Lin Yanxi gently shook the woman lying on the bed. Her brows were furrowed, and she murmured in her sleep, "Gu Lang, run quickly, don't come back."
"Meng'er, Meng'er." Lin Yanxi shook her again, but the woman on the bed remained unresponsive with her eyes closed.
Sister Lian'er glanced at Meng'er lying on the bed and bowed to the man, "Louzhu, the person has been brought."
The Louzhu nodded slightly, and Sister Lian'er withdrew from the secret room, guarding outside.
Shen Muzhou scanned the room. The furnishings were simple and clean, like those of an ordinary living space. However, according to the terrain map previously provided by Gu Qing, there should be a larger secret chamber behind this room.
Lin Yanxi stood up and glanced at the man in front of her. Was this the Louzhu of Zhihai Lou?
He sat in a wooden wheelchair, which was ingeniously constructed. There were two inconspicuous holes on the armrests. If one tapped the armrests three times, poison needles would shoot out from the holes.
Despite sitting in a wheelchair, he was handsome, with an ethereal demeanor. He wore a pale blue, double-breasted Changshan, with swirling cloud auspicious patterns embroidered on the cuffs and collar in light blue silk thread. His upper body was very straight, and there was an indescribable melancholy in his eyes.
"What have you done to Meng'er?" Lin Yanxi took half a step forward, discreetly shielding Meng'er, who was on the bed, behind her.
Reading hostility in her eyes, he chuckled. However, his gaze towards Meng'er became even more somber. "If Meng'er knew you protected her like this, she would be very happy. Meng'er likes making friends."
She glanced back at Meng'er and then met the Louzhu's gaze, her voice growing slightly cold, "She is very pitiful."
Yes, she just felt Meng'er was pitiful. They were not exactly friends.
In her past life, all her friends had betrayed and abandoned her.
Shen Muzhou reached out and gently tapped her forehead. She covered her forehead and glared at him, not understanding what she had said wrong.
He directly asked the man, "What do you want us to do?"
Upon hearing this, the Louzhu's smile deepened. "Didn't you come to see me? You must have gone to great lengths to do so."
Shen Muzhou didn't want to play word games with him. He stepped forward and gently grasped Lin Yanxi's wrist, making as if to leave, and stated with certainty, "Unfortunately, it is you who wants to see us more now."
Seeing them about to leave, the Louzhu, angered, threatened, "This secret passage of mine is full of mechanisms. You can try and see if you can get out."
Lin Yanxi let him lead her forward. He paused and scoffed, "Then let's try."
Seeing that they were really going to leave, the Louzhu drove his wheelchair to block them and said helplessly, "For Meng'er's sake, I can make a deal with you."
Shen Muzhou's expression remained grim. Seeing this, Lin Yanxi quickly tugged at his sleeve and said, "We want to know the whereabouts of the Zhenshan Saber."
She appeared anxious, afraid that their negotiation would fall apart and they would return empty-handed, inadvertently revealing their purpose.
The Louzhu murmured, "Zhenshan Saber?"
This clan had been in hiding for many years. One of these two people was a Talisman Master, and the other was of royal blood. They were looking for a fallen Zhenshan Saber.
However, none of this concerned him. People had been coming to him for all sorts of things over the years. Zhihai Lou only provided information, never asking for the reason.
"Yes. This is not difficult."
This matter was not difficult for him, but it would be impossible for others to investigate. Shen Muzhou asked, "Then what do you seek, Louzhu?"
The Louzhu raised his arm, and from within his wide sleeves, his fingertips pointed towards Lin Yanxi, "Her."
Shen Muzhou refused almost without thinking, "You wish!"
His eyes instantly filled with ferocity, capable of deterring others. He once again grasped Lin Yanxi's hand and started to walk out.
Lin Yanxi didn't understand why he reacted so strongly. She said softly beside him, "Wait, let him finish speaking."
This demon god was always so fierce. Didn't he understand the importance of the Zhenshan Saber's whereabouts? This might be the only clue to recovering the jade talisman and finding the person behind the black cloak.
"There is nothing worth listening to."
Shen Muzhou did not stop. A sense of inexplicable irritation welled up in his heart. If recovering the jade talisman required exchanging Lin Yanxi, he would rather be imprisoned.
Seeing his reaction, he knew he had misunderstood. The Louzhu said slowly, "I want her Talisman Master power to heal Meng'er."
Lin Yanxi stopped in her tracks, turned around, and looked at him, asking doubtfully, "How do you know I am a Talisman Master?"
The Louzhu's wheelchair turned, bringing him to Meng'er's bedside. He stated directly, "You killed so many people at the entrance of my Zhihai Lou. If I still didn't know your identity, then Zhihai Lou would truly be just a pleasure house."
"Oh!" She nodded and then quickly shook her head, "But it wasn't me who killed them."
Shen Muzhou's gaze also fell on Meng'er's face. She looked as if she were asleep, muttering in her dreams, yet her complexion was rosy, and her lips were red and teeth white.
He asked, "She is not sick. How can we help her?"
The Louzhu took out a handkerchief and gently wiped the fine sweat from Meng'er's forehead. His movements were gentle, and his eyes were affectionate.
"A calm mind can heal three thousand illnesses, while a troubled mind breeds a hundred maladies. She fell in love, so she became ill. She fell ill the day Gu Qing arrived, and she remained ill even after Gu Qing left, becoming more severe."
Lin Yanxi was confused. "You call her love for Gu Qing an illness?"
He did not look up at them, his hand tightly gripping the handkerchief, his voice filled with resentment and fragmentation. "Yes! She is indeed ill. I want you to use the Soul Capturing Bell to heal her!"
Shen Muzhou immediately reacted and questioned him, "How do you know the Soul Capturing Bell is in her possession?"
His eyes turned crimson, and after staring at their faces for a while, he burst into laughter. "Because I am the Louzhu of Zhihai Lou, and I know everything under heaven... except matters concerning the black cloak."
Upon mentioning the black cloak, Lin Yanxi's nerves tensed. She stepped forward agitatedly, pulled the Soul Capturing Bell from her waist, and asked, "You know about the black cloak? You definitely know, right? Tell me, where are they? Who is behind them!"
"If you tell me, I can definitely help you."
Shen Muzhou's large hand clasped Lin Yanxi's arm, and he frowned, looking at the man in the wheelchair.
He stared at the Soul Capturing Bell for a moment, then looked at them somewhat helplessly and admitted honestly, "Unfortunately, I truly know nothing about the black cloak. I only know they are controlled by curses, and they have influence in various parts of Yueyou. Your fate..."
"Louzhu!" Shen Muzhou called out to him nervously, shaking his head at him, signaling him not to say any more.
Regarding her fate, Shen Muzhou did not want her to know yet. Although Lin Yanxi was very obtuse about matters of the heart and appeared cold-blooded, she always reminded him in subtle ways not to kill innocents.
He absolutely did not believe that Lin Yanxi would be the Heavenly Disaster Star, bringing disaster to Nan Min.
The Louzhu lowered his gaze slightly and remained silent.
"What about my fate?"
Why was her fate being mentioned again? In her previous life, the Crown Prince had falsely accused her of being Nan Min's bringer of disaster. Hadn't she already escaped this calamity? What did curses have to do with her fate?
The Louzhu's gaze flickered slightly. He turned the wheelchair and said casually, "I mean you don't need to worry. Your fate will guide you to encounter the black cloak and find the person behind it."
"Perhaps, you might run into the black cloak shortly."
Lin Yanxi knitted her brows, not understanding the meaning of his words. She looked up, and Shen Muzhou's expression was also complex, with a hint of panic?
Without time to think further, the Louzhu continued to ask, "So, what do you say? As long as you use the Soul Capturing Bell to erase her memories of Gu Qing, I will give you the information about the Zhenshan Saber."
