From afar, the Liu Family Ghost Building did not seem large, but only upon approaching did they discover that this four-story pavilion covered quite a broad area. Its design was simply exquisite, concealing its size beneath an unassuming exterior.
Each floor had more than ten rooms arranged around the courtyard. At the center stood an intact canopy and safety net; the canopy caught rainwater, while the net prevented children upstairs from falling.
Completely unlike the dilapidation of the entire Liu Family Memorial Arch outside, this building appeared remarkably well preserved. Decades of wind and rain had not damaged a single door or window, nor left behind the faintest mottling.
That in itself was strange.
The young girl who had come with Gongsun Rou was named Zhao Xiaomiao, Zhao Liangcai's half-sister by the same father. Tugging at Gongsun Rou's sleeve, she kept pleading, "Gongsun Sister, please, let me come with you."
Gongsun Rou remained unmoved and merely shook her head faintly. "You came out to play with me, so I have to take responsibility for you. We don't know what's inside. What if it's dangerous?"
Zhao Liangcai also wanted Zhao Xiaomiao to go home, but she had never paid him any heed. Seeing him about to speak, she shot him a glare, and Zhao Liangcai immediately shut his mouth.
Zhao Xiaomiao was not afraid of him, but he was afraid of Zhao Xiaomiao. He had fooled around outside often enough that she had no idea how many of his weaknesses she held in her grasp. The elders at home also spoiled her. If she so much as complained about him, she could make him unable to swallow the consequences.
Zhao Xiaomiao continued to wheedle, "If there's danger, wouldn't you be in danger too?"
"Exactly." Wang Longqi chimed in. "Gongsun Girl, why don't neither of you come? This really isn't a good place."
Gongsun Rou looked at him, though her gaze actually passed over him toward Li Chu beside him. Smiling lightly, she said, "I'm not afraid."
Zhao Xiaomiao's eyes rolled. "Gongsun Sister, think about it. Once we go in, they can all share rooms in pairs, but you'll have to sleep alone. How scary is that? There won't even be anyone to look out for you. What if those ghosts specifically bully people who are alone? What will you do then?"
Gongsun Rou pondered for a moment. She still seemed unwilling to agree, yet she said nothing further.
Zhao Xiaomiao giggled and directly wrapped her arms around hers. "You can't leave me behind."
Zhao Liangcai silently began calculating in his heart. So Gongsun Girl was still afraid after all. Hehe, once she knew fear, this would be easy. In an environment like this, if he used a few little tricks to scare her, wouldn't she throw herself into his arms on her own?
Gongsun Rou glanced again at Li Chu's profile, and her heart gave two unexpected thumps. She also thought to herself, In an environment like this, if I get scared, could I not reasonably throw myself into Little Daoist Priest Li's arms?
Wang Longqi stood somewhat closer to Gongsun Rou and could smell the faint fragrance at the tip of his nose, sending his mind drifting. He began to think as well, In an environment like this... how can I make Gongsun Girl fall into my arms instead of someone else's?
Each of them harbored their own thoughts. Only Zhao Liangchen and Li Chu remained calm and composed—one coldly ugly, the other coldly handsome—each maintaining his own manner.
The group first wandered around the open space on the first floor and discovered that there were not only no snakes, insects, or rats in the building, but not even a single plant.
The blue bricks in the courtyard had been eroded by rain over so many years, yet they were slick and smooth without a trace of moss.
Only then did Zhao Liangchen speak. "A solitary yin cannot give birth. The Yin Qi in this building is too heavy, leaving no Yang Energy behind. It seems the tales of ghosts are not empty rumors."
After saying this, he looked coldly at Li Chu.
An ordinary jianghu charlatan should be looking for an excuse to slip away by now, shouldn't he?
Li Chu did not look at him at all, merely nodding in agreement. In truth, he had sensed it before entering: the Yin Qi accumulated in this small building was even denser than that of the mass graveyard at Ten Li Slope.
If this place did not give rise to some sort of ghost, that would be the strange thing.
But since the ghosts here had never left, they should not be anything particularly formidable.
His judgment had some basis, because most earthbound ghosts he had encountered were indeed low-level ghosts, such as the Lantern Monster and Vengeful Spirit.
Yet it was also somewhat unreasonable, because to many Cultivators, a Vengeful Spirit already counted as formidable...
After looking over the floors, Zhao Liangcai eagerly pointed to a room and said to Gongsun Rou, "Gongsun Girl, from my observations, this is the best room in the entire building. It's spacious and clean, and it's close to the entrance. It's on the second floor, with eaves outside. If anything happens suddenly, you can jump out directly without getting hurt."
