Chapter 39: Chapter 39: Choose the Lesser of Two Evils
After Steward Liu finished delivering his message, he left, and Su Tingting, back in her room, was still in a daze. According to Steward Liu, she was required to dress in Xi Yao’s old costume that evening, complete with headgear and makeup, and after dressing up, she was supposed to stand on stage and mimic Xi Yao’s singing performance.
"By doing so, you can summon Xi Yao’s soul to possess your body," he said. But... but by doing this, would she have any way out?
"Kuang, Mr. Chu, please think of something fast!" Su Tingting was on the verge of crying, now only these two men could save her.
Yang Xiao signaled Su Tingting to sit down, then earnestly advised her, "Miss Su, I know you’re anxious, but don’t panic just yet. Think about it from another perspective, this might not be a bad thing."
Su Tingting stared at him doubtfully; she had already experienced how convincing Yang Xiao’s acting was and now she didn’t believe a punctuation mark of what he said.
Seeing that Yang Xiao alone couldn’t persuade her, Kuang Hongyi joined the fray, "Miss Su, Chu is right. Think about it—if you don’t perform the opera, what else might you be asked to do?"
Yang Xiao shrugged his shoulders and mimed the action of diving underwater to search for something. The next second, Su Tingting shuddered with fright.
"They... they will make me retrieve a corpse!"
"Not retrieve." Yang Xiao corrected. "It’s more about closing Xi Yao’s eyes that couldn’t see in death. Ah, I’m telling you, that body has been soaking in water for 10 years. Tsk tsk... It must have decomposed by now; it’s even questionable whether the eyes can be found."
Horrible memories uncontrollably surged through her mind, Su Tingting remembered the ghost she saw reflected in the lake, bloated and decaying, and the moment that ghostly face turned to look at her, her heartbeat had stopped.
Caught between two evils, she had to choose the lesser; if she had to choose between performing opera and diving underwater, then singing was the better option.
Seeing that Su Tingting had resigned herself to her fate, Yang Xiao and Kuang Hongyi finally breathed a sigh of relief. After all, they acted as a team, and if Su Tingting refused to perform, then all three of them would have to dive in search of the corpse—no, that’s incorrect, it was to close Xi Yao’s eyes.
However, Su Tingting couldn’t possibly disagree. Yang Xiao had at least five ways to persuade her—gentle methods, tough methods, and if those failed, there was always Kuang Hongyi with a candlestick in hand.
Having pacified Su Tingting, Kuang Hongyi and Yang Xiao huddled together to ponder the clues they had obtained from Master Feng, "Chu, did you notice? When we mentioned the unborn child of the Young Lady, Master Feng’s reaction was very strange."
"Indeed, something was off." Recalling that moment, doubt appeared on Yang Xiao’s face, "Master Feng seemed quite certain it’d be a boy, and he quickly wrapped up the conversation using his health as an excuse when he sensed we would keep asking."
Kuang Hongyi poured a cup of tea for Yang Xiao and one for himself, then slowly clenched his cup. "It seems the waters run deep with the Feng Family. Master Feng still has secrets he’s hiding from us."
At this point, Yang Xiao found it hard to imagine just how many shameful things the Feng Family had done, given that there were still secrets they were not privy to.
As for Steward Liu’s claims that everything was arranged by Old Master Feng and that they could not be persuaded otherwise, those were just empty words. Old Master Feng had died before any of this began, and Xi Yao was still well and alive. If there had truly been a will to prevent it, none of these events would have occurred.
The supposedly serendipitously found ancient scroll? Yang Xiao suspected that this sorcery was something Master Feng had gone to great lengths to find, and it was possible Old Master Feng never knew about it at all. His body was merely a tool for Master Feng’s schemes.
Three ancient sayings have been passed down, and now the sources of the last two phrases have been determined, only the first, "daughters of distinguished families should not marry outsiders," still lacks any clue.
Yang Xiao and Kuang Hongyi proposed many assumptions, but none fit perfectly; so, the two simply stopped guessing haphazardly and took turns resting before nighttime arrived.
Originally, today’s plan was to leave the residence to gather clues. Yang Xiao still had the address of Uncle-in-Law Lord, and they intended to visit the theater where the Bai Family Troupe had previously performed. However, with the Third Young Master’s body still floating on the lake’s surface, and the eerie weather so unsettling, Steward Liu naturally refused to let them leave.
The sky outside had become even more overcast, the rain still falling, and the dark clouds pressing lower, creating a pre-apocalyptic scene, as though something terrifying was about to happen before long.
The sinister magic employed by the Feng Family was completely off-kilter. In what was supposed to be a fortunate year, they had suffered consecutive losses of family members. According to Steward Liu, the business had also taken a nosedive; as for where the problem lied, Yang Xiao didn’t know.
In another room, Shi Guanming gently closed the window and turned around, his face etched with a trace of panic, "Shi, the sky outside is getting more frightening."
Shi Dali sat at the table, his eyebrows slightly furrowed, "The thing in the lake is about to become a vengeful ghost. Its resentment is so strong that it’s even summoning waterlogged corpses."
"Then... what do we do tonight?" Shi Guanming was genuinely frightened, his muscles cramping at the mere thought of that image, "Could it really be that we have to go into the water to close the eyes of the female ghost?"
Shi Dali glanced at him with some annoyance, "What else? Do you think Kuang Hongyi and the others would do it for us? Do you think they’re that kindhearted?"
"No, I mean isn’t it still up to Su Tingting? To have her dress up as a ghost and perform a play, she’s too timid to dare go," he reasoned.
"She’s too scared to perform a ghost play, so you think she’d dare to go underwater to find a corpse?" Shi Dali couldn’t understand Shi Guanming’s train of thought. If it weren’t for the fact that he still needed him, he would have thrown him out long ago. After a moment, Shi Dali calmed down his irritation, softening his attitude significantly.
"Brother Shi, think about it. Given the characters of Kuang Hongyi and Chu Xi, even if Su Tingting doesn’t go, they have plenty of ways to force her to. By the way, be careful with that Chu Xi. He’s definitely not a newcomer but an old player in disguise, aiming to make the others drop their guard."
After a pause, Shi Dali lowered his voice, adding a note of warning, "I suspect Kuang Hongyi and Chu Xi are in cahoots. They knew each other before they came here, working together, one in the open and one in secret. Xu Su fell victim to the two of them."
"They’re cut from the same cloth as Ke Long, and I’m afraid... I’m afraid they will make a move on us soon."
Hearing this, Shi Guanming grew even more anxious, "What should we do then? And, Shi, how did you figure it all out?"
Shi Dali sneered inwardly; Shi Guanming wasn’t completely foolish, but Shi Dali had already prepared an explanation. A simple lie wouldn’t deceive anyone; it’s the mixture of nine truths and one falsehood that’s truly undetectable, "Brother Shi, think back carefully. Didn’t Kuang Hongyi ask Master Feng if he had any daughters?"
"Yes, that’s right," Shi Guanming agreed, not understanding yet.
"And then, what did Chu Xi say? He joked that Master Feng was a ladies’ man, perhaps having children outside that Steward Liu didn’t know about," Shi Dali said with a secretive smile, "To dare make such an untimely joke at the risk of offending Steward Liu, don’t you find that strange?"
