Strange Incident

Hee...

Hee hee hee...

An eerie child's laughter rang beside Jiang Dao's ears, sending waves of stabbing pain through his mind. His vision was dim and hazy, the light distorted. A strange child, black from head to toe, seemed to be standing not far from his bed. Its eyes were hollow, its mouth split all the way to the roots of its ears, and it stared at him with a fixed grin.

Jiang Dao let out a muffled groan, forced his eyes open, and suddenly woke up, gasping for breath.

The laughter by his ears swiftly vanished.

The light before his eyes gradually returned as well.

A faint scent of sandalwood filled the room, calming and soothing his nerves.

"Another dream..."

Bracing himself against the edge of the bed, he struggled upright. He was drenched from head to toe, soaked through with cold sweat.

He had come to this world exactly three days ago.

He had originally thought it was merely a world resembling an ancient feudal society. Yet in only three days, the information he had received had been bizarre and fantastical, beyond all comprehension.

In a word, this world contained things beyond human understanding!

Three days ago, the original owner of this body had accidentally entered a residence and passed out on the spot. That was when he had suddenly transmigrated here. Yet ever since arriving, he had dreamed the same dream every night for three days.

In the dream, a child black from head to toe, with hollow eyes and a mouth stretched into a terrifying grin, giggled before him.

At first, the child had merely stood outside his window, grinning at him through the glass.

Later, it had entered his room directly.

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

It seemed that with every passing night, the child moved a little nearer to him.

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

If that had been all, it would have been one thing.

But over the past three days, murder cases had also occurred one after another elsewhere in Hengzhou City. They were strange and bizarre, enough to give anyone pause.

Some had even claimed to have seen the dead come back to life...

All manner of heresies, all utterly inconceivable.

Jiang Dao rose from the bed, coughed several times, put on his boots himself, draped a thick Marten Fur Coat over his shoulders, and opened the door.

Outside, sunlight shone brightly. It was close to noon.

"Young Master, you're awake?"

Bi Yu, the maid carrying Lotus Seed Porridge toward him, hurriedly came forward.

"What happened outside?"

Jiang Dao asked.

Even from his room, he could hear the shouting from the front courtyard.

"Something... something happened again. Some of the servants in Jinyang District have all died. Now... now the other servants are making a fuss about leaving."

Bi Yu spoke uneasily.

On one hand, the horrifying state of those servants' corpses had deeply shocked her.

On the other, the string of murders that had recently plagued Hengzhou City had filled everyone with terror.

It had been half a month. Murder cases happened day after day, and everyone was on edge. No one knew when it would finally end.

Hengzhou City had now been completely sealed off.

If this continued, no one knew how many more people would die.

Jiang Dao pondered briefly and asked, "How many servants died? Was it that kind of thing again?"

"Yes. Six died in total. Taoist Changbai has already gone over to inspect them."

Bi Yu nodded nervously.

Taoist Changbai...

A figure surfaced in Jiang Dao's mind.

In his memories, this was an accomplished Taoist whom the Jiang Family had hired at great expense half a month ago. He was capable of suppressing Malevolent Spirits and praying for blessings on others' behalf.

Over the past half month, Taoist Changbai had indeed resolved several strange incidents and earned everyone's respect.

However!

This Taoist's character left much to be desired.

While staying with the Jiang Family, he had gradually begun to act as though a guest could bully the master.

The Jiang Family was the largest merchant house in all of Hengzhou City. Its wealth was vast, its businesses widespread, reaching four provinces and thirteen prefectures. No one knew how much treasure it possessed. Although the family had hired many martial masters and guards, no matter how strong martial masters were, they were still flesh and blood. Yet there was not a single one capable of dealing with Malevolent Spirits.

Thus, relying on his miraculous secret arts, Taoist Changbai stayed in the Jiang Family and swaggered about, overbearing and arrogant.

His payment was settled daily. He had to receive three hundred taels of silver every day.

Furthermore, he ate five meals a day, with wine at every meal and meat at every table. Servants attended him whenever he went out, maids accompanied him when he slept, and every few days he would visit the pharmacy to collect expensive medicinal herbs.

In recent days, the Taoist had become even bolder, unwilling to spare even members of the Jiang Family's direct bloodline.

In Jiang Dao's memories, one of his younger sisters had been molested by that Taoist.

