noveltune Chapter 408 Seeing Through the Soul Nail Array
Chapter 408 Seeing Through the Soul Nail Array
The people inside fell silent at the same time.
Manager Hu looked up and asked.
What would happen if we took a peek into the cabin?
The girl didn't look at her, but stared at Mo Chengyue.
"Once you see it, you'll know where Shuang'er has been all these years."
The Soul-Suppressing Coin in Manager Hu's hand rang again. Her hand, which had been steady, tightened again. The edge of the broken copper cut her palm, and blood dripped to the ground through her fingers.
Mo Chengyue stepped on the spot where the drop of blood had fallen, and sparks crawled out from the runes on the sole of his shoe, burning away the blood's aura.
"It no longer uses kinship to lure you in; it uses the truth instead."
"Manager Hu said in a low voice."
"I know."
The girl asked with a smile.
"Do you really know? Don't you want to know if I've been in pain all these years, if I've been awake, if I've looked at the lights on the shore time and time again, but couldn't call out your name?"
Shopkeeper Hu bit her lip until it bled, then wiped her eyes and didn't head towards the door again.
"If you really are Shuang'er, then don't use your own pain to force me."
The girl's laughter stopped, the red liquid on the door bulged outwards, half of her face became clearer, and tiny red lines appeared under the frosty patterns at the corners of her eyes.
"Sis, you've become ruthless."
Manager Hu looked at her, his voice hoarse.
"If I hadn't been ruthless, I would have died with my mother twenty years ago."
Old Zhou spoke in a low voice.
"Well said."
Old Zheng glanced at Manager Hu, then looked at Old Zhou.
"Uncle, why didn't you scold her awake back then?"
Old Zhou gripped the old boat license plate tightly.
"I wasn't as stubborn back then as I am now."
Xiao Liu muttered softly.
"Stubbornness can save your life; I've learned something new today."
Mo Chengyue pressed the third lightning talisman onto the center of the door. Purple and white lightning spread along the door panel, burning half of the girl's face until it receded a step.
The girl finally suppressed her gentleness, her voice filled with a cold, resentful tone.
"You dare seal the door?"
Mo Chengyue raised his hand and pasted another talisman to suppress evil, connecting the thunder talisman in a straight line.
"A door is meant to be closed; otherwise, it's just a hole."
The girl stared at the red lines on his palm.
"You can seal this door, but you can't seal the letter."
Mo Chengyue used the array hook to press the threshold, and the patterns on the array plate began to rotate. The flame of the oil lamp inside the room was straightened, and the red water outside the door was forced back into the crack by the talisman light.
"We'll deal with the postmark later; I need to ask the cabin crew first."
The girl's face was half-covered in the red water, the frost-covered leaves shining brightly.
"What do you want to ask?"
Mo Chengyue looked at the frost-leaf pattern, his fingers pressing on the edge of the lightning talisman, and lightning traveled along his fingertips.
"The ship's cabin contains Yu Lin Hong's Soul Nail Array, doesn't it?"
Old Zhou's face darkened.
"Soul Nail Array?"
Manager Hu asked immediately.
"What is that?"
Mo Chengyue did not turn around.
"Using the dead as nails, the living as lamp wicks, and water veins as threads—that sounds pretty much like her aesthetic."
The girl did not answer immediately.
Outside the door, the river mist flowed along the wooden wall of the watchtower, and the old boat sign on the corner of the house swayed slightly. The seven engravings on the back of the sign were illuminated red by the oil lamp.
Old Zheng gripped the iron spoon tightly.
"Is her silence because she was asked the right question?"
Just as Xiao Liu was about to reply, Lao Zhou shoved a cold steamed bun into his hand.
"Bite down."
Xiao Liu's eyes widened.
Why?
Old Zhou stared at the door.
"I'm afraid your mouth will outrun your life."
Manager Hu stared at the half-face on the door, his voice low and strained.
"If you are not Shuang'er, then give her back."
The girl finally laughed again, the laughter flowing along the edge of the thunder talisman, and wisps of black smoke rose from the edge of the talisman.
"Give it back?"
She looked at Manager Hu and spoke softly.
"Sister, don't you understand? The red light has been on for twenty years; it no longer belongs to the Hu family alone."
Shopkeeper Hu slowly withdrew her hand from the edge of the table, placed the Soul-Suppressing Coin on the table, and the shattered character "Lin" faced the doorway.
