The man hesitated and shook his head, looking sincere and innocent. "I, Lu, don't understand what you mean, miss."
There was genuine ignorance and bewilderment in his eyes. It didn't seem like the falsehood that came after hiding his sharpness.
Ning Yuwan changed her way of speaking. "It was your zither music that led me here."
"I see," Lu Jin replied.
There was no hostility emanating from Ning Yuwan.
But Lu Jin was naturally timid, so he swallowed hard.
He quickly glanced at her and then quickly averted his gaze.
After a long while, he carefully answered, "I accidentally found an ancient zither while cleaning the old house today. I couldn't resist the urge to play it late at night. I didn't expect to disturb you, miss."
In the dead of night, a stunning woman knocked on the door with unknown intentions.
A story from a romance novel about a beautiful ghost sucking a man's essence came to his mind, making him even more anxious.
He held the door crack with his left hand and kept his right hand behind his back, secretly clutching two cloves of garlic in his palm, as he had heard that ghosts hated pungent smells.
He was ready. If the woman in front of him attacked, he would eat the garlic immediately and stink her to death!
But he didn't know that his little action had been noticed by Ning Yuwan, and a faint golden light flickered in her eyes.
She then knew that Lu Jin was a pure and ordinary human being.
"Did you compose the tune as well?"
Ning Yuwan didn't let her guard down. After seeing the dragon - shaped pendant, her vigilance grew even stronger.
People in the Chu Dynasty especially loved cattle, and every family wore cattle - shaped ornaments. Few liked dragons.
This was because the Chu Dynasty was founded a thousand years ago. The emperor at that time regarded himself as the son of the dragon and didn't like others to desecrate him with dragon ornaments. He ordered that dragon ornaments be banned except for the royal family.
It wasn't until five hundred years ago that the ban was gradually lifted.
But due to habit, dragon ornaments had disappeared among the common people.
Just looking at the Lu Mansion from the outside, it was at most a hundred years old. But the dragon ornaments on the eaves were of a long - standing history.
The craftsmanship and structure were from the same period as when Ning Yuwan had fallen into slumber.
Lu Jin honestly shook his head. "I found the sheet music in the zither case. I thought the tune was unique and new, so I learned to play it."
"I've heard this tune before," Ning Yuwan replied indifferently. "It's just been so long that I can't quite remember."
"The sheet music should be passed down in the family. Could it be that you and I have a family connection, miss?"
Lu Jin's eyes lit up. If there was a connection, then it was fate!
No one knew how his mind worked, but after just a few thoughts, he came to the conclusion that Ning Yuwan was a human, not a ghost.
At the moment, he got excited and directly opened the door to invite her. "Would you like to listen to me play it again, miss, to help you recall?"
His look changed from fear to fanaticism, which made Ning Yuwan a bit uncomfortable.
But since he meant no harm, she nodded.
She had come precisely in pursuit of the zither music and the strong fragrance.
However, Ning Yuwan quietly sniffed. There was not a trace of fragrance on the Lu Mansion or on Lu Jin.
It seemed that the fragrance and the zither music didn't come from the same person as she had guessed.
Lu Jin led the way in front. "My name is Jin. May I ask your name, miss?"
"Ning Yuwan."
"So it's Miss Ning."
Inside the Lu Mansion, there was only a bit of clarity illuminated by the moonlight, and the rest was endless darkness.
Seeing Ning Yuwan stop, Lu Jin scratched his head awkwardly and laughed. "To save on lamp oil, I play the zither by the moonlight."
You really have good eyesight!
As if guessing what Ning Yuwan was thinking, Lu Jin shyly covered his face. "Please sit down for a while, miss. I'll go find a candle."
He rushed into the inner room in a hurry, leaving Ning Yuwan sitting alone in the moonlight.
Soon, there was the sound of rummaging in the room.
Ning Yuwan took the opportunity to observe the Lu Mansion. It was a three - courtyard mansion, bright and spacious. It was a nice house.
