CH 18

To offer sacrifices in someone else’s residence was rather lacking in manners, and Bó Ruò Yōu had the initial thought of going out of the residence gates, but with the martial law imposed on the residence, she did not want to cause any trouble or be an inconvenience. After pondering for a brief moment, she wrote a funeral oration, having decided to burn it with some Underworld money, which could be considered as fulfilling her intentions.

After asking Chūn Táo, Chūn Táo said that the most remote area of the residence was the bamboo forest in the northeast. The Marquis Residence had quite a number of garden sceneries, and there were several bamboo forests as well. By virtue of how the northeast bamboo forest was really too far removed, the gardeners took care of it very infrequently, and it was awfully overgrown right now.

The night had arrived, and the chill was pressing. She asked for clear directions, held a night lantern and thanked the embroidered emissary who was following her before heading northeast. The cold wind hoisted her skirts, and the Underworld money in her hand rustled audibly.

Soon after, she arrived at the bamboo forest.

The weeds outside the forest were breaking out everywhere, and the trails leading into the forest could barely be distinguished under the lantern light. Looking further into the forest only yielded an inky, pitch-black darkness, and as the wind travelled through the forest and passed through, the bamboo swayed slightly, causing rustles to sound. The shadows on the ground were mottled, giving the impression that there were irresolute and unsettled ghost shadows.

Since Bó Ruò Yōu was alone, she still had some vigilance in her heart, so she walked over to a stone tablet. There was moss strewn all over the surface of the stone tablet which covered most of the words, but Bó Ruò Yōu was not interested in probing what was etched. Instead, she merely lit two candles at the back and against the wind.

The funeral oration was written quickly, and it was just a few lines. Bó Ruò Yōu unfurled it to read it again, a sense of gloominess rising between her brows and eyes.

With the passing of days and years, the sorrow and pain have become fainter, but the things that were heavier than sorrow and pain had quietly seeped into the marrow of her bones, thus making her heart as hard as iron during certain times. With a sharp crackle, the funeral oration caught fire and landed on the ground. She threw the Underworld money on top piece by piece, allowing the fire to flourish, but the growing light only served to irradiate the apathy and pain on her graceful countenance further.

There were only lingering echoes of the cold wind travelling through the forest and brushing against the leaves. Bó Ruò Yōu squatted beside the fire, bright eyes staring at the fire pile, but her gaze seemed to go through the flames and see a more distant place. Her pupils trembled lightly, and like she had been frozen over in a world of ice and snow, she held the paper money by its corners, not even feeling any pain when the tongues of flame licked at her fingertips.

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It was unknown how much time had passed when all the Underworld money had been burned and only half of the candles’ length remained. Bó Ruò Yōu raised her hand to wipe her face, wanting to stand up when she realised that her legs were numb. Sighing, she was going to take it slow, but she abruptly sensed that something was wrong.

Like a sense of unease that came from being spied upon at the back.

Pupils dilating, Bó Ruò Yōu looked towards and into the bamboo forest, but that one look, made cold sweat pour down her back instantaneously.

Inside the bamboo forest of blotched ghost shadows, stood a person.

Bó Ruò Yōu was only startled for an instant. She gripped onto her lantern tightly and rose to her feet abruptly, “Who’s there!”

Once her sharp shout was issued, that person moved, and once that person whipped around, Bó Ruò Yōu saw the silhouette of the clothing that person was wearing with great clarity. It was a lined jacket and skirt that imitated a monk’s gown.

“Mother believed in the Buddha, and that silk jacket in crow green with embroidered magic clouds was made to imitate a Buddhist monk’s gown, this world only has one of such apparel, unique of its kind…”

Bó Ruò Yōu recalled the words that Zhèng Wén Yàn once said.

Bó Ruò Yōu’s breathing became urgent all of a sudden as her eyes sharpened, raising her feet to sprint into the forest. The murderer was just in front of her, she would most definitely not let them escape… She was starting to regret not allowing the embroidered emissary to follow her.

