The quickest to react was He Sui’an. In an instant, she leaned over the well wall, straining to pull Qi Buyan up. Her hands were so strained that veins bulged, giving the impression that she would not stop until she succeeded.
The moment someone grabbed his hand, Qi Buyan looked up at her.
She remained silent, continuing to pull him up.
Qi Buyan let some white powder fall from his free hand. A scream echoed from the well as something unknown was burned by the powder, and the grip on his ankle loosened.
He Sui’an quickly pulled him up.
The incident happened so fast that it caught everyone off guard. Just as Shen Jianhe and the others were about to help, they saw that the danger had already passed. Su Yang’s two personal guards wanted to investigate.
She stopped them, saying, “It’s too strange down there. Don’t take any unnecessary risks.”
The guards obeyed and stepped back.
Su Yang still remembered the favor He Sui’an had done for her, so she treated He Sui’an and her companions with kindness. However, she was resolute about not retreating in matters concerning the tomb and would not disclose the specifics to outsiders.
If someone else had trespassed into the “haunted house” in Fengling Town and entered the ancient tomb, Su Yang would have typically captured them and handed them over to her father for punishment.
But tonight, she chose not to detain them, only urging them to leave quickly.
She warned them not to return.
This was Su Yang’s way of repaying He Sui’an for her previous help. Su Yang knew that her father, despite his usual kind demeanor, became a different person when it came to matters of haunted houses and ancient tombs.
If her father knew someone had trespassed there and entered the tomb, he would personally deal with it, firmly not letting her intervene.
Su Yang didn’t know what her father’s final handling would be, as she was kept in the dark, but she never saw those people again.
He Sui’an neither refused nor agreed.
Su Yang took her silence as consent and turned her gaze to Shen Jianhe. Seeing this beauty’s gaze, he smiled and said, “Don’t worry, I always listen to beautiful women.”
One of Su Yang’s guards stepped forward and placed his sword against Shen Jianhe’s neck, ready to strike at any moment. His face was expressionless, and his tone was cold as he said, “Who do you think you are to be disrespectful to the Princess?”
Shen Jianhe hurriedly explained he meant no disrespect.
The words “Princess” circled on Shen Jianhe’s tongue, almost choking him. His eyes widened in surprise as he looked at Su Yang a few more times.
Initially, he thought she was someone of some status or the owner of the rumored haunted house, but he didn’t expect her to be a princess. If he accidentally offended her, wouldn’t he be dealing with the government?
Su Yang signaled to the guard, who sheathed his sword and returned to her side.
Shen Jianhe smiled at her.
Su Yang ignored him, assigning someone to escort them out of the house. Worried they might return, she left another guard outside the haunted house.
He Sui’an then returned to the inn with Qi Buyan and Shen Jianhe. They managed to leave and return without disturbing anyone inside.
The inn’s attendant was asleep at the counter.
Occasionally, his snores could be heard on the first floor.
As soon as Shen Jianhe went upstairs, he hid in his room, probably wanting to make sense of what had happened recently and plan accordingly for the future.
He Sui’an followed Qi Buyan into his room because his ankle might have been injured by something at the bottom of the well. She wanted to see if there was anything she could do to help.
Qi Buyan didn’t mind her coming in.
During their travels, whenever He Sui’an saw a place selling medicinal ointments, she would buy some and stock up. Of course, she used Qi Buyan’s money because she had none. Today, the ointment came in handy.
He Sui’an pointed at Qi Buyan’s ankle. He sat on the bed and looked up at her.
“I want to check your foot,” He Sui’an said.
Qi Buyan seemed not to understand her meaning and didn’t move. Realizing the ambiguity in her words, He Sui’an rephrased, “I want to see if you’re injured.”
Moments later, under his indigo robe, a pair of bare feet emerged, adorned with fine silver bell chains around his slender and strong ankles, a hallmark of the Tianshui Village of Miaojiang.
They wore these from birth.
He Sui’an had never closely examined these bell shapes before. Now she noticed they were butterfly-shaped, crafted so intricately that they looked almost lifelike.
Qi Buyan’s skin was a pale white, typical of someone who lived in darkness and seldom saw sunlight. The small silver butterfly bells hung loosely on his ankles, seemingly ready to fall off at any moment.
It made one want to tighten the chains.
He Sui’an sat on the bed stool and took out a fragrant ointment.
She initially intended for Qi Buyan to apply it himself, but seeing his long, silver-adorned hair hanging down and likely to get in the way, and knowing he didn’t like tying his hair up, she decided to help him.
Since coming out of the tomb, the spider had mysteriously become lethargic, resembling a hibernating snake, curled up in the warm bedding.
The spider was unable to treat Qi Buyan’s wound for the time being.
It was up to her.
He Sui’an lifted the silver chain on Qi Buyan’s ankle, bent down, and closely examined the wound. It looked like it had been scratched by something long and thin, similar to being scratched by fingernails.
