“Brother Changfeng, please don’t be angry. I was the one who wanted to look around—it’s not Elder Brother’s fault.” Aware of her improper behavior, Ji Shiyun explained softly with a flushed face.
He Changfeng pulled the siblings behind the rockery and whispered, “Don’t let Father know you’ve been here. He would be furious.”
The Ji family siblings nodded repeatedly.
Afterward, Ji Shiyun had asked He Wanyin what was so special about that courtyard, why it was treated with such secrecy. He Wanyin hemmed and hawed, only saying it was haunted and thus sealed off, urging her not to inquire further.
It wasn’t until He Wanyin’s coming-of-age ceremony that Ji Shiyun overheard two lazy maids crouched in a corner gossiping and learned that someone had died in that well!
“Did you hear it last night?”
“I did—it was terrifying…”
“Exactly! That lady was so restless in life, having an affair with her cousin, and now she won’t rest in death either…”
“I suspect the lady and her cousin were forced to jump into the well, so they died with unresolved grievances, which is why…”
“Stop, stop! It’s creepy even in broad daylight.”
So He Wanyin’s mother had died in disgrace—no wonder she refused to speak of it. As time passed, Ji Shiyun gradually forgot the matter, but recalling it now felt distinctly peculiar.
“Logically, why would a family like the Hes dig a well in the inner courtyard, disrupting their own feng shui? Especially since Uncle He is a feng shui master himself.” Ji Shiyun paused, then lowered her voice mysteriously. “Do you think there really are ghosts in that well?”
“Whether there are ghosts or not, we’ll know once we investigate.”
“Third Senior Brother, we’re not familiar with the He residence. What if there really is something? Wouldn’t that be like sheep entering a tiger’s den?” Xiao Yuanzi scratched his head and looked up at Yan Wuyou.
Yan Wuyou agreed wholeheartedly: “Junior Brother is right. Only by knowing yourself and your enemy can you be victorious in every battle.”
Just as He Lian Mingche was about to concur, he noticed Yan Wuyou staring fixedly at him and sensed trouble!
Sure enough, Yan Wuyou smiled warmly: “Therefore, we need Second Senior Brother to test the waters.”
He Lian Mingche pointed at himself, then at Xiao Yuanzi, incredulous: “Junior Brother brought this up—why am I the one running errands?”
“Naturally because Second Senior Brother’s lightness skill is unparalleled, second to none!”
Well, this was putting him on the spot in front of everyone! What could he do? Third Brother excelled at everything, and Junior Brother, with his one-in-ten-thousand Pure Yang Bloodline, was essentially a walking antidote. As for himself… aside from lightness skill, he only had lightness skill.
“Xiao Yuanzi, do you remember the incantation for the Five Elements Demon Slaying Formation?”
Xiao Yuanzi scratched his head: “Zhen like an upturned bowl, Gen like an inverted vessel, Li hollow at the center, Kan full at the center, Xun broken below.”
Yan Wuyou nodded and asked: “Remember it now?”
Though puzzled—he’d long memorized the Five Elements Demon Slaying Formation taught by their master—Xiao Yuanzi replied earnestly: “I remember.”
Yan Wuyou then asked Ji Shiyun: “Where is the He residence?”
“The southern White Gardenia Lane, the innermost western compound.”
“In that case, we shall take our leave here. Young ladies should return home early to rest—tonight may be unsettled.”
Ji Shiyun wanted to say more, but Lin Yao pulled her away, extinguishing her curiosity: “How could proper young ladies like us involve ourselves in such ghostly matters? What if something happens? What would Uncle and Aunt think? If there truly is something unusual at the He residence, everyone will know by tomorrow—why rush now?”
Hearing this, Ji Shiyun’s brow indeed smoothed as she pulled Lin Yao along to find Ji Shiyue.
That night, at the hour of Zi.
West wall of the He residence, Bai Zhi Lane.
“Third Senior Brother, why is Miss Shen here?” Xiao Yuanzi nudged Yan Wuyou beside him, lowering his voice.
Yan Wuyou glanced at Lin Yao under the tree and whispered, “Can you get up here?”
Lin Yao gently gathered her energy and leaped up in one bound. “According to the Bagua positions you mentioned, the next should be Kun. Kun corresponds to southwest. Before we left, you specifically asked about the He residence’s location, and ‘Kan is full’ refers to the time when Yin energy is strongest—the hour of Zi. So putting it together: the southwest side of the He residence at the hour of Zi.”
Xiao Yuanzi listened and gave a thumbs up: A fellow practitioner! And a skilled one at that!
“Move to that tree over there—this branch is about to break!” Yan Wuyou tilted his chin, signaling Xiao Yuanzi to shift.
Hmph, how heavy can a child like me be! Xiao Yuanzi pouted and flew to cling to another tree.
Lin Yao scanned the area and noticed He Lian Mingche wasn’t present, so she asked, “Where’s Mage He Lian?”
“Don’t rush. When he arrives, we’ll have our hands full.” Speak of the devil—
Under the dark moon and lonely night, a figure suddenly appeared on the southern rooftop. Though clad in black and masked, the tall ponytail made him instantly recognizable!
