Chapter 172: Shamaness

Su Ruo saw this scene, her eyes filled with bone-deep killing intent, and she said to 001: "Immediately help me find the mistress's location."

At this moment, Su Ruo could no longer suppress her anger; once she found that person, she would surely hack him to pieces.

But 001 ran into trouble, because the mistress's position seemed to be interfered with, flickering on and off, so even it could not pinpoint an exact location.

Suddenly, the signal cut off completely, and the screen before Su Ruo turned pure white.

Su Ruo was anxious beyond words yet could do nothing; seeing her eyes redden, Si Yannian gripped her shoulders and said, "Su Ruo, calm down."

But Su Ruo simply couldn't calm down; it was her headstrong decision to bring the mistress out, and if anything happened to the mistress, she wouldn't know how to explain it to her master.

According to the system, Su Ruo searched everywhere for the mistress based on that vague location just now.

Yet she saw nothing; when the screen was shielded, in the pitch‑black room the mistress immediately broke free of her ropes and walked up to the black‑robed person.

The black‑robed person stared in shock at all this, but the moment his eyes met the mistress's, his gaze instantly turned dazed.

"Who are you?"

"Why did you bring me here?"

"What exactly is your purpose? Why target Ruo Ruo?"

At this moment, the mistress's eyes turned amber, as if they could see through the black‑robed person's mind and strike straight at his soul.

The black‑robed person pointed at the mistress, trembling, and said, "You… you are a shamaness…"

The mistress curled her lip in a sarcastic smile: "Only now do you realize it's too late."

But the black‑robed person, facing death, showed no fear, letting out a strange laugh: "Even if you find me, what of it? I'll never tell you what you want to know, even if I die!"

"Is that so? Then go die!" the mistress said, her lips curving into a cold arc.

The black‑robed person clearly hadn't expected the mistress to dare kill him, and he asked fearfully, "What are you going to do to me?"

"Naturally, I'll return to you whatever you planned to do to me."

The mistress's hand rested on her belly, and the next second a clump of black mist appeared in her hand, which instantly condensed into the shape of an infant.

Seeing this, the black‑robed person was instantly terrified, his face draining of color as he looked at the mistress in fear and said, "You… you can do this? My master won't let you off!"

The mistress's eyes flashed with unprecedented sharpness: "Then let him come find me! I'm actually afraid he won't show up!"

At this point the black‑robed person had lost all his earlier arrogance; he had thought the mistress was merely a toy he could play with at will, never imagining he would end up defeated by her.

Now even if he regretted it, it was too late; the black‑robed person wanted to beg for mercy, but the mistress gave him no chance at all.

The mistress lifted her hand and gently stroked it once, and the clump of black mist said, "Good, go!"

The next second, that clump of black mist, under the black‑robed person's horrified gaze, slipped into his mouth and burrowed into his stomach.

The black‑robed person's belly instantly swelled, but his body quickly withered; he struggled desperately on the ground until he breathed his last.

Only then did the black mist emerge from his mouth, but its body had grown a size larger and become more substantial, like solid matter.

And the black‑robed person was now like a desiccated corpse, dead beyond any doubt.

The obedient black mist flew to the mistress's embrace, rubbed against her, and she reached out to rub its head, saying "Good," then shook the bell, causing the black mass to dart into the bell.

At that moment, the mistress suddenly heard a vase shatter, looked over, and discovered Guihua hiding in the corner.

The mistress stepped toward her; Guihua fell to her knees, knocking her head frantically and pleading, "I was wrong, I know nothing, please spare me!" but the mistress's eyes were icy.

When Su Ruo found the mistress, she was crouched alone by the wall, shivering, while a few hundred meters away lay a courtyard completely consumed by fire.

Around them many people were busy fighting the fire, and no one noticed the mistress's disheveled state.

Su Ruo wanted to ask the mistress what had happened and how she had escaped, but this was clearly no place for talk, so she could only first take the mistress away.

Su Ruo brought the mistress to Si Yannian's siheyuan at top speed, made sure no one was following, then pushed open the door and led the mistress inside.

After Su Ruo closed the door, she nervously looked at the mistress and asked, "Mistress, what exactly happened? Did that person hurt you?"

But the mistress merely smiled at Su Ruo without speaking; Su Ruo knew she wouldn't get an answer from her, so she could only bring her inside for an examination—fortunately, the mistress bore no wounds, and even her belly had vanished.

After taking the mistress's pulse, Su Ruo found her body completely normal, with no signs of pregnancy or miscarriage whatsoever.

Su Ruo wondered what had happened to the mistress during that time, but now it was obviously impossible to find out.

Seeing the mistress returned, Si Yannian immediately breathed a sigh of relief; he truly feared that if anything happened to the mistress, Su Ruo would blame herself for life.

In the afternoon, while the mistress slept, Su Ruo had Si Yannian help look after her, then made an excuse and went out.

After Su Ruo left, she found an empty alley, entered the space to disguise herself, and when she emerged again, she had completely changed her appearance.

