A Strange Incident

Hee...

Hee hee hee...

A strange child's laughter echoed in his ears, sending waves of pain through Jiang Dao's mind. His vision was dim and hazy, the light distorted. It seemed a grotesque, pitch-black child stood not far from his bed, its eyes hollow, its mouth split open, stretching all the way to its ears, staring at him and grinning.

Jiang Dao let out a muffled groan, forcing his eyes open. He woke up abruptly, gasping for air.

The laughter by his ears vanished quickly.

The light before him also slowly returned to normal.

A faint scent of sandalwood filled the room, calming and reassuring.

"Another dream..."

He propped himself up on the edge of the bed and sat up with difficulty. His entire body was drenched in cold sweat.

It had been a full three days since he arrived in this world.

He had initially thought it was just a world similar to ancient feudal society, but in just three days, the information he'd received had been bizarre and unbelievable.

In short, this world contained things beyond human comprehension!

Three days ago, the original owner of this body had accidentally trespassed into a residence and fainted. It was at that moment he had suddenly transmigrated. However, for the past three days after transmigrating, he had been having the same dream.

In the dream, a pitch-black child with hollow eyes and a terrifyingly wide grin played and laughed before him.

At first, the child was just outside his window, grinning eerily through the glass.

Then, it managed to enter his room.

After that, it got closer and closer to his bed.

It seemed that with each passing night, the child moved a little closer to him.

Now, the child was only six or seven meters away from his bed.

If it were just this, it would be bearable.

Over the past three days, other parts of Hengzhou City had also experienced a series of bizarre and perplexing murders, prompting deep thought.

There were even rumors of the dead coming back to life...

All sorts of heresies, unbelievable.

Jiang Dao got out of bed, coughed a few times, put on his boots, and threw on a thick marten fur coat before opening the door.

Outside, sunlight streamed down; it was nearing noon.

"Young Master, you're awake?"

Bi Yu, a maid carrying lotus seed porridge, hurried over as she saw him.

"What's happening outside?"

Jiang Dao asked.

He could hear the shouting from the front courtyard even from his room.

"It's... it's happened again. Some of the household guards in Jinyang District are all dead. Now... now the other guards are all demanding to leave."

Bi Yu's voice was trembling slightly.

On one hand, the gruesome state of the dead guards deeply horrified her.

On the other hand, the recent serial murders in Hengzhou City had instilled widespread fear.

It had been half a month of continuous murders, causing widespread panic. No one knew when it would end.

Hengzhou City was now completely sealed off.

If this continued, who knew how many would die.

Jiang Dao pondered for a moment and asked, "How many guards died? Was it... that thing again?"

"Yes, a total of six guards died. Changbai Taoist has already gone to investigate."

Bi Yu nodded nervously.

Changbai Taoist...

A figure came to mind for Jiang Dao.

He recalled that this was a fully ordained Taoist priest the Jiang family had hired at great expense half a month ago, possessing the ability to suppress evil spirits and bless people.

For the past half month, Changbai Taoist had indeed resolved several strange incidents, earning him respect.

However!

The Taoist's character was somewhat lacking.

While staying at the Jiang family's residence, he had gradually shown signs of usurping authority.

The Jiang family was the largest merchant house in all of Hengzhou City, with vast assets and extensive business dealings spanning four prefectures and thirteen commanderies. Their wealth was immeasurable. Although they had hired many martial artists and guards, no matter how strong the martial artists were, they were ultimately just flesh and blood. None of them could deal with that kind of evil spirit.

Therefore, Changbai Taoist, relying on his miraculous secret arts, stayed with the Jiang family, acting arrogantly and domineeringly.

His payment was settled daily, and he demanded 300 taels of silver each day.

In addition, there were five meals a day, with wine at every meal and meat at every sitting. Servants attended to his every need, and maids accompanied him when he slept. Every few days, he would visit the pharmacy to collect expensive medicinal herbs.

Lately, the Taoist had become even more audacious, not even sparing members of the Jiang family.

Jiang Dao recalled that one of his sisters had been harassed by the Taoist.

The Taoist had jokingly said he wanted their third sister to serve him for a few days, which had scared her so much that she didn't dare to leave her room for days.

