Lan Xiaoyuan brought Qin Yuesheng to an uninhabited room, different from the last one, this one was closer to the bamboo grove.

"Young Master Qin, do you like it? If you don’t, I can show you the next room," Lan Xiaoyuan asked.

"No need to trouble yourself, this one will do." Qin Yuesheng looked around, "Is your sister Ah Zhu not in Yixin Residence?"

"Yes, my sister is out."

"Why is she out again? Every time I come over, she seems to be missing from Yixin Residence, such a carefree shopkeeper," Qin Yuesheng remarked casually.

Lan Xiaoyuan covered her mouth and laughed, "My sister is very busy, running Yixin Residence is just a way to have a place to stay in Yangzhou Prefecture."

Qin Yuesheng nodded, no longer asking further questions.

Everyone in the martial world has their secrets; if they don’t volunteer them, don’t ask proactively, it’s an unspoken rule.

...

Somewhere in Yangzhou Prefecture.

A pale-faced child sat on the bed with eyes tightly shut, his throat showed no movement, his limbs were limp, with no firmness at all.

He looked just like... a dead person.

Behind him sat a woman in white, holding the child’s back to prevent him from collapsing onto the bed.

Nearby, the child’s grandmother and parents stood side by side at the door, blocking it, watching the bed with tense expressions, as if apprehensive of something.

All three of them were dressed in black, with white caps made of paper on their heads, bearing the words ’Living Pass’.

If Qin Yuesheng were here, he would be surprised to find that this woman in white was Zhu Zhu, the carefree shopkeeper of Yixin Residence.

Zhu Zhu reached out, embedding one by one fine black needles as thin as hair into the child’s back, and attached pre-folded spirit papers onto the needles.

As the number of black needles and spirit papers increased, black blood began seeping slowly from the child’s seven orifices, instantly filling the room with a repulsive stench.

"It’s coming soon, make sure to guard the door, and no matter what you see, do not take even a single step," Zhu Zhu warned.

"Yes, yes, we understand, miss," they replied.

Zhu Zhu pinched a black needle with two fingers, immediately inserting it into the child’s fontanelle.

Suddenly, the child, already dead, burst his eyes open, about to leap up.

Zhu Zhu anticipated this, and swiftly threw out three black needles, each accurately pinning the child’s insteps, from which tiny strands of black smoke emanated, causing the child to stumble and collapse onto the bed.

"You brazen evil spirit, leave at once," Zhu Zhu said sharply, flipping her fingers to ignite the spirit papers on the child’s back.

Amazingly, the flames were not the usual red-orange but pale blue.

"Ah!!!" the child cried out, issuing a coarse, hoarse sound impossible for a child’s voice.

Burned by the flames, the child rolled off the bed, Zhu Zhu’s black needles pierced into his hands, neck, and legs, immobilizing him once more.

Suddenly, a disheveled man in a straw raincoat crawled out of the child, his body ablaze with blue fire, running toward the door.

In such a bizarre situation, ordinary people would naturally be frightened, but fortunately, Zhu Zhu had warned them, and the child’s family stood still, eyes closed.

The man in the raincoat crashed against them and was forcefully rebounded, Zhu Zhu seized the moment to string all the spirit papers with the black needles and toss them out. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Swish, swish, swish!

The black needles penetrated the raincoat man’s body, but the spirit papers erupted in blue flames, engulfing him in layers.

Within a few breaths, the man in the raincoat disappeared, leaving only an irregularly-shaped white bead.

"Miss, is my son saved?" the child’s mother couldn’t help but open her eyes and ask.

"Yes." Zhu Zhu stepped off the bed, picked up the white bead, and held it over the blue fire, as black gas wafted from the bead, she promptly inserted it into the child’s mouth.

As she pulled out the black needles, the blue flames on the spirit papers began to extinguish.

"Don’t let the child go to such unclean places anymore. If I hadn’t come in time today, there would be no saving him." Zhu Zhu lifted the child and placed him back on the bed.

After consuming the bead, the child’s previously pale face gradually regained its color, seemingly no longer in danger.

"Thank you, miss, thank you, miss, I’ll kowtow to you in gratitude," the child’s grandmother immediately knelt down, preparing to kowtow to Zhu Zhu.

Zhu Zhu did not stop her but accepted it with unusual calmness.

"Feed him a few more bowls of hot soup, he should wake up soon," Zhu Zhu retracted all the black needles, gave a farewell to the family, and left.

"Recently, I’m running low on spirit paper, I should go and buy some more," Zhu Zhu muttered to herself while walking down the street, turning the corner toward another street.

Old Zhou’s vinegar shop was an inconspicuous store in Yangzhou Prefecture; unless one lived nearby, no one would come here to buy vinegar.

Wu Fan sat inside the shop, idly playing with a rattle-drum, his eyes constantly watching the doorway, checking if anyone would come in.