The sudden Soul Tether left Jiang Sui completely stunned in place.
Is he looking at me?
It wasn’t an illusion; when Jiang Sui shifted her position, the Ghost’s gaze followed her.
There was no mistake; he was definitely looking at her.
Why had he shown no reaction before, yet now he could suddenly see her?
For some reason, as long as his gaze remained fixed on her, an indescribable chill welled up within Jiang Sui. It was somewhat nauseating, but not to the point of making her lose her composure.
They stared at each other for several minutes.
Wait, why isn’t anything else happening?
Are you just going to keep staring at me like this and then… nothing? Is there no further movement?
“You aren’t trying to say something to me, are you?”
Unable to hold back any longer, Jiang Sui spoke. As soon as the words left her mouth, the corners of the other party’s lips curled up, and he finally took his next step.
He passed through Jiang Sui’s body as he had before, walking back the way he came.
After a moment of hesitation, Jiang Sui decided to follow him to see what tricks this Ghost was ultimately up to.
Following the Ghost down to the first floor, they arrived at a location quite far from the Hall.
The Yang Family residence was very large, but not all areas were frequently populated. For instance, no one ever came to this particular corridor; it was only occasionally visited by a Servant to dust or mop the floor.
Bringing me to a place like this, could there really be some secret hidden here?
Just as Jiang Sui felt a growing sense of movement, the Ghost stopped again because the path ahead was a dead end.
Why have you stopped again?
Jiang Sui looked around at her surroundings. There was only one door here, its handle covered in quite a bit of dust. It was clear no one had used it for a long time.
Since the Ghost wasn’t moving again, she could only begin investigating on her own.
Opening the door, she found only an empty, cavernous room inside, filled with a pile of junk. Other than that, there was nothing noteworthy at all.
Just as Jiang Sui was feeling confused, the sense of malice behind her suddenly surged to another level, causing her to whip her head around.
At some point, the Ghost had already turned around and was actively lunging toward her position.
Something’s wrong—this time is very wrong.
An ominous premonition churned in her heart. The gaze the Ghost directed at her this time carried a very obvious intent of malice.
This was the First Time he had actively walked toward Jiang Sui, yet she found herself unable to move her body.
I can’t move. It’s as if the bones in my entire body have turned to ice, unable to budge even an inch.
Jiang Sui could only stare into his eyes, watching as he raised his hand and drew closer to her.
Within the Ghost’s pupils, a faint Red Glow lit up. Looking closely, it seemed as if a Mysterious Pattern was rotating within his eyes.
Jiang Sui couldn’t see it clearly, but she found it somewhat familiar. It wasn’t that the Mysterious Pattern was familiar, but rather the aura emitted by the Ghost itself felt charred.
Where exactly have I felt this before? Why can’t I remember?
Just as the Ghost’s palm was about to touch her forehead, heavy and hurried footsteps rushed toward them.
“Jiang Sui!”
Lu Yunze’s shout brought her back to her senses. Before she could react, he charged forward and pulled her into his arms.
A sudden warmth directly enveloped the girl’s body, dispersing all the biting cold and allowing her spirit to recover.
Seeing his target within reach was obstructed, the Ghost frowned and pressed his palm directly against the back of Lu Yunze’s shoulder.
A searing pain stimulated Lu Yunze’s nerves, nearly making him cry out.
The Ghost curled his lips, but was then struck directly by Lu Yunze’s counterattack, dissipating like a cloud of gas.
“Uh…”
Because his fist hadn’t felt any solid contact, Lu Yunze looked back, momentarily stunned.
“Where is the Enemy?”
He was asking Jiang Sui, but the young girl had not yet recovered from his warm embrace, not until Lu Yunze let go of her face.
After standing guard for a moment and confirming that only the two of them were nearby, Lu Yunze finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“What are you doing here?”
“I…” Jiang Sui’s mind raced, trying to figure out how to explain the matter of the Ghost.
“When you were supposed to be cleaning, why did you come all the way here by yourself?”
“Huh?”
By myself?
Jiang Sui blinked her eyes.
“Did you only see me?”
“Who else would be here besides the two of us?”
Lu Yunze was confused, and he clearly wasn’t lying.
This… only I saw that Ghost?
Or was the so-called Ghost just a hallucination that didn’t actually exist?
Lu Yunze wanted to say more, but the pain radiating from his shoulder made him gasp. He quickly had Jiang Sui take a look at what was going on.
Stepping behind Lu Yunze, Jiang Sui was instantly convinced—that Ghost was absolutely no hallucination.
It looked as if Lu Yunze’s back had been branded with a hot iron. His clothes were scorched black, and beneath the torn fabric, there was an obvious burn wound.
Because this wound was sustained while saving her, Jiang Sui naturally took Lu Yunze back to the Bedroom to give him some simple treatment.
Lu Yunze sat on the bed with his torn suit jacket tossed aside, his upper body bare.
Jiang Sui knelt by the bedside, using medicine from the medical kit to disinfect his wound.
“Ouch, that hurts a bit. What on earth burned me?”
“I wanted to ask you that, Young Master. Why did you just charge in like that?”
