Chapter 163: Haunted

"Where is the Shadow Crow?"

Bai Li Changfeng suddenly shouted fiercely, causing the entire hall to tremble!

In the next instant, a chilling wind instantly rose within the hall, followed by the appearance of a figure in black robes.

"Investigate immediately!"

"Find every single person connected to Xu'er's murder without missing a soul; I swear to grind their bones to dust and scatter their ashes!"

At this moment, a rage and sorrow that could not be suppressed flickered in Bai Li Changfeng's eyes, and the overwhelming killing intent released from his body was as substantial as a physical object.

The man in black robes bowed his head and answered, saying nothing superfluous, before vanishing into a chilling wind.

For a moment, silence fell over the entire hall so profound that the sound of a needle dropping could be heard.

Zhu Wu and Cen Luohua, seated by the octagonal table, both had their faces change; at this moment, they felt a terrifying martial arts aura emanating from Bai Li Changfeng, an aura that actually made them both feel an extremely wary sense of crisis.

The two immediately exchanged glances, both seeing the shock expressed on the other's face.

At this time, Bai Li Changfeng suddenly turned his head and said in a voice as cold as ice:

"From today on, my Bai Li family vows to have an irreconcilable feud with the Lady Murong family; since you two families stand with the Bai Li family in weal and woe, you should clearly understand what needs to be done."

Speaking thus, the martial arts aura on Bai Li Changfeng's body dissipated, and he then said with a sorrowful expression:

"I have matters to attend to today, so I shall not detain you two; please make yourselves at home!"

In the next instant, Bai Li Changfeng grabbed the armored soldier before him and shouted fiercely:

"Take me to find Xu'er's bones!"

Soon, the other party vanished from Zhu Wu and Cen Luohua's sight in the blink of an eye.

"Bai Li Changfeng's martial arts cultivation has actually advanced again; I'm afraid he is now hardly inferior to Lady Murong Hong."

Zhu Wu drew the tobacco pipe from his waist, gazed at Bai Li Changfeng's departing back, and with two fingers lightly pinched, the tobacco leaves ignited with scarlet sparks.

Cen Luohua gently narrowed his eyes, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes bunching together, and said:

"We are all grasshoppers on the same rope; since the moment we decided to stand on General Han's side, we have had no way back."

"Moreover, the Lady Murong family has declined with each generation and no longer resembles what it was in the past; they are now like the sun setting in the west, yet they still wish to occupy the position of the number one martial arts family. Where in the world is there such a good thing?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Wu leaned close to the pipe's mouth, took several heavy puffs, and said:

"However, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse; the spear strikes the bird that sticks its head out. The Bai Li family has suffered misfortune this time, so when dealing with the Lady Murong family, we must be extra cautious in our actions."

Cen Luohua glanced at the other party but did not refute, slowly nodding his head.

The Shengzhou Tianjin Guard Branch Office.

Hu Rui'an brought Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong to the front of the residence, but discovered that the huge Tianjin Guard residence before them had its main gates tightly closed, and not even a single guard was seen at the entrance.

"It is a provincial Tianjin Guard branch office, so why does it look so desolate?"

Both Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong showed expressions of surprise on their faces, while Hu Rui'an frowned and signaled for Wu Shang to go knock on the door.

Wu Shang quickly nodded and knocked on the bronze-ringed main gate full of confusion, but after knocking for a while, no one responded.

"What is going on? It is not yet time for the shift to end; there should be someone from the Tianjin Guard on duty."

Wu Shang turned to look at Hu Rui'an; at this time, the sky was gradually darkening but had not yet turned completely black.

However, it seemed that not a single person could be seen within the Shengzhou Tianjin Guard Branch Office, which was indeed somewhat abnormal.

Hu Rui'an scanned the surroundings and happened to see an old man pushing a small cart loaded with tea bags passing by on the street behind him.

His eyes shifted, and he quickly walked over to block the man, asking out loud:

"Old sir, do you know what is going on with the Tianjin Guard here? Why does no one respond when we call?"

Upon hearing this, the old man stopped his cart, looked Hu Rui'an and the other two over with a pair of cloudy eyes, and then looked at the imposing Tianjin Guard residence behind him.

His face changed subtly, and he suddenly lowered his voice, saying:

"You are people from out of town, aren't you?"

Seeing this, Hu Rui'an narrowed his eyes and replied:

"We have been traveling as merchants outside for over half a year without returning to the provincial city; today we came to visit a friend in the Tianjin Guard, but this is the first time we have encountered such a situation. Please, old sir, enlighten us."

Speaking thus, he took a piece of broken silver from his chest and stuffed it into the old man's hand.

