Yan Qing was stunned and asked: "Breath Avoidance Pearl?"
Xie Shiyi nodded and said, "Yeah."
Yan Qing asked, "What is the function of the Breath Avoidance Pearl?"
Xie Shiyi said: "Two, one is to conceal the aura, the other is to drive away evil spirits."
Yan Qing frowned: "No wonder, the water Liu Yirui's family drinks is purified so they can stay awake. But her ancestor was a hunter, where did she get the Breath-Repelling Pearl in the well?"
Xie Shiyi said, "I'll go to Liu's house with you tonight to take a look."
Yan Qing was startled and raised his head worriedly: "You? Have you recovered?"
"Yeah." Xie Shiyi nodded, lowered his eyes and said, "We have stayed here long enough."
To him, the Barrier City was just the most insignificant step. The City Lord's Mansion, Zijinzhou, and even the people behind the Qin family involved in it were the key. There was no need to spend too much time on the Barrier City.
Yan Qing brought Xie Shiyi to Liu's house. The streets of Zhancheng were deserted at night. The dry well of Liu's house looked even more eerie and spooky under the cold moonlight.
Xie Shiyi stood by the well, a trace of icy blue spiritual power flowed from his fingertips and merged into the well water. After a while, he whispered, "It's a bit strange."
Yan Qing was stunned: "What?"
Xie Shiyi said: "There are no Bixizhu beads in this water, but the spiritual power of Bixizhu beads is everywhere."
Yan Qing pondered for a while and said, "You stay here and see if there is anything else unusual. I'll go ask Liu Yirui."
Xie Shiyi looked at him slowly before saying, "Okay."
In order to find out the origin and whereabouts of the Breath-Resisting Pearl, Yan Qing went to the foot of the mountain again to find Liu Yiru.
The mountains were deserted, with only the cries of birds and sparrows everywhere. Liu Yirui was sitting by the fire. When she heard the door move slightly, she immediately held the knife in her hand and called out vigilantly, "Who?"
Yan Qing said: "It's me."
After hearing Yan Qing's words, Liu Yirui put away the knife in her hand. Her lips were chapped and her complexion was pale. She asked anxiously, "Is the clan mansion still looking for me?"
Yan Qing closed the door and said, "No, now Madam Su is about to give birth, and they are all busy with Madam Su's affairs. I came here this time, just to
Ask you two questions. " Liu Yirui hadn't even breathed a sigh of relief before he immediately perked her up again. She bit her lip and said, "What do you want to ask?"
Yan Qing asked bluntly: "Does the well in your family have any origin?"
Liu Yirui's expression changed drastically, and she immediately lowered her head and said uncomfortably: "It's just a well dug for drinking water, there's nothing to say."
Yan Qing sighed helplessly: "Liu Yirui, what's the point of you lying to me? Now your parents are dead, and your brother is in the city lord's mansion and his life or death is uncertain. All you can do is to cooperate with me as much as possible." He did not hide it, smiled, looked at her coldly with peach blossom eyes and said: "I have already found out the truth, do you think I can still fool you?"
Liu Yiru's already sickly face became even paler, and under the light of the fire, her brown pupils slowly shrank into a dot.
Yan Qing said: "Tell me everything clearly, maybe I can rescue your brother. What's in the well?"
boom!
Suddenly, a huge thunder roared outside, splitting the entire sky in half. Lightning like a silver snake passed through the shabby window and fell on Liu Yirui's face, and she turned pale.
The word "brother" seemed to touch a chord in her heart. Liu Yirui curled up, moved her lips, and then closed her eyes as if she had given up. She murmured, "There is a corpse of an immortal under the well."
Yan Qing was stunned.
Liu Yirui smiled bitterly: "I lied to you before. Great Grandfather passed down many stories about immortals. He wanted us to pass it down from generation to generation, remember it firmly, and regard it as atonement. The body in the well is that immortal."
Liu Yirui seemed to be immersed in a nightmare from which she could not wake up. Her fingers trembled violently as she spoke softly about the past: "In the first year of Jinghong, the five families of Zhancheng held a hunting banquet here. The head of the Xie family brought the favored Madam Chuxuan to participate in the hunt. Unexpectedly, something unexpected happened. Nine days of thunder struck the top of the mountain. When everyone was fleeing, Madam Chuxuan, who was nine months pregnant, accidentally fell off the cliff in her carriage. Her life was hanging by a thread, and she was picked up by my great grandfather."
Yan Qing remained silent. In this barrier city where the mist and rain had lasted for a hundred years, the truth hidden by the years seemed to be slowly coming to light for him.
Liu Yirui said in a trembling voice, "But picking up Madam Chu Xuan is not a good thing. At that time, the five families in Zhancheng were all-powerful here, and the head of the Xie family had a violent temper. If Madam Chu Xuan had gotten into trouble with my great grandfather, our family would have died."
"But when Madam Chu Xuan fell from the mountain, she had already died. When my great grandmother cut open her belly, she found that the baby inside her belly was also dead. One body, two lives."
Yan Qing didn't say anything.
Liu Yiru's body was shaking more and more, staring at the fire as if her soul was flying away. "Soon, the guards who drove the horses for Madam Chu Xuan found us here. When they saw this, they were so angry that they wanted to kill my family. Because Madam Chu Xuan died, the head of the Xie family would be angry and he would die too - we would all die! Just then... the immortal came over."
