Li Yuan pushed aside the letters.
He was already certain: the steward from Fulin Commerce Association is the Ghost Servant.
This Ghost Servant is likely connected to Lianyi House in Jade Capital City, which seems to be a major power.
Such a major power is not targeting small places like Shanbao County specifically, but is more likely casting a wide net.
This Rouge Box is their net.
Before long, Pang Yuanhua pushed a wheelchair into the room and looked at these things with Li Yuan.
After a long pause, Pang Yuanhua suddenly said, "Is this really Lianyi House, or Lianyi Shop?"
Lianyi refers to clothes for the deceased.
Could a normal clothing store have such a name?
Even if it’s just a similar tone, they’d avoid it if they could.
Unless, they originally sell clothes for the dead.
Li Yuan looked at the five Rouge Boxes, feeling they were hot to the touch. He thought for a moment and decided to use the old method, find a condemned prisoner or a murderous bandit to test them.
...
That day, a male condemned prisoner was brought into the secret chamber.
This prisoner was a lazy man, whose wife worked outside to earn money. The lazy man, dissatisfied with his wife’s low earnings, killed her and buried her shallowly in the courtyard. The burial was discovered due to the stench, leading to his capture and imprisonment in Shanbao County’s jail.
Later, many of the lazy man’s relatives tried to bribe for leniency, hoping to reduce his sentence, but to no avail.
In the secret chamber, an Inner Sect Disciple of the Blood Saber Sect stood in front of a screen, directly tossing the Rouge Box to the prisoner, saying, "Apply it and then describe everything you see. If you cooperate well, your sentence can be reduced."
The prisoner hurriedly complied.
Behind the screen, Li Yuan quietly observed through peepholes.
He watched the prisoner apply makeup and show a blissful expression, then suddenly stand up in shock, his eyes wide with horror as if the gloomy secret chamber around him had transformed into somewhere else.
Immediately after, the prisoner began to stare blankly. Half a stick of incense later, his face turned joyful, then devout, and finally, he knelt and kowtowed repeatedly to the air.
This scene terrified even the Inner Sect Disciple of the Blood Saber Sect. If it weren’t for the Ancestor behind the screen, he might have drawn his saber to cut the man down.
Half an hour later, the prisoner stopped kowtowing, his gaze turning empty before gradually regaining focus.
The first thing he did upon recovery was to run for the Rouge Box, only to be kicked to the ground by the Inner Sect Disciple.
The Long Blade rang as it was drawn from its sheath, its cold light resting against the prisoner’s throat.
"What did you see?"
The prisoner finally became aware of his surroundings, painfully reaching for the Rouge Box.
The Inner Sect Disciple said, "Speak honestly, and the box is yours."
Only then did the prisoner recount everything in detail.
Beside them sat another disciple responsible for recording the event.
"Immortals!
I saw Immortals!
The Immortals flew in the sky, and the Immortal Mountain was beautiful...
I knelt before a palace, knowing that if I was devout enough, the Immortals would take me into the Immortal Gate."
The prisoner recounted his experience in detail, vividly describing the scenes he witnessed.
Jade towers and golden palaces, clouds floating ethereally, Spirit Flowers and Spirit Woods swayed, and Fairies flew through the air, while Immortals sat atop the heavens, using clouds as meditation cushions.
The Human World Continent appeared as specks of dust, with the vast seas like water in a cup...
And this scene could be viewed just by standing on that Immortal Mountain.
The entrance to the Immortal Mountain was a jade statue of an Immortal.
The prisoner kowtowed reverently to the statue, hoping to move the Immortals and be accepted into their ranks. The logic seemed to come naturally to him.
"I’ve said all I can, give me the box." The prisoner looked greedily at the Rouge Box, as if his life had become insignificant.
The Inner Sect Disciple said, "Draw the images of the Immortals and the Immortal Mountain, and the box is yours."
The prisoner then attempted to draw.
However, his drawing skills were quite average.
So the Inner Sect Disciple fetched a disciple from the Inner City who excelled in painting, and together they finally drew the Immortals and the Immortal Mountain.
Once it was drawn, everyone around, except the prisoner, felt chills down their spines.
That was no Immortal, that was no Immortal Mountain!
It was an ancient manor, with human head lanterns hanging from it.
Those human head lanterns were talking, showing expressions similar to when they were alive.
Beneath the lanterns sat a Shouyi Evil Ghost.
In front of the manor lay a pool of stagnant water, in which floated many eerie shadows.
"Give it to me! Give it to me!!"
The hysterical shout came from the prisoner, who, seizing the moment when everyone was in a daze, lunged forward to grab the box.
The Inner Sect Disciple swiftly reacted, kicking him down and drawing his sword.
Behind the screen, a shadow flickered, and Li Yuan floated behind the prisoner, knocking him out with a palm strike, then tossed him to the Inner Sect Disciple, saying, "Execution today."
"Yes, Ancestor."
"Also, keep today’s events confidential."
"Yes!" everyone responded in unison.
Li Yuan closed the Rouge Box, glanced at the painting, and muttered, "Indeed, it’s Lianyi..."
With that, he placed the painting on a candle.
The intense flame consumed the "Immortal Mountain and Immortal" painting, turning it into a heap of cold ash in no time.
Li Yuan stepped into the sunlight outside.
Though the spring light was warm, his heart felt cold.
If he hadn’t stayed vigilant because of that steward, who knows what the consequences might have been.
The Shouyi Evil Ghost, the human head lanterns, the eerie shadows in the stagnant water...
He couldn’t imagine what those who applied the makeup would bring about through their endless worship; nor could he fathom the intentions of those behind it all.