The Secret

The class monitor meticulously gathered the trash everyone had produced after their meal and packed it up to be thrown out of the mansion. When she returned, she found everyone else battling their own eyelids.

"You all look so sleepy~ How about this! We'll take turns standing guard, two hours each. That way, everyone will get six hours of rest.

Luo Di contributed the most today and put in the most effort, so he gets the qualification to sleep on the bed.

I'll take the first watch today. I'm not sleepy at all, maybe because I didn't exert myself much."

Almost as soon as the class monitor finished speaking, Luo Di had already reclined on a rattan chair and fallen asleep, his snores faintly audible.

Gao Yuxuan took out a moisture-proof mat to use as bedding, leaving the large bed entirely to Anna.

It was fitting, as someone of Anna's build truly couldn't sleep anywhere else.

In such a dilapidated old house where someone had died, the bedding and such couldn't be used. Anna removed everything except the bed frame, laid down her own moisture-proof mat, and finally managed to fall asleep.

"It's good to be young, falling asleep just like that~"

The class monitor looked at the three sleeping figures in the bedroom with a face full of relief. Not a trace of fatigue could be seen on her expression.

The sound of heavy rain battering the mansion with all its might served as a very natural white noise, also masking other disturbances.

The class monitor moved with steps resembling ballet, dancing gracefully within the house.

When her dance concluded, she arrived at the old dressing table in the master bedroom. She wiped the dust off the mirror and then used a tissue to clean the old wooden comb.

She untied her ponytail, applied some kind of ointment to the wooden comb, and began to slowly comb her hair in front of the mirror.

The reflection of the class monitor in the mirror maintained a constant smile; not a hint of nervousness could be detected from the start of their practical training until now.

Sunset gave way to night.

Unlike the city, which remained brightly lit with ample illumination, this small mountain located in the suburbs was now shrouded in darkness.

The wall lamps that the class monitor and others had affixed to the mansion earlier were now serving their purpose, keeping the entire building illuminated.

[21:00]

Luo Di, assigned to the last watch, woke up as if he had an internal alarm set.

He had expected someone to be there to relieve him, but instead, three pairs of eyes were staring at him intently.

"You're awake?" the class monitor asked excitedly.

"What are you all...?"

"Quick, come here~ Gao Yuxuan discovered the secret of this mansion during his watch, so he woke us all up. Considering you had a tough day, we waited an extra half hour."

"What secret?"

The class monitor stood by the wall, feigning mystery, and tapped it with her hand, producing a clear, hollow sound.

"Gao Yuxuan measured the corridor's length and compared it to the width of the master bedroom and the adjacent room. He discovered there's a significant gap between the two rooms, enough to fit a hidden compartment.

There's a high probability of a secret room here, but we haven't found the switch. Perhaps the owner removed it beforehand."

Luo Di also tapped the wall with his finger, "It doesn't sound like the wall is very thick. We should be able to break through it by force, right?"

"Exactly~ We were just worried about waking you up!"

With an elegant turn, the class monitor spread her arms to the left, showcasing her best friend.

Anna, holding a stone hammer, was ready to forcefully break the wall. Judging by the hammer's age, it was likely found inside the mansion.

With all her muscles engaged, she twisted her waist and swung her arm.

Bang!

Her strength was astonishing.

With a single strike, she created several cracks in the wall, the impact point caving inward completely.

She didn't stop, swinging again.

Boom!

The second strike created a fist-sized opening in the wall, allowing a glimpse into the dark interior.

This darkness made everyone uncomfortable. Having grown up in the city, they had almost no exposure to darkness; even the most secluded alleyways were illuminated.

Upon seeing this inappropriate darkness, the class monitor quickly tossed a touch-activated light orb into it.

Snap!

The orb landed inside and activated upon impact.

Strangely, although the orb emitted white light, the reflected light turned red.

The wall-smashing continued.

Boom! As the third hammer blow landed, a large amount of bricks collapsed sequentially. The secret dark room was fully revealed, and a distinctly different stench emanated from within.

Unlike the pure smell of decay from the backyard, this stench was mixed with the scent of incense.

The floor was covered in crow carcasses. The light orb they had thrown in earlier had landed on these dead crows. There was no suitable spot to stand in the cramped dark room.

The walls of the entire dark room were painted a deep red with crow's blood.

In the depths of the darkroom, a ritual altar covered with yellow cloth was set up.

On it were a metal oil lamp, rotting fruit offerings, burned-out incense and candles, unused yellow talismans, and a family photo.

This was also the first time everyone had found a photo of this family since arriving at the mansion.

However, the objects primarily used for rituals seemed to have been removed.

Another notable feature of this darkroom was that its ceiling had four curved hooks, corresponding to the four corners of the rectangle, seemingly used for suspending something.

Gao Yuxuan began to analyze, combining knowledge from textbooks and extracurricular sources, "Perhaps someone was performing 'corpse refining' here... If I'm not mistaken, these four hooks should be for suspending coffins."

"'Corpse refining'?"

The first thing everyone thought of were the four corpses hanging from the locust tree, especially the elder's body that hung the highest and was difficult to burn.

Luo Di's gaze was particularly sharp. He noticed something seemed off about the photo on the altar.

Squish, squish He put plastic bags over his shoe soles, stepped on the crow's corpse, and retrieved the black and white photo.

"This is!"

Everyone froze upon seeing the photo.

The photo showed five people.

The young man and woman, the middle-aged woman, and the elder were the four corpses everyone had already dealt with, previously hanging from the tree.

However, there was another person among them.

A middle-aged man in simple clothing, sitting in a wheelchair.

Although the old-fashioned black and white photo was a bit blurry, one could roughly tell that this person's condition was quite poor, likely suffering from a serious illness.

The elder, who hung highest on the locust tree and was the most difficult to deal with, was the one pushing the wheelchair from behind.

The class monitor immediately connected everything. "I knew it! The age difference between the old man and the middle-aged woman was so great, how could they be husband and wife? Turns out the old man was the butler here.

This sick man is the head of the family!

This guy must have been proficient in some kind of Daoist magic. Gravely ill and nearing his end, he decided to refine his own corpse, with his entire family being crucial components of this refinement process.

His family members were likely controlled by talismans, or their minds were altered, and they were taught the steps for corpse refining in advance.

The first stage of corpse refining was set up in this secret room.

The corpse buried in a coffin and hung in the secret room, using the rich crow's blood to absorb yin energy. Once enough was absorbed, the entire family would carry the coffin to the true corpse refining site.

Most likely a hidden mountain cave.

Then, the entire family would set up the mansion with items needed for a funeral, slaughtering all the pigs and cattle prepared in the backyard. Once everything was ready, they would collectively hang themselves.

The bodies of the pigs and cattle, along with the suicides, nourished the locust tree in the backyard. The yin energy gathered at the roots and was transmitted downwards, thereby achieving the final corpse refining.

Unfortunately, we interrupted it by arriving unexpectedly.

Their meticulously arranged plan was ruined. This family head in the photo might have crawled out of his coffin ahead of time due to the interrupted ritual, and might have already returned to the old mansion."

The class monitor's words felt like plunging everyone into an ice cellar. The air solidified, and everyone's heads collectively turned towards the bedroom door, sealed by paper windows, unmoving.