Chapter 418: Chapter 240: Pretending to Be Supernatural [Happy New Year]
"Alright."
Everyone nodded.
The back courtyard might be hiding Prince Xue, so naturally, Chu Qing had to lead Gentle there, or else if they encountered him, wouldn’t that provide him a handle?
In contrast, the main hall inside might not necessarily be dangerous.
After all, there were many people... Even Prince Xue might not rashly make a move in such a situation.
Having settled the plan, everyone stood up to take action.
As Chu Qing and his group came down, the hall suddenly became very quiet.
Clearly, just as Chu Qing had thought, during the time of going up and down the stairs, his identity had already been spread around.
He didn’t mind and led Gentle to the back courtyard.
Wu Qianhuan, along with Wuchen and Hua Jinnian, sat in the hall. Luo Wushuang was there too, and with a wave of his hand, a few people gathered at one table. They ordered food and wine from the waiter and quietly waited for the meal to arrive.
There was a waiter who stopped Chu Qing and his group, asking if they needed anything.
Chu Qing asked, "Where’s the toilet?" The waiter immediately directed them to the location of the toilet in the back courtyard.
After that, it was naturally inappropriate to follow them, so he just watched Chu Qing and Gentle with a peculiar look in his eyes.
A man and a woman going to the toilet together? Martial World people indeed pay no mind to small details...
Once in the back courtyard, it was no longer Chu Qing leading Gentle, but Gentle leading Chu Qing.
With a few twists and turns, they arrived at a courtyard.
There was a worker busy here, looking quite unwilling, and at the courtyard entrance stood another person, exuding an aura that warded off strangers.
Judging by the attire, it was one of the group of bandits from West Mountain.
Chu Qing’s gaze swept over this person, then he led Gentle to make a detour and flew over the courtyard wall.
They saw that near the wall in the courtyard, there were a few sheds.
Inside, they stored dry firewood and some tools... It appeared to be a firewood room.
But inside the shed, five corpses lay side by side.
Among them, four corpses appeared normal, seemingly having died in the fights of the Martial World.
West Mountain is complex, with bandits rampant along the mountain paths.
The bandits from West Mountain hardly had clean hands; encountering people from the Heroic Dao or those who knew their names, fighting to eliminate demons was only natural.
These four people should have died in ordinary martial vendettas.
The focus is on the fifth person.
This person’s body was shriveled, with all their vitality drained, their skin clinging like dead bark to their bones, making them look so dry that they could crumble with a snap.
Gentle pointed at this corpse and said:
"The scent of Prince Xue is emanating from his body."
Chu Qing looked deeply at the corpse, then led Gentle and leaped out of the courtyard.
Returning to the inn’s main hall, they saw that the group of bandits from West Mountain, draped in white cloaks, had gathered, drinking large bowls of wine and eating meat in big chunks, but their expressions didn’t match their bold actions.
Their faces showed signs of being shocked and relieved to have survived a disaster.
Drinking the wine was clearly for calming their nerves.
During the meal, they didn’t utter a word...
Finally, someone couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity:
"What exactly did you encounter?"
Chu Qing and Gentle returned to their table, as the waiter arrived with a tray:
"The dishes are here!"
He announced as he set the table, and the waiter was quite smart and articulate, showering them with nice words, hoping for a tip.
Chu Qing casually gave him some broken silver, earning effusive thanks as the waiter retreated.
At this moment, the bandits from West Mountain finally began to speak:
"We... we might have encountered a ghost."
As soon as these words were spoken, the hall fell silent for a moment, then erupted in laughter.
"In the Martial World, one shouldn’t casually talk about ghosts and spirits!"
"Anyone with lives on their hands would never believe in ghosts and spirits, otherwise, if an enemy came for revenge, that’s one thing; but if vengeful spirits came for your life, how could you defend yourself, no matter how skilled you are in Martial Arts?"
"I’ve heard that West Mountain has many heroes, but now it seems they are just this, frightened by some tricksters playing with ghosts?"
Conversations sparked one after another.
A Martial World guest, whose origin was unknown, even stood up and mocked them.
Then a white flash passed, followed by a crisp slap, sending the man spinning outwards.
He opened his mouth and spat out several teeth, immediately flying into a rage:
"You..."
"What?"
The West Mountain bandit’s face darkened, with a flash of murderous intent in his eyes.
Recalling the recent slap, which was like a nimble antelope that left no trace, the hit man hesitated for a moment, then laughed awkwardly:
"No problem..."
In the Martial World, picking things up and letting them go is important. Reputation is important, but for those not yet renowned, preserving life is most crucial.
The West Mountain bandit had no intention to kill, and with a snort, returned to his seat.
Then another spoke:
"I know you probably won’t believe this...
"But aside from it being haunted, I really don’t know how to describe it.
"To the west from here, about ten miles, there’s a grove of locust trees.
"Our group took a shortcut through that grove.
"At first, there was nothing unusual, but as we walked, we sensed something wrong... We passed through the same place several times without being able to leave.
"We’re not without experience; we knew someone might have set up an Array there.
"But... no matter how we searched, we found no traces of an Array.
"Then, out of nowhere, a distant song echoed in our ears...
"It was midnight, the shadows of bizarre trees looming, an elusive song echoed, plus a forest we couldn’t escape.
"Honestly, we’re used to licking blood off blades; our guts are quite strong.
"But at that moment... even we felt jittery.
"But we also knew the owner of the song was likely the trickster in the grove.
"We started to search... but to no avail.
"The song seemed to inch closer... at any moment, it might suddenly appear beside us..."
His voice was low, with a hint of tremble.
So much so that, in the inn’s main hall, his voice echoed alone.
The eerie atmosphere gradually enveloped everyone.
"Finally, we found where the song came from."
Fear suddenly shone in his pupils:
"It was a woman in red... floating mid-air...
"The key was, she had no feet!
"Where her feet should have been, it seemed they were torn off.
"Blood dripped down from the wound.
"When she saw us, she grinned...
"The song suddenly stopped, and she spoke, ’You’ve found me.’
At this point, he paused, and someone next to him shakily poured him a drink.
He drank it down in one go, and someone immediately asked:
"What happened next?"
"...Then afterwards, she lunged at us, and we knew nothing more."
He exhaled slowly:
"When we woke up, we were outside the locust tree forest.
"We thought everyone was fine, but unexpectedly, our companion, Aliang, either violated a taboo or was just unlucky...
"When he woke up, he turned into a dried corpse, to the point where he could be used as firewood."
Chu Qing looked up silently, and Wu Qianhuan said softly:
"I’ll go with you..."
"Alright."
Chu Qing mused briefly, then agreed:
"The rest of you stay here, we’ll be back soon."
The sinister tale wasn’t the focus; the point was, to the west, ten miles away, the locust tree forest.
The woman with no feet must be Prince Xue.
Her feet really were gone...
It’s just that Chu Qing didn’t understand why she wouldn’t try to heal herself; what was she up to?
Letting the duck escape when it was already in her mouth, only to pretend to be a ghost?
The Twelve Saint Kings... there must be something seriously wrong with them?
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