"Master Shen... my father... how is he doing?"
Faced with the young man's sudden and puzzling inquiry, the maidservant's expression remained normal.
As if the "Third Young Master" walking beside her should naturally be asking about the master's daily life.
"The master is naturally deeply grieved. Since that incident happened, the master has never set foot in the Rear Courtyard again. Every time he passes by that well, he takes a detour, and even..."
The maidservant's voice paused briefly.
"The master even had someone seal that well, using a very heavy bluestone slab, pressing it down tightly. He also had characters carved on it and talisman papers pasted over it, saying... saying he was afraid the Sixth Young Master wouldn't find peace."
Sealing the well, carving characters, pasting talisman papers...
Xu Xi couldn't help but think of the ancient well in the garden that meant instant death upon touching it.
Only, the well in the garden sealed the Shen family's "debt."
And the well here sealed that Sixth Young Master.
So... is the Shen family's "debt" related to that Sixth Young Master?
Moreover, he had originally thought the maidservant's plain white clothes were because Master Shen's funeral was being held, and the entire manor was in mourning.
But judging by her tone, Master Shen was clearly still alive at this moment. So, who was she wearing white for?
Or rather, someone had already died in this manor long before Master Shen's sudden death.
The current timeline of this scene is precisely the point after that Sixth Young Master "drowned," before the funeral matters were completely concluded.
Xu Xi's gaze once again fell on the little yellow dog ahead, leading them toward the garden.
Seeing the "Third Young Master" staring intently at Xue Ke, the maidservant, thinking the young man was interested in it, explained, "Speaking of which, the name Xue Ke was given by the Sixth Young Master."
"It was winter back then. The Sixth Young Master went with the Seventh Concubine to the temple to offer incense. On the way back to the manor, they encountered Xue Ke on the roadside, freezing and barely alive. He begged the Seventh Concubine to bring it back."
"The Sixth Young Master believed that meeting it during a heavy snowfall was fate, that it was a guest from the snow, hence he named it Xue Ke."
Xu Xi nodded. He was more concerned about the Seventh Concubine mentioned by the maidservant.
After thinking for a moment, he first asked, "How is the Seventh Concubine now?"
The maidservant's expression darkened slightly. "The Seventh Concubine... she has been shutting herself in her room these past few days, rarely seeing anyone."
"After the Sixth Young Master passed, her health hasn't been good. The master invited several physicians to see her. They all said it was excessive grief and melancholy, that she needs proper rest and recuperation."
As she spoke, her footsteps slowed, and her voice lowered a little.
"Actually, we all know in our hearts that the Seventh Concubine is just suffering inside. The Sixth Young Master was her only child, and to just... be gone like that, who could bear it?"
Xu Xi did not respond.
Even this seemingly normal Shen Residence still exuded a peculiar strangeness.
Although the maidservant was initially surprised by his appearance, she quickly accepted the identity of "Third Young Master" without any further questioning.
Yet in her descriptions, the figures of him and the others had never appeared.
But another issue was more important now.
He casually brought it up, but it was actually a probe. "I heard that the Seventh Concubine tried to scratch out the Sixth... brother's name from the clan genealogy?"
The maidservant's reaction took him by surprise.
"Third Young Master, how did you know?" The maidservant was clearly startled for a moment, then lowered her voice, her tone quite urgent. "Third Young Master, did the Seventh Concubine seek your help? You must not agree!"
The maidservant also knew the Shen family's rules.
The Seventh Concubine couldn't access the Shen family's clan genealogy and could only seek help from other Shen family bloodlines.
Only...
"Why?"
After a moment of silence, the maidservant spoke softly, "Since the Sixth Young Master left, the Seventh Concubine hasn't just been in poor health; her mental state... has also developed some problems."
"The Seventh Concubine got a method from somewhere, saying that as long as someone scratches out the Sixth Young Master's name from the clan genealogy, that person can go to the underworld in place of the Sixth Young Master, and the Sixth Young Master... can return to the world of the living."
Hearing this, Xu Xi was slightly taken aback. Then he heard the maidservant warn him again, "So if the Seventh Concubine asks for your help, don't agree."
"Never mind whether this method works or not, the master alone wouldn't let anyone act recklessly."
Xu Xi lowered his head in thought for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Did the Seventh Concubine say how to scratch it out?"
Seeing the maidservant's eyes widen, he immediately added, "I'm just asking."
The maidservant relaxed and, after recalling, said, "The master has an extremely precious writing brush, which he never parts with in daily life. It's said to have been passed down from the old master. The characters written with it carry a strange fragrance that lingers for a long time."
"The Seventh Concubine said only with that brush can a name be scratched out from the clan genealogy."
The clues seem to be connecting, Xu Xi thought.
He still remembered seeing Master Shen in the coffin holding a broken writing brush in his left hand, its tip stained with dark red ink traces.
"Do you know where the clan genealogy is kept?"
The maidservant shook her head. "This servant wouldn't know. Such a valuable item, how could we lowly servants inquire about it?"
Xu Xi wasn't disappointed.
After all, he had gained quite a bit of information on this trip.
Seeing that the maidservant would answer whatever he asked, he continued his questions, this time more bluntly. "Has our family ever owed any debts?"
"Debts? This... this servant doesn't know."
"What about the steward? Are you familiar with him?"
"The steward has always been by the master's side. This servant often stays in the Rear Courtyard and is not familiar with him."
He asked a few more minor questions one after another. The maidservant's answers were either "don't know" or "not aware."
Seeing this, Xu Xi understood that no more information could be extracted from this maidservant.
Coincidentally, they had already arrived in the garden.
The little yellow dog eagerly rushed to the side of the well, barking directly at the ancient well, even starting to tear at the talisman papers on its edges.
Seeing this, the maidservant hurried over to stop it.
Xu Xi frowned, watching this scene thoughtfully.
Two seconds later, he strode forward and, under the maidservant's horrified gaze, tore off the talisman papers and lifted the heavy bluestone slab.
The next moment.
"Woof."
Under the maidservant's urgent cries, the little yellow dog jumped straight into the well.
Xu Xi walked to the well opening and looked inside. The well water was pitch black like ink, bottomless.
The little yellow dog's four paws paddled desperately. Its furry head occasionally surfaced, only to be swallowed by the darkness again quickly.
It was diving down.
However, before long, a dizzying sensation of the world spinning suddenly assaulted him.
In the last moment before his vision twisted, he saw the little yellow dog thrust its head out of the well water, holding a soaked booklet in its mouth.
*
When his vision cleared again, Xu Xi found himself standing at the door of the side room.
The surrounding, thick, ink-like darkness immediately encroached upon him.
He was all too familiar with this feeling. Just as he was about to retreat back into the room, suddenly, an ear-splitting, thunderous explosion erupted from the direction of the ancestral temple.
