Pei Jingheng lowered his dark eyebrows slightly, shook his wrist, and said, "Since you know what this is, please untie it at once."
Shen Mingshu's eyes darkened slightly. She swept her gaze across his handsome face, which was wreathed in Death Qi, and already had a plan in mind.
This was a predestined romantic bond decreed by fate; this man was destined to be hers.
The red thread could not be untied.
Could it be that she had transmigrated into this body in order to undergo a romantic tribulation?
Standing to the side, Leng Feng asked in confusion, "Master, untie what?"
Pei Jingheng glanced at him indifferently, his voice like shattered jade covered in frost, and slowly said, "Can you not see the red thread entwined between her and me?"
Leng Feng rubbed his eyes and shook his head anyway. "I cannot see it."
Shen Mingshu immediately held out her wrist to Yun Niang. "Mother, I just opened your Heavenly Eye. Can you see the red thread between him and me?"
Yun Niang stared at her slender wrist and shook her head. "Mother doesn't see anything either."
Pei Jingheng's expression turned slightly cold. "It seems only the two of us can see it. What on earth did you do?"
Shen Mingshu frowned at him. "Why are you so certain I did this?"
Before she could say more, the peach tree branch in her hand stirred—the female ghost inside wanted to come out.
"There are still matters to attend to in the back courtyard. I'll discuss this red thread with you later." Shen Mingshu tightened her grip on the peach tree branch and strode toward the back courtyard.
Yun Niang glanced at the two men and hurried after her.
Pei Jingheng also stood up and said in a deep voice, "Let's go take a look."
As the two of them attempted to go from the medical hall to the back courtyard, they were blocked by a clerk coming from the opposite direction. "You two, outsiders are not permitted in the residential quarters of the back courtyard."
"Oh?" Leng Feng half-withdrew the sword at his waist, its cold gleam flashing across the clerk's face.
The clerk prudently pressed his lips together and stepped aside.
The peach tree in the back courtyard was still burning. After all, it had attained spiritual awareness, so burning it would take some time.
Pei Jingheng looked down at the ground, only to notice that the weeds around the tree roots were not burning at all.
This fire was rather interesting.
Inside the room, Liu Cheng lay on the bed, while Liu Xingde and Fan Fangfang, whose souls had already returned to their bodies, looked on from the side.
Fan Fangfang wiped away her tears and struck Liu Xingde across the body. "It's all your fault! It's all because of you that Ah Cheng was reduced to this!"
Liu Xingde looked puzzled. "Our son was bewitched by the peach tree spirit. What does that have to do with me?"
"Of course it has to do with you." A clear, cold female voice rang out.
Shen Mingshu walked in swiftly, her expression icy as she glared at Liu Xingde. "Liu Xingde, you took the life of your own maidservant. Do you confess your crime?"
Upon hearing this, Liu Xingde's face trembled instantly. He rolled his eyes and argued craftily, "Utter nonsense! I have never done such a thing!"
"I'm not afraid you won't confess." A faint smile touched the corners of Shen Mingshu's lips, but the smile did not reach her eyes.
With a flick of her hand, she released the female ghost from inside the peach tree branch.
The ghost had been immobilized by her immobilization talisman and now fell to the ground, unable to move.
Shen Mingshu formed a hand seal with one hand, and a speck of golden light landed on the female ghost as she said in an icy tone, "Liu Xingde, take a look at who this is."
The previously formless female ghost slowly took on a physical form. Sitting on the ground in a pale green gauze skirt, her pale face rapidly became covered in black ghost markings the moment she caught sight of Liu Xingde. She roared at him, "I'm going to kill you!"
Terrified to the point that his legs went weak, Liu Xingde collapsed to his knees, his tongue so tangled he stammered, "G-g-ghost! A ghost!"
Fan Fangfang kicked him and said through gritted teeth, "Hurry up and confess the truth!"
Suddenly, a pungent odor spread through the air.
Yun Niang pointed at the puddle of liquid beneath Liu Xingde. "He was so frightened he lost control of himself."
Fan Fangfang rolled her eyes. "Useless wretch."
Shen Mingshu picked up the female ghost and walked step by step toward Liu Xingde. "If you don't speak up, I'm going to throw her right onto you."
Panic seized Liu Xingde entirely, and he dropped to his knees, begging for mercy. "I'll talk! I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!"