Even in the darkness, Yan Sanhe could tell this courtyard was very inconspicuous—even somewhat shabby.

“Before entering, Miss Yan, please use the privy and empty yourself completely.”

Zhu Yuanmo pointed to the side: “The privy is over there.”

Yan Sanhe: “Why?”

Zhu Yuanmo: “People eat grains and have impure energy in their bodies. This impure energy must be completely expelled.”

Yan Sanhe: “What about you?”

Zhu Yuanmo: “I must as well.”

Young Master Pei quickly asked: “What about us?”

“You don’t need to.”

Young Master Pei scoffed. “Well then, lucky me—I happen to need to urinate!”

After using the privy, unlocking the door with a key, they entered the courtyard.

Two lanterns in the courtyard swayed haphazardly in the wind.

Entering the main hall, Zhu Yuanmo used a flint to light the lamps.

Once lit, everything in the room became clearly visible.

This was an excessively empty room with no furnishings at all, only Yuan Tiangang’s memorial tablet standing in the center.

Zhu Yuanmo stepped forward, took three incense sticks from the table, lit them, and inserted them into the incense burner.

Then he took three more sticks.

After lighting three, there were three more—nine sticks of incense in total.

Young Master Pei nudged Yan Sanhe with his elbow and asked in a low voice, covering his mouth: “Others light nine sticks, but you only light one?”

Yan Sanhe looked at him coldly: “One stick is for lighting for the dead.”

Young Master Pei sheepishly retreated half a step.

Fine.

Pretend I said nothing!

After lighting the nine incense sticks, Zhu Yuanmo entered the western side room.

As soon as she entered, Yan Sanhe felt chest tightness.

Though there was no formation in this room, generation after generation of inheritance had given it power no less than a formation.

Zhu Yuanmo walked to the washbasin and began washing his hands.

He washed very slowly, one finger at a time. After washing, he picked up a white towel beside him and dried them one finger at a time.

Yan Sanhe took the opportunity to survey the room. The arrangement was also very simple—a large desk with writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstone laid out.

After drying his hands, Zhu Yuanmo sat in a grand chair, pulled out a key from his chest, bent down, and opened the bottom drawer.

He took out a piece of yellow paper from the drawer and pressed it down with a paperweight.

He began grinding ink.

It wasn’t ink—it was cinnabar, redder than blood.

He ground very slowly, muttering incantations. Yan Sanhe knew he was chanting spells.

After chanting, he put his finger to his mouth, bit lightly, and a drop of blood fell into the cinnabar.

“Miss Yan?” Zhu Yuanmo called softly.

Yan Sanhe stepped forward and squeezed hard at the wound on her original finger.

The moment the blood fell into the cinnabar, the cinnabar’s color darkened considerably.

Zhu Yuanmo pulled a fine wolf-hair brush from the brush holder, mixed the two drops of blood with the cinnabar until uniform, then began drawing the talisman.

He drew very slowly, each stroke seeming to weigh a thousand pounds.

Yan Sanhe could no longer see.

The instant the blood dropped, she collapsed. Li Buyan, guarding behind her, caught her, crouched down, and nimbly hoisted her onto her back with swift movements.

Li Buyan was about to leave when her peripheral vision caught sight of Zhu Yuanmo, and she couldn’t help but be shocked.

Several wrinkles had suddenly appeared at the corners of this man’s mouth, and the black hair at his temples had turned white.

What he said was true.

That small talisman had taken three years of his lifespan.

As the last stroke fell, Zhu Yuanmo collapsed exhausted in the grand chair, his voice indescribably weak.

“Young Master Pei, I have no strength left. I’ll trouble you to deliver this talisman to my second brother and have him paste it on my father’s forehead. Don’t say anything else.”

“Ah, why make me do this?”

Young Master Pei complained while carefully picking up the yellow talisman and running outside.

