No matter what else happened in the Qian Residence, Lu Xiao no longer felt surprised.
Everyone was exhausted yet time would not wait for them. Once the Emperor noticed that something was amiss, it would be too late, no matter how much one wanted to investigate, nothing would be left clear or traceable.
Qian Jinye was still quite weak. The effects of the spacetime disturbance on him were especially severe.
He lay limply against Lu Xiao’s back, soft and weightless, allowing himself to be dragged along wherever Lu Xiao took him. Qian Shengke, however, had recovered fairly well. As the eldest son of the Qian family, he naturally moved toward the front of the group, intending to scout ahead for everyone.
Li Xianguan and Chen Yue’er had never seen spacetime itself be crossed before. Even witnessing it firsthand, they still needed time to process what they had experienced.
The scenery in the courtyard had become noticeably different from before. The pond’s water had dried up at some point and the lotus flowers that once filled it were now completely withered.
Lu Xiao felt a chill creep over his scalp. Everything had been fine just moments ago, how could a single spacetime disturbance cause all the flowers here to die? The pond water had clearly been drawn just earlier; when they used it, it had been genuinely icy cold, undeniably real.
And now, before them lay nothing but desolation.
It was as though this place had never existed at all, like a world that had never been stepped into, never been touched.
“What’s going on? Brother Qian, weren’t there a whole bunch of lotuses growing here just now? Did I remember it wrong?”
After everything they had been through, Lu Xiao was feeling somewhat dazed. The body temperature of Qian Jinye he was carrying felt faintly unreal, making him unsure whether he was dreaming or awake. His head buzzed incessantly.
Qian Shengke stepped forward and examined the situation in the pond. The water snake that had attacked Lu Xiao earlier was nowhere to be found or rather, there were no signs of any living activity at all. The pond was utterly clean, forget water snakes, there wasn’t even any water left.
The unease lingered deeply. In any case, Lu Xiao kept his distance while supporting Qian Jinye. Qian Jinye was unconscious, his condition far from stable. If they encountered danger again, there would be no way to escape in time. It was better to prepare early and avoid getting involved from the start.
“There’s really nothing here. Big Brother Qian, the things happening in your household are far too bizarre. They’ve already gone beyond what our Mingzhu Institute can handle. If it weren’t for these strange phenomena preventing us from leaving, we would’ve left long ago.”
Li Xianguan rarely spoke with such seriousness. His words were blunt and left no room for courtesy, showing not the slightest politeness toward Qian Shengke.
Spending too much time in a place like this, even someone’s mental and physical health would inevitably deteriorate. It wasn’t strange that Li Xianguan sounded harsh.
One could almost imagine his next sentence, if they could leave, they would report everything to the Emperor and let him deal with it.
Unfortunately, they had no confidence in their ability to get out. In fact, it felt increasingly likely that they would be forced to remain trapped in the Qian Residence.
More suffocating. More repulsive. More impossible to endure.
At first, Qian Shengke remained silent.
He understood the anxiety weighing on Lu Xiao and the others. Never mind Li Xianguan, even he himself harbored a deep sense of revulsion toward his own family. If not for the things he truly could not let go of, he would never have returned here in the first place.
Who could have known that the moment he came back, these strange and terrifying phenomena would return as well, clinging to him like a shadow that could not be shaken.
“If we really can still get out, whatever the Mingzhu Institute wants to investigate, I, Qian, will cooperate fully. I will have no complaints.”
He let out a bitter laugh, looking as though he had little hope of ever escaping. Lu Xiao’s heart sank at once. What was going on, why was every native of the Qian residence holding this attitude?
If even they had already given up, what were those outsiders like himself supposed to do? Were they really planning to just lay everything bare? With so many secrets buried within the Qian residence, were they truly prepared to simply confess it all?
At present, among their group, those who were unconscious were unconscious, those who were weak were weak and there was also Chen Yue’er, whose role leaned more toward logistics and support.
