Chapter 947: Tortured Heart

Seeing her agree, Zu An let out a sigh of relief. "Then I'll have to trouble you, Miss."

Nan Xun, who was standing nearby, also smiled. "Young Master, Miss Kong usually never gets involved in these matters. This time, she's making an exception for you."

"Nan Xun!" Kong Nanwu's voice came from inside, stopping her. Nan Xun stuck out her tongue and said no more.

Zheng Dan was a little surprised. From the way they spoke, it sounded as if the courtesan was more like a maid. But with Nan Xun's great reputation and graceful demeanor, how could she be someone's maid? She quickly dismissed the thought.

Zu An smiled. "I have no way to repay Miss Kong for this kindness. If you don't mind, I can offer myself to you." Given his shrewdness, he wouldn't be easily moved by a few simple words. Who knew if this master and servant pair were putting on a show to make him feel grateful?

Zheng Dan smiled, pressing her lips together. Having spent so much time with Zu An, they knew each other inside and out—in every sense of the word. She caught the teasing tone in his voice and naturally wasn't bothered by it.

Hearing his roguish words, the woman behind the curtain scoffed, ignoring him completely. Then she looked in Zheng Dan's direction. "I only know a little. If the other party is highly cultivated, I might not be able to help."

"Miss Kong is being too modest," Zu An said. "Just do your best; I'm not an unreasonable person."

Only then did Kong Nanwu relax. "Then let this young lady sleep here. When the evil spirit bothering her comes, I'll see if I can seize the opportunity to capture it for you."

"That might be a bit difficult..." Zu An briefly explained how he had just startled away the malevolent entity. "It probably won't dare to come back anytime soon." This was Zu An's biggest headache. It's easy to be a thief for a thousand days, but impossible to guard against one for a thousand days. Moreover, he was about to leave for Cloudfall City, and then he wouldn't be able to protect Zheng Dan. It would be troublesome if the evil spirit returned after some time.

"The Young Master knows how to dispel evil spirits?" Kong Nanwu looked shocked. Such practices were extremely unconventional, and human cultivators rarely encountered or, much less, resolved them.

"Just by chance, and I didn't even manage to capture it; it escaped." Zu An didn't want to reveal anything about the Primordial Chaos Scripture.

"This does pose a bit of a problem..." Kong Nanwu fell into contemplation, clearly thinking about how to handle it.

Hearing her say that, Zheng Dan's heart trembled, and disappointment immediately clouded her face. Zu An gently held her hand to comfort her. Nan Xun, seeing this, pouted but said nothing.

"I have a solution." At this, Kong Nanwu said nothing more. She casually found a piece of talisman paper, and her hands moved deftly, quickly weaving a small paper crane. Then she blew on it, and the paper crane seemed to come alive, floating lightly through the curtain and landing in front of Zheng Dan.

"This is..." Zheng Dan was utterly astonished, never having witnessed such a wondrous spell.

"Just a small trinket," Kong Nanwu's voice came. She clearly didn't want her demon lineage known. "It can sense the aura left by the evil spirit, and since the other party isn't particularly powerful, it should be able to lead you to the person behind it. However, I won't be able to get involved in what happens afterward. I hope Young Master will understand."

Zu An naturally understood her difficulties. "Thank you, Miss. I will certainly remember this kindness."

A light chuckle came from behind the beaded curtain. "This is much more sincere than offering yourself just now."

Zu An's face reddened. Even with his thick skin, he was momentarily at a loss for words.

Fortunately, at that moment, the flying paper crane moved. It circled Zheng Dan a few times, then flapped its wings and flew out the window in a certain direction.

"Follow it quickly, don't lose it. This aura is very faint and probably won't last for a second search," Kong Nanwu behind the beaded curtain reminded them.

"Thank you!" Zu An cupped his hands to her, then took Zheng Dan and flew out the window.

Sang Qian, who was waiting outside, heard the commotion and rushed over. Watching them leap out the window, she even forgot they were holding hands and pressed close together. "What happened?"

"I'll explain on the way. Just follow that paper crane for now," Zu An said, pointing at the paper crane ahead. Actually, by now he had seen clearly that it wasn't a paper crane at all, but a paper peacock. He wondered how Kong Nanwu's hands were so clever to weave such an exquisite item in the blink of an eye.

Seeing the paper peacock flapping its wings, Sang Qian's beautiful eyes widened, and her red lips parted wide enough to fit an egg.