"The clothes she was wearing seemed to be glowing white, which was not something that could be found in the mortal world. She was very beautiful, with disheveled hair and blood all over her body, and she fell in front of my yard. My great-grandmother was shocked, and when she went out, she grabbed her hand tightly and begged to save the baby in her belly."
"Yes... She's pregnant too."
Liu Yiru's tears kept flowing, and she didn't know whether she was repenting for what happened or was she afraid.
"My great-grandmother helped her deliver the baby, and it was a boy."
"That immortal was already seriously injured and was dying. She was already dead after giving birth to the child. Before she died, she took out a bag of gold, silver and jewelry from her sleeve and handed it to my great-grandmother. She knelt down and begged my great-grandmother, hoping that our family could help raise the child until he grew up."
Yan Qing was silent for a long time, then said, "But you broke your promise."
Liu Yirui said with trembling teeth, "Yes, how else can we say it is atonement? Madam Chu Xuan died with one body and two lives, and neither our family nor the guards can survive. But if the child survives, we can tell the Patriarch of the Xie family that Madam Chu Xuan died giving birth to a child, and she will not die. For the Patriarch of the Xie family, it is an honor for a woman to die to leave him offspring."
"So, we gave the child to the Patriarch of the Xie family and lied that it was Madam Chu Xuan's child."
"At that time, my great grandfather and great grandmother thought this was the best of both worlds. After all, the Xie family was the head of the five families, enjoying endless wealth and splendor. If the child followed my family, he would only suffer."
"Sure enough, the head of the Xie family did not pursue the death of Madam Chu Xuan too much. My great grandfather's family and the guards divided the gold, silver and jewelry and moved from the foot of the mountain to the city."
Liu Yirui said: "We also held a funeral for the immortal, dug a grave for her and erected a tombstone for her."
"But one day, when my great grandfather came back to sort out his things, he found that the immortal's grave had been dug up. No, it would be better to say that it was chopped up - the area around her was scorched earth, and the coffin was also opened. The scene at that time was simply not something that a human could create, as if it was the wrath of heaven. My great grandfather was shocked and went to take a look. He found that although the area next to the grave was a mess, she was unharmed. My great grandfather felt guilty, so he brought the body back to our home and buried it in the backyard."
"But the grave hasn't even been dug yet, and the immortal's body has already melted... Immortals actually turn into water after death! Her body is gone, and she has turned into a handful of pure water."
Yan Qing was stunned and asked in disbelief: "Water?"
Liu Yiru said, "Yes, water. Great grandfather did not continue digging the grave, but dug a well instead and poured the water into it."
"This is what happened in the first year of Jinghong. I actually guessed that the reason why our family was so strange was because of that well." Liu Yirui clutched her clothes tightly with both hands. Her nose and eyes were red. Unconsciously, tears flowed down her face. She murmured, "I don't want to suffer because of being awake, but I don't want to become a madman like them. Who will save me, who will save me."
Yan Qing ignored her collapse and only asked, "Did your great grandfather never pay attention to the child you sent to Xie's house?"
Liu Yirui clenched her fingers and dodged a glance. She said, "No, the Xie family has too many descendants, and the Xie family master is a playboy. There are always new people laughing but no old people crying. We don't know what the child's name will be or what kind of life he will lead."
"My great grandfather tried every way to find out, but there was no news."
Yan Qing said calmly: "You lied to me again, Liu Yirui."
Yan Qing smiled and said every word. "Even if he didn't have any memory of it when he was a child, could your family still pretend to be stupid when the uproarious incident of the cat-for-prince substitution happened in the fifteenth year of Jinghong?"
Boom! Another bolt of lightning struck, and Liu Yirui's brain went blank.
Liu Yiru put her hands down completely, and she looked up blankly. She tried to beautify those shameful things passed down from her ancestors, but was exposed again and again. This grudge from two hundred years ago should not have been borne by her. But her family drank the water from the well day after day, and was forced to think about this matter. Day and night, it has entered her bones from now on.
Yan Qing said, "If the barrier city had not become what it is now, making you a special case, the secrets of your Liu family might never be revealed to outsiders."
"Who are you?" Liu Yiru was so shocked that she was almost speechless.
Yan Qing said, "It's not important who I am. What's important is, Liu Yirui, how much did your family contribute to the incident of the cat-changing prince in Jinghong fifteen years ago?"
Fifteen years later, Dengxian Pavilion was closed. No one could have imagined that the once glorious and proud child of genius would be dragged down into the abyss like that.
Yan Qing said, "Back then, a beggar came to our door with a token of gratitude. The head of the Xie family would definitely investigate the matter thoroughly. Did he really not look for you?"
Liu Yiru's tears were dried by the fire, leaving traces of tears on her face. She just looked down at her hands and smiled bitterly.
Their family is not a good family, but they are not bad people either.
If they were really evil people, they would not have helped the immortal to give birth to a child, would not have dug a grave and erected a tombstone for her after so many twists and turns, and would not have passed down their sins from generation to generation as a lesson.
Liu Yiru murmured, "But my great grandfather never thought of harming him. Now that the barrier city has become like this, perhaps there were signs from the beginning. Everyone is crazy, especially the five families."
"The head of the Xie family came to us. He looked panicked and asked us to testify—" Liu Yirui smiled sadly and said, "He wanted us to testify that his child is the beggar!"