"Then I'll take her back."
The girl's smile widened, half of her face was elongated by the red water, and the darkness of the depths of the cabin appeared in her beautiful eyes.
"You can't steal it."
Mo Chengyue pushed the array plate forward, and the array patterns on the table legs connected to the threshold. At the same time, the thunder talisman lit up, forcing the red water to make a boiling sound.
"Just because she can't carry it doesn't mean no one will help her."
The girl stared at him.
"Groom, are you really going to go against the ship owner for the sake of an old bride?"
Mo Chengyue tapped the edge of the array plate with his fingers.
"To correct you, it was the ship owner who sent me the invitation first, disrupting my normal work and life."
Old Zheng broke out in a sweat upon hearing this.
"Master, can this be considered a business transaction?"
Xiao Liu mumbled something while biting into a cold steamed bun.
"Yes, it sounds safer than marriage."
The girl's gaze passed over the thunder talisman and fell on Mo Chengyue's sleeve and palm, causing the red lantern seal to heat up again.
"You'll come to see the cabin."
Mo Chengyue asked.
"With just half your face?"
The girl pressed herself against the door, her voice soft yet chilling.
"Do you want to know why Yu Lin Hong is waiting for you?"
-
Mo Chengyue's hands did not stop. The last thunder talisman sealed the bottom edge of the door crack, and the lightning and the light of the talisman intertwined.
The red water was pressed back into the crack in the wood, leaving only the frost-leaf pattern at the corner of the girl's eye still shining.
"What I really want to know is whether she hid the Soul Nail Array in the cabin, so that when I looked inside, she could nail my soul along the wedding invitation."
The girl looked at him quietly, the redness receding down the door panel, but half of her face remained covered.
Everyone in the room held their tongues, even Xiao Liu stopped biting into his steamed bun. The crumbs fell onto his clothes, but he didn't dare to take a picture.
Mo Chengyue pressed the red pattern on his palm onto the array plate, and the talisman fire circled around the edge of the red pattern.
If I'm wrong, then correct me.
The frost-like lines at the corners of the girl's eyes slowly curved upwards, and the sound of water swaying gently came from the mist outside the door.
"Wrong."
She looked at Mo Chengyue, her voice carrying into the room through the talismanic flames.
"What's hidden in the cabin is a gift from Yu Lin Hong to you as our first meeting."
As the girl outside finished saying, "I'm just waiting for you to take a look at the cabin," red water dripped down the door panel, and the patterns on the threshold were soaked and emitted wisps of steam.
Mo Chengyue didn't look at the half-face, but turned the array plate on the table towards the window.
"Seeing the cabins is out of the question, but seeing the bills is fine."
The girl's face was pressed against the door, and the red light shone through the frost-like lines at the corners of her eyes.
"Groom, there is someone you want to see in the cabin."
Old Zheng gripped the iron spoon tightly; the handle was slippery from being soaked in sweat.
"Immortal Master, is she using this trick again?"
Mo Chengyue pressed the third thunder talisman between his fingers.
"The business is too singular, bad review."
Xiao Liu was so nervous that the back of the kitchen knife hit the door frame, making a loud clatter.
"What if she really brings up someone she knows?"
Mo Chengyue looked at the red water churning in the crack of the door, and the talisman light on his fingertips slowly lit up.
"First ask about authenticity, then about after-sales service, and finally, turn the place upside down."
Shopkeeper Hu's tears were still on his face, and the hand clutching the Soul-Suppressing Coin finally stopped reaching towards the door.
"Can you really tell the difference between what's real and what's fake?"
"I can't tell."
Manager Hu looked up at him.
"Then how dare you be so confident?"
Mo Chengyue moved the array plate slightly towards himself, and the red lines on his palm, illuminated by the array light, dimmed back into his flesh.
"So I don't accept anything they offer."
The girl outside the door smiled, and the red water on the inside of the door suddenly receded outwards, leaving wet footprints that retreated from the watchtower gate all the way to the dock.
"Even if you don't accept it, the gift will still arrive."
Old Zhou's hand, which was resting on the old boat sign, stopped. His fingers, which were about to turn the sign, slowed down and he didn't push it any further.
"Don't go out."
Old Zheng immediately looked at him.
"Uncle, what did you hear?"