The rain had stopped in the mountains, but it was still pouring in the capital.
The storm was especially violent over the Marquis of Anning’s residence. It was as if a dark, monstrous beast were spitting torrents of water at the estate. Water surged up the steps, fierce winds ripped tiles from the rooftops, and decades-old trees in the courtyard snapped under the force of the gale.
Marquis Su Zhen paced back and forth inside a room, cradling his newborn illegitimate daughter. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning tore through the roof and struck the ground right beside his feet, leaving him drenched in cold sweat.
Before he could recover from the shock, the entire building began to shake. The people inside panicked and rushed toward the exit. They had barely made it outside when the house collapsed behind them.
Splashes of water drenched everyone from head to toe.
A flying stone struck Su Zhen directly in the forehead, splitting his skin and drawing blood.
The servants hurried to hold umbrellas over Su Zhen and Xu Yuru, his mistress who had just given birth. They escorted the two of them toward another building, struggling through the rising floodwater.
As Su Zhen stepped over the threshold, his foot slipped. He slammed his head against the doorframe, reopening his forehead and sending the baby in his arms flying through the air.
Fortunately, one quick-thinking servant managed to catch the infant.
“Marquis, are you all right?” Xu Yuru asked anxiously.
“I’m fine.” Su Zhen pressed a hand against his forehead. “Why has everything gone so terribly wrong today?”
A servant hurried over.
“Marquis, something terrible has happened! The Madam has passed away, and the Eldest Young Master was so devastated that he cried until he fainted.”
Another elderly nanny arrived with an umbrella.
“Marquis, there’s more bad news! The Old Madam fell and fractured her right foot.”
Before she could finish speaking, a powerful gust of wind tore her umbrella apart and carried it away. She desperately clung to it, nearly being swept off her feet by the gale. Fortunately, two servants rushed over to grab her, and all three tumbled into the floodwater.
One disaster followed another at the marquis’s residence.
The horses in the stable went berserk, charging out and running wildly through the estate. The chickens, ducks, and geese that had yet to be slaughtered escaped from the kitchen and began defecating everywhere. Swarms of rats appeared in the ancestral hall, gnawing through the ancestral tablets.
Floodwater nearly submerged the entire estate. The water level gradually rose to the waists of adult men, while filth and debris floated everywhere.
Xu Yuru spoke weakly. “It must be because of that jinx. She caused Sister’s death and injured the Old Madam’s foot. All the disasters that happened in the estate today were brought upon us by her.”
Hearing this, Su Zhen’s expression darkened beneath his bloodstained face.
“If that jinx isn’t eliminated, the Marquis’s residence will never know peace again.”
At that moment, the illegitimate daughter lying beside Xu Yuru, Su Yanhuan, burst into loud cries.
Coincidentally, the moment she began crying, the torrential rain gradually subsided.
Seeing this, Su Zhen was overjoyed.
“Yanhuan truly is a blessed child! The moment she cries, Heaven finally opens its eyes and stops the rain.”
Half an hour after the rain stopped, the guards who had gone searching for Xiangyu and Shen Chuyun finally returned in a sorry state.
Su Zhen had sent fifteen guards, yet only three came back. Every one of them looked utterly battered, and one was seriously injured. He was deeply shocked.
After questioning them, he learned that Xiangyu had fallen down a mountainside and encountered a pack of wolves, while the jinx had disappeared without a trace. When the guards searched a cave, they were attacked by a tiger.
They had barely escaped the tiger’s jaws before encountering other wild beasts. By the time they finally fled the mountains, their original group of fifteen had been reduced to three.
Su Zhen was bewildered and suspicious.
“How could there be so many wild beasts on the outskirts of Sunset Mountain?”
Sunset Mountain was the largest mountain near the capital. It was divided into the outer, middle, and inner regions. Wild beasts generally roamed the middle and inner regions and rarely ventured toward the outskirts.
Why had so many of them come out today?
Had the guards not retreated in time, not a single one might have made it back alive.
One of the guards spoke weakly.
“While we were fleeing, we found this bloodstained piece of cloth. It’s made from the same material as the swaddling clothes used for the Eldest Young Miss.”
