Central district of the ancient town.
Li Xianzong stopped before a grand residence. Its gates were covered in peeling paint and riddled with wormholes, while the worn plaque above was draped in cobwebs.
Through the grimy plaque, they could vaguely make out the words: Zhao Residence.
Li Xianzong stepped up to the gate and gave it a light push.
"Creak~"
The poorly maintained gate let out a teeth-grating groan as it slowly swung open.
The group crossed the threshold and entered the courtyard. After looking around, they found the place had long fallen into ruin. The flowerbeds in the front yard had been abandoned, with only scattered weeds growing within them.
Outside the main hall, beneath the upturned eaves, stood a water vat half the height of a man. Such vats were kept by wealthy households for easy access to water in case of fire, much like modern fire extinguishers.
As they crossed the front courtyard and reached the outer hall, waves of stench drifted from the vat and hit them full in the face.
The young man missing his left ear frowned and slowly approached. He lowered his head to look inside, then cursed under his breath, "Fuck."
Inside the vat was a decomposed corpse soaked to rot.
"Be careful. Whatever's here might be fiercer than Smith Wang," Li Xianzong warned, pushing open the outer hall's door.
The hall was filled with rotting furniture. Everywhere they looked, there was nothing but decay and dust.
A corpse lay slumped by the door. It had severely decayed, but judging from the clothes, it should have been one of the residence's servants.
Li Xianzong crouched beside the corpse without the slightest hesitation and used a butterfly knife to cut open its clothing. After a careful inspection, he said, "Her heart and liver