He Lian Mingche leaped down from the roof, executed a roll, and landed steadily in the western courtyard. He pulled out a fire starter, untied two packs from his sides, retrieved two bundles of oil-soaked hay, tossed them by the well, ignited them, then turned away with flair.
This seamless series of moves left the three observers in the distant trees stunned. From their admiring gazes, he derived the satisfaction of a life’s highlight moment—truly concealing merit and fame!
Just as he leaped to exit the He residence, the flames behind him instantly died! He turned to see a bizarre figure floating out from the well…
Hadn’t they agreed he would set the fire to draw the household to the western courtyard, allowing them to infiltrate amid the chaos?
How did this disheveled “big brother” emerge from the well?
In the blink of an eye, before the “big brother” could get close, He Lian Mingche took off running—
“You didn’t tell Second Senior Brother that He Zhang was in the well?”
Yan Wuyou remained unperturbed: “If he doesn’t lure the creature away, how do we get down?” Seeing the two still staring at him, he merely curled his lips. “Relax, he’ll be fine. He’s carrying a powerful magical artifact! Let’s go—”
The three leaped down to the wellside. Lin Yao and Yan Wuyou exclaimed simultaneously: “Soul Locking Formation!”
The talisman peeled off near the well was no ordinary charm but a Blood Curse—a vicious spell used to imprison souls. Previously, from the distant tree, the details were unclear, but now standing in the courtyard, they realized the stones, trees, and well were deliberately positioned, forming a Soul Locking Formation, with this well serving as a Soul Locking Altar!
The Soul Locking Formation was pioneered by the Daoist sage He Xuzi to imprison evil spirits. However, later, unscrupulous Daoists seeking immortality resorted to extreme means, accumulating corpse energy in the Soul Locking Altar to nurture a Soul Master, leading to catastrophic bloodshed. Since then, the Soul Locking Formation had been classified as a forbidden art.
Both had only read about it in texts. If this truly was a Soul Locking Altar, it likely housed a nurtured Soul Master—though to what extent remained unknown.
“If your skills aren’t up to par, better not come down.” Yan Wuyou glanced at Lin Yao before leaping into the well first. Xiao Yuanzi followed without hesitation. Lin Yao clenched her fists and descended as well.
The three discovered a hidden chamber at the bottom of the well, with passages extending east and west—likely one leading to safety, the other to peril.
After a quick calculation, Yan Wuyou chose the western path.
It was a narrow, descending tunnel. Yan Wuyou removed two torches from the walls, lit them, handed one to Xiao Yuanzi, and took the lead. Lin Yao walked in the middle. As they descended, the path grew steeper, ending abruptly at an underground tomb that left them stunned.
The torchlight revealed an astonishingly large space—a rectangular brick tomb with a barrel-vaulted ceiling, about six zhang long and three zhang high. The walls were carved with murals: a medicine boy grinding herbs, mortals kneeling in worship, immortals bestowing elixirs… Clearly, the tomb’s owner was obsessed with immortality. The depth and weathering of the carvings indicated the tomb predated He Zhang’s generation.
Why had the He estate been built over a burial ground?
Two coffins lay in the center. Whose was the extra one?
Holding their breath, the three approached cautiously.
A sharp crack echoed like thunder in the silent tomb, startling Xiao Yuanzi. Yan Wuyou lowered his torch to reveal a dried bone under Xiao Yuanzi’s foot.
When Xiao Yuanzi directed his torchlight downward, all three gasped in horror: scattered across the floor were skeletal remains—some piled intact, others with skulls rolled aside, most dismembered limbs.
“Corpse Gathering and Nourishing—” Yan Wuyou mouthed. Lin Yao and Xiao Yuanzi nodded grimly. That someone would practice such a heinous “immortality” art was monstrous. This confirmed a Soul Master’s presence.
Yan Wuyou lit talisman flames to ignite oil lamps along the walls. They edged toward the first coffin.
He Wanyin?
Lin Yao and Yan Wuyou exchanged equally bewildered glances.
Inside lay a woman with lifelike features, ninety percent identical to He Wanyin. Her hands were folded over her chest, eyes closed as if asleep, but her blood-red lips looked unnerving.
Suddenly, her eyes snapped open, and she grinned eerily at them. Lin Yao immediately slapped a talisman onto her forehead.
The woman’s eyes shut instantly, her face peaceful as if nothing had happened.
Yan Wuyou shook his head at Lin Yao.
She understood: this wasn’t He Wanyin. Though strikingly similar, the corpse was older—likely the Madam He whom maids claimed had jumped into the well. She nodded silently, mouthing, “Madam He.”
Turning to the second coffin, they shuddered: based on stature and clothing, it held a grown man. Unlike Madam He, his body was shriveled like dried jerky, barely covered by a white inner robe.
The sight of overlapping old and new scars on its wrist was truly shocking. But the most bizarre part was that its chest rose and fell rhythmically, just like a living person!
“What on earth is this thing?” Lin Yao felt a chill of fear. “Did we stumble into a nest of monsters? One chased us out, and two more were hiding underneath…”
“Guh-heh-heh—”