Shen Chunyi instinctively wanted to snap his folding fan shut, only to remember he had left it behind at Jiaoyun Tower. He rubbed his hands together somewhat uncomfortably and said,
“First, let me ask you something: Did you send the funeral wreaths to the Zhao residence?”
Shi Yun shifted her gaze from the candle flame, meeting the person opposite her without evasion.
“Yes.”
This question wasn’t difficult to deduce. While it wasn’t uncommon for someone to buy a secondhand funeral wreath so laden with yin energy that it ended up costing them money, it was highly suspicious if every wreath was heavily tainted with yin. It couldn’t be that all the uncles and cousins suddenly had the same impulse to visit the same shop and were simultaneously unlucky enough to be poisoned by secondhand wreaths, could it?
But if all these wreaths came from the same person, it would be easy to explain.
Shen Chunyi said calmly,
“Did you send those wreaths to cover up the yin energy from the cursed lotus you planted?”
Shi Yun smiled. “Senior brother truly has keen insight.”
Shen Chunyi also smiled. “You’re putting on such a martyr-like act, making it seem as if I’m interrogating you.”
Shi Yun lifted the corner of her mouth. “Aren’t you?”
Shen Chunyi said leisurely, “Don’t be so quick to admit it. Let me ask you another question:
Do you have a grudge against the Zhao family?”
Shi Yun replied frankly, “Yes.”
“What grudge?”
Shi Yun pursed her lips, seemingly reluctant to discuss it further. Just then, Xuan Shuangxu pushed the door open. With one hand holding the door and the other carrying a wooden basin filled with warm water, a white towel draped over its edge, he overheard their conversation. He closed the door with his foot, raising an eyebrow.
“Don’t want to talk about it?”
Shen Chunyi said gently, “Do what you need to do. This has nothing to do with you.”
“Oh.”
With that, he placed the wooden basin on the table, soaked the white towel, wrung it out, and began wiping Shen Chunyi’s face. Shen Chunyi closed one eye, looking as though he was accustomed to being waited on. After wiping his face, Xuan Shuangxu diligently lifted Shen Chunyi’s hand and cleaned the bloodstains from between his fingers.
Shi Yun truly felt out of place sitting there and said sincerely, “Senior brother has really taken in a good disciple.”
“Your praise is too generous,” Shen Chunyi said, opening his eyes. “Since you don’t want to talk about it now, we can discuss it later.”
He changed the subject. “You covered your tracks so meticulously, even using a sound-scrambling spell, because you were afraid he would recognize you.”
“Yes.”
Shen Chunyi said, “You admit it quite readily.”
Shi Yun replied indifferently, “At this point, with a momentary lapse leading to exposure, what else is there for me not to admit?”
“Good, then let me ask you another question—do you know Hongyun?”
This time, Shi Yun didn’t answer as quickly.
“Or, let me rephrase the question. What should I call you? Shi Yun, Shiyun, or—Xiao Hui?”
Shi Yun’s shoulders and neck tensed slightly, and the indifferent, unyielding expression on her face finally cracked a little.
“Senior brother knows a bit too much.”
Shen Chunyi replied modestly,
“Not too much, just enough.”
When the lotus monster knocked over the soup pot Hongyun had brought, Shen Chunyi stared at the soft apple pieces on the ground and suddenly remembered something: he had seen Hongyun before! Over a decade ago, in Jiaoyun Tower, it was the woman who made him hawthorn and apple soup, the woman who pushed Shiyun in front of Dongfang Zhen!
Non-human beings with the potential to become demons were rare, and even fewer could be subjected to curses. The twin lotus flowers of Jiaoyun Tower, having absorbed the tower’s abundant yin energy, had produced two rare spiritual roots.
After searching high and low to no avail, Shi Yun plucked one of the flowers, cast a curse, and intended to harm the master of the Zhao residence.
