Luo Qingcheng returned to the table and poured herself a fresh cup of tea.
“I heard that the Baili family’s ancestral tomb was robbed. Was it your doing?”
Luo Qingcheng asked while sipping her tea.
“Grave robbing is not something Bi Xuan Palace indulges in, but I did go to investigate,” Xiao Qiyu replied, brushing off the tea Luo Qingcheng had splashed on her.
“The Baili ancestral tomb is located in a place that seems auspicious according to the earth’s veins, but unfortunately, the land shifted, affecting the forest.
When I went to investigate, I found the coffin was waterlogged, and it had been that way for nearly fifty years.”
“What do you mean?”
Luo Qingcheng’s calm demeanor shifted as she raised an eyebrow.
“A waterlogged coffin can become a source of yin energy, especially in a dense forest that never sees sunlight.
The yin energy gathers heavily, and I’m afraid that before the tomb was robbed, the corpse had already left the grave,” Xiao Qiyu tapped the table lightly with her fingers and smiled.
“It’s what people commonly refer to as a zombie.”
“Is the White Tiger Ring Head still on the corpse?”
Luo Qingcheng asked, unfazed by the supernatural topic.
“Even though a corpse doesn’t need to eat, a hundred-year-old body will still rot into mud.
If the Baili ancestor encountered a beast, it might have been torn apart.
As for whether the ring is still on the corpse, I can’t say,” Xiao Qiyu’s ambiguous answer left Luo Qingcheng somewhat irritated.
She suppressed her displeasure, trying to maintain the demeanor of a leader.
In fact, it was only a month ago that she sought Xiao Qiyu’s help.
When she heard that the Black Dragon Tail Ring was in the hands of Gui Po from the tomb, she sent people to Wufeng Valley, only to be told by her servants that Yu Xiang had spread the news that Gui Po had already left the valley.
So she temporarily shifted her focus to the White Tiger Ring Head.
Upon hearing that the Baili family had buried the ancestral ring with their ancestor, she had no choice but to ask Bi Xuan Palace for help.
However, when Xiao Qiyu went to investigate, not only did she disappear, but she also sent a ghostly message in a dream, asking her to capture someone, specifically Xi Fuhong.
That person had a significant relationship with Gui Po and had been involved with Shi Cuiyan for a while, so capturing her might yield some clues.
But the little girl remained stubborn.
“Can you find the White Tiger Ring Head?”
Luo Qingcheng looked at Xiao Qiyu’s unchanging smile.
“If Miss Luo doesn’t trust me, why would you let me get involved?”
The Righteous Path’s treasure hunt indeed had nothing to do with Bi Xuan Palace.
“Of course, I trust Miss Xiao, but…”
Luo Qingcheng narrowed her eyes and said coldly, “Bi Xuan Palace doesn’t need to get involved in the Tiger Dragon Cave affair, and the Luo Family hasn’t offered terms that would make Bi Xuan Palace submit.
How do I know if you’re truly helping me or if you have another agenda?”
Her words were blunt, and Xiao Qiyu’s sudden disappearance made Luo Qingcheng wary.
She feared that the person hiding behind a smiling face might be a ghost that devours people without leaving a trace.
If she pretended to assist but actually plundered, it wouldn’t be impossible for her to take both rings once they were obtained.
“How does Miss Luo want me to prove my loyalty?”
Xiao Qiyu smiled back, unfazed by the pressure.
“Proof is unnecessary,” Luo Qingcheng withdrew her sharp gaze and said, “Is there something you want in the Tiger Dragon Cave?”
In an instant, Xiao Qiyu’s gentle smile took on a hint of desolation, a subtle change that didn’t escape Luo Qingcheng’s eyes.
Without needing further words, she understood that there must be something in the Tiger Dragon Cave that Xiao Qiyu wanted.
Otherwise, how could a declining Luo Family estate use a low offer to secure the help of Bi Xuan Palace’s best disciple?
“I’ll leave the White Tiger Ring Head to you,” Luo Qingcheng said as she stood up and walked towards the door.
Before stepping over the threshold, she added softly, “I’ll handle the Black Dragon Tail Ring.”
A young boy stood outside the iron bars, listening to the piercing wails coming from not far away.
His frail body trembled uncontrollably.