After looking around the whole mansion, she didn't find another living being.
It seemed that Lu Jin lived here alone.
No wonder he was so cautious and scared.
However...
Ning Yuwan narrowed her eyes and raised her eyebrows. She tapped the table lightly with her fingers. She was sitting in the center of the mansion at the moment.
Looking at the furnishings around, they were ordinary yet extraordinary.
Ordinary because, like the surface of the Lu Mansion, it was only about a hundred years old.
But extraordinary because, after just sitting for a short while, a stream of spiritual energy had penetrated into her body.
It turned out that there was a small spiritual - gathering formation here.
Presumably, there was someone in Lu Jin's ancestors who was fond of feng shui arrangements.
Today, it happened to benefit her. Her spiritual energy was just depleted, and the spiritual energy in the void seemed to have chosen her and directly entered her body.
For a moment, she got even more spiritual energy than from Yan Zhao.
The Lu Mansion provided her with spiritual energy, which was the cause.
Naturally, Ning Yuwan had to return the effect. She pinched her fingers and cast a small spell to protect the Lu Mansion for a hundred years.
After absorbing all the spiritual energy, she looked radiant, and her eyebrows and eyes were even more charming than before.
Lu Jin came out with a small lantern. Looking at Ning Yuwan in the moonlight again, he only felt that she was even more ethereal and stunning than before!
His face suddenly froze: Could it be that Miss Ning was really a ghost?
Had he unknowingly had his essence sucked away?
While he was having wild thoughts, Ning Yuwan's attention was caught by the stone table in front of her.
When she had tapped on the table just now, she had vaguely noticed that the stone table was uneven. Looking closely, she saw a dragon carved on it, swimming freely.
The stone table was colorless, and the dragon was just a carved object, but she somehow tasted a sense of freedom and playfulness from it.
Looking at the dragon's tail again, it seemed to be injured and incomplete, cut into two halves.
Ning Yuwan's face looked strange. She clearly remembered that when she woke up, the tip of her tail was also cut off.
Could it be that the dragon drawn on this stone table was actually her true form?
But she had been in slumber for a thousand years, and this stone table looked ordinary and was no more than a hundred years old. How did it know her true form?
Ning Yuwan lowered her eyes and pondered. Then she saw Lu Jin put the slightly rough white lantern on the stone table.
He was really poor. There were several holes in the paper on the four sides of the lantern.
Fortunately, there was no cold wind at the moment, or the candle might have gone out directly.
Accidentally, the candle wax dripped through the hole onto the position of the dragon's tail on the stone table.
Ning Yuwan felt as if the tail of her true - form dragon had been burned. A cold look appeared in her eyes. She grabbed Lu Jin's lapel. "What did you do?"
Lu Jin was already full of suspicions and was even more startled. "Miss Ning... men and women should avoid physical contact! I'm not married yet. Please don't..."
Ning Yuwan impatiently interrupted him. "Did you use a spell on me?"
The dragon's eyes could distinguish demons, ghosts, and evil spirits. She had peeked at Lu Jin and he was indeed an ordinary human.
But she didn't expect that his sinister intentions were hidden so well that even the dragon's eyes had been deceived.
"What spell?"
Lu Jin was shocked. "How do you know that I know spells, Miss Ning?"
Then he suddenly froze and shook his head to deny. "No, my master said I can't say. Miss Ning, actually I don't know spells. Do you believe me?"
There were many prohibitions a thousand years ago, and spells were one of them. They had been in effect from a thousand years ago until now and had never been lifted.
Lu Jin's appearance clearly showed that he had learned spells, but he just didn't dare to admit it.
"What spell did you use on me exactly?"
The tip of her tail seemed to be on fire, and Ning Yuwan's grip tightened. "Tell me!"
Lu Jin suddenly pushed her away and gasped for breath on the side.
He had almost been out of breath just now. "Miss Ning, I have no grudges against you. Why did you hit me?"