The old man had more or less finished his story.
Although he had shared some details we hadn't known, I still hadn't gotten any useful leads from him.
What I wanted to know was how Ninth Concubine had taken her revenge back then, and how she had escaped after the incident at the Luo Residence.
And why Ninth Concubine had failed to bring her older sister, Seventh Concubine, back to life.
The old man knew none of that.
He didn't even know how Xiuzhu had died.
I called Seventh Master first and relayed the details the old man had told us.
He was surprised too when he heard that Ninth Concubine had only died three nights ago.
Neither of us could make sense of it. It was perfectly reasonable that Ninth Concubine had lived to a hundred, but why had her death been so suspicious?
Three nights ago, Ninth Concubine had died just as Seventh Master and I entered the construction site. And the time we entered the Ghost Wall was exactly when she had died.
I didn't believe anything in this world could be that much of a coincidence.
"I suspect Ninth Concubine didn't die a natural death."
Over the phone, Seventh Master said, "The timing of her death was far too convenient. So convenient that I don't think it was a coincidence."
I frowned. "Then how do you suspect she died?"
"I don't know," Seventh Master said. "So what I'm saying is, since you're already in that village, stay the night and find a way to summon her Yin Soul."
Summon her soul?
That was certainly an option.
But Ninth Concubine hadn't even been dead for seven days yet. It wasn't time for her soul to return on the Seventh Day.
A newly deceased Yin Soul was still