Chapter 154

Xie Linghan escorted Bai Zhuo back to the other side of the wall. In truth, she had deliberately come here today, perhaps suspecting that this scoundrel Bai Zhuo might attempt to flee from the marriage; after all, even a frail bookworm driven to desperation will eventually fight back.

Watching him struggle mightily as he clung to the top of the wall and hauled himself over, Xie Linghan let out a deep sigh. This marriage had been arranged in such a muddled fashion.

A few days later, Fubao brought the young Miss Chen to visit the Lin family estate once again. Lin Jiajia was in her boudoir, applying paint to a carving she had finished. Hearing that Fubao had arrived, she was utterly delighted.

"Hehe, I'm back again!" Fubao walked in with a smile.

"It's so wonderful that you two are here. I get so bored all by myself," Lin Jiajia warmly greeted them.

"Ooh, Lin Jiajia, you are so talented! This is carved so prettily," the young Miss Chen picked up a small wooden figurine to examine it closely.

"Hehe, I carved it when I was bored. Take whichever one you like," Lin Jiajia said with a generous wave of her hand, acting quite magnanimous.

"You're the best!" The young Miss Chen gave Lin Jiajia a bear hug.

Fubao felt a twinge of jealousy.

"Oh right, I brought some medicinal herbs earlier and gave them to the madam," Fubao said. Those herbs were actually extorted by the little ginseng spirit from other demons—they were exceptionally nourishing, specifically for replenishing vital yang energy.

"Make sure you give them to your uncle, okay? I went through so much hard work to get them!" Well, to tell the truth, she had painstakingly tricked them out of the little ginseng spirit.

"Pfft, what kind of good herbs could you possibly procure? Don't go wasting money recklessly," the young Miss Chen burst out laughing. This little girl had probably been swindled again.

"Hmph~ Believe what you want," Fubao pouted and turned her head away in a haughty manner.

"Aiya, it's already wonderful enough that you two are here to keep me company. Usually, it's just me all alone; no one dares to come near me, and even my own aunts and uncles are unwilling to get close."

Lin Jiajia felt a little touched. Because of her ill-fated constitution, others were reluctant to go near her. Even her own grandmother refused to see her; although her grandfather cherished her, every time she went to pay her respects, her grandmother would dodge her presence.

"It's fine, we're here to keep you company. From now on, you can hang out with us all the time," Fubao said, resting her hand on Lin Jiajia's shoulder and giving it a reassuring pat.

"That's right, that's right, we're here!" At that moment, the young Miss Chen was muttering with her mouth full, having sneaked another one of the host's pastries.

Fubao was left completely speechless. "..."

Fubao's gaze inadvertently swept over the small black wooden figurine, and she experienced a sudden, terrified discovery: yesterday, she had seen the wooden figurine's hands covering its eyes, but today, she noticed that the gesture seemed to have parted slightly, revealing half an eye—though the eye itself remained tightly shut.

"Jiajia, the hands on your wooden figurine have separated!" Fubao tugged at Lin Jiajia beside her, swallowing hard as she spoke.

"What?" Lin Jiajia looked utterly bewildered.

"I mean that wooden doll right there," Fubao pointed at the figurine.

"What are you talking about? What separated? How could a wooden doll possibly move? Stop saying such spooky things, will you?" Lin Jiajia broke out in goosebumps from Fubao's words.

"What separated?" The young Miss Chen muttered as she squeezed her way in.

"Nothing, go back and eat your pastries," Fubao pushed the young Miss Chen out from between them.

"Oh right, where did you get this thing in the first place?" Remembering what the bookstore owner had said a few days ago, Fubao asked.

"Didn't I mention it before? I've had this since the day I was born, and later my dad gave it to me," Lin Jiajia asked with a puzzled expression. Why was Lin Cenbao so interested in this matter?

"What's wrong?" Seeing Fubao furrowing her brow, Lin Jiajia asked again.

"Oh, nothing, it just feels a bit strange."

"What's strange about it?"