When it came to actually investigating on the ground, the only ones who could still act were probably Qian Shengke, who was familiar with the place and Li Xianguan, that large, straightforward fellow.
“The water here couldn’t have vanished into thin air. Either it was swept away by spacetime or something drained it completely. I’m more inclined to the latter. After all, not only is the water gone, even the lotus flowers have completely withered. Let Jinye sleep a bit longer. I’m afraid he wouldn’t be able to accept this if he woke up.”
Qian Jinye loved this patch of lotuses dearly. Ever since Master Qian had decided to use this pond to grow that kind of lotus seed, he had been unhappy about it. Now that all the flowers were dead, who knew what he would feel if he saw the scene?
Li Xianguan plucked a withered petal, examined it, found nothing amiss and handed it to Chen Yue’er to inspect. After checking it as well, Chen Yue’er shook her head. There was nothing particularly abnormal.
They then examined the lotus pods. What was strange was that inside them, the lotus seeds or rather, the black pearls, were completely gone. Not a single one remained. They dug around repeatedly but there was nothing. They searched the bottom of the pond too. There was nothing. Absolutely nothing.
“That’s really bizarre. When I first saw them, there were so many. I even thought it was disgusting, such a small lotus pod with so many holes. Now the holes are still there but what was inside is completely gone.”
After everyone else had finished checking, as was customary, Lu Xiao inspected them as well. There truly was nothing left, an entirely empty lotus pod. It felt somewhat dry and a little rough to the touch. It was hard to tell whether it was simply due to excessive dehydration or…
Burning?
If it had been burned, wouldn’t it be a little too clean? If there had been a fire, then by all logic, neither the flowers nor the lotus pods should still exist. They should have turned to ash long ago. How could they still be intact enough for inspection?
“Yue’er, help support Brother Jinye. I want to take a closer look at this lotus pod.”
After handing Qian Jinye over to Chen Yue’er, Lu Xiao freed his hands and continued examining the lotus pod. It was dry but still retained a fibrous texture, consistent with natural dehydration and withering. It was somewhat brittle but still within a normal range.
He gently waved his hand over it, wanting to smell it. The more he sniffed, the deeper his frown grew. Something was wrong. This wasn’t right. There was a scorched smell, like the bitter, sharp stench of Li Xianguan’s pan-fried eggs when they burned and stuck to the pan.
Looking again at the lotus flowers, the charred areas were not uniform. They formed ring-like patterns. One could say it was extreme withering but if someone claimed it had been burned, that wouldn’t be impossible either.
After all, in a place like this, nothing strange would be surprising anymore. A tiny black pearl could become white and large after being burned, turning into something nourishing and good for beauty. If that was the case, then perhaps this entire pond had not existed originally and only appeared after being burned?
If Lu Xiao remembered correctly, there hadn’t been lotus flowers in this pond before.
“There weren’t lotus flowers in this pond originally, were there? So why are there withered lotuses here now? Don’t you find that strange?”
Chen Yue’er and Li Xianguan both looked at Lu Xiao with puzzlement. Only Qian Shengke remained relatively calm, continuing his investigation on his own. Lu Xiao was confused, he had been expecting them to agree with him. Why were they looking at him like that?
“Xiao, why don’t you think about it again?”
“Brother Lu Xiao, when we arrived, there was clearly a whole cluster of lotus flowers here.”
Huh? Was that really the case?
Li Xianguan at least left Lu Xiao some space to think but Chen Yue’er stated firmly that there had always been a cluster of lotus flowers here. Yet in Lu Xiao’s memory, there definitely hadn’t been any. So whose memory was wrong?
And why had such a memory appeared in Lu Xiao’s mind?
Lu Xiao tried hard not to think about it but his head started to ache faintly. The contents of that letter surfaced in his mind over and over again. You can’t escape. A voice kept screaming repeatedly in his heart.
“Mm…”
A sound came from Qian Jinye in Chen Yue’er’s arms. Lu Xiao snapped back to awareness at once. He turned to look for Qian Jinye and the moment he saw him, his headache worsened.
