Discuss with you

Chapter 341 Jade Pendant
When the group could no longer hear the piercing screams, they had no choice but to return to the room and close the door. Not long after, there was movement outside again.

The runes and talismans quickly stood guard on both sides of the door, ready to give any uninvited guests a good beating if they barged in.

With a series of footsteps, a figure outside came to the door, and then Lu Yan's voice came in: "It's me, open the door."

Fu Lu carefully opened the door and, seeing that it really was Lu Yan outside, quickly and politely stepped aside to let him in.

"Brother hasn't returned yet?" Lu Yan entered the room and saw that Lu Zhang and Yan Shu were awake, but he didn't see Lu Qing, so he asked Fu Wen, who was standing to the side.

Rune shook his head: "They haven't returned yet."

Lu Yan nodded, went straight to the table and sat down, poured himself a glass of water, and saw that everyone present had silver needles stuck in their hands. He subconsciously touched his fingertips, which had been pricked painfully earlier, and was glad that he did not have to suffer like that and could try to stay awake.

"Speaking of which, just now when I left this courtyard, I followed the high wall to the left to explore the path. After walking a bit further, I found that my head suddenly became very clear. Before, I had to fight against that drowsiness, but after walking a bit further, I suddenly wasn't sleepy anymore." He hadn't been sitting down for long when he felt that wave of drowsiness again, so he tried to hold on while saying this to Yan Daoxin.

"It seems this was specially prepared for this courtyard, just in case we wander off!" Yan Daoxin became even more certain of this after hearing his words. "Tomorrow at dawn, we'll have to search more carefully to see if there are any hidden mechanisms we haven't discovered!"

After a while, Lu Qing also returned. He looked just like Lu Yan when he first came back, appearing very awake, without the previous struggle to resist sleepiness.

After Lu Qing returned, he took out paper and pen from his luggage and asked Lu Yan to draw out the layout of half of the Fairy Castle that he had just explored, based on his memory.

The two stood on either side of the table, heads down, trying hard to recall the buildings and routes they had noted down along the way. After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, they finally managed to draw a rough map of Fairy Castle.

Several people huddled around the table, looking at the picture on it.

The map was rather simple and rough, but it was generally clear.

Yan Shu turned her head around, then around again, looking at it from several different angles for a long time: "Is this... a maze?"

Zhu Yu never expected that the terrain inside the Fairy Castle would be like this.

On the day they arrived, she thought they had walked a long, straight road, but were hallucinating due to the incense. So when she looked back, she realized that the previous turn was actually very close.

Looking at the map that Lu Qing and Lu Yan drew after exploring separately, if I had to use one word to describe the shape of the roads in Fairy Castle, I could only think of one word—"winding and meandering".

So, turning around and finding the corner not far behind was actually real, and the long, straight stretch of road that I walked through was just an illusion?!
"The layout of this Fairy Castle is like a Bagua formation. Walking along the walls is not too difficult."

"But the walls here are very high, so even without the sleeping potion, it's not easy to find your way when you're standing on solid ground and walking step by step. You'll get lost in one turn after another, not to mention the interference from the sleeping potion," Lu Qing said.

"No wonder. I was walking very carefully the whole way, always on guard against someone suddenly rushing out. But I didn't see any night patrols along the way. I only heard what sounded like voices in the distance, but they never came any closer to me."

"I guess they know that once you get in, it's hard to find your way out, so they're too lazy to send so many people out for night patrols?" Lu Yan guessed.

"So, the mysterious sleeping incense in this courtyard is meant to put us to sleep and prevent us from wandering around."

"And this fortress isn't just trying to trap us, but every single family living inside?" Zhu Yu came to a conclusion after hearing Lu Yan's words.

“People…” Lu Yan frowned and shook his head, “I’ve been searching all the way here, and every courtyard I’ve passed through is pitch black, without any light or movement, just deathly silence everywhere.”

Do you know what I felt? It was like there was no one in this yard at all.

“There are people, but they are indeed very strange.” Lu Qing roughly determined the location on the map and pointed to a small square representing a courtyard. “Around this place, seeing that no one was around, I quietly sneaked into a family’s courtyard.”

It was indeed dark and quiet there. I tried to peek inside through the window, but after looking carefully for a long time, I found that there was no one resting on the bed. Instead, there were several figures lying haphazardly on the floor.

Because there was no movement, I couldn't tell if they were alive or dead. I only saw something inside the room with a faint, indistinct light and wisps of smoke, which seemed to be an incense burner.

"Another incense burner!" Zhu Yu subconsciously wanted to clench his fist, but accidentally touched the hair needle stuck between his fingers. Only then did he remember that he was carrying such a "mind-awakening artifact," and he quickly let go of his fist. "What happens next? If you poke a hole in the window paper, the smell inside will overflow, right?"

Lu Qing nodded, and seeing the worry in Zhu Yu's eyes, she gave her a reassuring look without making a sound: "Indeed, that fragrance makes people feel dizzy and lightheaded after smelling it."

I didn't know what it was, and fearing trouble, I left immediately.

"What's that smell? Is it similar to the smell of the skirt that the old steward brought over during the day?" Zhu Yu asked hurriedly.

“There’s absolutely no resemblance.” Lu Qing shook his head, then reached into his pocket and pulled something out, placing it on the table. “I was in a corner when I saw something shining brightly in the moonlight. Since no one was around, I went down and picked it up.”

Everyone stared intently at the table and discovered that it contained most of a jade pendant, strung together with dark green silk thread. The jade was very light in color and had a shiny surface, which explained why Lu Qing could spot it from the high wall.

Before anyone else could react, Lu Yan suddenly jumped up from his chair, grabbed the jade pendant, examined it carefully, and his expression immediately changed.

“I recognize this!” His face flushed slightly with rising anger. “This is something that one of my tax collectors never parted with!”

He was the only son in his family. He got a job working for me, which made his parents proud. So they gave him their ancestral jade pendant before he got married, so that he could look presentable in public.

Everyone around me recognizes this; there's absolutely no mistake!