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Jiang Si grinds the dried datura flowers into fine powder and mixes in a small amount of amber powder.

Ah Man, the personal maid, was stunned as she watched from the side. "Young lady, when did you learn all this? I've never seen you read a medical book before."

"I found a copy of the Incense Book in my father's study a few days ago." However, Jiang Si lied without changing his expression, and his fingers nimbly filled the incense powder into the hollow silver ball.

The recipe for this aphrodisiac incense was learned from my grandfather in Nanwu in my previous life. It can make a person sleep for two hours without harming the body.

Ah Man leaned in to sniff it and immediately felt dizzy.

Jiang Si quickly stuffed a mint pill into her mouth: "Silly girl, you can't smell this."

"Girl, what is the use of this aphrodisiac incense?" Ah Man asked with his tongue sticking out.

Jiang Si looked out the window at the gloomy sky and asked, "Aren't we going to visit the Marquis of Changxing's mansion today?"

She hid the scented ball in her sleeve and added, "It's better to be prepared."

Thinking of the bruises on Jiang Qian's wrist and the sentence "He has many portraits of women hidden in his study", Jiang Si's eyes turned cold instantly.

In her previous life, she only knew that Cao Xingyu, the son of Changxing Hou, was lustful by nature, but she really had no idea that he would dare to set his sights on her.

"Fourth Miss!" The Jiang family's housekeeper called out urgently from outside the door. "Second Miss has sent someone to hurry us up. The carriage is ready."

"okay, I get it."

In Yu Qi's study, Jiang Si's painting of the snowy scene on Shenjian Mountain was nailed to a special wooden frame.

Longdan held up the oil lamp and came closer: "Seventh Master, this ink is indeed mixed with cinnabar, a specialty of Nanwu, but..."

"But after searching through the archives, I've found that Fourth Miss Jiang has never left the capital." Yu Qi gently stroked the mountain ridge in the painting, where a barely visible flame marked it. "Unless she was five years old and went to her maternal grandfather's house to recuperate..."

"Report!" An officer hurried in. "Master Yu, Miss Xiu is crying again at the yamen gate, saying she saw her daughter being dragged into the back door of the Changxing Marquis's mansion!"

Yu Qi stood up immediately. The map of the capital hanging on the wall was densely marked with red dots, and each dot represented a case of missing girls.

In the past three months, seven girls have disappeared near the Changxing Marquis Mansion. They are between fourteen and sixteen years old, and all have almond eyes, cherry lips, and moles between their eyebrows.

"Prepare your horses! Let's go to the West Market." Yu Qi grabbed his sword, "First, pry something out of those vendors' mouths."

"Yes! Sir."

The West Market was a mixed crowd. As soon as Yu Qi showed his badge from the Capital Guards, Old Liu, who was selling candy figures, shrank his neck and tried to slip away.

"Stop." Yu Qi held his scabbard horizontally. "On the eighteenth of last month, when the embroidery lady's daughter disappeared, you were setting up a stall in the back alley of the Changxing Marquis's mansion."

Old Liu fell to his knees and said, "My Lord, please understand! I didn't see anything..."

"You didn't say you saw it." Yu Qi sneered, "But you're shaking like a sieve, so you obviously know something."

Under the threat of the ebony dagger, Old Liu finally stammered, "That day, I did see a few servants dragging a sack, but...but Prince Cao often brings girls to the mansion, so everyone...pretended not to see it..."

Yu Qi's eyes suddenly turned cold: "Often?"

Wang Po, who was selling pancakes, interrupted, "What a sin! I've seen three or four girls with moles between their eyebrows."

A few days ago, a female knight in scarlet clothes was asking about…"

Scarlet clothes?

Yu Qi's heart skipped a beat: "Is it a high ponytail and a short sword on the waist?"

"Yes, yes, yes! That girl was very aggressive and almost got into a fight with the guards of the Marquis' Mansion..."

Yu Qi's face changed drastically: "Longdan, go check Fourth Miss Jiang's schedule for today immediately!"

"Yes! Sir."

……

At this time, the Jiang family's carriage was on Taiping Street and was suddenly stopped by a group of soldiers.

Jiang Si lifted the curtain of the car and saw people running in panic on the street. In the distance came the sound of rapid gongs.

"What's going on?" Jiang Pei, who was in the same car, asked with a puzzled look on her face.

The leading captain clasped his fists and said, "Ladies, please return! Something happened at the Changxing Marquisate today. The entire city is under martial law!"

Jiang Si's heart tightened: "What happened? My second sister is still in the Marquis' Mansion!"

The captain looked strange: "That's it...that's it..."

