Mu Yin noticed that ever since Hong Zhuang arrived at Nine Stars Gate, her temper had grown increasingly volatile.
She quickly stopped her and said, “We haven’t even figured out the whole situation yet. Why are you so impulsive?”
Mu Yin then turned to Jiang Fan and asked, “Speaking of which, it’s been a whole day, and I haven’t seen my father. Do you know where he went?”
Logically, after such a huge commotion with Qin Shi and the Fourth Young Lady imprisoned Mu Yuefeng should have shown up by now. His absence was highly suspicious.
Jiang Fan replied, “The sect leader went to the magistrate’s office early this morning, saying he needed to help with some official matters. The news about Lady Hong Zhuang imprisoning the madam hasn’t spread yet. Moreover, under my orders, no one in Nine Stars Gate, whether from the inner household or among the disciples is allowed to leave.”
Well, well. Locking the gates to settle scores inside.
Mu Yin couldn’t help but give Jiang Fan another look. She had initially thought this woman was merely bold and spirited, but now it seemed her sense of justice was also commendable. Still, wasn’t she being reckless by taking control of Nine Stars Gate so abruptly? What if this turned out to be a huge misunderstanding?
Jiang Fan naturally noticed the doubt in Mu Yin’s eyes. She pulled out a tattered piece of paper from her sleeve and handed it to Mu Yin.
“The reason I’m certain Mu Yuefeng murdered the former sect leader is because I obtained this petition,” Jiang Fan said, pressing her lips together. “I grew up an orphan, living by the city walls. The former sect leader of Nine Stars Gate would regularly distribute porridge to beggars like me. I’d seen him a few times before.”
“A few days ago, while arranging for the cleaning of the South Courtyard, I entered for the first time and encountered the former sect leader’s ghost. He gave me this petition.” Jiang Fan’s expression darkened. “If he hadn’t died unjustly, why would his entire family be trapped in the South Courtyard as wandering spirits? If Mu Yuefeng isn’t the murderer, then why are all the victims from the inner household?”
Mu Yin stared at the petition, identical to the one she had received earlier and felt a chill in her heart.
It seemed the evidence was irrefutable.
Even as wandering spirits, the former sect leader’s family had crawled back to seek justice.
“I understand,” Mu Yin said, accepting the petition. “Sister Jiang, please maintain control over Nine Stars Gate. I will avenge them.”
Not just for herself, but also for those wronged souls.
Si Lingqing, who had been lying nearby, lifted her little head at these words. She folded her hands together and leisurely swayed her tail.
After bidding farewell to the magistrate’s office, Mu Yuefeng boarded his carriage for home.
Recently, there had been frequent disturbances caused by demons wreaking havoc in the surrounding villages. As the leader of Nine Stars Gate, Mu Yuefeng naturally had to contribute his efforts, which was why he had visited the magistrate’s office today for discussions.
Truthfully, such discussions could have happened anytime. But Mu Yuefeng had chosen today for a reason.
He didn’t want to see that jinx, Mu Yin.
Sitting in the carriage, Mu Yuefeng closed his eyes and touched the sect leader’s jade pendant engraved with talismanic script at his waist.
After all these years, he had had enough of that ghost-attracting girl. Yesterday marked their final meeting as “father and daughter.” From now on, he wanted nothing to do with her.
When Mu Yuefeng slaughtered his sworn brother’s entire family years ago, the only one he couldn’t kill was that three-year-old girl. Every time he tried, strange occurrences would thwart him.
It was as if some unseen force was protecting her.
Mu Yuefeng had no choice but to temporarily place the child under his wife’s name, making her his third daughter.
But since she wasn’t his own flesh and blood, Qin Shi treated Mu Yin poorly. Even under Mu Yuefeng’s implicit approval, she made multiple attempts on Mu Yin’s life, yet each time, those who carried out the deed met bizarre and untimely deaths.
Over the past decade, Mu Yuefeng and his wife Qin Shi had lived in constant fear. Fortunately, Mu Yin was now married off, she would never have to return to this household again.
The thought alone lifted Mu Yuefeng’s spirits, and he couldn’t help but stroke the sect leader’s jade pendant hanging at his waist.
Thud!thud!thud!
Just then, Mu Yuefeng, seated in the carriage, seemed to hear a strange noise.
He opened his eyes and glanced at the swaying carriage curtain, frowning as he asked, “Did you hear something?”
The coachman replied, “No, I didn’t hear anything, Master.”
Mu Yuefeng thought he might have imagined it. He lifted the curtain to look outside—the sky had already darkened completely, and it would soon be midnight. Mu Yin must have already left by now.
Good riddance.
The farther that ill-omened thing went, the better.
Lowering the curtain, Mu Yuefeng closed his eyes again to rest.
Thud, thud, thud!
Mu Yuefeng’s eyes snapped open. He raised his head, frowning as he touched the wooden ceiling above him the sound seemed to be coming from there.
Had something landed on the carriage?
The moment his fingers brushed the ceiling, a muffled thud echoed through the carriage, like something heavy had crashed onto it and shattered. Mu Yuefeng’s pupils contracted in shock, and he instinctively drew his sword, thrusting it straight into the wooden panel where the sound had come from.
A dull, squelching noise, like stabbing into a cabbage, followed. When Mu Yuefeng pulled his sword back, he saw dark red blood staining the blade.
“Someone’s here?!”
With a shout, Mu Yuefeng leaped out of the carriage, sword in hand, and turned to glare at the vehicle.
But there was no one on the carriage.
The coachman, bewildered by Mu Yuefeng’s sudden leap, quickly reined in the horse and stared at his master’s alarmed expression. “Master, did something happen?”
Mu Yuefeng’s face darkened. “There was someone on the carriage just now, didn’t you see them?!”
The coachman scratched his head in confusion, stood up to inspect the roof, and said, “No, there’s nothing on the roof.”
“How can there be nothing? My sword was—” Mu Yuefeng glanced at his blade, only to find it clean and unblemished, as if it had never been drawn.
The coachman stood on the carriage, staring at Mu Yuefeng in bewilderment, not daring to speak.
Mu Yuefeng gritted his teeth. He knew exactly what he was dealing with.
Over the years, with Mu Yin living under his roof, Mu Yuefeng had encountered plenty of such eerie and inexplicable incidents. The people he had killed had begun seeking vengeance against him, his wife, and his children. Desperate, he had spent a fortune hiring exorcists, outfitting his family with protective talismans, and even forcing his wife and children to give away their long-worn personal belongings to the servants.
As long as those servants came into contact with the ghost in the south courtyard, the ghost would mistake them for Mu Yuefeng and his group, thus avoiding disaster.
This method used to work quite well, but it was becoming less and less effective now.
Mu Yuefeng sheathed his sword and glanced around. Seeing that he wasn’t far from the Nine Stars Gate, he walked over and patted the carriage, secretly tucking a strand of his hair into a crevice before saying to the servant, “You drive the carriage back first. I’ll walk.”
Since the master had spoken, the servant had no choice but to obey. He drove the carriage away.
Mu Yuefeng stood still, watching the carriage grow smaller in the distance. At the corner, he saw a black shadow crawl onto the roof of the carriage. The servant, completely unaware, steered the carriage into the dark alley.
Mu Yuefeng touched his hair and snorted coldly.
He had just slipped his hair into the carriage’s crevice so the ghost would think he was still inside.
“That man really is an unlucky thing.”
Mu Yuefeng wasn’t the least bit concerned about the servant’s safety, nor did he care whether the ghost, upon realizing he wasn’t in the carriage, would attack someone else. He merely rubbed his jade pendant and slowly made his way toward the Nine Stars Gate.