After reading the account of the events on the paper, everyone's expressions turned solemn.
Right at that moment, a waiter walked past the door carrying a clay pot. Song Yueyao was quick to react and pulled him inside.
The waiter stumbled a few steps, hastily protecting the clay pot in his arms. A faint aroma of rice wine drifted from the mouth of the pot.
Wu Li's gaze swept impassively over the brown-glazed clay pot, a cold sneer rising in his heart.
In just an instant, he indifferently looked away. Last night, he had already figured out that the soul-locking array only held a pathetic little ghost. It couldn't even speak, babbling so much it gave him a headache; after teasing it a couple of times, he found it completely dull.
He never had any interest in meddling in other people's business.
What did the life or death of others have to do with him?
However, when this subtle look fell into Chai Xiaomi's eyes, it was instantly magnified.
She had also smelled the wine. That glance from Wu Li suddenly reminded her of the "bone soup" he had mentioned earlier.
A strong wave of nausea immediately surged up.
He must have been lying to me, right? He must be! Chai Xiaomi repeated in her heart, hypnotizing herself in an attempt to suppress the discomfort.
That rice wine... Wu Li clearly tasted it first before she followed suit and drank it.
Could it be that, in order to trick her into drinking it, he didn't hesitate to drink it himself, using his own body as bait?
What good would that do him? Hurting the enemy a thousand, but damaging himself a thousand as well.
Isn't that just a complete lunatic?
...Oh, she almost forgot. The villain's character setting in the original novel had a bit of a twisted element in his bones.
Chai Xiaomi edged over to the bench where Wu Li was sitting, scooting her bottom closer to him bit by bit, and lowered her voice to seek confirmation. "The bone soup... you were lying to me, right? Right? Right?"
She looked up, her eyes revealing a pitiful plea as she eagerly asked "right" three times in a row.
It was as if she absolutely had to hear him say it himself: Yes, I was lying to you.
Only then would she let it go.
Wu Li cast a sidelong glance at her eager look and suddenly found it amusing, a cryptic smile playing on his lips.
He didn't answer. Instead, he tossed the longbow in his hand into her arms. "Clean it well for me, and I'll tell you."
Chai Xiaomi remembered this bow. In the illusion, he had personally gone deep into the mountains to find rare wood to make it. The bowstring was made from deer sinew that had been soaked, boiled, torn, and woven. It took a lot of effort and even injured his hand. Although the wound healed quickly, the pain had been very real.
Obviously, he treasured this bow very much, maintaining it meticulously, the body of the bow rubbed until it was smooth and shiny.
Usually, seeing him draw the bow and shoot arrows with a relaxed posture, she hadn't expected it to be so heavy in her arms. Chai Xiaomi almost couldn't hold onto it.
As she frantically steadied the curved bow, she heard Song Yueyao's angry questioning voice ring out:
"Didn't your manager keep saying that the inn had set up arrays to drive away evil? How can it still be haunted? It would be one thing if this evil spirit just scared people, but now it actually dares to take human lives!"
"G-Guest, your words... this humble one really doesn't understand." The waiter looked terrified, tightening his grip on the clay pot. "Those rumors, this humble one has only heard them as hearsay and has never seen any ghosts or demons with my own eyes."
As he spoke, his eyes could not help but glance at the clay pot in his arms.
The pot looked quite heavy, but during the questioning, he refused to put it down on the ground even for a moment, always holding it firmly against his chest.
Song Yueyao took in his behavior, her eyebrows furrowing slightly. "It's just a jar of wine, and no one is going to steal it from you. Why are you guarding it like a thief?"
"N-No..." The waiter hastily forced a smile, his words stumbling. "The matter you asked about, this humble one truly doesn't know. No one has ever sought death in the inn before, perhaps..." He secretly glanced at the lady hanging from the beam, and lowered his voice to Song Yueyao, "Perhaps it was just a nightmare?"
"This humble one still has work to do, please be kind, guest, and let me go."
The manager had specifically ordered him to dispose of this pot of rice wine as quickly as possible, and it had to be done secretly. Now that he was held up by these people, the waiter was burning with anxiety, fine sweat beading on his forehead.
Seeing his face full of sorrow and realizing she wouldn't get anything out of him, Song Yueyao originally wanted to wave him away.
Jiang Zhiyu, who was standing to the side, suddenly spoke up. "Please trouble yourself to invite the manager over. We have some matters we need to ask him face to face."
"B-But this humble one has other things to do..." the waiter tried to excuse himself.
Song Yueyao interrupted him. "Go get the manager."
"But I still have to..."
Song Yueyao's face darkened a bit, and she interrupted again. "Go get the manager."
"But..."
"Go! What damn thing is more important than a matter of life and death!" Song Yueyao grabbed him by the collar, her voice suddenly rising. "I give you the time of a snap of the fingers to bring your manager before me!"
Jiang Zhiyu reflexively shrank his neck. Seeing that the collar being grabbed wasn't his own, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
The waiter's soul was almost shaken out of his body by this shout.
Looking at such a beautiful girl, how could her aura when yelling be even more intimidating than a fierce tiger in the mountains?
"G-Guest, please calm down..." His teeth chattered, unable to speak clearly. "I-I will go get the manager right away!"
Jiang Zhiyu watched the waiter's back as he scrambled away holding the clay pot, shaking his head and sighing to himself.
A bit of apology rose in his heart: after all, he was the one who asked him to get the manager. On second thought, he felt this waiter really didn't know how to read the room. Why on earth would you provoke her when you didn't have to?
Jiang Zhiyu's gaze swept casually, only to see Chai Xiaomi standing to the side, staring straight at Song Yueyao, her eyes full of unhidden admiration and praise.
That look was just like a little foot soldier in the military camp gazing reverently at a majestic general.
After spending these days together, Jiang Zhiyu had somewhat figured out Xiaomi's temperament. This girl had a soft personality and spoke gently. Even if she encountered something unpleasant, she would toss it to the back of her mind in the blink of an eye. No wonder she was always "bullied" by that boy Wu Li.
Seeing Yaoyao's valiant posture, it was quite reasonable for her to feel envious.
While he was pondering, Jiang Zhiyu suddenly felt a chill down his spine, as if he had been firmly pinned down by two lines of sight.
His eyelids twitched, a bizarre chill rising from the soles of his feet. The feeling was like being silently locked onto by a beast in the dark.
Jiang Zhiyu abruptly raised his eyes, just in time to meet Wu Li's gaze.
The young man's heterochromatic eyes constricted slightly, a barely imperceptible hint of danger flashing in the depths of his eyes. A chill seeped out silently, like an undercurrent swirling beneath a layer of ice.
But when Jiang Zhiyu tried to discern the meaning deep within that gaze, he saw that Wu Li was still leaning lazily on the bench, turned to the side, his fingertips boredly playing with the dangling hair ornament in the hair of the girl next to him, while his mouth was still complaining that she wasn't putting enough effort into cleaning the bow.
Immediately after, he received a fierce glare from Xiaomi.
The young man's mouth curled up in response, his smile mixed with a bit of mischievous triumph, as if intentionally making her angry was his true goal.
Jiang Zhiyu was stunned, feeling a bit dazed for a moment.
Could that gaze just now have merely been his own illusion?
