Chapter 131

Yu Nian's words are very meaningful.

"Senior sister, what you mean is..."

Yu Nian nodded: "Today, if the seal of the pawnshop is broken, the victims will not only be Wufu Town and Jiangcheng; the next stop will be Huicheng. Xiao Jiu, once Jiangcheng's gate opens, those who ultimately drown will always be Huicheng."

Therefore, Grandma staying at the Wufu Town pawnshop as its keeper is not accidental, but done with a mission.

And Grandma's master ultimately choosing to settle in Huicheng also has a reason.

She must guard the final pass of this water vein.

For this, Grandma's master and Senior Sister's mother both gave their lives.

Yu Nian, at a young age, also had her eyes gouged out.

She is now only 23 years old; the year her eyes were gouged out, she was just 13.

I can hardly imagine how a 13-year-old orphaned girl managed to escape her enemies' encirclement and survive to this day.

If it weren't to come save me, she probably wouldn't have shown herself in the world so easily, right?

As soon as she appears, what she will face next is doubled encirclement and pursuit.

From today, when Yu Nian unleashed the Thousand Soul Banner, Liu Second Master immediately joining the battle already reveals a glimpse.

I asked: "Senior sister, is the death of my master's mother related to the snake clan of Wangting Mountain?"

"Wangting Mountain snake clan?" Yu Nian put away her turtle shell and said, "No, the Wangting Mountain snake clan amounts to nothing; they are merely puppets. What's terrifying is the thing lurking behind it—back then, my grandmother's death came from merely touching the edge of that thing."

"And my mother's death was indeed caused by the Wangting Mountain snake clan; they wanted the Thousand Soul Banner."

Yu Nian's words partly confirmed my guess, and partly corroborated from the side that Liu Junyan had not deceived me earlier.

Wangting Mountain must not be touched.

Yu Nian took out several stacked paper figurines, a dozen or so yellow talismans, and a few triangular packets from her cloth bundle, handing them to me and saying, "First meeting, Xiao Jiu; I don't have much to give you—keep these for protection."

"Although you call me senior sister, you are not a practitioner of the Mystic Gate, nor have you inherited the Yu lineage; you have your own path to walk, which will be broader yet more arduous. Those who can truly help you are few and far between, Xiao Jiu—only by saving yourself can you reach the other shore."

"Only by saving oneself can one reach the other shore..." That sentence, during my countless future moments of confusion and even losing myself, repeatedly pulled me back.

Yu Nian also taught me a mind-purifying method, to recite often when idle, which benefits me.

We talked a lot, until Li Qingying came over with an egg to apply to my face.

Actually, by now I realize the mark on my cheek probably won't fade just by rolling an egg over it; it wasn't caused by a blow at all.

But I let Li Qingying roll the peeled, soft white egg over my cheek many times, then she called us to wash up, as we were about to eat.

At that time, the sky already showed a fish-belly white; I asked, "Qingying sister, has Liu Junyan returned?"

"The Seventh Lord returned long ago." Li Qingying said, "Xiaoye is also there; the two are chatting in the main house."

I gave an "oh," then personally went to call Liu Junyan and them over for a meal.

Everyone gathered in the rear wing, while the front courtyard was quite quiet.

As I was about to step over the threshold of the main house with one foot, I heard conversation coming from the west wing.

"You intend to keep it hidden from her like this?"

"For now I can't tell her."

"Are you afraid she'll be uneasy?"

"……"

"Or are you afraid you won't be able to control yourself?"

"I can control it."

Xiaoye snorted, seeming not to believe it at all.

They continued chatting about some things; my foot that had stepped over the threshold ultimately couldn't come down—I withdrew it, turned, and left.

Liu Junyan is hiding something from me; perhaps even he himself can't control it now… Could he really have made a deal with that Copper Coin Person?

That uneasy feeling in my heart rose again.

Returning to the dining hall, Li Qingying and the others had already laid out the dishes; I told everyone to eat first, no need to wait for Liu Junyan and them.

They might not even need to eat.

After the meal, I separately received calls from Tang Tang and Jin Wuya, both inquiring about the night's battle; after chatting a while, Tang Xun said she would return to Huicheng.

Yu Nian went with her.

I thanked Tang Xun, then hugged Yu Nian tightly, urging her to take good care of herself, keep in touch often; Yu Nian agreed to all.

As we saw them off at the door, Yu Nian summoned the Thousand Soul Banner, sending most of the souls trapped within it into the Soul-guiding Lamp.

The merit of the Soul-guiding Lamp surged instantly, and the lamp oil increased a bit.

This is another meeting gift from Yu Nian to me.

This meeting gift is weighty.

Seeing them off, I turned around and saw Xiaoye come out.

He still wore the same outfit, his whole person hidden in his clothes; as he passed me, he cautioned, "Old Seven might look a bit strange lately—just ignore him, he'll get better slowly."

I replied okay; Xiaoye walked out the gate, raised his hand in a wave, and left.

This great commotion thus drew its curtain.

I stood at the pawnshop doorway for a while, gazing at the now-calm Zhu Pan River, but my heart couldn't settle.

Li Qingying said, "It's only past five; go wash up and catch another nap—rest well."

I hummed in agreement, and also told Li Qingying to hurry and rest.

I returned to my room, took a hot shower, sat before the dressing table blowing my hair, and turned my right half-face to glance in the mirror.

Then I saw a small red mark on the lower right cheek near the jawbone.

At first it was faint, but after the hair dryer's hot air blew on it, the color darkened considerably, vaguely resembling a pieced-together character.

I aimed the hair dryer at the jawbone area and blew a while longer; the mark's color grew deeper, finally turning red as if about to drip blood.

And those small marks, when pieced together, actually formed the character for "slave"!

The hair dryer in my hand suddenly fell to the ground with a clang; the plug wasn't pulled, and the hair dryer emitted a whooshing sound, yet I was completely unaware.

Slave.

Cat.

Fengli Shu's words kept echoing in my ears.

She said I was originally her slave, so I am under her control, and everything of mine ought to belong to her.

I also recalled that after Yu Nian touched this mark of mine, she said, this isn't a tattoo; it might be something I was born with, or it could be past-life karma.

Could this be the past-life karma between me and Fengli Shu?

In my past life, was I truly her slave?

Impossible, how could this be?

I cannot believe all of this; no, it's absolutely impossible!

I panickedly stood up and ran toward the main courtyard; at this moment, I needed a shoulder, an embrace.

Someone I trusted most told me personally that none of this is real.

But when I stepped into the west wing of the main courtyard, turned around the screen, and saw that man sitting cross-legged on the floor, eyes closed, constantly turning his prayer beads, murmuring words as if chanting sutras, I almost instantly turned to stone……