A Xia warily looked around. "Who? Who's there?"
"A Xia, A Xia..."
The voice kept calling from behind her.
Closer and closer.
It was as if a girl were slowly approaching her.
A Xia turned to look, but saw no one.
"A Xia, A Xia..."
The voice drew nearer, as if it were coming from her back.
A Xia felt something clinging to her back. She reached out to grab it, but caught nothing. Yet she could clearly feel a terrible weight pressing down on her, forcing her to bend forward.
A Xia was terrified.
She suddenly remembered that the master's older brother had visited once before and brought the family a mirror, which had been placed in the southeast corner of the living room.
The master's older brother, Li Wenqing, was no ordinary man.
They said he was a military juren who had passed the imperial court's special examination. He had mastered extraordinary martial arts and had just been appointed by the court as county magistrate of Honghe County.
Besides his extraordinary martial arts, Li Wenqing also knew a few methods for catching ghosts and warding off evil. The mirror he had brought was quite special: Five Emperors Coins were set all around its frame.
Li Wenqing had said at the time, "That mirror can expose evil and protect the home."
At the thought, A Xia hurried toward the southeast corner of the living room.
She walked toward the mirror step by step, and was startled to find that the thing on her back was growing heavier and heavier, slowing her pace. She had to use nearly all her strength just to reach the bronze mirror.
The mirror sat on a small corner table. It was round, about the size of a human head, and its surface was caked with thick dust, making it impossible to see a clear reflection.
Huff, huff, huff!
Perhaps her desire to survive had kicked in. She panted heavily, then shakily reached out and wiped the mirror...
As the mirror cleared, she saw...
A girl in a bright red Xiuhua Dress was clinging to her back, her hair hanging loose and her facial skin peeled away, exposing the flesh beneath. The girl's mouth was open as she called out again and again.
"A Xia, A Xia~"
A Xia was instantly so terrified that her hair stood on end, and she screamed on instinct.
"Ah!!"
"Heh-heh~"
Xie Cui was sleeping soundly in her room when a piercing scream suddenly woke her.
"A Xia?"
Worried about A Xia after all, Xie Cui forced her exhausted body to sit up, put on her padded jacket, and left the bedroom.
The moment she reached the living room, a bone-chilling wind blew straight at her, making her shiver.
"That A Xia. She doesn't even know to close the door in the middle of the night..."
Xie Cui was going to shut the door. She had only taken two steps when she saw A Xia standing in the corner of the living room, head bowed slightly toward the bronze mirror, motionless.
"A Xia, what are you standing there for?"
A Xia remained motionless, still facing away from Xie Cui.
Xie Cui walked over and patted her shoulder. "A Xia, why are you standing here..."
Before she could finish, A Xia turned around slowly, stiff as a board.
Her face was riddled with holes. Her tongue, eyes, and nose had all been gouged out. The once plump, smooth face of a young woman in her prime was now covered in wrinkles, reduced to skin and bones.
Even though Xie Cui was already in her thirties, she still sucked in a terrified breath and dropped onto her backside.
Before Xie Cui could think any further, she suddenly saw something moving in the bronze mirror. She scrambled to her feet and leaned closer to look, only to see through the mirror... a girl in a red Xiuhua Dress clinging to A Xia's back, using her sharp fingernails to claw the flesh from A Xia's face. She sucked away A Xia's blood and vitality, bite by bite, turning her into a dried corpse.
"Ah!"
Terrified, Xie Cui hurried to get back to the bedroom. But as soon as she rose, her back became unbearably heavy. When she looked toward the mirror, she clearly saw the girl in red clinging to her, grinning at her...
Xie Cui's pupils dilated. Every last bit of her composure shattered, and she blacked out.
After a long while, Xie Cui began moving again. Gone was her former steadiness; she bounced out of the living room like a child, and even her voice had become a little girl's childish squeak.
"Grandmother said the secrets of our Li Family must never be revealed to outsiders. Everyone in Xie Manor is dead, but there's still that Chen boy who wandered into Ghost Land last time..."
"Chen boy, I'm coming to find you. Hee-hee~"
After leaving Li Manor, Li Yu went straight to the County Office.