The old man looked down and saw the silver at first glance; his cloudy eyes instantly sparked with a glint of light, he squeezed it heavily, and then immediately tucked the silver into his sleeve.

Next, the old man looked left and right, then leaned close to Hu Rui'an and spoke in a lowered voice:

"This government office has had no one entering or exiting for over a month."

Upon hearing this, Hu Rui'an frowned and asked:

"Old sir, do you know the reason?"

"What else could it be?"

The old man sighed, then shrank his neck and said in a small voice:

"It is because of ghosts haunting this place. You don't know; over a month ago, evil ghosts would appear at night here to claim lives, which was truly terrifying."

Next, the old man roughly recounted the events that occurred at the Shengzhou Tianjin Guard Branch Office to Hu Rui'an.

As he spoke, the old man also gradually became afraid, hurriedly left a warning saying "Do not get close to this place," and then pushed his small cart away in a panic, disappearing from sight.

Watching the old man's departing back, Hu Rui'an, Wu Shang, and Cheng Zhong all had strange expressions.

According to the old man's account, a ghost-haunting incident occurred within the Shengzhou Tianjin Guard Branch Office here a month and a half ago.

The cause was that a night guard had encountered a ghostly shadow drifting about at night and heard a chilling laugh.

At first, everyone did not pay attention, but after one night passed, the next day someone discovered that the guard who had encountered the ghostly shadow had actually hanged himself to death in his own room.

Of course, even with this, the people of the Tianjin Guard at that time did not take the matter to heart.

Until the second night, someone else saw the ghostly shadow and heard the laugh, and then when the second day came, someone else was found hanged to death in his own room just like the guard from the previous day.

However, unlike the previous day, the number of dead this time changed from one person to two people.

On the first day, such an incident could be dismissed as an accident, but when it happened again on the second day, calling it an accident seemed far-fetched.

Three people died in two consecutive days, and what's more, the cause sounded like the utterly unbelievable tale of seeing ghosts.

People within the Tianjinwei branch office also began to grow uneasy and hurriedly reported the matter upward.

The Commander Assistant in charge of handling this matter was extremely cautious and immediately dispatched the Tianjinwei's most skilled investigators to launch a full-scale inquiry into the two cases.

However, while the investigation was still underway, another incident occurred within the Tianjinwei on the third day, and this time the number of deaths caused by seeing ghosts increased from two to four.

Moreover, unlike the previous two incidents, after learning that someone had seen ghosts at night, the Tianjinwei experts investigating the case immediately ordered the four guards on duty the previous night to be placed under strict guard and protection the following day.

Yet even with such measures, those four still hanged themselves to death right under the watchful eyes of the Tianjinwei experts.

Furthermore, according to the coroner's examination, the situation of these four was identical to that of the previous three; all had committed suicide, with no traces of poisoning or murder whatsoever.

But clearly, none of these seven had shown any inclination toward suicide before their deaths.

Once this news broke, panic spread instantly throughout the entire Tianjinwei in Shengzhou.

After all, seven people had died in three days, and in such a bizarre manner; anyone who saw a ghost at midnight, even under the watch of numerous experts, could not escape death, which was truly utterly unbelievable.

Ultimately, the matter reached the ears of Mei Yan, the Vice Prefect of the Tianjinwei branch office, who ordered that no one be left on duty at the branch office that night.

Instead, several martial arts experts, including the Commander Assistant, were left within the branch office to lie in wait and uncover the truth behind the ghostly shadow haunting the Tianjinwei branch.

However, the result of this matter delivered a thunderous blow to the Tianjinwei; a total of six people had stayed on duty at the Tianjinwei branch office that night.

It was said that all six saw the ghostly shadow appear that night and heard that chilling, spine-tingling laughter.

But when they exerted all their efforts to uncover the truth of the ghostly shadow, tracking in the direction where the shadow appeared and searching desperately along the sound of laughter, in the end, they found nothing, achieving absolutely nothing!

And what was even more horrifying came afterward; the next day, all the martial arts experts, including the Commander Assistant, without exception, committed suicide by hanging, exactly like the previous seven.

There were still no traces of poisoning or murder, and even within the rooms where several people died, no signs of any abnormal human presence could be found.

Once this news broke, it not only shocked the entire Tianjinwei branch office but also sent tremors throughout the entire Shengzhou prefectural city, causing widespread rumors and uproar at the time.

And since then, whenever night fell at the Tianjinwei branch office in this area, everyone within the compound would end their shift one hour early, leaving not a single person on duty inside the residence at night.

After such a regulation was established, indeed, no one died within the Tianjinwei branch office again.

However, at that time, there were some gossipy and skeptical martial artists in Shengzhou city who believed that tales of ghosts and spirits were nothing but groundless nonsense.