Just as she took a few steps into the forest, Bó Ruò Yōu halted in her tracks.

The weeds inside the forest went past her knees, and the black bamboos were also densely packed. It had just been a second and it was already difficult to distinguish that person’s tracks, and the dim lantern in her hands could only illuminate what was up close. If she continued to chase them into its depths, there would be no advantages whatsoever.

Gritting her teeth, Bó Ruò Yōu pivoted on her heels and exited the bamboo forest in the resolute manner. She could not care about the accumulated snow and slippery ground; lifting up her skirts, she ran towards the front courtyard. She had to find Huò Wēi Lóu!

Because she was running too quickly, the lantern in her hands followed by shaking. All of a sudden, the lantern was extinguished—

Her surroundings were dim to begin with, and now it was completely plunged into darkness. Bó Ruò Yōu’s breath hitched, the terror that arose from the scene just now surging in her heart without any warning, transforming into a deeper fear that trapped her. The rustling noise that arose from the wind behind her seemed to imitate a person’s breathing. In that moment, she only felt that the person behind her was giving chase.

Bó Ruò Yōu did not dare to stop at all, seized by a panic that she had never experienced before, which made differentiating any direction difficult for a time. Just as she felt like she was going to meet with her demise tonight, there was a loud “thud” as she slammed into a person’s embrace just as she rounded the corner.

The sudden appearance of light put Bó Ruò Yōu in a momentary daze. In the midst of her panic, her first reaction was to push away the person in front of her, but in the next second, her hand was held by that person.

“It’s me—”

The low and deep voice was both familiar and intimidating. Bó Ruò Yōu’s fear-addled mind was immediately pulled back. She lifted her eyes, only to see Huò Wēi Lóu’s phoenix eyes staring at her deeply. Bó Ruò Yōu stiffened, only feeling her nose sour.

“Hou’ye, I saw it, I saw the murderer!”

Bó Ruò Yōu did not stop, “The murderer is in the eastern bamboo forest, may Hou’ye dispatch someone to catch them immediately!”

After finishing the two lines in one breath, Bó Ruò Yōu’s erratic and intense breathing started again, even to the extent where she choked and coughed from drawing in the cold air. Huò Wēi Lóu looked behind him. Following closely, the embroidered emissaries moved out in full force, rushing for the bamboo forest, while Huò Wēi Lóu continued to stand there, gazing at Bó Ruò Yōu.

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After receiving the embroidered emissary’s report, he did not leave immediately.

Although Bó Ruò Yōu’s professionalism pleased him, he was the dignified Marquis Wuzhao; how could a word or gesture from a small coroner like her prompt him into action? After he was done reading the documents in his hands, Fu gonggong kept harping about how Bó Ruò Yōu might be in danger when she was alone endlessly, and since he had the intention to patrol the Marquis Residence at night, he brought a few men out to take a look, but he did not expect that Bó Ruò Yōu would slam into his arms in such a flustered state.

Bó Ruò Yōu’s trepidation was obvious to him. She was just a seventeen-year-old girl; regardless of how unafraid of corpses, or disbelieving of ghosts and gods she was, she would still be shaken to her core when she met a murderer who had taken three lives face-to-face.

Huò Wēi Lóu held onto Bó Ruò Yōu’s hands and watched as she coughed until she had to bend over, and he only let go of her after hesitating for a moment. Her visage was completely devoid of blood, her palms were also soaked in sweat, and the space between her brows became a ‘川’ character as her coughs wrecked her frame, and she looked like she was in great pain.

Huò Wēi Lóu’s eyes darkened, he should have come out earlier.

Bó Ruò Yōu covered her heart, taking a long moment before she regained her breath. By the time she straightened her waist, glistening teardrops rimmed her eyes, but she continued to state: “That person was hiding in the bamboo forest, and the clothes they were wearing was the lined jacket skirt that imitated a monk’s gown which Zheng san’ye once talked about. Min’nü saw it very distinctly.”

