Inside the room, An Peng, who had been fully conscious just a moment ago, now lay stiffly on the ground like a puppet with its strings cut!
Her face was purplish-red, as if it had turned into liver. Her eyes bulged out horribly, unfocused and glazed, staring blankly at the ceiling beams. The veins on her hands stood out, and she clawed wildly at the air, as if fighting an invisible enemy!
Moreover, intermittent and painful grunts kept coming from her throat, as if an invisible hand had tightly grasped her throat, preventing her from breathing in or out!
Zhang Yushu was so frightened by this scene that he froze on the spot. He instinctively reached out to cover Xiaoxiao's eyes, only to realize belatedly that Xiaoxiao was already asleep.
A surge of grief welled up in him, but he subconsciously let out a sigh of relief. Such a terrifying scene was enough to strike fear into an adult's heart. He didn't even dare to imagine the shadow it would leave in Xiaoxiao's heart if she had seen it...
Shen Cui's jade eyes flashed with a cold light. Reacting extremely quickly, she sent a bright yellow exorcism talisman whistling through the air without hesitation, shooting straight at a spot diagonally above An Peng's neck.
Although others couldn't see it, Shen Cui clearly felt that a thick, invisible resentment was gathering there!
"Zi zi—!"
The moment the talisman paper touched the void, it made a sharp sound as if a hot iron had been plunged into water, and a pungent, burnt stench suddenly filled the air.
Almost at the same time, a cold wind howled through the room, and all the doors and windows were suddenly blown wide open by a powerful force!
A vague black shadow, moving at a speed too fast for the naked eye to catch, let out a shrill scream that almost pierced the eardrums. It detached from An Peng's body and darted out of the window, disappearing in an instant!
At the same time, An Peng rolled her eyes and fainted completely!
The incident happened so suddenly that the Yellow-rank disciples, who finally came to their senses, were all covered in cold sweat. They immediately stepped forward to help the unconscious An Peng up.
Dongfang Xiao turned to look at the remaining setting sun. His expression was unusually solemn. "The sun hasn't even set yet, and this evil spirit dares to come out and harm people. How vicious it must be..."
The disciples finally understood why the academy master had sent Shen Cui's group to go with them. This case was clearly much more difficult than they had imagined!
Zhong Sheng stepped forward to feel An Peng's pulse. He found her pulse weak and erratic, indicating that she had suffered a great loss of vitality and was extremely frightened.
Silently, he channeled a wisp of gentle spiritual energy into her. An Peng, who had been stiff on the bed, suddenly gasped for air and slowly regained consciousness.
However, the dark purple strangulation marks on her fair neck looked extremely hideous!
"Xiao Peng!" Zhang Yushu rushed to the bedside, his voice choked with sobs. He almost pleaded, "Why on earth are you so determined not to let the Celestial Masters intervene? For my sake, for Xiaoxiao's sake, can't you just listen to me this once? If anything happens to you, what am I supposed to do..."
Perhaps it was because she had just come back from the brink of death and truly experienced the despair of the dying; or perhaps it was her husband's heartfelt plea that touched the last glimmer of her will to survive.
An Peng's tightly pursed lips trembled slightly. Finally, she let down her stubborn defenses and said dejectedly,
"......Ask me whatever you want. I... I'll tell you everything."
Shen Cui observed her expression calmly and took the lead to speak. Her question went straight to the core:
"Was this the first time such a situation happened?"
An Peng subconsciously touched her painful neck and shook her head with lingering fear.
"There were a few times before when I felt short of breath and as if someone was choking me, but... it didn't feel as real. It was never as severe as this time. It was as if I was really going to die..." Her voice still trembled with the aftershocks of the near-death experience.
Shen Cui's gaze was calm as she continued to ask,
"Before you met Zhang Yushu, did you ever encounter anything inexplicable or strange? Anything out of the ordinary will do."
This question made An Peng's body stiffen imperceptibly. She lowered her eyelashes, avoiding Shen Cui's gaze, and her fingers unconsciously twisted the corner of the quilt.
"No, there wasn't." Her voice dropped, with a hint of barely perceptible resistance. "Everything was fine before we got married."
"Everything was fine?" Shen Cui repeated her words. Her tone was calm but carried an undeniable force. "Madam An, are you sure? Any tiny anomaly could be related to the current situation."
An Peng pursed her lips even tighter, and silence filled the room. She could feel everyone's eyes on her.
"......Really, there wasn't." When she looked up again, her eyes carried a deliberate look of confusion. She even countered, "Why does the Celestial Master always ask me about things before my marriage? Do you think this misfortune was brought on by something I did in the past?"
An Peng's attitude became stiff again. Shen Cui knew that she was trying to divert the topic, so there was even a hint of grievance and a barely perceptible defensive attack in her tone.
Shen Cui gave her a deep look. Her gaze seemed to penetrate An Peng's feigned calm and see the secrets buried deep in her heart.
She didn't take up An Peng's words or continue to press her. She just left a faint sentence: "You should rest well."
Then, she turned around and walked out of the room without hesitation.
Dongfang Xiao followed her out and asked in confusion,
"A Cui, why did you only ask two questions? She finally relented. Why not seize the opportunity and ask for more clues?"
Shen Cui didn't stop walking. Her tone was calm but determined. "A person who still chooses to cover up old secrets with new lies at the brink of death will only give more carefully crafted falsehoods no matter how many questions you ask. Instead of asking her, it's better to ask someone who may also be kept in the dark but will at least tell the truth."
The group then found Zhang Yushu, who was anxiously waiting outside. Shen Cui showed no emotion on her face and changed the direction of her question:
"Mr. Zhang, did you ever encounter anything puzzling during your honeymoon with Madam An?"
Zhang Yushu concentrated and recalled for a moment. Suddenly, he remembered an old incident and nodded.
"Yes! I remember that in the first year after our marriage, we went back to her hometown to visit her parents. One night, I wanted to be intimate with her, but she absolutely refused to stay in the boudoir where she lived before getting married... It was as if there was a ferocious beast in that room. In the end, we had no choice but to stay in another side room."
Shen Cui's eyes flickered. She immediately grasped the key point and chased after the question, "What about that statue you've been worshipping after marriage? Did Madam An ever bring it to your home later?"
"At first, she did. It was enshrined in a small room next to our bedroom." Zhang Yushu tried hard to recall. "But strangely enough, after she got pregnant with Xiaoxiao, the statue disappeared. When I asked about it, she only said that she accidentally damaged it and threw it away. I thought it might be inappropriate to have it around during pregnancy, so I didn't delve deeper... Thinking about it now, it should have been sent away."