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

"The rain was extremely heavy at the time, and the servants were all soaked. It was also very cold, so we could only find a place inside the temple to start a fire."

"But, just as the fire was lit, Ruyan suddenly disappeared."

Recalling the scene at the temple, Simeng still felt lingering fear. "The temple was much bigger than we had imagined. I walked through several Buddhist halls with the servants before we finally found Ruyan."

"At that time..."

Ruyan was kneeling before a dilapidated Buddha statue, chanting incantations.

Seeing that scene, Simeng was startled and quickly stepped forward to try to pull Ruyan away.

She remembered that when she was young, an old woman in her family said that, according to rumors, one should not worship the Buddha statues in abandoned temples, as it would easily attract evil spirits and monsters from the past.

However, Ruyan seemed to be possessed at that time, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't pull her even an inch.

Simeng was terrified and could only ask the servants for help.

It took the four servants quite a bit of effort to drag Ruyan off the tattered prayer mat.

But in that instant, Simeng saw a wisp of black mist enter Ruyan's body.

"Black mist?"

Upon hearing this, Ren Fengjue and Xia Ximo spoke up almost simultaneously.

Simeng nodded hesitantly: "At first, I thought I was seeing things, but when I asked the servants, they said they saw it too."

"Given what happened, we naturally dared not linger in the temple, but what's even stranger is..."

"When we came out of the dilapidated temple, the sky was clear and there was no sign of rain at all."

"We realized something was wrong, so we didn't dare go to Qingping Temple anymore and quickly went back to our building."

"But that evening, just as it was time to welcome the guests..."

Ruyan did not dress up for a long time.

The maid knocked on the door several times, but no one answered.

The matriarch was very displeased when she learned of this, so she came to the house in person to give her a lecture.

But Ruyan didn't give her any face and refused to say a word.

Fearing things would escalate, Simeng took the initiative to speak kindly to the steward, which calmed the situation down.

She had assumed that Ruyan's sudden depression was due to the impact of His Highness Yu's marriage to Miss Zhuang.

So he told her that since King Yu had promised to redeem her and take her as a concubine, he would definitely keep his promise.

Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Ruyan suddenly went berserk and grabbed her by the neck...

"She stared intently at me without saying a word, but her gaze was terrifying; I had never seen such a look in her eyes before..."

"She's always been so gentle, always speaking in a soft voice..."

Simeng recalled the incident, instinctively protecting her neck as if still shaken. She added, "Her grip was very strong. At that moment, I really thought... she was going to kill me!"

"I struggled desperately, but in the end, the maid outside heard the noise and pushed the door open to stop her, which allowed me to escape from her clutches."

"I was terrified and furious, so I decided to ignore her."

"But the next day, she suddenly came to my room again..."

Since the guests from the previous night did not stay overnight, Simeng took a nap.

Before dawn, someone came to knock on the door.

She thought it was a maid, so she said that breakfast was not needed yet, but then Ruyan's voice came from outside.

"She told me she was going to visit in person to apologize."

"After all, we were sisters, and there was still some affection between us, so I forgave her."

"However, there was already something wrong with her back then."

Simeng spoke, her face showing fear.

Ren Fengjue asked, "What's wrong?"

"I don't know if my feeling is right..." Simeng thought carefully for a moment before replying, "It just feels like... she seems like a different person."

"Even though her tone of voice was the same as before, there was something wrong with her eyes."

"But I can't explain it, I can't put it into words, maybe it's just a feeling."

Ren Fengjue then asked, "Besides apologizing to you that day, what other unusual behavior did she exhibit?"

Upon hearing his question, Simeng suddenly remembered something and quickly replied, "Yes!"

She told me that she was going to give me something, and that it could fulfill all my wishes.

"As long as I carry that thing with me, everything I desire will come true..."

"Of course I don't believe it. Even Qingping Temple, which is known for its efficacious prayers, doesn't necessarily grant every wish."

Upon hearing her words, Ren Fengjue and Xia Ximo immediately exchanged a glance, a tacit understanding between them.

Perhaps, what Ruyan wanted to give Simeng was also a "Soul-Nourishing Pearl".

Xia Ximo narrowed his eyes and asked, "You accepted that thing?"

Simeng hurriedly shook her head: "No, she said she would send it over later, but she never came back."

Xia Ximo quietly stepped forward, scrutinizing her carefully, seemingly harboring some suspicion.

"Then why don't you want it? Didn't you feel any attraction when she said that?"

"Or is it because you don't trust her?"

Simeng was taken aback by the question. She paused for a moment, then suddenly gave a self-deprecating laugh.

It's not that I don't believe her, it's just that I don't dare to hope for it.

"Having already embarked on this path in life, there shouldn't be any other thoughts..."

"Do you expect someone to buy my freedom and marry me?"

Xia Ximo gave her a deep look, but said something cryptic: "It's rare to see someone without greed."

Simeng didn't understand the meaning behind her words and didn't know how to respond for a moment.

Ren Fengjue pondered for a moment, then asked, "Besides you, has Ruyan given anything to anyone else? Or have any other strange things happened in the building recently?"

Simeng answered truthfully, "There shouldn't be any more. She rarely interacts with the girls in the building."

"But if we're talking about strange things, there is one..."

She paused, lowering her voice considerably, "My mother forbids me from saying this, but lately the girls in the building have all seemed possessed, extremely aggressive. In just a few days, there have already been several incidents of fighting and arguing."

"Some even injured guests..."

Xia Ximo couldn't help but think of the incident where Princess Ding'an hit someone.

If she wasn't mistaken, the princess at that time must have been affected by the evil energy of the "Soul-Nourishing Pearl," which caused her sudden change in temperament.

And the situation inside this building is probably the same...

Just as he was about to continue questioning, a stern voice came from the stairwell behind him: "Si Meng, who gave you permission to talk nonsense here? Get back to your room right now!"

The head maid, Sister Fu, supported by two maids, walked slowly towards them with a face full of anger.

Upon seeing this, Simeng immediately panicked and said to Ren Fengjue, "My lord, I've said everything I needed to say, please spare me!"

Ren Fengjue asked, "Finally, answer one last question: where exactly is the temple you mentioned?"

Simeng answered almost without hesitation: "Go south from the west gate for about two miles, and it's right next to a bridge."