The Zheng residence is heavily guarded. Aside from family members, anyone entering or leaving needed an invitation.
Even Zheng Yanqing and Zheng Mei had to inform Lady Zheng beforehand if they wanted to bring someone in. Li Ruoshui even more so..
She stood at the gate with Lu Zhiyao, waiting for the servant to return after notifying the household.
Before long, not only the servant returned, but the Zheng family’s eldest young lady, Zheng Mei, followed behind.
She was clearly dressed up meticulously, with a plum blossom design painted on her forehead and a layer of snow-like gauze over her dress. It fluttered elegantly as she moved, giving her an ethereal air.
Zheng Mei stopped before the two, lifting her chin slightly to look at them. “Strangers entering the residence must be questioned.”
Li Ruoshui looked at her curiously, then nodded. She always felt there was something off about Zheng Mei. Yesterday she asked about Lu Zhiyao’s whereabouts, and this morning she went looking for him.
Could it be that she’s taken a liking to Lu Zhiyao?
“Where is your home? How many people are in your family? Are you married?”
Hearing Zheng Mei’s questions, the puzzle pieces clicked into place for Li Ruoshui. She immediately looked at Zheng Mei with a newfound respect.
Zheng Mei herself had a cold, striking beauty, but it was different from Lu Feiyue’s cool elegance.
Lu Feiyue’s coldness hid a hint of underlying warmth, while Zheng Mei’s chill carried a barely concealed arrogance.
Even her questioning now held a condescending tone.
“Me?” Lu Zhiyao crumpled the empty paper wrapper in his hand, a slight smile curling his lips. “I’m an orphan.”
Those four short words blocked all of Zheng Mei’s further inquiries.
Zheng Mei subconsciously frowned when she heard of his background, but then she considered that such a lack of family ties would make him easier to control, and her brow smoothed.
After looking Lu Zhiyao up and down, she revealed a satisfied smile and stepped aside to make way. “You may enter.”
Li Ruoshui stepped over the threshold, but Lu Zhiyao remained standing in place.
He smiled at her with an expression warmer than the April sun, making Zheng Mei’s heart flutter. “I’ll let it pass this time. But if you look at me like that again, I’ll gouge your eyes out.”
Li Ruoshui’s heart skipped a beat. She quickly stepped forward and pressed down on his arm. “He’s just joking! Joking! We have things to do, we won’t linger any longer.”
Watching Li Ruoshui’s hurried steps, Zheng Mei couldn’t hold back a scornful laugh, her arrogance evident.
Only people like Li Ruoshui would be so cautious. How could words like that scare Zheng Mei? She is Zheng Mei. She has countless skilled fighters under her command. He wouldn’t dare, even with a hundred times the courage.
Still, only a man of his caliber is worthy of her.
“I can’t believe myself, casting amorous glances at a blind man,” she touched the floral design on her forehead, then turned to lean on her maid. “Never mind, with looks like that, being blind is only a minor flaw. Let’s go find Mother and discuss this matter.”
Zheng Yanqing’s room was in the East Courtyard. The distance wasn’t far, but the path was winding and full of twists and turns. Furthermore, only they lived in the East Courtyard, making it particularly quiet and deserted.
The people they encountered most along the way were patrol guards.
“These guards are truly useless. They patrol every night but have never once caught those fakers,” Li Ruoshui muttered under her breath as she led Lu Zhiyao into the room.
Zheng Yanqing read here every day, but not classics or famous texts—mostly travelogues and tales of the strange and unusual.
“Miss Li, you’re back…” Zheng Yanqing put down his book and paused when he saw Lu Zhiyao following behind her. “And this is…?”
“He’s surnamed Lu. A friend I invited to catch the ghosts haunting you,” Li Ruoshui replied casually, leading Lu Zhiyao to sit at the table. At the same time, she stuffed an almond pastry into his hand. “Try this, it’s the best pastry the Zheng residence makes.”
He had actually finished the cold cake she gave him earlier. Li Ruoshui felt an inexplicable sense of gratification and wished she could feed him more.
This must be the joy of keeping a pet.
As the faint milky scent reached his lips, Lu Zhiyao originally had no intention of eating more, but for some reason, he opened his mouth and accepted it. Read this novel at novelping(.)com for the best experience.
