Chapter 82: Chapter 82: Paper Lantern
Even Kuang Hongyi, as an experienced player, couldn’t withhold his nervousness, What the hell was this, a ghost parade? The difficulty of this mission far surpassed any other Nightmare World he had encountered before, but there should be no reason for this, especially since three newcomers had appeared.
Yang Xiao, lacking the experience of Kuang Hongyi, was only focused on how to survive. The troop of ghost children that had just appeared were clearly the ones Su Tingting had mentioned before, They were not drowned, but tortured and then buried alive while still dirty, covered in mud. Yet, it was still noticeable that they were wearing green garments, Some children’s topknots had come undone, revealing the iron nails hammered into their skulls.
Now was not the time for sympathy; the oppressive force these ghost children gave off was even stronger than that of Ms. Chun.
At this moment, Yang Xiao held his breath, his attention drawn by a greenish paper lantern. As the ghost children hopped around, the lantern swung back and forth, casting the children’s faces in an ominous, greenish glow.
The ghost children had their eyes gouged out, leaving only two bloody holes on their faces, Yet, strangely, they moved as if they could see the path beneath their feet, Yang Xiao had not heard any sound of stepping in water.
How was this possible, There were many puddles along the way, and the three of them had to tread carefully, but the ghost children formed a neat line, one clutching the clothing of the one ahead, like zombies, without any dodging motions. Yang Xiao edged slightly outward to peek at the ground beneath the ghost children’s feet.
Upon looking, he discovered something odd, There were no puddles under the feet of the ghost children, No, that wasn’t right, they didn’t disappear; they moved! In the second it took for the child carrying the paper lantern to shamble near, the puddle would creep to the side eerily, and in the blink of an eye, it returned to its original position after the procession of dead children had hopped over.
Instantly, Yang Xiao understood that the problem lay with the greenish paper lantern, it was something beneficial!
But then Yang Xiao shuddered involuntarily, he couldn’t quite explain why, but it felt as if he had been targeted by something terrifying.
The next second, the line of ghost children came to a halt, the leading ghost child twisted its body to aim the paper lantern at Yang Xiao’s location, and the squad of ghost children dashed straight towards him.
Yang Xiao: "!!!".
Only now did Yang Xiao realize that the paper lantern was the eyes of these ghost children!
He had been discovered.
There weren’t many places to hide nearby, and even if the three of them turned and ran right now, where could they outrun ghosts?
In a moment of urgency, Yang Xiao gestured to Kuang Hongyi and Su Tingting to stay behind, ready to divert the ghost children himself, Better that he die alone than them all perish together.
"Bang!"
A stone struck a pillar nearby without deviation, and then fell to the ground, rolling far away down the steps.
This caught the ghost children’s attention, Almost instantly, they viciously changed direction and bounded towards the pillar.
The ghost children moved startlingly fast and disappeared into the mist in the blink of an eye.
Yang Xiao’s legs went weak after escaping death, grateful that those ghost children had underdeveloped intelligence, otherwise, he would’ve been doomed today.
Once the bouncing sounds of the ghost children faded away completely, the two women came over, supporting each other, "You... are you alright?"
"Thank you," Yang Xiao knew they had saved him, and instinctively reached for silver in his pocket, but he had forgotten that his silver had long been spent.
Only then did he have the chance to observe the two women, Both were young, one around 25 years of age, the other just over 20. Life in ancient society was not as it is now, so their actual ages were likely even younger.
The slightly older woman was dressed luxuriously and had an air of nobility, with a gold hairpin adorning her head, whereas her companion, the younger woman, was dressed more modestly by comparison.
"You must be the Blessing Guests invited by the mansion?" the woman with the gold hairpin spoke up, "I’ve heard about you from Steward Liu."
"You are..."
"Master Feng is my uncle, I was invited to Feng Mansion for a visit today, but I never expected... I never expected..." The woman with the gold hairpin choked up and couldn’t continue, tears streaming down her face.
"Heh."
Yang Xiao sneered inwardly, there was no need to ask; these two were certainly not good news, most likely ghosts in disguise. Others might not be aware of it, but how could he not know that Master Feng had been extremely busy lately, his life almost at stake. How could he possibly find the mood to invite the younger generation to Feng Mansion for a visit?
