Zhu Yu pretended to hear the sound of the door opening, forcing herself to open her eyes. She saw soone coming out of the door and hurriedly tried to get up, but because she was too weak, her vision went black for a mont as she staggered.
This reaction of hers was half real—after all, she had been starving for so long, had walked quite a distance, and now under the scorching sun, she indeed felt sowhat faint. The other half, of course, was her exaggerating this slight weakness.
Her body swayed as if she were about to fall. The short old woman stepped forward to support her, taking the opportunity to scrutinize Zhu Yu.
Zhu Yu didn’t like the way the old woman examined her.
There are many ways to look at a person: scrutinizing, examining, looking, sotis out of goodwill, sotis more out of curiosity, and occasionally with ill intent.
But the way this old woman looked at Zhu Yu didn’t seem to fit any of those categories.
Zhu Yu felt she wasn’t looking at a living young lady but rather as if she was judging whether a chicken at a marketplace stall was fat enough.
Suppressing her discomfort, she took the opportunity to carefully observe the old woman’s appearance.
The old woman was very short, with a sturdy body, very old, with a thin layer of gray hair tightly combed into a small bun. Her face, neck, the bit of her arm exposed from the sleeve of her black robe, and her hands were covered with layers of wrinkles and spots, making her look like an old tree root that had gained consciousness.
The old woman carefully looked at Zhu Yu. She thought that although the young woman in front of her was dusty and dirty, it didn’t hide her beauty. Her figure was proportionate, neither plump nor skinny, with a moderate bone structure.
A calculating glint flashed in her eyes. She stretched out her shriveled hands, grasped Zhu Yu’s wrist, and helped her up from the ground, casually feeling her wrist bones, gauging her bone structure.
"Look at this poor thing!" the old woman said. Her tone was full of friendliness, but her voice was shrill, sending shivers down one’s spine, "Such a good girl, how did she end up in this state?
Quick, call Nanny Shi to see... tsk tsk tsk... oh dear! She must have suffered a lot on the way!
Didn’t you just say to the doorman that you have a sister with you? What about the rest of your family? Did you perhaps get separated?"
It turned out this old woman was the Nanny Shi from the rumors!
Zhu Yu didn’t let any flaws show on her face. She had been preparing her emotions for a while, so when Nanny Shi asked her, tears imdiately brimd in her eyes, spilling over from the corners: "My sister, my parents, and I were living peacefully in our hotown. Later, my parents went out to sell grain and never returned.
My sister and I stayed ho, waiting for them to co back, but waited in vain. We had no choice but to report it to the governnt. But reporting was futile; as ti went on, the governnt assud our parents had t with misfortune outside and stopped responding.
In the end, our uncle, who had already divided the family, took advantage of the situation to seize our land and even took our house. He tried to force my sister and to marry old widowers from the village, so scared us that we fled overnight, heading to Lianxiang City to find relatives.
We suffered imnsely along the way. When we finally got here, we discovered that the uncle we hadn’t contacted in years had long moved away from here, and we didn’t know where.
We ran out of money quickly as we had so little. We thought of asking around while searching for our uncle’s family, but my sister couldn’t withstand the fatigue of the journey and hunger and cold, and she fainted in the woods earlier.
I panicked, didn’t know where there was a house around here, and accidentally stumbled upon this place. I beg you, Nanny, to have rcy, give so stead buns and water so I can save my sister first!"
"Oh dear... this poor child!" Nanny Shi held her hands to her chest, her face full of sorrow, "The heavens are truly blind! Such a delicate and charming girl, yet you’ve suffered so much!
And those accursed uncles from your hotown—brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law in trouble, yet they didn’t think of helping their nieces and finding the parents, but instead bullied you so much!
This really angers , this old woman!
Hu Er, hurry to the back and tell the kitchen to pack so buns and flatcakes, and bring a pot of cold tea, and have a few people co with this girl to head to the woods.
We must at least wake the person up before saying anything else."
The doorman heard this and imdiately rushed back to the kitchen to ask the cook for flatcakes and buns.
Nanny Shi held Zhu Yu’s hand affectionately, indicating she should co inside to cool off and take a seat to rest. But Zhu Yu persistently declined, saying she was worried about her sister’s safety and couldn’t rest.
Since Yan Daoxin hadn’t co over yet, she dared not easily enter the two doors alone.
Whether it was because she had a bad feeling about this place or because the building did indeed look strange, standing alone before those two pitch-black doors, slightly ajar yet revealing nothing but darkness inside, Zhu Yu couldn’t help but feel goosebumps rise.
No one knew what secrets this Little Mountain Building hid—what if one really went inside, never to return? Zhu Yu had no interest in gambling her hard-earned new life on such a gamble.
Nanny Shi didn’t seem particularly bothered by Zhu Yu’s refusal. Seeing she was unwilling to enter, she didn’t insist, affectionately holding Zhu Yu’s hand while inquiring about her situation.
This didn’t daunt Zhu Yu; she was well-prepared in advance, having morized her story by heart.
To simplify things, she had simply altered Yan Daoxin’s na by a single character to "Sister" Yan Xin, while she naturally borrowed her mother’s maiden nad her ’Yan Ning’ for herself.
As for where their family was located and specific circumstances, she pieced together a new version based on the stories of those rescued from the Immortal Castle.
Zhu Yu told her story with real tears, genuine from start to end, and Nanny Shi apparently harbored no suspicion. After they chatted for a while, four young n dressed as servants ca out, carrying provisions and a large teapot with a few bowls.
"Since Miss Yan Ning is so worried about her sister, let’s hurry then and see how your sister is doing!" Nanny Shi noticed those servants brought what they needed, patted Zhu Yu’s hand, and taking the lead, she pulled Zhu Yu towards the woods.
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