Three days later.
In the afternoon, in a private school in the Huang Clan Manor near the iron mine.
"I'm leaving, Juanjuan!"
A girl with two braids and a cloth satchel on her back waved at her friend who was sitting in the classroom.
Song Yunjuan smiled at her from her seat.
"Go back quickly. Your parents will scold you again if you're late."
"I know!"
The girl walked briskly under the setting sun and trotted away. She gradually ran away until she could no longer be seen.
Song Yunjuan only retracted her gaze when she could no longer see her friends. She looked at the empty classroom. Everyone had left, and she was the only one left.
"I should go back too." Song Yunjuan carefully put away the brush and paper on the table. He put it into his small satchel, stood up, patted his butt, and walked out of the classroom.
The Huang Clan Manor under the setting sun looked especially dim and quiet.
Several women who were chatting by the wall hurried away when they saw Song Yunjuan coming out. They did not even want to look at her.
In the distance, there were a few boys around seven or eight years old. They were playing in the mud with snot running down their noses. When they saw Song Yunjuan coming out, they were so scared that they immediately ran away.
"Run! The little jinx has come out! "
"This way!"
Song Yunjuan did not mind. She lowered her head, tidied up her small bag, and walked in the direction of her house.
The Huang Clan Manor was not far from her house, only a few li away. But for a ten-year-old girl like her, this was an extremely long journey.
In fact, a few years ago, her family was still fine. Her parents and grandparents were still alive and well.
But since two years ago, her big brother became obsessed with alchemy and cultivation. He stopped taking the Annual Examinations. He spent all day at home, practicing alchemy and cultivation. He even wasted the family's money and bought a lot of books on alchemy and cultivation.
From then on, life began to go awry.
First, it was her grandparents who went out for a walk and never came back. Then, it was her parents who accidentally fell off the carriage and rolled down a cliff before it was time for them to observe the mourning period.
After that, no one in the family could control her big brother, so he started to practice alchemy and cultivation like a demon.
Most of the other siblings left in disappointment. Up until now, she and her eldest brother were the only ones living in the manor. In order to concoct pills, Big Brother had sold all the valuable things in the house. Now, the entire manor was empty, and even thieves were not willing to visit. The servants in the house were also dismissed, leaving only the two of them.
Song Yunjuan's fair little face was a little disappointed. She missed her grandpa and daddy.
"There's also the osmanthus cake that Mother made. It's so delicious …" She lowered her head and gently wiped her moist eyes. Then, she quickened her pace and rushed home.
Unfortunately, there was nothing left. Fortunately, Mr. Chen in the private school pitied her family and didn't kick her out because she didn't pay the money. Instead, he let her stay and listen to his lessons.
Along the way, Song Yunjuan tied her shoulder-length hair up with a straw rope. He walked briskly all the way and finally arrived at the door of his house just as the sky turned dark.
The Song Manor's main gate was left ajar and unlocked. The surroundings were pitch black and devoid of any human presence.
Song Yunjuan was already used to it. She pushed the door open with all her might and walked in. Then, she locked the door and put down the thick bolt.
Bang.
After the door was locked, she patted the dust off her hands and turned to look at the courtyard of her house.
The ground was covered with fallen leaves and dead branches. The room was pitch black and there weren't even any lights.
She walked towards the side hall with the help of the moonlight.
In the empty and silent courtyard, only her footsteps echoed. Her worn-out moccasins stepped on the stone floor, giving off a crisp "ta ta ta" sound.
Song Yunjuan was already used to this kind of scene. She quickly walked to the side hall to take a look. It was pitch black inside. The moonlight shone on the dining table in the middle, but there was nothing on it.
"Sigh …"
She sighed and could only walk towards her brother's bedroom.
Crossing the stone bridge, she walked to the largest room on the left and gently pushed the door open.
Creak.
The ear-piercing sound of wood scraping against each other could be heard in the entire manor.
The room was pitch black and Song Yunjuan could only barely see the furnishings in the room with the help of the moonlight.
The left side of the room was pitch black and she couldn't see anything in the dark corner. With the help of the moonlight, she could faintly see a huge object placed there.
Song Yunjuan knew that it was her brother's alchemy furnace.
She looked to the right. Under the moonlight, she could faintly see a few bowls on a square table.
"Brother, you're still refining pills."
After a moment of silence.
"Yes, I just refined a little," a male voice answered from the darkness.
Song Yunjuan walked into the room and felt her way to the dining table. She picked up her chopsticks and prepared to eat.
But after picking up some food, she realized that the food was cold. It was one thing to not light a lamp at night, but now she couldn't even heat food? What cold refining method? Which alchemy didn't require fire?
"Brother, you don't have hot food again?"
"Yes, I made it this morning. I haven't had time to heat it up," a voice answered from the darkness.
Song Yunjuan sighed.
But what she couldn't see was that there was no one behind the alchemy furnace in the dark!
If there was no one, then where did the voice come from?
No one knew.
After eating two mouthfuls of food, she found it hard to swallow. The minced meat seemed to be a little rancid. It didn't look like it was made in the morning.
