Two men, one with a long face and one with a square face, had identical reactions. Both stared at her fixedly, their breathing showing signs of disorder, betraying extreme inner turmoil.
Under the dim lights of the long corridor, two men and one woman confronted each other with their gazes.
In the end, the one who had spoken before, that is, the long-faced man, spoke with difficulty, “What do you want?”
Lu Xingyun still had a gentle, harmless appearance. “I was thinking, why exactly did you conceal and not report this? Is it because you know the crime scene has nothing to do with us, so concealing it would not matter? Or is it because the Valley of Rift Villa’s rules are extremely strict, causing you to fear severe punishment? If it is the latter, then you really should not have concealed it. Adding error to error, and concealing again and again, I think the consequences might truly be very serious.”
The two men’s breathing grew increasingly rapid. In fact, both reasons mentioned by the other party were true. Knowingly committing errors at the Valley of Rift Villa would indeed result in severe punishment. Additionally, they felt that concealing the report did not matter, since the villa did not consider these guests as murderers anyway.
At that time, the two had merely felt they had dozed off in a daze, merely felt they had leaned against the wall and closed their eyes in a haze. If not for this woman coming to tell them, they would not even have known their companion had experienced the same condition as themselves.
The square-faced man tensed his cheeks, while the long-faced man pressed again, “What exactly do you want?”
Lu Xingyun: “I was thinking, should I tell the Valley of Rift Villa about this matter? What do you think? I await your opinion.” After speaking, without waiting for their reply, she left the wall, turned and walked away, departing gracefully, occasionally raising her hand to adjust the white flower at her temple.
The two men wanted to speak but stopped, not daring to speak loudly, afraid of disturbing the surroundings and letting others hear.
Watching Lu Xingyun return to her room, the two men put their heads together, muttering in low voices.
In the end, the two still decided to go find Lu Xingyun to ask clearly. However, it was impossible for both to leave here simultaneously. Once the people on the other end discovered no one was here, it would immediately be big trouble.
The two shifted responsibility to each other for a while, neither quite daring to go over. The reputation of the Three Branch Flowers was truly widespread outside, and they feared they would not be able to get out once they entered.
In the end, the long-faced man still toughened up and went over. The entire way his heart was pounding with fear. He tried his best to look as if nothing was wrong as he arrived at Lu Xingyun’s room door. He looked at the corridor in front and behind, then suddenly used his internal power to open the locked door, slipped in sideways, and quickly closed the door.
Lu Xingyun, sitting before the dressing table, looked at the scene in the mirror. She herself already had her clothes half undone, with spring scenery half revealed, the view in the mirror especially fine. She did not turn back, raising her hand to slowly remove the hair ornaments from her head.
The long-faced man had not expected to see this scene upon entering, and immediately suspected this woman wanted to do that kind of thing with him.
Although he knew what kind of goods this woman was, some scenery was indeed a feast for the eyes, leaving him speechless and heart racing.
“Do you still need me to invite you over?” Lu Xingyun stared at the mirror and said gently.
The long-faced man was on guard in his heart, telling himself to have determination, and absolutely not be confused by the other’s beauty.
After his mental state steadied, he walked over with a tense face. Even seeing the spring scenery in the mirror, he treated it as nothing, and asked, “If you want to use this to threaten us, that is impossible. At worst I will confess myself.”
Lu Xingyun: “We are not familiar with each other. What words cannot wait until daytime to say? If you truly dare to go confess yourself, why would you barge into my room at night?”
The long-faced man’s face immediately showed anger, lowering his voice, “What exactly do you want?”
Lu Xingyun looked at the man behind her in the mirror, raised a bare arm, removed her hairpin, and a waterfall-like cascade of jet-black hair tumbled down. She said to the man in the mirror, “The person is already placed before your eyes. Do you still want me to undress myself?”
The long-faced man bared his teeth, turned and walked away. “I will go confess myself!”
An appearance of preferring death to falling for this slut’s trap.
Lu Xingyun said gently, “I am a woman, guarding an empty room alone, only waiting for a lover. If you did not enter, I truly could do nothing to you. Since you have entered, you have no retreat.
You might as well try whether your speed to get out is faster, or my speed to make a commotion is faster. You might as well guess whether people in other rooms who hear the commotion can see you leaving my room, and whether they will see me in disheveled clothes. You guess whether the Valley of Rift Villa, knowing you ran into my room in order to try to conceal the truth, will give you a way to live.”
The long-faced man immediately stopped as if acupointed, halting motionless, both fists clenched, his face tense, actually somewhat ferocious in appearance.
