Yan Sanhe turned around and continued pacing in the darkness.

Her expression was calm, showing not a trace of emotional fluctuation, but Li Buyan and Young Master Pei both knew this person’s mind must be racing at top speed.

Indeed, Yan Sanhe was recalling every detail of her second entry into the Yin Realm.

The only accident had been Zhu Yuanmo—he had been brought into the Yin Realm with her.

To save him, she had cut her finger open.

A drop of blood fell to the ground, and heaven and earth changed color.

“Miss Yan, Miss Yan…”

Young Master Pei glanced at the newcomer, thinking that Brother Zhu was about to be scolded. What Yan Sanhe hated most was being interrupted while thinking.

In the night, Zhu Yuanmo hurried before Yan Sanhe, lifted his robe with one hand, and knelt down with both legs straight.

“Brother Zhu, what are you…”

“Miss Yan.”

Zhu Yuanmo ignored Young Master Pei, raising his head to look at Yan Sanhe with a face full of pleading.

“I beg you to save the Zhu family. I can never repay this great kindness. Apart from that matter, from now on, this life of mine belongs to Miss Yan.”

Young Master Pei’s heart lurched violently.

Even offering his life to Yan Sanhe—why?

Yan Sanhe didn’t even move an eyebrow, only looking at him coldly. “How do you want me to save them?”

Zhu Yuanmo’s hands hanging at his sides trembled slightly: “Miss’s blood can save them.”

What did I just hear?

Young Master Pei was so frightened he quickly looked at Li Buyan, only to find Li Buyan’s face already stormy, her gaze fixed on Yan Sanhe.

Yan Sanhe’s brows pressed down coldly, her voice cold: “You’re quite clever.”

Zhu Yuanmo’s mouth was full of a fishy taste, his heart full of bitterness.

Since childhood, he had learned divination and feng shui from his father, and had seen many sinister matters.

In the Yin Realm, when Yan Sanhe cut her finger, the flock of crows retreated and the blood moon hid in the night sky—clearly her blood had played a role.

Returning to the human world, after leaving the ice cellar, news immediately came that his mother and third sister-in-law had awakened.

He instinctively felt it must be related to Yan Sanhe’s blood, so he had asked one more question: “When did they wake up?”

As it turned out, this instinct was completely correct.

His mother and third sister-in-law’s accident was caused by some malevolent energy from the Yin Realm. Yan Sanhe’s blood could not only repel the crow flock and hide the blood moon, but could also save them.

“Miss Yan, whatever conditions you have, just state them. As long as I can…”

Suddenly, Zhu Yuanmo felt a chill at his neck. Looking down, he saw a soft sword blade—one inch forward and it would sever his neck.

“Your Zhu family questions one person, one falls. Yan Sanhe saves one person, bleeds once. If this heart demon can’t be resolved, you’ll have to keep questioning until Yan Sanhe dies from blood loss.”

This time Li Buyan had truly unleashed killing intent.

“Boss Zhu, be a human being. It’s not only your Zhu family members’ lives that are valuable.”

“Miss Li, there’s no need to bleed once for each rescue.”

Zhu Yuanmo’s right hand trembled as he pulled a yellow talisman from his chest and held it high.

“Miss Yan only needs to bleed once more. I’ll paste the talisman on my father’s forehead, and it will have the effect of suppressing evil and saving people.”

Seeing Li Buyan unmoved, he quickly added: “In the Six Lines divination, this is called the Nine Killings.”

Yan Sanhe: “How many days will it last?”

Zhu Yuanmo: “Nine times nine, eighty-one days—just under three months.”

Yan Sanhe didn’t think things were so simple. “Besides my blood and this talisman, what else is needed?”

Zhu Yuanmo’s long lashes lowered as he said quietly: “This isn’t an ordinary talisman. It also requires three years of my lifespan.”

Yan Sanhe: “What about after three months? Will this talisman lose its effect?”

“Yes!”

Zhu Yuanmo raised his head. “If after three months my father’s heart demon still isn’t resolved, I’ll need to draw a new talisman and ask Miss Yan for another drop of blood.”

Yan Sanhe: “Another three years of your lifespan?”

Zhu Yuanmo licked his lips: “Nine years.”

It actually doubled.

Yan Sanhe got to the root of the matter. “If after another three months the heart demon still isn’t resolved and you must draw another talisman, how many years of lifespan?”

“By rights, eighty-one years.”

