Although she had not spent a single day in the Sheng Family since birth, upon seeing Lin Qin, she felt a bond as thick as blood, and Lin Qin did not seem repelled by her touch.
Yuyin had come tonight with the sole purpose of obtaining a strand of Sheng Anguo's hair. Now that what she wanted was within arm's reach, she had no need to waste any more breath on Sheng Feiyan.
"Mrs. Sheng, there's a bug on your shoulder." She stepped close to Lin Qin and feigned a gentle flick of her fingers, actually planting a strand of hair she had readied right into her own sleeve.
Lin Qin blinked, completely unaware of Yuyin's actions.
As a clear-headed bystander, however, Song Lian distinctly saw Yuyin lift a hair from Lin Qin's shoulder—and a white one at that.
"Yuyin, what did you do to my mother?" Sheng Feiyan shoved her way forward and pushed Yuyin aside, glaring at her with hostile intent.
Yuyin merely lowered her head toward Lin Qin, refusing to even look at Sheng Feiyan. "Mrs. Sheng, we shall meet again. Let me leave you with one warning: the feng shui layout of your home is deeply flawed, which will adversely affect everyone's fortune. Since Mrs. Sheng spends the most time at home, you bear the brunt of this impact. I believe you have been suffering from abdominal pain for three days now. Please bear in mind that this is not an illness; it is an affliction caused by malevolent qi, and if it is not rooted out in time, it will cost you your life."
A chill ran through Lin Qin's heart. She never expected Yuyin to instantly hit the nail on the head regarding her abdominal pain. Having visited several hospitals recently without doctors being able to find the source of her ailment, she had taken advantage of her daughter's birthday today to have her husband invite a grand master of Xuanmen over.
Yet before the grand master even arrived, the master's own disciple had been so thoroughly humiliated by Yuyin that he coughed up blood.
If Lin Qin was vexed, Sheng Feiyan was utterly furious.
"Mom, she's a liar! Don't listen to her nonsense..."
Noticing that Yuyin was leaving, Song Lian hurried after her toward the entrance.
Displeased, Sheng Feiyan chased after them, her face flushed as she grabbed Song Lian's arm. "What's the meaning of this? You promised to celebrate my birthday with me, but before the cake has even arrived, you're rushing off like this. Have you no regard for my face at all?"
"I'm sorry, I've been a bit busy lately. I have a painting that's almost finished." Anxious to catch up with Yuyin, Song Lian hastily brushed Sheng Feiyan's arm away.
Unable to keep him, Sheng Feiyan was on the verge of tears. She clutched at her dress, bunching the fabric in her fists until it was wrinkled all over.
Knowing her daughter's state of mind, Lin Qin sighed, feeling that she ought not to fixate so stubbornly on Song Lian. "What kind of man can our Sheng Family's daughters not have? Why must it be Song Lian? Aside from good looks and the ability to paint, what other merits does he have? Don't be foolish enough to lose your head over a boy like your eldest brother."
Sheng Feiyan refused to listen. Her fondness for Song Lian was known to all under heaven; it was only Song Lian who chose to play the fool. It seemed she would simply have to be more proactive from now on.
Just as Song Lian was about to catch up to Yuyin, he was intercepted by Cheng Fangnan, who came rushing out in a panic. He saw that Cheng Fangnan's face was deathly pale, and Chen Shujing, whom he cradled in his arms, was in a visibly dreadful state, with blood staining her lower body.
"What happened?"
"Shujing is in trouble!" Cheng Fangnan blocked Song Lian's path. "Quickly, drive me to Zhongan Hospital!"
Turning back, Yuyin saw a red, shadowy apparition clinging to Chen Shujing. As Cheng Fangnan hoisted Chen Shujing into the car, it was obvious she was miscarrying, and her complexion looked harrowing.
Song Lian was about to go start the car when returning Yuyin pulled him back.
Catching sight of Yuyin, Cheng Fangnan glared at her with seething rage. "Crazy woman! Did you cause Shujing to lose the baby? I warned you back at Lianxi Taoist Temple..."
"Shut up!" Desperately thrusting her head out from inside the car, Chen Shujing snapped at Cheng Fangnan, "It has nothing to do with Master Yu! It was Xu Meirong. That woman is nothing but a fraud. I paid her fifty thousand yuan to help me secure the pregnancy, and she gave me a bug to swallow, claiming it would protect the fetus. The moment I swallowed it, the baby was gone."
Breaking down in tears, Chen Shujing buried her head, not daring to look at Yuyin.
Yuyin let out a sigh. She had long since told Chen Shujing that this child could not be kept, though she supposed Xu Meirong couldn't bear the sole blame either.