Kuang Hongyi also sensed something was off, but neither of them called it out, after all, the example of the coachman proved that ghosts could be of use.
To put it bluntly, the three of them were now like rare artifacts, with all the demons and ghosts inside Feng Mansion wanting to catch them as substitutes.
"Dear sister, thank you for risking your life to save us just now. Meeting here must also be fate. We want to leave through this door, do you have a way?" Yang Xiao looked at the woman with the gold hairpin with deep emotion, calculating in his mind how to get information out of her.
The woman with the gold hairpin hesitated for a moment before finally nodding, "It’s not easy to get out through this door, there might still be those filthy things outside. However, I know a small path."
As they walked along the wall, it wasn’t long before they came across a large stone near the wall. Yang Xiao looked around and suddenly found the place somewhat familiar, but he couldn’t remember exactly.
"Behind this stone, there is a dog hole that can lead outside the wall. Move the stone, and you can crawl out," the woman with the gold hairpin said in a soft, glutinous voice.
"Yes, yes, the young lady is right, you should... you should start moving it quickly!" Compared to the woman with the gold hairpin, the maid’s shrewdness was far lacking, showing an eager expression.
Yang Xiao stared at the large stone that looked like a millstone, the more he looked, the more familiar it became, and he finally remembered - wasn’t this the very stone that was on top of the dry well when they first entered Feng Mansion?
At the same time, the identities of the two female ghosts also became clear. The one with the richly adorned appearance was naturally the young mistress who had died by throwing herself into the well, while the young woman beside her was her personal maid. According to the people in the mansion, the maid, out of guilt, also threw herself into the well to follow her mistress in death.
However, Yang Xiao didn’t quite believe this, considering the despicable things Master Feng had done, the maid was more likely forced into a sacrificial burial.
Having figured this out, it was naturally impossible for them to proceed. The stone was placed here to suppress the resentment of the two, and if they moved it, if they released the wronged fierce ghost, it would be their turn to be buried as sacrifices.
The three of them slowly backed away and ran towards the main gate, and sure enough, after rushing out, there was nothing outside. Not far from them appeared a black double door, the wood showing signs of many years of wear and tear.
It was the side door through which they had entered Feng Mansion and where they had first encountered Taoist Priestess Xuan Li disguised as the old nanny.
At that moment, the wooden door trembled continuously, emitting a buzzing sound as if its energy was about to be exhausted.
"Run!"
Kuang Hongyi and the others rushed towards the door, 20 meters, 10 meters... Yang Xiao’s desire to survive had never been so intense.
But in the next second, Su Tingting suddenly fell heavily to the ground. It was an unexpected and hard fall. By the time Yang Xiao and Kuang Hongyi turned around, they saw Su Tingting lying on the ground, blood flowing from the corner of her mouth. Turning her body, she stared at her leg with a terrified face.
Veins on Yang Xiao’s forehead popped out as he saw that half of Su Tingting’s foot had been dragged into a puddle, her ankle gripped tightly by a swollen, decaying hand.
The swollen hand was twice as big as that of a normal person, and one could still see the bright red sleeve. It was Ms. Chun; she had followed them!
As Su Tingting was being dragged little by little into the puddle, Yang Xiao rushed over, grabbed Su Tingting’s hand, and pulled her outward. Kuang Hongyi hesitated for a moment, then, steeling himself, also ran to help.
But their combined strength was no match for Ms. Chun, and soon half of Su Tingting’s calf was dragged into the puddle as well.
When it rains, it pours. At the gate where the three of them had come out, a faint green light appeared, and the sounds of something hopping could be heard.
The group of ghost children had come back...
"Run! Don’t all die here!" Su Tingting pushed Yang Xiao hard; they had struggled to survive until now, there was no reason to die for her alone.
"Chu, we can’t save her, run!" Letting go, Kuang Hongyi turned to pull Yang Xiao, "If we don’t leave now, no one will be able to!"
"Kuang, hold her hand tight!" Yang Xiao pulled out the axe tied to his back, giving Su Tingting a determined look, "Hang in there!"
The next second, he swung the axe down towards Su Tingting’s knee.
