So this was the moment the trap snapped shut!
Alarm bells rang in Zhao Ruru's mind. She suspected this was exactly what the ghost wanted: for them to help open the door! They had already seen how cunning ghosts could be at Song Mansion.
She tried to meet Yu Xing's eyes and communicate with him silently.
Who would have thought Yu Xing would step forward and reach out, actually intending to help Aunt Zhang open the door!
"Wait... Huh?" Zhao Ruru got halfway through her words before they caught in her throat. The next moment, Yu Xing shoved the already battered wooden courtyard gate open with a single push.
The gate hadn't been locked at all.
The wooden latch hadn't even been set. Probably Aunt Zhang couldn't open it only because she was a ghost. Any living person could have pushed it open with a little force—even a three-year-old child.
As soon as the gate opened, Aunt Zhang hurried inside, leaning on her cane and taking quick little steps. Her deeply wrinkled face was grave.
"Little Li, Little Li..."
"Are you all right?"
Zhao Ruru stared, dumbfounded.
Yu Xing said softly, "Let's follow her and see."
The two followed the old woman's quick, shuffling steps into Widow Li's little courtyard.
This courtyard was worlds apart from Song Mansion.
Inside the gate was an open space where chickens and ducks had been kept. A few chicken coops stood off to one side, and a small vegetable patch had been set aside nearby.
But the vegetables looked poorly tended. More than half of them had withered, and probably wouldn't survive.
As she listened to Aunt Zhang's increasingly eerie calls, Zhao Ruru glanced curiously toward the coops.
"Ugh... Yu Xing, look."
She sucked in a breath and tugged at Yu Xing's sleeve.
Yu