Chapter 105: Chapter 86: Not Playing With You Anymore!

Ming Mansion, front yard reception hall.

Xia Chan nodded off, her head bobbing, suddenly waking with a start. She quickly slapped her face with both hands to perk herself up.

The old monk, sitting cross-legged alone beneath the post, continued to chant scriptures with his rosary in hand, motionless.

The old monk was certainly not a good person, but her sister had instructed her not to do anything unnecessary, to avoid turning nothing into something, and to simply keep a wary eye on him.

Xia Chan propped her head up and continued to stare at the back of the old monk’s head, her eyelids gradually battling to stay open.

At this moment, the others had split into two groups, taking turns to rest.

Skinny tossed and turned, unable to sleep; closing his eyes made his heart race, and he felt restless all over. He kept recalling the stories his mother used to tell him about the Ming Mansion, as well as his mother’s lifelong obsession with Aunt Huilan.

But Skinny clung to his rationality. Kou Yushan and Sang Que had both told him, no matter what happened, never to delve into the depths of the Ming Mansion, never to become a part of the story, if he wanted to survive.

Skinny kept shifting, waking He Shou’an, who lay next to him. Shou’an wanted to pee, so he went to push his father, He Baosheng, who was sleeping soundly and did not wake.

“He Shou’an.”

Hearing Liu Tianyou’s voice, He Shou’an rubbed his eyes and turned his head, seeing Liu Tianyou still leaning against the wall.

“Brother Liu, could you come with me to pee? I’m scared to go alone.”

Liu Tianyou nodded slightly, set down his bundle, stood up, and led He Shou’an to relieve himself behind a distant post.

Song Quancai and Song Quanfu, who were on duty for the first half of the night, gave them a glance and then refocused on their quiet conversation.

Lightning flashed and thunder rolled, the torrential rain poured down, and the fierce wind conspired with evil, turning the downpour increasingly violent. The water outside the courtyard had risen almost to a river, submerging the stone steps and threatening to flood the hall.

Rumble!

The crack of thunder startled He Shouhui awake. She instinctively glanced over to where He Shou’an slept, only to find the space empty; she was instantly wide awake.

“Shou’an! Dad! Mom! Shou’an is missing!”

He Shouhui shouted loudly, waking Qin Fangru, and gradually, everyone else was stirred.

The Song family brothers immediately looked in the direction where He Shou’an and Liu Tianyou had gone, having last seen them relieving themselves near the post, but now there was no one there.

“Shou’an!”

Qin Fangru panicked, and He Baosheng quickly got up to search.

The Song brothers rushed to the reception hall’s entrance, but were forced back by the creeping floodwater.

Gush~ Gurgle~

In the turbid pool of water outside the courtyard, a series of bubbles rose, while clusters of submerged red flowers swayed in the water, resembling stains dyed with blood.

The brothers’ hearts skipped a beat, struck with an ominous premonition. Before they could fetch a torch for a closer look, a colossal figure suddenly erupted from the water.

“Watch out!”

Crash!

A massive arm composed of countless rotting corpses slammed down fiercely, sending water splashing everywhere, reducing half the house to rubble in an instant.

The wind howled furiously, icy cold rain lashing their faces.

The Song brothers were entangled in inky black hair, dragged to the ground by Xia Chan. The putrid, greasy corpses twisted together in close proximity, their bloated, pale limbs nearly reaching the brothers’ noses, while a hoarse huffing sound emanated from their midst.

The brothers stared in terror, their bodies beginning to tremble as the horror left them stunned and senseless.

“Ah! Ahhh!!!”

*

In the side courtyard.

Sang Que hadn’t even had time to ask a question when heart-wrenching screams simultaneously echoed from both the direction of the front yard and the main courtyard, shattering the Ming Mansion’s tranquility.

Sang Que gave Liu Tianyou a deep look, quickly grabbed Xuan Yu, and headed back to the front yard.

Liu Tianyou followed closely behind, stepping only where Sang Que had walked, skillfully avoiding the water ghost’s grasping arms.

Half the reception hall had collapsed under the pounding rain, and everyone had vanished without a trace, leaving only a corner with cooped-up roosters clucking, the floor awash in bloodstains, their origin unknown.

“What happened?” Liu Tianyou’s voice trembled, his face pale with fear, as he shrank behind Sang Que.

Sang Que cautiously walked to the edge of the wreckage, seeing the pooling water outside, a dark red underneath. Her expression turned grave as she retreated, sensing the chilling oppression of the water ghost.

Was it the storyteller who refused to spare a single soul, or was it because Skinny was here, compelling the storyteller to push him into the tale?

Sang Que swiftly pondered, turning to Liu Tianyou, “I need to go to the back, I won’t be able to look after you.”

Liu Tianyou glanced at the water outside, the bloodstains on the ground, and the roosters in the corner, frowning in thought, “I… I’ll stay here then.”

He had survived in the Hidden Realm for five months by staying put, not running around to trigger anything.

“Alright, take this talisman.”

Sang Que handed an Exorcism Talisman to Liu Tianyou. As long as he didn’t approach the water outside, where the water ghost’s presence lingered, other evil spirits wouldn’t dare come near, making it somewhat safer.

Meow~

Xuan Yu lay on Sang Que’s shoulder. She donned her bamboo hat and swiftly moved through the corridors towards the main courtyard in the back.

The main courtyard door was ajar. As soon as Sang Que stepped in, she saw severed red threads scattered around, and on both walls, talisman papers soaked by rain, suggesting someone had once sealed this place.