Lin Yanxi looked at the Soul Capturing Bell in her hand. Its casing was a translucent glazed cover transitioning from pale yellow to clear, with a white jade handle. The bell's heart was made from a rare artifact.
"Yes," she answered crisply.
Shen Muzhou covered the Soul Capturing Bell with his hand. "We can think of other ways. Erasing her memories is unfair to her."
Lin Yanxi's apricot eyes fixed on Meng'er. After a moment, she came back to herself, her clear and bright pupils firm yet questioning, "Is what Gu Qing did fair then? If I use the Soul Capturing Bell to alter her painful memories and make her happy, wouldn't that be better?"
Her gaze was pure yet somewhat cold. Shen Muzhou was at a loss for words. If it were him, even if the person had hurt him, he wouldn't want to forget the past like that.
But who could know which choice was the right one?
He listlessly released his hand.
Lin Yanxi held the bell, and the ring on her hand emitted a faint glow. Instantly, without needing to be shaken, the bell chimed in the air.
Meng'er's expression gradually became pained. "Gu Qing... Gu Qing, where are you? Gu Qing!"
Her originally rosy complexion began to turn pale, and tears fell from the corners of her eyes.
Lin Yanxi's movements faltered. She seemed to be in great pain. The Soul Capturing Bell could create illusions and confuse memories.
In the illusion, Gu Qing's face gradually faded, becoming increasingly blurry, hidden within a mist.
The faint color of Lin Yanxi's soul ring receded, and the bell naturally fell into her palm.
The Louzhu of Zhihai Lou gently shook it a few times, calling softly, "Meng'er, Meng'er."
Meng'er lay on the bed, her expression gradually calming, but she did not wake up.
Lin Yanxi felt somewhat weak. Shen Muzhou supported her and asked, "Are you alright?"
She nodded, her gaze fixed on the Louzhu and Meng'er. "She needs my Soul Capturing Bell to wake up again. Give me the whereabouts of the Zhenshan Saber."
Without a word, the Louzhu turned his wheelchair, manipulated a few small mechanisms in the room, and entered a large stone door. From the outside, one could vaguely see rows of bookshelves inside the stone door, filled with various bamboo slips and scrolls.
After Lin Yanxi and Shen Muzhou obtained the scrolls, the bell was shaken three more times, and Meng'er gradually woke up.
She asked blankly, "Louzhu, why am I here? Who are these people?"
The Louzhu's worried expression instantly faded, and he said joyfully, "Just guests."
Lin Yanxi handed the scrolls to Shen Muzhou. As they were about to leave the secret chamber, the Louzhu called out a warning, "I advise you not to meddle in the affairs of the Kengyu pit."
The two of them paused for a moment before continuing to walk out of the secret chamber.
Sister Lian'er was waiting outside. Seeing them emerge, she said nothing more. As for Shen Yu, he had been told to wait outside in case of any accidents. In this short time, he had already become entangled with the women in the wine house, with one on each arm.
Lin Yanxi raised an eyebrow, a look of exasperation on her face. At this rate, how many lifetimes would it take him to catch up to Luo Jingxin?
The next moment, she felt a strange feeling. Why did she hope that Shen Yu and Luo Jingxin would end up together?
Shen Muzhou grabbed Shen Yu by the shoulder and pulled him outside.
As Shen Yu reached the door, he still looked back at the women inside and promised, "Wait for me, and I'll come back to redeem you all."
Perhaps Gu Qing had made similar promises to Meng'er back then. When Lin Yanxi had used the Soul Capturing Bell earlier, Meng'er had been extremely reluctant to let Gu Qing fade from her memory. She had felt a shred of guilt, but upon seeing Shen Yu, that little hesitation and guilt had vanished.
A man like this, it was best if she didn't remember him.
As the group had just stepped out of the doors of Zhihai Lou, an arrow flew directly towards them.