"I told Chen Meiqin in school today that she'll come to my house to play in a few days, brother …"
"Yes, I'm listening," the voice answered.
"Can you stay at home to accompany me during the day?" Yun Juan asked in a small voice.
"I want to refine pills," the voice answered curtly.
"Can't you accompany me for a day?" Yun Juan's eyes were filled with disappointment.
"I want to refine pills," the voice repeated.
Yun Juan went silent, lowering her head to eat.
She didn't notice at all that a tall figure silently walked out from the corner of the room and slowly stood behind her.
The figure had a pale face. It was a man's face, a face without any expression.
He looked down at Yun Juan and slowly reached out his hand. In his hand was a pair of scissors, which was completely stained with blood …
Bang bang bang!
Suddenly, there was a loud knock on the main door of the house.
Song Yunjuan immediately stood up.
"Who is it?" she quickly ran out to the main door.
"Is anyone here?"
"We're just passing by here for a walk. At night, a boulder blocked our way, so we can't go back for the time being. We'd like to stay here for the night," a clear male voice came in, carrying a hint of gentleness.
Song Yunjuan hesitated for a moment. Right now, only she and her big brother were in the village. If they met any bad people …
"Little girl, are the adults in your house? We can pay in advance. We just want to stay here for the night, "the person said again. "We're not bad people. This is the cost of staying here."
Crash.
With a crisp sound, a string of large coins was thrown into the house through the wall.
Song Yunjuan ran over to take a look and picked it up.
Eight large coins, larger than normal copper coins, faintly glowed a coppery black under the moonlight. They were tied together with black silk thread.
She carefully counted them and found that there were actually eight large coins. Ten large coins were equivalent to a tael of silver. This person actually threw out eight large coins at once. It seemed like he wasn't lacking in money.
Song Yunjuan hesitated for a moment. Remembering that her big brother was still at home, she lifted the door latch. She laboriously opened the door.
"Creak."
The door swung open. Standing at the entrance were three well-built young men who were obviously martial arts practitioners.
The one in the lead was dressed in a Confucian robe. His clothes were grayish-white, and he seemed to be a scholar. However, even the loose scholar's robe could not conceal his strong physique and muscles.
When Song Yunjuan saw the three of them, her gaze fell upon the scabbards they were wearing. Her heart immediately began to pound.
"Little girl, are you alone at home? I'm Lu Sheng. I'm just passing by this place. I didn't expect to encounter a mountain road collapse and can't return for the time being. This is the safest place in the vicinity. There are high walls to keep out wild beasts, so I'd like to stay here for the night. " The scholar tried his best to appear gentle and amiable, but the fierce aura he exuded, the outline of his strong muscles, and the long saber hanging horizontally from his waist clearly indicated that he was not a kind person.
"My big brother is also at home, but he's concocting pills. If there's nothing important, don't disturb him," Song Yunjuan reminded him seriously. "Also, you guys can stay here, but please don't light the lamps. My big brother doesn't like light."
"How can we not light the lamps?" Duan Meng 'an, who was behind Lu Sheng, couldn't help but mutter.
Song Yunjuan bit her lip. She sensed that the three people before her were not kind people. Feeling a little afraid, she shrunk back.
"If … if you want to light the lamps, do it where you stay. Don't take them out, or my big brother will be angry. He's very scary when he's angry … "
Lu Sheng narrowed his eyes and looked into the interior of the Manor. Indeed, it was pitch-black everywhere. There were many lanterns hung up, but there was no light at all.
"Alright, we'll just light the lamps in our own rooms. Is that okay?" He smiled gently at Song Yunjuan.
Song Yunjuan clutched the string of money. There was really no more money left at home. To her, this money was very important. If she scrimped it, she would be able to pay for her school fees for the next six months.
"Come in."
She stepped aside, allowing Lu Sheng and the others to enter.
"Bam."
The door closed and bolted once more.
Song Yunjuan led Lu Sheng and the others towards the guest rooms.
The ground was littered with fallen leaves and twigs, causing Song Yunjuan to blush. Anyone could tell that this family had fallen on hard times with such a dilapidated home.
After escorting the three of them to their respective guest rooms, Song Yunjuan turned to head back to rest.
"Knock, knock, knock."
Suddenly, someone knocked on the door again.
"I'll go take a look." Song Yunjuan hurried to the door. As for whether or not Lu Sheng and the others were thieves, she wasn't worried. Everything of value in the house had long been sold off by her big brother. What was left were all old and broken things, things that even the people who received them would find difficult to move.
Watching the little girl's figure run out, Lu Sheng looked at the dilapidated courtyard and the gloomy environment.
"It must've been hard on this little fellow."
"I didn't expect there to be people living here," Duan Meng 'an was feeling a little nervous.
"Is it strange that someone is living in this Manor?" The other person was called Ning San. He was an expert whom Lu Sheng had specially selected for this trip.
They had assumed the identity of passersby to investigate the internal affairs of this Manor in detail.
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