"We should head this way."

Xu Qingyuan led Xiao Mu through the courtyard, walking all the way to the wall, pointing at it, "There's a bloodied path here that leads straight to the altar."

On saying this, even he was taken aback.

A bloodied path leading to the altar?

He now stood by the wall.

"Mr. Xu, are you sure you're not mistaken? Does this bloodied path lead into the wall?"

Xiao Mu asked.

Xu Qingyuan gave a bitter smile, "Last night, in my dream, that was indeed the scenario. Why it was so, I'm sorry, Mr. Mu, I can't explain either."

Xiao Mu pats Xu Qingyuan's shoulder in consolation.

It's not that Xu Qingyuan was wrong, there's something strange and likely for another reason. As for why Xu Qingyuan was walking towards a wall, it's likely because of that bloody path.

The bloody path disregarded the wall's existence, went through the wall and led to another place.

He walked closer and looked carefully at the wall.

What is this?

Xiao Mu bent down to pick up something.

It was a small black clump of soil, soaked in blood.

The small piece of soil released intense Yin Qi. Despite cultivating the Dao Method Spiritual Energy, Xiao Mu shivered as he picked it up.

The intense Yin Qi was attempting to get into his body through his fingers and corrode his body.

Xiao Mu quickly forced the Yin Qi out with his Dao Method Spiritual Energy.

This piece of soil was not ordinary; it was likely some type of evil soil, or nether soil.

Any normal person coming into contact with this nether soil would either die on the spot or fall seriously ill.

"What!"

What startled Xiao Mu even more was the bloodstain on the nether soil.

"What is this?"

Xiao Mu sensed it, it was human blood. He could not help but look at Xu Qingyuan.

The blood on the nether soil was from the same source as Xu Qingyuan. Thus, the blood could be either Xu Qingyuan's or a direct blood relative of Xu Qingyuan.

Xiao Mu kept the piece of soil without letting anyone know.

He couldn't leave such an intense Yin Qi infused nether soil here; if any ordinary person came into contact with it, it would result in trouble.

"Mr. Mu, did you find something?"

Xu Qingyuan hurried over to have a look.

"Heh heh! Nothing."

Xiao Mu did not disclose anything about the nether soil or the blood on it to Xu Qingyuan, so as not to cause further panic.

"Let's go to other places and look. Oh!"

Xiao Mu had just spoken when he suddenly became aware of something else.

Close to this outer wall was the direction of the bloodied path that Xu Qingyuan spoke of. He smelt an aroma.

An aroma.

It was the smell of incense used for worship.

So fragrant!

This wasn't ordinary incense; Xiao Mu recognized it instantly.

Ordinary incense, although also used to worship heaven, earth, and ancestors, doesn't have much effect.

What Xiao Mu smelt was the scent of unusual incense. The aroma of this incense subtly hinted at promise of wealth, longevity and had a sense of spiritual energy.

This incense, when burned, had much greater effects than regular incense.

"Mr. Xu, does your family burn incense?"

Xiao Mu couldn't help but look back at Xu Qingyuan.

"Incense?"

Xu Qingyuan was taken aback, evidently having a momentary lapse in understanding why Xiao Mu would ask him this question, but quickly replied, "Yes."

"Is it the kind that changes after burning?"

Xiao Mu asked again.

"Yes."

Xu Qingyuan said, "We burn it in both our house and the ancestral hall."

"Only in your house and the ancestral hall? None in the courtyard?"

Xiao Mu pursued further.

Xu Qingyuan bitterly smiled, clearly puzzled why Xiao Mu was asking him these questions, and explained, "Mr. Mu, that kind of variant incense is expensive, it's enough to burn it in the main hall and ancestral hall. If we burn it in the courtyard, how can it be affordable?"

Xiao Mu nodded, not continuing the topic.

It was certain that Xu Qingyuan did burn incense, but the scent of incense Xiao Mu had smelled was probably not from him.

Whether it was in the main hall or the ancestral hall as mentioned by Xu Qingyuan, the scent released by burning incense absolutely couldn't reach the outer wall of the courtyard.

If it wasn't lit by Xu Qingyuan, then who was it lit by?

Could it be an evil ghost-like entity that stole the incense from Xu's family and lit it on the road covered in blood that Xu Qingyuan mentioned?

Xiao Mu's heart shivered again.

Evil spirits lit incense, could they also be paying homage to someone? No, some ghost? Even the road covered in blood had incense burned on it?

Xiao Mu then reconfirmed a speculation he had made earlier: The evil ghost built an altar to welcome some important ghost object. It not only prepared blood food (laborers like Enyu) for this important ghost object, but also specifically stole incense from the Xu family to light on the road it would travel.

The stature of this important ghost object was likely quite high.

Upon this thought, Xiao Mu felt a chill crawl up his spine.

Typically, the higher one's rank, the stronger their power. Although this wasn't a strict rule, it usually followed this law.

It seemed the ghost that had emerged at the Xu residence wasn't easily dealt with.

Xiao Mu couldn't help feeling anxious.

"By the way, Mr. Xu, is any of your incense missing?"

Xiao Mu questioned again.

He highly suspected that the incense burnt by the evil ghost was stolen from Xu Qingyuan's home.

"Missing? I don't think so. I checked myself this morning and didn't notice anything less."

Xu Qingyuan responded.

"Oh!"

Xiao Mu uttered an 'oh', inwardly speculating:

Could it be that the incense used by the evil spirit was stolen from somewhere else?

These circumstances evidently did not matter to Xiao Mu. In his view, where the evil spirit obtained the variant incense from was not important.

He asked again, "Mr. Xu, did you notice anything else last night? Continue."

"If you didn't ask, I would have almost forgotten."

Upon hearing this, Xu Qingyuan remembered something else, his demeanor becoming serious as he said, "Apart from the nightmare I told you, when I woke up, I heard the neighing of horses and the movement of a carriage in my courtyard."

"The sound of a horse? Movement of a carriage?"

Xiao Mu fell into thought.

The carriage, was it also a preparation made by an Evil Ghost to welcome that important ghost object?

But Xu Qingyuan continued, "At that time, I thought that a carriage had run into my house. I specifically went to the courtyard to check but ultimately didn't see anything. There was nothing in the courtyard. I suspected that I had misheard and went back to sleep."

Xiao Mu shook his head. It was quite normal for Xu Qingyuan to not see anything.

This horse and the carriage were probably not ordinary ones, but a Yin Horse and a Nether Vehicle.

Suddenly, Xiao Mu understood why the Evil Ghost broke the threshold of the Xu's house, not to steal something, but to facilitate the entry and exit of the Yin Horse and Nether Vehicle.

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