On both sides of the corridor, wreaths and paper effigies with the word ’happiness’ written on them could still be seen, and the lanterns were also red, a ’festive decoration’.

Boom!

The silver light of the lightning illuminated the way ahead, causing Sang Que to hold her breath. She saw under the eaves in the distance, nine paper brides entangled in red cloth, hanging in mid-air, swaying in the wind and rain.

As the lightning faded, Sang Que slowly approached, and there was nothing under the eaves once more, only the faded red cloth fluttering in the wind and rain.

They were still ordinary papermen, at most considered wandering souls, lacking any lethal force, yet they were everywhere, giving you sudden scares.

On the main courtyard study door, there remained a broken red thread, the door seemed to have been kicked open with force, half of it falling off.

Crack!

The sound of a breaking branch suddenly came from behind, and Xuan Yu whined alertly. Sang Que turned her head and saw the Ming Family’s strange freak, like a tree demon, walking towards her.

Lightning flashed, casting shadows from the branches around Sang Que, like ghostly hands reaching out to attack her.

Sang Que dared not face it directly, she quickly crouched and used the furniture in the house to dodge, swiftly slipping out through the back door of the study.

As she stepped out the door, she saw a dried corpse lying beside it, with an expression of extreme fear frozen on its face, its body shriveled like a tree, with roots growing from it deeply penetrating the ground.

It was Shi Shengquan, the elder brother of the two siblings from Shihe Village. Sang Que could see a few strands of black hair on him, indicating that Xia Chan had once accompanied him, trying to save him but failed.

Behind the study was a small courtyard, with doors on both sides. Ahead appeared to be the living quarters of the Ming Mansion’s head, yet she couldn’t tell where everyone had escaped to.

The sound of breaking branches was still approaching from behind, so Sang Que walked up the side corridor to avoid the heavy rain.

“Ah! Ah ah ah!!!”

Someone appeared deranged, screaming as they rushed out from the living quarters, quickly running to the side.

Using the flash of lightning, Sang Que discerned it was Su Liangyuan, who earlier wanted to find his son, and behind him was the bearded strong man. The man held a blade full of Evil Qi, covered in blood, as if he was hunting down Su Liangyuan, or perhaps fleeing from something.

Suddenly, the bearded strong man turned towards Sang Que and pointed his hand.

Miaow!!

Xuan Yu’s fur instantly stood on end, jumping forward and swiping with its paw.

As Xuan Yu landed, it turned its head, its emerald cat eyes reflecting Sang Que’s frightened, wide-open eyes, with the scene of a sword slicing down onto her own neck.

Tick! Tick!

There was no sight of blood spurting; Sang Que collapsed, kneeled down, panting heavily, her mind echoing with the ticking sound of a clock’s second hand.

The power of Recovery had shielded her from a fatal blow—what was this?!

She was completely unable to control her own hand, it was about to slit her throat? Was it just because the bearded strong man pointed at her?

A massive sense of panic bubbled within Sang Que, making her tremble uncontrollably.

From afar, seeing that Sang Que was not dead, the bearded strong man exhibited a shocked expression, then noticed the Ming Family’s strange freak appearing in the study, its eyes gazing in his direction, the lightning revealing the clawed tree shadows surrounding him.

The bearded strong man shuddered all over, swung his blade to cut large swaths of shadow, and turned to flee.

On Sang Que’s side, her weakened body was slowly recovering with time, while the sound of breaking branches behind her was growing closer.

As she intended to get up, child’s laughter echoed in her ears once more.

“Play with me~”

Sang Que saw five or six shadowy children holding hands, jumping around her, while Xuan Yu was right next to her, seemingly oblivious to these children.

It was the ghost story written by the Ming Family’s strange freak!

“Scram!”

Sang Que roared angrily, a gray mist boiling around her like rolling water, using the power of the Yin Child to its fullest, yet those children continued jumping and laughing.

“Point at someone, and you may leave.”

So that’s how it is. Sang Que realized, but at that moment there was no one around her, and even if there was, she couldn’t use someone else’s life to trade for hers without moral limits.

The children reached out to her, wanting to pull her along.

Sang Que’s heart pounded like a drum. She forced herself to calm down, telling herself to break free from the constraints of rigid understanding, to think of her thoughtful mom, and Xu Yichao with his peculiar logic. If it were them, what would they do now?

Even the law isn’t perfectly comprehensive, so rules must have loopholes too.

Lightning streaked across again, silver light casting shadows of mottled trees, coming closer and surrounding her with the children.

Tick! Tick!

With wolves in front and tigers behind, in a flash, Sang Que’s eyes brightened, she stood with the help of her sword and pointed back.

The direction her finger pointed was towards the Ming Family’s strange freak that had emerged from the study—go play with your mom!

“Wah—don’t want to play with you anymore—”

The surrounding tree shadows trembled and retreated, the children disappeared, crying, and Sang Que felt her body lighten, immediately picking up Xuan Yu and running out through the side door at the corridor’s end without looking back.

The feeling of cold subsided, Sang Que leaned against a wall, panting heavily. Before she could make her next move, Xuan Yu in her arms suddenly tensed its body, growling menacingly to the side.

“Where is Yan Daozi?”

Someone emerged from the darkness, fixing their sinister eyes on Sang Que.

Seeing who it was, Sang Que’s pupils dilated with shock—it was… Su Liangyuan!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep