on the Ren Family’s background and the details of the massacre. Bring it to me.”

“Alright.” A’Piao didn’t take issue with her imperious tone and smoothed things over obligingly.

Sure enough, the color returned to Lang Jiuchuan’s expression.

A’Piao shook his head almost imperceptibly.

As capable as she was, she was still a child — the kind that needed to be placated.

The still surface of the lake, which had been as motionless as death, suddenly stirred. Something seemed to surge upward from below, ripples spreading in ring after ring. In an instant, it shot to the water’s surface and came flying toward Lang Jiuchuan.

“Oh, oh, I’m filthy, I’m so filthy, it’s disgusting.” The water spirit dove into the bone chime and began frantically absorbing the energy emanating from Lang Jiuchuan’s body.

Though this woman was insufferably devious, the aura on her body was intoxicating — like the water from that ancient well at the moment of its birth: pure enough, clean enough, and filled with spiritual energy.

Compared to this lake that was filthy beyond measure, it would much rather cling to the bone chime and absorb Lang Jiuchuan’s aura.

Ah — let it cleanse its very soul!

Lang Jiuchuan gave the bone chime a flick and asked, “How is it?”

She directed a water-purifying seal toward the water spirit. Though it had not yet agreed to follow her, it was, after all, hanging from her person — a water spirit-essence that she could put to good use in many situations to come. She didn’t mind giving it a bit of vital energy and assistance.

Her own people — she had never been stingy with them.

The water spirit hadn’t expected Lang Jiuchuan to be so generous. It was momentarily stunned, but having the filth expelled from its water-body still brought it joy, and so it said, “There is a water prison beneath the lake — directly beneath that pavilion in the center.”

Qiao Yang surged forward, staring urgently at the bone chime at Lang Jiuchuan’s waist. “Then did you see my Yaoyao?”

Why was the bone chime speaking? He didn’t ask that — a Master of Daoist cultivation, like an immortal, with formidable spiritual tools. What of it?

His reaction was a touch presumptuous — yet entirely understandable, given that this was for the sake of his precious daughter.

The water spirit drifted out and hovered in midair, floating like a large soap bubble — luminously translucent. “That I couldn’t see. The water prison has a formation array — I couldn’t get inside. Also, there are a great many bones at the bottom of this lake. Good heavens, it’s filthy.”

Everyone went cold.

Lang Jiuchuan looked toward the depths of the murky green lake. It lay perfectly still — like a sleeping beast of prey, only waiting for something to fall in before it opened its great jaws and bared its venomous fangs.

A’Piao’s brow furrowed. “If there are bones at the bottom, the yin resentment and malevolent energy should be extremely dense — and yet…”

He was a true ghost, and he could sense that the malevolent yin energy hovering over the lake’s surface was probably no thicker than what he himself could release at full force — let alone accounting for the fact that this was an entire lake. Water is yin and cold by nature, and with bones beneath it, the yin malevolence ought to be overwhelming.

But it wasn’t.

Lang Jiuchuan said lightly, “If the yin resentment here were extremely heavy, monks and Daoist practitioners would have discovered it long ago. So someone must have deliberately laid formation arrays to suppress it.”

Which raised the question: what was this water prison being used for, and who had gone to such elaborate lengths — laying formations and disguising it all?

Were the bones those of the Ren Family?

Boom.

A thunderous splash.

Lang Jiuchuan and A’Piao looked over — and saw that at some point, Qiao Yang had leapt into the lake. His heavy, stocky frame hit the water and sent up an enormous spray.

Lang Jiuchuan was momentarily stunned. “Is his head not quite right?”

A’Piao said evenly, “Perhaps all the cooking oil he’s consumed over the years poured into his brain.”

Jiangche and the water spirit: “…”

Human mouths really were something else — capable of toxic outbursts at any moment.

Poisonous as it was, A’Piao still pulled Qiao Yang out of the water. It was only the third month — the cold of late winter had not yet fully passed — and with the bones at the bottom of the lake making it yin and freezing, after barely a moment in the water, Qiao Yang was shaking violently.

“Master Qiao, why did you do that?”

“Yaoyao must be locked in that water prison. The soul incense led all the way here — she has to be inside. I was going to bring her back.” Qiao Yang stared at the surface of the lake, his expression frantic.

A’Piao said, “Wanting to find someone is one thing, but rushing in with nothing but courage won’t get you far. You’d thrash around in there for three strokes before becoming another set of bones at the bottom of that lake. It does nothing to help find her — it would only cause your family more grief.”

Qiao Yang lowered his head, choked up. “I just can’t bear to think of my child suffering… Achoo.”

Lang Jiuchuan directed a seal at him and dried out his soaking wet clothes with a technique — otherwise, staying wrapped in cold, damp garments would certainly bring on an illness.

Qiao Yang felt warmth returning to his body, but his eyes were still ash-grey and vacant, fixed blankly on the surface of the lake.

“What do we do now?” A’Piao looked at Lang Jiuchuan and asked.

Lang Jiuchuan said, “There are a large number of bones beneath this lake — that in itself is deeply suspicious. And then there’s the formation array in the center of the lake. No matter how you look at it, something this elaborate must be concealing some dark, underhanded scheme. Normally, reporting to the authorities would be the better course — especially now that the Investigation Bureau has been established. Cases involving strange and sinister elements are exactly what they handle. But if we do that, we’ll inevitably tip off whoever is behind this. While the girl is still alive, if they’re alerted, they might just decide to eliminate her.”

She looked toward the pavilion at the center of the lake. “We’ll breach it ourselves first.”

A’Piao glanced at Qiao Yang, then lowered his voice. “You just finished resolving a major matter for the Duke’s household — you expended a great deal of spiritual power. Can you handle another drain on top of that?”

Lang Jiuchuan nodded.

“You stay here.” A’Piao looked at Qiao Yang. “We’ll go have a look.”

“That won’t do—”

“Master Qiao, if you follow us, not only will you be unable to help, we’d have to split our attention looking after you if something happens. Stay here by the lake and wait…” Lang Jiuchuan glanced at the sky and said, “If we’re not out before sundown, go to the Investigation Bureau and find Gong Qi and Lord Shen. Tell them Lang Jiuchuan sent you.”

She surveyed the Ren Manor’s still, quiet grounds, then drew two protective talismans and pressed them into his hands.

An estate that even ghosts wouldn’t enter was suspicious by any measure. Better to be cautious — to have a plan and not need it than to need one and not have it.