When he slowly turned around, he discovered Lu Xingyun had also stood up to face him, was undoing her clothes, and her garments rustled as they fell to her feet. The spring scenery was boundless, causing him to subconsciously move his Adam’s apple, his facial expression growing increasingly ferocious.
“I am different. I will give you a way to live. At least I cannot possibly betray you, and will not let the Valley of Rift Villa know what I am doing behind the scenes.”
Although nearly naked, Lu Xingyun still had a gentle appearance, her tone soft, also like soul-stealing dream talk. She raised her hand and removed the small white flower at her temple that was being pressed by her hanging hair, let go, and the flower fell to the ground.
The long-faced man did not know whether he was bewitched by her words or enchanted by her spring scenery. In any case, he charged over almost as if in revenge, violating her, venting…
At the end of the corridor outside, the square-faced man grew increasingly anxious, unable to resist pacing back and forth, occasionally looking at Lu Xingyun’s door. He did not know what was wrong with his companion. Was he not going to talk? How could he have been inside for so long without coming out?
Although he knew the Three Branch Flowers were very good at seducing men, he believed that at this time, his companion should not fall for that trick.
Had he been harmed by that woman?
He had worries in this regard, but was even more worried whether the villa’s people would suddenly appear…
The man and woman in the room, after the clouds dispersed and rain ceased, lay naked together. The long-faced man, breathing heavily, suddenly had a fit of temper and grabbed Lu Xingyun’s fair neck, seemingly wanting to directly strangle her to death.
Lu Xingyun actually did not resist, and even laughed, emitting a strangled tone. “You can try killing me to silence me. Guess whether the people in the next room, or whether the people from my Blossom House, know it was you who entered.”
The long-faced man with nearly bloodshot eyes suddenly threw her aside. Slap! He gave himself a fierce slap.
Lu Xingyun coughed and took a breath. After calming her breathing, she still had a very gentle appearance and said, “We have stayed in the room for so long. Do you guess whether your accomplice knows what you and I have done? Kill me to silence me, or kill your accomplice to silence him? Or pull your companion into the partnership?”
The long-faced man bared his teeth again. Killing his accomplice would only mean sinking deeper and deeper.
In fact, by now he already realised he had no road back, having been step by step lured into the abyss by this seemingly beautiful and gentle woman before his eyes.
If he had not entered this room from the start, and had reported upward positively, perhaps he could still have turned back.
The other party’s goal was to lure him into the room. Once he entered the room, it was hard to turn back.
Even then, perhaps he could still say he was tricked into entering. But now?
Now he had done this kind of thing with her. Was this also being tricked? He had completely lost his road back, completely tied down by her.
Now it seemed only two roads remained. Either pull the accomplice into the partnership, or kill the accomplice to silence him.
At this moment, he deeply realised that this beautiful and gentle woman was a demon.
In resentment, he grabbed her hair again. “These two nights it was not us being sleepy at all. You did something, didn’t you?”
Lu Xingyun allowed him to abuse her, her smile still gentle. “Is there still meaning in saying this now?”
This gentle smile gave the long-faced man a bout of cold horror. He could not resist pulling her long hair and shaking her, saying fiercely, “What exactly do you want me to do?”
Lu Xingyun allowed him to shake her. After he stopped, she smiled gently and said, “No matter what methods you use, I want a structural diagram and route map of the interior of this mountain body.”
The long-faced man asked in alarm and doubt, “Our Valley of Rift Villa is not some wealthy sect either. What exactly do you want to do?”
Lu Xingyun: “You do not need to know too much. You only need to get me what I want.”
The long-faced man released her hair and sat up. He pondered for a while, then shook his head and said, “The internal structure and routes of the villa, apart from the three Villa Masters, probably no one can fully grasp. Personnel below the Villa Masters have their respective areas. Normally they rarely move around everywhere, and are not allowed to discuss those things with each other. Your request, I truly cannot accomplish.”
Lu Xingyun got up and knelt, leaning on his back, embracing him. She said gently by his ear, “Drawing what you roughly know for me is also fine. At least you should have some awareness of which direction or which area seems relatively important, right? I give you one day’s time. Tomorrow night give me all this information together. You must understand, I have patience and do not want to force you, but this does not mean others can be the same.”
The long-faced man impatiently grabbed her arm and pulled her away. Without making a sound, he jumped off the couch, quickly put on his clothes, then tiptoed to the door, gently opened it and looked left and right outside, before quickly closing the door and slipping out.
Lu Xingyun on the couch, seeing this, laughed heartily. She who normally had a gentle and dignified appearance actually laughed with great delight, laughing so hard her branches trembled, seeming to very much enjoy this feeling of playing men in the palm of her hand.
