Chapter 42: Dream Peering, the Path of Immortality

The matron was slightly stunned: "Dead? No, no, how could they be dead? They were completely fine early yesterday morning, how could they be dead?"

"What time yesterday did you see them?" Murong Huan asked again.

"Around the third watch of the morning, I suppose. I saw them wearing the fine clothes bestowed upon them by the master of the house, saying they were going out with him to meet some distinguished person..." At this point, the matron's face turned ashen once more. Realizing that something grave might have happened, she prostrated herself again and said, "That is all this slave knows, truly all!"

Murong Huan pressed no further. A'shu, catching her meaning, quickly said, "Very well, tidy up Madame's room and then you may withdraw!"

"Yes, yes!"

After meticulously cleaning the courtyard of Madame Xie, the primary wife of Guo, the matron timidly and surreptitiously retreated from the back courtyard.

At that moment, Xiao Muchen cast his gaze toward Murong Huan, who was lost in deep thought: "Did something come to mind?"

Murong Huan replied, "If this matron speaks the truth, these two women left the Guo residence yesterday at the third watch of the morning with Guo Hongba to meet some distinguished person. Thus, it is highly likely they met their deaths at the hands of Guo Hongba and that person."

Xiao Muchen agreed, "I share that view."

"However, this is merely our speculation without proof. Without sufficient evidence, we cannot bring him to justice."

As she spoke these words, Murong Huan's expression turned intensely gloomy and cold, her fists tightening once more.

"Indeed, you still harbor the desire to bring him to justice." Xiao Muchen's face showed a hint of gratification mixed with a rising tide of sympathy. He grasped Murong Huan's hand again and pivoted the conversation, "Actually, obtaining human witnesses is not all that difficult."

With that, he summoned Xuanhui and murmured instructions into his ear. Xuanhui hurried out of the courtyard, seemingly in pursuit of the fleeing matron.

"Do not forget, there is still a steward currently detained at the Dali Temple. If Lu Ling brings some of his methods to bear, I have no doubt this Guo family steward will speak the truth. And as for this matron, following her may yield unexpected rewards."

Murong Huan nodded, then, as if recalling something, she said, "There is another matter. The real Xie Zi'e—I suspect she might go to the potter's field behind the Dali Temple to search for the two deceased, or perhaps..."

"You mean to say the deceased is not the real Xie Zi'e, yet is highly likely to be a close relative of hers?"

"Yes, and these two victims should also have some familial ties with this Madame Guo."

"Then let us go to the Dali Temple now!"

Xiao Muchen said, taking Murong Huan's hand to leave, but Murong Huan pulled away, refusing him: "Wait, I must still treat Madame Guo, and I have a premonition that if we leave now, she may not survive the night."

Xiao Muchen was slightly startled. Of course, he could deduce that Madame Guo's illness was likely linked to Guo Hongba, and their arrival would very well accelerate her demise.

Yet, it had been a long time since he cared about the deaths of others. Perhaps it began the day his entire family was exterminated, or perhaps from watching too many people slaughtered like leeks in execution yards, or dying under the brutal tortures of merciless executioners like Zhou Xing.

At times, he even felt he could not control his own destiny, wondering if one day he too would fall victim to false accusations and die at the hands of prison guards.

As he was pondering, Murong Huan's voice reached his ears: "My master once said that since we live in this world, we must respect life—respect both the lives of others and our own lives. No matter what encounters befall us, we must live on with tenacity. This is the Dao of longevity he sought for me."

"The Dao of longevity?"

"Yes! The Dao of longevity that requires one to survive no matter what."

For reasons unknown, upon hearing these words, Xiao Muchen felt a surging wave in his heart, as if a familiar scene long forgotten was about to burst forth from the depths of his mind.

"A'shu, light the incense tripod!"

"Right!"

Prompted by Murong Huan, A'shu cheerfully retrieved several items from the baggage she carried and arranged them on the low table.

When A'shu produced two wooden puppets, Xiao Muchen's gaze flickered with curiosity. He looked closely and saw that one of the puppets bore a striking resemblance to the current Murong Huan, yet with a distinct aura—clad in dark robes that rendered her even more aloof, elegant, and possessed of a majestic dominance over the world.

The other puppet was styled with twin double-flat hair knots and wore a pleated, auspicious moon-patterned dress, resembling a young girl of about ten years old.

When he clearly saw this child puppet, Xiao Muchen's expression underwent a dramatic change. Losing control of his emotions, he picked up the puppet and examined it with intense scrutiny.

After a long silence, he asked Murong Huan, "Is this what you looked like when you were a child?"

"Yes! This is what Ah-Huan looked like when she was little, quite cute, isn't she? That Daoist priest carved it rather well," A'shu answered briskly.

Xiao Muchen mused for a moment, a shimmering ripple visible in his eyes. After a long while, he smiled and said, "Yes, very cute. The Daoist priest you mentioned must be her master, correct?"

A'shu nodded repeatedly: "Indeed. Although that Daoist priest was rather eccentric, he knew many arts and treated Ah-Huan and me exceptionally well, especially Ah-Huan."