Hearing that the culprit was Yunyangzi's master, Cheng Fangnan kicked the car door in fury. "Song Lian, what are you standing there like a fool for? Hurry up and drive us back! I'm going to settle accounts with that damned woman later."
Song Lian made to get into the car once more, only to be yanked back by Yuyin.
"There's something unclean in that car. Don't go," she told him quietly.
As the car sped away, the red apparition vanished from sight right along with it.
Under the moonlight, Song Lian looked at her, and seeing Yuyin's furrowed brow, he couldn't help asking, "What was in that car?"
"What else could it be? Ghosts, of course. Their Cheng Family has committed countless evils, and their ancestral line is doomed to be cut short. Even without Xu Meirong, Chen Shujing could never have kept that child in her belly."
At this, Yuyin sighed endlessly. If Xu Meirong hadn't meddled, the child would have simply been lost. But now, with Xuanmen interference turning a blunder into a disaster, that unborn child had been transformed into an evil spirit.
There would be no peace in the Cheng Family from here on out.
With the hour growing late, it suddenly dawned on Yuyin that she had nowhere to stay. As for the money Cheng Fangnan had given her in compensation, she intended to save it for her grandmother's surgery and couldn't bear to spend a single cent of it.
"I saved your life, shouldn't you pay me a bit of hazard pay?" Yuyin raised her eyes to look at Song Lian and unzipped her small cross-body bag.
Song Lian chuckled, pulled a two-hundred-yuan bill from his wallet, and dropped it inside.
A bit stingy, but it would have to do.
"You think it's too little?" Seeing no trace of a smile on Yuyin's face, Song Lian fished out another hundred and stuffed it in.
Finding that Song Lian was actually quite cooperative, Yuyin clutched her small bag even more tightly.
The two walked side by side for a while. Finding herself somewhat tired, and noticing that Song Lian was keeping his lips pursed and remaining silent, Yuyin made a funny face behind his back.
Song Lian truly lived up to his name—composed and introverted, with an aura that kept people at a distance. She couldn't fathom what Sheng Feiyan saw in him.
"Mr. Song, do you intend to walk with me until the end of time? Just what is it you want to ask?" Yuyin asked with a smile.
Song Lian turned his head to look at her. "What is your relationship with the Sheng Family?"
"And what is your relationship with the Cheng Family?" Yuyin retorted, her tone rising a few notches higher than his.
Their conversation ended in discord; neither managed to pry any secrets out of the other.
Relying on his wealth, Song Lian had even contemplated paying Yuyin to reveal her purpose in approaching Mrs. Sheng. Mrs. Sheng had been a benefactor to him, and he would allow no one to harm her.
Avaricious though she was, Yuyin wasn't foolish. She kept her lips sealed tight and refused to utter a single word. She still lacked proof of her identity as the Sheng Family's long-lost daughter, so now was not the time to air it.
Noticing Yuyin's gaze, Song Lian reached up, unclasped the pendant he wore, and held it out toward Yuyin.
He remembered that the very first time they met, Yuyin's eyes had been locked onto this pendant.
"Sheng Feiyan gave this to me. She has an identical one around her neck, though hers looks much more refined than the one I wear. She claimed it could ward off evil and aid sleep, so I've kept it on ever since."
Turning the pendant over in her hand, Yuyin realized only after touching it that its craftsmanship was far inferior to the one hanging around her own neck.
It was presumably just a replica, given by Sheng Feiyan as a token of affection.
"I've inspected it for you—this thing cannot ward off evil. If you really want something that can, go snatch the one around Sheng Feiyan's neck." Yuyin offered a half-joking smile and handed the item back.
Taking it back, Song Lian tucked it into his pocket, choosing not to hang it around his neck this time. "I've shown you what you wanted to see. Now, tell me why you approached Mrs. Sheng."
"To save her, of course. Mrs. Sheng's complexion is poor, and she's afflicted by malevolent qi. If it drags on, it will cost her her life." Out of all the possible reasons, Yuyin picked the one most pleasing to the ear; she could tell how deeply concerned Song Lian was for Mrs. Sheng.
"Do you have a place to stay? If not, would you care to make do at my place for the night?" Recalling her frugal appearance, a sudden thought flashed through Song Lian's mind: if he hid Yuyin away, the Cheng Family would surely be driven to distraction.
"Alright." Yuyin smiled and nodded without a moment's hesitation.
"Aren't you afraid I might be a bad person?"
"Bad people are afraid of me. The fact that you aren't means you're no bad guy."
This... Song Lian had not expected Yuyin to agree so readily. Now he almost regretted the words that had just left his mouth, as he had never brought a woman home before.