Mu Dai’s heart skipped a beat. She reached for her chest. Through her clothes, she could feel the pearl on her whistle necklace.
Yan Hongsand noticed. She leaned in and whispered, “Don’t listen to my grandpa. He’s just being theatrical. He’s not poor.”
Then she added, “Tonight, we’ll sneak out and eat meat.”
Mu Dai immediately felt better.
——
Getting to Sizhai was a long journey. First, they flew from Kunming to Guiyang, then from Guiyang to Libo in southern Guizhou.
By the time they landed, it was afternoon. To save time, they headed straight to the bus terminal to hire a driver. But with Grandpa Yan being old and Yan Hongsand being clueless, all the negotiating fell to Mu Dai.
She was surrounded by a bunch of drivers, trying to sound experienced despite feeling a bit nervous herself.
—“How many years have you been driving? On highways or mountain roads?”
—“Does this price include meals? How do we split fuel costs?”
—“We’ll need a ride back too—might be in a few days, depends. If we return, we’ll consider taking your car again…”
Eventually, she settled on one. The driver dropped them at their hotel and agreed to pick them up the next morning.
When she got to the room, she noticed a housekeeper and struck up a casual conversation, asking about the local transport scene. After comparing notes, she was pleased—she’d picked a pretty good deal.
Mu Dai felt quite accomplished.
That night, lying in bed, she called Luo Ren. She made sure to emphasize the whole car-hiring saga. Luo Ren’s response?
“Mm.”
What did “mm” even mean?
Mu Dai pouted. “You’re not even going to compliment me?”
Luo Ren chuckled. After a pause, he said, “I’m guessing you’ll still have to switch cars after reaching Sizhai.”
He was right. Grandpa Yan had only told them that the treasure was somewhere near Sizhai, but no matter how much they asked, he refused to give more details—not even Yan Hongsand could get it out of him.
“If that happens, pay attention to the route. Send me any landmarks you notice.”
Mu Dai’s heart dropped. “Why?”
She figured it out herself. “Luo Ren… are you planning to follow us? That’s not good.”
She flipped over in bed, now lying on her stomach, anxiety rising.
“Grandpa Yan is super secretive about this. He doesn’t want anyone else involved. If you follow us in a car, he’ll be furious. Don’t worry about me—I’ll be careful, I promise…”
She reassured him over and over. Luo Ren didn’t interrupt, just listened patiently.
Then he asked, “Do you want me to come?”
Mu Dai went silent.
Goddamn, he knows how to talk.
Do you want me to come?
Five little words—like golden arrows shooting straight into her heart, tickling and lingering, the feathered ends still quivering.
She fiddled with the edge of her blanket and mumbled, “Yeah… I do.”
Luo Ren laughed, then paused and said, “Be careful. The third death slip might be near Sizhai.”
Death slip?
Mu Dai snapped awake. She’d almost forgotten about that.
She stammered, “Wh-why would it show up again?”
Luo Ren sent a photo of the Saoqing Niang to the group chat.
He’d already researched it online. Most of what Lian Shu said was accurate—Saoqing Niang was typically a woman waving a broom, mostly seen in paper-cut form or cloth dolls. Each region had its variation.
He hadn’t found one exactly like the one they had, but that wasn’t surprising. An article he found mentioned how people often take creative liberties in reimagining her appearance.
The group chat exploded.
Cao Yanhua timidly asked, “What if we just ignore it? What would happen?”
Ever since coming back from Wuzhu Village, life had finally returned to normal. Pingting’s health was improving. Wan San’s father’s ashes had been buried. The restaurant renovation was going smoothly…
Everything was finally going well. Nobody wanted to stir up trouble again.
Understandably so.
Luo Ren sent a side-by-side comparison image.
Wan San was the first to notice: “The colors are lighter. Also… the phoenix’s head seems to have shifted.”
Luo Ren briefly explained the situation. Then he said, “What I’m worried about is—if the phoenix in the fish tank keeps getting lighter, what happens when it fades completely?”
Mu Dai stared at her phone, stunned.
The phoenix’s color seemed to represent its ability to suppress the death slip. If it faded entirely, did that mean the death slip could break free again?
If that happened, Pingting would be the first to suffer.
Wan San thought the same. “If someone possessed by it doesn’t die… the death slip might come back for them. But it’s not gonna, like, mess with my dad’s ashes again, right?”
No one replied.
Just then, a notification popped up in the chat:
Luo Ren invited “The Stick Bathed in Friends’ Love” to the group.
Note: This user is not currently friends with anyone in the group. Please be cautious.
wannaberecluse On SRTT Chapter 98.2