The Taoist had jokingly said that he wanted his third sister to go serve him for several days, frightening her so badly that she had not dared leave her room for days.

Jiang Dao's father, Jiang Dalong, had merely smiled apologetically again and again, not daring to offend the Taoist. He had only said that he would send more young maids to keep him company, which was how he avoided angering him.

"A guest bullying the master—if this goes on, the Jiang Family will be finished..."

Jiang Dao thought to himself.

Unfortunately, the old Taoist was extraordinarily stingy with his miraculous secret arts and had no intention whatsoever of passing them on.

Jiang Dao and Jiang Dalong had begged the old Taoist more than once, hoping he would take Jiang Dao as his disciple, but the old Taoist had refused every time with all sorts of excuses.

The old bastard seemed to want to rely on this secret art to feed off the Jiang Family for the rest of his life.

Jiang Dao suddenly started toward the front courtyard.

"Young Master, the Lotus Seed Porridge..."

Bi Yu called out hurriedly.

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

Jiang Dao left those words behind.

Low sobbing drifted from within the front courtyard.

There was also deafening clamor and shouting.

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

Several corpses lay quietly across the broad, moss-covered ground, covered in white cloth. The hands extending beyond the cloth were bluish-purple, as though stained with paint, indescribably grotesque and terrifying.

These were the servants who had died unjustly earlier.

Their respective family members wept quietly before the bodies.

Pang Lin, the head guard, stood with eyes wide and a fierce expression, gripping a thick iron staff as he faced several men noisily demanding to leave.

"Without the master's permission, no one is allowed to leave! What do you take the Jiang Family for? A place you can come and go from whenever you please? How could it be that simple? Whoever dares take one step out—kill!"

Pang Lin shouted.

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

"Y-you're only relying on knowing a bit of martial arts! If you have the guts, go fight the Malevolent Spirits! What kind of ability is bullying us?"

"That's right! We don't want to die together with the Jiang Family. Don't drag us down to the grave with you!"

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

Several servants shouted, forcing themselves to stand firm.

"He isn't a hero, but are you?"

A cold voice suddenly rang out.

A plump-faced middle-aged man in a short silk jacket walked in from outside, his face dark and gloomy. Beside him followed an old Taoist in a blue robe, with grizzled hair and a goatee, smiling amiably.

More than a dozen guards carrying steel sabers followed behind them, their presence imposing.

"The master is here!"

Pang Lin quickly went forward to greet him.

The other guards also stepped forward to pay their respects.

The servants who had wanted to flee immediately grew nervous when they saw Jiang Dalong, the head of the Jiang Family, return.

As the wealthiest merchant in Hengzhou City, the Jiang Family's power blotted out the sky. If they casually beat a few servants to death, the authorities would not interfere at all.

"Master..."

The servants all lowered their heads, not daring to look at him.

"When the Jiang Family was doing well, we paid each of you three qian of silver a month. Now that something has happened to the Jiang Family, every last one of you runs faster than rabbits. Do you really think my Jiang Family is some charitable establishment?

Why don't you ask around? In Hengzhou City, who else can give you three qian of silver a month? You eat the Jiang Family's food, use the Jiang Family's things, sleep under the Jiang Family's roof, and now you want to run the moment trouble comes? Do you think there is such a cheap bargain in this world? Don't forget the contracts you signed. Each of you signed for ten years. You want to leave this early? Do you truly think the Jiang Family is easy to bully?"

Jiang Dalong's tone was icy.

The servants did not dare raise their heads even more, and not one of them dared talk back.

Jiang Dalong snorted coldly. "Pang Lin, find people to watch them. Whoever dares flee, slaughter him on the spot. Put the severed heads on my account!"

"Yes, Master!"

Pang Lin's heart tightened as he solemnly cupped his fist.

"And you lot!"

Jiang Dalong's gaze was cold as he looked over the servants. "Don't think secretly running away at night will save you. From now on, whoever reports someone trying to flee will be rewarded fifty taels of silver. Anyone who knows and fails to report it will be executed as well!"

The servants were shocked to the core.

Fifty taels?

How many years would they have to work to earn that much?

The group silently lowered their heads. None of them dared entertain thoughts of escape again. After offering embarrassed smiles, they dispersed one after another.