Thus, Hongyun’s response made perfect sense. Why had there been no strange visitors recently? Because Shi Yun had come from the Jiaoyun Pavilion, so she wasn’t considered an outsider at all. Why had she hesitated slightly upon hearing Shi Yun’s name? Because her mind, controlled by the gu worm, couldn’t distinguish between the names Shi Yun and Shiyun, so she needed time to think.
Moreover, in her deeply ingrained memory, Shi Yun should have been called Xiao Hui! Although Shi Yun had openly admitted it, Shen Chunyi still felt vaguely that something was off. The Rain-Born Curse was truly too brutal. Those afflicted by it had to endure the sensation of their bodies being slowly devoured while still alive, and their deaths were comparable to death by a thousand cuts—extremely cruel.
Shen Chunyi felt that although the young girl Shi Yun often had some unconventional ideas, she wouldn’t be so cruel. What kind of grudge could drive her to use such a vicious method to take revenge on an entire family, including even unrelated relatives and servants?
Another point that Shen Chunyi found most suspicious was that Shi Yun was someone who cherished her reputation greatly. Even if she harbored a deep-seated hatred for the Zhao family over her father’s death, she wouldn’t act so blatantly.
The death vine caused by the Rain-Born Curse was still lying there, and as soon as day broke, someone would discover it. Those capable of using forbidden curses would naturally be suspected of being cultivators. The nearest sect to this place was Taiwu Mountain, and sooner or later, the investigation would lead to Shi Yun.
If a forbidden curse of this level were discovered, the punishment would be severe enough to ruin her for lifetimes to come. It was a move that harmed the enemy eight hundred while costing oneself a thousand. Based on his understanding of Shi Yun, this was utterly unreasonable. She was definitely not the kind of person who would throw away her life over a trivial matter.
Shen Chunyi said, “Tell me yourself why you did this. Don’t make me force it out of you.”
Shi Yun replied, “Just because you tell me to, I have to say it?”
Shen Chunyi sighed, “You should just say it. I suspect this matter might not have anything to do with you.”
Shi Yun chuckled softly, “How could it not have anything to do with me?”
She continued, “Although I think you, Senior Brother, are too lazy to bother with such trivial matters, if you report this, I might be expelled from the sect. Why don’t you show some mercy and let me go? We can each go our separate ways, and you can pretend you never saw me.”
“‘Might’?” Shen Chunyi said with a faint smile, “If this is something you did, expulsion from the sect would be a lenient punishment. You know the laws of Taiwu Mountain as well as I do.”
Shi Yun certainly knew. At this point, she seemed to sense something amiss and couldn’t help but ask, “What’s going on?”
Xuan Shuangxi rinsed the towel, wrung it dry, straightened up, and gave her a nonchalant glance before succinctly saying, “Speak.”
Shi Yun let out a long sigh, “It’s really a long story.”
“No problem,” Shen Chunyi said with a slight smile, “You can keep it short.”
One played the good cop, the other the bad cop, creating an atmosphere that suggested they wouldn’t rest until they got to the bottom of the matter. Shi Yun lowered her eyelashes and finally began to speak. As for her mother’s background, Shi Yun had also heard it from others, though it wasn’t anything flattering—even though the neighbors’ gossip often carried a tone of schadenfreude and mockery, these scattered words still allowed a young child to piece together her mother’s past. After all, no one else in the family was willing to tell her these things.
Shi Yun’s mother had already been working at Jiaoyun House before she was even born. As for how her mother was sold into that kind of place or how she became pregnant with Shi Yun—these were things no one knew.
The earliest story Shi Yun knew about her mother was that she had met her father, a patron of the brothel, and the two had fallen in love. However, her father couldn’t afford to buy her freedom, so he came up with an idea: to sneak her out under the cover of darkness.
And so, on a starless, moonless night, Shi Yun’s mother took the rope her lover had secretly slipped to her during the day, slid down from the upper floor, and fell into her lover’s embrace. Together, they ran far away.
It sounded like a heroic tale of rescuing a fallen woman, but if their life afterward had been as happy and perfect as in the stories of talented scholars and beautiful ladies, there would have been no further tale to tell.
