After sorting out the matter of the house, Qin Mingzhi’s thoughts returned to the relationship between Qin Mengxue, Zhu Caiyan, and her father.
Now that she thought about it, Zhu Caiyan’s supposed status as the widow of a fallen martyr was highly suspicious.
And as far as she knew, her father had never been the kind of man who would fool around with women. So how had he suddenly ended up with a fiancée—and a daughter who was already this old?
There had to be something fishy going on.
Qin Mingzhi’s gaze fell on the clump of hair she had just yanked out of Qin Mengxue’s head.
Many of the strands still had their hair follicles attached.
Qin Mingzhi immediately thought of something. She took out a handkerchief, picked up a small bundle of hair, and carefully wrapped it inside.
Wang Sao’s husband worked quickly and efficiently. Before long, he had finished clearing everything out and handed Qin Mingzhi the money he had paid her for the recyclable goods.
The moment the recycling tricycle had ridden out of the gate, Qin Mengxue and Zhu Caiyan came running after it, crying and begging Wang Dage to return their belongings.
Wang Dage ignored them completely, pedaling the tricycle so fast it looked as though sparks might fly from the wheels.
Qin Mengxue and Zhu Caiyan chased after the tricycle until they disappeared into the distance.
Qin Mingzhi took advantage of the opportunity to lock the gate and immediately sent the hair she had collected to the hospital’s forensic testing department.
Her father was already gone, but using her own blood to compare with Qin Mengxue’s would work just as well.
The samples were successfully collected and submitted, and she signed the paperwork.
The results would be ready in about half a month.
Once everything was taken care of, Qin Mingzhi returned home and collapsed onto the bed, finally having a chance to let out a yawn.
She hadn’t noticed it while she had been running around outside, but now that she moved her body, she realized that the muscles in her arms and calves were incredibly sore.
Her arms were especially painful. She had probably grabbed Qin Mengxue a little too hard, because even her fingers were aching.
Qin Mingzhi flexed her fingers and lazily rolled over.
Something slipped out from the neckline of her clothes.
The object pressed against her skin, and when she looked down, Qin Mingzhi remembered that she had casually hung the jade pendant around her neck earlier.
She had been so busy running around all day that she hadn’t even had time to take a proper look at it.
Now that she finally had some free time, Qin Mingzhi took the jade pendant off her neck.
She hadn’t seen this jade pendant in so many years. Just looking at it filled her with nostalgia.
Remembering that the pendant had been stained with blood earlier, Qin Mingzhi deliberately found a damp towel. She sat down in the sunlight and was about to carefully wipe the pendant clean when she gently brushed her fingers across its surface.
Suddenly, she noticed something.
Was the jade pendant… glowing?
Qin Mingzhi frowned in confusion.
She could have sworn the light on the pendant was flickering faintly.
The sunlight made it difficult to see clearly, so she held the pendant between her fingers and was just about to take it somewhere darker for a closer look.
She turned around.
The next second, the world spun.
All the colors around her seemed to break apart into countless threadlike strips, rapidly peeling away as if someone were unraveling silk thread by thread.
Then, strips of different colors appeared and filled in the spaces that had been stripped away, moving so quickly that they could barely be seen.
In the blink of an eye, everything around her had completely changed.
Qin Mingzhi slowly widened her eyes and took a frightened step backward.
A-A ghost?!
But—
Qin Mingzhi looked up at the sky.
It was an unbelievably clear blue.
She lowered her head and looked toward a pool of water not far away. Its surface shimmered beneath the light, while a thin layer of mist hovered above it.
There were trees, houses, flowers, and grass all around her…
Even the air was exceptionally fresh and pleasant.
Everything surrounding her was lush, clear, and vibrant—nothing like any place she had ever seen before.
What kind of ghost was this kind enough to bring her to such a beautiful place?
This was practically a paradise!
Qin Mingzhi stood there in a daze for two seconds before trying to recall what she had been doing before entering this place.
Could it be… that the jade pendant had brought her into some kind of special space?
