Holding a lantern, guiding souls across, Lady Hou comes from the underworld.

In the garden, as Ren Fengjue's figure disappeared into the distance, a sudden gust of cold wind rose from the ground, sweeping away the talismans on the corpse.

The seal was broken without anyone noticing.

Then, a faint laugh gently brushed past everyone's ears.

Ren Shuo felt a chill run down his spine. When he turned around abruptly, he saw the white bones on the ground standing behind them as if they had come to life.

A series of piercing screams immediately erupted from all around.

-

When Yu Lang was summoned to the front of the clothing store, he thought that some shocking murder had occurred inside.

Upon arrival and seeing the scene, I felt a headache coming on.

To be precise, it wasn't a major case, but two people died, each with a suspicious cause of death.

A skeleton was unearthed from the ground. The deceased had been dead for at least a year. The deceased was a painter named Shōnai. The cause of death is still unknown.

The other deceased was the young master, Ren Dongxing, who was found to have died of fright.

Whether there is a connection between the two is hard to say for sure.

The most troublesome thing is that everyone in the village insists that it is haunted, claiming that the old boss, Ren Shuo, was so frightened by this "ghost" that he fainted on the spot.

The scene was chaotic at one point.

Yu Lang worked for nearly two hours, and it was almost dawn, but he still hadn't made any progress.

He had no choice but to temporarily seal off the clothing store and detain the relevant suspects before he planned to report the situation to Ren Fengjue.

On the other side, the physician from the prefecture, after examining Xia Ximo, had a rather grave expression.

"Young Master, may I have a word with you in private?"

He was an old physician whom Ren Cong had directly invited from the Marquis of Renxuan's residence. He had served the Marquis's residence for many years and was renowned in the capital for his medical skills.

This was the first time Ren Fengjue had seen a look of "difficulty" on his face.

"Dr. Zhang, please speak frankly."

Doctor Zhang was a discerning man, and he had already guessed that the woman had a close relationship with the young marquis. After weighing the situation carefully, he said, "Judging from this young lady's pulse, I'm afraid... the prognosis is grim."

Upon hearing this, Ren Fengjue was also taken aback.

Although he witnessed Ren Shuo stabbing Xia Ximo with a knife, he was certain that the blade did not harm her in the slightest.

There wasn't a single external injury on her body.

What caused this?

Doctor Zhang looked ashamed, but still forced himself to reply, "This girl's pulse is extremely erratic; it seems she's barely clinging to life."

"As for the reason... my medical skills are not good enough, so I dare not speak presumptuously."

Hearing this, Ren Fengjue already understood the situation, but he found it hard to accept.

He had only known Xia Ximo for a few days, but there were too many unsolved mysteries surrounding this person. If he really died so mysteriously, the clues would be cut off, which would be unsettling.

After a moment of silence, Ren Fengjue still had no answer in his heart, so he could only instruct, "Whatever method you use, do your best to treat her. When it gets light, I will go to the Imperial Medical Bureau to see if there are any other options."

Of course, Dr. Zhang could not refuse. After a moment's thought, he could only reluctantly say, "I can only use the 'Nine Needles to Restore Yang' to temporarily give her a little more breath. As for how long she can hold on, that depends on her own fate."

Ren Fengjue walked out of the room and immediately saw Yu Shaoqing, who also looked melancholy.

He had been leaning against the railing, his eyes drooping and yawning repeatedly, but the moment he saw Lord Ren, he instantly perked up.

"Lord Ren, you've finally figured it out. This Brocade Robe Shop is truly bizarre..."

As Ren Fengjue listened to Yu Lang's rapid-fire explanation, his brows furrowed deeply.

In his view, these were just excuses Ren Shuo used to evade responsibility.

So, he pressed on to the key question: "Have you identified the remains?"

Yu Lang nodded: "She was a painter from the clothing store, named Zhu Yan. She should have died a year ago."

"An artist?"

Ren Fengjue suddenly realized something, his eyes darted around, and he ordered, "Bring Manager Liu from the clothing store to see me."

Manager Liu had already been questioned by Yu Lang once, and he thought his explanation would be enough to clear his name.

Upon learning that Ren Fengjue had summoned him, he panicked again.

At dawn, the bright moon still enveloped the entire Jinxiu Clothing Store, its clear light shining down like frost.

At this moment, Ren Fengjue was sitting in the flower hall, holding a cup of hot tea.

While gently skimming the tea foam with the lid, he casually asked, "Last night, Miss Xia came to the clothing store alone. Did Manager Liu personally entertain her?"

Upon hearing this, Manager Liu, who was already feeling extremely uneasy, became even more restless. He quietly raised his sleeve to wipe his forehead and replied, "Reporting to the young marquis, it was indeed Miss Xia whom I entertained, but—"

Yu Lang, who was standing next to him, immediately interrupted him: "Answer whatever Lord Ren asks you; don't say anything irrelevant."

"Yes."

Ren Fengjue put down his teacup, smiled slightly, and continued, "Miss Xia, you came to the clothing shop, surely for that painter named Zhu Yan?"

Manager Liu's face froze; for a moment, he was unsure whether to answer or not.

Yu Lang urged again, "Answer quickly."

"…yes."

Manager Liu answered, sweating profusely, "Because... when Miss Xia was making the clothes, she was looking at Zhu Yan's painting, so she casually asked a few questions."

"Was that really just a casual question?"

Ren Fengjue emphasized, questioning, "I clearly remember that she also asked you, 'Is the painter dead?' You should remember that."

Having said all that, Manager Liu dared not hide anything any longer and simply prostrated himself on the ground: "Young Marquis, please forgive me!"

"It's because my memory is so bad, I almost forgot. Only after you reminded me did I realize that I did say that..."

Ren Fengjue snorted coldly, then stood up and slowly walked up to him, continuing to exert pressure: "You surely know how Zhu Yan died?"

"..."

Manager Liu began to tremble uncontrollably and quickly weighed the situation in his mind.

With Ren Dongxing dead and Zhu Yan's remains unearthed, the truth behind it all would eventually be revealed, even if left unsaid.

It would be better to…

"Zhu Yan was thrown into the pond in the back garden and drowned."

Yu Lang, who was standing nearby, quickly seized on the key point and asked, "Did you put it in yourself, or was someone else pushing you in?"

Manager Liu gritted his teeth and simply recounted the scandal that had occurred at the clothing store a year ago.

Zhu Yan was originally from a respectable family, but unfortunately, after her family fell into poverty, she was sold into the Jinxiu Clothing Store and became a painter.

She was an exquisite painter and had a beautiful and refined appearance. From the first day she entered the clothing store, she caught the eye of the young master, Ren Dongxing.

At first, Ren Dongxing would pretend to be refined and use painting as an excuse to secretly take advantage of others.

After Zhu Yan saw through his act, he gradually stopped pretending and often broke in while drunk, subjecting her to endless humiliation.

After all, he was the young master of the clothing store, so even if the matter spread throughout the store, no one dared to stand up for Zhu Yan.

One morning, a maid found Zhu Yan's body in the pond in the back garden.

"Her death was suspicious, and we should have reported it to the authorities, but our former employer suddenly intervened and ordered us to suppress the matter..."

Manager Liu said with a face full of guilt, "The master gave the order, how could we servants dare to disobey? We could only dispose of the body quietly."

As he spoke, his tone shifted, as if he were still shaken, "Unexpectedly, not long after, the village began to be haunted."