Cao Yanhua looked puzzled.
“Does that even matter?”
Yi Wan San sighed.
“Brother Cao, you and the rich lady were putting on a whole show, but the woman never even looked at either of you. It was all one-sided.”
Yan Hongsha didn’t say anything at first, but the more she thought about it, the more it seemed true. Lian Shu had ignored them the entire time.
She suddenly felt deflated.
Then she glared at Luo Ren.
“Why is that? She didn’t even look at us, but she was all polite to you. Don’t tell me…”
Her eyes widened.
“Don’t tell me she’s trying to seduce you!”
Mu Dai looked down at him from atop the ladder, her voice low and ominous:
“Is that true? Got anything you need to explain?”
All eyes shot to Luo Ren.
He cleared his throat.
“Well… how do I put this…”
Mu Dai’s heart skipped a beat.
Wait—was there something?
He said,
“Come down a little closer. I’ll explain.”
Still suspicious, she leaned down.
“Closer,” he said, beckoning with his finger. “A little more…”
Then, when she was close enough, he tilted his head up and pecked her on the lips.
Mu Dai’s face turned bright red in an instant.
After a few seconds of stunned silence—
Yi Wan San: “Can you two not?”
Yan Hongsha: “What kind of stunt is that?!”
Only Cao Yanhua stayed quiet. As a disciple, he felt it inappropriate to comment on his master’s affairs—but deep inside, he agreed.
Can you not?! What kind of stunt is that?! I’m still single, you know…
—
That evening, they had dinner at the bar. Uncle Zhang was curious about the restaurant too and, based on his experience running the bar, gave them plenty of solid advice.
After dinner, Luo Ren went to the restroom. On the way back, he overheard Yan Hongsha in the hallway, whispering angrily into her phone:
“Grandpa, you can’t just assume everyone’s out to steal your treasure! Mu Dai even saved my life. She doesn’t care about your stuff! And besides, letting family know where you’re going is reasonable!”
Luo Ren smiled and walked past. He had a rough idea of what was going on. After their talk, Mu Dai had probably requested Yan Hongsha. Hongsha’s response was pretty heartwarming. Her grandfather, on the other hand… a bit petty, wasn’t he?
Seventy-something years old, and still obsessed with treasure and money.
Later, Luo Ren said goodbye to Mu Dai and left with Uncle Zheng and Pingting.
—
That night, Mu Dai sent him a text.
“Not in Yunnan. It’s in Guizhou—Sizhai. That’s as much as the old man would say.”
First it was Yunnan, now it’s Guizhou. What—did the old guy think Mu Dai was easy to fool?
Luo Ren’s annoyance with Grandpa Yan deepened.
He went to the room where the cursed slips were stored, opened his laptop, and searched for Sizhai. Then he got up, grabbed a blue pushpin, and walked to the wall map.
On the map, Sizhai sat right on the border between Guizhou and Guangxi. If Grandpa Yan was even willing to mention that name, the actual location was probably somewhere else nearby.
The town was 80% mountainous terrain.
Luo Ren pinned it down, deep in thought.
—
At the same time, Mu Dai was looking at the map too.
She was sharing a room with Yan Hongsha. After washing up, Hongsha lay on the carved wooden bed, tossing and turning. She curiously studied the indentations in the wall where Mu Dai had been practicing—she even tried climbing the wall herself, but failed.
Then she looked at the carving on the bed frame, pointing to the “Marquis on Horseback” design.
“So this is where you saw that celestial guide message last time?”
Mu Dai casually murmured, “Mm-hmm.”
She’d found Sizhai on the map.
“It’s right at the border between Guizhou and Guangxi. I heard Guizhou’s all mountains—no flat land. The roads are bad. Can your grandpa handle that kind of rough travel at his age?”
Yan Hongsha flopped onto the bed, pulled the blanket to her chest, and sighed,
“What else can we do? My grandpa and uncle both spend like crazy. You probably don’t know—my uncle’s tried all kinds of businesses, using the family house as collateral. He’s not cut out for it. Every time he tries something, he loses money. If the creditors come knocking, that house is gone…”
Mu Dai froze for a second and looked over at her.
She’d always seen Hongsha as loud, flashy, and carefree. Now she was talking quietly, seriously, about money and survival—it was jarring.
She’d thought this girl would never have to worry about money.
Yan Hongsha’s voice grew softer and softer.
“Grandpa’s eyes are almost gone. He can’t even see the treasure aura anymore. I’m not cut out for this either… After this job, I’ve gotta start thinking about a real career. I still need to take care of Grandpa…”
Her voice trailed off into mumbles, and eventually she fell asleep.
Mu Dai watched her for a moment, then turned off the light and got into bed.
Hongsha slept on the inside. Mu Dai took the outer side. She couldn’t sleep, so like always, she reached out and ran her fingers over the carving on the bed frame.
Marquis on Horseback.
She traced the shapes—petting the monkey’s head, scraping the horse’s tail with a fingernail.
Counting under her breath:
“One round… two rounds…”
Like counting sheep. One full loop of touching meant one round. As she kept going, she started drifting off.
Aunt Hong used to tease her:
“Look at that—this little monkey and horse, their heads and tails are shiny from all your rubbing! Mu Dai, you keep that up, you’re gonna wear the lacquer off!”
So what if she did? It was carved so beautifully—it was made to be admired.
Three rounds… four…
When she hit round five, a sudden chill jolted through her.
In the dark, her skin crawled.
Her fingers were still on the carving—but now they were trembling.
This shape… didn’t feel like Marquis on Horseback.
A flash of light.
Click.
Another photo snapped.
—
Luo Ren had already gone to bed. Maybe it was the physical labor, but everyone had turned in earlier than usual.
However, the computer was left on.
The auto-transfer and stitching software was running by itself.
Seven new photos popped up on screen, neatly in a row.
In the last photo, the phoenix’s head was tilted at an eerie angle.
And its once half-closed eye… had opened.
wannaberecluse On SRTT Chapter 98.2