A few days later, they united a group and secretly slipped into the unguarded Tianjinwei branch office, preparing to test the law with their own lives and shatter the rumors.

However, the outcome was predictable; that night, a full seventeen martial arts experts from the martial world who went to the Tianjinwei branch office, without exception, all followed in the footsteps of the Tianjinwei Commander Assistant and those others, all hanging themselves to death, with not a single survivor.

And it was after this incident that the area of the Tianjinwei branch office became a forbidden zone throughout the entire Shengzhou prefectural city at night.

No martial artist dared to come to this place recklessly anymore, and even the people of the city, when mentioning this matter, kept their lips tightly sealed.

"So many people died because of ghosts? And they were mostly people possessing martial arts cultivation, among whom was even a Commander Assistant. If that old man didn't lie, this story does sound quite mysterious!"

Cheng Zhong frowned and spoke, looking at Wu Shang and Hu Rui'an beside him.

Upon hearing this, all three instinctively turned their gaze toward the Tianjinwei residence behind them.

Cheng Zhong and Wu Shang were not believers in ghosts and spirits, but this matter was fraught with eeriness everywhere, and their martial arts cultivation was far inferior to that of the Commander Assistant; therefore, regarding this residence before them, unease involuntarily arose in their hearts.

Hu Rui'an's eyes flickered slightly; after pondering for a moment, he said:

"In truth, matters of ghosts and spirits in the world are either rumors passed on as rumors, or staged by humans in secret to play tricks."

"If the events within are true, in my opinion, the key to uncovering the truth of the entire matter lies within this Tianjinwei residence before us; perhaps a great secret is hidden inside."

Upon hearing this, Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong exchanged a glance, then both turned to look at Hu Rui'an, asking with some surprise and uncertainty:

"My lord, you don't intend to go inside, do you?"

Hu Rui'an glanced at the two, let out a cold snort, and said:

"What is there to prevent us?"

The two of Wu Shang immediately looked at each other in confusion; just now, that old man had spoken so terrifyingly, and since the haunting began, not a single person who entered the Tianjinwei residence at night had survived.

Yet Hu Rui'an still dared to take such a risk; it truly left them somewhat unable to understand.

At this moment, Hu Rui'an seemed to see through the thoughts of the two, shook his head, and explained aloud:

"Actually, I have no choice. The Crown Prince will only stay in the prefectural city for two days; it is basically impossible to handle the matters of Prefect Zhu Ziming and Vice Prefect Mei Yan within such a short time."

"Therefore, to achieve all this, conventional methods are clearly no longer feasible; we must find another path. This haunting matter is quite abnormal and closely related to the Tianjinwei; I have a premonition that it might become a breakthrough point for the affairs of Shengzhou."

Speaking thus, Hu Rui'an sighed again and said:

"Of course, it is also possible that in the end, we will find nothing, but we cannot let go of even the slightest opportunity; since we have encountered this, we must at least try."

Upon hearing this, Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong said no more, both clasping their hands together and saying:

"We will follow your orders, my lord."

Having said this, the two of Wu Shang turned to head toward the Tianjinwei branch office before them, but Hu Rui'an reached out to stop them, saying:

"Not yet in a hurry; you two go among the nearby common people first to confirm whether what that old man just said is true or false."

Upon hearing these words, the two of Wu Shang immediately realized, stopping their steps together.

One cannot be too cautious; if that old man just now fabricated a story to deceive them, then they would truly become the "clowns" often mentioned by the Crown Prince.

Thinking of this, the two immediately agreed, did not linger, moved their figures, and vanished into the twilight, rushing quickly toward the nearby streets and alleys.

When the entire sky had completely darkened, Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong returned one after another.

"How did the investigation go?"

"My lord, the situation regarding the Tianjinwei branch office that we learned from the mouths of the surrounding common people is not much different from what that old man said earlier; the haunting incident indeed occurred."

Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong both nodded, but the two immediately frowned again and said:

"However, we discovered that the information known by the surrounding common people is not as detailed as what that old man just said; this person might have some issues."

Upon hearing this, Hu Rui'an's eyes flickered slightly, but he still waved his hand and said:

"Let us set aside the old man's issues for now; I only need to know that the matter is true."

Having said this, he raised his head to look at the Tianjinwei branch office before him, narrowing his eyes.

The haunting matter was indeed eerie; although he prided himself on his profound martial arts cultivation and did not believe in ghosts and spirits, a slight ripple still involuntarily arose in his heart at this moment.

"You stay here for now; I will go in alone to investigate."

Hu Rui'an gave the order to Wu Shang and the other, then headed toward the mansion in the darkness ahead.

(End of this chapter.)