Chapter 423: Chapter 361: Warning
Upon hearing these words, Yang Xiao and the others became solemn. There was no point in trying to dissuade any further.
Before Yang Xiao could say anything, suddenly, a jarring clanging of a wooden clapper broke the silence of the night, carrying far into the distance. For some reason, upon hearing the sound, Yang Xiao and the others felt not the least bit of excitement or elation, only an endless sense of oppression.
The sound of the wooden clapper was too dull, as if a corpse was weighing on them.
"It’s Lu Youcheng coming back!" Quan Doufeng, who was squatting in the corner outside the door, jogged over and reported to Yang Xiao and the others excitedly through the door.
"What’s that ghost shouting about? Even if he comes back, he can’t open the door for you. It’s the rule!" Tong Han didn’t have much patience for Quan Doufeng and acted with precise control, treating the ghost outside as if it were truly Quan Doufeng.
But Quan Doufeng clearly did not think so. All he thought about was someone had returned, and there would be people with him. Now it was pitch dark outside, and he was all alone; to say he wasn’t afraid would be a lie.
"Step back!" Tong Han scolded Quan Doufeng outside the door, not giving him a shred of kindness, and Quan Doufeng, who had been previously slapped by Tong Han, was truly scared of her. This woman may look gentle and refined, but her actions were more ruthless than anyone else’s.
Quan Doufeng gradually stepped back, retreating over ten meters, but the door remained closed. Worried that the ghost might break in, Sui Chengguo, fully dressed, climbed out from the rear window, then scaled the wall and took a detour to leave the courtyard, while Quan Doufeng still foolishly squatted in the yard waiting.
After going around, he finally arrived at the main entrance of the ancestral home. Upon seeing Lu Youcheng returning, Sui Chengguo’s heart finally settled. However, to his surprise, Lu Youcheng had not brought back any clues. Upon seeing Sui Chengguo, Lu Youcheng directly stepped through the gate, brushing past him.
In the moment they crossed paths, Sui Chengguo suddenly felt a cold wind envelop him. The next second, Sui Chengguo’s eyes widened in horror; he saw the smoke from the Soul-Attracting Incense that should have risen straight up being oddly drawn towards his back as if attracted by some strange force.
His heart skipped a beat, and Sui Chengguo immediately understood why he felt something was off the moment he saw Lu Youcheng. Because his hands were empty, he hadn’t brought the Soul-Attracting Incense at all!
But how could he have returned without the incense?
Sui Chengguo was a cautious man. After the sound of footsteps behind him faded, he immediately started searching around the courtyard gate. He found no remnants of burned incense sticks; the Soul-Attracting Incense had a small wooden handle at its end that couldn’t be burned away. Therefore, Lu Youcheng’s incense must have burned out or got lost before he returned. So, it was clear that he wasn’t a human at all, just like Quan Doufeng, who was guarding outside earlier; both were ghosts!
Sui Chengguo could barely accept the possibility of both men being dead, but the idea that each dead person was replaced by a ghost was truly terrifying.
It was already too late and too dangerous to run back to warn Yang Xiao and the others. After much consideration, Sui Chengguo decided to take a risk. He quickly walked to the right side of the courtyard gate, pulled out a wooden club, and gave it a forceful knock on the wooden clapper.
Yang Xiao and his companions were all smart people; they would understand his warning.
Sure enough, when they saw Lu Youcheng return, Yang Xiao and the others only found it strange and didn’t think too much of it. After all, there was already one ghost outside the door, and they were even worried about Lu Youcheng’s safety. But suddenly, they heard the sound of the clapper.
The clapper was struck hurriedly and loudly, naturally carrying a warning. Yang Xiao and the other two immediately realized that Sui Chengguo had discovered something and was sounding the clapper to signal them.
Considering Lu Youcheng had just returned, and had been considerably late, Yang Xiao and the others suspected the problem lay with him. However, as much as they observed, they found nothing amiss about Lu Youcheng. He was answering their questions normally enough, and if there had to be a problem, it was that his complexion seemed paler.
Nonetheless, everyone decided not to open the door that night, even if Sui Chengguo were to return, it would be the same.
Agreeing with Quan Doufeng’s earlier suggestion, Lu Youcheng also searched for various excuses to get Yang Xiao and the others to open the door, albeit expressing himself more subtly.
After several fruitless requests, it seemed as though Quan Doufeng and Lu Youcheng had given up hope, and they retreated to a secluded corner of the courtyard to rest.
Quan Doufeng was still somewhat afraid of Lu Youcheng, since the clues he had initially given were made up, and he feared Lu Youcheng would return for revenge. However, at this point, it seemed that the other had no such intentions, and Quan Doufeng felt relieved inside, guessing he had inadvertently guessed something right. After all, it was clear, the Ghost Monk would definitely appear; he wasn’t just taking wild guesses.
"We can’t wait any longer, it’s not safe here," Lu Youcheng turned his head and whispered, "I barely escaped with my life this time, the next person might not be so lucky. We need to find a safe place to hide."
"Brother, what do you mean by that?" Quan Doufeng felt a vague fear.