"Don't just stand there gaping," Zu An said, grabbing her hand and quickly following the paper peacock.

"You can let go of me now." After a moment, Sang Qian finally snapped back to reality. Feeling the warmth on her wrist, she felt completely uncomfortable. With both her and her sister-in-law being held by him, one in each hand, she wondered what observant people might think.

Zu An, naturally, wasn't interested in taking advantage of her. He simply took the opportunity to explain what had just happened inside.

"Who is this Miss Kong? She has such incredible abilities," Sang Qian said, utterly shocked. Zheng Dan also looked at him curiously.

"She doesn't want her background known, so please forgive me, I can't tell you," Zu An stated frankly.

"Fine, don't tell us," Sang Qian snorted. "But it seems you have quite a close relationship with her. She doesn't want her identity known, yet she doesn't mind telling you, tsk tsk tsk." As she spoke, she secretly glanced at Zheng Dan. She didn't mind fanning the flames a bit to sow discord between them. After all, Zheng Dan was her sister-in-law. Although she generally knew her father's intentions, the thought of her sister-in-law getting involved with someone else so soon after her brother's death still bothered her.

Zheng Dan smiled slightly. "We owe a lot to Miss Kong today. She'll have saved my life, and I'll have to thank her properly afterward."

Seeing that her attempt to sow discord failed, Sang Qian felt frustrated and lost the inclination to speak further.

Soon, the trio followed the paper peacock to the outer city. This was quite normal, as the inner city housed many officials and nobles, which also meant many powerful experts. Things that lurked in the shadows naturally had to keep their distance.

The paper peacock flew all the way to a secluded street, circled for a while near a dilapidated courtyard, and finally landed on the ground, seemingly having exhausted its magic.

"This house seems uninhabited," Sang Qian said, staring at the dilapidated gate.

Just then, an elderly woman passing by saw the three loitering at the entrance and quickly lowered her voice to warn them. "Are you here to buy a house? I advise you not to buy this one; it's haunted."

Sang Qian quickly inquired and learned from the woman that the previous owner's family members had all died unnatural deaths one after another. The courtyard was eventually inherited by a distant nephew who dared not live there and so commissioned a real estate agent to sell it. However, after several owners, various misfortunes befell them, and each one quickly disposed of the property. Gradually, rumors spread among the locals that the courtyard was haunted.

Zu An couldn't help but chuckle. It seemed that no matter the time or place, there were always such well-meaning, gossipy elderly women. Sang Qian wanted to ask more, but the woman, looking worried about getting into trouble, hurried away.

Zu An smiled. "Haunted is right. It seems this is indeed the place we're looking for."

"Are there really ghosts?" Sang Qian's face turned a little pale. Initially, she had been somewhat annoyed by Zu An's physical contact, but now she instinctively moved closer to him.

"You're a cultivator yourself, and quite skilled too. Why are you afraid of these things?" Zu An found it amusing.

"It's different!" Sang Qian glared at him angrily. "This guy is so annoying, still making fun of me at a time like this."

"Let's go inside and see." The main gate was locked, so Zu An simply took Zheng Dan and flew over the wall. Sang Qian stamped her foot, hesitated for a moment, then followed them.

Inside, the place was extremely dilapidated, with dry branches and dead leaves everywhere, along with some decaying furniture. There was only one main house and a few empty side rooms, indicating that the original owner of the residence was not very wealthy.

"There doesn't seem to be any trace of people." After entering, Sang Qian didn't dare to investigate personally. Instead, she first scanned the surroundings with her qi. She was, after all, a Fifth-Grade cultivator; unless the person hidden inside was far more powerful than her, it would be difficult to escape her senses.

With this reassurance, her courage immediately grew. To save face after being startled, she ran to open the doors of several rooms, confirming that there was indeed nothing inside.

"Your friend isn't very reliable, is she? There's clearly nothing here," Sang Qian said, trying to regain the dignity she had just lost.

"Have you checked that well?" Zu An pointed to a dry well not far away.

"What could be in a well? Is someone living at the bottom?" Sang Qian said, wanting to prove herself, and leaned over the well opening to look. Unfortunately, it was pitch black below, and she couldn't see anything. Her heart began to pound nervously. Just as she was about to step back, countless long strands of hair suddenly shot out from the well, completely enveloping her head and face and pulling her downwards.

"Aah!" A blood-curdling scream echoed through the courtyard.