Chapter 11: Calamity of No Cause

  Looking at her pale face in the wind, I felt a little heartache. "What are you going to do next?"

  Bi Han lowered her head, avoiding the gaze of the wind, and said: "Before my father was an official in Zhejiang, he had some connections with the Mu Rong family. Now that our family is in trouble, there's really nowhere else to go, so we can only seek refuge from the Mu Rong family. At present, it's estimated that only these aristocratic families are not afraid of Li Linfu."

  "What if the Murong family doesn't want to help?" Fang Feng's heart felt a sense of foreboding.

  "If the Murong family is unwilling to help, it's just dying at Li Linfu's hands." Bihe's eyes were like a deep pool, calm and peaceful without a single ripple, even life and death seemed as light as a feather.

  It's another moment of silence as I watch it drift away with the wind, completely at a loss for words.

  "Is there an inn nearby? A post station would also be fine." Bi He said suddenly.

  He glanced at the sky and said, "The relay station is only set up on the official road, but here are hills and mountains, far from the official road. It's impossible to arrive before dusk." Thinking of the accommodation problem, Su Feng also had a headache. He still wanted to go to Lu Yun Guan to see Liang Tou Er, but he didn't mind staying overnight in the broken temple. However, Bi Huan was once the daughter of the governor, how could Su Feng invite her to stay in the ruined temple? If he abandoned her and didn't care, she was a weak and gentle woman, and Su Feng also felt uneasy.

  It seems like she saw the difficulty in his heart, Bi Han asked: "Where will you rest tonight?"

  "I...?" He was taken aback by the wind, "I have an appointment with someone at Luoyun Temple a dozen miles away, and I'll probably be staying overnight there tonight."

  "Then, can I go too?" Bi Huan seemed to have put aside the sorrow of just now, and a few strands of spirit returned to her face.

  "Ah?" Xiang Feng's heart skipped a beat, and he was still hesitating whether to invite her together. Unexpectedly, Bi Han brought it up first. "It can only be that way." Although he said it calmly, Xiang Feng still felt his heart pounding, as if his face was flushing.

  The sky had completely darkened, the bloody sunset retreated, leaving only a last ray of light still lingering on the horizon. The two of them walked shoulder to shoulder on the long road. Unbeknownst to them, the streetlights came on, and the bright moon hung high, casting a layer of silver radiance on the trees by the roadside. But how the scenery changed was no longer important; these two young men and women were talking about their own stories with each other. Temporarily putting aside all worries and sorrows, Bi Han finally revealed a smile. She was born extremely beautiful, and when she smiled, it seemed as if she could penetrate into one's heart. He had never met such a woman before, nor had he ever felt this way.

  One has been lonely and wandering since childhood, shouldering the heavy responsibility of the family, while the other is newly bereaved and down on his luck. Between these two people, apart from their deepest empathy and pity for each other, there seems to be a thread of inexplicable emotions entwining them.

  Even the wind doesn't understand, what exactly is the stir in my heart, and what should I say. It's like the summer breeze that wraps around my fingertips, elusive.

  A dozen or so miles, for adults who are not skilled in martial arts, is a relatively big challenge, let alone two half-grown children. However, they chatted with each other, talking about the world, chatting about their past, interesting things, as if they didn't feel tired at all. It was like a flower blooming in thought, and before long, the Taoist temple on the mountain top under the moonlight could be seen.

  "Let's go, it's just there, let's go up." He pointed to the mountain top with a wave of his hand. For some reason, the Taoist temple under the moonlight seemed to be slightly off in his eyes, feeling somewhat awkward. Turning back to look, Bi Han still had a calm face, and he unconsciously thought of the large characters behind the red wooden door in the temple.

  "This place is unlucky, don't open at midnight."

  Every time I think of this sentence, my heart trembles with the wind, and I secretly wish: "I hope tonight will be like last time, everything is safe and sound, and nothing unexpected happens."

  As they approached their destination, the two people's conversation became less frequent, as if neither of them knew what to say. Just like that, in the silence between the two of them, the wind carried Bi He to the Lu Yun Temple at the top of the mountain.

  The gate of the Luoyun Pavilion was tightly closed, and not a single ray of light could be seen through the gap. A scene of decline and desolation. "It seems he hasn't arrived yet," she whispered to herself in a low voice carried away by the wind.

  "Is the famous Liang Ze really only as old as us?" On the way, Su Feng had already told her about his encounter with Liang Ze, but Bi He was still a little hard to believe.

  "Hmm... At first, I didn't believe it either, but his lightness skill is truly unpredictable and silent. A brief conversation with him at night was very beneficial to me." Following the wind, he pushed open the red wooden door of Luoyun Pavilion.

  A creaking sound, the dull voice seemed to have been sealed for a long time. Even with the wind, you can still smell some pungent dust. With the wind in his heart, he felt a little uneasy and thought: "What's going on? Was there so much dust when I walked out this morning? Is this an illusion?"

  With a flick of his hand, he brushed off the dust in front of his nose. Then, from his bosom, he took out a tinder and lit a spark, using the firelight to walk towards the Guan with the wind. "You follow me from behind, I don't know what happened here, it seems a bit strange." The wind glanced back and whispered.

  "Uh-huh." Bi Hong said timidly, her voice as soft as a mosquito's hum, carefully hiding behind Su Feng.

  Suddenly, "Ah!" a sharp cry. The tightly wound heartstrings jumped violently as he turned around, and in front of him was a dark mass flying over. Su Feng wanted to retreat, but Bi Han was right behind him, already unable to retreat. Unable to do anything else, he could only wave his sleeve forward to sweep it away. "Squeak——" It seemed like he had hit some living creature, and then there were the sounds of fluttering, as a group of black objects flew out of the Taoist temple.