Jiang Dao's father, Jiang Dalong, could only repeatedly offer smiles and apologies, afraid to offend the Taoist. He merely suggested hiring more young maids to keep him company, which managed to avoid angering the Taoist.

"The guest bullies the host. If this continues, the Jiang family is finished..."

Jiang Dao thought to himself.

Unfortunately, the old Taoist was extremely stingy with his miraculous secret techniques, showing no intention of passing them on.

Jiang Dao and Jiang Dalong had asked the old Taoist more than once if he would take Jiang Dao as a disciple, but he had refused with various excuses.

The old man seemed to want to rely on this secret technique to leech off the Jiang family for his entire life.

Jiang Dao suddenly started walking towards the front courtyard.

"Young Master, Lotus Seed Porridge..."

Bi Yu quickly called out.

"Leave it there. I'm not in the mood to drink it right now."

Jiang Dao left his words behind.

Inside the front courtyard, some low sobs could be heard.

There was also some noisy commotion.

Jiang Dao walked through a corridor and entered the front courtyard.

On the spacious, moss-covered ground, several corpses lay quietly, covered with white cloth. The hands exposed outside the cloth were bruised and purple, as if dyed with paint, looking indescribably ferocious and terrifying.

These were all house servants who had died unjustly before.

Their respective families were weeping quietly before the bodies.

The head of the guards, Pang Lin, stood with his eyes wide open and a stern expression, holding a thick iron cudgel. He glared at the people arguing about leaving.

"No one is allowed to leave without the Master's permission. What do you think the Jiang family is? A place where you can come and go as you please? It's not that simple. Anyone who dares to take a step will be killed!"

Pang Lin shouted.

The house servants who had already packed their belongings were intimidated by Pang Lin's imposing presence. Their faces turned pale, and their hearts were filled with panic.

"You... you're just relying on your martial arts skills, aren't you? If you're so capable, go fight the evil spirits. What kind of skill is it to bully us?"

"Exactly! We don't want to die with the Jiang family. Don't drag us down with you!"

"We're unarmed. Bullying us doesn't make you a hero!"

A few house servants said, mustering their courage.

"He's not a hero, but are you?"

Suddenly, a cold voice rang out.

A middle-aged man with a plump face, wearing a silk short jacket, walked in with a gloomy expression. Beside him was an old Taoist in a green robe with graying hair and a goatee, wearing a smiling expression.

Behind them followed more than a dozen guards carrying steel sabers, exuding an imposing aura.

"The Master is here!"

Pang Lin quickly went to greet him.

The other guards also stepped forward to pay their respects.

The house servants who wanted to flee became nervous and uneasy as soon as they saw Jiang Dalong, the head of the Jiang family, return.

The Jiang family, as the wealthiest merchant in Hengzhou City, held immense power. The yamen would not even bother to investigate if a few house servants were casually beaten to death.

"Master..."

These house servants all lowered their heads, not daring to look.

"When the Jiang family was doing well, you were kept on a monthly salary of three qian of silver. Now that the Jiang family is in trouble, you're all running faster than rabbits. Do you really think the Jiang family is some kind of charity?

Have you even bothered to ask around to see who in Hengzhou City can give you a monthly salary of three qian of silver? You eat what the Jiang family provides, use what the Jiang family provides, sleep in what the Jiang family provides, and now you run away at the first sign of trouble. Do you think it's that easy? Don't forget the contracts you signed. A ten-year contract per person. You want to leave so soon? Do you really think the Jiang family can be bullied?"

Jiang Dalong's tone was icy.

The house servants didn't dare to look up, not even daring to retort.

Jiang Dalong snorted coldly and said, "Pang Lin, find people to watch them. If anyone dares to escape, kill them on the spot. The heads will be on my account!"

"Yes, Master!"

Pang Lin's heart tightened, and he solemnly cupped his fists.

"And you lot!"

Jiang Dalong's gaze was cold as he looked at the group of house servants. "Don't think you can get away with sneaking away at night. From now on, whoever reports any unauthorized escapees will be rewarded with 50 taels of silver. Those who know about it but don't report it will all be executed!"

The house servants were shocked.

Fifty taels?

How many years of work would that be for them?

The group of people silently lowered their heads, no longer daring to consider escaping. With awkward smiles, they all left the area.