Chapter 9: Falling into the Mist
Cui family.

Because Cui Shuyun has been in a coma, the entire Cui family seems to be shrouded in a gloom.

Cui Ronghe originally planned to fulfill his younger sister's wish and cancel the engagement for her.

But he was rejected by the clan leader Cui Zongji.

Later, he wrote a letter to his father, who scolded him again.

This matter will just end up in nothing.

When it comes to marriage, it’s all about parents’ orders and matchmaker’s words!

Both the patriarch and my father objected.

Cui Ronghe had no other choice but to break off the engagement.

……

"Uncle, how is it? Is my sister getting better?"

Cui Shuyun remained in a coma, so the Cui family finally asked other doctors to come for a joint consultation.

Of course, the statement made public was that Cui Shuyun fell into the water accidentally, and the statement of "committing suicide by jumping into the water to refuse marriage" was strictly forbidden to be discussed or spread among the servants.

But after many doctors examined him, the results were all the same.

Do your best to obey fate!

There is no solution either.

In the end, Doctor Cui from the same clan was the most trusted and was invited again.

After taking the pulse.

"Alas!" Doctor Cui still sighed.

"Uncle, thank you for your help!" Cui Ronghe's expectant eyes dimmed.

Doctor Cui glanced at the Cui family and seemed to be about to say something but stopped himself.

But in the end, he gritted his teeth and called Cui Ronghe aside.

"Da Lang, are you sure your sister fell into the water on her own?" Doctor Cui asked, staring at Cui Ronghe.

"Uncle, what do you mean?" Cui Ronghe was puzzled.

"Da Lang, I just left your Cui family more than ten days ago, and someone came to inquire about your little sister's situation. Although they didn't say it explicitly, their words were all about asking..."

"These days, the more I think about it, the more I feel something is wrong. After searching through medical books, I finally found another possibility."

"Another possibility?" Cui Ronghe asked curiously.

"The art of falling away."

"The Art of Desolation?" Cui Ronghe had never heard of this name of a magic technique.

"The spell of falling souls is a kind of witchcraft. The person who is affected by it is like he has lost his soul and will never wake up. The symptoms are very similar to those of Sister Yun!"

"What does my cousin mean?" Cui Ronghe understood what Doctor Cui meant.

His sister might have been the victim of this so-called "fall-out spell".

"It's just a possibility! The symptoms of people who are under the spell of falling and people who suffer from ecstasy are basically the same. Whether Sister Yun is under the spell of falling can only be known after a Buddhist or Taoist expert has examined her. I just put forward this possibility, and the rest depends on you and me..."

"I'm just an ordinary doctor. I don't have much contact with those mysterious Buddhist and Taoist people!"

Doctor Cui said so.

As the old saying goes, supernatural powers!

If they were not from the same clan, Doctor Cui would not have told him the art of falling into despair.

Ecstasy was Doctor Cui's previous diagnosis.

It is also the result of consultation among many doctors.

The so-called ecstasy is actually Zhu Chengwu’s vegetative state in his previous life.

As for the art of falling into despair, it is a specialty of this world.

In addition to martial arts, this world also has strange and mysterious secret techniques.

If martial arts are physics-based, then Qimen secret arts are rule-based.

Weird and unpredictable!

It's hard to guard against!

Although what Doctor Cui said was just a possibility, combined with what Doctor Cui said before, someone came to inquire about the situation after he first treated Cui Shuyun.

Cui Ronghe knew that there was a high possibility that Cui Shuyun had fallen victim to the spell of doom.

After all, they are from the same tribe.

More trustworthy and more attentive.

After being reminded by Doctor Cui, Cui Ronghe immediately told the news to his second brother Cui Rongtian.

Cui Ronghe was devoted to reading books of sages, and his knowledge of some strange esoteric techniques and anecdotes of the martial arts world was not as good as that of Cui Rongtian.

What's more, Cui Rongtian has a knowledgeable daughter of a minister in his room.

Although Cui Ronghe and Cui Rongtian did not have a good relationship in the past, Cui Ronghe knew that Cui Rongtian still cared about his sister Cui Shuyun.

Besides, the relationship between Cui Ronghe and Cui Rongtian has eased now.

As for my mother, it is better to keep this uncertain matter secret for the time being.

"Brother, how many possibilities are there?" Cui Rongtian asked after listening to Cui Ronghe's story.

"I don't know! Let's ask Xiaowei first!" Cui Ronghe said.

……

"Xiao Wei, are you sure the young lady jumped down by herself?"

The brothers Cui Ronghe and Cui Rongtian called Cui Shuyun's maid Xiaowei to the study. Xiaowei was the first person to discover Cui Shuyun's diving and the only eyewitness.

Because the Cui family knew that Cui Shuyun had never been satisfied with this marriage, they did not doubt Xiaowei's statement that Cui Shuyun committed suicide by jumping into the water.

But now Doctor Cui's words have cast a veil of mystery over Cui Shuyun's diving.

"Master, I saw the young lady jumping into the water with my own eyes." Xiaowei didn't understand why the two masters were still asking about something that happened so long ago.