If it had been a human hand that scratched Qi Buyan, there was no way it could have cut through a layer of boot and injured his ankle so deeply, with blood oozing and bone visible. The sight shocked her.
If it were He Sui’an, she would have died from the pain.
Yet Qi Buyan seemed unaffected, his expression unchanged. His long eyelashes fluttered lightly, his black hair cascading to his waist, and his hand casually resting on the bed. The waist belt accentuated his slim waist even more.
He Sui’an gently applied ointment to Qi Buyan’s wound, blowing on it after each application. The bells on his ankle rang softly.
Thinking she might have hurt him, she eased her movements further. “Did I hurt you?”
“No,” he replied, his ankle twitching slightly.
Qi Buyan cupped the quietly curled-up spider in his palm. “You must be curious why I listened to the Princess and came out, instead of continuing deeper into the tomb to find what I wanted.”
He Sui’an nodded first, then shook her head.
He seemed confused by her reaction.
She explained, “I am curious why you came out, but I trust that every decision you make has a reason. So, I don’t ask much. Whatever you want to do, I’ll just follow you.”
Qi Buyan looked at her for a long time before finally asking, “He Sui’an, why did you want to follow me in the first place?”
He Sui’an seemed hesitant to speak.
He waited for her to answer.
Eventually, she did, her face showing a hint of embarrassment. “I wanted to live.”
Qi Buyan thought she might not realize that he had killed those who had sought to travel with him but had ulterior motives, feeding their bodies to his Gu.
He had watched with satisfaction.
He Sui’an shook the bell chain on Qi Buyan’s ankle, finding it inconvenient for applying ointment. If she let go, the ointment would rub off.
Looking at the unbroken silver chain, she hesitated and asked, “Can it be taken off?”
“No,” he replied, glancing at the bell. It jingled brightly. He said nonchalantly, “The silver chains of Tianshui Village can only be broken, not unfastened. Once the chain is broken, the person dies.”
Qi Buyan had seen people from Tianshui Village die instantly after accidentally breaking their silver chains, with no cure for them.
This was a fatal weakness for the Miao people of Tianshui Village who used Gu.
Almost no outsiders knew this.
The people of Tianshui Village believed that after being granted their mysterious Gu techniques by the gods, the gods also gave them these chains as a shackle to prevent misuse.
Though the reason was different, not truly a shackle from the gods, they were very careful not to let anyone touch their silver chains. The chains couldn’t be hidden and had to be worn, so they treated them with extreme care, almost worshiping them.
Qi Buyan was still casual about his chain.
He didn’t want to die, but he didn’t want to die at the hands of others. As for the chain… it might break, it might not.
He Sui’an didn’t ask Qi Buyan to remove the silver chain again. She looked around, trying to find something to secure his ankle chain.
In the end, she used her own hair ribbon, which was the perfect length and thickness. Qi Buyan had previously given He Sui’an a lot of silver, and she used some of it to buy many beautiful hair ribbons.
There were plenty of them.
He Sui’an threaded the ribbon through the silver chain, tying it above his ankle to prevent the chain from falling, and skillfully made a bow.
It looked a bit odd. She happened to use a red ribbon, and tying it above Qi Buyan’s pale ankle created a stark contrast between the red and white.
It felt somewhat strange.
She didn’t dare to look too long and pulled down his robe.
Qi Buyan smiled and thanked He Sui’an, then got up to pour himself some water. He Sui’an put away the medicine and couldn’t help but glance at the spider lying in the bedding, which was no longer as lively as before.
Although He Sui’an didn’t like insects, she felt compassion seeing the spider, which had once healed her forehead wound, now so weak.
“What’s wrong with it?” He Sui’an asked.
Qi Buyan finished his tea, put down the cup, and took out a snake from his robe, which was in the same weakened state as the spider. “There’s something in the tomb that scares them.”
She was puzzled. “What is it?”
“It’s Gu,” he said with a faint smile. “Gu can sense each other, and they naturally fear those stronger than themselves. These ones are no exception.”
Qi Buyan walked to the window and pushed open the lattice. “There’s a kind of Gu in the tomb.”
He Sui’an asked, “What kind of Gu?”
“Yin Corpse Gu, a type that has been fully refined,” Qi Buyan explained slowly. “Yin Corpse Gu not only controls corpses but also living people, turning them into living corpses.”
He stood by the window and looked back at her. “The reason I came out is that a Yin Corpse Gu entered your body.”
He Sui’an was incredulous.
She hadn’t felt anything and hadn’t noticed her body while in the tomb.
If this were true, how could the Yin Corpse Gu be removed? She didn’t want such a thing inside her body. She quickly asked, “Can you help me get the Yin Corpse Gu out?”
Qi Buyan raised his eyes.
“First, take off your clothes.”