He had never seen such a stubborn prisoner, who refused to yield even after four days of severe torture.
Since she was brought back from the hall yesterday, the woman hadn’t spoken again, not even to the young lady.
He knew that the more silent she was, the more it would anger Luo Qingcheng.
In the three years he had been at the Luo residence, he knew that although the young lady appeared cold and arrogant, her patience was so thin that she could barely wait for tea to boil.
“You’re opposing the Righteous Path sects,” Luo Qingcheng said, swinging the long whip in her hand with disdain in her eyes.
Xi Fuhong released her bloodied lower lip, her body covered in wounds that were beyond recognition.
She knew that being tortured to death was only a matter of time.
Suddenly, she smiled faintly, the pain from the cuts on her lips making her frown.
“Do you know that Shi Cuiyan took the Black Dragon Tail Ring to the Baili family?”
Luo Qingcheng ignored her smile.
“That ring must have been stolen by her, right? That’s why you were so surprised when you found out she deceived you.”
The word “pathetic” surfaced in Luo Qingcheng’s mind.
The scapegoat being used without realizing it… truly pathetic.
“…Where… did Miss Xiao… go?”
Xi Fuhong asked hoarsely.
“Xiao Qiyu left,” Luo Qingcheng said, smoothing the long whip.
Seeing Xi Fuhong’s dazed expression, she said coldly, “Hoping she’ll save you? Don’t even think about it. It was she who told me to capture you because you were in cahoots with Gui Po and had acted with Shi Cuiyan. She told me all of this.”
Xi Fuhong’s chest tightened.
She thought her heart couldn’t hurt anymore, but the worst outcome she had vaguely suspected was confirmed by Luo Qingcheng’s words.
She nodded, then shook her head.
Yes…
only she would be deceived again and again, like a fool running in circles among people, unable to escape the scripted drama.
“Where is Gui Po?”
Luo Qingcheng asked again, impatiently.
Xi Fuhong remained silent, and the same long whip left another bloody mark on her body.
The repeated actions left Xi Fuhong dizzy from the torture.
Her limbs were numb, and she couldn’t feel the pain of her battered body, but she couldn’t ignore the sorrow of being deceived.
Whenever she closed her eyes, those unfamiliar yet familiar faces would appear in her dreams, haunting her.
“Do you feel the poison in your body?”
This time, Luo Qingcheng didn’t ask about the Black Dragon Tail Ring but instead mentioned Xi Fuhong’s condition.
Before locking her in the dungeon, she had a doctor check her pulse because she needed a living person and couldn’t allow her to die suddenly during interrogation.
The doctor had said she was poisoned with something called Frost Flower.
Although it wouldn’t kill her directly, prolonged use would accumulate toxicity.
If exposed to cold weather, the poison would flare up, initially causing numbness in the limbs, and as the poison spread through the bloodstream, it would turn into excruciating pain.
And the poison in Xi Fuhong’s body had clearly spread throughout.
“Though I don’t know when you were poisoned, if you tell me where Gui Po is hiding, I can give you the antidote.”
Upon hearing this, Xi Fuhong managed a difficult smile and said, “…You… want to kill me… even if the poison is cured… I won’t survive…”
“But at least it would ease the pain, wouldn’t it?”
Luo Qingcheng said impatiently, disliking anyone playing word games with her.
Xi Fuhong shook her head, and Luo Qingcheng couldn’t understand her meaning.
Was she refusing to speak?
Or refusing to be saved?
But either way, it nearly exhausted her patience.
She swung the whip four more times, the solid thud of it hitting flesh echoing in the dungeon, the air filled with the stench of blood and the oppressive smell of mold.
Xi Fuhong’s limp body swayed in mid-air, her heavy eyelids fluttering open.
She saw the young boy whispering in Luo Qingcheng’s ear before she lost consciousness again.
“Let Senior Brother wait a moment, I’ll change clothes and go,” Luo Qingcheng said, tossing the long whip to the ground and turning to leave.
As she walked out of the dark dungeon, Luo Qingcheng’s stunning face looked somewhat weary in the sunlight, but she quickly brushed away her impatience and slowly returned to her bedroom to change clothes.
A moment later, she emerged wearing a purple-blue robe.
