Chapter 141: Price (Double Update)

明明周围的门窗紧闭，这一瞬，顾云真却觉得外面的寒风似刀子般刮在了她脸上。
她感觉脚底隐隐地升起一股寒气。
Murong Lady, Murong Yong, Murong Grand Lady, Murong Hui, Liu Muyu and other faces flashed in front of her eyes, filled with doubts and speculating on the various possibilities behind them.
At once, she couldn't help but think of those plays and storybooks she had read in the past, such as "White Moonlight," "Red Birthmark," "Unexpected Changes at Home," "Deeply Rooted Affections," "Powerless," "Stand-in," and so on. These keywords filled her thoughts.
"Stand-in." Gu Yunzhen murmured to herself, as if talking to herself, and also as if asking Gu Yanfei, "Am I a stand-in?"
After speaking out, she felt that her speculation was somewhat absurd. She had only heard of people looking for stand-ins who looked similar in appearance, but she had never seen anyone looking for a stand-in with the same birthdate.
"Indeed a 'stand-in', but," Gu Yanfei sneered, pulling the corner of her mouth, "Miss Liu should be the stand-in for the elder sister."
The slightly raised end of her words revealed a hint of mysterious meaning.
Based on the clues from the previous life, there is a 90% chance that Gu Yanfei believes Liu Muyu is a substitute for Gu Yunzhen.
"..." Gu Yunzhen is completely puzzled and cannot comprehend the meaning behind Gu Yanfei's words.
Gu Yanfei continued to read the second piece of silk paper in the Flying Pigeon Book, which was about the matters concerning Master Shangqing.
Master Shangqing entered the Dao at the age of twenty and joined the Wuliang Temple, becoming the first disciple under the tutelage of Master Tiangang. It has been over twenty years since then.
It is rumored that he is like the legendary Tian Gang real person, born with Dao bones and extraordinary intelligence. He is particularly skilled in talismans, alchemy, and feng shui. After joining the sect, he achieved great success in Daoism within a few years. In the past seven or eight years, he has displayed many supernatural powers.
For example, he once saw at a glance that someone had tampered with the cemetery of General Feng's ancestral tomb.
For example, he used a method to bring the Second Miss of Marquis Changning back to consciousness after five years of dementia.
For example, using just a talisman, he brought back to life the Seventh Son of Prince An, who had been stabbed and had his intestines pierced.
There are countless miracles like this, which brought fame to Shang Qingzhen as the "living immortal".
After Gu Yanfei finished reading, he handed both pieces of silk paper to Gu Yunzhen.
Gu Yunzhen also looked carefully and raised her eyebrows in surprise when she saw that the second page was about Shangqing Zhenren.
Gu Yanfei thoughtfully touched the indentation below her lip with her index finger, and once again the image of the old lady lying on the bed in the Murong family came to her mind, surrounded by a strong deathly aura that tightly bound her.
"Once, I heard a story..."
As soon as Gu Yanfei began, Gu Yunzhen looked up from the silk paper, looking at her in confusion.
This is actually something that Gu Yanfei witnessed with her own eyes in the mortal town when she was in the Yao Ling realm.
在一个小城镇里，有一个书生偶然救了乡绅人家的姑娘，那姑娘因为救命之恩，以身相许，嫁与了那书生。
可是，妻子体弱，婚后不到两年，就病故了。
A scholar accidentally finds an evil book and, in order to resurrect his wife, uses dark magic to lock her soul in her skull, which he then buries in the ground. He pours fresh blood on it every day, starting with mice, then chickens, then cows... The amount of blood required increases every day until human blood is needed for irrigation.
For this, the scholar did not hesitate to kill one person after another.
Bit by bit, flesh and skin grew on the bones of his wife, like seeds rooting and sprouting in the ground. However, her body no longer had any warmth, her limbs were stiff, and she couldn't stand the light.
My wife doesn't want to be resurrected, let alone become this half-human half-ghost creature.
But the scholar still insists on doing it, he can't let his wife die.
Because the scholar's family was originally in decline, if it wasn't for his wealthy in-laws, he would have had nothing and relied on the in-laws to make a comeback.
Once his wife died, without the support from her family, the scholar would become destitute again.
Gu Yanfei suddenly stopped here, with deep eyes.
Gu Yun's heart fluctuated with the story. At first, she was moved by the scholar's "deep affection", but later she struggled with his act of killing several people to save one. Hearing this, she began to dislike the scholar's selfishness and ruthlessness.
"What happened next?" Gu Yunzhen asked, feeling that the wife in this story was too pitiful.
And then...
Gu Yanfei blinked, as if he had returned to the memories of a hundred years ago.
Later, the wife completely "resurrected" with a physical body, except that her blood was black. She became a mindless monster and killed all the people in a city.
Back then, Gu Yanfei descended the mountain on the orders of her master, to eradicate evil.
She witnessed a scene of hell on earth, where a wife was covered in human blood from head to toe, blood in her mouth, blood in her hands, and bits of flesh between her fingers. Yet, she was crying, with two black tears streaming down her face, begging Gu Yanfei, "Kill me!"
Gu Yanfei blinked her eyelashes lightly, but in the end, she did not say this part. She just casually described, "Later on, that scholar was killed by his own wife, and the wife also died."
