He suddenly charged toward Shen Mingshu, startling Yue Ying, who had been hiding in the shadows, into rushing out in alarm.
Watching Zhang Dashan charge at her, Shen Mingshu reached out and precisely seized his neck. A layer of flames enveloped her hand, scorching Zhang Dashan’s face until it twisted in agony.
A cold glint flashed as a long sword swept through Zhang Dashan’s soul, yet it left him completely unharmed.
Shen Mingshu turned to the black-clad youth beside her. “Who are you?”
Yue Ying replied in a deep voice, “My master sent me to protect you.”
Shen Mingshu immediately guessed he was sent by Pei Jingheng and said calmly, “He’s a spirit, you can’t harm him. Step back.”
Yue Ying obediently retreated, though the fine sweat at his temples betrayed his fear.
Shen Mingshu tightened her grip on Zhang Dashan’s neck and said coldly, “You were just an ordinary mortal in life, and your soul has no cultivation after death. How could you seize the century-old cultivation of the locust tree spirit and take its body as your refuge to cultivate? It couldn’t have been that waste Chen Yang who helped you. Who was it?”
Zhang Dashan used all his cultivation to resist the flames, but it was futile.
If this continued, he would surely be reduced to ashes!
“It was Chen Yang’s master! His name is Yin Zhuo, he’s the one who helped me steal the locust tree spirit’s cultivation!” He hastily revealed the name, begging Shen Mingshu to withdraw the flames.
Shen Mingshu narrowed her eyes slightly, a sharp glint flashing in her gaze. “Yin Zhuo.”
Loosening her grip slightly, she pressed her index and middle fingers against his forehead. “Let’s see who this Yin Zhuo really is!”
Golden light flared in her eyes as she extracted a strand of memory from Zhang Dashan’s soul.
In an instant, the image of an elderly man with white hair and a white beard appeared before her.
Shen Mingshu committed the man’s appearance to memory, the golden light in her eyes gradually fading. She then traced a spiritual sigil and imprinted it onto Zhang Dashan’s soul. “Kneel.”
Zhang Dashan immediately dropped to his knees before her, his voice trembling with fear. “Great Master! This lowly one was blind to your power! Please spare me, seeing as I’ve accomplished nothing!”
Shen Mingshu asked coldly, “What exactly did Yin Zhuo tell you?”
Zhang Dashan answered truthfully, “He said my lifespan wasn’t yet exhausted and told me to send dreams to my family, instructing them not to bury my body. Then he helped me seize the locust tree spirit’s century of cultivation so I could hide within the tree and cultivate. He promised to resurrect me in sixteen years.”
“I followed his instructions and hid in the locust tree all this time. But recently, Chen Yang secretly told me that Yin Zhuo never intended to resurrect me, he wanted to refine me into a corpse puppet instead. Chen Yang claimed he could help me resurrect early and foil Yin Zhuo’s plans.”
Shen Mingshu raised an eyebrow and continued his line of thought, “But you didn’t expect Chen Yang was also deceiving you. He wanted to refine you to enhance his own cultivation, while you planned to sacrifice the entire village for your own resurrection. You’re no different from those two wicked practitioners.”
Zhang Dashan hung his head. “This lowly one admits his wrongdoing. Please show mercy, Great Master…”
Shen Mingshu scoffed, her lips curling in disdain. “That locust tree spirit cultivated diligently and never harmed anyone. You owe it your life!”
Earlier, when she heard Zhang Cuilan mention holding the wedding ceremony beneath the locust tree, she had been shocked.
Locust trees attracted yin energy, and placing a corpse beneath one made it highly susceptible to the tree’s inherent yin influence, leading to corpse transformation and reanimation.
At that moment, she felt that Chen Yang had some sinister plan that he couldn’t reveal, but she never expected that hidden in the locust tree was actually Zhang Dashan.
Shen Mingshu flicked her fingers, producing a cluster of flames that instantly turned Zhang Dashan to ashes, his entire cultivation returning to the heavens.
As for Zhang Cuilan and Zhang Dahai, who were nearby, witnessing the whole incident, they felt guilty and didn’t dare to speak.
Shen Mingshu coldly glanced at the two of them: “You two better take care of yourselves.”
They were not guilty of death; even if she disliked them, she didn’t want to dirty her hands and ruin her own merits.
Yue Ying whispered, “Someone over there is watching.”
Shen Mingshu replied calmly, “Let them watch; it saves me the trouble of explaining.”
She stepped forward, her toes brushing against the ground, scattering the spirit patterns she had drawn earlier, causing the surrounding formation to disappear in an instant.