Gongsun Rou nodded, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
Wang Longqi said, "So you've been keeping an eye on the entrance all along. Looks like you've always been planning to run away."
"Hmph, I'm thinking of Gongsun Girl."
"And then you'll find an excuse to say you should stay next door to Gongsun Girl, so it'll be easier for you to run away too, right?" Wang Longqi sneered.
"You! You're talking nonsense!" Zhao Liangcai's little scheme had been exposed, and his face instantly reddened.
"Fine, then do you dare live on the highest fourth floor, in the place farthest from the stairs?" Wang Longqi pointed upward.
"Why wouldn't I dare!" Zhao Liangcai shouted.
"Good! Then we'll stay next door to Gongsun Girl." Wang Longqi turned around and rushed to push open the door.
Gongsun Rou had not originally agreed to stay in the room he had chosen, but when she saw that Li Chu had already entered the neighboring room with Wang Longqi, she smiled, nodded once at Zhao Liangcai, and lightly walked inside as well.
"..." Zhao Liangcai stood rooted to the spot for several seconds before realizing that he seemed to have been played?
He looked at Zhao Liangchen pitifully. "Cousin, you have to stand up for me."
"Hehe." Zhao Liangchen looked at the darkening sky overhead and gave two cold laughs. "Let them do as they please."
Tonight's moon was full and round, yet for some reason, when viewed from the Liu Family Ghost Building, it always seemed shrouded by a layer of gray mist. No matter how large the moon was, it held no radiance.
The room was spotless. The bed, screen, and table were all clean and orderly, as though someone cleaned them every day.
No matter where one touched, everything felt cool, carrying a gloomy, eerie smell. After smelling it for too long, it even became a little nauseating.
Zhao Liangcai sat in a chair, unable to stop his back from prickling. As the night sky descended, the unease in his heart grew ever thicker.
He could not help asking, "cousin, do you think ghosts clean this place every day?"
Zhao Liangchen was meditating on the bed. Cherishing every moment for cultivation was a habit he had developed over many years.
Only after completing a full Heavenly Cycle did he open his eyes in displeasure, looking at Zhao Liangcai as though he were an idiot. "Who else would it be? Could it be people?"
"Huh?" Zhao Liangcai sprang to his feet in fright, somewhat panicked. "Words are words, jokes are jokes, but don't joke about this. I only wanted to scare them. I never meant to actually see ghosts."
"With me here, what are you afraid of?" Zhao Liangchen's gaze was lofty and disdainful. "Presumably, some members of the Liu family had remained unwilling to accept their fate back then, and their Living Souls lingered here, unwilling to disperse. Heh, if they dare appear, how difficult could it be for me to cleanse this haunted house?"
Hearing him say this, Zhao Liangcai finally felt somewhat reassured. After all, he had always known that his cousin was capable.
Once he had some confidence, other thoughts began stirring again.
"Cousin." He leaned closer. "Earlier, you said you'd use some means to scare them. What was it? It's dark now. Shouldn't we make our move?"
At this, Zhao Liangchen took a small black bottle from his sleeve. "To deal with them, these few Little Ghosts will suffice."
He pulled out the tiny stopper sealed with a Talisman, tipped the bottle downward, and a thick white mist like mutton fat flowed out. In the blink of an eye, it spread across half the room.
Within the white mist, several tiny figures gradually appeared, neither fully real nor unreal. Each hugged his knees and curled into a ball, head buried against his knees.
Zhao Liangcai watched in terror. "Th-this... what is this?"
"Unclothed Ghosts, also known as Child Ghosts. I caught them by chance some time ago," Zhao Liangchen said.
Zhao Liangcai had vaguely heard some tales about Unclothed Ghosts. Children who died before reaching eight years old were said to suffer the calamity of dying before they could wear mourning clothes, and Children of that age could easily become ghosts. They died before properly enjoying the pleasures of the Human Realm, so resentment remained in their hearts.
But children had simple natures and little Resentful Qi, so they generally did not cause much harm.
As the white mist slowly dispersed, the figures became clearer: four boys and one girl, all dressed in thick clothes and looking like paper effigies.
At the moment the white mist vanished, the Child Ghosts raised their heads...
Then Zhao Liangcai heard a loud, crisp, excited question, spoken in perfect unison.
"Have you eaten?!"
Thanks to book friend 20190125103432149 for the thousand reward, thanks to Feng Weimian for the 200 reward, and thanks to 77 Days Until Ten Mile Slope Sword God for the hundred reward.
Before you continue