Chapter 27: Chapter 27: Burning the Effigy
After returning to the back courtyard, the two groups split up, each retiring to their own wing to rest. Kuang Hongyi sat by the table with a worried frown, silent.
Xu Su’s complexion also changed, starkly different from his casual demeanor on the way back.
"Are you worried about something?" Yang Xiao asked.
Kuang Hongyi nodded, his tone also somewhat puzzled, "Chu, you’re new and might not know, but normally, even if nobody dies during these missions, strange occurrences are bound to happen, and things never go this smoothly. Besides, there’s also..."
Kuang Hongyi glanced at Su Tingting, then stopped talking.
Yang Xiao could probably guess what Kuang Hongyi meant, given that there were newcomers like Su Tingting and Shi Guanming with middling performances. Yet, from the outcome, Su Tingting was surprisingly the first among their group to complete the task, and Shi Guanming hadn’t caused any trouble either.
"Let’s all be more alert tonight. I also feel that something’s not quite right. Shi Dali is no simpleton; it doesn’t make sense for him to come out last." After a moment’s hesitation, Xu Su refrained from saying anything too divisive, as after all, it was important to maintain team harmony.
During their absence, someone had delivered meal boxes. Upon opening them, there were some simple dishes and drinks inside, but everything had turned cold, indicating they had been delivered a while ago.
"Don’t overthink it, let’s eat first."
The meal was consumed in oppressive silence, with no one talking. Su Tingting, in particular, had almost no appetite, and after a few bites, she returned to her bed to rest.
The quiet of the night outside felt as if it had died, and the entire Feng Mansion seemed to have only a few living souls left, creating an atmosphere so oppressive that it was unsettling.
Suddenly, strange noises added themselves to the silent night, a rustling and bustling as though someone was rapidly approaching.
By this time, the sky outside was completely dark. Who would be coming at this hour?
The footsteps were disorderly, an eerily familiar scene.
Kuang Hongyi and Xu Su reacted swiftly; one went behind the door and extinguished the candles on the shelf, while Xu Su put out the ones on the table and the candles behind the window.
The room was plunged into darkness in an instant, and everyone moved in concert to positions behind the windows and doors, holding their breath, their placement nearly identical to the previous night.
Peering through the slits of the window, Yang Xiao saw several shadows moving quickly along the lakeside in the faint night, with the person in the lead holding a lantern.
"It’s Steward Liu and his men," Xu Su whispered. Steward Liu’s face was unmistakably recognizable.
The people following him were either carrying or shouldering paper effigies, all of which had their eyes covered with cloth, resembling hostages from old crime movies, the very paper effigies they had drawn eyes on not long ago!
The number was also correct, a total of 7.
Steward Liu, followed by several servants, headed straight for the lakeside, placed down the paper effigies, and arranged them in a line similar to the previous night — each paper figure resting its hands on the shoulders of the one in front, facing the lake. He then scattered a handful of paper money and used the flame from the lantern to ignite the last paper effigy.
"What are they doing?" Su Tingting exclaimed, shocked. "Aren’t these paper effigies our substitutes?"
Yang Xiao gently patted her head, signaling her to stay calm, "These paper effigies haven’t been ’awakened,’ so burning them won’t harm us. On the contrary, it may make the ghosts believe that we have died tonight."
Only when she heard they were not in danger did Su Tingting calm down, swallowing hard, "So... that’s what’s happening."
Steward Liu and his crew had lit the paper doll and fled, their pace much quicker than when they had arrived; within moments, they were gone without a trace.
All that remained outside was the crackling and popping sound of the burning paper doll, caused by the bamboo splints inside.
Just as everyone began to relax, suddenly, a piercing scream exploded through the night, emanating from the backyard, not far from where they stood.
Yang Xiao and the others immediately looked towards another room, from where the scream mingled with sounds of struggle and thrashing, followed by a figure who burst through the door and rushed out.
Xu Su’s pupils shrank, "It’s Ke Long!"
At that moment, Ke Long seemed deranged, crashing around wildly, stumbling toward the lakeside. His ear-piercing screams echoed in the vacant backyard, as if piercing through eardrums.
Su Tingting was petrified, unable to see any injuries on Ke Long, but she could see his contorted face, twisted in immense pain.
"Look!" Kuang Hongyi pointed to the lakeside, where only the last paper doll remained, completely enveloped in flames.
However, this one was clearly different from the others; it had been burning for a while but had not fallen or turned to ash like the rest.
Ke Long charged towards the lakeside and grabbed the flaming paper doll, as if intending to drag it into the lake, but it was too late. He stumbled a few paces before collapsing to the ground, convulsing a few times before going still.
Su Tingting’s lips turned pale, and she muttered to herself, trembling, "Dead..."
"Why did he die, did he make a mistake in the task?" Su Tingting, regaining her senses, desperately wanted to know why it was Ke Long; she had no desire to die in such an inexplicable way.
"It had nothing to do with him." Xu Su stared at the corpse draped in night, slowly sighing, "Someone tampered with his paper doll."
"Shi Dali." Kuang Hongyi was no longer evasive, "He was the last of the three to come out from there."
Yang Xiao also quickly understood the scheme. Earlier, Kuang Hongyi and Xu Su, even after completing their tasks, stayed close to the door, fearing someone would tamper with the paper dolls while they were off guard, like secretly lighting an eye or something.
By contrast, Ke Long, another veteran player, was far less vigilant; he even had the leisure to chat with Shi Guanming outside.
Of course, there might be reasons behind this that he did not know of, such as Shi Dali and Ke Long knew each other in real life, were friends, or had reached some sort of agreement.
But no matter the reason, it was no longer important, since the man was already dead.
"Heh, you never know what’s in a person’s heart." Xu Su feigned a sigh, with a semblance of regret in her tone, but Yang Xiao understood that her words were meant for him; just as Shi Dali could act against Ke Long, Kuang Hongyi could do the same to him.
"Miss Xu is right, we need to be careful in choosing our friends, after all... you can know someone’s face, but not their heart," Kuang Hongyi said with an implication in his voice.
In another room, seeing Ke Long’s dreadful state, Shi Guanming shook uncontrollably, finally collapsing back onto the bed in a heap, realizing that having the intent to kill and actually participating in murder were two different things.
"Ah~" Shi Dali slowly closed the door that Ke Long had slammed open and set the overturned furniture right, "Don’t be scared. He brought this on himself. He wanted to kill you first. Ah, I don’t understand what’s become of the world nowadays, how can people be so malicious?"
Only then did Shi Guanming slowly come to, dropping to his knees before Shi Dali with tears streaming down his face, "Brother Shi, I’ll never forget this life-saving grace. From now on, I’ll do whatever you say!"
"Oh, brother Shi, what are you doing, get up, get up! There’s no talk of obedience; we’re brothers, and we’ll consult each other if issues arise."
