Looking at the scene before me, I couldn’t help but tremble all over.
I had already taken the initiative to go to their doors to break off the marriage, yet they still wanted my life!
It turned out that the three families had long been in cahoots, setting this trap to lure me in.
Boom! Crack!
Thunderclaps exploded without warning, one after another, as lightning formed a web across the horizon.
The man pulled me into his arms, shielding me tightly.
Thirteen thunderclaps struck around my old house in a circle, while the three families had long since fled the village by car.
Nestled in the man’s embrace, a single phrase echoed incessantly in my mind: “Those who break it shall be struck by lightning and die a miserable death!”
“The marriage contract! The Chang family’s marriage contract wasn’t brought out.”
I snapped back to reality and turned to search for the marriage contract in the fire.
The Feng, Zhu, and Bai families had unilaterally burned their marriage contracts, so the one in my hands being burned was hardly a loss.
But there was still one family left: the Cangshan Chang family.
The Chang family hadn’t participated in tonight’s actions—perhaps they were different from the other three.
The man yanked me back, pinching my chin as he teased, “What, even though the other three families have broken off the marriage, you still haven’t given up? Do you still want to marry into the Chang family?”
“No,” I said, on the verge of tears. “Grandmother’s body is still with the Feng family. Now, only the Chang family can help me. If the marriage contract is burned, I’ll lose even my last hope.”
He released me. “Your grandmother’s body isn’t with the Feng family.”
I: “?”
“Also,” he leaned closer, “the Chang family can’t help you. The only one who can help you now is me.”
I scoffed. “I don’t even know your name. Why should I trust you? Don’t forget, just moments ago, I tried to seal you with a paper talisman. We’re enemies.”
“Liu Xuanyi, that’s my name.” His amber vertical pupils fixed on me as he spoke with utmost seriousness. “Huai Yan, we have never been enemies—not in the past, and never will be in the future.”
My home was burned down, and Dragon-Locking Village was no longer safe. The three families could return at any moment to strike again.
As for the Chang family…
Without the marriage contract, what could I possibly offer to ask for their help?
Now, aside from cooperating with Liu Xuanyi, it seemed I truly had no other way out.
“What are your conditions?”
Nothing in this world comes for free. He wouldn’t help me without reason.
Sure enough, Liu Xuanyi handed me a set of keys and an address. “Find this place. After you open the door and enter, first offer incense to the memorial tablet, then hang the two white lanterns inside the house and open for business.”
I was taken aback. “Open for business? What kind of business?”
Liu Xuanyi didn’t answer. With a wave of his hand, I felt my feet lift off the ground, and when I landed again, I was already outside the village.
·
The address Liu Xuanyi gave me was in the eastern suburbs of the county town.
It was difficult to hail a taxi late at night, and by the time I found the place, it was already past three in the morning.
It was a two-courtyard siheyuan, with blue bricks and red tiles, high courtyard walls, and a large footprint.
Pushing the door open, the storage room was on the right, while the room on the left resembled a reception hall. Inside the hall was an altar table, and indeed, a memorial tablet rested upon it.
Looking closely, I realized the tablet was dedicated to none other than Fifth Master Chang of the Cangshan Chang family!
Liu Xuanyi was a member of the Cangshan Chang family!
I paused for a moment, then offered incense to the tablet.
The two white lanterns were in the corner. I took them out and hung them above the main gate.
A gentle breeze brushed by, and the white lanterns lit up on their own, casting an eerie, faint red glow from the candles.
After completing the tasks Liu Xuanyi had assigned, I headed toward the back.
Beyond the screen wall lay the front courtyard, which was quite spacious. Piled against the wall were numerous objects covered with oilcloth, their contents unknown.
Passing through the moon gate led to the inner courtyard, where many rooms stood, each securely locked.
I opened the door to the main hall, and as it swung open, I was so startled that I stumbled backward several steps.
On the offering table in the main hall, two eternal lamps burned. Below them, shockingly, rested a large coffin made of golden nanmu wood. The coffin was plastered with talismans, strung together with ink lines and weighted down with ancient copper coins. Over the top layer, a thick red rope, as thick as a finger, was tightly wound.
At the head of the coffin sat an octagonal palace lantern, its center transparent, with each corner carved with a ferocious, coiling snake.
Regardless of whose coffin this was, it was an object of great malevolence, given the many layers of suppression applied to it.
I dared not provoke it or disturb it. Clasping my hands together, I bowed toward the coffin, then locked the door and retreated to the front courtyard.
Just as I returned to the reception hall, hurried footsteps suddenly echoed from outside.
Before the person arrived, their voice rang out: “Fifth Brother! My dear Fifth Master Chang, you’ve finally returned!”