Legends about this place varied, but none of them were good or auspicious.
Hearing that the place was haunted and that many people had died there, Concubine Fang had made the former Lan Qinghuan move in to live.
Even Concubine Fang herself had never stepped inside to take a look; she had simply sent a few manservants and maids to escort Lan Qinghuan and Xi Yun'er here, and then left them completely to their fate.
Every time before her uncle returned, Concubine Fang would send people to fetch Lan Qinghuan back, dress her up like a princess, and make it look as though she had never mistreated her at all.
No one knew how Lan Qinghuan and the others had survived those difficult days without food, clothes, or bedding.
After Lan Qinghuan's soul transmigrated into this body, Concubine Fang hadn't actually mistreated her much; instead, Lan Qinghuan had given Concubine Fang a hard time.
She would never let herself be slaughtered at will like the former Lan Qinghuan. Her creed had always been: If others do not offend me, I will not offend them; if anyone offends me, I will dig up their ancestral graves.
All these years, no one with a death wish had ever dared to provoke her. It was always she who went looking for trouble with others; those who provoked Lan Qinghuan never came to a good end.
Once she grew strong enough, she would make those who had bullied this body wish they were dead!
Having just recovered half of her meridians, Lan Qinghuan felt much more refreshed and light-hearted, as if her body was filled with an endless supply of energy. She broke into a light jog all the way.
Thorns and weeds grew as high as the waist all over the ground, while two wooden sticks the thickness of small arms were in her hands.
Sinking her waist, her left hand slashed out while her right hand flicked upward, her left leg kicked back and her right foot drew inward, she carved her way forward through the thorns and brambles with continuous martial arts movements.
By the time she reached the hot spring, she was already panting and soaked in sweat.
Peeling off her sticky wedding robes, Lan Qinghuan, clad only in a white under-layer, plunged straight into the hot spring pool and swam to her heart's content.
Once she had her fill of swimming and the sticky feeling on her body vanished, Lan Qinghuan sat down on a large boulder by the edge of the hot spring pool to slowly clean and tidy herself up.
Although it was dark, the night market usually did not close until one in the morning, and midnight was the absolute best time to judge the quality of Soul Breath Grass.
Looking up at the bright moon in the sky, there were still a few hours before midnight. It wouldn't be too late to go back and check on that girl Xi Yun'er and say hello before heading out.
Lan Qinghuan got up to the bank to put on her clothes, picked up a moon-white men's robe and slipped it on, when she suddenly heard a faint groan.
"Who's there? Who is that..." She blamed herself for trusting too much that nobody would ever come to this supposedly remote and forbidden courtyard, which had caused her to let down her guard and fail to even project her spiritual awareness outward.
Not far away, the tall weeds trembled and shook, and those faint sounds came from right there.
Lan Qinghuan picked up the wooden stick she had used earlier to clear the weeds and walked forward.
The closer she got, the clearer the sound became. It sounded like the suppressed, painful sobbing of a small child. Pushing the wooden stick aside to part the bushes, she saw a little boy of five or six years old hugging his head and rolling around on the ground in agony.
Even in the dim night, she still caught sight of his extraordinary eyes—a pair of red eyes just like those of Di Lianzhe.
"How are you? Ah, you're burning up!" Wrapping her arms securely around the small boy, she used one hand to tightly clasp his two arms to keep him from flailing around.
He had been frantically pulling at his own fiery red hair just like that a moment ago, pounding his own head mercilessly—it would be a miracle if he hadn't beaten some sense out of himself.
The child seemed to be afflicted with some strange disease. His entire body was as scorching hot as a raging fire, yet his hands were colder than solid ice.
Not knowing what else to do, Lan Qinghuan had no choice but to use all her strength to hold him tight and prevent him from hurting himself further.
Time ticked away second by second. Lan Qinghuan felt her arms go numb and her entire body stiffen completely, while the child in her arms still writhed in pain.