He lowered his voice and said, "All thirty-eight people in the Marquis' Mansion are dead!"

"What?!" Jiang Pei screamed and fainted.

Jiang Siqiang remained calm: "How did he die? My second sister Jiang Qian..."

"Their deaths were horrific." The lieutenant wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Especially Prince Cao. He was... hacked to pieces alive. It's said he's still hanging in the main hall, screaming in agony!"

Ginger-like fingers pinched into the palm of his hand.

Skinning alive?

This method is really too much like the "game" that Suning mentioned.

"What's even more bizarre," the captain continued, "is that there seems to be an invisible wall surrounding the mansion. Anyone who gets close goes crazy, and it's impossible to enter. Even the government officials and the city defense department don't dare approach casually."

Jiang Si suddenly jumped off the carriage: "Ah Man, you take the third lady back home first, I'll go see the second sister!"

"Girl!" Ah Man stamped her feet anxiously, "It's too dangerous!"

Jiang Si had already run more than ten steps, and the silver ball of fragrance in his sleeve slid into his palm.

Turning the corner, she suddenly stopped.

A layer of blood-red mist hung over the Changxing Marquis Mansion, and several yamen runners were lying in a mess at the door, foaming at the mouth.

"Miss Jiang is quite brave." A familiar voice sounded behind her.

Jiang Si turned around and saw Yu Qi standing at the entrance of the alley, leading his horse. His official uniform was stained with blood. "I advise you not to go over there! The fog is poisonous. Those who inhale it will have hallucinations and self-harm."

"But my second sister is still in there!" Jiang Si's voice trembled, "And those missing girls..."

Yu Qi's eyes were complicated. "Miss Jiang Si, so you already knew that Cao Xingyu had kidnapped young girls?"

"I..." Jiang Si was speechless.

She did have suspicions, but she didn't expect it to be so serious.

Yu Qi suddenly stepped closer and said, "Since Miss Jiang knows the secret technique of Nanwu, do you know what kind of evil technique this is?"

He pointed at the blood-red mist, "Or...how is this related to the young man in white?"

Jiang Si's heart was beating wildly.

Yu Qi actually knows Suning?

"Master Yu, I don't know what you are talking about." She turned to leave, but Yu Qi grabbed her wrist.

"Three days ago, you were in the clinic, talking to the air." Yu Qi lowered his voice very low. "At that time, your brother's life was hanging by a thread, and you seemed to be negotiating with someone..."

Jiang Si broke free from his hand and said, "Master Yu, if you want to investigate the case, why are you so neurotic? I really don't understand what you are saying."

"Because thirty-eight lives are no small matter!" Yu Qi suddenly shouted, "If Miss Jiang knew anything..."

At this moment, a shrill scream suddenly interrupted his words.

In the blood-red mist, the gate of the Marquis' Mansion creaked open a crack, and something seemed to be thrown out, rolling to the center of the street...

It was a bloody human head, and one could vaguely identify it as Cao Xingyu's father, Marquis Changxing.

What was even more terrifying was that the mouth was still opening and closing: "Help...help..."

Jiang's stomach churned.

This is definitely Suning’s work!
Only the guy who calls himself "devil" would use such a cruel and weird method.

[Do you like this gift?] Su Ning's voice suddenly rang in her mind, [These scums don't deserve to live in this world.]

Jiang Si resisted the urge to vomit and asked in his heart: [What did you do to my second sister?]

[That poor creature? She's an accomplice to a tyrant, she deserves death.] Su Ning chuckled. [But she should still be alive. If you want to save her, you should know what to do.]

Then the familiar shadow of the parchment scroll unfolded again in front of Jiang Si's eyes.

Yu Qi noticed something unusual about Jiang Si: "Miss Jiang?"

Jiang seemed to have heard nothing.

She stared intently at the contract in the void that only she could see, and Suning's words of persuasion echoed in her ears: "Sign this, and you will not only save your second sister, but also find all the missing girls."

There were chaotic footsteps coming from a distance, and Yu Qi's subordinates came with a large group of people.

Jiang Si suddenly raised his hand, bit his index finger, and pressed towards the void...

"Stop!" Yu Qi rushed over suddenly, but only grabbed a wisp of air.

The blood drop on the ginger fingertip was suspended in the air, slowly seeping into the invisible contract.

The blood-colored mist suddenly surged violently, and the gate of the Marquis' Mansion burst open!

[The contract is established.] Suning's voice was filled with the joy of victory. [Welcome to the devil's game, my little saint.]

……

At this time, the restrictions surrounding the Changxing Marquis Mansion had disappeared.

