The Nan Mansion, shrouded in darkness, was so silent that only a few insect chirps could be heard.
Nan Shiying's courtyard was situated in a secluded corner of the Nan Mansion, a humble dwelling of just a few tiled rooms. The air around it was thick with the stench of decaying flesh and fermented soil. Xuan Yi paused slightly the moment he stepped into the courtyard.
Was this the courtyard of a noble young lady? It was worse than the living quarters of the lowest servants in their Wangfu.
Nan Shiying walked into the courtyard with practiced ease. The room at the very back of the courtyard was her dwelling.
Granny Wang was confined in her room by them.
Perhaps because everything was about to be settled today, there were no guards in the courtyard. Nan Shiying pushed open the door to the room.
The scent of blood immediately wafted out, mixed with an indescribable foul odor.
Nan Shiying's body stiffened slightly. The next moment, she rushed in.
In the center of the room stood a large water vat. Inside the vat was a person whose limbs had been chopped off, eyes gouged out, and ears severed.
"Granny... Wang!"
Nan Shiying's voice trembled as she uttered the name.
Hearing Nan Shiying's voice, Granny Wang, who had been motionless in the water vat, suddenly thrashed her head violently, emitting muffled sounds from her mouth.
Short, urgent, like a mournful cry.
Memories belonging to Nan Shiying flooded her mind. She had thought she merely occupied this body, but she hadn't expected to receive its emotions as well.
Zhuang Sheng's dream.
Whether it was her merging with her or them being one from the start, she didn't know.
But none of that mattered anymore.
Nan Shiying looked at Granny Wang, who had been dismembered like a "human hog" (rén zhì). The anger and hatred in her heart surged like roaring beasts. At that moment, a clamorous roar seemed to spread and reverberate from within her.
Xuan Yi instinctively gripped the sword at his waist. The next second, he heard a call: "Xuan Yi!"
Xuan Yi looked up at Nan Shiying. Nan Shiying extended her hand to him, "Lend me your sword."
Xuan Yi glanced hesitantly at Ji Jinmo. Ji Jinmo nodded slightly.
Xuan Yi drew his sword and handed it to Nan Shiying with the reverse grip.
"Thank you!" Nan Shiying took the sword and walked to the water vat. She reached out and gently caressed Granny Wang's hair, which was matted with congealed blood. Her voice was as soft as wind rustling fallen leaves, "Granny, you may go ahead. But please wait for me at the Naihe Bridge. When I use their bones and blood, I will pave a path for your reincarnation, leading you directly to enlightenment."
As she spoke, she raised the sword in her hand. The sharp blade instantly pierced Granny Wang's throat.
The moment she withdrew the sword, hot blood splattered onto her face, burning like a raging inferno. In that instant, Nan Shiying felt a piercing, bone-chilling pain.
Her lowered eyelids turned slightly red. After returning the sword to Xuan Yi, she turned her head and said to Ji Jinmo, "My Lord, the land of the Nan family is not worthy of burying Granny's remains. I wish to bury Granny beneath the pear blossom tree outside my window."
Xuan Yi wiped the blood from his sword. Hearing Nan Shiying's words, he quickly glanced at his master.
Although he felt deep sympathy for Nan Shiying's plight, wasn't this request a bit excessive? Burying a servant's remains in their Wangfu's courtyard? To put it bluntly, did she even deserve it?
"Outskirts."
Ji Jinmo spoke.
Nan Shiying pursed her lips and nodded, "Alright."
Xuan Yi subconsciously looked at Nan Shiying. Her agreement was too quick, so quick as if she had intended to bury the body in the outskirts all along.
"Xuan Yi!"
Ji Jinmo gave Nan Shiying a deep look, then called out to Xuan Yi. Xuan Yi sheathed his sword and walked forward resignedly, carrying Granny Wang's body out.
"Eh?"
Xuan Yi let out a sound of surprise. He placed Granny Wang next to the water vat, then bent down and reached into the water vat. After a slight search, he pulled upwards, dragging out a thin, small figure from the water vat.
The moment she saw the child, Nan Shiying's eyes widened in fury. She quickly stepped forward and snatched the child. Hearing the child's barely perceptible pulse, her features contorted into a ferocious mask of a Rakshasa.
"Nan Yuan'er, Nan Chaoyin, you deserve to die, all of you deserve to die!" Nan Shiying's clenched teeth bled, the blood mixing with her deepest hatred, becoming increasingly sinister and terrifying in her suppressed growls.
Holding the child, she looked at Ji Jinmo with pleading eyes, begging, "My Lord, I beg you, save her. She is Granny's only kin."
Ji Jinmo's brow furrowed slightly. His eyes, reflecting Nan Shiying's image, held no trace of sympathy or pity. He seemed to be contemplating the value of this matter to himself.
After a long while, he slowly said, "Send her to the Ying Ge."
Xuan Yi immediately looked up. The Ying Ge was where shadows were cultivated. Shadows, as the name suggested, were shadow guards who followed like one's own shadow, essentially suicidal soldiers.
Did his master intend to train this child into a suicide soldier?
Or did he want to use this child to control Nan Shiying?
Perhaps both.
"Ying Ge?"
Nan Shiying stared at Ji Jinmo, her eyes bloodshot, her voice seeming to seep from between her clenched teeth, "This humble subject thanks His Highness the Prince for his great kindness."
Holding the child in her arms, she knelt and kowtowed her thanks.
Even if the Ying Ge was an abyss, she wanted Granny Wang's granddaughter to live.
Nan Shiying's forbearance and decisiveness earned her another look of appreciation from Ji Jinmo. This trip to the Nan Mansion had at least verified her identity, making it not entirely in vain.
Ji Jinmo nodded coldly and turned to leave.
Xuan Yi hoisted Granny Wang's body and gestured for Nan Shiying to follow.
Nan Shiying, holding the child, silently followed their footsteps and left the Nan Mansion.
...
Deep within the dense forest on the outskirts of the city, there was a new grave. The tombstone bore only the inscription: "Longyang Chen Wang Clan."
Two saplings were planted beside the grave.
Next year, the saplings would grow into small trees. When their roots deepened and their branches flourished, growing into towering trees, fragments of flesh and limbs would be discarded here.
...
Nan Shiying pressed the heated jade pendant onto the child's arm, imprinting the scar of an iris flower.
She handed the child to Xuan Yi and said to him, "Her name is Xiao Man."
Xuan Yi took the child and, after a moment's thought, said, "She won't be called by this name anymore."
"I know."
Just as Xuan Yi, he no longer remembered his original name.
Xuan Yi took Xiao Man away. Nan Shiying returned to the Xin Yuan Ge. Dan Qing's body had been disposed of cleanly. No traces were left in the room, not even the smell of blood, which had also dissipated without a trace.
It was as if nothing had happened.
...
"Your Highness, the lights over there have been extinguished."
The Linglong Ge, where Consort Qin Yurou resided, had its main room brightly lit. A maid saw that the lights in the Xin Yuan Ge had been put out and quickly returned to report.
"Where is the Prince?"
Qin Yurou's hand, which was styling her hair, paused slightly. The comb grazed her hair and was then gripped tightly in her hand.
The maid lowered her head and replied softly, "I haven't seen the Prince come out."
That meant His Highness had stayed in the Xin Yuan Ge?
Qin Yurou forcefully clenched the comb in her hand. With a "crack~", the maid slightly raised her head and saw that the comb in the Consort's hand had snapped in two.