Six: Not a Single Living Soul

A minute after meeting the residents of the abandoned house, Yu Xing was hurriedly ushered inside.

The excitement of the welcome was almost excessive, like a wolf about to starve to death seeing meat. The middle-aged man raised a fake and eerie smile and forcibly dragged the three people at the door inside—he seemed not to see Yiqing.

When the middle-aged man reached out to grab him Zhao Yijiu released a cold, aloof aura, but the middle-aged man seemed completely oblivious to it.

"Please come in, please come in!"

The child who had let go of the basket stopped going out and followed behind, repeating, "Please come in, please come in!"

Since they were going to stay inside for the night anyway, none of the three objected and went inside. Yi Qing leisurely floated behind them, looking around as she went.

Upon entering the courtyard, there is a small open space with a well in the center and a large water vat beside it.

Further inside, there was a somewhat dilapidated wooden table—unlike the eight-immortal table in the Yin Yang Corridor room, it was a small wooden table made entirely of planks and nails, so small that even one person sitting on each side would feel cramped.

On both sides of the open space are rows of ancient houses, and it is not clear whether they are main or secondary. Judging from the number of gates, this desolate courtyard can actually accommodate more than ten people.

The middle-aged man was clearly the Woodcutter the old man had mentioned. He grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth, and rubbed his hands together. "We don't see a living person here for eight hundred years. It's so rare, hehehe. You must have come here because of the legends outside."

"Yes, we're here to stay." The Lingren took the initiative to engage in conversation, smiling and patting the Woodcutter's hand. "We've run into some trouble outside and need to hide away for a while."

"Understood!" The Woodcutter waved his hand heartily. "The three of you look a bit oddly dressed, but it's alright. Few people who come here to avoid trouble don't find it strange. So—are you staying in the guest rooms, or are you staying here?"

There's no need to hesitate about this choice; they're just staying temporarily, probably only for one day, so naturally they should choose the guest room.

The Woodcutter wasn't disappointed. He led the three to a row of houses on the right, introducing them as they walked. "Don't be surprised that I let you in without asking any questions. We're very hospitable here."

"So hospitable!" The child was still learning to speak.

"People used to come and stay for a day or two, but they always knew our house was magical and that enemies couldn't get in. Some of them didn't look like good people, and Xiao Song and Xiao Yun were even afraid of them..." As the Woodcutter passed the well, he stepped aside, a flash of fear crossing his eyes.

"Brother Song is a scholar, he knows so much!" the child said. "Sister Yun loves needlework, her room is covered with embroidery on the walls, it's so beautiful!"

"Why haven't I seen those two?" the Lingren asked casually.

"They're all inside. They're a bit shy, haha, unlike me, I'm a wild animal and love excitement." The Woodcutter opened a door for the three of them.

The room was much more comfortable inside than it looked from the outside, with a bed, table, chairs, and wardrobe—everything you could need for one night's lodging.

However, the bed is too small; only one person can sleep in it.

"One room per person. You can choose any empty room; they're all the same." The Woodcutter wiped his hands, which had been touching the doorframe, on his clothes. "But you can only choose from the row on the east side; those are for guests."

"By the way, there might be some things left behind by previous guests in the house. Please don't throw them away; they're all keepsakes for us."

Yu Xing hummed in agreement, then looked up at the sky. "I think the sky darkened very quickly. What time is it now?"

The Woodcutter's expression suddenly froze for a moment. "... Time? I... I don't know. Since we moved in, we haven't needed to keep track of the time."

"I see, I hadn't thought of that." Yu Xing smiled politely. "By the way, from what you just said, so far, including this child, there are only four people in this house who have decided to stay permanently?"

"Yes, some of those who stayed overnight got along well with us and couldn't bear to part with us. They promised to write to us when they left, but I can't read, so I had Xiao Song read them to me. But one by one they went out and disappeared without a trace, never to be heard from again." The Woodcutter shook his head and twitched his lips. "Sigh, never mind. There's nothing in this wretched place worth their reluctance to leave."

It's obvious the Woodcutter is a chatterbox; he's already spilled out his grievances the moment they met.

"Ahem, you can choose your rooms." The Woodcutter probably realized that talking to the new guests about the previous guests wasn't very helpful, so he coughed and gestured for the three of them to make their own way.

This courtyard has a U-shaped structure. Apart from the main gate, the other three sides are all houses, four rooms on each side, for a total of twelve rooms.

There were only four rooms left for people to stay overnight. In fact, including Yiqing, who was invisible to the Woodcutter, there was just enough room for each of them.

Each room corresponds to a room opposite it. Presumably, the guest rooms are on the east side, and the four permanent residents' residences are on the west side, a perfect one-to-one arrangement. In the eyes of the strategist, this is too much of a foreshadowing.

However, these rooms have the same layout, and the selection time was too early, so whoever it corresponds to can only be determined by luck.

The Lingren, with great gentlemanly manners, said, "You all go ahead, it doesn't matter where I live."

Yu Xing: "Heh, I'm not going to be modest with you anyway."

He didn't pick and choose. After thinking for a moment, he selected the second room on the east side, put Zhao Yijiu in the third room, and sent Yiqing to the fourth room. With the two of them, one human and one ghost, there would be no chance for the Lingren to do anything to Zhao Yijiu, who was the weaker one.

The Lingren knew perfectly well what was going on, gave a cryptic chuckle, and went into the room.

Woodcutter watching them choose their rooms, the woodcutter tapped his head and said, "I just remembered. You all know this courtyard is haunted. There are some things you need to remember, especially for those who are staying here."

"First, don't go out after dark. Anything you hear is fake. Don't be curious and go out to see."

"Secondly, when food appears on the table in the yard every day, you have to go and eat it; you can't pretend you didn't see it."

Third, after dark, you must stay in your own room and cannot visit other people's rooms.

Fourth, you must not go into someone's room without their permission.

There were four o'clock in total. After giving his instructions, the Woodcutter told them to rest on their own and went back to his house.

Yu Xing saw out of the corner of her eye that the Woodcutter entered through the fourth door on the west side, which corresponded to Yiqing's room.

The Woodcutter probably still doesn't know that a ghost lives in the fourth room on the east side.

The child hesitated for a moment, seemingly preparing to slip away, but the Lingren beckoned to the child, gently bowed his head and said something to the child, then led the child into his room.

Once the door was closed, not a single sound could be heard.

The remaining two people and one ghost isolated him and gathered in Yu Xing's room.

"Did you figure it out?" Yu Xing asked Zhao Yijiu.

Zhao Yijiu nodded. "The Woodcutter is very malicious; he seems to wish we would never leave."

Yi Qing spread his hands. "Of course, after all, he's dead. He might just be trying to harm people everywhere."

Yu Xing looked at Yi Qing: "Are you sure he's a ghost?"

"Of course." Yi Qing fanned herself, still looking down on the other ghosts. "You don't even need to look. The moment I walked in, I smelled four ghosts. There's not a single one alive in this whole courtyard."