Chapter 426: What a Coincidence

She had slept enough during the day; night was her time to be active, but lately no one liked staying up late, so by midnight she could only amuse herself, occasionally drifting out to play nearby—tonight, finally, there was something for her to do, even if it was something as dull as guarding the premises, and she was slightly pleased.

Xiao Hong drifted above Wang Cong's rooftop, now flying from one end to the other with the wind, now gliding back again with it, her form light and dancing like a red silk ribbon shifting shape in the air, moving with every gust.

Yin Song looked up for a while, then sighed: "This Miss must have loved freedom deeply in life."

Pan Yun stood beside him and nodded at this: "She had a kind heart too."

Yin Song: "After death, the seven po dissipate, and one of the three hun—the ming hun, tai guang—also vanishes; usually only two hun remain, but they soon return to the Yin Realm and enter reincarnation."

"Only those with profound attachments, at the moment of death when the ming hun vanishes, still manage to retain the two hun and seven po, lingering in the Yang World."

"We commonly call them ghosts, and ghosts have seven days to linger; if after seven days they still do not enter the Yin Realm, they gradually lose their sanity, their memories fade, becoming ignorant, senseless, incomplete ghosts—commonly called lonely wandering spirits. During festivals, when families offer sacrifices, they cannot find the way back and receive nothing."

"But such ghosts retain only instinct—they cannot understand human speech like Xiao Hong, nor possess such reason," Yin Song said: "Among ten thousand ghosts, perhaps one; among a hundred thousand dead, perhaps one such case—and you've stumbled upon it, little sister. You're lucky."

Pan Yun: "Could it have something to do with her having been kept by someone?"

Yin Song: "It may have had some influence, but not deep—before she was kept, she must have already possessed reason."

Yin Song paused here, frowning: "By the way, when did Long Hushan Academy sink so low? To allow students to keep minor ghosts?"

Pan Yun's face turned stern: "Exactly—they're way too outrageous."

Yin Song silently turned to look at her.

Pan Yun kept her head tilted upward, watching Xiao Hong on the rooftop, not even turning her gaze.

Yin Song withdrew his gaze: "Fine then. Since Big Brother didn't stop you, keep her—but don't let anyone find out. If other Dao companions learn of it, remember not to mention Mount Sanqing."

"I know. I'm from Long Hushan Academy."

Yin Song nodded, turned, and walked back inside: "To restore her memories, besides searching the entire sea for her family, you can seek out yinchen wood—let her rest inside it for seven or eight years; perhaps her soul fragments will recover, and some memories return."

Pan Yun called out after his back: "I understand, Second Brother!"

On a distant rooftop, two Embroidered Uniform Guard whispered: "What did she understand?"

"Who knows? We didn't hear anything but that one phrase—why can't we get closer?"

"How can we get closer? Do you think Yin Song is useless? He's the one who infiltrated the enemy camp during the Luchuan Campaign and killed the mother gu before their shamans. Why can't we find Hu Jing? Probably An Chen was spotted during his reconnaissance, and the man was quietly moved."

"Why is she staring at the sky all night? The moon's so small tonight, and the moonlight's mediocre."

"I think she and Yin Song weren't looking at the sky at first—they seemed to be looking at the rooftop."

"It's empty up there. What's there to look at?"

"Who knows?"

Pan Yun turned and walked back inside. Soon, the light in her room went out. Besides Wang Cong, everyone else began to extinguish their lamps and sleep.

Only the light in Wang Cong's room remained lit.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard shifted positions several times, barely catching reflections—always seeing him bent over writing, then his figure vanishing intermittently.

Judging by his movement, he must have gone to the washroom, where a screen blocks the view.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard watched all night, utterly baffled by what he was doing, their eyes slowly drooping.

As the moon sank lower, its light blocked by houses and trees, casting Pan Yun's door and windows into darkness, her window quietly slid open—a dark shape, blending with the night, slipped out gracefully, landed on the ground, and vanished completely into the shadows.

Pan Yun gently closed the window, placed Pan Xiaohei on her shoulder, and moved swiftly along the shadows beneath the walls. Near the trees, she leapt up, using their darkness as cover, leaping and darting until she left Yin Zhai. The alley was darker still; she clung to the walls, hidden in shadow, and sped away.

The safest place for night travel has always been the ground, not the sky.

Because the sky has no cover, but the ground does—where shadows pool low, who would notice?

Pan Yun moved swiftly, soon leaving the Embroidered Uniform Guard's surveillance range. Guided by Pan Xiaohei, she quickly reached a house at the intersection of Chengdong and Chengnan.

It was a two-courtyard compound, with a two-story front building facing the street.

Pan Yun looked up, recognized it as a teahouse, and raised an eyebrow: "Jianghu people run businesses—either teahouses or brothels. Can't they diversify?"

Pan Xiaohei sniffed the air: "The man's inside, but the scents are too mixed—I sense he's passed through every room. I can't tell which one. You find him."

"Fine. Now it's my turn."

Pan Xiaohei: "Next time you have a job like this, just bring the yellow dog. Don't use me like a hound."

Pan Yun: "You're smarter, lighter, and more agile than he is. Capable hands get more work."

!. Read

Pan Xiaohei grumbled, but his mood improved slightly.

Pan Yun flipped into the back courtyard.

The courtyard was eerily quiet—it was the dead of night, when people sleep deepest, so not a sound stirred.

Pan Yun stood in the courtyard, glancing around helplessly, then decided to search room by room.

She moved clockwise, so she started with the eastern wing, gently pushed open a door, and tiptoed inside…

Clearly, Pan Yun's luck was truly bad—every room she entered was wrong, every search missed the mark.

From the eastern wing to the western wing, even the main house—she found no one.

She even saw something that made her eyes burn—this put her in a foul mood.

Pan Xiaohei softly mewed: "There's another courtyard behind, and a rear annex."

Pan Yun marched toward the back courtyard, shoved open a door, and thought to herself: 【If I don't find him now, I'll grab anyone—I'll take one of the Wu Lin Alliance's men. Doesn't matter which.】

As she spoke, she saw a man on the bed, one leg sprawled across the quilt. Though it was dark, her vision was sharp—she recognized the face at once.

Pan Yun frowned slightly: "Qu Le? Why is he here?"

Pan Xiaohei: "Grab him."

"No—he knows me." Pan Yun turned to leave, then paused, pulled out a sleeping incense, lit it, and waved it near his nose.

The man, whose eyes had been darting rapidly, slumped sideways and fell back into deep sleep.

Pan Yun, still uneasy, pressed a point on his sleeping acupoint, then began searching the room.

Pan Xiaohei jumped from her shoulder onto the table, eyes wide: "You're stealing his money too?"

"What nonsense—I'm looking for his seal. Isn't his seal better than those three idiots'?"

(End of this chapter)