"Any sorcery comes with a cost."
As Gu Yanfei spoke, he reached into his sleeve and took out a handkerchief, handing it to Gu Yunzhen.
"..." Gu Yunzhen's eyes slightly widened, the corners turning red.
她还沉浸在顾燕飞的故事中难以自拔，感觉心口空荡荡的。
烛火细微地跳跃了两下，一滴透明的烛油流淌下来，仿佛一行清泪，在烛火照耀下，晶莹透亮。
"Coo coo."
The pigeon cooed softly, and the two sisters looked in the direction of the sound. They saw a three-colored cat staring intently at the pigeon, who innocently flapped its wings.
Gu Yanfei grabbed the three-colored cat, touched its pink nose, and scolded, "You, stop always bullying Gugu. Gugu is much more sensible and capable than you."
Gugu is the name that Juan Bi gave to the carrier pigeon.
"Meow!" The cat, hearing its majestic spiritual beast being compared to a mere pigeon, almost jumped with anger, raised its butt and showed off by sharpening its claws twice.
Gu Yanfei continued to talk to the cat seriously: "You, always eat and sleep, do you know this will make you stupid?"
"Look at you, already as round as a ball, be careful not to jump high or far!"
Gu Yunzhen laughed at the sight of this person and cat, covering her mouth with a "puff" and all her worries disappeared.
Seeing her finally smile, Gu Yanfei curved his lips and his eyes sparkled.
"Meow~" The cat approached and affectionately rubbed against Gu Yanfei's skirt, playfully acting cute around her. Its miaow was both soft and sweet, implying that it was the most adorable, capable, and obedient.
"Okay, stop acting cute, go and work obediently!" Gu Yanfei lowered his head and whispered a few words in the cat's ear, then gently patted its buttocks, urging it to hurry.
It is the most powerful one! With its tail held high, the cat glanced at the white pigeon not far away, and walked out of the temple gracefully in its elegant cat steps.
The winter sky darkens quickly, and the night falls. The Hou Mansion is desolate and empty, filled with silence and cold.
Tonight, the moon is bright but the stars are few. The pure moonlight gently spills over the courtyard.
The cat walked arrogantly in the mansion, leaped lightly onto the tree, and jumped over the fence. It stepped on the tiles on the roofs of other houses, taking a shortcut to the north of the city.
It is heading to Murong Mansion.
The night belongs to cats, and Qingguang doesn't recognize the Murong family, but other cats do, even leading the way for it.
The calico cat arrived at the Anding Alley where the Murong Mansion is located with only the time it takes to burn one incense stick.
It's really amazing, faster than a horse!
Qingguang proudly licked his nose, then licked his paws.
The cat squatted on the high wall, looking down from above at the gloomy mansion below, tilting its head for a while, and finally remembered.
Alright, the master said that the old lady's yard is in that direction!
The cat happily meowed again and leaped towards the northwest direction of Murong Mansion...
It once again demonstrated its ability to climb walls, climb trees, and even remove roof tiles. In just a few moments, it found the old pine tree that Gu Yanfei mentioned, which had withered, and the pond that had dried up. It swiftly climbed up the tree closest to the window.
This time, it made quite a commotion, shaking a tree branch with a "rustling" sound.
Fallen leaves were drifting down from the branches one by one.
A three-colored cat occupied a high position and glanced into the window, seeing an old woman lying on the bed by the wall, and a couple in their forties sitting by the coffee table, talking.
The indoor only lit a lamp in the shape of a goat's horn, casting a slightly dim and gloomy light, which added to the oppressive atmosphere.
The cat outside simply lay on a tree branch and didn't move.
The couple naturally heard the sound outside the window, but they thought it was just the wind blowing hard at night. Madam Murong glanced in the direction of the window and immediately looked away.
"Master, Gu Family has agreed to the wedding celebration. According to Shang Qing's suggestion, I have set the wedding date on New Year's Eve," Lady Murong said happily to her husband.
"Very good!"Master Murong Hao stroked his goatee and expressed his satisfaction, repeatedly saying good. Then, with a slight hint of displeasure, he asked, "Did Miss Yu run away today?"
Madame Murong nodded awkwardly.
Liu Muyu is her nephew's daughter, and in such a critical moment today, she cannot evade blame for causing such a misunderstanding.
Madam Murong coughed twice and cleared her throat, "I was afraid that the Marquis's Mansion would be upset, but luckily, Lady Gu is a reasonable person and did not pursue the matter."
As she spoke, the corner of her plump lips curled up with satisfaction.
After all, the two families have already exchanged betrothal gifts, and the marriage is set. With the character of the second son, even if the Gu family searches with a lantern, they won't find such a good son-in-law!
Murong Haosong let out a sigh of relief and didn't dwell on it any further. He only reminded, "Madam, since this marriage will not have any unexpected changes, then go ahead and marry off the girl."
"Don't worry, Master." Lady Murong responded earnestly and quickly changed the topic, "Master Shangqing will come tomorrow and accompany me to the Marquis's mansion."
"I'll feel relieved with the presence of Master." Murong Hao stroked his beard again.
The rustling sound outside the window came again, and the swaying branches left several eerie shadows on the paper, as if something was lurking in the darkness, peering at them.
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