Hearing this, Lu Yunze spoke as if teasing her:
“It’s because I saw you standing there in a daze. I was worried something would happen to you…”
The moment Lu Yunze had seen Jiang Sui, a sudden impulse had surged within his heart. The thought that she would be in danger if he were even a second late had occupied his mind.
Even though he hadn’t seen any Enemy, he had still rushed up to pull her into a hug, using his own body to protect her.
“The way you were so worried about me, Young Master, is truly naively cute.”
The corners of Jiang Sui’s lips curled up as her slender fingers brushed across his back.
“Next time there’s a chance, let me use my body to protect your weakness, Young Master, so you can become strong.”
“You should forget about it. With your small frame, what could you possibly block?” Lu Yunze joked.
“Young Master, you didn’t understand what I was saying.”
“Eh?”
Facing his face full of doubt, Jiang Sui only chuckled softly and said no more.
Continuing to treat his wound, Jiang Sui intended to use tweezers to remove the dead skin, but as the healing process progressed, she felt more and more that something was wrong.
Beneath the peeled skin, she didn’t see bright red flesh, but rather… brand new skin?
Not only that, after clearing away most of the dead skin, Jiang Sui discovered that the shape of this wound seemed to form a Mysterious Pattern.
The shape of this Mysterious Pattern reminded Jiang Sui of the design on the cover of the Ancient Book, though it wasn’t exactly the same.
What was the connection between the two?
If Lu Yunze hadn’t appeared in time, the Ghost would have used his palm to stamp this Mysterious Pattern onto her forehead. Thinking back on it now, it was a bit terrifying.
In her plan to capture Lu Yunze’s heart, a beautiful face was indispensable. If it were ruined, how could she face Lu Yunze in the future?
“Jiang Sui, Jiang Sui.”
“Ah, what is it, Young Master?”
“Why are you spacing out again? You aren’t still shaken up, are you?”
“It’s nothing. I was just thinking, since your clothes are ruined, how will you attend the Birthday Banquet later?” Jiang Sui quickly made up an excuse. “Even if the Old Master likes you, it wouldn’t be good to let him lose face in front of so many people, right?”
“I have other suits. I’ll just go back to the Bedroom and change in a bit.”
Lu Yunze didn’t think it was an issue.
Since the topic was suddenly concluded by him, Jiang Sui had to quickly pick up another one. After half a minute of silence, she spoke again:
“Speaking of which, I haven’t asked why you came looking for me, Young Master. The ceremony is about to start; is it really okay for you to come find a Maid like me instead of greeting the guests?”
“It’s not like it’s my Birthday Banquet anyway. My brother is there to handle things; I just need to show up on time and not cause trouble.”
Lu Yunze gave a wry smile.
“Besides, you know me. I don’t really like banquets.”
Lu Yunze found even the small Ceremony hosted by Light Jade difficult to deal with, let alone his father’s Birthday Banquet. He didn’t even want to think about how many people would attend. Not only big figures from within the Central City, but even guests from far away would travel just to say “Happy Birthday” to his father.
With such a large crowd squeezed together, even one sentence per person would make the entire Dining Hall incredibly noisy.
“I see. You felt bored, Young Master, so you came to find me for entertainment, didn’t you?”
After applying the bandage to his wound, Jiang Sui laughed.
“Who said anything about playing with you? You make it sound like I treat you like a toy…”
“That’s fine. You can come find me for entertainment anytime and anywhere, Young Master.”
Jiang Sui interrupted him.
“After all, I am your Maid. You can use me however you wish, Young Master.”
“Heh, that’s just like you.” Lu Yunze shook his head with a smile. “If only you were also a guest attending the banquet. Then I could find you to pass the time through the whole event.”
Unfortunately, Jiang Sui was just a Maid. If people saw Lu Yunze hanging around a Maid the entire time, bad rumors would spread through the entire Yang Family and even the Central City by the next day.
At that time, not only would Lu Yunze’s reputation be affected, but Jiang Sui’s job would also be hard to keep.
“I understand. You lack a goal to make you look forward to the banquet, Young Master.”
“Haha, what could possibly make me look forward to it?”
Jiang Sui tapped her chin. “If I had to say, there actually is something. Originally, I wanted to give you a pleasant surprise. For your sake, I’ll just have to show it off early.”
“Oh?”
“Young Master, could you please go back to your room to get dressed and then come back?” Jiang Sui’s smile suddenly became mysterious. “Time is running out. I hope you can be quick, Young Master, or the banquet will begin.”
Not quite understanding what she was planning, Lu Yunze followed her instructions. He went back to his room to change into a different colored suit and then returned.
Standing before the door of the Bedroom, Lu Yunze found it locked. A female voice came from inside.
“Please wait a moment, Young Master. I’m not ready yet.”
Such secrecy made Lu Yunze even more expectant.
After waiting in the corridor for a while, he finally heard the sound of the door unlocking and her invitation.
“Please come in.”
Taking a deep breath, Lu Yunze pushed the door open and finally witnessed Jiang Sui’s so-called “surprise.”
She stood under the light of the setting sun. She was no longer wearing her Maid uniform, but rather the outfit she had specially prepared for Lu Yunze tonight—a Formal Dress.