The blend of dairy and almond filled his tongue. Accompanied by the sound of Li Ruoshui’ chattering, Lu Zhiyao couldn’t help but curve his lips into a smile and relax his shoulders and neck.
He tilted his head slightly to the left, ‘looking’ at Li Ruoshui. His jet-black hair vaguely obscured his left eye, revealing his straight nose bridge and fan-like eyelashes. It was indescribably beautiful, the scene before her. She felt like an aura of gentleness settled over her.
“Aren’t you going to ask Young Master Zheng to join the discussion?”
Li Ruoshui: “…” Why does that sound so strange coming from him?
Hearing Lu Zhiyao speak, Zheng Yanqing went over and sat down beside them. His expression looked somewhat stiff and reserved and it left Li Ruoshui speechless.
They’re currently in the Zheng family, right? Shouldn’t their attitudes be reversed?
“It’s fine. Zheng Yanqing can’t move at night. He can just lie there. You’ll be the main damage dealer,” Li Ruoshui patted Lu Zhiyao’s shoulder, her tone grave. “Whether I can get a good night’s sleep depends entirely on you.”
Although Lu Zhiyao was unpredictable and prone to outrageous behavior, Li Ruoshui had great faith in his abilities.
Zheng Yanqing’s gaze shifted between the two. His expression was thoughtful, but he didn’t comment. He merely nodded in agreement.
“To have energy for tonight, I’m going to catch up on some sleep first.” Li Ruoshui yawned loudly. She collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep almost instantly.
Watching Li Ruoshui fall asleep in seconds, Zheng Yanqing felt even more certain about their relationship. Li Ruoshui had never fallen asleep so quickly in front of him before.
“Young Master Lu, what would you like to do next? I can…”
“No need. We’ll just wait for nightfall.”
Lu Zhiyao stood up and slowly walked outside. He walked to the swing outside and began to sway back and forth on it. The chains creaked every time.
Zheng Yanqing didn’t try to say anything more. He picked up his book and glanced into the courtyard again, a question forming in his mind: ‘How did he know there was a swing there?’
The night was dark and the wind howled. The distinct sound of three different watchman’s clappers sounded in the distance.
Another group of servants passed by the door. Inside, Li Ruoshui stared at the bed canopy with a tense expression.
Before long, patterns appeared again on the new canopy—this time however, it wasn’t red eyes, but several bloody handprints chaotically pressing against the canopy.
The window, which had been tightly latched, suddenly flew open with a creak. The sound echoed loudly in the quiet night.
The moment the window opened, Li Ruoshui found herself unable to move again. This time, she couldn’t even speak, returning to that terrifying feeling of being pinned by a ghost.
In the deep night, tree shadows swayed and rustled. A bell rang in the corridor, and the window squealed erratically in the night wind. Swinging back and forth.
Perhaps last night’s resistance had angered them. The ‘ghost’ that never used to break through doors or windows before poked its head through the window and a face splitting grin was directed at Li Ruoshui.
She took a deep breath and silently sang in her heart: I wish you 365 blessings, may auspicious light surround me… [1]
The little ghost gripped the window frame with both hands and leaped onto the windowsill in one fluid motion. The bells on its body jangled eerily. Its giggle didn’t sound like a child’s at all. It sounded more like the creepy giggle of an adult.
It then fully jumped into the room with a noticeable jingle as the bells tinkled about. In one fluid motion, it drew a dagger from its side.
If before they had only suffered psychological attacks, it now seemed that a physical attack was imminent.
On the couch sofa, Zheng Yanqing widened his eyes and made muffled sounds but no matter what he did, he couldn’t move.
Li Ruoshui could only lie there, her eyes darting around the ceiling, but she couldn’t see where Lu Zhiyao was sitting.
“Little girl, you frightened my grandson last night. Today, it’s time to collect a debt from you.”
The little ghost slowly approached with the dagger. Walking into a slanted beam of moonlight, its features finally became clear to her.
It possessed a child-like face crisscrossed with wrinkles. Its narrow eyes seemed to contain only black pupils. It was utterly grotesque. She couldn’t help but wrench her face up in disgust. You are reading on NovelPing, the official source.
