Chapter 188: Investigation

On the dark and empty street, the carriage slowly stopped in front of the Tianjin Guard branch mansion.

Cao Gaoshan flipped off his horse, looked up at the mansion before him with its tightly closed gates and pitch-black darkness, then Hu Rui'an and the others also dismounted from the carriage.

As soon as they arrived at the Tianjin Guard branch mansion, the shadow of the ghostly sight Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong had witnessed last night tightened their spirits, so they immediately hurried to stay by Li Musheng's side.

Li Musheng glanced over the Tianjin Guard branch mansion before him, seemed to detect nothing unusual, and then signaled the others to open the door.

Seeing Wu Shang and the other two somewhat fearful of the mansion before them, Cao Gaoshan helplessly climbed over the wall himself, then opened the main gate of the Tianjin Guard branch mansion.

"Your Highness, last night, the ghostly shadow and laughter suddenly appeared only after I passed through a hall inside."

Hu Rui'an spoke as he entered the mansion; inside, it was silent, with no lanterns illuminating the area and not a single person in sight, exactly the same as last time.

He led Li Musheng straight to that same hall they had seen before, the purpose clear, since they were not here to wander aimlessly this time.

Not long after, Hu Rui'an arrived and stopped before the hall seen last night; his gaze swept over, and the situation here tonight was the same as last night.

All other rooms and halls within the mansion were locked, with doors and windows tightly shut, while only this unremarkable small hall before them had a crack in its door.

Seeing this, Hu Rui'an's gaze sharpened.

He glanced around the surroundings, then waited quietly for a while; seeing no ghostly shadow or laughter appear, he immediately stepped forward toward the small hall before him.

Hu Rui'an climbed the steps one by one, his gaze fixed on the door crack, his aura locking down the entire small hall.

Just then, that large black cat arrived as expected, suddenly darting out from the door crack and letting out a "meow."

"Huh? What a huge cat."

Upon seeing the black cat, Li Musheng immediately raised an eyebrow; it was the first time he had ever seen such a large cat.

The large cat before them had fur as dark as night, but no one knew what it had been fed to grow so huge; without looking closely, one might mistake it for a big black dog darting out.

At that moment, the black cat seemed startled too, stopping abruptly in front of the steps, then regarding Hu Rui'an and the others before the hall with its pair of glowing green eyes.

"Meow meow, come here."

At this, Li Musheng bent down into a squat, looked at the large black cat before him, clapped his hands, and coaxed it to come closer.

In the past, when he went to the park, he often encountered stray dogs and stray cats; generally, if he met a good-looking cat or dog, he would play with it for a while, of course, unless it looked ugly, in which case he would skip it.

Seeing Li Musheng call out to it, the large cat before them stared at Li Musheng, its cat eyes narrowing slightly, meowed twice, and stood still, appearing somewhat hesitant.

However, the next moment, Li Musheng moved, instantly appearing beside the large cat, then reached out to pet it.

"There are quite a few rats in this Tianjin Guard branch mansion; look how fat this cat has gotten from eating them."

While petting the cat, Li Musheng turned back to speak to Hu Rui'an and the others; seeing this, Shen Anran's eyes lit up, and she hurriedly took small steps to Li Musheng's side.

Gazing at the large black cat with its glossy, smooth fur, she could not help but extend her soft, boneless Bai Xi hand to give it a stroke.

However, the large cat immediately turned around, its fur bristling up, and glared at Shen Anran with its glowing green eyes.

Yet, seeming to notice Li Musheng nearby, it did not turn back to scratch Shen Anran.

Instead, it let out a "purr-purr" meow, raised its tail high, and walked off to one side.

"This cat seems a bit fierce!"

Shen Anran frowned slightly; Hu Rui'an looked at the large black cat, then pondered for a moment with a thoughtful expression, saying:

"I always feel this cat is in league with the ghosts in this mansion."

Last night, after he saw this black cat, he encountered that ghostly shadow and laughter almost at the same time.

Moreover, the large cat coexisted with those ghosts within this Tianjin Guard branch mansion without anything happening, which is indeed somewhat abnormal.

Hearing this, Shen Anran looked thoughtful and said:

"Perhaps this cat is raised by that ghost."

At this, Li Musheng stood up, glanced at Hu Rui'an, but waved his hand and said:

"It's just a slightly fat large cat; Lord Hu need not be on edge over every bush and tree."

Speaking thus, he turned to look at the small hall before them and said:

"Since Lord Hu says there is something wrong inside, let us go in and take a look first."

Hearing this, Hu Rui'an glanced at the large black cat already lying on the steps in front of the hall, then swept his gaze around the surrounding darkness; tonight, no ghosts appeared.

A hint of suspicion flashed in his eyes, but he said nothing more, agreed with a sound, and once again walked toward the small hall before them.

"Creak!"

The hall door was pushed fully open; inside, it was pitch black. Hu Rui'an took a fire starter from his robe, blew it alight, then stepped on the floor tiles and walked into the hall.

Wu Shang, Cheng Zhong, and the others followed Li Musheng, entering the hall as well.

Soon, Hu Rui'an arrived and stood in the middle of the hall; he casually pinched a wisp of flame, flicked it lightly, and the flame scattered, igniting several oil lamps standing around.

In an instant, the entire small hall became bright, revealing the general layout inside.

This seemed to be a storage room of the Tianjin Guard; neatly arranged around it were rows of wooden shelves, and on those shelves were placed volumes of scrolls and numerous wooden boxes sealed with white paper bearing red characters.

Hu Rui'an took a general look, then began searching everywhere, obviously hoping to find some clue among them.

Seeing this, although Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong felt safer staying by Li Musheng's side, they did not dare to slack off, so they immediately gritted their teeth and began searching within the hall as well.

Shen Anran and Cao Gaoshan naturally also lent a hand, but after searching for a while, everyone had thoroughly searched the entire hall yet found nothing.

The case files and wooden boxes on the shelves showed no signs of being disturbed; before them, it seemed to be just an ordinary storage room.

Hu Rui'an frowned tightly; he had also considered checking whether there were hidden mechanisms, but still had no leads.

"My lord, shall we go check other places in the mansion? Perhaps encountering ghosts here last night was merely a coincidence."

Wu Shang approached Hu Rui'an and suggested in a low voice.

Hearing this, Hu Rui'an said nothing, but glanced at Li Musheng.

By all rights, their group had already entered the Tianjin Guard branch mansion for some time, and the commotion caused by so many people was considerable; yet strangely, those ghosts had never appeared.

This made him increasingly convinced that the ghosts might truly fear this Highness before them and dared not reveal their forms.

However, just then, Li Musheng suddenly looked at a wall within the hall, then walked over.

"Take a look at the cat paw prints here; have you noticed anything unusual?"

He pointed at the wall and turned to ask Hu Rui'an and the others.

(End of this chapter)