A Ghost Shadow Appears in the Dead of Night!

Lu Xuan glanced around, his dark pupils seeming unfathomably deep. At last, he murmured, "Looks like I can only wait until tonight."

After all, those who met with misfortune only went mad early the next morning, after night had passed.

Late at night!

Because murder cases had occurred in Willow Ditch Village during this period, the Old Village Chief had ordered that no villagers were allowed out at night until the cases were solved.

The two rooms in the East Courtyard were both occupied now. Liang Cheng, the other yamen runners, Li San, and Tie Niu were crammed into one room.

Lu Xuan occupied the remaining room by himself.

Wary of the strange evil in Willow Ditch Village, Liang Cheng arranged for two yamen runners to stand watch through the night. Li San, too, was unusually volunteering to keep watch.

"Gentlemen, my name is Li San, a clerk at the Lu Family Pharmacy. Please look after me."

Outside the room, the three sat in a circle by the door. Li San spoke politely to the two yamen runners.

"Of course, of course."

"Brother Li, you're too polite."

The two yamen runners answered just as courteously, without a trace of arrogance.

Seeing this, Li San relaxed considerably. He could tell that the two yamen runners before him were also martial artists. Like him, they should be warriors in the Skin Refinement Realm.

With two more warriors keeping watch with him tonight, Li San let out a breath of relief. I just hope we can get through tonight safely.

In the courtyard, several lanterns with lit candles hung from the doors, swaying gently in the wind.

The dim candlelight within them swayed along with the lanterns.

The flickering light shone over Li San and the others. The three sat facing one another, fully alert.

Rustle, rustle, rustle!

From the passage leading toward the West Courtyard came the sound of gusts of wind sweeping past.

At that moment, one yamen runner stood up and said to Li San and the other runner, "I'm going to relieve myself."

He then walked a meter ahead, where a chamber pot had been prepared. The next moment, with his back to Li San and the other man, he lowered his pants...

Since the previous victims had all met with disaster when they went out to relieve themselves, Liang Cheng had prepared chamber pots in the courtyard to prevent another accident.

Suddenly!

A White Figure invisible to the naked eye flashed through the passage toward the West Courtyard.

Neither Li San nor the other yamen runner saw it. They remained quietly seated by the door.

But when the yamen runner who had finished relieving himself returned to his place—

He looked up, his eyes widening in shock. Terror covered his face, as if he had seen something horrifying.

Before his eyes floated a black shadow in midair. Tangled long hair covered its entire head, while a ghastly white robe drifted around its body.

Li San and the other yamen runner instantly noticed something wrong with him. Li San's scalp prickled, and just as he was about to turn around to look behind him—

A chill swept over them!

It was a bone-piercing, icy coldness that froze the three men guarding the door in place, leaving their bodies stiff and powerless.

It was over!

Li San felt his body slip beyond his control. His final thought was that he was going to die.

Remembering how Young Master Yun'an and the others had died, Li San's face turned ashen. He wanted to cry, but no tears came.

What sin had he committed to insist on returning to this cursed place?

Just as the blurry Black Hand Shadow was about to touch Li San—

Boom!

The door to Lu Xuan's room exploded open. Splinters shot into the courtyard, as though the door had been blasted apart by some overwhelming force.

Whoosh!

A fierce gale suddenly rose in the courtyard, blowing the lanterns hanging from the doors high into the air. Their candle flames swayed wildly, on the verge of going out.

A broadsword swept across, blocking the Black Hand Shadow. Under the candlelight, the blade flashed with cold brilliance.

"I've finally waited for you!"

Lu Xuan gripped the broadsword, his lips splitting into a grin that revealed two rows of sharp teeth gleaming with silvery cold light.

At that moment, Lu Xuan smiled in satisfaction. He had concealed his aura inside the room precisely to wait for this thing to arrive.

The instant Lu Xuan sensed that astonishing chill appear outside the courtyard, he had burst through the door without hesitation.

Then, a Blazing Aura spread through the courtyard, setting the blood racing.

The ghastly chill melted away swiftly, like warm sunlight after snow.

Facing such a terrifying and bizarre thing, Lu Xuan unleashed the full power of his Qi and Blood.

Once the horrifyingly frigid chill receded, Li San and the others returned to normal.

Li San's expression changed drastically. He hurriedly looked behind him and saw his Young Master holding back a Black Hand Shadow with a broadsword.

He hastily drew his own broadsword, forcing his trembling body forward as he tried to help Lu Xuan.

"Young Master, be careful! I'll help you!"

The next second, the black figure clad in its ghastly white robe seemed to face a formidable enemy. Apparently fearful of Lu Xuan's blazing Qi and Blood, it instantly turned into an afterimage and swept toward the West Courtyard.

"Trying to run?"

Seeing the black figure flee into the distance, Lu Xuan immediately exerted all his strength. A deep collapsed pit instantly formed beneath his feet.

The terrifying impact launched Lu Xuan into the air. At ghostlike speed, he chased after the black figure.

That icy chill was at least dozens of times stronger than the Yin Energy Lu Xuan had sensed before.

Was this the thing that produced the Yin Energy?

Lu Xuan stared fervently at the rapidly fleeing black shadow ahead, his eyes full of the longing of a hunter watching prey.

"What happened? Is something wrong outside?"

After Lu Xuan left the East Courtyard in pursuit of the black Ghost Shadow, chaotic footsteps rang out from Liang Cheng's room.

The door was swiftly pulled open, and Liang Cheng rushed out with the other yamen runners.

Seeing the three men outside looking as though they had seen a ghost, then noticing Lu Xuan's destroyed door, Liang Cheng's expression changed sharply. He shouted in alarm.

"What happened? Where did Xuan-ge go?!"

His urgent roar jolted the three stunned men back to their senses, especially Li San, who still held a blade in his hand.

The moment Li San saw Liang Cheng, he reacted at once and hurriedly said, "Young Master Cheng, this is bad! Young Master chased those filthy things out! We need to go help Young Master!"

"Those filthy things? You mean..."

After hearing Li San's words, Liang Cheng was initially baffled. Then he suddenly woke up to what Li San meant.

Liang Cheng's pupils contracted as he looked at the things in the courtyard that had been wrecked by some powerful force, and at the enormous pit in the ground.

"Then what are we waiting for? You three saw which way Xuan-ge went. Lead the way, quickly!"

"Yes, Young Master Cheng."

"Yes, Chief."

Xuan-ge might be powerful, but those filthy things were exceedingly bizarre and terrifying. They possessed the power to make even the dead move.

Worry filled Liang Cheng's face as he followed Li San and the other three toward the West Courtyard.