Her voice was ridiculously hoarse. Huò Wēi Lóu scanned her face, “Why didn’t you allow the embroidered emissary to follow?”

Bó Ruò Yōu froze upon hearing that, and she did not know how to make heads or tails of Huò Wēi Lóu’s question, so she lowered her eyes, hesitating before she mumbled: “Min’nü is aware of her mistake.”

It was apparent that she was rather pitiful after the fright she suffered, and yet she was still very respectful. Even if Huò Wēi Lóu’s temper was a thousand feet high, he could not vent it. Besides, he had never been a person who liked revealing his joy and anger outwardly, so he did not utter another word as he lifted his foot and ambled towards the bamboo forest.

Bó Ruò Yōu shot him a fleeting look before she caught up to him. Although Huò Wēi Lóu was tall and had long legs, his gait was not fast. By the time they returned to the periphery of the bamboo forest again, Bó Ruò Yōu had already regained her unperturbed composure. 

The embroidered emissaries were shuttling through the bamboo forest with torches in hand. Just as Huò Wēi Lóu walked over, he saw the thoroughly melted candles by the stone tablet. His brows scrunched minutely, and an embroidered emissary stepped forward at this moment: “Hou’ye, there is no one inside the forest.”

Bó Ruò Yōu quickly stepped forward and said: “Did they run away? My eyes weren’t fooling me, there was someone just now.”

That embroidered emissary proceeded to state: “Certainly, there were traces of someone coming over, but it wasn’t just one.” After saying that, the embroidered emissary turned his head to gaze at Bó Ruò Yōu, “Did Bó guniang chase them into the forest?”

Bó Ruò Yōu nodded, “Yes—”

Just as her voice landed, Huò Wēi Lóu glanced at her, “You were alone and yet you had the audacity to give chase?”

That tone of voice seemed discontent, which made Bó Ruò Yōu respond in a hurry: “Not too far in, just a few steps. Min’nü came out again precisely because she realised she was no match for that person.”

The wrinkles between Huò Wēi Lóu’s brows eased slightly, while that embroidered emissary continued to speak: “It’s fortunate that Bó guniang chose not to give chase. This forest is rather complicated, and judging from the other tracks, that person hadn’t just been in the forest for a few minutes. Perhaps, when Bó guniang arrived at the bamboo forest, that person was already present.”

A wave of numbness brushed past Bó Ruò Yōu’s scalp.

Huò Wēi Lóu then questioned: “Can the direction of where that person ran to be inferred?”

The embroidered emissary shook his head, “Judging from the tracks left behind, that person has exited and entered through both the east and west. The west exit leads to the ancestral hall, and the east exit is a nearly dried up lotus pond within the residence. Currently, the surface of the lotus pond has frozen over, and no irregularities have been discovered for the time being.”

Huò Wēi Lóu’s irises darkened, “Tell Hè Chéng to come over, and assemble all the government hirelings to search the entire residence carefully.”

The embroidered emissary left to pass the order, but it was also at this moment where an embroidered emissary came out of the forest at a fast pace from the west. “Hou’ye, a furtive person has been found.”

Huò Wēi Lóu arched his eyebrows, lifting his foot to trek into the forest. Bó Ruò Yōu followed as well, her heart moving, and then she heard the embroidered emissary say: “This person was hiding outside the bamboo forest, and she wanted to flee after the other subordinates saw her, so she was taken down.”

Bó Ruò Yōu’s heartbeat quickened slightly. If this person was truly suspicious, perhaps they could track down the murderer by following the clues.

Harbouring this thought, Bó Ruò Yōu’s footsteps became quicker, but once she saw the person who had been arrested outside the bamboo forest in the west, her eyebrows knitted together to form deep creases.

The embroidered emissaries were standing around with torches in hand. Under the dim fire light, the face, which was ridden with a scar, appeared particularly frightening.

To her surprise, the arrested person was the stupid girl.

……

The author has something to say: The old iron tree continues to germinate.