“Which family’s young lady did you ruin to end up looking like this?!” Li Ruoshui stared at it, her eyes wide. The pressure restricting her had somehow released without her noticing, and she couldn’t help but voice the ridicule that surfaced in her mind.
“What did you say?!”
Provoked, the little ghost stopped its slow advance. Lightly tapping its toes, it flashed forward and stood right before Li Ruoshui with the dagger.
Another sinister smile ripped across its grotesque face. The raised tip of the dagger reflected a point of light in the moonlight. Gazing into Li Ruoshui’s dark but bright eyes, it laughed, “Such pretty eyes. I’ll take these first.”
Just as it was about to bring the knife down, its expression froze, and it abruptly retreated three meters away.
Where it had been standing a moment ago, a sword was now embedded. The snow-white scabbard glowed like it had an aura made of moonlight. Its tassel swayed slightly with the abrupt stop it made. The sword had split the wooden floorboards and was emitting a low hum.
Li Ruoshui rolled over and sat up, scanning the roof beams. She finally spotted his figure above the bed canopy.
The ghost was no longer acting arrogantly. It involuntarily took a few more steps back upon looking up and seeing Lu Zhiyao. Its expression turned serious as the wrinkles at the corners of its eyes seemed to smooth out somewhat.
Lu Zhiyao leaned against a beam, sitting with one knee drawn up. He was toying with something in his hands and occasionally she saw glints of light flashing between his fingers.
The reflections resembled spider silk under the moonlight.
“You promised you’d catch the ghost for me,” Li Ruoshui pulled the sword from the floor and retreated to a spot below Lu Zhiyao, feeling a sense of foreboding.
“I haven’t broken my promise.” Lu Zhiyao curved his lips, the picture perfect image of leisure. “You already experienced the thrill of combat last time. This time, it’s time to teach you some moves.”
Moves? Teaching me?
Li Ruoshui suddenly understood. No wonder he agreed so readily this morning! She thought he’d had an epiphany, but he was waiting to spring this on her!
“You’re tricking me again!”
“Tricking?” A few strands of shimmering light slid between Lu Zhiyao’s fingers. With a turn of his wrist, Li Ruoshui’s limbs and waist were entangled. “I’m just teaching you. Many people beg me to teach them and will never get it.”
Looking at the silver threads wrapped around her wrists, Li Ruoshui felt a migraine begin to pound against her head. She would gladly give this ‘blessing’ to someone else.
The little ghost kept its eyes fixed on Lu Zhiyao and it was clear its mind was racing. Its intuition told it that it had met a tough opponent so it decided to slip away. Before it could leave though, a silver thread wrapped around its ankle.
Lu Zhiyao let out a soft laugh. His face, visible in the moonlight, was gentle as water. His bird’s-eye view felt like a compassionate Buddha gazing down on all living beings.
“It’d be best if you stay and practice martial arts with her.”
He pulled the thread in his hand, and drops of blood immediately seeped from the little ghost’s ankle.
She exclaimed mentally, ‘Holy crap! That’s insane! He knows this move? It wasn’t in the book! Also, judging by this dialogue, isn’t he more of a villain than the actual bad guy?’
Li Ruoshui made a pained face as her right hand was forced to grip the sword hilt tightly.
“Five fingers on the sword. Put force on the ‘tiger’s mouth’ (the web between thumb and index finger).”
Li Ruoshui helplessly complied. The next moment, she was guided to draw the sword.
“Your sword tip should point to the ground. Relax your body. Separate your legs and maintain your balance.”
Lu Zhiyao’s gentle voice came from above and he sounded more patient than the best tutor in the world.
He retrieved the silver thread from the little ghost’s ankle, his tone soft. “If you want to live, it’d be best if you go on the attack. Perhaps you’ll find an opportunity.”
The little ghost looked up at the smiling, conversational Lu Zhiyao on the beam, then at Li Ruoshui’s utterly resigned face. Gritting its teeth, it charged at her with the dagger.
Fighting desperately against this girl might offer a slim chance of survival.
[1] These are the lyrics to a song Chinese people sing on their National Day.