The County Office's entrance was imposing and grand, with two red lanterns hanging above it.
Never underestimate those two red lanterns.
They were a gift from Goddess Hong Deng, and earning such a reward was no easy feat.
Even prominent local families like Xie Manor and Chen Mansion had no right to hang red lanterns.
Hanging a red lantern meant that the family had received Goddess Hong Deng's protection, and no Evil Spirit could enter. Otherwise, it would be tantamount to angering Goddess Hong Deng, and there would be hell to pay.
Across all of Honghe County, aside from the Stockades under the Red Lantern Society, which could hang one red lantern, few other forces had received such favor. Even those who had were allowed only a tiny lantern.
The County Office was the first to hang two large red lanterns above its entrance.
Aside from the red lanterns, a stone lion stood on either side of the main gate, and beneath the eaves by the entrance stood an upright petition drum. Above it hung a horizontal plaque: "Clear-Sighted and Upright."
A vertical plaque hung on the left: "Uphold the Law and Moral Order; the Nation Shall Enjoy Lasting Peace."
A matching plaque hung on the right: "Punish Evil by Law; the People Shall Always Rejoice."
Though imperial authority had fallen into others' hands and treacherous officials held sway, the Great Gan Dynasty still maintained a fragile unity on the surface, and it had no shortage of upright, renowned scholars.
Li Yu's elder brother, Li Wenqing, was one of them.
The previous county magistrate had been incompetent and corrupt, and had been impeached and dismissed. Li Wenqing had come to take up the post bearing the court's hopes, determined to reverse the decline of the local government.
After taking office, Li Wenqing had indeed been diligent in his duties and led by example. In just a few months, he had already brought a marked improvement to the County Office's atmosphere, earning even the county head's high praise.
When Li Yu entered the side hall, he saw Li Wenqing at once.
Li Wenqing was not tall or particularly muscular, and had a scholar's refined air about him.
Seeing Li Yu arrive, Li Wenqing smiled slightly. "You came at just the right time, Li Yu. I've just learned a new way to use Five Emperors Coins. Come practice it with me. It'll give us a little more protection when we encounter an Evil Spirit in the countryside."
Li Yu was in no mood to practice with Five Emperors Coins. He immediately explained the reason for his visit. "Elder brother, something terrible has happened at Xie Manor..."
A military juren who had passed the special imperial examination, and an official dispatched from Nanyang Prefecture to reform the County Office—Li Wenqing did not panic when he heard the news. Instead, he took out a handful of Five Emperors Coins and tossed them to Li Yu. "These are the Five Emperors Coins I brought from the Nanyang Prefecture Office. They can dispel Baleful Intent and suppress evil. Keep them close to your body; they may save your life at a critical moment."
Then Li Wenqing took a broad saber from the cabinet.
Unlike an ordinary regulation saber, two dense rows of Five Emperors Coins were embedded along its back. Its handle was made of black peachwood, which also had the power to suppress evil.
"Come with me to Xie Manor at once."
Li Yu added, "Should we bring a few constables?"
"Constables are useless against Evil Spirits. It'll just be the two of us."
By the time the two of them hurried to Xie Manor, it was already the latter half of the night. The moment they entered, they felt an inexplicable, chilling cold. Hanging everywhere were servants and maids, strung up from Crooked Neck Trees.
Li Yu drew a deep breath at the sight.
He knew Xie Manor had suffered a disaster, but he had never imagined... the scene would be so eerie and tragic.
Holding his saber, Li Wenqing hurried over to examine the servants and maids hanging from the Crooked Neck Trees. He furrowed his brow. "The dead show no signs of struggling. They were hanged in an instant. Every one of them looks terrified, which shows they saw something dreadful before they died. The Evil Spirit has already left. Where does Third Master Xie live?"
Only then did Li Yu come back to himself. "The courtyard on the west side?"
"Take me to see Third Master Xie. Quickly." Li Wenqing hurried toward the western courtyard, and Li Yu quickly led the way.
Before long, the two reached the western courtyard and saw Third Master Xie lying beside a water vat, his upper body submerged in the water.
Li Wenqing pulled Third Master Xie out. He had already been drained into a dried corpse.