  By the faint light of the fire, they barely made out a group of bats. "Don't be afraid, it's just bats." But in her heart, she was extremely terrified, her eyes wide with fear, her heart almost jumping out. "What on earth happened here? This morning when I left, everything was still spotless, but within a day, how did so much dust accumulate, and even bats appeared?"

  Disaster out of nowhere! The four words suddenly appeared in Sui Feng's mind. Could it be that the last divination was true? Is disaster really looming ahead? Sui Feng didn't dare to think further, looked around and found an eerie silence, not a single sound. This environment only added to Sui Feng's growing unease.

  It seemed as if the wind had reminded him of something, and he looked down at his feet to see that the firewood he and Liang Shanyu had gathered yesterday was still there, but a thick layer of dust had already accumulated on top.

  He blew off the dust on the wooden firewood and carefully lit it with a lighter. Although dim, it illuminated the entire hall. Everything in front of him made Feng Yan secretly shocked at this time, and even doubted reality, had he really left this place for only a few hours?

  The walls and windows around me, including the top beam, suddenly seemed much older, with thick spider webs hanging from the corners of the ceiling, as if I had entered a hundred-year-old sealed room.

  "It's just here, it might look a bit dirty. I hope you don't mind." Xun Feng's face was slightly embarrassed, this place was originally quite clean, but somehow there were so many dust and even bat droppings, suddenly making it look dirty and messy.

  Bi Han just swept a glance around, seemingly seeing the anxious expression blown by the wind, and couldn't help but smile. She said: "It's okay now, when you're out, you can only make do."

  As she spoke, Bi Huan turned around and walked towards the door. She stretched out her slender hand to close the wooden door. Bi Huan was a beauty from a boudoir, wearing a light blue dress, with snow-white jade-like hands, slowly closing the door. Such a scene must be breathtakingly beautiful, and Feng Wu couldn't help but stare blankly at that elegant back, lost in thought.

  The red wooden door closed quietly, and Bi Han also turned around. A faint smile hung on her face, and the original dullness in her eyes had also added a few points of softness.

  Her expression changed suddenly, and this scene fell into Bi Han's eyes. Bi Han was stunned, looking back with some confusion. Behind her was the already closed wooden door, and when she looked down at herself, there seemed to be nothing out of place.

  "What's wrong?" Bi Huanchi asked, looking at Sui Feng with a shocked face.

  "Oh, nothing." His expression returned to normal in an instant, as if nothing had really happened. Bi Han found it strange, but seeing that he didn't want to say more, she also didn't ask further.

  At this moment, the unease in his heart had reached an extreme. Originally, on the back of the red wooden door, there were eight large characters written in cinnabar: "This place is unlucky, do not open at midnight". But now these words had vanished into thin air. This place was rarely visited and had been abandoned for a long time. Even if someone came here today, how could they have erased those cinnabar-written words without leaving any trace?

  Tonight's trip to Lu Yun Guan has been a series of mysteries. By now, the sky is completely dark and it's long past the agreed meeting time. However, there's still no sign of Liang Ze Er, and with the wind in his heart, he can't help but feel that things aren't as simple as he imagined. Something must have happened here. It's probably related to the disaster predicted by the divination.

  At this moment, Luoyun Mountain was even more hazy under the shroud of darkness. Even with the bright moon in the sky, one could only see a vague shadow. Suddenly, a soft rustling sound came from the foot of the mountain and gradually approached the top. At first, it seemed like the wind blowing through the grass, but later the sound quickly drew near, and finally, it became clear that someone was using qinggong to swiftly climb up.

  In just a few dozen breaths, he arrived at the top of the mountain, in front of Lu Yun Temple. Facing the moon, a silver glow spilled onto his face. With the help of the moonlight, he finally got a clear look at him, and it was none other than Liang Ze.

  Looking at the half-closed red wooden door, it was pitch black inside. "What's going on? This kid went to pay respects to his parents and still hasn't come back? It's been longer than my trip to Yangzhou..." Liang Tou'er was still dressed in the same black attire as before, muttering to himself, "This kid is sly and should be fine, probably just delayed on the road due to playing around."

  Although he said so, there were still some doubts and worries in his heart. When he came here for the first time last night, he felt that something was not quite right here, but he couldn't say what it was specifically.

  Step by step, everything was quiet, the firewood that was lit last night was still on the ground in the center, and the three Qing dynasty god statues behind were as spotless as yesterday, as if nothing had changed. Although Liang Tou'er was young, his internal strength had already made some progress, and his eyesight had greatly improved, so he could see everything clearly in the room without relying on the firelight.

  "It's strange, why do I always feel that something is not quite right?" Liang Tou'er walked in slowly, gazing around, his eyebrows furrowed.

  Suddenly, a shrill cry of an owl came from outside the temple. On this quiet and dead night, it was very frightening. Liang Tou'er's expression changed, and his unease grew thicker. However, after thinking for a long time, he didn't find anything out of place. "Could I have been overthinking?"

  He muttered to himself, then squatted down and lit the woodpile with a fire starter. The flames rose from the ancient watchtower, but beside the fire, Liang Ze's face showed a resolute and weathered look that didn't match his age.

  Suddenly, a gust of evening wind blew by, and strangely, the originally gentle breeze creaked and closed the heavy-looking red wooden door. Liang Tou'er inadvertently raised his head and saw the eight big characters on the back of the door.

  "This place is ominous, don't open it at midnight!"

  "No good!", a loud shout came from the watchtower, shaking the clouds in the sky into a scattered array.