Qian Jinye… Qian Jinye? He felt so familiar. Was this really the first time he had met him? Lu Xiao grabbed at his unfamiliar long hair, forcing himself to accept that this confusion was caused by the collision of memories brought by the different “Lu Xiaos.” Just like spacetime overlapping, memories could also merge. There would always be moments of déjà vu.
It was merely a temporary error. Sooner or later, everything would return to the right track.
“Someone has been here…” Lu Xiao held his head, weakly lifting his gaze to stare at the head of the household before him.
Everyone else’s expressions changed instantly. Only Qian Shengke seemed unconcerned and even raised his eyebrows at Lu Xiao.
“What’s strange about someone having been here? It’s not like only a few of us exist here. There are so many guests in the Qian residence. Didn’t you also say you heard my father’s voice? Even though… his life and death are currently unknown, it’s only natural that people are moving about the Qian residence.”
“What do you mean ‘only natural’? Natural, how? Brother Qian, you haven’t seen those guest rooms. The walls are practically melted from burning and the entire room is filled with pearls, white ones! Tell me, even if someone didn’t die, wouldn’t they go insane?”
Lu Xiao loathed Qian Shengke’s apparent indifference, as though human lives meant nothing. Just because he thought it was fine, then it was fine? No one had the right to pronounce others alive or dead with a single sentence. No one was the creator of the world. They lived in this world, beneath it.
Chen Yue’er was the first to grab Lu Xiao’s arm. Something about him had been off ever since Qian Jinye collapsed. He had become irritable as a whole, especially toward Qian Shengke, toward whom he carried an inexplicable hostility.
Seeing Lu Xiao in such a tense, confrontational state, Qian Shengke merely glanced at him calmly, just as he always did. He smiled faintly, warm and gentle as a spring breeze yet it sent a chill racing down Lu Xiao’s spine.
He definitely knew something. There was no way the Qian residence held only such minor secrets. Perhaps the spacetime rifts existed merely to conceal something far greater?
“It seems Brother Lu is tired. Why don’t you go rest for a while? This is your first time experiencing spacetime fluctuations, feeling worn out is normal. There’s plenty of tofu here, more than we could ever finish. Add some pearl powder to it and you certainly won’t go hungry.”
Strange as it was, after taking just a single bite of tofu, the sensation of hunger genuinely disappeared for a long while. In the Qian residence, there was nothing that could truly be considered food from the normal human world, nothing at all, really. Aside from pearls, there were pearls everywhere and if one didn’t want to swallow the pearls dry, then the only option was to eat them together with tofu.
Once Lu Xiao understood how those pearls were transformed, a wave of revulsion rose in his chest. Just thinking about it made him feel nauseous and he found it difficult to eat any more.
“Yes, Xiao, why don’t you rest for a bit. If there’s anything to discuss, let’s talk about it indoors. This courtyard feels really unsettling, I don’t want to stay here any longer.”
Li Xianguan had always been on guard against Qian Shengke, so this was the first time he had ever openly agreed with him. After waking up, they had not eaten anything and on top of that, they had been subjected to one shock after another. By now, they were already starving.
Since everyone was saying the same thing, Lu Xiao had nothing more to argue. The group headed back to the kitchen together.
Once again, the squeaking of mice reached their ears.
Just a moment ago, Lu Xiao had been about to complain about how such a large Qian residence didn’t even have anyone handling pest control and he had even stepped forward, intending to catch it himself. He absolutely did not want Qian Jinye, so weak and delicate at the moment, to end up sharing a bed with a mouse.
But then again… was it just his imagination?
Why did that mouse seem to be a whole size larger than when they first arrived?