“Second Brother Zhu, Second Brother Zhu, my dear second brother… where are you, where has everyone gone…”

…

As night fell, Xie Zhifei, dressed in brocade robes and looking distinguished, walked into the pleasure den of Yusheng Tower.

A young male attendant approached with a smile. “Third Master, you’ve arrived. The private room is prepared. You…”

“Less chatter. Lead the way.”

Unprecedentedly, Xie Zhifei gave the attendant no pleasant expression.

This was what it meant to be physically present but mentally elsewhere.

His heart kept worrying about Yan Sanhe, yet he had to pretend to visit a pleasure house and accompany that bastard He Yun drinking and boasting.

This feeling was truly unpleasant.

“If I get drunk later, time it right to get me out, then wait at the Zhu residence gate for Yan Sanhe and the others.”

Zhu Qing: “Master, rest assured.”

The private room was on the third floor.

Xie Zhifei waved away the attending servants who approached and sat down lazily, lazily crossing his legs, while his mind rapidly calculated what to say when He Yun arrived.

At the Yusheng Tower entrance.

He Yun adjusted his hairpin, looking somewhat nervously at the person beside him: “How do I look? Acceptable?”

Xie Buhua nodded.

Only then did He Yun stride proudly through the threshold.

Today, to keep this appointment with Xie the Third, he had specially bathed and changed clothes—new garments, new shoes, everything new from head to toe.

Of course, he’d also used a little trick, having a maid scent him with sandalwood.

They said sandalwood fragrance, more than ambergris, could arouse certain impulses.

Tsk tsk, with looks like mine and character like mine, I’m too outstanding—so outstanding I could fall in love with myself.

“Oh right.”

He Yun: “What kind of wine does Xie the Third like to drink?”

Xie Buhua: “No requirements.”

He Yun: “What kind of music does he like to hear?”

Xie Buhua: “Doesn’t listen to music.”

He Yun: “What kind of young ladies does he like?”

For some reason, Yan Sanhe’s face immediately appeared in Xie Buhua’s mind. “The cold type, quiet.”

Oh!

Who would have thought Xie the Third liked putting a warm face against a cold bottom—seems I was too enthusiastic before and scared him.

He Yun immediately reined in his flirtatiousness, pushed open the door to the private room, and walked straight into Third Master Xie’s eyes.

Third Master raised the corners of his mouth and made a welcoming gesture.

He Yun walked over with a straight face, sat down with a straight face, then tilted his head back haughtily. “Third Master inviting me—has the sun risen in the west?”

Xie Zhifei smiled without speaking, raising his chin at Second Master Xie, indicating he should sit too.

“Third Brother.”

Xie Buhua greeted him politely before sitting down.

At this moment, attendants entered carrying wine and food, while another held hot towels to wipe the distinguished guests’ hands.

After Xie Zhifei wiped his hands and tossed the towel aside, he smiled at He Yun: “Young Master, what are your thoughts on today’s wine?”

What thoughts?

I just want to get you drunk, then have my way with you.

But He Yun didn’t dare.

This man was the youngest son of the Xie family and someone close to the Crown Prince. No matter how anxious he was, he could only take it step by step.

“Third Master’s thoughts are this young master’s thoughts.”

“Then let’s not return until we’re drunk.”

Xie Zhifei raised an eyebrow. “What does Second Brother think?”

Xie Buhua picked up the wine cup and filled all three cups. “Still, you should drink less. Third Brother has gotten much thinner since returning from his journey.”

“Buhua, don’t spoil the mood.”

He Yun raised his wine cup. “Just as Third Master said—we won’t return until drunk.”

Xie Zhifei: “Young Master is refreshing.”

“Can we change this form of address?”

He Yun deliberately darkened his face. “If you don’t change it, I won’t drink this wine.”

Xie Zhifei scoffed, leaned back against the chair, crossed his arms, and said with a half-smile: “Wenyu, after just over two months, your temper has really grown!”

He Yun: “…”

This is killing me.

With one sentence, half his body went numb.