Chapter 111: The Grand Performance Begins

Ji Pavilion, 1:00 AM.

On the first floor, several young maidservants were pale, forcefully suppressing their nausea as they cleaned up the scattered corpses of rats covering the floor.

Several crisscrossing claw marks on the walls and beams were shocking to behold.

One person stared at the marks for a long time and asked in confusion, “Did a wild cat enter Ji Pavilion just now?”

Upstairs.

Granny Xu, Wansu, and the others gathered around the couch, anxiously calling out softly, “Mylady? Mylady~”

Behind them, Zhao Yan twisted her fingers, slightly raising herself on her tiptoes, looking like she wanted to see how Lin Hansu was, but dared not step forward.

She knew. She had caused trouble.

Amidst the soft calls, Lin Hansu’s long eyelashes fluttered gently, and she slowly woke up. Perhaps because the scene just now was too terrifying, her brain’s self-protection mechanism caused her to temporarily lose that memory.

“Mylady! You’ve finally woken up!”

“Mylady must have been frightened by the rats. Don’t be afraid, Mylady. Head Ding is leading people to catch rats throughout the manor.”

Lin Hansu vaguely recalled something.

At this moment, Granny Xu whispered, “Fortunately, Miss Zhao Yan was staying with Mylady tonight. She was the first to discover that Mylady had fainted.”

Zhao Yan!

Furry pointed ears, fluffy fox tail!

Fox spirit!

Just then, Zhao Yan heard Granny Xu mention her, hesitated, stepped forward, and muttered, “Older Sister~”

It was fine when Lin Hansu didn’t see her, but seeing her approach instantly terrified her, turning her face ghost-white. She quickly shrank back into the bed, “Don’t come closer!”

Zhao Yan froze her steps and slowly lowered her small head.

This action confused everyone present.

Wansu thought Mylady had not yet recovered from the shock, and quickly said, “Mylady, everything is fine now.”

But how could Lin Hansu dare tell them the truth?

Fortunately, the maidservant who had gone to inform Chest Hair rushed upstairs at this time, “Miss Zhao Yan, Head Ding requests you go to Diying Garden for a moment.”

“Oh~”

Zhao Yan mumbled a response, gave Lin Hansu a timid look, and then turned and ran out as if fleeing.

Diying Garden, Halberd Hall.

Inside the rat cage on the table was an ordinary black rat.

On the pillar, there was another one.

To prevent Gray Rat from transforming back to his true form and escaping, Ding Suian had pierced holes through both his ears, threaded a rope through them, and tied him to the room pillar.

When Zhao Yan rushed over, she originally wanted to immediately report that her secret was exposed, but upon seeing Gray Rat’s strange ‘punishment,’ she forgot all about it in surprise.

“Husband, who is he?”

Ding Suian, who was busy working, simply said, “A monster. This is a Rat Demon.”

Zhao Yan: “…”

Ding Suian didn’t notice Zhao Yan’s abnormality. He pulled a strand of fur from the black rat in the cage, plucked one from Gray Rat’s head, and handed both to Zhao Yan, “Zhao Yan, help me make a Lotus Heart Curse.”

“Oh.”

Zhao Yan found a corner, sat down cross-legged, and quietly began making the Lotus Heart Curse, looking a little glum.

A moment later, the Lotus Heart Curse was complete.

Ding Suian tied one Heartless Lotus onto the black rat and placed one on Gray Rat.

He then took a slender silver needle and poked the black rat once.

“Squeak, squeak~”

“Oww~”

The rat in rat form and the rat in human form simultaneously let out a miserable shriek.

Ding Suian was satisfied. He threatened Gray Rat, “Later, if you try to change your story when there are many people present, this is what it will feel like. Even if I don’t torture you in public, I have ways to make your life a misery.”

“I wouldn’t dare! Absolutely not! Hiss~”

With both his ears pierced, Gray Rat tried to emphasize his willingness to cooperate by nodding, but he accidentally tugged his ears, causing him to gasp repeatedly in pain.

“Zhao Yan, how about I assign you the task of taking the rat cage to the back room later?”

Ding Suian finished speaking, not waiting for Zhao Yan’s reply.

He turned and saw the little fox sitting alone in the corner, her small head buried low, looking like a child who had done something wrong or been ostracized by other children.

Ding Suian quickly walked closer and squatted down, only to see tears plopping onto her collar, soaking into dark spots. “What’s wrong?”

“…”

Zhao Yan slowly raised her head, her small face streaked with tears, her eyes and the tip of her nose flushed crimson.

After meeting Ding Suian’s gaze, the corners of her mouth drooped in grievance, her lips flattened, and she burst into tears, “Husband~ Nunu, Nunu misses her aunt, Nunu wants to go back to Chongyin Mountain, woo woo woo…”

“What happened? Who bullied you?”

