"Who sent this letter?" Xie Jingchu frowned and asked.
"It was a little kid. He stuffed the letter into my hand and then ran away," Qin Yuan replied.
Xie Jingchu cast his gaze on the letter paper once again.
The crooked handwriting on it clearly showed that the writer didn't want to reveal their identity.
"Does this letter mean that we're supposed to go to Taiping Village?" Ruan Jiu asked.
Xie Jingchu pursed his lips. "It should be this intention."
"But what do they want us to do in Taiping Village?" Ruan Jiu continued to ask.
Xie Jingchu shook his head.
He had no idea what the sender of this letter was up to.
Why did they send this letter at this particular moment?
Could it be that this mysterious person knew they were planning to investigate Chi Wei?
However, the plan to investigate Chi Wei was just discussed by them.
There was only one possibility, which was that this mysterious person knew all about Ruan Jiu's actions in the Prime Minister's Mansion today.
They not only knew about their plan to investigate Chi Wei but also about their intention to deal with Gu Kexing.
Thinking of this, Xie Jingchu's expression turned even graver. Frowning, he asked, "A Jiu, did anything strange happen to you in the Prime Minister's Mansion today?"
Ruan Jiu bit her finger and recalled carefully.
Then she replied, "I went to look for Gu Kexing's study, but I couldn't find it no matter what. Suddenly, I heard two maids saying that they were going to tidy up the study, so I quietly followed them.
But in a blink of an eye, I lost them. Then I wandered around the yard and accidentally discovered the affair of the Fifth Concubine."
Now that she thought about it, it seemed as if someone had deliberately led her to witness this.
Did this person know her purpose for going to the Prime Minister's Mansion?
Ruan Jiu felt a vague uneasiness in her heart. "A Jing, I seem to have been discovered today!"
Xie Jingchu nodded, his brows tightly knitted. "However, this person not only didn't expose you but also sent this letter. Moreover, Chi Wei rushed over right after something happened in the Prime Minister's Mansion. Maybe it was also the work of that person."
"Could this person be trying to use us?" Ruan Jiu exclaimed.
Xie Jingchu tightened his grip on the letter paper and stared at the content on it with a solemn look in his eyes. "It seems that we have to go to Taiping Village."
But Ruan Jiu was still a bit worried. "What if it's a trap?"
Xie Jingchu took a deep breath.
"We'll find out whether this person is a friend or a foe once we go there tomorrow."
-
Early the next morning, they headed towards Taiping Village, which was ten li outside the city as the letter had instructed.
"This mysterious person isn't kidding us, is he?" Ruan Jiu stopped and muttered.
There was no sign of human habitation in the vicinity, let alone a village, not to mention Taiping Village.
Xie Jingchu also stopped and then turned to get closer to Ruan Jiu. "A Jiu, are you too tired to walk? How about I carry you?"
Hearing this, Qin Yuan turned around awkwardly with a red face.
Covering his face, he thought to himself.
Since their Fourth Master had confessed his love, he always seemed like a peacock showing off his feathers in front of Miss Biao.
Those charming words just rolled off his tongue. Qin Yuan was even too embarrassed to listen.
Ruan Jiu blushed and glared at Xie Jingchu. "Shut up!"
Then she continued walking, leaving Xie Jingchu with a mischievous smile behind.
After walking for a long time, they finally saw a farmer carrying a heavy basket of firewood on his back.
Ruan Jiu immediately stepped forward and asked, "Brother, do you know where Taiping Village is?"
The farmer looked at them suspiciously and asked, "You want to go to Taiping Village?"
Ruan Jiu nodded.
The farmer continued, "I advise you not to go there."
Ruan Jiu tilted her head and asked puzzledly, "Why?"
The farmer replied, "Although it's called Taiping Village, it's actually far from peaceful. It's very strange!"
This answer piqued Ruan Jiu's interest. "Oh? How strange?"
The farmer answered carefully, "Five years ago, Taiping Village suddenly suffered a mountain fire, and everyone in the village was burned to death. Since then, Taiping Village has been haunted. No one who has entered has ever come out alive!
As time went by, no one dared to go there anymore."
When talking about this, the farmer couldn't help shivering, his scalp tingling.
Ruan Jiu and Xie Jingchu exchanged a look.
It seemed that there was indeed something fishy about Taiping Village.
Xie Jingchu said, "Could you please show us the way to Taiping Village?"
The farmer took several steps back in a hurry.
Scared, he waved his hands repeatedly. "Go there by yourselves. I'm not going to court death! I wouldn't even come to this place if I didn't need to cut firewood!"
Seeing the farmer's timidity, Xie Jingchu twitched the corner of his mouth.
However, there was nothing that couldn't be solved with silver.
So he took out a silver ingot from his pocket and handed it to the farmer. "Please do us a favor and show us the way."
The farmer's eyes lit up when he saw the shiny silver.
He immediately took the silver and bit it with his teeth.
After confirming that it was real, he said, "But I can only take you to the entrance of the village. I will never go in with you!"
Xie Jingchu nodded.
The farmer carefully put the silver into his pocket.
Gritting his teeth, he led them towards Taiping Village.
"That's Taiping Village over there. If you encounter anything strange, don't blame me."
Following the direction the farmer pointed, they saw weeds growing everywhere. There were hardly any traces left of the fire.
They couldn't even tell if this was really Taiping Village.
When they turned around to ask the farmer, they found that he had already disappeared.
Ruan Jiu and Xie Jingchu looked at each other and smiled helplessly.
Just then, Qin Yuan's voice came.
"Fourth Master, look!"
They turned their heads and saw Qin Yuan standing beside a big rock.
There were three characters "Taiping Village" engraved on the rock.
It seemed that this was indeed Taiping Village.
So they stepped into the village.
Xie Jingchu tightly held Ruan Jiu's hand and didn't dare to let go for a moment.
"A Jing, you don't have to hold my hand so tightly. I won't get lost," Ruan Jiu said.
Their fingers were intertwined so tightly that Ruan Jiu's palms were starting to sweat.
"Aren't you afraid that there really are ghosts here?" Xie Jingchu raised his eyebrows.
Although he said so, in fact, he was worried that Ruan Jiu would be in danger.
After all, this place was said to be so strange.
Hearing this, Ruan Jiu laughed and joked, "If there really are ghosts, I hope it's a female ghost. Maybe the female ghost will spare us when she sees your face."
"Is A Jiu complimenting me on my good looks?" Xie Jingchu tilted his head towards Ruan Jiu.
"Shameless!" Ruan Jiu turned her face away.
Just then, Qin Yuan shrank back and clung to Xie Jingchu's back, his eyes constantly looking around.
If he wasn't afraid that the Fourth Master would kick him away, he really wanted to hold tightly onto the Fourth Master's arm.
He stammered, "Fourth Master, do you hear any strange sounds?"
Xie Jingchu stopped, held his breath, and pricked up his ears.
"Dang! Dang! Dang!"
The sound was very faint but orderly, as if someone was knocking on something.
Suddenly, a whistling wind came from not far away. It howled and whirled up the dead branches and leaves on the ground. Even the sky became much darker.
It was extremely creepy!
Qin Yuan was so scared that he almost jumped up.
Could it really be this strange?
Seeing that they were going to follow the direction of the sound, Qin Yuan said with a bitter face, "Aren't you afraid that there really are ghosts?"
Ruan Jiu couldn't help covering her mouth and chuckling.
She didn't expect that the personal bodyguard of the Fourth Master of the Xie Family would be so timid.
She said softly, "Sometimes, humans are far more terrifying than ghosts."