The moment Jiang Si followed the soldiers into the Changxing Marquis Mansion, a warm, sweet and fishy smell immediately hit him in the face.

She should have felt nauseous, but she strangely felt a hint of pleasure, as if the smell of blood was the finest ambergris, relaxing every pore of her body.

[Do you like it?] Su Ning's voice chuckled in her mind. [This is the real you.] Jiang Si shook her head violently, trying to shake off this terrible thought.

But the power of the contract washed over her soul like a tide, and her instinctive aversion to blood was fading, replaced by a strange desire.

Of course, the aversion I had towards Suning also disappeared, as if I had accepted Suning from the bottom of my soul.

"Miss Jiang!" Yu Qi grabbed her from behind, "Remember! Never act alone!"

His palm was burning like fire, but Jiang Si only felt a stinging pain.

It was strange. In her previous life, this hand had made her heart beat faster, but now she just wanted to shake it off, like shaking off an annoying flying insect.

"Let go!" Her voice was cold, unlike her own. "Master Yu, I just want to find my second sister."

Yu Qi let go of his hand in shock, and Jiang Si took the opportunity to rush into the inner courtyard.

After turning around the screen wall, the scene before them made the soldiers who arrived later vomit.

On the ginkgo tree in the center of the courtyard, Cao Xingyu was hung in mid-air by dozens of iron hooks.

A short knife with a black glow was flying in the air, cutting off his flesh piece by piece.

What was even more terrifying was that even though his bones were clearly exposed, he was still conscious and screaming, with black mist wriggling in his wounds, constantly repairing the fatal injury.

"Help...help me..." Cao Xingyu's cloudy eyes suddenly widened when he saw Jiang Si, "Jiang...Si..."

At this moment, Jiang Si couldn't help but feel a surge of hot pleasure in his chest.

In his previous life, he was a beast with a human face and a beastly heart. He dragged her into the woodshed while drunk.

Afterwards, my father beat his chest and stamped his feet, wanting to go and file a complaint with the emperor, but was locked up in the ancestral hall by the old lady.

She was forced to drink a bowl of sterilizing soup and became a laughing stock in the capital.

"Cao Xingyu, does it hurt?" She heard herself ask softly, her voice as sweet as honey, "This is just the beginning."

The mysterious dagger seemed to understand her words and suddenly accelerated. Cao Xingyu's screams became so loud that they didn't sound like a human voice.

The corners of Jiang Si's mouth rose unconsciously until he caught a glimpse of a reflection in the flowers out of the corner of his eye.

It was a copper hairpin with a small butterfly carved on the head.

Memory splits the chaos like lightning.

When Jiang Qian came to visit her in her previous life, she was wearing a butterfly hairpin like this in her hair.

"Second sister?" Jiang Si shuddered all over and frantically pushed aside the flowers.

Under the soft soil, a few pieces of white finger bones can be vaguely seen.

"Dig it up here!" she sternly ordered the soldiers who came.

"..." However, the soldiers all looked at Yu Qi in confusion.

"Follow Miss Jiang Si's arrangements." Yu Qi nodded helplessly.

"Yes! Sir."

The shovel turned up not only bones, but also female corpses in varying degrees of decay. The freshest one had a red mole between its eyebrows, and it was the missing daughter of the embroiderer.

All the corpses were dressed in red and had their hair in a bun similar to Jiang's.

"Beast!" Yu Qi angrily punched the tree trunk. "Cao Xingyu, he brutally killed them all."

Jiang counted woodenly: one, two, three...

Together with those who are still elsewhere in the Marquis' Mansion, they correspond exactly to the seven missing girls.

She bent down to pick up the copper hairpin, on the end of which was engraved the small word "Qian".

This was Jiang Qian's personal belonging, but it was buried at the burial site.

"Jiang Si, your seemingly innocent second sister often comes here to admire the flowers." Su Ning's voice was filled with malicious joy. "Watching these poor creatures being buried alive, your second sister can still leisurely drink tea."

"Impossible!" Jiang Si kept screaming in her heart. The second sister in her impression was definitely not like this. "Second sister was forced! She warned me not to come to the Marquis' Mansion..."

[Really?] Su Ning chuckled. [Then why did she give Cao Xingyu the idea that if they couldn't catch you, they should find someone who looked like you as a replacement?]

Jiang Siru was struck by lightning.

The copper hairpin slipped from her fingers, and she staggered towards the main house. The moment she pushed open the door to the inner room, the strong smell of blood hit her in the face.

At this time, Jiang Qian was leaning on the chaise longue, with seven arrows stuck in her chest over her heart, forming a strange star shape.

She had delicate makeup on, and even had a smile on her lips, as if she was just asleep.

