Just then, faint whispers came from outside the flower - hanging gate. In this deathly still illusion, they were so clear that they sent shivers down one's spine!
Pei Yu's eyebrows twitched violently. There were only him and Shen Cuiyu, two living people, in this illusion at the moment. Where did these voices come from?
The two glanced at each other and then, in tacit understanding, held their breaths and quietly approached.
The tree shadows half - concealed Shen Cuiyu and Pei Yu's figures. In front of them was an elegant study with its casement windows half - closed.
Inside the study, a middle - aged man with an extraordinary bearing and a faint air of official authority was bending over his desk, handling official business.
In front of his desk, a graceful young girl stood quietly. She was dressed in luxurious clothes and had a dignified posture, but her face was veiled by a hazy mist, making it impossible to see clearly no matter how hard one tried.
Shen Cuiyu stared at the girl for a moment and knew that she was most likely the owner of this prison of obsession.
"Father," the girl stood there for a long time and finally spoke hesitantly, her voice timid. "Why don't we move back to Yangzhou?"
"Why?" The middle - aged man didn't stop his work, but his thick eyebrows knitted together.
The girl was stunned for a moment and stammered, "Although the capital is a good place, its customs are very different from those in Yangzhou. And there are... strange people here." Her voice trembled as she seemed to instinctively glance in the direction outside the courtyard. "I'm really scared and uneasy..."
"Nonsense!" Before she could finish, the middle - aged man interrupted her impatiently. "My official career has just started, and I've finally managed to move the entire Feng family to the capital. Feng Chuman, be more obedient and don't be so willful!"
Shen Cuiyu stared at the girl with her jet - black eyes without blinking and silently remembered her name. So her name was Feng Chuman...
Feng Chuman stiffened slightly after being scolded by her father. Finally, she didn't dare to say a word and silently backed out.
The waiting maid outside quickly stepped forward and leaned close to the girl. She lowered her voice and said, "Miss, that man is here again! He stuffed a letter into the crack of the gate. Fortunately, your maid was quick - eyed..."
Hearing this, Feng Chuman was like a thunderbolt had struck her. She almost stumbled as she fled the courtyard!
Shen Cuiyu looked thoughtfully in the direction of the gate. She wondered if it was just her imagination, but there seemed to be something moving in the narrow shadow of the door.
Shen Cuiyu was about to step forward to take a look when the maid not far away suddenly stopped in her tracks and sharply turned around. Her paper - pale face had a strange expression. Her limbs moved hesitantly, but her black eyes darted back and forth quickly. She looked extremely evil.
"Who's there?!"
Shen Cuiyu:...
In this entire illusion, except for Feng Chuman herself, everyone else was just a shadow of her pre - death memories. They had no self - awareness and couldn't communicate. Once they sensed any foreign aura, they would chase after it desperately, never giving up!
Shen Cuiyu was best at communicating with ghosts, but confronting these mindless things in the illusion head - on was not her forte!
So before the maid could approach with her stiff steps, Shen Cuiyu decisively grabbed Pei Yu's hand and left the study!
The two walked along another path on the west side until a pungent smell of burning paper suddenly filled their nostrils, making their eyes water.
This was a side - courtyard wing room.
The person in front of them was still Feng Chuman, but her figure seemed even thinner and more vulnerable than when she was in the study.
She sat alone on the cold stone steps. In front of her, the brazier was burning brightly, crackling. The dancing flames almost licked her black hair, but Feng Chuman didn't dodge at all. She just mechanically threw the thick stack of letters in her hand into the fire.
Shen Cuiyu squinted her eyes and carefully tried to make out Feng Chuman's murmured words.
"Burn them... burn them all..." Her voice was hollow and numb. "Burn them clean, and it will be peaceful... If I burn them, he won't haunt me anymore!"
Amidst the flying ashes, a gust of cold wind swirled by, picking up a half - burned letter and flying it right in Shen Cuiyu's direction.
She slightly reached out her hand and caught the letter. Her eyes quickly scanned the words on it.
"There is a beauty, whose sight I'll never forget. If I don't see her for a day, I'll yearn for her like crazy?" Shen Cuiyu frowned. "Is this a love poem?"
The signature of the letter had been burned off, but Shen Cuiyu wasn't in a hurry. She whispered a few words, and suddenly, a gust of wind rose out of nowhere in the courtyard!
The wind seemed to have a target. It circled around Feng Chuman. While she was concentrating on burning the letters, she wasn't careful, and most of the letters in her hand were blown away. Some even flew to the front courtyard!
"Ah!" Feng Chuman let out a terrified scream and quickly got up to chase after the flying letters.
Shen Cuiyu was quick - eyed and quickly picked up two intact letters that hadn't been burned yet. She and Pei Yu quickly opened them to read.
After opening them, they found that all these letters were love poems, with straightforward and explicit content. But the signatures of each letter were different, as if they were letters exchanged between lovers.
"The signature of this letter is 'Liu Junjie'," Pei Yu pointed to a passionate letter and said. "But the signature of this one is 'Feng Chuman'." He looked down at Shen Cuiyu, lost in thought. "If they were really in love, these letters should be treasures. Why did she burn them all? And what did she mean by 'haunt her'?"
Feng Chuman's terrified appearance showed no trace of affection at all.
Shen Cuiyu took the two letters and examined them. After a moment, her delicate eyebrows knitted slightly.
"No, the handwriting of these two letters... seems to be from the same person." She took out the letter signed by Feng Chuman and said in a low voice, "Although this one tries hard to imitate a woman's handwriting and change the font, the pauses and strength at the end of some characters are exactly the same as those in the letter written by Liu Junjie!"
Pei Yu slightly raised his eyebrows. "So it was one person playing two roles and writing love letters to himself."
As soon as these words were spoken, the entire old mansion seemed to shake slightly and then quickly returned to normal.
Just then, Feng Chuman came back dejectedly. She slumped down on the steps and began to count the letters in her hand. After just one count, her body suddenly froze!
"Missing... two letters are missing?" Her voice suddenly rose, and she shrieked with a sob. "Who?! Who took them?! Don't read them! Give them back to me... give them back to me!!"
Shen Cuiyu thought it was bad. Feng Chuman's appearance clearly indicated that she was about to explode!
The girl on the steps shrieked continuously and piercingly. She was no longer the gentle girl she had been before. Instead, she looked like a vengeful ghost full of resentment! Her originally illusory face suddenly became real and turned in the direction of Shen Cuiyu and Pei Yu!
The next moment, she suddenly got on all fours and, with a strong smell of blood, almost crawled towards Shen Cuiyu and Pei Yu!
"Run!" Shen Cuiyu suddenly threw out a bright yellow talisman, grabbed Pei Yu's wrist, and turned to run out of the courtyard!
The talisman temporarily slowed down Feng Chuman's speed, but she still roared and chased after them relentlessly!