Tears welled up in his red eyes, but he stubbornly refused to let them fall. Just when Lan Qinghuan thought she could no longer hold on, the child's continuously twisting body finally quieted down.
He abruptly broke free from Lan Qinghuan's embrace, fiercely bit down on the snowy white patch of skin on her neck that was exposed by the loose-fitting men's robe, and then instantly leaped ten meters away.
"Woman, remember this: My name is Xiye, and I will come looking for you..." Despite the cold, aloof expression on his delicate little face, he could not hide the suspicious flush staining his cheeks.
His voice was deliberately made to sound deep and mature, yet it still carried a milky, childish tone.
Thinking of the soft touch against his face just moments ago, along with the lotus-like fragrance filling his nose, the flustered Xiye vanished from the spot in a flash, leaving not even a ripple behind.
"Looking for me? Go look for your ghost, that hurt like hell..." Lan Qinghuan clutched her bleeding neck, utterly speechless.
To think there was actually someone in this world who dared to bite Lan Qinghuan. Well, well, Xiye, no matter what divine or demonic being you are, this lady has remembered you!
Patting the grass blades off her white robes, Lan Qinghuan walked right back to the edge of the hot spring pool, found the human-skin mask, stuck it on her face, and left.
She was furious right now. Originally, she had wanted to go back and say hello to that girl Xi Yun'er, but now it seemed she would only be going back to face her interrogation.
Because of the commotion caused by that inexplicable little brat, it was already midnight now. If she didn't head out immediately, the night market would be closing soon.
The night was deep and shrouded in dark mist, but even the heavily guarded Lan Estate could not stop Lan Qinghuan, whose spiritual perception was extraordinary, who was proficient in all sorts of concealment techniques, and whose movements were agile and light.
Even without the assistance of true qi and spiritual energy, getting past a main gate guarded by a few sentries was still a breeze for Lan Qinghuan.
Arriving beneath a large tree close to the courtyard wall, *rustle, rustle, rustle*, Lan Qinghuan scrambled up in a flash.
Leaping onto the courtyard wall, she happily departed from the Lan Estate.
Walking to the end of the broad official thoroughfare and turning into a small alley, following the alley to the third T-junction and turning right, the underground night market's entrance was hidden within the housing of the fifth quadrangle courtyard.
The former Lan Qinghuan had been here a few times before, so even though it was secluded, relying on her memory, she quickly reached the most authoritative and powerful underground night market on the Fengxu Continent.
Although midnight had already passed and less than an hour remained before the night market closed, visitors here were still numerous and the atmosphere was extremely bustling.
The vast majority of these visitors were cultivators, though there was also a small minority of high-ranking officials and nobles passing through with hurried expressions.
This was the largest trading market for cultivators to exchange crystal stones. Generally, whenever those cultivators hunted Magical Beasts, harvested medicinal herbs, or refined medicinal pills, they could bring them here to trade for crystal stones.
This place housed the largest and finest shops on the entire Fengxu Continent. As long as you had enough crystal stones, you could buy anything you wanted, including someone else's life, or the beauty that caught your eye...
"Step right up and don't miss out! Zhenbao Pavilion is holding a once-in-a-century clearance sale at rock-bottom prices.
There is only one hour left, you won't find this shop anywhere else once you miss this opportunity! The goods at Zhenbao Pavilion are absolute masterpieces! Step right up and don't miss out!"
"Take a look, come and see! Freshly picked Illusion Fruit from the Misty Forest, absolutely the ultimate divine artifact for wooing girls and picking up chicks! Uncles and grandpas, come take a look, reasonable prices, guaranteed to make you praise it endlessly after use..." Just a moment ago in the courtyard, she hadn't been able to hear a single thing, and even when she opened up her spiritual awareness, she had failed to probe the situation inside.
Now, led inside before even officially entering, Lan Qinghuan heard such noisy and clamorous hawking.