"What if the next one to come back isn’t human? The last person is the most dangerous." Lu Youcheng whispered earnestly, "Last time it was because I ran fast, otherwise I would have almost let those bastards succeed — they wanted to steal my body to come back and kill people."
"Ah?!" Quan Doufeng drew in his feet in fright, and it took him a long while to grasp the reality, "Then... then where else can we go?"
After pondering for a moment, Lu Youcheng had an answer: "Let’s go find the Du family. Those people have done wrongful deeds, and they know where to hide safest. The Mang family wants revenge against them, so if we hide near the Du family, even if ghosts find us, they’ll go after them first."
"The Du family?" Quan Doufeng shivered violently. To him, the danger level of the Du family was not lower than that of a ghost.
"I mean to find the Du family people, but not let them discover us. We’ll just hide near their dwelling." Lu Youcheng explained.
After going back and forth, Quan Doufeng was swayed. He knew the nature of people like Yang Xiao; if ghosts did come, they surely wouldn’t save him. Those people were all selfish bastards driven by profit, only considering themselves.
"Hurry up, didn’t you just hear the sound of the watchman’s clapper?" Lu Youcheng kept fanning the flames, "Those ghosts chased me all the way back. I reckon Sui Chengguo ran into them the moment he stepped out. Thinking of sounding the watchman’s clapper to alert us to rescue him, he’s probably dead by now. His body might be returning any minute."
Upon hearing this, Quan Doufeng decided to quietly leave with Lu Youcheng. The two slipped out of the courtyard gate and hurried in a direction, led by Lu Youcheng. The yard was very dark at the moment, but Lu Youcheng moved as if he knew the place by heart. It’s undeniable; the prowess of a veteran player truly should not be underestimated.
"Lu brother, where are we headed?" Quan Doufeng jogged all the way, barely keeping up with Lu Youcheng’s pace. The other man seemed very eager to find the Du family.
"To the main house, where there are more people." Lu Youcheng’s voice was cold and unemotional, not looking back.
Quan Doufeng thought for a moment, then suddenly stopped, "Not good. We should go to the boudoir. Mi Shu is there; let’s find her."
Lu Youcheng paused, "What for?"
"Think about it. Theoretically, Mi Shu should be dead by now, killed by the Du family. So there’s no reason for the Du family to strike her again. Hence, the boudoir is currently the safest place in the ancestral home."
"Even if she is still alive, then we’ll just have to trick her into opening the door. We’ll say we’re here on Tong Han’s instructions to help her; that there’s something wrong with the wardrobe in her room. If she doesn’t let us in to fix it, it would be very dangerous. Considering her good relationship with Tong Han, as long as we put on a good act, there’s a high chance of success."
"If it’s a calm night that’s one thing, but if we run into danger, we’ll just push Mi Shu out to block it. After all, we’re aware of the Du family’s rules; they will stop after killing one person."
At this point, Quan Doufeng suddenly laughed, a tacit admission in his smile: "But one thing, Lu brother, after we return, we must keep our mouths shut. We can’t mention coming to the boudoir. This matter is known only to heaven, earth, you, and me."
Lu Youcheng also laughed upon hearing this, his lips stretching into a smile that was chillingly pale and disturbing, "I didn’t see it before, but you’re really ruthless."
Quan Doufeng waved it off nonchalantly, "No guts, no glory. Besides, I’m doing this for us brothers. You’ve seen what Chu Xi and those guys are like — a bunch of vicious cutthroats. Working with them is like seeking skin from a tiger."
"Fine, let’s go to the boudoir," Lu Youcheng nodded.
They walked briskly toward the boudoir. Gradually, Quan Doufeng, following behind, started to feel that something was off. All along the way, it was Lu Youcheng leading the way. He was eerily familiar with the ancestral home’s interior, a kind of scary familiarity. The boudoir’s location was relatively secluded, and now, under the bleak moonlight, the ancestral home was almost entirely dark. A few times, Quan Doufeng nearly slipped, but Lu Youcheng, leading the way, didn’t seem phased at all, his eyes piercing through the darkness as if it were day.
Suddenly, Quan Doufeng paused in his tracks, recalling what Lu Youcheng had said not long ago about ghosts impersonating people. He hadn’t taken it seriously at the time, but now, that statement seemed oddly abrupt, especially since nothing like that had occurred during this task.
The seeds of doubt took root instantly. Quan Doufeng began to keenly observe Lu Youcheng. With deeper scrutiny, a slew of unusual signs emerged — an abnormal familiarity with the Du family ancestral home, exceptional night vision, and aside from that, his complexion was strikingly pale, an unsettling whiteness evocative of a blood-drained corpse under the night sky.
As he observed, Quan Doufeng slipped and fell to the ground, which was covered in a layer of wet mud. As he prepared to get up, his eye caught sight of footprints on the muddy ground in front of him — strange footprints with only the front part of the footprint visible, the heels not touching the ground. The set of prints to the right was winding and erratic, as if from a leg issue, dragging intermittently.
Beads of cold sweat formed on his forehead as Quan Doufeng suddenly remembered something — the recently deceased village chief of Mangjia Village had a problem with his right leg; it was a stiff wooden prosthetic.