She had always loved reading strange and supernatural stories. Some of them had mentioned something called an “outer world”—a special realm hidden inside an ordinary-looking object that could only be entered through that object.
The more Qin Mingzhi thought about it, the more she felt that this was the only explanation.
If this really was such a space…
Could this be a gift her mother had left for her?
Qin Mingzhi’s heart tightened with emotion. The fear in her chest faded, replaced by a strange sense of familiarity.
She tentatively lifted one foot and walked toward the nearest pool.
The moment she approached, moisture brushed against the tip of her nose.
Qin Mingzhi inhaled gently.
The vapor seemed to rush straight into her lungs, cleansing everything from her nasal passages to the depths of her lungs. Even her breathing suddenly felt remarkably smooth.
After taking a deep breath, Qin Mingzhi suddenly realized that her sense of smell seemed to have become much sharper.
She could easily detect a fresh, sweet scent that was incredibly soothing.
Was this… the smell of water?
She had never clearly smelled the scent of water before, but instinct told her that this was exactly what it was.
The closer she moved to the pool, the clearer the scent became.
To her right stood what looked like a square stone tablet nearly as tall as a person.
Faintly carved onto it were two words:
“Spirit Spring.”
Qin Mingzhi couldn’t tell what material the tablet was made of. It resembled white jade, yet its color was even purer than that of ordinary white jade.
Curious, Qin Mingzhi peered through the hazy mist.
The entire stone tablet was smooth and lustrous, a creamy white color. At first glance, it looked like one enormous piece of mutton-fat jade.
This was…
Qin Mingzhi approached in disbelief.
Only then did she notice that, apart from the section in the center where the words were carved, the rest of the tablet was covered in auspicious patterns symbolizing good fortune and happiness.
The patterns, the carving techniques, and the material itself…
This wasn’t just similar to the jade pendant her mother had left her.
It was exactly the same!
Qin Mingzhi stared at it in disbelief, examining the tablet over and over.
It really was identical—even the patterns were exactly the same, without the slightest difference.
It was simply an enlarged version of her jade pendant.
She turned her head and looked farther away.
At the edge of what appeared to be farmland, there seemed to be another tablet just like this one. Judging from its color, it was also made of mutton-fat jade.
At this point, Qin Mingzhi completely believed that this place was a space contained within the jade pendant.
She walked around to the back of the tablet marked “Spirit Spring” and examined it.
Several small lines of writing had been carved onto the back.
“Spirit Spring effects: Promotes blood circulation, removes blood stasis, relieves fatigue…”
There seemed to be several more lines beneath it.
For some reason, however, no matter how closely she looked, she couldn’t make them out. The words seemed to be covered by a fixed layer of mist.
Qin Mingzhi reached out and touched the mist.
Four words suddenly appeared within it.
“Please explore further.”
Qin Mingzhi: “?”
Did that mean the Spirit Spring had many other uses, and she was supposed to discover them herself?
But speaking of relieving fatigue…
It was one thing not to think about it.
The moment she did, the soreness in her arms and legs seemed to become even worse.
Beside the base of the stone tablet was a small water ladle.
With the intention of testing it out, Qin Mingzhi simply scooped up a ladleful of water.
Before she could drink it, a few drops clinging to the surface of the ladle trickled along its curve and landed on her index finger.
Qin Mingzhi casually moved her finger.
Out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly noticed that the wound on her index finger—the one Zhu Caiyan had scratched with her fingernail—seemed to have disappeared.
She immediately narrowed her eyes and examined it carefully.
Her skin was smooth and unblemished. There was absolutely no sign that she had ever been injured.
If the pain from the wound hadn’t still been fresh in her memory from just a moment ago, Qin Mingzhi would have thought she had imagined it.
She stared in shock.
At the same time, she noticed that the mutton-fat jade tablet beside her seemed to glow faintly.
She quickly hurried around to the back of the tablet.
The spot that had previously been covered by mist now revealed four clear words.
【Erases scars.】