In the novel "Those Matters of the Jianghu," when the male lead Xu Zhi and the female lead Liu Ruoteng could not appear openly, they would each wear half of a silver mask. Over time, this became their alias in the book when taking on bounty orders from the outside world—"Double-Face."
The situation was sudden, and Xia Jian didn’t know whether to exclaim, "Wow, amazing, I’ve met the male and female leads," or to sigh at how perfectly she embodied the standard entrance of a vicious supporting female character—drawing hatred even before showing her face.
However, the faction she currently belonged to was indeed not exactly righteous.
"Shaoyao, what’s going on?"
"Miss Cousin!" Shaoyao hurried to the sedan chair to complain. "They’re truly going too far! Merchants are of such low status—giving way to us is only natural. Yet that woman actually demanded we thank her!"
After listening, Xia Jian understood. This wasn’t entirely Shaoyao’s fault. Pei Fu was one of the top aristocratic families in Jinling City. Asking a servant of Pei Fu to thank a lowly merchant was naturally infuriating to Shaoyao.
Xia Jian extended her wrist and, under Shaoyao’s stunned gaze, pinched her cheek.
"I understand. Go to the back for now, and don’t argue with them anymore."
Shaoyao covered her cheek and left. Xia Jian jumped down from the carriage herself, but hadn’t expected it to be so high. As she landed, she stumbled forward a couple of steps from the momentum.
Liu Ruoteng frowned and exchanged a glance with Xu Zhi. The two watched as this delicate young lady dressed in plain colors walked straight up to them, looking back and forth between them as if observing something novel.
"What is the young lady doing?"
The two were somewhat displeased, but then they saw this seemingly naive young lady raise both hands to cover her lips, revealing a pair of almond-shaped eyes.
"Are you two the renowned 'Double-Face' of the jianghu?!"
Liu Ruoteng’s expression stiffened.
Xu Zhi nodded to Xia Jian.
"Then I truly had eyes but failed to recognize greatness. My servant was ignorant. I sincerely hope you two young heroes will forgive her." Xia Jian’s tone was excited, as if she had just met her idols. Even Liu Ruoteng, who had been angry moments ago, softened her attitude.
"It’s fine. As long as things are cleared up, it’s alright," Liu Ruoteng replied stiffly.
Xia Jian looked at them, genuinely feeling a sense of novelty. It was different from seeing Pei Guanzhu, because the original text’s description of Pei Guanzhu’s appearance was very vague. Now, seeing the two protagonists whom the author had lavished so much ink on, Xia Jian finally felt the reality that she had truly undergone book-transmigration.
"I thank you both for your understanding." Xia Jian performed a bow, her almond-shaped eyes curving like crescent moons, her fragrant cheeks slightly puffed, giving her a naturally agreeable appearance.
Observing her graceful bow, Xu Zhi exchanged another glance with Liu Ruoteng. "May I ask, young lady, are you from Pei Fu in Jinling City?"
"Yes," Xia Jian pretended to be naive and sweet. "My surname is Xia, given name Jian, taken from 'The reeds are luxuriant and green, the white dew turns to frost.' You may simply call me Miss Xia."
"Miss Xia," Liu Ruoteng performed a fist-and-palm salute. "Since Miss Xia already knows our alias in the jianghu, I suppose what we say next cannot be hidden from you either. So we might as well speak frankly."
Xia Jian pressed her lips together, her mind filled with thoughts of "Here it comes, here it comes…"
She had known all along that the protagonist duo must have come to Jinling because of matters related to Pei Fu.
"My senior brother and I traveled all the way to Jinling after receiving the Bounty Order issued by Pei Fu at the Bounty Bureau," Liu Ruoteng habitually furrowed her brow. "However, aside from needing personnel, the Bounty Order did not specify the exact task. After entering the city, we inquired with several people but could not obtain any information."
"It is not our style to accept a bounty task without first investigating the cause and effect. We hope that if Miss Xia has any understanding of this matter, you could share what you know with us."
Her guess was indeed correct.
In the original work, Xia Jian clearly remembered that at the beginning of Volume 1, the main characters arrived at Pei Fu in May. Now it was only early March—it turned out they had spent these two months secretly investigating.
Although in the original work, they didn’t uncover much either. After all, the haunting rumors spread from within the mansion, and the outside world only knew that Pei Fu was haunted, with stories growing more bizarre by the day. After two months of investigation, the main characters only gathered a pile of folk horror tales. When they arrived at Pei Fu, Madam Chen only trusted the charlatans performing Shamanic rituals, relegating the main characters to silent bodyguards.
"Of course, why not? It’s just that the cause is a bit terrifying. I heard someone recount it again yesterday, and it scared me quite a bit."
The two main characters exchanged glances, and Liu Ruoteng couldn’t help but smile. "It’s fine, we’re not afraid. Please go ahead and tell us, Miss Xia."
"Alright!" Xia Jian’s eyes curved into crescents. "It’s freezing outside, and we must guard against eavesdroppers. If you two warriors don’t mind, why not join me in the sedan chair to talk?"
"That’s how it is."
Xia Jian took a sip of hot tea.
"So… it’s the vengeful spirit of the maid who died tragically?" Liu Ruoteng said, feeling something was off.
"But why would she target the innocent Madam Chen after taking revenge on the Former Madam?" Xu Zhi fell into deep thought.
