Chapter 178: Lady Murong

For a moment, silence fell both inside and outside the carriage!

Hu Rui'an's face shifted unpredictably, while Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong wore expressions of confusion.

At this moment, all three were filled with doubts in their hearts.

They truly could not figure it out: since Li Musheng had not acted, on what basis had the ghostly figure at the Tianjinwei branch mansion killed so many people that day, yet spared only them?

Could it truly be that something had delayed him?

At this time, Li Musheng, seeing Hu Rui'an before him who had clearly become worried again, stroked his chin and said:

"If I were to speak, that ghostly figure is probably one with self-awareness; knowing a master like me is present, it therefore dared not show its head."

After all, in Li Musheng's view, unless that ghostly figure were a true ghost, he would have swatted it away with a single palm strike.

Upon hearing this, Hu Rui'an pondered for a moment, and his eyes immediately brightened.

However, before he could speak, Wu Shang outside the carriage said joyfully:

"What Your Highness says is indeed reasonable; apart from that ghostly figure fearing Your Highness and daring not to act, I truly cannot think of any other more reasonable reason."

Cheng Zhong, sitting nearby, nodded in full agreement, while Shen Anran and Murong Xiaoya inside the carriage looked utterly bewildered and immediately asked what exactly the others were talking about.

So, Hu Rui'an briefly explained the cause and effect of the matter.

Upon hearing this, Shen Anran immediately wore an expression of sudden realization, finally understanding why her maternal uncle had insisted on competing for the seat with her earlier.

As for Murong Xiaoya, she seemed somewhat fearful of the matter regarding the ghostly figure; she immediately shrank her neck and dared not ask or say anything more.

And just at this moment, Hu Rui'an suddenly sighed again and said:

"However, I am still somewhat worried; it has always been that thieves can operate for a thousand days, but who has ever heard of guarding against thieves for a thousand days?"

"That ghostly figure dared not act today because it feared Your Highness, but we cannot follow Your Highness forever; if Your Highness is not present, who knows whether that ghostly figure will still continue to act against us?"

Upon hearing these words, Wu Shang and the other two, who had previously shown joy, immediately froze in expression.

They immediately turned back with a somewhat resentful look; one had to say, Hu Rui'an's words truly were a bit of a mood-killer.

The two had not yet had a moment of happiness after the fear and terror of the ghostly figure incident when the other immediately poured a bucket of cold water on them.

At this time, Li Musheng raised an eyebrow slightly; Hu Rui'an's words were not without reason, but very soon he waved his hand and said:

"It's fine; you won't be staying in this prefectural city for long before you set off. Could that ghostly figure possibly follow you all the way to Luo Shen Peak?"

Upon hearing this, Hu Rui'an's expression immediately shifted, and he wore a look of contemplation as he said:

"It seems that is indeed the case; the haunting incident is clearly closely related to the Tianjinwei branch mansion. The ghostly figure has stayed within the mansion from beginning to end and never left. If we leave the prefectural city, the other party most likely will not follow."

"And while in the prefectural city, as long as we always stay by Your Highness's side, that ghostly figure surely will not dare to act. In this way, there is no need to worry excessively about this matter."

Outside the carriage, Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong exchanged a glance; the hearts they had been holding up immediately relaxed considerably.

However, the rising and falling of their emotions had quite thoroughly worn the two of them out.

So they immediately dared not listen any further, fearing that Hu Rui'an would suddenly come up with another "however" and deliver a sharp rebuke to them.

Next, the carriage continued forward. After about half an hour or so, the sky had already grown dim, and their group was getting closer and closer to Murong Fu.

Cao Gaoshan, riding ahead, looked up and could vaguely see flames shooting into the sky in the direction of Murong Fu, standing out exceptionally prominently against the twilight.

On the empty long street, the carriage wheels rolled forward. After turning a corner, instantly, a pungent smell of blood mixed with acrid smoke rushed toward them in the night wind.

Looking out, the cracked paving stones of the entire long street before them had all been overturned, exposing the dark soil beneath, while the shops and houses on both sides of the street were half-collapsed.

Cao Gaoshan's expression immediately became serious as he led the carriage forward, stepping deep and shallow; occasionally, scattered corpses could be seen lying by the roadside.

Finally, the group arrived before a vast ruin; however, before the carriage had even stopped steadily, Murong Xiaoya's figure had already rushed out in panic, charging toward the ruin before them.

Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong jumped to the ground, looking at the scene before them with expressions of shock and uncertainty; immediately after, Hu Rui'an and the others also got down from the carriage.

Under the dim twilight, tattered rags wrapped in sparks drifted down from the sky; the once towering and magnificent Murong family gate wall had long since turned into broken bricks and tiles.

Hu Rui'an's expression was solemn; after remaining silent for a moment, he turned to look at Li Musheng beside him and said:

"The Murong family has fallen."

Li Musheng said nothing; his eyes reflected the flames in the ruin. He shook his head, then walked straight past the threshold broken into several sections, heading into Murong Fu before him.

Seeing this, Shen Anran hurriedly followed, while Hu Rui'an slowly scanned the surroundings once.

From a dying warhorse's neighing in a burning pile of ruins not far away, dozens of armored soldiers stood frozen in a chopping posture; their flesh-and-blood-muddled hand bones hung down through the gaps in their shields, their corpses gradually carbonizing in the fire pile.

Hu Rui'an, Wu Shang, and the others exchanged glances; all remained silent, then similarly walked into Murong Fu.

And as they advanced deeper, the scenes visible everywhere became increasingly horrific.

Floating corpses drifted like duckweed among the water pavilions and corridors; the corpse of a martial arts expert hung upside down from an iron hook at the eaves, still dripping blood, while turbid ponds floated with one corpse after another.

Above some ruins, poisonous smoke condensed and did not dissipate, shrouding a patch of armored soldiers' corpses that were green-black and turning purple; they were melting into corpse water at a speed visible to the naked eye.

And these corpses were all from the Murong family and the Four Great Families.

As they advanced along the way, Hu Rui'an and the others saw almost no survivors; in just over half a day, the number one martial arts family of Shengzhou had become unrecognizable, with an estimated death toll on both sides reaching several thousand.

Not long after, Hu Rui'an and his group stopped before the gate of a Murong family ancestral hall; this was the only building they had seen along the way that remained most intact.

Most of the ancestral hall's courtyard wall was destroyed; looking inward through the damaged wall, a thousand-year-old ginkgo tree could be seen standing before the hall.

However, the ginkgo tree, which now required several people to embrace, had become a corpse tree; Murong family women's dresses hung among the branches, and beneath the blood-stained silk, arrow fletchings were visible; the sound of blood dripping was clearly audible in the night.

Shen Anran turned her head away, unable to bear looking directly.

Just at this moment, a damaged five-story bell tower in the distance suddenly collapsed amidst the flames; a bronze bell hanging from it fell to the ground, smashing onto the pile of corpses below and kicking up blood-dust several feet high.

The deafening roar drifted over the silent ruins; the resulting vibration caused several houses that were already teetering to collapse, thereby startling a flock of vultures feeding there into panicked flight.

At this time, Hu Rui'an and the others stepped through a broken wall and entered the inner courtyard of the ancestral hall.

(End of this chapter)