After listening to Zhang Dabiao's plan, I took a step back and carefully examined him from head to toe. Only when he started to feel uncomfortable did I ask him, "Are you still the Zhang Dabiao I know?"
Zhang Dabiao, a typical northerner, was honest, enthusiastic, and responsible. However, after hearing his suggestion, I realized I might have misjudged him before. He was also a schemer!
"What's so surprising about that? If you want to survive in the underworld, you need to be more cunning. Otherwise, you won't even know how you were tricked to death. You know, sometimes human hearts are far more terrifying than ghosts," Zhang Dabiao said, lighting another cigarette and looking at me meaningfully.
Human hearts are indeed more terrifying than ghosts, because human greed is boundless. As long as people are alive, their desires will only grow – money, women, power, longevity, and so on, endlessly until death.
"If this news gets out, the entire north will be in chaos, won't it?" I frowned, pondering for a moment, and said with some hesitation.
Zhang Dabiao's idea wasn't particularly brilliant; it was simply to spread the word that the Hu Kui Seal was in the northeast. And as the holder of the Hu Kui Seal, for some reason, I had brought the great seal into Beishan Mining Town.
This scheme wasn't sophisticated at all, and even seemed fabricated. But for those who desired eternal life even after death, and even wanted to meddle in worldly affairs, the temptation was immense.
"The more chaos, the better! How can we break out if there's no chaos? Only in chaos do we benefit. This way, we can solve the problem of the great demon and hide the secret of the Hu Kui Seal. As long as the Fifth Prince's strength is restored, everything will be perfectly resolved. It's killing two birds with one stone."
I pondered for a moment and decided to follow Zhang Dabiao's method. This would not only solve the matter of the demon entrusted by the old monk but also resolve the hidden danger of the Hu Kui Seal on me, indirectly helping Chen Yun solve her troubles. It was truly killing multiple birds with one stone.
"Since you agree, I'll find someone to spread the word. You should also have Huang San spread the word in the wild immortal realm, so the news will be more believable."
I gave Zhang Dabiao a thumbs-up. He really thought of everything. If there was news from the wild immortals, it would only come from one place: the Hu family, because their family represented the outer sect of the wild immortals. This would even make people suspect if the Hu family had already obtained the Hu Kui Seal.
During lunch, Aunt Zhang specifically prepared a large table of dishes, saying she wanted to reward me for not eating or sleeping well while I was away and had lost weight. However, seeing her frequently serving Chen Yun, I felt as if this meal wasn't specifically prepared for me, but rather for her?
After the meal, Chen Yun helped Aunt Zhang clear the table and then sat down opposite me. She blinked and said, "I need to go into town to buy some things later. You should make time this afternoon to clear out your room for me to stay in."
I, who was lying on the lounge chair, sat up abruptly. "Your request is too much! There are so many rooms, you can stay in any of them. Why do you have to stay in mine?"
"Your room has the best location. In the entire small courtyard, only your room has the strongest yang energy, which is beneficial for my recovery."
"Huh? How did you figure that out?" I asked, my mouth wide open in surprise.
Actually, I didn't know the secret of my room before. I only discovered it when I returned this time. To outsiders, the best room in this small courtyard was the main house where my master lived, with all five elements and excellent feng shui.
As for my location, south and leaning west, it was neither airy nor sunny. According to common understanding, my place was most suitable for a storage room.
"You don't need to worry about that. I've already informed you. Don't make things difficult for me later." Without waiting for my agreement, she called out to Bai Ling'er inside the house. Then, two beauties, one big and one small, got into Chen Yun's car, and with a roar of the engine, they left a trail of dust.
After they left, I didn't idle around. I decided to go into the dream realm to find the Fifth Princess. Although Zhang Dabiao's plan was good, the Hu Kui Seal was not something that could be easily replaced. Not to mention anything else, the aspect of it being an ancient artifact from a bygone era alone was something ordinary items couldn't substitute. Moreover, it felt wrong not to tell the Fifth Princess about such a significant matter.
After telling Zhang Dabiao not to disturb me as I was going to find the Fifth Princess, I lay down on the bed, placed a dream-inducing talisman on my forehead, and instantly my vision went black. The next moment, I appeared in front of the Fifth Prince's mansion.
The two guard soldiers, startled by my sudden appearance, immediately drew their long sabers. One of them even shouted, but before he could finish, he was kicked over.
"Why are you shouting? This is the young lady's friend." A burly man walked out of the guardhouse, seemingly expecting my arrival.
"You know me?" I asked the ghost general, whose face was dark and swarthy like charcoal, with only his teeth being white, in confusion.
"No." The dark-faced ghost general chuckled. "But our Fifth Princess knows you! And she makes us look at your portrait every day. If any of us dare to harm you, we'll be skinned alive." As he spoke, he produced a piece of silk painting as if by magic, and with a flick of his wrist, he unfurled it.
The silk painting depicted a person, peeking out from behind bamboo, looking around everywhere. Their face was dirty, and their clothes were somewhat tattered. The portrait was drawn with exceptional detail, even capturing the expression on the face so vividly that it seemed as if the person would step out of the painting at any moment.
I awkwardly touched my nose. "When was I ever so disheveled? This is simply a stain on my reputation!" The latter part of my sentence became quieter and quieter because the painting depicted the scene of my first meeting with the Fifth Princess, when I had just been kicked into the Fifth Prince's mansion. So, being a bit disheveled was understandable.
The charcoal-faced ghost general flicked the silk painting and rolled it back up, chuckling. "This is called realism. It's because our Fifth Princess has been practicing painting since she was young that ordinary people can't achieve this level." He paused here and then said slyly, "Let me tell you a secret."
"A secret? What secret?"
"You are the second person the Fifth Princess has painted?"
"The second person? What do you mean?"
"What I mean is..."
Before the dark-faced ghost general could finish speaking, a cold voice echoed from within the mansion.
"Zhao Bai, say one more word, and I'll have you locked up in the Ice Prison for a year."
Terrified, the dark-faced ghost general Zhao Bai shivered and immediately knelt on the ground, saying he wouldn't talk anymore and begging the Fifth Princess to punish him leniently.
"Go and receive thirty lashes with the Fire Rod yourself, to learn your lesson."
"Your subordinate obeys." Zhao Bai, upon hearing about the Fire Rod, visibly relaxed. He then entered the guardhouse without looking back, and I didn't know where he went to get the thirty Fire Rods.
"Fifth Princess, I..."
"Come in! I'll be waiting for you in the bamboo forest where we first met."