Su Ruo quietly returned to the spot where she had found the mistress that morning; the fire had been fully extinguished, but many people were still engaged in cleanup work.

Su Ruo edged up to a gossip‑loving auntie watching the scene and asked in a heavy accent, "Auntie, what exactly is going on here?"

This auntie loved gossip; as soon as Su Ruo asked, she perked up: "Who knows? It just caught fire out of the blue—you didn't see how huge the flames were; in a moment they burned everything in the house to ashes." The auntie clicked her tongue.

Su Ruo continued, "Auntie, do you know who lives here? With such a big fire, is anyone unharmed?"

The auntie sighed, "Who knows! But this family is strange—they've lived here for years, yet no one has ever seen them; they keep their door locked all day and have no contact with the neighbors."

As the auntie was speaking, firefighters brought out two corpses; the first had been burned to charcoal, revealing nothing.

The second corpse was female; although her face was beyond recognition, Su Ruo instantly recognized her shoes—it was undoubtedly Guihua.

The onlookers, upon seeing this scene, couldn't help whispering to each other; although they normally had no interaction, the sight of the two victims' tragic state still stirred sympathy in them.

Having seen what she wanted to see, Su Ruo silently left.

Su Ruo was also puzzled—what had happened, why the mistress was unharmed while Guihua and the black‑robed person were dead.

But all of this was destined to remain unknown; perhaps, as Guan Yue said, those who create grudge spirits will eventually meet retribution—these two might be getting what they deserve.

Afterwards, Su Ruo observed the mistress for several days straight; seeing nothing abnormal, she finally put her mind at ease.

After the master's repeated urgings, Su Ruo took the mistress back to the Medicine Hall, for she feared that if she didn't bring the mistress back, the master would come knocking.

That day, the master waited early outside the door, wearing his newest clothes, and Su Ruo could clearly sense his nervousness.

But when the mistress saw him, her expression remained calm; Su Ruo felt a bit helpless, not knowing when the mistress would return to normal, yet the master behaved with composure, as if he didn't mind at all.

After the meal, the master said, "Stay here!"

Su Ruo thought it over; since the mistress's affair was settled, she indeed had no need to further disturb Si Yannian, so she nodded and moved in together with the mistress.

The room was still the master's wife's room; no matter if it was the master or the senior brothers, nobody brought up Guihua's matter anymore, as if that person simply didn't exist.

After everything had been arranged, Su Ruo took the master's wife back, and saw An'an and Li Zhaodi and the others; indeed, Su Ruo hadn't returned for a long time, and she was afraid that if she didn't go back, Li Zhaodi and the others would worry.

Su Ruo had just entered the door when An'an saw her and immediately ran over, throwing herself into Su Ruo's arms and saying, "Mom, I've missed you so much."

Su Ruo pinched her little nose and said, "Mom, I miss you too."

Then she reached out and patted Qin Xiao's head.

After not seeing them for a while, these two little rascals seem to have grown taller.

Bai Xinya smiled from the side and said, "Knowing school was out for the break, the two of them haven't gone anywhere this period, staying at home waiting for you to come back; if you didn't return, we would have gone to the school to look for you."

Su Ruo stood up, feeling somewhat guilty, and said to Bai Xinya, "You've had a hard time these days." She had been busy this whole time and basically had no time to look after the children.

Bai Xinya gave Su Ruo a look and said, "Why be polite with me? Besides, these are also my kids; looking after them is what I should do."

After saying that, Bai Xinya took out two award slips to show Su Ruo; An'an and Qin Xiao both scored perfect marks and tied for first place—something the teachers had never seen before, such well-behaved, sensible children.

Bai Xinya's face was filled with unrestrained pride; although Su Ruo didn't care much about the children's grades, she was still happy that they were doing well in their studies.

Immediately, she kissed each on the cheek—An'an burst into giggles, while Qin Xiao blushed.

After finishing talking about An'an and Qin Xiao, Su Ruo then remembered to introduce the master's wife to Bai Xinya and the others.

"This is my master's wife; she had been ill all along, only recently recovered, though she has forgotten some things—I brought her out to get some fresh air."

Anyway, we'll be seeing each other often from now on, so these things will come out sooner or later; Su Ruo didn't hide anything.

Bai Xinya knew about Su Ruo's apprenticeship, and she had considered visiting Yan Jiu, since Yan Jiu is a highly respected old Chinese doctor, and they are also Su Ruo's friends and family, so they ought to go see him.

But she never found a suitable opportunity, and she was worried that going unannounced would be rude, so the matter was postponed.

Although Bai Xinya didn't know much about Su Ruo's master's wife, coming from a big family herself, she quickly regained her composure and shook hands with the master's wife while smiling.

And the master's wife, who usually fears strangers, actually didn't refuse.

An'an also obediently said, "Hello, granny."

The master's wife reached out and touched An'an's head, but at the moment the master's wife made contact with An'an, it seemed as if even heaven and earth changed color.