The wind in Qinghe County carried a damp, earthy chill, rattling the charred charcoal scattered across the ruins. Lu Li stood before the broken walls and rubble, her garments whipping in the fierce wind, her gaze so dark and deep it seemed capable of burning through the dead silence before her.
Beside her, an old woman selling cakes was about to shoulder her load and leave. But seeing that these two people still stood rooted in place, she couldn't resist muttering: "The Lu family—all of them—were wiped out more than a year ago."
"Wiped out?" Lu Li spoke abruptly, her voice cold as ice.
Startled by the sudden words, the old woman shrank back. Just as she was about to elaborate, she saw Qingniao beside her smilingly hold out a heavy string of copper coins, buying all the cloud-slice cakes from the top of the load—and still handing over more than the price warranted. Qingniao's tone was gentle as she tried to draw information: "Madam, we're from out of town and don't know about the Lu family. Would you mind telling us what happened to them?"
The old woman fingered the string of coins. Her clouded eyes flickered as she lowered her voice: "It was just bad luck for the Lu family. You see, they once had a son-in-law from the capital. The neighbors were green with envy—until... ah!"
Two years prior, Lu Li's elder sister, Lu Wan, had married. Her husband's family was a wealthy merchant house in the capital, with substantial means. The betrothal gifts they sent filled fourteen sedan chairs, and red silk draped half a street, filling the surrounding neighbors with envy. Lu Wan's father was merely an ordinary private tutor in Qinghe County, and the family lived in modest poverty. In truth, the Lu family had married well above its station. Moreover, the young master of the wealthy merchant family was handsome and gentle. Paired with the beautiful Lu Wan, they truly made an ideal match.
After the wedding, Lu Wan followed her husband to the capital.
It seemed a flawless union—until half a year after Lu Wan arrived in the capital, the Lu family received news from the capital: Lu Wan was dead.
Along with the news came some unsavory rumors. Lu Ping, Lu Wan's younger brother and closest to his elder sister since childhood, was an honest man. Hearing the terrible news, he immediately packed his bags and set off for the capital to find out what had happened. His parents waited and waited at home, but what arrived instead was an official document from the authorities.
After entering the capital, Lu Ping had somehow broken into a private residence, stolen valuables, and assaulted a woman. He was caught red-handed by the homeowner and was now imprisoned. He would likely not escape the death penalty.
Qinghe County was a small place. Lu Ping had been watched grow up by the neighbors, always bright, kind, and quick to stand up for others. Not even the neighbors believed he could have committed such acts of theft and assault. How much less could his parents believe it? Furious, Lu Wan's father drafted a petition and traveled to the capital to petition the authorities, determined to clear his son's name. But before he even reached the capital, while traveling by water, a storm arose. His boat capsized, and not even an intact body was recovered.
In barely a year, they had lost their daughter, their son, and their husband. How could the mother bear it? Overnight, she lost her mind.
"She looked completely deranged—not crying or making noise, just clutching a rattle drum Lu Wan used to play with as a child, sitting by the lake grinning and singing. The song made your skin crawl..." The old woman shook her head with a sigh. "The neighbors were afraid something would happen to her, so they took her back home several times. But one night, a fire broke out at the Lu house..."
A maddened woman accidentally knocking over an oil lamp on a table in the dead of night—it seemed plausible enough. Or perhaps she had a brief moment of clarity, looked around at the empty house with no one left, and lacked the will to go on. She may have simply set herself alight along with the house, seeking an end.
"This... the Lu family is truly shrouded in strangeness. In just a year, every last one of them died." The old woman continued chattering to Qingniao, though her eyes kept darting toward Lu Li. "I reckon you two shouldn't get too close to this place. Whoever knows what evil spirits linger here—you might get caught up in it."
"Where is Madam Lu's remains?" Lu Li cut her off.
The old woman met Lu Li's gaze. Looking into those deep, unfathomable eyes, she felt an inexplicable unease, as though something cold had stung her. She steadied herself before answering: "The fire burned fiercely and started at night. By the time anyone noticed, it was already too late. It burned all night long. When they went in the next day, all they found was a handful of ash. They swept it away carelessly, and as for the house itself—it just couldn't be repaired, so they left it as it was."
Having finished, she saw that Lu Li and Qingniao were still standing at the Lu family gate with no intention of leaving. So she hoisted her load onto her shoulder and muttered: "In any case, the Lu family died under most uncanny circumstances. Must have bumped into some kind of filth and evil. You shouldn't linger near this place. It's always bad luck to spend time in a house where people died. Don't go getting yourself into trouble." With that, she hurried off, her pace quickening as though something were chasing her.
Qingniao still held the cloud-slice cakes she'd bought from the old woman. She returned to Lu Li's side, about to offer words of comfort, when she saw Lu Li step into the ruined house.
The fire at the Lu house had indeed been ferocious. Not a trace of what the dwelling once was remained. Everywhere there were charred timbers and cinders, and the air still carried the lingering, years-old smell of burning.
Lu Li walked slowly, the rubble crunching softly beneath her feet.
She had been away from home for so long. Many past memories had grown hazy, but she could still recall that the old main hall lay toward the back, connected to the courtyard and rear kitchen. The tile eaves had been low, and when it rained, water dripped from the eaves, often pooling in the courtyard. That had been her favorite place to splash about as a child.
Now, fallen charred beams were jumbled among the ruins. There was no distinguishing courtyard from kitchen—only a blackened, lifeless void.
Her foot pressed down on the debris, producing a faint grinding sound. Lu Li lowered her gaze and saw something solid peeking out from beneath the broken tiles.
She crouched down and began picking away the rubble.
It was a fragment of a blue stone slab. Near the corridor and behind the kitchen had stood a blue stone water trough, perpetually filled with clear water. Seven years ago, before she left home, she had drawn the last bucket of well water herself. The water had been so crisp and cold then, clear enough to reflect a person's face.
Behind her, Qingniao caught up. Surveying the charred tiles on every side, an involuntary chill crawled up her spine. She murmured, "Miss, perhaps we should step outside first. What that woman said—if there really are taboos here, and besides—"
"Besides what?" Lu Li's voice was calm, betraying not a single tremor. "Besides the fact that the Lu family is impossibly strange?"
Qingniao dared not speak another word. The mistress before her today felt like a complete stranger—someone terrifying.
Lu Li let her gaze fall to her palm, where she held the remaining fragment of a wind chime—the very one her father had crafted with his own hands, now broken to a mere shard. She stared at the ruins before her and said coldly: "Indeed, impossibly strange."
Death, imprisonment, a boat disaster, a fire—one after another, these incidents formed a chain of events so tightly linked that not a single thread of hope remained. She too wished to know what manner of "filth and evil" the Lu family had offended—enough to be exterminated so utterly, so mercilessly.
"Just now, she mentioned that Lu Wan married into a family in the capital," Lu Li said. "The Shen family?"
Qingniao collected herself and quickly replied: "Yes, my lady. She said it was an old porcelain house in the capital—a famously wealthy family."
"The Shens..." Lu Li rose to her feet, tucking the wind chime fragment into her sleeve. Her gaze turned toward the direction of the capital, and she spoke each word with deliberate precision: "I will remember."