Zhu Yuanmo smiled bitterly: “But I don’t have eighty-one years of lifespan to sacrifice, so…”

Yan Sanhe’s heart jumped: “You’ll die?”

Zhu Yuanmo: “Yes. After drawing the third talisman, I will die!”

Deathly silence!

A suffocating silence that made breathing difficult!

Young Master Pei was completely stunned.

It wasn’t that he didn’t understand—the world was changing too fast.

In the blink of an eye, Yan Sanhe’s blood had become like the Tang Monk’s flesh, and Brother Zhu had only six months left to live?

This, this, this…

What the hell was going on?

Li Buyan sheathed her soft sword and raised her chin at Yan Sanhe, saying directly: “I won’t stop you. You decide.”

Yan Sanhe stared at Zhu Yuanmo without blinking. “Are you willing?”

Willing to sacrifice even your own life for the Zhu family?

Zhu Yuanmo: “There’s no other way. I can only gamble.”

Gamble on Yan Sanhe’s intelligence.

Gamble that his father didn’t truly want to exterminate the Zhu family.

Gamble that his own luck wasn’t that bad.

“Your life is of no use to me.”

Yan Sanhe closed her eyes lightly. “But I’m willing to gamble with you.”

“Miss Yan…”

Zhu Yuanmo was both shocked and delighted. His Adam’s apple bobbed forcefully several times, yet he couldn’t say anything.

He was a member of the Zhu family. If he died for the Zhu family, he died honorably.

But Yan Sanhe wasn’t. She…

“Don’t waste time. Let’s get to work.”

Zhu Yuanmo stared intently at Yan Sanhe, then turned and wiped the tears from his eyes with his sleeve before bending to kowtow.

After three loud kowtows, he said forcefully, word by word: “Miss Yan, from now on, this life of mine is yours.”

Without waiting for Yan Sanhe to speak, Zhu Yuanmo climbed up from the ground.

“Miss Yan, follow me.”

…

In the night.

Yan Sanhe followed behind Zhu Yuanmo, with Young Master Pei behind her and Li Buyan at the rear.

The group of four had no lanterns, just walking in the darkness.

The further they walked, the more they felt the Zhu family’s lights growing distant.

“Drawing talismans and performing rituals must be done in a secret place. The secret place is in the northeast corner of the house. Apart from Father and us three brothers, no one can enter—not even the head steward.”

Yan Sanhe: “What about the house before?”

Zhu Yuanmo: “The family head has changed generation by generation, but the secret place has always been here, never changing.”

Though beside him were an expert from the Bureau of Astronomy, a spirit medium, and a martial hero, Young Master Pei still felt somewhat uneasy.

“Brother Zhu, why is this whole path pitch black without a single lamp?”

“Lamps are bright—yang. They conflict with yin.”

Zhu Yuanmo glanced back. “Miss Yan, watch your step. This section is all gravel path—not easy to walk on.”

Hearing this, Li Buyan pushed Young Master Pei behind her and placed her hand on Yan Sanhe’s arm.

Yan Sanhe: “Why is there a gravel path?”

“For setting up formations to ward off malevolent forces.”

Zhu Yuanmo: “Our Zhu family’s founding master was Yuan Tiangang. The old master excelled at two things: one was physiognomy by wind; the other was fortune-telling by bone weight.”

Yan Sanhe: “I know about fortune-telling by bone weight. What’s physiognomy by wind?”

Zhu Yuanmo: “Physiognomy by wind means judging fortune and misfortune solely by the sound and direction of wind.”

Young Master Pei couldn’t help but exclaim: “That’s incredibly impressive!”

Zhu Yuanmo: “Unfortunately, by our generation, physiognomy by wind has become a legend. No matter how capable the Zhu family members are, no one knows this skill anymore.”

Yan Sanhe: “Is this place also where you learned your craft from Old Master Zhu?”

“Half in my father’s study, half here. We spent more time here.”

Zhu Yuanmo: “Zhu family descendants begin at three by memorizing the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, enter the trade at five by paying respects to the founding master, and by seven must be able to recite the Book of Changes backward and forward.”

Yan Sanhe: “This trade requires childhood training.”

“Not just childhood training—one must study until old age. Before my father fell ill, he read books until late every night without missing a single day.”

As Zhu Yuanmo spoke, his steps paused, pointing to a pitch-black courtyard ahead.

“Miss Yan, we’ve arrived.”