"The vengeful spirit didn’t just target the innocent Madam Chen," Xia Jian tapped lightly on the surface of her tea. "The innocent Madam Chen also…"
Xia Jian wrote four characters on the tea table.
Helped conceal it.
Liu Ruoteng’s eyes widened, her pupils contracting sharply.
Yes, this was the point she had always found strange and contradictory.
She believed that any woman, especially a normal one, would not harbor goodwill toward her husband’s former wife.
Moreover, from what they had learned along the way, the head of the Pei family was handsome, upright, and had never taken any concubines or secondary wives—a rare and desirable man by all accounts.
Under such circumstances, and with Madam Chen now suffering from the sins committed by the Former Madam, why would she go to such lengths to help conceal everything?
A chill ran down Liu Ruoteng’s spine. She looked up and saw Miss Xia leaning against a cushion, twirling an exquisite folding fan in her hand. Despite having revealed such shocking information, she still appeared relaxed and carefree. It was hard to tell whether to praise her for her cleverness or criticize her for her foolishness.
At this thought, Liu Ruoteng couldn’t help but worry for her, fearing that she might face ostracism from the Pei household for telling them this.
Xia Jian caught Liu Ruoteng’s complicated gaze, twirled her fan, looked out the window, and began humming a tune.
She had intentionally told the main characters everything.
Because she trusted the integrity of the male and female leads. They were all smart people, and communication wouldn’t be difficult. For Xia Jian, this was also a gesture of allegiance.
In this round, she would temporarily stand on the same side as the main characters.
Because she sensed Pei Guanzhu's aversion toward her, his sudden decision to take her to the dark corridor yesterday to tell some story didn't seem like an attempt to build affection. Instead, it felt more like he was scheming to frighten her out of the manor. If she had fallen ill from the scare, Pei Guanzhu would likely have clapped his hands in delight.
After last night's events, Xia Jian inexplicably felt that the mysterious death of the original character in the novel was probably sixty to seventy percent connected to Pei Guanzhu, that murderer. She had come as a "bride of fortune," and though Pei Guanzhu might not regard her as significant, he undoubtedly harbored disgust toward her.
Moreover, the original character had stepped on one of Pei Guanzhu's sore spots.
Namely, Pei Guanzhu detested the original character calling him "cousin."
Pei Guanzhu rarely took a dislike to anything, let alone something as simple as a form of address. For him to visibly show such aversion meant she had truly struck a nerve.
And what hesitation would a murderer have in killing?
After parting ways with the two protagonists, Xia Jian hurriedly climbed the ninety-nine steps before noon and reached the entrance of Qin'an Temple.
The temple courtyard was paved with blue bricks, solemn and dignified. While climbing the mountain path, Xia Jian had seen many people ascending the steps, but once inside the temple grounds, the crowd thinned, and the space felt vast and open.
A Samaneri guided them inside. Xia Jian had grown up with her Buddhist grandmother, and though she didn't believe in these things herself, she naturally held a sense of reverence. Now that she was inside the book, every time she bowed before a deity—whether benevolent or fierce—her prayers were the same: "Please, dear author, let me go home soon. Please, Pei Guanzhu, don't kill me. Please, Pei Guanzhu, may we both live long lives."
After bowing before the last statue in the second temple, Xia Jian rose devoutly and earnestly repeated her prayers once more before descending the steps with Shaoyao to buy a Peace Amulet.
Xia Jian chose a moon-white one, its stitching dense and meticulous. Looking at it, she thought for a moment and bought one for herself as well.
The Samaneri smiled gently and handed her the last remaining red Peace Amulet.
"You two devotees have come rather late today. Only this one Peace Amulet is left."
Xia Jian said, "It's fine. I like red."
She took it and watched as the Samaneri, still smiling softly, put away the wooden box containing the amulets. Unable to resist, Xia Jian stepped forward and asked:
"Esteemed master, do you know of Nanshan Temple?"
"Of course I do," the Samaneri replied, visibly surprised and delighted upon hearing the name. Her gaze toward Xia Jian instantly grew much warmer. "Nanshan Temple, far away in distant Dongzhou, is a sacred place of Buddhism."
"Dongzhou…" Xia Jian murmured. "Then, master, do you know of Dijiamoye?"
The Samaneri froze, her smile widening further as she clasped her hands and bowed toward the sky. "Of course I know! Of course I know! Dijiamoye is the most devoted believer. We admire him, and he once traveled to Jinling!"
"Dongzhou is Dijiamoye's roots, but now he wanders everywhere. We haven't received any news of him for a long time!"
Xia Jian thanked the Samaneri and stepped out of Qin'an Temple, carrying one white and one red Peace Amulet.
Dongzhou—according to the original character's memories—was an extremely distant place, perpetually blanketed in snow.
In the original text, as Pei Guanzhu lay dying, his abdomen was nearly torn apart, blood gushing from his mouth. Gaunt and covered in filth, the rain-soaked bluestone ground turned into a frozen, snowy landscape in his mind. In the hallucination of his final moments, he imagined himself rolling in a snowfield, his eyes wide and unfocused, staring emptily ahead as he screamed Dijiamoye's name over and over with heart-wrenching agony.
He insisted he had done nothing wrong, repeating to that name that he had committed no sin.
—It was all fate that brought me to this.