Ding Suian opened his arms and embraced Zhao Yan, but this only made her cry harder.

“Nunu… woo woo, Nunu’s… secret was exposed, Older Sister woo woo…”

Hearing the words’secret was exposed,’ Ding Suian guessed what had happened.

He pulled Zhao Yan a little further away and activated the silent bell to isolate the sound.

“Older Sister hates me so much, woo woo…”

“It’s not hatred, she must have just been scared.”

“Husband, stop trying to comfort me. You hairless monkeys, woo woo, just don’t like us; you want to drive us out and exterminate us all. If I hadn’t cast the Life-Sharing Curse back then, Husband would have killed me already.”

After imagining all this herself, her small body was shaking with sobs.

She looked incredibly pitiful.

Ding Suian realized that Zhao Yan had just been discovered by Lin Hansu, making her nervous and helpless. Coming to the Halberd Hall and coincidentally seeing him torturing Gray Rat, combined with recalling her own origins, she instantly lost her sense of security.

“Zhao Yan is different from others. That Gray Rat harmed people, but Zhao Yan has never harmed anyone.”

Ding Suian racked his brains trying to comfort her.

Hearing this, Zhao Yan lifted her tear-stained face, her eyes red at the corners, “Then, does it count as harming people if I peeked at you and Older Sister practicing cultivation?”

“No.”

“Then, can I watch again?”

“No!”

“If I can’t watch, how am I supposed to learn?”

“If you want to learn, I can teach you directly! What knowledge do I not possess?”

“Uh…” Zhao Yan’s sobs gradually stopped. Her wet, narrow fox eyes glanced around, likely deciding that this was not a suitable place for cultivation practice. “Then, let’s change places, Husband. Teach Nunu knowledge.”

She was calling herself Nunu again, which meant she was fine.

But seriously, the little fox is truly diligent!

Of course, Ding Suian didn’t have time to teach Zhao Yan knowledge tonight!

Next up, there was a grand performance waiting.

1:15 AM.

Vice Prefect Hou Dexian, who unexpectedly rushed over with Li Fengrao, said the first thing upon seeing Ding Suian in Diying Garden: “Head Ding, you had better truly have a ‘terrifying and dangerous’ major event to report!”

“Naturally. Gentlemen, please follow me!”

Ding Suian led the crowd into the Halberd Hall. As soon as Li Fengrao stepped inside, he was stunned, his face instantly turning pale.

Vice Prefect Hou, who was one step behind, had a similar reaction, but he was the first to roar, “Head Ding! Are you insane?! How can you treat an Immortal Master of the State Religion like this!”

Having said that, he quickly ran in front of Gray Rat, wanting to rescue him, but finding no way to start. He could only repeatedly say to Gray Rat, “Immortal Master, please forgive me! This official is not familiar with him, and I was completely unaware of tonight’s events.”

Li Baicheng, Daoist Master, Daoist, and the others all looked astonished.

Even Zhisheng looked at Ding Suian in confusion.

Displeased as they were, subjecting a Cultivator of the State Religion to such abuse—and inviting everyone to watch!

This was utterly monstrous!

Unexpectedly, Ding Suian said to the terrified Vice Prefect Hou, “Lord Hou, you should hold off on showing your loyalty for now, otherwise, you’ll be embarrassed later.”

Vice Prefect Hou had to appear very angry so that he wouldn’t be blamed by the State Religion or implicated by Ding Suian. “You! This is utterly reckless! Quickly untie the Immortal Master!”

“Gray Rat, transform. Change back into your true form and tell these esteemed lords how you harmed Sect Master Hao!”

“…”

Gray Rat, who had been miserably tormented, had originally lost all spirit, but Vice Prefect Hou’s actions now sparked a sliver of hope.

Just as he was pondering how to turn the tables, he suddenly felt a piercing pain in his coccyx.

“Oww~”

Immediately followed by another poke.

“Oww~”

Vice Prefect Hou was startled and jumped far away.

“Oww~ I’ll change! I’ll change!”

Gray Rat had no other thoughts, only wanting the other party to stop quickly.

Under the gaze of the crowd, his entire body trembled violently, his form shrinking inch by inch, while the two bristly whiskers on his lip grew thinner and longer.

Until finally, he became a clump of rat whiskers.

Because his ears were pierced, the Gray Rat, reverted to his true form, hung suspended on the pillar.

Zhao Yan in the back room, perhaps unaware of the situation up front, poked him one more time.

“Squeak, squeak~ My Lord, I’ve already turned back into a rat, can you tell her to stop poking me?”

Inside the Halberd Hall, there was complete silence.