"So that's your real motive, huh?" Tang Jing, who had been silent till then, suddenly spoke up. "You're so childish!"

Thereafter, Chen Hao and his group of four turned their heads back toward the ancient mansion, not bothering to pay any more attention to Yang Shirong.

"Village head, we're going in now. You just wait here, okay? And don't let the villagers come in!" Chen Hao instructed the village head.

Yang Weiguo nodded repeatedly and said, "Okay, you guys be careful!"

"Mhm!" Chen Hao acknowledged and then, leading Ye Yuqiao by the hand, he walked towards the mansion's front doors.

Seeing this, Yang Shirong quickly stepped forward, urging them anxiously as he said, "Hey, who agreed to let you in? Stop right there!"

"Don't you come any closer!" Xie Xiaofeng suddenly turned around and exclaimed at Yang Shirong, startling him so much that he reflexively stopped in his tracks.

"What are you freaking out about?" Yang Shirong complained loudly.

"Do you have a death wish? We dare to approach this ancient mansion only because we have amulets for protection. Do you have one?"

"Who are you trying to scare!" scoffed Yang Shirong, giving Xie Xiaofeng a disdainful glance.

Xie Xiaofeng let out a sardonic laugh. Suddenly, his expression turned solemn as he said, "I've already given you fair warning—whether you believe it or not is up to you. Anyway, everyone has seen it; if something happens, don't say we didn't remind you! Come on, if you're brave enough, take three more steps forward. I guarantee I'll kneel before you and call you 'daddy' three times!"

"Are you being serious?"

"With so many villagers here as witnesses, why would I need to lie to you? If I don't deliver, you all can break my jaw or even break my legs," Xie Xiaofeng chuckled. "Anyway, a person's already dead, kneeling and saying 'daddy' three times is worth exchanging for a life. Come on over, and all of you idle fellows too—if anyone's afraid to come over, then they're a son of a bitch."

Provoked by Xie Xiaofeng's taunting, the bleached-haired youth couldn't hold back and strode forward, only to be stopped by Yang Shirong once again.

"Xiao Bing, this guy's too crafty, he's trying to get us killed. Don't be so rash and fall for his provocation!" Yang Shirong said as he held the bleached-haired youth tightly, then shouted to the other youths, "You guys, come over and help me stop him! Do you really want to watch him go to his death?"

After a moment of hesitation, a few youths came over to help Yang Shirong restrain the bleached-haired youth.

Upon seeing this, Xie Xiaofeng sneered disdainfully and then shouted to the villagers in the distance, "That ghost is going to be forced out soon, everyone had better stay far away so you don't get possessed! We've already given our warning, don't blame us if something happens!"

Frightened by Xie Xiaofeng's scare tactics, the villagers scattered in no time, and Yang Shirong and his group vanished into thin air.

"Xie Xiaofeng, I didn't expect you to be quite good at scaring people!" Tang Jing said, laughing.

"Of course," Chen Hao nodded. "Don't tell me you forgot his nickname from school, 'Little Overlord'?"

With a snort of laughter, Tang Jing then mocked, "Xie Xiaofeng, I've realized you're almost as much of a bastard as Chen Hao."

"Isn't that what you like about a bastard?" Xie Xiaofeng thought to himself.

"Mr. Chen, here is the key to the ancient mansion!" Yang Weiguo said as he pulled out one key from a bunch. However, Chen Hao had already unlocked the lock, having snapped it off with his bare hands, which astonished Yang Weiguo who couldn't help but murmur in admiration, "Truly a master!"

"We've gone inside, the outside is up to you now, make sure the villagers don't break in!" Chen Hao instructed Yang Weiguo again.

"Don't worry!"

After that, Chen Hao pushed the door open and, holding Ye Yuqiao's hand, walked in, with Xie Xiaofeng and Tang Jing closely following behind.

As with what Chen Hao had observed earlier using Nether Vision, the ancient mansion looked quite eerie, but the Yin Qi inside it wasn't heavy.

This ancient mansion was built in a traditional symmetrical style, with the main building and the two flanking outbuildings all made of black tiles. Each building had two floors, with one staircase built against the wall on each side of the main building. On the second floor of the main building, corridors led to the adjacent outbuildings on both sides.

Only when their gaze passed through the passageway between the main and outbuildings did they realize that the two outbuildings were actually connected, forming a semi-circular enclosure around the main building.

"This is strange," Xie Xiaofeng said with a puzzled expression, "I don't feel the presence of any ghosts!"

At this time, Chen Hao took out the Compass from his bosom, which could sense demons and ghosts, only to see no light emanating from it.

"There's no sign of any demons or ghosts!" Chen Hao said.

"If there are no ghosts, then it's very likely to be a person," Ye Yuqiao said with a frown, already suspecting something.

"Exactly, exactly!" Xie Xiaofeng's eyes shone brightly, "Didn't the village head say something back at the restaurant? He saw the person in the coffin move. It's quite possible that they were feigning death."

"Feigning death?" Tang Jing's tone was full of skepticism, "Why would he feign death? Besides, the village head was just a child at that time, and the master of the mansion would have been in his seventies or eighties. Now the village head is over sixty, so even twelve years ago, the master would have been at least one hundred and ten years old, right? How can a person live that long?"

"Maybe he was a Yin-Yang master too, knowing some forbidden Spell to extend life."

"Then you might as well not say he ascended to immortality and obtained an endless lifespan!"

"You're right," Xie Xiaofeng said with a smile, nodding in agreement, "Perhaps the one who lived in this mansion before was a demon, hence the seclusion from the outside world. He may have chosen this place because it was suitable for cultivation. When the villagers disturbed his cultivation to build the road, in a fit of rage, he absorbed the Yin Souls of the marriageable men and women in the village as punishment. Now that he has ascended to immortality, he's long gone, and that's why we no longer sense any demon or immortal Qi."

"That's just one possibility," Ye Yuqiao said thoughtfully, "It's also possible that it was a person living inside, but not a person from the mortal world, rather from the Netherworld. People from the Netherworld usually have longer lifespans and age more slowly. Living in the mortal world, they need to move frequently, or else they'll easily arouse suspicion. I guess he got tired of moving, so he decided to feign death. That means he might still be living inside."

"Hmm!" Chen Hao nodded his head, "Then let's split up and search. Yuqiao and I will take one side, and the two of you take the other."

"No," Tang Jing hurriedly shook her head, "I don't want to go with Xie Xiaofeng. I want to be in a group with Yuqiao."

"What's wrong with me?" Xie Xiaofeng's eyes widened as he grabbed Tang Jing's hand and headed for the staircase on the east side of the main building, whispering urgently, "You should be called Tang Third-wheel. Stop breaking couples apart! And besides, it's dangerous for you two delicate women to be together."

Once Tang Jing and Xie Xiaofeng had gone far away, Chen Hao held Ye Yuqiao's hand and said, "Yuqiao, let's start with the main building."

"Okay!"

At this moment, from a dark corner of the ancient mansion, a pair of eyes was watching Chen Hao's group of four. Then, a terrible laugh rang out, "Come and meet your deaths!"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.