The villagers hiding in the shadows shrank back, not daring to speak as they saw her come down from the dirt slope.
Shen Mingshu looked at the cowering village chief and said in a deep voice, “This locust tree will burn until noon tomorrow. During this time, the fire must not go out; otherwise, the negative energy inside the tree will leak out, and the entire village will fall ill.”
The village chief nodded repeatedly: “I will remember!”
Shen Mingshu turned to glance at the towering burning locust tree, where two figures stood out prominently in the firelight.
These two were still immobilized by Chen Yang’s binding talisman.
She said in a deep voice, “As for Zhang Cuilan and Zhang Dahai, the village chief can handle them himself.”
The village chief nodded repeatedly: “I will definitely punish these two severely!”
Shen Mingshu and Yue Ying returned home, and from a distance, they saw a figure standing at the gate.
In the moonlight, the man wore a deep purple brocade robe, tall and elegant, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. His black hair fell over his shoulders, and his fair, handsome face was shrouded in a layer of luminous moonlight, his dark eyes fixed intently on her.
As she approached, Pei Jingheng’s eyes sparkled, and with a smile on his lips, he asked, “Is everything resolved?”
Shen Mingshu was almost dazzled by his handsome face and lowered her eyelashes, avoiding his gaze: “Everything is resolved. Let’s head to Huaiyang Town to find my mother.”
Pei Jingheng asked with concern, “It’s dark, and the mountain roads are difficult to navigate. Will you be okay?”
Shen Mingshu nodded: “I will be fine.”
All her belongings had been taken away by Yun Niang and Leng Feng, so there was no need to enter her home.
Looking at the red jacket she was wearing, Shen Mingshu felt it was unlucky and directly took it off, throwing it on the ground: “Let’s go.”
Pei Jingheng quickly caught up, unwrapping his cloak. “Wait.”
He pressed down on her shoulder, wrapping the cloak around her, his long fingers tightening the tie at her neck: “It’s cold; you’re underdressed.”
“I’m not cold.” She had the protection of the Crimson Sun Golden Flame, so she didn’t feel the chill at all.
Pei Jingheng, however, still adjusted the fur collar of the cloak for her: “I’m worried you’ll be cold.”
This little frame couldn’t afford to be frozen; otherwise, where would he find someone to help dispel the death energy?
The three of them left the village, and not far along the way, they encountered a horse-drawn carriage.
The driver was Leng Feng, who quickly pulled on the reins: “Master! Luckily, I rushed here overnight; otherwise, you would have walked your legs off!”
Shen Mingshu frowned: “Where’s my mother?”
Leng Feng patted his chest: “Don’t worry, Yun Niang is resting at the inn in Huaiyang Town; she sent me to pick you up!”
He jumped down and extended his hand: “Master, quickly get in the carriage.”
Pei Jingheng, however, looked at Shen Mingshu and extended his hand: “I’ll help you.”
Shen Mingshu gazed at the slender, pale fingers before her and placed her hand in them. “Thank you,” she said.
She could have climbed up on her own, but physical contact with Pei Jingheng was beneficial for her condition, she couldn’t pass up the opportunity.
Pei Jingheng tightened his grip around her delicate fingers, wrapped his other arm around her slender waist, and lifted her into the carriage before stepping in himself.
Inside the carriage, a bronze stove burned with charcoal, filling the space with warmth.
Leng Feng turned the carriage around and glanced at Yue Ying. “Yue Ying, are you riding in the carriage or flying there yourself?”
“Obviously I’m riding. Why would I pass up a carriage like an idiot?” Yue Ying shot him a sidelong glance and sat down beside him. “Hurry up. The master needs to rest at the inn.”
“Hyah!” Leng Feng flicked the reins, and the carriage jolted forward.
Inside, Shen Mingshu’s slight frame was tossed about by the rough ride until Pei Jingheng wrapped an arm around her and pulled her into his embrace.
His refined voice, like scattered jade and pearls, brushed softly against her ear. “The mountain road is uneven. You may lean on me, Miss Shen.”
Shen Mingshu clenched the hand resting on her lap and nodded slightly, her lashes lowered.
In the cramped carriage, their breaths were audible in the quiet.
Wrapped in his cloak, every inhale carried the crisp scent of cedarwood from him.
In the dim, lightless interior, she could clearly see the faint red glow shimmering along the red thread between them.
At either end of the thread, her and him.
Shen Mingshu lifted her gaze slightly to the man beside her, her voice cool and clear. “Pei Jingheng, I’ve always wanted to ask, as a noble of imperial lineage, why would you appear in a remote mountain village like Huaihua Village?”