Xie Zhaofan suddenly seemed to remember something. Her expression, which had already grown solemn due to the two maidservants’ dreams, froze for a moment before she turned her head to look at Chunxing.
“By the way, Chunxing, that thing I told you to throw away yesterday—did you throw it out?”
The moment she asked, Chunxing’s expression became unnatural. Her small face, which had been trembling with fear, was instantly masked by a look of guilt.
She lowered her head and stammered for a long while before finally whispering, “Miss, I… I didn’t throw it away.”
“You didn’t throw it away?”
Xie Zhaofan arched an eyebrow, her gaze falling on Chunxing’s face. A dangerous edge crept into her tone.
Chunxing quickly explained, “I thought it would be such a waste to just throw it away, especially since you spent so much silver on it. So… so I secretly put it away.”
Xie Zhaofan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
What a girl. Usually, she didn’t seem very bold, yet at such a critical moment, she actually dared to feign compliance while disobeying her orders.
Xie Zhaofan raised her hand and gave Chunxing’s head a light flick, saying irritably, “You’ve grown quite bold, haven’t you? You even dare to ignore my words now?”
Chunxing quickly covered her head and looked at her piteously, not daring to say a single word of rebuttal.
Looking at her like this, Xie Zhaofan didn’t really feel much like blaming her. The reason this girl had kept that bronze ornament was ultimately because she couldn’t bear to part with the ten taels of silver.
To Xie Zhaofan, ten taels was currently a “huge sum,” and for an ordinary maidservant, it was a truly considerable amount of money—enough for her to live frugally and save for years.
The reason she had ordered Chunxing to throw it away without hesitation wasn't just because she found the bronze ornament exceptionally ugly; it was primarily because it had been dug up from the ground.
Xie Zhaofan had a natural psychological aversion to antiques with such mysterious origins.
Funeral objects and things dug up from tombs—in the various novels and movies she had seen in her previous life, eight out of ten such items were associated with curses, malevolent entities, or yin energy.
Furthermore, that bronze ornament hadn’t received any recognition from the system. It couldn’t be converted into attribute points, and there were no special prompts. Why keep something like that around? Just to give herself the creeps?
She never expected that after all her repeated instructions to throw it away, this girl would be so reluctant that she’d hide it away.
And now look—she had scared both young girls out of their wits.
Chunxing clearly realized this as well. Her face turned paler and paler until she finally fell to her knees with a thud.
“Miss, it’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have been greedy for that silver, and I shouldn’t have disobeyed your orders. Please punish me.”
Seeing this, Xiahe hurriedly knelt down as well.
Xie Zhaofan looked at the two little maidservants kneeling before her and couldn't help but rub her temples.
She was starting to wonder if, in the eyes of these two girls, she was even more terrifying than those eerie, malevolent spirits. The thing that was clearly haunted was right beside them, yet instead of fearing the ghost, they were immediately worried about whether she, their mistress, would punish them.
What kind of strange survival logic did this feudal society have?
“Fine, get up.”
Xie Zhaofan waved her hand, her tone softening.
“I won’t pursue it this time. You two have learned your lesson. In the future, do exactly as I say. Don’t try to be clever, and definitely don’t invite trouble upon yourselves for the sake of some petty gains.”
Chunxing and Xiahe nodded frantically.
“Thank you, Miss.”
“However...”
Xie Zhaofan’s tone shifted, and the smile on her face faded slightly.
“Now, immediately, right away, get rid of that damn thing for me.”
“The further away, the better.”
The two maidservants didn't dare to hesitate for a second longer and immediately agreed.
Chunxing even personally found a piece of black cloth and wrapped the bronze ornament in several layers, as if it were some primordial beast being sealed away. She carried it out of the residence with extreme care.
Finally, following Xie Zhaofan’s orders, the two of them went directly to the bank of the capital’s moat.
Standing on the riverbank and looking at the deep water, Chunxing felt an inexplicable chill in her heart despite it being broad daylight. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and threw the bundle with all her might.
With a splash, the bronze ornament wrapped in black cloth hit the water and quickly sank to the bottom of the river, disappearing from sight.
Chunxing stood on the bank for a good while to make sure the thing wouldn’t resurface before breathing a sigh of relief and hurrying back to the residence with Xiahe to report.
Xie Zhaofan felt slightly more at ease after hearing that the item had completely sunk into the moat. However, thinking about the dreams those two maidservants had described still made her skin crawl.
“It should be fine now, right?” she muttered softly. For some reason, she still felt a lingering sense of unease.
Fortunately, the rest of the day was calm and peaceful. Nothing strange happened, and Chunxing and Xiahe’s spirits improved significantly. Although their faces still paled occasionally whenever the previous night's dream was mentioned, they didn’t have any more bizarre dreams.
Xie Zhaofan gradually relaxed. It seemed that once that object was thrown away, the matter was settled.
But early the next morning, the moment she opened her eyes and saw Chunxing and Xiahe standing by her bed, her heart skipped a beat.
The condition of these two girls was clearly even worse than yesterday.
Their faces were so pale they lacked any hint of blood, and heavy dark circles hung beneath their eyes. Even their steps, which were usually light and brisk, felt unsteady now. It looked as if their entire spirit had been drained overnight.
An ominous premonition rose in Xie Zhaofan’s heart.
“What happened now?”
The moment she spoke, Chunxing lunged toward her as if she were a literal lifeline, and tears instantly began to fall.
“Miss, that thing… that thing is back!”
“What?”
Xie Zhaofan was stunned.
Chunxing cried, “I don’t know how it happened. I clearly watched it sink into the moat with my own eyes yesterday. But when I woke up this morning, it… it was sitting right by the head of my and Xiahe's bed.”
As she spoke, her body couldn't stop shivering.
“I didn’t even dare touch it, or even go near it. Xiahe was the one who found it first.”
Xie Zhaofan’s expression changed completely.
It could return on its own after being thrown into the moat? This was no longer something that could be explained by a simple haunting.
“Did you dream of that man again last night?” she asked immediately.
Chunxing and Xiahe both nodded.
“This time… it was even more terrifying,” Xiahe said, her face ghostly white. “It was as if we were following him.”
“Following him?”
“Yes.” Xiahe nodded with difficulty.
“It was that same mountain path. But this time, it was as if we didn’t remember who we were anymore. We didn’t know where we came from or where we were going. We just kept following that man in white, walking forward.”
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