Hearing the truth, it won’t be too late to go mad?

Young Master Pei looked at Xie Zhifei, then at Li Buyan, thinking: what kind of shocking truth could drive me, Young Master Pei, insane?

Xie Zhifei concealed the shock in his heart. “I have a room at the office. If you don’t mind…”

“Don’t mind!”

Yan Sanhe felt she’d answered too quickly and hurriedly added: “I’d even sleep in a dog kennel.”

Xie Zhifei was stunned for a moment, then suddenly smiled.

Yan Sanhe glanced at him sideways.

What are you smiling at?

In the candlelight, Xie Zhifei’s features had a somewhat roguish quality. “Forgot to tell you—mine is a dog kennel.”

Yan Sanhe: “…”

Xie Zhifei wasn’t being modest—it really was a dog kennel.

The Five Cities Military Commissioner post often required working day and night. The small courtyard had two side buildings on the east and west. The east building was where Xie Zhifei rested, and the west building was Zhu Qing and Ding Yi’s territory.

Compared to the west building, this “dog kennel” in the east building was relatively presentable—at least the bedding was neatly folded.

Young Master Pei entered the room and said generously: “The bamboo couch is mine, the bed is yours.”

Having said this, he moved the charcoal brazier near the bamboo couch, curled up, and went to sleep.

He really couldn’t hold on anymore.

Li Buyan couldn’t hold on even more. She fell onto the bed fully clothed, tossed out “Sanhe, I’ll leave you the pillow,” and directly went to meet the Duke of Zhou.

Leaving her alone?

What should she say?

Yan Sanhe was somewhat at a loss. She glanced at Xie Zhifei. “You go out, put out the lights, and close the door.”

“I’m not going out.”

Xie Zhifei hopped on one foot a few times and sat down in the master’s chair. “I’ll watch over you… all!”

Was it her imagination?

That “all” seemed deliberately added by him.

Yan Sanhe didn’t know what to say and stood frozen in place.

Seeing her like this, Xie Zhifei’s lips twitched. “Said you didn’t mind, but look—you still mind.”

“Who minds!”

Yan Sanhe lay down on the bed. Just as she was about to close her eyes, she heard a low laugh and finally understood—he was just now diffusing her embarrassment.

In a person’s life, there are always moments that inexplicably move you.

Yan Sanhe felt there had been quite a few moving moments this evening.

He came out to the city gate to meet her.

He followed her into the Zhu household.

He waited outside the Zhu household.

Until this moment…

Yan Sanhe curved her lips slightly and slowly closed her eyes.

Xie Zhifei waited until her breathing calmed, then called out softly: “Zhu Qing.” Zhu Qing tiptoed in and crouched before him.

Xie Zhifei leaned over, his long arm gently sweeping past the candlelight.

As the door closed, he said in a low voice: “Send someone to guard the city gate. As soon as the three Zhu brothers return, notify me immediately.”

“Yes.”

…

The Zhu family’s ancestral grave was west of the city. Even riding at full speed would take over an hour.

When Yan Sanhe and the others went to sleep, the three brothers were still traveling.

After another half hour or so of hard riding, they finally reached the foot of West Mountain.

Getting off the carriage, donning their cloaks, and grabbing lanterns, the three walked along the path inward. No one spoke—only increasingly heavy breathing could be heard.

After walking for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, they finally reached the Zhu family ancestral grave.

The grave site faced water to the south and backed onto mountains to the north. Though the feng shui couldn’t compare to the Geng family’s natural perfection, it was already an excellent feng shui treasure land.

It was said that in those years, the old ancestor used a compass to seek dragon veins and acupoints, searching for a full two years before finding this place.

Digging down, they actually unearthed a stone pot and a clear spring.

Finding either a stone pot or a clear spring was rare—perhaps one in a thousand locations.

Having both made this an extremely rare miraculous dragon strange acupoint.

The Zhu family’s old ancestor, according to the destinies of the Zhu family members, carefully made some arrangements. Thus this miraculous dragon strange acupoint became the Zhu family’s ancestral grave.

Actually, the Zhu family’s true old ancestral grave was another fifty miles further west.

Upon arriving, the three didn’t rush to inspect but found a sheltered spot to sit down and rest, waiting for dawn to break a bit more before working.