The long-faced man faintly heard the laughter inside the room, but had no heart to attend to it. Who would have thought that when passing the next door, he discovered the neighboring door was actually open. He saw Lou Yushu with arms crossed before her chest, leaning against the wall inside the door looking at him with a seemingly smiling yet not smiling expression, immediately causing his heart to feel an icy chill, and he hurried away with quick steps.
Seeing his companion returned safely, the square-faced man waiting at the end finally felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted.
When the companion arrived before him, not to mention the powder scent smelled from his body, the key point was that there were still lip marks on the companion’s face. The square-faced man’s face could not help changing greatly. Pointing at the several lip marks on his face, with a shocked appearance, “You…”
The long-faced man said somewhat guiltily, “What is it?”
The square-faced man immediately drew close to him and muttered by his ear, “Your face is covered with that woman’s lip marks. Do not say you kissed them yourself. You know clearly what good deed you have done. What are you pretending to be confused about with me!”
The long-faced man immediately became flustered, hurriedly wiping his face, and also asked the other party to help.
The square-faced man also helped in a flustered manner, and cursed in a lowered voice, “Are you crazy? Do you not know what kind of goods the Three Branch Flowers are? You cannot avoid this kind of woman fast enough, yet you actually dare to sleep with her. Are you so lustful you do not want your life? I truly never thought you were this kind of person.”
He could understand men’s fondness for beauty, but it should not be to this extent. He never thought the most impossible thing to happen would instead happen.
The long-faced man wiping his face forcefully also had waves of grief in his heart. He had not expected it either, he himself could not figure out how he had muddled into rolling naked with someone…
In the brightly lit stone chamber, First Villa Master Wu Dao faced the statue on the shrine, burning incense and worshipping.
Wu Xieshan and Wu Heyun, having finished their tasks, both arrived and also stood beneath the statue, their complexions not looking very good.
Wu Dao, having inserted the incense, turned around and asked, “Have the remains all been burned clean?”
Wu Xieshan nodded. “Mm.”
“If this continues, I am afraid we will have to burn more. Once tonight’s matter occurred, they are unwilling to leave again…”
Wu Heyun explained the situation of Ning Chaoyi and the others deciding to stay.
Wu Dao’s face instantly darkened. “That is to say, their leaving tomorrow morning is foiled again?”
Wu Heyun: “First Villa Master, have you not seen it yet? We were too naive in our thinking. They do not want to leave at all. They never came for any wine. I do not know what methods they used, but the incidents of these two days, eight or nine out of ten, were done by those fellows.”
Wu Xieshan said in a deep voice, “What exactly do they want to do?”
Wu Heyun: “Twice in a row they were discovered after crashing into dead ends, showing the other party is not familiar with the routes inside the villa. Those two places also do not have anything worth taking such great risks for. People inside who know the routes naturally would not drill into those places. Clearly, they are either probing routes or looking for something.”
Looking for something? The three Villa Masters looked at each other.
First Villa Master Wu Dao took a deep breath. “My Valley of Rift Villa is not some great wealthy household either. We do not have much money on hand. Apart from that secret we guard, probably there is nothing else worth outsiders caring so much about. Two days, two consecutive nights in my Valley of Rift Villa as if entering an uninhabited realm, wantonly killing! Second Villa Master, Third Villa Master, it seems we can no longer deceive ourselves and harbour wishful thinking. The thing we feared most has probably already arrived!”
Wu Heyun said in a deep voice, “What should we do? Directly turn hostile and drive them away?”
Wu Dao paced back and forth, the golden circlet on his head gleaming brilliantly. “They do not want to leave, and are so unbridled. Do you think you can drive them away? Rather than forcing them into the shadows, it is better to continue keeping them in the open. Since they have come knocking, then we will accompany them! Since they like sneaking about, then open the ‘White Bone Tomb’ and let them enjoy themselves.”
The Second Villa Master and Third Villa Master looked at each other.
Wu Heyun hesitated and said, “We still cannot figure out their backgrounds. People who can come for that secret are probably not simple. Rashly killing them all, I fear it will leave us with no retreat!”
Wu Dao turned around and looked up at the statue. “Those who jump out and charge in front are generally small characters. If some true god truly appears, whether to fight, make peace, or run, we can talk about it then and it will not be too late. The deaths of a few small characters probing the path decide nothing. It is not worth mentioning having no retreat. Blocking is not as good as guiding. Withdraw all the eyes before them. Let them go wherever they wish.”
Wu Xieshan and Wu Heyun pondered and nodded slightly.
“Gentlemen, brace yourselves. The wind is rising. The secret that has slept for several thousand years has awakened. The stormy waves have already arrived!”