Listening to the conversation, Bai Xi and Bai Shuo felt a surge of helplessness. In Dajing, there truly was a noble girl raised with a degree of freedom from a young age.
Since childhood, Bai Xi had been promised as the Crown Princess, required to study all arts, from music and chess to needlework and etiquette. Out of love, General Bai allowed his eldest daughter some freedom, knowing that once she entered the palace at fifteen, her life outside would end. Every month, on the first and fifteenth, he took both daughters on outings. Even if busy, he would ensure they were escorted by guards. The Bai daughters, despite one being serene and elegant and the other lively, were both exceptionally brave, making such outings routine. Due to their unique status, they wore plain clothes each time they went out to avoid attracting attention. Yet, this backfired, allowing these men to abduct them.
“‘Spirit energy’? What do they mean by saying we’re full of it?” The sisters felt a chill down their spines, exchanging worried glances.
If they were indeed being taken to be sold, they could be found by their father eventually. But if not… what could these men want with them?
After bumping along a winding path outside the capital for half an hour, the ox cart finally stopped. The lid of the swill bucket was lifted, and Bai Xi and Bai Shuo looked up in shock, meeting two pairs of morose, sickly eyes.
“Indeed, they’re fine specimens,” said Qian Da, holding a candle as he scrutinized them, then grabbed Bai Xi and lifted her out of the bucket.
Bai Shuo, horrified, tried to cling to Bai Xi with her legs, but a pair of hands snatched her by the back of her collar.
“Don’t worry, little one, you’re not going anywhere,” Qian'er, far skinnier than Qian Da, said as he struggled to drag Bai Shuo out of the bucket with both hands.
The two sisters were thrown onto the ground, and the cloth gags were removed from their mouths. They coughed painfully a few times, then, despite being covered in dust, looked up to survey their surroundings.
They were in a vast clearing at the base of a towering mountain. Behind the clearing lay a majestic mountain range, shaped like a dragon’s body, its serpentine form stretching hundreds of meters, leading up to an imposing dragon head that seemed to roar in nine directions.
“Outside the northern city? A dragon’s head? This is the back of the imperial tombs outside the capital!” Bai Xi exclaimed.
Though young, Bai Xi was knowledgeable, unlike the more naive Bai Shuo. The imperial tombs, typically grand and solemn, looked eerie and frightening under the night sky, making the sisters shiver.
The Qian brothers were surprised to see Bai Xi recognize the location at a glance. Qian Da frowned—how could an ordinary family girl recognize this place so quickly?
Hearing they were at the imperial tombs, Bai Shuo felt uneasy as well. She suppressed her fear, stepped in front of Bai Xi, and shouted at the Qian brothers, “Who are you? How dare you kidnap us! What are you planning to do with us at the imperial tombs?”
“Ha! Little girls with sharp eyes, recognizing this place so easily,” Qian’er sneered. “It’s your good fortune that we brought you here.”
He reached out to pinch Bai Shuo’s fair cheeks, but Qian Da stopped him.
“Don’t make things complicated. I suspect these two girls aren’t ordinary—let’s get this done quickly and return to the city before anyone notices,” Qian Da said.
Qian’er reluctantly withdrew his hand, though a sudden idea seemed to excite him. He turned away from the sisters, knelt in the center of the clearing, facing the imperial tombs.
Qian’er pulled a dagger from his sleeve—a jet-black blade adorned with the carved image of a nine-headed serpent, exuding a faint dark mist. He unsheathed the dagger and, without hesitation, slashed his own left wrist.
The sisters screamed, only to witness an even more terrifying sight.
Qian’er’s wrist revealed nothing but bare, white bone—no blood or flesh inside, only black mist that emitted a foul stench. The mist on the dagger entwined with the mist from his bone, merging into one and sinking into the ground with an eerie hiss.
Qian’er continued muttering strange words, pressing his forehead to the ground as if in fervent prayer, awaiting something.
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