Upon hearing this, Xue Baihua got off Xi Fuhong and retrieved a delicate wooden box from the low table.
She called Xi Fuhong to sit beside her, and with her jade-like fingers, she took out a flesh-colored piece of skin from the box and applied it to Xi Fuhong’s face.
“This is for your disguise.
It’ll be much easier once we enter the city.” Xue Baihua’s intention was lost on Xi Fuhong, who only felt uncomfortable with the soft, flexible mask on her face.
Seeing this, Xue Baihua didn’t say much more.
She turned her head and lifted the curtain, seeing that the carriage had already crossed the city bridge.
Tonghui City, the second largest commercial city in the south, mainly dealt in the trade of calligraphy and paintings, attracting many scholars and literati.
Due to its central location, anyone traveling between the north and south would pass through here, so there were also many Jianghu people among the travelers.
Even though Xue Baihua wasn’t interested in the Tiger Dragon Cave’s secret treasure, she was interested in Ah Fu, the medicine person.
To avoid unnecessary trouble, she wanted her to change her appearance.
After passing the guards, Cao Er exchanged a few words with a man and entered the city gate.
Xue Baihua lowered the curtain and stopped looking outside.
Xi Fuhong, hearing the bustling street sounds, suddenly became spirited and leaned against the carriage door to look out through the white gauze curtain.
This city was larger than any she had visited before, with shops neatly lined up along the street.
Besides their carriage, there were already quite a few others passing by.
Cao Er drove the carriage to an inn, with “Wanglai Inn” written on the red wooden board, the best inn in Tonghui City.
Seeing the Cao Sisters jump off the carriage, Xi Fuhong followed suit.
Behind her, Xue Baihua didn’t need any assistance, and the group entered together.
The large hall was full of people, and Xi Fuhong shrank back timidly towards the door.
Seeing this, Cao Er glared at her, unable to stand someone so inexperienced.
“Shopkeeper, we need two upper rooms,” Cao Er said, placing some silver pieces on the table.
“Sorry, sir, all the upper rooms are taken,” the shopkeeper sighed regretfully, looking at the silver.
“Alright, then two middle rooms,” Cao Er said, not wanting to inconvenience her master, but having no choice.
The shopkeeper pushed the silver back to Cao Er, saying, “Sir, all our rooms are taken, not just here, but throughout Tonghui City.”
Cao Er frowned.
No rooms? Even though Tonghui City was the second largest city in the south, with many merchants coming and going, there should still be some empty rooms. Her expression changed, “Shopkeeper, are you joking? How can there be no rooms in such a big city?”
“You don’t know, sir…” The shopkeeper suddenly lowered his voice mysteriously, “This city… is haunted.”
“Haunted?!” Xi Fuhong exclaimed in surprise.
Ghosts… she was most afraid of them.
Seeing her pale face, Xue Baihua said with a smile, “Shopkeeper, could you elaborate?”
Faced with such a beauty, the shopkeeper was almost enchanted and couldn’t refuse.
He rubbed his hands and lowered his voice, “A few months ago, cries were heard in the city at night.
At first, the townspeople didn’t pay much attention, but then one day, a baker on East Street was suddenly bitten to death, blood everywhere.
This alarmed the authorities, but they couldn’t find out who did it.
After that, more and more people died…”
“Hmph, so you just assume it’s ghosts?” Cao Er said disdainfully.
“Of course not, but half a month ago, a woman who narrowly escaped said it was zombies.
The authorities didn’t believe it at first, but when they went to the mass grave to the west of the city, they found dozens of graves had been dug up, and there were no bodies in the coffins.
They had all run away!”
Mu Er, listening nearby, frowned, “Maybe it’s grave robbers.”
“Yes, but the strange thing is, the jewelry and treasures buried with the bodies were all there, only the corpses were missing.
Moreover… some people have indeed seen zombies on the streets recently.
In any case, the authorities have already invited Bi Xuan Palace to investigate, which is why all the rooms in the city are occupied.”
Xi Fuhong was stunned.
It wasn’t the zombies, but because of Bi Xuan Palace… Xiao Qiyu was here too?
“Master, why don’t we sleep in the carriage tonight?” Cao Er suggested.
“Alright,” Xue Baihua agreed and turned to leave.
The Cao Sisters followed, but Xi Fuhong stood there, dumbfounded.
Seeing her like this, Cao Er kicked her in frustration, but she remained silent like a piece of wood, as if her soul had left her body.
Hearing her master calling outside, Cao Er glared at Xi Fuhong, muttering to herself about the trouble she caused, and pulled her out of the inn.
“What’s wrong?” Xue Baihua asked casually when they came out.
Seeing Xi Fuhong’s strange expression, she pinched her face gently and said softly, “Are you afraid the ghosts will catch you?”
“I…” She was more afraid of Xiao Qiyu, unable to forget the fake gentle smile at Luo Residence.
“Don’t worry,” Xue Baihua whispered in her ear, “whether it’s ghosts, zombies… or even Bi Xuan Palace, they can’t take you away.”
A feeling of surprise and reassurance washed over Xi Fuhong.
She looked at Xue Baihua’s lazy, charming smile and felt warmth in her chest.
Why did her words sound so reliable? Why could she make her feel at ease? Originally just a relationship between a medicine person and her master, why did it seem… a bit different?
She shook off the strange thoughts and didn’t speak to Xue Baihua all afternoon.
Unusually, she suggested to Cao Er that she wanted to do something.
Cao Er asked her to groom the horse while she and Mu Er went shopping.
Xi Fuhong, wanting to dispel her gloom, took a bucket of water and stood by the carriage, carefully wetting the horse’s back and brushing its coat.
She was so focused that she didn’t notice Xue Baihua had been sitting on the carriage steps, watching her for a while.
“Ah Fu, do you know the origin of Tiger Dragon Cave?” she asked softly.
Xi Fuhong turned her head.
In the sunset glow, Xue Baihua seemed like a blooming plum blossom.
She wore a light red cloak, her snow-white skin making her look like a celestial being, as pure and solitary as a plum blossom.
She had shed her seductive demeanor, her dark eyes looking at her sincerely and simply.
Xi Fuhong pursed her lips and shook her head.
“It’s said that over five hundred years ago, before the Jianghu we know today, martial arts masters all wanted to be kings, turning Zhongyuan into a battlefield, fighting day and night, dragging the common people into it.
This chaos continued for a long time until two sworn brothers fought their way through the bloodshed and stopped the senseless conflict,” she explained.
“They called themselves White Tiger and Black Dragon, establishing the rules of the lake and creating the position of Martial Arts Alliance Leader.
Afterwards, they distributed the wealth accumulated from the battles to the poor, but sealed the secret manuals and treasures in a stone cave.
They hid the location of Tiger Dragon Cave in a key, shaped as a ring, known as the White Tiger Ring Head and Black Dragon Tail Ring, passed down to their descendants, the Baili and Ouyang families.”
The sound of water stopped, and Xi Fuhong stood by the horse, stroking its shiny brown coat.
In the backlight, her face was obscured.