Shi Yun’s father didn’t frequent brothels often, claiming to her mother that he was busy with family affairs and couldn’t visit regularly. In truth, there was nothing particularly strange about this—after all, what respectable man with a family and career would spend all his time hanging around brothels?
But after Shi Yun’s mother ran away with him, she discovered that it wasn’t because he was a man of high moral character, but because he couldn’t scrape together a single coin even if he wore out his underpants.
Even the money he had saved over a long time had all been thrown into the brothel.
However, the power of love is always astonishing and moving. Shi Yun’s mother felt that this kind of simple, hard life was bearable. Even if their family could stretch a single meat bone from the winter solstice to the spring equinox, she still believed that the uncertain, hand-to-mouth existence with her lover was far better than life at Jiaoyun House.
She was hidden away by her husband in their dilapidated shack, never stepping outside the inner courtyard, always sneaking around for fear of being seen. If they had kept up this secrecy for a lifetime, they might have lived in peace. But what man doesn’t like to show off? Marrying a beautiful wife without spending a single coin, who didn’t complain about their poverty or the hardships of life, and who dutifully washed clothes, cooked meals, served tea, and poured water—she was truly the epitome of virtue.
Bragging about this was such a wonderful thing!
How could such a wonderful story not be shared with his relatives, friends, and neighbors?
Little did he know that while he was bragging happily, others were far from pleased. He was a lazy, good-for-nothing man who indulged in drinking, gambling, and visiting brothels, without a proper job, spending all his time spouting sweet talk. How could he possibly have tricked a wife without spending a single coin?
He must have been lying through his teeth. On the surface, the neighbors offered cheerful congratulations, but behind their backs, they were grinding their teeth in frustration. All the good wives from decent families were being tricked away by this smooth-talking, lazy scoundrel—honest men like them were really getting the short end of the stick!
And so, they began whispering among themselves: Could it be that this woman was infertile? She must be—either she couldn’t bear children to continue the family line, or she was hideously ugly, which was why this man had managed to snatch her up. Otherwise, how could a lazy scoundrel like him have a wife willing to bear his child?
After chattering back and forth like this for a while, they finally managed to console themselves. Looking up at the sky, they sighed deeply: Heaven must be fair. He had no achievements and no virtues—why should such an incredible stroke of luck fall to him?
But to everyone’s astonishment, not long after, something major happened in the lazy man’s household—his wife was pregnant. This was truly a joyous occasion!
The lazy man could no longer contain his desire to show off his beautiful wife. Whenever he met even a dog on the street, he would gleefully drag it over and boast:
“How did you know my wife is carrying a big, healthy son for me?”
The men in the neighborhood offered their congratulations with forced smiles, but inwardly they were seething with envy. How could such a stroke of luck fall upon this lazy good-for-nothing?
To keep themselves from stewing in resentment, they consoled each other with conviction: “If she’s not barren, then she must be ugly. How could a beautiful woman ever settle for a layabout?”
One busybody, eager for gossip, nudged the lazy man and teased, “Hey, you’re always bragging about how gorgeous your wife is, but you never let us see her. Are you afraid we’ll call her ugly if you show her off? Come on, we’ve been neighbors for years. Even if she looks like a fright, no one would say a word. Don’t worry!”
Unexpectedly, these words set the lazy man off like water hitting boiling oil. He snapped angrily, “Bullshit! My wife is as beautiful as a fairy. Don’t talk nonsense if you’ve never seen her!”
Everyone burst into laughter, chattering all at once: “If she’s so pretty, why are you hiding her? Can’t bear to share?”
“It’s not that he can’t bear to—he’s just too scared! This guy loves to boast. Maybe he tricked some simple-minded girl from East Village into marrying him. What a sin!”
“Exactly! What sensible girl who knows to come home when it rains would ever marry him?”
Infuriated by their taunts, the lazy man could hardly contain his rage. The very next day, he helped his slightly pregnant wife sit by the door to “sunbathe.” Though it was an overcast day with no sun in sight, everyone saw it clearly: the lazy man’s wife was truly stunning!