Chapter 5: Want to run, why come back?

Accompanied by that singing, a nameless force pushed me to go outside.

Outside, mist rose; everywhere was a hazy expanse.

Standing inside the threshold of the main gate, I nervously looked ahead, my heart hanging in my throat.

The mist grew thicker and thicker; soon, something vaguely emerged from the dense fog.

Getting closer, I suddenly saw clearly that they were three sedan chairs of different colors.

Then, seeing clearly the bearers of those sedan chairs, I was even more terrified, trembling all over.

The sedan chairs were yellow, gray, and white respectively.

Those carrying the sedan chairs were not people, but huge upright yellow weasels, rats, and hedgehogs, all wearing bright red ceremonial robes.

Those beasts carried the sedan chairs, swaying slowly in midair, their pairs of scarlet eyes fixed on me, as if wielding some kind of magic.

The sedan curtains were open; I only felt someone inside constantly calling me, and my feet involuntarily walked toward the sedan.

Just then, a gentle voice suddenly pierced the mist: 'Xiao Jiu.'

I suddenly jolted awake, realizing I had at some point already stepped over the high threshold of the pawnshop and was standing on the edge of the steps.

A green sedan chair slowly appeared in my view, with a man standing beside it whom I never expected to see here.

The man likewise wore a full set of bright red wedding robes, one hand holding a folding fan, his handsome peach-blossom eyes giving me a slight smile as he extended his other hand: 'Xiao Jiu, I've come to fetch you.'

Having said that, he collected his smile and glanced toward the other three sedan chairs.

Those three sedan chairs involuntarily leaned toward each other, appearing somewhat wary of the man.

The sedan chair… I really have to choose a sedan chair.

And the green sedan chair actually belongs to the Fox Lord!

So the 'sliver of hope' Grandma spoke of refers to this.

'Xiao Jiu, come.'

The Fox Lord stepped forward and called me again.

I extended my hand without hesitation; Grandma had said I must definitely choose the green sedan chair.

But just as the Fox Lord's hand was about to clasp mine, a somewhat mocking voice sounded from behind: 'Heh.'

Even after all these years, I instantly recognized whose cold, clear voice it was.

Seventh Lord!

I hastily pulled back my hand and turned my head to look behind.

Before the wide-open pawnshop door there was no one in sight, yet a grand red bridal sedan stood still there, the five-colored banner on its top fluttering in the wind.

It is the grand red bridal sedan from the west side of the main hall!

It… how could it appear here?

Could it be Seventh Lord?

My heart pounded wildly; I looked at the grand red bridal sedan, then turned back to look at the Fox Lord.

Grandma insisted I must choose the green sedan chair, saying the Fox Lord was my sliver of hope.

I should heed Grandma's words.

But Grandma would say that only based on the premise that Seventh Lord cannot save me.

Seventh Lord is my benefactor; from age six to eighteen, these twelve years, he has been protecting me, and he is the person I and Grandma revere and trust the most.

Moreover, I will never forget that pawn ticket bearing my blood fingerprint.

When I was six, I had already been pledged by my wet nurse to Seventh Lord!

'Xiao Jiu,' the Fox Lord called me again, his voice tinged with a hint of pleading: 'A Li… choose me.'

That utterance of 'A Li' completely sobered me.

I am not A Li; I am merely Xiao Jiu of the Wufu Town pawnshop.

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath silently, then opened them—I had already made my final decision.

'Fox Lord, thank you for your help, but… sorry, I cannot choose you.'

Having said that, I lifted the hem of the red wedding dress and strode toward the grand red bridal sedan.

The curtains of the grand red bridal sedan lifted themselves, and the sedan leaned forward slightly.

As soon as I sat inside, the curtains fell, blocking the Fox Lord's sorrowful peach-blossom eyes and the beasts' unwillingness.

The bridal sedan slowly rose, crossed the high threshold of the pawnshop, and upon entering the pawnshop, that intangible sense of oppression surged back.

I have lived in this pawnshop for a full twelve years; every unlocked area here is intimately familiar to me.

As the sedan passed through the front courtyard, I felt countless hands reaching out from all directions, incessantly tearing at the sedan.

Yīnfēng slipped through the curtain gaps, lifting my white hair; the bitter cold made my whole body shiver, yet inside I felt as if a fire burned, scorching the two shoulder-blade spots on my back with a knife‑like, bone‑scraping pain.

Inside and outside my body seemed like two worlds of ice and fire; the inner fire could not escape, while the external cold kept drilling into the bone's crevices…

Passing through the flower‑laden archway, the grand red bridal sedan landed steadily and stopped in the main courtyard.

Enduring the discomfort throughout my body, I sat silently in the sedan, waiting quietly.

But aside from the howling wind and the rising and falling wails of ghosts and wolves, there was nothing else.

Could it be that I chose wrong?

Is this grand red bridal sedan not Seventh Lord's?

No, no matter whose sedan it is, tonight my choice is only Seventh Lord!

It can only be Seventh Lord!

I have no way to turn back!

Thinking this, I kicked open the curtains and stepped out with one foot.

But the moment both my feet touched the ground, the scene inside the pawnshop suddenly changed.

The large three-in, three-out courtyard turned into a huge pit.

Inside the pit, countless men, women, old and young dressed in Republican-era clothing were piled haphazardly, crying out and reaching their hands toward me, begging me to save them.

The scene shifted; suddenly flames erupted in the pit, long tongues of fire incessantly devouring the bodies of men, women, old and young……

Horrible, too horrible.

I trembled all over, for a moment unable to tell whether what lay before me was real or an illusion.

Just as I was at a loss, my gaze pierced through the vast sea of fire, and I saw that black coffin covered in runes.

It was Seventh Lord's black coffin!

I gritted my teeth, stepped one foot into the sea of fire, eyes fixed on the direction of that black coffin, and trudged toward it step by step with great difficulty.

In the sea of fire, a charred black hand reached for my ankle, trying to stop me from moving forward.

I walked with great difficulty, not knowing how long I had gone, until I felt as if my feet no longer belonged to me; at the moment I could no longer endure and was about to collapse to the ground, the sea of fire vanished, the charred corpses disappeared, and I fell forward into the main hall, before the black coffin.

Grandma's corpse was nowhere to be found, the western corner of the wall lay empty.

I turned my head and saw in the main courtyard that the large red bridal sedan was broken and torn, its surface covered in dark claw marks…… It turned out that not everything that had just happened was merely my illusion.

"Your wings have stiffened, you want to run—what are you doing turning back?"

A clear, teasing voice suddenly sounded; I jerked my head around and saw a person standing before the black coffin.

A tall, graceful man about 1.9 meters high, wearing a cap and dressed in a black python robe……