This profession—whether fortune-telling or feng shui reading—required vital energy, spirit, and physical strength.

With an unsettled heart and unbalanced qi, nothing could be discerned.

The night was very dark, the snow heavy, and behind them stood grave mounds one after another.

Heaven and earth were silent, and the three men were silent too.

Zhu family men learned feng shui and fortune-telling from childhood and had heard of many ghostly and supernatural matters.

There were many capable people in the world—those who could open their heavenly eye, those who could communicate with yin and yang, and those who specialized in catching and fighting ghosts…

But something like today—snow-filled sky producing a full moon with a crow bursting from that moon—thinking back on it still made their hearts quake with fear.

Celestial phenomena were often omens of certain major events.

“Brother.”

Zhu Yuanhao drew in a breath of bitter cold air. “Yan Sanhe is someone who resolves heart demons. Could the moon and crow have been summoned by her?”

Legend had it that at the Zhu family founder’s most powerful, he could summon the sun and moon.

Zhu Yuanmo glanced at his third brother. “Miss Yan’s abilities haven’t reached that level yet.”

Beside them, Zhu Yuanzhao hesitated to speak.

“Second Brother, what do you want to say?” Zhu Yuanhao asked.

Zhu Yuanzhao thought for a moment and decided to speak truthfully: “On this trip to Mount Wutai, Miss Yan had one strange aspect—she’s not afraid of the cold. On the Eastern Terrace peak, in such freezing weather, she wore only a single layer.”

Zhu Yuanmo had noticed this too.

And this wasn’t the only strange thing.

Another aspect he found incredible was that on that girl, he couldn’t see her moral alignment.

In their profession, when looking at people, they first examined facial features, then sensed auras.

Like Li Buyan who followed by her side.

That girl’s overall facial features were good, just her eyebrows were somewhat too thick—her fate likely had some twists and turns.

Her aura was comfortable to be around. Being near her caused no discomfort whatsoever, showing this person’s roots were righteous, her qi was righteous.

Yan Sanhe was different.

Though her face was right before him, it seemed covered by a layer of fog—her destiny couldn’t be perceived.

Her aura was even more so.

Very faint, so faint it could hardly be felt.

These words, Zhu Yuanmo had kept in his heart before and wouldn’t tell his two brothers now either.

“Don’t gossip about others. Think about what’s before us first.”

Speaking of what was before them, Zhu Yuanzhao had a question.

“Brother, as you said, to resolve backlash and heavenly punishment, one relies either on casting spells and setting up formations, or on feng shui arrangements. How did you determine that Father definitely used a feng shui arrangement?”

“Casting spells and setting up formations is what second-rate feng shui masters do. First-rate feng shui masters all create feng shui arrangements.”

Zhu Yuanmo: “Father is a cut above first-rate. Finding it probably won’t be that simple. Let’s start by checking the ancestral grave.”

Translating this into plain language: he wasn’t confident either.

This wasn’t false modesty. In terms of talent, he was slightly inferior to Father, and moreover, all his skills were taught by Father.

If Father deliberately concealed something, just that one thing could be enough for him, Zhu Yuanmo, to study for ten or twenty years.

This was why in their profession, everything was about inheritance.

Father to son, son to grandson—generation after generation without secrets, only then could the family business be maintained.

“Rested enough. Let’s get to work!”

Zhu Yuanmo stood up and pulled out a compass from his chest.

“Southeast, south, and southwest positions are mine. East and west positions for Third Brother. Northeast, north, and northwest positions for Second Brother. Search carefully—not an inch can be overlooked.”

Hearing this arrangement, Zhu Second and Zhu Third immediately knew their elder brother was using the Eight Period Flying Star Chart to search first.

This search wasn’t just a few dozen zhang—it extended outward for over ten miles.

When daylight fully broke, the three returned to the center of the grave mounds, utterly exhausted. Their cloaks were soaked through, their cloth boots covered in mud, their feet frozen like ice shards.

Zhu Yuanmo: “Second Brother, how was it?”

Zhu Yuanzhao shook his head.

Zhu Yuanmo: “Third Brother?”

Zhu Yuanhao also shook his head.

Zhu Yuanmo sighed deeply. “I found nothing either.”