Chapter 36: Chapter 36: Nightmare Attack
After a moment of thought, Yang Xiao shuddered violently and then dismissed the idea. Knowing the temperament of his drama friends, they would babble on incessantly.
Yang Xiao could imagine exactly what everyone would say, including but not limited to: +1 for weird excuses for asking leave, I suspect the author is preparing to slack off, you’re going to coach in the world championships? Are you cut out for it?
And the more aggressive ones: If you don’t write the script, you’re going to have to survive in reality (angry).
Of course, there were also those who feigned weakness and threatened the author with their own health: Coo coo~, right now I can’t bear to see the two words ’asking for leave’ in your book, otherwise, I would get a stress reaction.
Yang Xiao was most susceptible to this tactic. After some thought, he decided to tough it out. He would squeeze in exercise breaks while writing the script. If he knew there was a bunch of eager drama friends waiting for him outside, he probably wouldn’t have the heart to harm himself.
As soon as the script was mentioned, Yang Xiao’s mind filled with wild and fanciful thoughts. However, this also had its benefits—it greatly relieved his psychological pressure.
He didn’t know how long it had been, but sleepiness hit him like waves, battering his mental defenses. Eventually unable to hold on, he got up and woke Kuang Hongyi.
When Kuang Hongyi got up, he didn’t stand on ceremony and immediately woke Su Tingting. The two sat together, staring with wide eyes until dawn.
Perhaps out of sheer exhaustion, Yang Xiao slept surprisingly soundly. He even had a dream where a female ghost desperately banged on the door while he pushed against it from the other side, nearly crying out of fear.
"Don’t, don’t kill me, I’m still a child!"
When he jolted awake, he saw Kuang Hongyi and Su Tingting looking at him with a strange gaze, while from outside came the urgent and husky voice of Steward Liu, "Blessing Guests, something has happened! You... you all must come out and see!"
"Mr. Chu, were you..." Su Tingting blinked curiously, "having a nightmare?"
Yang Xiao sheepishly defended himself, "It’s nothing, don’t mind it. I had somnambulism when I was very young, and I would easily have an episode after a tense day. It’s... it’s been many years since it last recurred."
When Kuang Hongyi opened the door, Steward Liu was standing outside, his face stricken with grief. Shi Dali and Shi Guanming, who were staying in another room, also rushed over.
Judging by the severe dark circles under their eyes, neither had rested well.
Soon, under Steward Liu’s guidance, the group returned to the lakeside. The weather outside was very gloomy at the moment, with low-hanging clouds and scattered raindrops falling, creating a depressing atmosphere similar to the early night time. Some wisps of fog still lingered on the dark surface of the lake.
By the lake, many of the mansion’s servants were already standing around, looking over the lake intermittently and whispering to one another in small groups.
"Make way!"
With a shout from Steward Liu, the crowd hurriedly cleared a path, and looking in the direction Liu pointed, Yang Xiao and the others suddenly discovered a body floating in the center of the lake.
The body swayed gently with the water’s movement, and from the silk clothes on the corpse, it was identified as the Third Young Master they had met the previous night!
Shi Dali sneered and turned to Steward Liu, "Now that the man is dead, don’t tell me Steward Liu expects us to go into the lake to retrieve your family’s Third Young Master’s body?"
Steward Liu shook his head, his face revealing his sorrow, "The body must be retrieved, but not now. Right now, I’m afraid no one can make it across the lake."
Hearing Steward Liu say this, everyone’s curiosity was piqued. Steward Liu gestured, and a bare-chested, muscular man ran over.
"Tell them what you just saw," pressed Steward Liu.
The evidently frightened man shivered as Liu spoke, "I was rowing over to bring back the Third Young Master’s body, but... but before I could get close, I saw many faces... floating around the Third Young Master!"
"Floating faces?" Shi Guanming didn’t understand what exactly this meant.
"Waterborne corpses," Shi Dali said, his complexion turning sour as he looked towards the vicinity of the Third Young Master’s body, but from this distance, he could see only the murky waters of the lake.
Steward Liu looked at Shi Dali with some surprise and nodded, "This blessing guest is knowledgeable. We suspect it’s that filthy thing too."
"What... what is that thing?" Su Tingting asked gingerly.
"It’s a type of corpse that can stand in water, said to be the resentful spirits of those who drowned and were too filled with grudges to reincarnate," Shi Dali replied, his eyes revealing a touch of panic, "These walking corpses are attracted to the living’s breath, walking freely under the water, and they would even climb onto the living’s boat and seize people as their replacements."
"These things are vicious; even professional corpse retrievers won’t touch them. It’s not just about running into them—even catching a glimpse from a distance brings three years of bad luck."
"Long ago, the boatmen who navigated the Yellow River feared these things the most," Shi Dali continued. "They left trails of footprints in the river’s silt, and if someone on the boat saw them, they would immediately steer clear. The old-timers among the boatmen gave them a name: Yellow River Walking Corpses."
"Oh, and these things have a habit—they unconsciously congregate around places with heavy resentment. Generally speaking, underneath the water where the Yellow River Walking Corpses are found... there are often shipwrecks." Shi Dali’s words seemed to be directed at Steward Liu.
Taking a deep breath followed by a slow exhalation, the tension in the air immediately escalated, and Yang Xiao held his breath too.
Shi Dali’s comment was more or less an open provocation—he was indeed a tough nut to crack.
Turning around, Steward Liu walked away, "Come with me."
The group exchanged glances and quickly followed; it seemed there were things not suitable to be discussed in front of the servants. As Steward Liu moved farther away, everyone recognized the path—he was heading to Master Feng’s residence.
"Alas," Liu sighed heavily, slowing his steps, "Some things should not be spoken by a servant like me, but... alas, the old master... he truly sinned!"
Everyone kept silent, not daring to interject, but Liu was like a box that had been opened, "Back in the day, the master and I both advised the old master, but he was like lost to a ghost, firmly believing in some method to defy fate and change destiny. He insisted on choosing a woman whose birth date and time closely matched his to marry on the day of his death anniversary, saying it would bless the family fortune and ensure the continuity of his descendants!"