✦ ✧ ✦
Nycreth
[Translator]
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ChaptersChapter 1 · The beginning of the tragedyChapter 2 · Don’t forgetChapter 3 · Look at it directlyChapter 4 · Whom are you trying to seduce?Chapter 5 · TeaseChapter 6 · Sleeping in the same bedChapter 7 · Internal locksChapter 8 · Tampering The rules…Chapter 9 · Black LotusChapter 10 · FledglingChapter 11 · There are no horses in the stable.Chapter 12 · Water-oil separationChapter 13 · The cost of backtrackingChapter 14 · It got biggerChapter 15 · Was it a mouse?Chapter 16 · Too fieryChapter 17 · Administer medicineChapter 18 · Tracing the PearlChapter 19 · A KissChapter 20 · Ge, Kiss meChapter 21 · Ten Thousand Deaths Without RegretChapter 22 · Endless CorridorChapter 23 · CowardChapter 24 · GoodbyeChapter 25 · Back toChapter 26 · It’s is me, Not MeChapter 27 · VictimChapter 28 · Crossed CupsChapter 29 · IntuitionChapter 30 · ChangeChapter 31 · DifferentChapter 32 · ErrorChapter 33 · Mind Your Own BusinessChapter 34 · WanderingChapter 35 · EmbraceChapter 36 · LoveChapter 37 · UnrestrainedChapter 38 · Asking Over a DrinkChapter 39 · As BeforeChapter 40 · SatiatedChapter 41 · A Change in the WindsChapter 42 · A’SuChapter 43 · Welcoming the BrideChapter 44 · GossipChapter 45 · WeaknessChapter 46 · Wedding NightChapter 47 · Brother QingChapter 48 · FadingChapter 49 · Lying LowChapter 50 · CaressChapter 51 · OnceChapter 52 · The Hidden PassageChapter 53 · MotherChapter 54 · FlawlessChapter 55 · ProphecyChapter 56 · EtherealChapter 57 · DecipheringChapter 58 · The TrapChapter 59 · Stone StatueChapter 60 · ChessChapter 61 · AssassinsChapter 62 · The National Preceptor?Chapter 63 · Please return my belongings to me.Chapter 64 · I’m not that desperate.Chapter 65 · No wayChapter 66 · No turning backChapter 67 · I told you, get out of the wayChapter 68 · Still became a monsterChapter 69 · Let’s end thisChapter 70 · Why do you look so much like him?Chapter 71 · One wanted to kill, two stopped himChapter 72 · Unless, the people at Mingzhu Academy are keeping it from himChapter 73 · FraudChapter 74 · Don’t look back, Lu XiaoChapter 75 · It’s coldChapter 76 · Kill MeChapter 77 · We are even marriedChapter 78 · Gege… I Love YouChapter 79 · “It” had arrivedChapter 80 · Wake Up!Chapter 81 · How Nostalgic….Chapter 82 · You already Promised meChapter 83 · Their TerritoryChapter 84 · Jokes were JokesChapter 85 · What you dream was realChapter 86 · Did you cry?Chapter 87 · What’s wrong, young Master?Chapter 88 · No, I only ever said it to youChapter 89 · Honey, Please let me go.Chapter 90 · What are you pretending to be, a gentleman?Chapter 91 · It’s just a shoddy trick to fool people, but I like it anywayChapter 92 · Ge, I did it voluntarily, it’s no useChapter 93 · You little BratChapter 94 · Gege~ please have mercyChapter 95 · Hearing Lu Xiao come in, he patted the seat next to himChapter 96 · Stop fooling around, let me kiss youChapter 97 · “I want…” “Want what?”Chapter 98 · Gege, watch closely how I get youChapter 99 · Little Eleven, how about we talk to ‘it’ first?Chapter 100 · Had it gone mad?Chapter 101 · I will make my decisionChapter 102 · Tsk, how indecentChapter 103 · You are the creator of my original worldChapter 104 · The world is not your toy, go back to where you came fromChapter 105 · He was a boy with snow-white hair and a handsome faceChapter 106 · Haven’t seen you for a long timeChapter 107 · TYRBL Extra: 1Chapter 108 · TYRBL Extra: 2Chapter 109 · TYRBL Extra: 3Chapter 110 · TYRBL Extra: 4