She then turned to Xiao Muchen, who was staring intently at Murong Huan: "What is wrong with Central Defender Xiao? Why do you look so sorrowful?"

Prompted by A'shu, Murong Huan also looked over. Meeting his gaze for a brief moment, she drew out the flute she carried at her waist and began to play.

The flute notes were ethereal and deep, resembling pine winds sweeping through a market or the low chirping of myriad birds, imbuing the listener with profound tranquility.

Xiao Muchen gazed at the slender figure standing by the door playing the flute, his thoughts drifting far away.

As the lingering wind swept past, fallen leaves drifted downward, as if all creation in heaven and earth had become intoxicated by this distant, mystical, dreamlike melody.

Gradually, Xiao Muchen drifted into a dream, where a celestial Daoist figure in flowing white robes grew clearer and clearer.

"Master—"

"Zichen, I have altered your fate, and in doing so, I have affected the fates of others."

"Your junior sister is short on fortune and frail of life. If you should ever meet her in the future, you must treat her well... Let her taste all her heart's desires in this lifetime!"

In another chamber within the courtyard, Madame Guo had also entered a dream.

Once the incense tripod was lit, fog-like smoke curled outward, flowing into Madame Guo's nostrils like a gradually coalescing soul.

...

"Where is that damn flute coming from? It's making me want to cry and sleep all at once, blast it."

In the front courtyard hall of the Guo residence, Guo Hongba, sitting in restless agitation, quieted down upon hearing the flute music. One of his retainers could not help grumbling.

"Master, those two new guests are still lingering in Madame's courtyard and refuse to leave. Could they actually possess the ability to cure Madame's illness?"

"What nonsense are you talking? Central Defender Xiao merely used a pretext to enter our Guo estate; he has no intention of truly treating Madame. Besides, a boy still wearing hair bound up in a youth's knot—does he dare call himself a divine doctor? If he can be called a divine doctor, then I am a divine doctor myself!"

"Is Doctor Ning so confident? Is Madame's condition truly incurable?"

"Lord, rest assured. I have practiced medicine for many years and know that the hardest illness in this world to cure is a disease of the heart. Madame's melancholia has reached an irreversible stage. Forget Imperial Physician Yang from the palace; even a living immortal would find her hard to save!"

"I fear not accidents, but unexpected turns! If Madame is truly cured and fails to keep her tongue in check, blurting out things she shouldn't, it would be extremely ominous for you, Master."

"Master, shall I quietly dispatch the two of them?" the retainer volunteered eagerly.

Guo Hongba's expression darkened. After pondering for a long moment, he waved a hand and said, "No need. Do you know who this Central Defender Xiao is? He is someone deeply trusted by the Sage. Even when members of the Xiao clan committed treason, the Sage pardoned them and appointed him to this post of inspecting the hundred officials.

Countless officials have been imprisoned under Zhou Xing's false accusations, yet he alone remains steady at court without arousing the Sage's suspicion."

"He cannot die in my Guo estate. If he were to die here, that would truly become a major case that draws the court's utmost attention."

...

In her dream, two comely, delicate young maidens appeared before Madame Guo, both looking under fifteen years of age. They earnestly tried to persuade her with earnest advice and bitter pleas:

"Guo Hongba deliberately set a trap to deceive you back then. He killed all the servants on your boat, forced you to jump into the water, and then rescued you from the river, using that debt of gratitude to coerce your father into marrying you to him. Yet what has he done all these years? He relies on helping Zhou Xing and his son fabricate charges and frame loyal ministers to secure his official position, and even so, he is never satisfied."

"He hired horse bandits to slaughter dozens of people in my Xie family and swept away all our property. He also helped Qiu Shenji slaughter over a thousand households of officials and commoners in Bozhou, purely to conceal the fact that he achieved no military merits in suppressing rebellions."

"Aunt, wake up! Look closely at the man by your side! Why have you been married to him for so many years without issue? Is it truly because you cannot bear children, or does he simply not want you to have them?"

"If you had heeded that person's advice earlier, how could you have come to this day?"

Madame Guo's expression gradually twisted into extreme agony and madness.

"Indeed, had I listened to her advice earlier, how could I have come to this? It is all my retribution, my retribution!"

"Aunt, join us and kill them! Will you? If you do not kill him, he will sooner or later kill you."

"Do you not know that he dotes on that Concubine Yao and intends to elevate her to primary wife?"

"Do you not know that he has long wanted to divorce you?"

No, I cannot murder my husband! I cannot do such a thing! Otherwise, my reputation will be utterly ruined!

📉

"Hah! When life itself is about to be lost, of what use is a hypocritical reputation? And do you know how your elder brother, my father, and my brothers died? Those horse bandits killed with such bloodlust that they spared not even three-year-old children. My younger brother, your nephew, never even saw his third birthday, dying thusly at the edge of their butcher knives!"

"He slaughtered dozens of our family members; do you think he will spare you?"

"Knowing so many of his secrets, do you think he will let you live in peace?"

"And how did your illness come to be? Was it not he who drove you mad?"