Chapter 23: Grade A Yellow, Lotus Flower Lake (12)

Fang Xiaoyi watched as the girl’s fingers moved with nimble, practiced ease to pick the lock, and her anxiety deepened. She made a mental note that once back at school, she must pay closer attention to Xu Yiliu to ensure she did not stray onto a crooked path.

The other two, oblivious to her thoughts, were entirely focused on the harsh, grating sound of the door opening in the darkness. Candlelight flared, piercing the gloom. Xu Yiliu reacted quickly, pulling the other two inside and slamming the door shut to avoid detection.

Fang Xiaoyi frowned. "Why is there a candle here?"

If no one entered, or if it were rarely visited, there should be no light at all. Xu Yiliu tucked the wax she had been holding into her sleeve; it seemed her preparations were unnecessary. Her attention was not on the candle, but on the portrait in the center of the ancestral hall. "I suppose someone set it up," she said slowly.

Human eyes require about ten seconds to adjust from darkness to light, yet within three or four seconds, they began to discern shapes.

The portrait, for instance.

It stood on the center of the altar table, facing the three intruders, with paper-folded offerings and four sticks of incense placed before it.

The incense was broken.

The portrait depicted no one.

Ancient ancestral halls usually housed spirit tablets, rarely portraits of the deceased. Yet there was no tablet here, and the background of the painting clearly suggested a funerary portrait... as if the person in the picture had run away.

This mission area was a chaotic mix of different dynasties and bizarre customs, and this ancestral hall was strange to the point of being eerie.

While Fang Xiaoyi remained dazed, the other two moved. Ji Xianxing pulled out a candle, lit it from the flame on the altar without hesitation, and began to circle the room. Xu Yiliu walked to the altar, bowing her head to inspect the surface, her forehead nearly touching the portrait.

Regardless of what Ji Xianxing was doing, Fang Xiaoyi was genuinely startled by Xu Yiliu’s behavior and reached out to pull her shoulder. "What is the matter?"

Xu Yiliu patted her hand dismissively and pointed at the table. "Look at the tabletop."

The surface was thick with dust, making the marks left by objects very clear. There was a square impression in front of the portrait, along with long, dragged scratches.

"It’s too shallow," Fang Xiaoyi said, abandoning her earlier thoughts as she peered closely. "It must have been a piece of paper, not a book or a notebook."

Xu Yiliu pointed at the portrait again. "Look, it appears to have a white background, but there are actually patterns."

Fang Xiaoyi leaned in. In the dim candlelight, it had indeed looked pure white at first, but with a closer look, the patterns emerged.

It was... the Lotus Lake and the courtyard walls of the manor.

If one stared long enough, the patterns seemed to come to life, as if the Lotus Lake were right before her eyes.

"Teacher Fang?" Xu Yiliu waved a hand in front of her. "Are you alright?"

Fang Xiaoyi realized she had pushed Xu Yiliu aside and was craning her neck, her face only two fingers' width away from the canvas. She shuddered, terrified by the thought that if Xu Yiliu hadn't called out, she might have crawled into the painting itself.

Under the candlelight, Xu Yiliu’s face was sharp and clear, and her words made Fang Xiaoyi tremble even more: "Teacher Fang, have you noticed this, and this?"

She pointed to two spots on the portrait: one on the bridge in the lake, and the other deep within the manor walls. Two faint silhouettes could be discerned—two women.

"Are they tourists?" Fang Xiaoyi wondered.

Xu Yiliu smiled. "Don't you think they look like Ruyi and Kong Yueming?"

Suddenly, a hand tapped Fang Xiaoyi’s arm. Her heart leapt, and she nearly turned to run.

"It’s Ji Xianxing," Xu Yiliu said, holding her back.

Fang Xiaoyi calmed down and looked. The girl with the bobbed hair was holding the candle between her fingers, frowning in distaste at the dripping wax, her eyes appearing huge in the candlelight. It was indeed Ji Xianxing.

Fang Xiaoyi realized what had happened and gave Xu Yiliu an annoyed look. "You did that on purpose to scare me."

Xu Yiliu did not deny it. She had indeed harbored a touch of malice. It was an inexplicable feeling that had grown stronger the longer she spent with Fang Xiaoyi; she wanted to see how a "good person" would react under the pressure of fear. She reflected on this seriously—perhaps it was because she did not believe that truly pure people existed in this world.

Fang Xiaoyi wasn't angry, only patting her chest. "I suppose my courage is just too small. I’ll learn my lesson and do better next time."

Xu Yiliu looked away. "I wasn't joking. This must be Ruyi and Kong Yueming. It seems the dead appear in this portrait, and the pollutant is likely tied to it."

"Burn it," she concluded.

Ji Xianxing finally spoke: "People come here every day."

Both turned to her. She said calmly, "The room is small, and there are no vents in the corners. With four candles burning in a sealed environment, they would go out if no one came to replace them. There is only a finger's length of wax left; someone must have changed them this morning."

There was dripping wax on the old candle holders, but it wasn't thick, implying someone cleaned them regularly. If they burned the portrait, they would surely alert someone—or something—by morning.

Ji Xianxing looked at Xu Yiliu. "Still want to burn it?"

Xu Yiliu picked up one of the candle holders and turned toward the empty frame. "Burn."

Not just the portrait, but the entire frame was engulfed in flames. The three of them held the candle holders, burning the frame from different angles until it vanished into ash.

[Mission Objective: Find and clear the pollutant 0.5/2]

The progress bar left all three stunned. A strange feeling washed over them—how could there be "half" a pollutant?

"It seems something really did crawl out of the painting," Xu Yiliu mused, "though there is no identifying information to be found."

She checked her panel, disappointed to find the intelligence-debuff had not been lifted. Ji Xianxing was faster; she crouched down to check her pant leg. "It’s still black."

Xu Yiliu caught Fang Xiaoyi’s concerned gaze and suppressed her discomfort. "It’s related to the lake," she said before Fang could ask. "I’m fine for now."

"What was that sound?" Ji Xianxing froze.

Xu Yiliu listened intently. "Footsteps."

There was someone outside. The three moved silently toward the door, holding their breath. The footsteps drew closer, stopping just across from the hall, separated by only a single door. But then, the footsteps did not pause; they simply continued, fading away.

"It’s curfew," Ji Xianxing said. "No one should be out except the night watchman."

They had learned yesterday that the people of this manor were rigid and conservative, even using indoor vessels to avoid going outside at night. The night watchman did not enter the manor grounds.

Xu Yiliu caught Ji Xianxing’s gaze. "Go out?"

Ji Xianxing reached for the door, but Xu Yiliu stopped her. "Let me."

Opening a wooden door without making noise required skill. She had been uncertain of the structure earlier, which was why it had been loud. This time, she opened the door silently, ushered the others out, and closed it just as quietly. The entire process took only seconds, leaving Fang Xiaoyi feeling even more unsettled.

The three followed the footsteps. For some reason, despite the lack of moonlight earlier, the moon had now emerged.

Having worked in private investigation, Xu Yiliu was better at tracking than the others. She soon pulled ahead, reaching the closest position and getting a clear look at the face under the moonlight.