The strangest thing was that there were two cups of tea on the small table in front of the couch, one was empty and the other was full, and next to them was a bitten osmanthus cake, which was Jiang Si's favorite.

[Jiang Si, did you see that? She was imitating you until her death.] Su Ning's voice suddenly turned cold. [Does a puppet like this, who acts as an accomplice to the evil, deserve to live?]

"Suning, but you promised me not to kill her!" Jiang Si roared in his mind, his nails digging deeply into his palms.

Blood flowed down his wrist, leaving a dark mark on the carpet.

"Tsk! I only promised to spare her life 'temporarily.'" Su Ning corrected him with a look of disdain. After completing the "devil's contract," Jiang Si was his slave. "Besides, do you think she wants to live?"

A picture was forced into Jiang Si's mind: Jiang Qian was kneeling at Su Ning's feet, begging for a quick death.

Jiang Si fell to the ground.

In the picture, Jiang Qian lifted her sleeves, revealing the crisscrossing scars on her arms: "Every night... he makes me dress up as the fourth sister... I can't stand it..."

"So, I'm fulfilling her wish." Su Ning's voice suddenly became closer, as if someone was hugging Jiang from behind. "Just like I'm fulfilling your revenge. Look! Cao Xingyu is enduring the punishment of being cut into pieces for you. Isn't he happy?"

Jiang Si looked out the window.

Under the ginkgo tree, Cao Xingyu's screams had turned into faint groans, but the dagger was still cutting tirelessly.

She should have felt happy, but a sense of emptiness welled up in her heart.

Can such revenge really erase the pain of the previous life?
"Girls..." Ah Man's trembling voice came from outside the door, "Master Yu found the cellar, and there are... there are three living girls in it..."

Jiang Si stood up mechanically and took a last look at Jiang Qian's body.

She reached out to close her second sister's eyes, but found that Jiang Qian was holding something in her right hand.

When he pried open his stiff fingers, he found a note inside: Si'er, run away.

The handwriting was illegible, as if it had been written in a hurry.

Jiang Si suddenly realized something and suddenly lifted up Jiang Qian's skirt, revealing an iron chain wrapped around her ankle!
So that cup of tea, that snack...is Jiang Qian locked here, forced to play her day after day?

"Do you understand now?" Su Ning asked lazily. "Killing her is a mercy."

"Shut up!" Jiang Si roared, scaring Ah Man, who had just entered the room, so much that he took two steps back.

She rushed out the door clutching the note and bumped into Yu Qi head-on.

Yu Qi held Jiang Si's shoulders and explained, "Miss Jiang, the girls in the cellar said that it was Madam Jiang Er who secretly brought them food..."

Jiang seemed to be seeing black.

So Jiang Qian was forced to assist Cao Xingyu while secretly protecting those girls? What was this? Atonement?

"Human nature is so ridiculous." Suning sneered, "Doing evil while doing good, you end up pleasing neither side. You'd be better off being like me and killing whenever you want."

Jiang Si suddenly raised his hand and slapped himself.

The burning pain temporarily distracted her from Su Ning's voice: "Master Yu, take me to the cellar."

"it is good."

In the cellar, three skinny girls were shivering in their soldiers' robes.

Seeing Jiang Si, they suddenly huddled together in fear: "Don't... don't kill us... We won't run away again..."

"What's going on?" Yu Qi frowned.

One of the braver ones choked up and said, "A sister helped us escape before, but she was hanged in the yard the next day. Prince Cao said... that if we dare to run again, he will skin us alive.

Jiang's stomach felt like it was churning.

That "sister" was probably arranged by Jiang Qian.

But Suning...

"She killed someone, shouldn't she pay with her life?" Su Ning asked confidently.

"You don't understand at all!" Jiang Si roared in his heart, "She is also a victim!"

[The weak's excuse.] Su Ning sneered, [Just like you now, you signed the contract but still want to remain kind? Too naive, my little saint.]

Jiang Si suddenly felt dizzy.

The power of the contract surged within his body, and his anger and sadness were being replaced by a kind of cold joy.

She looked at her bloody hands and actually wanted to lick them...

"Miss Jiang?" Yu Qi took a half step back cautiously. "Why did your eyes suddenly turn blood red?"

Jiang Si looked up blankly, and saw from the reflection of Yu Qi's pupils that his eyes had turned a strange blood red.

"Welcome to the world of demons." Suning whispered softly, "Now, let's enjoy the rest of the 'game'!"

Outside the window, Cao Xingyu's screams suddenly rose in volume. The black dagger turned and headed straight for the cellar...

...(End of chapter)