"Think about it carefully again and tell the whole story from beginning to end."

Cui Rong and his brothers did not doubt Xiao Wei, as Xiao Wei was a family-born child. Instead, they were worried that Xiao Wei might have accidentally missed some details.

A house-born child is one whose father and mother are both servants of the Cui family, and who is the child born from the union of the servants.

All the relatives are at Cui’s house.

Such a family-born child is unlikely to betray and is highly trusted by the master's family.

"Yes, young master!" After the young master gave the instructions, Xiao Wei had no choice but to start recalling what happened at that time.

"At that time, the young lady was sitting on a chair beside the pavilion feeding the fish. She suddenly asked me if she was like the fish in the pond, without freedom and having to fight for food. I knew that the young lady had always been dissatisfied with the marriage with the Marquis of Fu'an Mansion, so I followed the instructions of the master and the mistress to persuade the young lady that this was a good marriage. Then, the young lady fell down..."

"Wait. Fall? Or jump?" Cui Ronghe suddenly interrupted Xiaowei.

"Aren't falling and jumping the same thing?" Xiaowei was puzzled.

In Xiaowei's opinion, there is no difference between the two.

"Tell me in detail how my sister fell into the pool." Cui Ronghe ordered.

“Just sit on a chair beside the pavilion, tilt your head outwards, and finally head down, diving into the pool.” Xiaowei said as she demonstrated.

"Is there anyone else around?" Cui Rongtian asked.

"No!" Xiaowei was very sure of this because there were only her and the young lady in the pavilion at that time.

"Is there anything unusual about that?"

"No!" Xiaowei remembered that the weather was very good at that time. When she was bored, she looked at the scenery and clouds around her. As usual, the sky was clear and the air was fresh.

"Think about it carefully!"

Xiaowei frowned and thought for a long time, but couldn't think of anything unusual.

"Master, really not. It's just like usual."

"Master, you won't doubt me, right? Master, I absolutely will not harm the young lady." Xiao Wei suddenly thought of something, knelt down nervously, and swore while crying.

"Okay, I don't doubt you. I just simply asked about the situation at that time."

Looking at Xiaowei who was crying out of nervousness, Cui Ronghe said this.

Wait for Xiaowei to leave.

"Brother, it seems that there is nothing unusual." Cui Rongtian said after thinking for a while.

"Yeah! Nothing unusual..."

Things have reached a dead end again.

According to my uncle, the art of falling souls must be performed in person in order to capture the soul of a person.

But at that time, there were only Cui Shuyun and her maid Xiaowei in the pavilion.

Xiaowei is a family-born child, so she wouldn't have the guts to betray.

And Xiaowei has not been abnormal during this period!
There is also no channel to learn witchcraft and sorcery!
"Maybe my sister simply got ecstasy after falling into the water." Cui Rongtian said what now seems to be the most likely possibility.

"Hey! Now, we have to be prepared and be careful!" Cui Ronghe couldn't find any problems. He had to be careful and send more servants to guard his younger sister's yard.

I hope Cui Shuyun can wake up on her own.

...

"My dear, you and your uncle called Xiao Wei to the study, but are you suspicious of Xiao Wei?"

At night, Cui's eldest sister-in-law asked while helping Cui Ronghe undress.

In this era, "little uncle" is the name that a sister-in-law calls her husband's younger brother.

"It's not a suspicion. I just want to ask about the situation when my little sister fell into the water to avoid any omissions!" Cui Ronghe replied.

"My dear, are you saying that my little sister's falling into the water was not a simple matter?"

"It seems that there is nothing unusual now. But... I always feel uneasy." Cui Ronghe did not tell his cousin Cui Langzhong's guess, after all, it was an uncertain thing.

Don't add trouble to your wife.

"As for you, I'm sorry that you've been wronged recently!" Cui Ronghe stroked his wife's fair cheek and said with concern.

"I don't feel wronged!" The husband's gentle gesture was more effective than any sweet words, making Cui's eldest sister-in-law feel that the grievances she had suffered during this period were no longer grievances.

……

"Tell me, did my little sister fall into the water because she was upset or was there some other hidden reason?"

Cui Rongtian's yard was not peaceful tonight.

"Don't ask me, that's your Cui family's business!" The second sister-in-law of the Cui family answered while removing her makeup.

"Didn't we agree on this when we got married? We'll live our own lives after marriage. You don't care about me, and I don't care about you... Don't bother me with your Cui family's affairs!" After saying that, the second sister-in-law of the Cui family went to bed.

Cui Rongtian hit a snag and touched his nose awkwardly.

Seeing that his "wife" ignored him, Cui Rongtian helplessly but skillfully took out a quilt from the cupboard and spread it on the chair.

It turns out that Cui's second sister-in-law and Cui Rongtian have always been husband and wife in name only, but not in reality.

"Tell me, is it possible that my little sister didn't just fall into the water, but was hit by a sorcery spell - the spell of falling into despair?"

In the room, Cui Rongtian said in a low voice.

(End of this chapter)