Chapter 231: Volume 1 Chapter 231 I See Your Hall of Seal Is Dark (19)

After speaking, she continued: "However, I want to take that painting with me."

Wu Yuan nodded like pounding garlic, "Sure, sure! You can take it!"

Secretary Liu had never seen someone so foolish and rich; the girl's appearance clearly marked her as a martial world swindler, but the bald-headed man believed her without question, already regarding the girl as a bodhisattva.

Jiang Zhi stopped wasting words with him, stood up, picked up the chair and table, lifted her bag, and said: "Let's go."

Wu Yuan suddenly said: "Wait a moment."

He warily glanced around, his hand gripping the leather bag unconsciously tightening, and after a long while he said: "Alright, Master, you need to be careful—when I came over, I almost got smashed by a falling tile from the sky."

Jiang Zhi handed him a folded yellow talisman: "Hold this, and no more tiles will be thrown at you."

Upon hearing this, Wu Yuan hurriedly took it, gripping it tightly in his palm like a treasure.

The rest of the way passed without incident, and they returned home safely.

Wu Yuan was overcome with excitement; earlier he hadn't really believed in this girl before, thinking she was too young to possibly deal with that painting.

But now he completely believed her.

As they entered the door, Jiang Zhi suddenly spoke: "Don't close the door."

Wu Yuan froze, turning his head to look at her.

Jiang Zhi explained: "I still have a friend who hasn't come in."

Wu Yuan was full of question marks: "What friend? Where is there a friend? Obviously only the two of us have been together all along."

Before he could even ask, a wheelchair was pushed out from behind the girl, a man with an elite appearance pushing the wheelchair, and a white-haired man sat on it.

He stumbled back several steps as if seeing a ghost, his movements exaggerated: "You… you…"

Jiang Zhi tore off the damaged talisman stuck on the man's knee and said: "Take me to see that painting."

Wu Yuan swallowed his questions, not daring to look at the man seated beside her in the wheelchair, and trembled: "Master… please follow me."

Saying this, he cautiously walked toward the bedroom.

Following behind him, Jiang Zhi said to Yu Beihan: "You wait here for now."

She had already affixed a barrier talisman that blocks yin energy onto Yu Beihan, so evil spirits could not sense his aura.

Outside the sky was as dark as ink, completely darkened, night fell, and the yin energy emanating from Yu Beihan's body grew thicker; his skin seemed covered in icy frost, making him cough, his chest filled with dark malice surging violently, causing his eyes to redden and his lips to turn pale.

His expression remained normal, calm and waveless, his dark eyes gazing faintly at her as he said: "Good."

Seeing this, Jiang Zhi bit her fingertip, drew a symbol in the air, and imprinted it on his forehead.

She bent her waist, another hand resting on the wheelchair's armrest, her fingertip touching his forehead, bringing a bone-chilling cold.

Yu Beihan slowly raised his forehead, his nose catching the girl's unique fresh fragrance; her delicate face was close enough to clearly see the color of her pupils.

The forehead touched her blood, warmth instantly dispelling the yin cold that had permeated his whole body, leaving only the fragrance clinging to her in his heart.

"All right." After just a few seconds, the girl left, saying: "Don't wipe it off."

Yu Beihan's deathly white fingers clenched the armrest tightly, his heart pounding uncontrollably, making him unable to meet the girl's gaze.

His low voice carried a barely perceptible tremor.

"Good."

Jiang Zhi didn't notice his oddity, turned around, and followed Wu Yuan into the bedroom.

The moment she stepped into the bedroom, the surroundings suddenly changed; Wu Yuan, standing beside that painting, looked entranced, lifting his finger to gently caress the ancient painting, as if he were stroking the lover of his lifetime.

"What do you mean by that? How could a man in his forties win her favor?"

Jiang Zhi gazed at the painting.

The ancient painting depicted a woman in a moon-white soft gauze long dress, black hair hanging over her shoulders, a face that could topple cities, a faint smile on her lips, bearing the air of a noble lady.

In the corner of the ancient painting were two characters: Mu Yan.

The bald-headed man seemed to become another person, his expression manic, his face ferocious, as he turned to look at her and said: "Why do you say that?"

Jiang Zhi flicked her ears, impatiently saying: "I don't care about your past-life trifles; don't feed me that nonsense—let's just fight."

The 'Wu Yuan' possessed by an evil spirit heard this, his ferocious face almost unable to hold back, glaring at the girl not far away, burning with rage: "Are you tired of living?!"

Having spoken, it lunged forward with bared teeth and claws, appearing before her, about to take her life; the painting hanging on the wall trembled, and the woman inside stepped out.

Immediately afterward, the woman and the evil spirit vanished together; the scene before her began to shift, revealing an ancient-style manor, several maid-clad servants appearing beside her, while her body was no longer under her control as she combed the hair of the woman before her.

"Miss, tomorrow is the day you set sail; surely many young masters from prestigious families will come to see you." The maid Xiao Qing beside her said excitedly.

The maid Xiao Hong chimed in: "Exactly, miss, you've finally risen above the rest."

The beautiful woman before her smiled faintly, and Jiang Zhi clearly saw the sorrow in her eyes.

"You all may leave now," the woman in the painting said.

Jiang Zhi's body left involuntarily.

Only after walking out of the room did her body obey her commands.

She heard a few maids whispering not far away.

"A thin horse actually thinks she's a miss."

"I've heard that tomorrow the Yuan family's young master will also go; that Yuan family young master doesn't know how many thin horses he's tormented to death, and I don't know whether she'll catch his eye."

"If she is noticed, then she's doomed."

After those maids chatted for a while, they left.

Jiang Zhi furrowed her brows, realizing she had fallen into the illusion of the person in the painting.

Thin horse?

In ancient times, they were cultivated from childhood to attract powerful officials and nobles, learning music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and also required to be skilled in song and dance; their bodies were nourished with cow's milk from a young age, their fingers like jade of sheep fat, their figures petite and softly fragrant, and later, through pleasure boats, men would select them.

Put nicely, they are called thin horses; put bluntly, they are prostitutes of the pleasure quarters.

It turned out the woman in the painting was a thin horse.

Jiang Zhi looked around a bit, then simply sat on the steps, thinking about how to leave.

There aren't many ways to break the illusion; the most effective is to let the woman in the painting know it's fake, that it's an illusion and not real.

If Jiang Zhi directly told her face to face, it would only make her sink deeper into the illusion, unable to get out.

Only by letting her realize it herself.

All we can do is wait.

Jiang Zhi glanced at the maid's clothing she was wearing, feeling somewhat helpless.

How did I end up as a maid in this illusion?

A soft, womanly voice came from inside the room.

"Xiao Hua, come in."

Jiang Zhi hadn't reacted yet.

"Xiao Hua, the miss is calling you." The maid beside her said.

Jiang Zhi pointed at herself in disbelief, "Xiao Hua?"

"Yes, I'm calling you." The maid Xiao Qing gave her a strange look: "You haven't forgotten your name, have you?"

Seeing the illusion twist more and more, Jiang Zhi spoke solemnly: "I haven't forgotten; I am Xiao Hua."

She still couldn't break character in the illusion, or the illusion would shatter.

She sighed, lifted her foot, and stepped into the room.