Su Zhen took the bloodstained cloth and examined it carefully. A look of anguish flashed across his eyes.
“If that’s the case, my daughter must have been eaten by wild beasts.”
“I only wanted to send her somewhere far away. I never intended to take her life. My daughter!”
“Forget it. Perhaps this was simply her fate. She was never meant to be born into this world.”
After the guards withdrew, leaving no one else in the room, Su Zhen comforted Xu Yuru with a few words before going to see Shen Ling’s body.
When he arrived at the birthing chamber, the smell of blood still lingered in the air. Su Zhen dismissed everyone, and his expression immediately turned cold. There was not the slightest trace of sorrow in his eyes.
He gently stroked Shen Ling’s face.
“You should have died long ago.”
He then began searching the room for something. When he failed to find what he wanted, he angrily punched Shen Ling in the chest.
“Where on earth did you hide it?”
Shen Ling’s body twitched slightly, but the movement was so subtle that Su Zhen failed to notice.
“If I can’t find that thing, I’ll make your son wish he were dead!”
After saying this furiously, Su Zhen stormed out of the room.
He rushed to Su Linzhou’s bedroom and slapped his unconscious son awake. Grabbing Su Linzhou by the collar, he snarled viciously.
“It’s all your fault, you unfilial wretch! You caused your younger sister’s death! I only wanted to send her to another estate, but you colluded with Xiangyu and stole her away. Now both she and Xiangyu have been devoured by wild beasts! You killed them!”
Su Linzhou was devastated.
“Is my younger sister really dead? And there isn’t even a body left? Did I really cause her death? Did I also get Auntie Xiangyu killed? It’s all my fault…”
Unable to bear the terrible news, he sank into overwhelming guilt. His pupils gradually lost their focus.
Seeing this, Su Zhen smiled smugly. He released Su Linzhou and left the room.
However, as he stepped through the doorway, his foot slipped. He fell backward, striking the back of his head against the threshold. Blood immediately flowed from the wound, and he lost consciousness.
The servants panicked and hurriedly carried him away.
After the door closed, Su Linzhou curled up beneath his blanket, tightly clutching the piece of warm jade his mother had left him. Tears streamed endlessly down his face.
“Mother, I’m sorry. I failed to protect my little sister.”
The following day, Su Linzhou went mad.
Su Zhen’s life was saved after a physician treated his head injury, but he developed chronic migraines.
Xu Yuru had just given birth and then been drenched by the rain. She caught a severe chill and suffered from a persistent high fever that refused to subside.
The Old Madam’s right foot worsened, and it could no longer be healed. From then on, she would have to live with a limp.
…
Shen Chuyun had no idea what had happened at the Marquis’s residence.
At that moment, Qin Laoliu was carrying her in his arms as they emerged from the mountains beneath the warm morning sunlight. They left the capital behind and headed toward a place filled with birdsong and fragrant flowers.
Half a month later, on the second day of the fourth lunar month, the three finally arrived at Qingfeng Valley.
The sixth day of the month would be Xiao Jianshan’s seventieth birthday. All his disciples had gathered in the valley, and everyone was busy preparing for the celebration.
When they saw Xiao Jianshan and Qin Laoliu returning with a baby girl, the disciples were both astonished and delighted.
The Eldest Senior Brother rubbed his hands together eagerly, practically itching to get started.
“This little thing survived a whole month of being tormented by Master and Laoliu. She must be incredibly sturdy! She’d be perfect for testing my medicines.”
Second Senior Sister shoved him aside.
“Go away! You medicine-obsessed lunatic! How could you bear to use such an adorable little girl as a test subject? She should learn the art of seduction from me instead. When she grows up, I’ll teach her how to charm handsome men all over the world. It’ll be so much fun!”
Third Senior Brother squeezed his way forward.
“Seduction is improper! She should learn how to kill people from me…”
The six senior brothers and sisters began chattering and arguing noisily among themselves.
Suddenly, Second Senior Sister furrowed her brows.
“Does anyone else smell something strange?”
The Eldest Senior Brother lifted Shen Chuyun up as if she were a little chick and shook her twice.
“The stink is coming from her! Little thing, how long has it been since you last had a bath?”