Why weren’t they finished talking yet?

How could they have so much to say?

The longer it went on, the more uneasy Pei Xiao felt. “Xie Wu Shi, what are they talking about?”

“I don’t know.”

“Maybe they’re saying goodbye.”

“Yan Sanhe.” Pei Xiao suddenly turned around. “What did you just say?”

“Nothing.”

Yan Sanhe drank her tea, then thought better of it and looked up to say, “Pei Mingting, don’t worry about others. You need to manage yourself.”

Whether one person had feelings for another could be seen in their eyes.

Clearly, Pei Xiao had genuine feelings for Li Buyan.

But for someone like Li Buyan, if you couldn’t truly enter her heart, even abundant sincerity would be useless.

Pei Xiao felt indescribably aggrieved.

How had he not managed himself well?

He had looks, family background, character, and didn’t plan to have a bunch of wives and concubines.

He was perfectly fine!

Yan Sanhe looked at Pei Xiao’s expression and shook her head.

This fool still hadn’t figured it out.

Just then, Li Buyan walked back onto the boat and raised an eyebrow at Pei Xiao. “Isn’t Young Master Pei tired of standing?”

Pei Xiao choked, put his hands behind his back, and assumed a posture of admiring the scenery.

“Not tired!”

……

Disembarking.

Taking carriages.

Going to the villa.

Everyone was clear in their hearts that what they were about to do concerned a great matter of national fortune and the empire.

And this great matter—they had secretly begun it a few months ago, only to be delayed by one heart demon after another.

This time, though they had the Crown Prince’s protection and could proceed openly, the matter was urgent.

How to arrange personnel, how to take action—they must listen to Yan Sanhe’s arrangements.

Arriving at the villa, the group went straight to the study.

Tangyuan, seeing so many people, ordered Lanchuan to boil water and make tea while she went to the small kitchen to prepare late-night snacks and refreshments.

Li Buyan noticed the dragon musk incense scent clinging to her and frowned slightly. “I’ll go back to my room and change clothes. I’ll be right back.”

Pei Xiao waited until her figure disappeared, then turned to find everyone staring at him.

Fine, fine, fine.

This young master’s feelings couldn’t be hidden anyway. Look all you want!

Xie Zhifei withdrew his gaze. “Yan Sanhe, regarding this case, what are your thoughts—”

“Yan Sanhe, Yan Sanhe, Yan Sanhe…”

Li Buyan’s voice grew louder with each call, more frightened with each call, more chilling with each call.

Had something happened?

Before everyone could react, Zhu Qing stood up abruptly and rushed out.

Ding Yi and Huang Qi followed, only to discover that Young Master Pei, who knew no martial arts, was actually ahead of them.

Xie Zhifei and Yan Sanhe’s eyes met, and they both moved simultaneously.

The study and bedroom were separated by only a wall.

Zhu Qing applied some light footwork, leaping over in a few bounds, only to see the fearless Heroine Li supporting herself against the doorframe, bowing her body, carefully poking half her head into the side room.

A ghost in the side room?

Zhu Qing alertly drew his dagger and walked over, asking in a low voice, “What’s wrong?”

Li Buyan extended her hand trembling. “You, you, you look!”

Zhu Qing looked in the direction her finger pointed and saw a bundle on top of a trunk emanating a bit of firelight.

“What’s in that bundle?” asked Young Master Pei, who had rushed over panting.

Li Buyan turned her face to look at Pei Xiao and said word by word, “It contains the incense for dissolving obsessions.”

Incense?

Lit itself again?

Seventy-two thunderbolts came crashing down, scattering everyone’s souls.

Yan Sanhe, who arrived later, had just placed one foot over the threshold when hearing this, suddenly froze.

Xie Zhifei instinctively reached out to steady her. Just as he was about to ask “What’s going on?”, Yan Sanhe had already shaken off his hand and strode into the side room.

Only after she entered did everyone else dare to follow.

Yan Sanhe walked to the trunk, her fingers moving slightly to untie the bundle.

Everyone’s pupils suddenly dilated.

In the bundle lay an incense stick lying quietly horizontal, its tip already lit, the firelight flickering bright and dim, even more sinister and terrifying than ghost fire.

What made it even more frightening was that the bit of cloth beneath the incense tip remained completely intact.

Zhu Qing’s heart pounded, the hair on his back standing on end.

Ding Yi’s eyes widened in terror. Afraid of crying out, he quickly bit his own hand.

Huang Qi hid behind his master.

And his master hid behind Li Buyan, one hand gripping Li Buyan’s garment corner tightly.

Li Buyan’s face was pale, her whole body frozen in place.

Xie Zhifei’s heartbeat suddenly accelerated. He had to reach up and cover his heart, his pupils darting back and forth between the incense tip and Yan Sanhe’s face.

The incense had lit itself once before.

In the theater box, when Lu Shi was on stage playing the young scholar and singing, the incense had lit itself.

Yan Sanhe had said it was Tang Zhiwei who couldn’t wait any longer.

What about now?

Who couldn’t wait any longer?

No!

This heart demon hadn’t even identified its true master yet—how could the incense light itself?

It made absolutely no sense!

Xie Zhifei took a deep breath and asked in a somewhat trembling voice, “Yan Sanhe, what’s going on?”

Yan Sanhe’s lips moved but she remained silent. After a long while, she softly uttered four words: “I don’t know!”

These words were like seventy-two thunderbolts crashing down once more.

Even the spirit medium didn’t know…

Could there truly be a ghost?

But if there really was a vengeful ghost standing before them, at least they could ask it clearly.

This incense—how could they question it?

Yan Sanhe truly didn’t know. In all her previous experience resolving heart demons, she had never encountered this.

“Buyan, go get an incense burner.”

“I’ll go!” Huang Qi slipped away faster than anyone.

Scared to death—he needed to go out and catch his breath.

When the incense burner was brought over, Yan Sanhe picked up the incense and inserted it into the burner.

Seven people, fourteen eyes, staring at the incense without blinking.

One quarter hour.

Two quarter hours.

Half a shichen…

The air was silent to the point of suffocation.

“Miss Yan.”

Ding Yi felt his eyeballs were about to cross. “Have you noticed that this incense hasn’t burned down even a tiny bit in half a shichen?”

Yan Sanhe: “I’ve noticed.”

It was much, much slower than Tang Zhiwei’s case—as if time had suddenly stood still.

Time?

Yan Sanhe’s heart lurched, and the last bit of color drained from her face. “Third Master, what purpose does incense serve?”

Xie Zhifei was startled and blurted out, “To honor heaven, honor earth, honor the departed souls.”

Yan Sanhe looked at him. “What else?”

“What else…”

Xie Zhifei’s pupils dilated dramatically. “…A countdown!”

Those three words made terror appear on everyone’s face.

In school, when teachers had students write essays, they would first light an incense stick. The essay had to be completed and submitted within the time it took the incense to burn—this was a countdown.

Now the incense had inexplicably lit itself. Could it be…

“This heart demon has a countdown.”

Yan Sanhe’s voice was deeply somber. “It’s telling us we must resolve this heart demon before the incense burns out completely.”

Upon hearing this, Huang Qi immediately stammered a follow-up question: “If, if, if we can’t resolve it?”

Everyone’s gaze turned to Yan Sanhe in unison.

Yan Sanhe was silent for a long time, then lowered her lashes and said softly:

“Perhaps someone will suffer misfortune, perhaps someone will be punished, perhaps national fortune will change, perhaps the empire will change hands… Who knows!”

Rumble!

Thunder struck for the third time.

This time it was nine times nine, eighty-one bolts!