"Jiajia, I think this thing isn't very good," Fubao said cautiously.

"I'm telling you, this thing gives off a very unsettling feeling," Fubao continued.

"Don't listen to her, Jiajia. Fubao is right, there seems to be something wrong with this thing," the young Miss Chen squeezed in again to chime in.

"But I think it's fine. It's been keeping me company for over a dozen years and has always been completely normal," Lin Jiajia said, looking between the two of them.

"Jiajia, let me tell you, Fubao has been looking through all sorts of ancient texts these past few days. This thing is recorded in them—it's the avatar of some kind of demon or ghost," the young Miss Chen said solemnly, pulling Lin Jiajia close.

"Xiaohui, you're going to scare Jiajia," came Fubao's speechless voice.

The young Miss Chen turned her head and happened to see the pale, terrified face of Lin Jiajia.

The young Miss Chen thought silently: *Crap, that scared the hell out of me.*

"Ahem, anyway, this thing is no good," the young Miss Chen said with a light cough.

"Then..."

"Jiajia, I suspect there should be another identical wooden doll in your house," Fubao stepped forward and said.

"How could that be? There's only this one in our entire house!" Lin Jiajia cried out in astonishment.

"No, no, it's impossible for there to be another. This one was given to me by my father," Lin Jiajia shook her head, indicating that such a thing was out of the question.

In the end, seeing Lin Jiajia's firm attitude—evidently unaware of the whereabouts of the other one—Fubao decided to drop the subject for now.

As the three girls chatted away, the conversation naturally drifted toward pets.

Upon hearing that Lin Jiajia didn't have any pets, Fubao rolled her eyes and hatched a plan to gift her a little rabbit—one of Whitey's offspring. Although it was just a tiny little cub, it was extremely mischievous and loved to leap at Redly all day long, even though it never succeeded each time.

Besides, it didn't even realize how tiny it was; Redly could send it flying with a single kick.

Of course, the primary purpose was to keep watch over Jiajia. After all, being Whitey's son, it was quite fierce—would ordinary malevolent entities dare to approach?

The three of them played around in the estate for a while before Fubao and the young Miss Chen sneaked Lin Jiajia out of the residence while the servants weren't paying attention.

"Madam, are you really not going to worry about the young miss? If she goes out like this and something happens..." In the chamber of the Lin young madam, a wet nurse spoke to her as she wiped the face of the person lying on the bed.

"Leave them be. Let them go and have their fun; Jiajia has been cooped up inside the estate for long enough anyway. Going out to play will do her good."

"But, the young miss's constitution..."

"If she gets hurt, just carry her back. Though I imagine whoever she crosses paths with will probably suffer a much more severe fate."

The wet nurse was left speechless. *That is true, I have no argument against that.*

"Um, Fubao, why did you bring us here?" Looking at the bustling crowds surrounding them, the homebody Lin Jiajia felt rather uncomfortable.

"This place is fun," Fubao smiled mysteriously.

"Isn't this a place where they auction things? What are we doing here?" The young Miss Chen stared at the throngs of people below.

Speaking of which, the admission pass they had just acquired was simply swiped off some man.

"There are a lot of people here, which helps spread information quickly," Fubao shook her head and said.

"Spread what information?"

"It's a secret."

...

"Cousin, what are we here to do?" Gu Li asked as he sat in the private balcony, swaying his folding fan.

"No idea. Father said there are good things here and specifically told us to come take a look," Gong Shaoyu said, taking a sip of tea.

"Uncle must have set his sights on some sort of treasure."

"That's what I was thinking."

The two cousins spoke jokingly.

Down below, the auction had already begun, featuring nothing more than a collection of bizarre and peculiar oddities.

While the crowd below argued and shouted in a frenzy, up on the upper floor, Fubao began to widely spread word about Lin Jiajia's small wooden figurine, ensuring that several people soon learned of the treasure hidden within the Lin residence.

Of course, she only made sure that a carefully selected few individuals were let in on the secret.