"This Evil Spirit is truly vicious. She drained a living person's blood and vitality. If she keeps absorbing people's life force, she'll only grow stronger and become even harder to deal with." Li Wenqing cursed the ghost, then crouched down to close Third Master Xie's eyes, his voice full of feeling.
"Third Master of the Xie Family, thank you for dissecting countless Mad Demon Patients over the years. Outsiders looked down on you and thought your work was a lowly trade, but I've read the case records of your dissections and analyses. You were truly a talent. You did so much for Honghe County, though the outsiders never knew it.
"Rest in peace. I'll send this Evil Spirit down to keep you company!"
With that, Li Wenqing carried Third Master Xie's body outside, while Li Yu followed behind, his eyes reddening. "Third Brother Xie..."
When they reached the Central Courtyard, Li Yu saw the body of the Xie Family's master, Xie Liangming, as well as the lady of the Xie Family... Not one of the more than eighty people in Xie Manor was still alive.
Compared with the grief of seeing the Xie Family wiped out, Li Yu was more worried about his own wife.
He knew his wife was a deeply loyal person and had been very close to Third Brother Xie. When Xie Dong had died earlier, Xie Cui had been overcome with grief. If Xie Cui found out the entire Xie Family had met with disaster, who knew how heartbroken she would be?
Li Wenqing was much more efficient. He hurried about, examining one corpse after another. "There's moisture on every victim, which shows this Evil Spirit has spent years in a cold, watery place. A great fire is needed to suppress an Evil Spirit like this. The way she killed was extraordinarily vicious, leaving no chance to struggle. Even several of the guards in the Five Viscera Realm were killed in an instant... This is bad!"
Li Yu was startled. "What is it, elder brother?"
Li Wenqing said, "The Evil Spirit clearly came to Xie Manor for revenge... Your wife is a member of the Xie Family too!"
Li Yu immediately understood and ran frantically toward the exit, shouting, "Wife!"
Li Wenqing chased after Li Yu with his saber, hoping in his heart: I hope we make it in time. My second younger brother and Xie Cui are very close. If something has happened to Xie Cui, my brother may never recover.
After rushing all the way to Li Manor, Li Yu saw A Xia's horribly mutilated body, then charged into the bedroom, but Xie Cui was nowhere to be seen. His head began to ring, and he cried out in grief, "Wife!"
Li Wenqing searched inside and outside the living room, thinking to himself: Xie Cui is probably gone.
Still, he comforted Li Yu. "Second brother, don't jump to conclusions. We haven't found your sister-in-law's body, so there's still a glimmer of hope. The urgent thing now is to find her. Think carefully: who came to give you the news earlier? And what did that person say? Tell me every word."
Li Yu knew the situation was urgent too. Every moment wasted meant more danger for his wife, so he did his best to recall what had happened and slowly explained. "It was a guard from the Chen Mansion named Ma San who came to tell me this evening..."
"How did Ma San find out something had happened at Xie Manor?"
"Ma Tie was following the Second Young Master of the Chen Family's orders. He took the Chen Family's horses and carriage to Third Master Xie. When he arrived at Xie Manor, he discovered that its people had met with disaster."
Li Wenqing pondered briefly. "Ma San was lucky to survive. No wonder I saw three coachmen in different uniforms hanging from the rafters inside Xie Manor. Those three must have been the coachmen the Chen Family sent to deliver the horses to Third Master Xie."
Li Yu admired how observant Li Wenqing was. "But what should we do now?"
Li Wenqing said, "I did see extra horses and a carriage in Xie Manor's stables, so Ma San wasn't lying. From that, we can infer two things. First, the Second Young Master of the Chen Family must have visited Xie Manor during the day and struck a deal with Third Master Xie. Second, why did Third Master Xie need horses and a carriage? Clearly, he had sensed danger and wanted to move away by carriage. There were indeed signs in his courtyard that he'd been packing his belongings. He just didn't have time to leave."
With that, Li Wenqing said, "Come with me to the Chen Mansion at once. The Second Young Master of the Chen Family may know something. And I have a feeling the Chen Family is in danger too. They may be next."