The servants all wore expressions of shock the moment Gu Yan amplified the wind. Two of them cast their gazes towards the face of the deceased maid.
Then, the first servant, frightened by his own conjecture, pointed at the maid and said, "Look, do you think it was her?"
"Her?" The second servant glanced at the first servant, who wore the same expression as himself, and said with a trembling voice, "Don't scare me, alright?" He nudged the first servant's arm with his elbow.
"This place is usually very quiet, and now suddenly," the first servant said, shivering, "an evil wind is blowing. And as far as I know, this maid was always cheerful and friendly with everyone. Now she's died mysteriously. Don't you think that's strange?" He deliberately moved a little closer to the second servant.
The second servant replied, "I haven't had any dealings with this maid, so I don't know what kind of person she was in life. But I do know," he fixed his gaze on the first servant's face, "that you, young man, are always up to no good. You love telling scary ghost stories all day long. Others might believe you, but I don't."
"You..."
"Are you two not scared enough of this wind? Say less," the third servant said, having completely lost the courage to look directly at the maid.
The other servants dared not move at all, clustering around the third servant.
The wind continued to blow.
The first and second servants exchanged glances, and finally, they found common ground.
Gu Yan chuckled at the fear the group of men displayed towards the wind. She then turned and was about to step over the threshold when the second servant exclaimed, "The door opened."
At the sound, Gu Yan immediately stopped, turned slightly to look at the second servant, and frowned.
This time, it was the first servant who remained calm. "It opened, so it opened. Must you be so agitated?"
"No, this room's door," the second servant said fearfully, "has never been opened by anyone. And now, because of this gust of wind, it's opened. This is too strange."
"What do you mean by that?" the first servant asked, confused.
The second servant lowered his head and stared intently at the maid.
Following the second servant's gaze, the first servant looked down and said helplessly, "Didn't you just tell me not to scare people? What's going on with you now?"
"This is too far-fetched," the second servant said seriously.
The first servant was speechless.
The third servant glanced at the 'empty' room and said, "You two are truly good brothers. One scares people, then the other scares them. The door was broken to begin with; I've pushed it open before. And with this strong wind, it's bound to be blown open easily. Can you two stop being so jumpy?"
After hearing the third servant's words, both the first and second servants fell silent.
The other servants continued to remain silent.
The third servant extended a hand, pushed aside the hair obstructing his view, and looked towards the room with narrowed, unclear eyes.
Inside the room.
Ouyang Ye and Gu Yan stood side-by-side in front of the souls. Ouyang Ye slightly turned his face and said, "What a fuss." As he spoke, he raised his hand, intending to cast a spell to close the door.
Seeing this, Gu Yan quickly said, "Master, no."
"What is it?" Ouyang Ye looked at Gu Yan.
Gu Yan explained, "Master, if you do that, it will surely cause panic among those people again, and then you'll be distracted by their words. It's better to leave it as it is."
"You think very thoroughly," Ouyang Ye smiled faintly.
"I just don't want those servants to affect you any further. You..."
"If you find them noisy, kill them," Gu Yan interrupted Gu Yan.
However, Gu Yan now only wanted to atone for her sins. The reason she acted this way was to prevent Ouyang Ye from having murderous thoughts towards them. Little did she know, just as she thought she had convinced Ouyang Ye, Gu Yan interjected. Upon hearing this, she turned her gaze to fix on Gu Yan's face.
Gu Yan calmly looked at Gu Yan and asked, "Why are you looking at me?"
"I..."
"The fact that these servants could come here means that one of them has already gone to inform Shen Moyun. If I make a move now, I'll be asking for trouble."
"Shen Moyun hasn't discovered your true identity yet, has he?" Gu Yan attempted to say.
To avoid adding unnecessary trouble for herself, Gu Yan remained silent.
"I don't know about that. I'm just worried that Mu Xiao has already told Shen Moyun about my affairs. Just in case, it's better if I don't make a move."
"What you said is also reasonable," Gu Yan conceded.
"So, killing them offers us no benefit," Ouyang Ye said, and then he turned back to look at the souls.
Gu Yan breathed a sigh of relief.
Gu Yan, on the other hand, glared fiercely at Gu Yan, then looked at the souls and asked, "What are you thinking?"
"Gu Yan, these souls really weren't transferred here by you?" Ouyang Ye suddenly asked.
Upon hearing this, Gu Yan's heart tensed.
Gu Yan looked at Ouyang Ye and quickly said, "I don't even know this place, so how could I be hiding souls here?"
"Is that so?" Ouyang Ye said, suddenly shifting his gaze to Gu Yan's face.
Seeing Ouyang Ye look at her, Gu Yan hurriedly feigned a calm expression and said, "Why are you looking at me?"
"How do you know about this place?"
"I..." Gu Yan was speechless.
Ouyang Ye frowned.
Gu Yan peeked at Gu Yan's strange demeanor and intentionally said, "It seems that these souls really were hidden here by you. Earlier, you even tried to frame me. How detestable." As she spoke, she deliberately crossed her arms in front of her, watching Gu Yan's predicament.
Conversely, Gu Yan ignored Gu Yan and continued to stare at Ouyang Ye, asking, "Do you think so too?"
"Give me a reasonable explanation, and I won't think so."
"I..." Gu Yan's eyes sank, and she said, "Alright, I'll tell you."
"..." Ouyang Ye simply stared at her, intentionally remaining silent.
Gu Yan took a deep breath and said, "To be honest, I was very unwilling to be asked to find them, because Gu Yan lost them, and it was her negligence. Why should I clean up her mess? But," she continued, "you have been kind to me, so out of respect for you, I convinced myself. Then I thought that whoever managed to take these souls from under your nose..."
"Just spout your nonsense," Gu Yan suddenly interrupted.
Upon hearing this, Ouyang Ye glared at Gu Yan.
Seeing this, Gu Yan fell silent.
Gu Yan didn't even look at Gu Yan and continued, "So I thought that whoever took these souls from under your nose must be no ordinary person. But there were so many souls, it was impossible for them to take them out in a short time. So, following my own thoughts, I started searching the General's Mansion. Who knew that as I searched, I ended up here. Finally, I pushed the door open and saw them."
"After seeing them, you came directly to find me?" Ouyang Ye asked.
Gu Yan nodded, her face full of sincerity.
After hearing Gu Yan's words, Gu Yan dared not speak again.