Dongfang Xiao glared at Zhong Shengwan discontentedly. "Rather than feeling melancholy and belittling yourself here, you should pull yourself together and think about how to summon Yuan Yuan. Solving this deadlock once and for all and helping him to be reborn in peace is the most important thing!" He pointed around and sighed. "Look at your room. The yin energy is so thick that it can almost be wrung out. It's only because you have some foundation to hold on. If it were someone else, they would have been exhausted by the resentment long ago!"
Pei Yu also put down his teacup, glanced at him, and still said in a calm tone, "Since we know the root cause, we should just try to solve it."
Zhong Shengwan stared blankly at the three people in front of him. The chill in his chest was dispelled a bit by this unexpected response.
It turned out that those who were willing to stay and face the difficulties with him and seek a solution after knowing all his embarrassments and mistakes were friends...
After Zhong Shengwan calmed down a bit, the group sat around and discussed countermeasures.
Zhong Shengwan's spiritual power was not weak. Since all the methods he had tried to summon spirits had ended in failure, it meant that Yuan Yuan was resistant and deliberately hiding.
Naturally, Shen Cuiyu didn't need to repeat these ineffective methods.
Pei Yu pondered for a moment. Although he was not from an orthodox sect of the mysterious arts, he had always been very perceptive. After being influenced in the academy for some time, he also had a basic understanding of the mysterious arts.
"Yuan Yuan was ill for a long time. His obsession may not be just Zhong Shengwan alone." He looked at Zhong Shengwan. "Can we try to find his parents and start from there?"
Zhong Shengwan was stunned for a moment and his expression darkened. "The year after Yuan Yuan passed away, his parents had another son. The child was very healthy and lively, and the couple loved him very much. Maybe they thought Xunyang was a place of sadness, so they had moved their whole family away. No one knows where they are now..."
As he said this, Zhong Shengwan began to feel sad for his former close friend again.
Shen Cuiyu was silent.
She had quietly explored the room just now. Although the yin energy was thick and pervasive, it was evenly spread like mist, and she couldn't lock in the specific hiding place of Yuan Yuan's spiritual body at all.
Seeing that the group had discussed for a long time but still hadn't come up with a definite solution, Zhong Shengwan lowered his head dejectedly, his voice full of helplessness.
"I knew that unless he was willing to show up, there was... no solution." He had experienced too much fruitlessness in these years.
Shen Cuiyu thought for a moment, her eyes lit up slightly, and suddenly said,
"Yuan Yuan's mind is still that of a child. Maybe we can change our method and do something he likes. Just like luring a bird out of the forest, we can tempt him to come out on his own."
But what did Yuan Yuan like?
For a seven - year - old child, what he loved were nothing but the simplest games.
Dongfang Xiao scratched his head and ears. He thought this method was illusory and couldn't help laughing out loud. "What a strange method! Do we have to play house here to 'lure' that little ghost out? Ah ha ha ha ha..."
He laughed dryly a few times, but then he found that the three people in front of him were all looking at him with subtle expressions, and none of them was laughing.
Dongfang Xiao:?
Why did he have a bad feeling...
He felt creepy under their gazes and his voice trailed off. "What... what kind of looks are those..."
Shen Cuiyu was the first to come to her senses. There was a look of gratification on her face as if she was looking at a teachable child. She patted his shoulder. "Brother Dongfang is a man of great wisdom who appears slow - witted. If anyone dares to say you're simple - minded in the future, I'll be the first to refute them."
Zhong Shengwan's eyes also brightened. "Right! I remember! Little Yuan loved playing house the most before. He always shouted that he wanted to play the younger brother and asked me to play the elder brother. He even insisted on using a few scarecrows to act as father, mother, and sister... Now we are exactly four people!"
Hearing this, Dongfang Xiao subconsciously counted the number of people and hesitated. "But... we only have A Cui as a girl. It's okay for her to play the mother, but where can we find the 'elder sister'..."
A faint arc appeared on Pei Yu's lips. He raised his hand and patted Dongfang Xiao's other shoulder meaningfully.
Dongfang Xiao:?
That night, in the east wing courtyard of the Zhong Mansion.
Dongfang Xiao gasped when he saw the "woman" with makeup and a crooked hair bun in the bronze mirror, and blurted out,
"Damn it! What kind of monster is this?!"
"This is you." Pei Yu stood behind him and calmly stated the fact. He still held a silk flower in his hand that hadn't been put on yet.
Dongfang Xiao: ...
He slapped the table hard. The water - red ruqun (a traditional Chinese dress) he had barely put on almost burst at the seams. "It's okay to play house! But does it have to be so... so realistic?!"
"Be gentle with your movements," Shen Cuiyu tried hard to hold back her smile and tightened his collar for him. Her eyes were a bit evasive, not daring to look directly at the "honorable appearance" in the mirror. "Since it's bait, it naturally has to be more realistic. Otherwise, how can we convince Yuan Yuan?"
Zhong Shengwan sized Dongfang Xiao up, then closed his eyes with a strange expression and said sinisterly,
"If there really was such a 'powerful' sister in my Zhong family..."
Pei Yu glanced at Dongfang Xiao in the mirror and calmly continued, "You would sever ties with her?"
Zhong Shengwan said firmly, "I would ask to be removed from the family tree and leave home immediately."
Dongfang Xiao: ...
He looked at the "himself" with a face like a color palette and disheveled clothes in the mirror and closed his eyes in grief and indignation.
Midnight was approaching, and all was silent.
The four people sat around the pear - wood table in the room. The candle flames flickered, stretching their shadows on the wall, like a silent shadow play.
Only one seat was empty, as if waiting for a guest who would appear at any time.
In the center of the table, in a small bronze incense burner, the raw rhinoceros incense placed by Shen Cuiyu herself was slowly burning. The strange and ancient fragrance spread out, swirling and twining gently, blurring the line between reality and memory.
Zhong Shengwan took a deep breath. His Adam's apple moved slightly. When he spoke again, his voice carried a long - lost and dry tenderness as he softly sang a nursery rhyme that he and Yuan Yuan had loved the most when they played "house" back then:
"The stove is warm, and the food smells good," his voice was a bit jerky at first, as if he was touching a long - sealed treasure. "Father is coming home with the sound of horse hooves, and mother is adding rice while elder sister is busy..." The tune was simple and even a bit out of tune. It was nothing like the clear sounds of the mysterious arts, but it was full of the serious childishness of children's games. In this dead - silent night and the strange fragrance, this song was not so much a summoning as a late and clumsy invitation.
The candlelight jumped violently. Dongfang Xiao listened to Zhong Shengwan's song and felt goosebumps all over his body. He whispered,
"This... this song while playing house gives me the creeps. It's so scary..."
Pei Yu's eyes swept over the empty seat and he said in a low voice, "Get into character quickly."
Zhong Shengwan was gradually getting into the mood. He seemed to have returned many years ago. In front of him was not a cold incense burner but a "stove" drawn with branches, not the dim candlelight but the warm "home" in his imagination. His singing became smoother and even took on a bit of the exaggerated tone unique to children's games. "Little brother, don't cry. Look at the crescent moon outside the window..."
Shen Cuiyu held her breath. She could feel that the thick and cold yin energy around was no longer spreading disorderly. Instead, it was being drawn by the song full of childlike innocence and the meaning of role - playing and the fragrance of the raw rhinoceros incense. Like attracted fireflies, it was gently and gradually gathering towards the empty seat.