Chapter 27: Burning the Substitutes

After returning to the backyard, the two groups separated and went back to their respective guest rooms to rest. Kuang Hongyi sat by the table with a furrowed brow, not saying a word.

Xu Su's expression also changed, looking like a completely different person from the casual demeanor she had on the way back.

"Are you two worried about something?" Yang Xiao asked.

Kuang Hongyi nodded, his tone also somewhat puzzled, "Brother Chu, you're a newcomer so you don't know, but by common logic, even if no one dies during this mission, some strange things usually happen. It would never be this smooth, let alone with..."

Kuang Hongyi glanced at Su Tingting and stopped talking.

Yang Xiao could roughly guess what Kuang Hongyi meant. After all, there were newcomers like Su Tingting and Shi Guanming who performed averagely, yet looking at the results, Su Tingting was actually the first in their group to complete the mission and come out, and Shi Guanming hadn't caused any trouble either.

"Everyone, stay vigilant tonight. I also feel that this matter isn't quite right. That man Shi Dali is not simple; there's no reason he would be the last one to come out." Xu Su hesitated for a moment, but still didn't say too much that would damage unity, as she had to maintain team harmony.

During the time they were away, someone had delivered a food box. After opening it, there were some simple dishes and alcohol, but they were already stone-cold, clearly having been delivered for some time.

"Don't think too much, let's eat first."

The meal was eaten in a very gloomy atmosphere. No one spoke again, and Su Tingting had even less appetite; she only ate a few bites before returning to the bedside to rest.

The night outside was as silent as death. The entire Feng Mansion seemed to have only the few of them left as living people, and the oppressive atmosphere made one uneasy.

Suddenly, some strange sounds appeared in the silent night—a rustling noise, as if someone were approaching quickly.

At this moment, the sky outside was completely dark; who would come at this time?

The footsteps were chaotic; this scene felt familiar.

Kuang Hongyi and Xu Su reacted quickly. One went behind the door and extinguished the candle placed on the shelf, while Xu Su extinguished the one on the table and the one behind the window.

The room instantly turned dark. Everyone, with a tacit understanding, went behind the windows and doors, holding their breath, their positions basically the same as the previous night.

Through the cracks in the window, Yang Xiao saw several figures walking quickly along the lakeside in the faint night. The person in the very front was holding a Lantern.

"It's Liu Guanjia and the others." Xu Su lowered her voice; Liu Guanjia's face was truly too recognizable.

The people behind were either carrying or dragging Paper Persons, and these Paper Persons had their eyes covered with cloth, just like hostages in old-fashioned crime films. They were exactly the Paper Persons they had painted eyes on not long ago!

The number also matched: seven in total.

Liu Guanjia led several servants straight to the lakeside, put down the Paper Persons, and similar to the previous night, lined them up in a row, with the one behind holding the shoulders of the one in front, facing the lake water. Then, he scattered a handful of paper money and used the flame from the Lantern to ignite the last Paper Person.

"What are they doing?" Su Tingting was shocked, "Aren't these Paper Persons our substitutes?"

Yang Xiao gently patted her head, signaling her to stay calm, "These Paper Persons weren't dot-eyed; burning them won't hurt us. On the contrary, it will make the ghosts mistakenly believe that we have already died tonight."

Hearing there was no danger, Su Tingting calmed down and swallowed with difficulty, "So... so that's how it is."

Liu Guanjia and the others slipped away as soon as they lit the Paper Persons, their speed much faster than when they arrived. In the time it takes for a gust of wind, they were gone.

Outside, only the crackling sound of the burning Paper Persons remained; this was because there were bamboo strips inside used for support.

Just as everyone was gradually setting their hearts at ease, suddenly, a shrill scream exploded in the night, and this scream actually came from the backyard, not far from them.

Yang Xiao and the others instantly looked toward the other room. The scream was mixed with the sounds of struggling and kicking, and then a figure crashed through the door and rushed out.

Xu Su's pupils shrank, "It's Ke Long!"

At this moment, Ke Long looked like he had gone mad, bumping into things everywhere, stumbling toward the lakeside. The piercing scream echoed in the empty backyard, as if it were going to pierce their eardrums.

Su Tingting was terrified. She couldn't see any wounds on Ke Long, but she could see his ferocious face; he was enduring extreme pain.

"Look!" Kuang Hongyi pointed to the lakeside, where only the last Paper Person remained, its whole body wrapped in flames.

But this one was clearly different from the others; it had been burning for some time, but it hadn't fallen over, nor had it turned to ash like the rest of the Paper Persons.

Ke Long rushed to the lakeside and grabbed the Paper Person in the raging flames. His movements seemed to suggest he wanted to pick up the Paper Person and rush into the lake water, but it was too late. He staggered a few steps, finally collapsed to the ground headfirst, twitched a few times, and then went completely still.

Su Tingting's lips were deathly pale, and she muttered to herself, trembling, "Dead..."

"Why did he die? Did he make a mistake during the mission?" Having regained her senses, Su Tingting desperately wanted to know why it was Ke Long; she didn't want to die inexplicably like this.

"It has nothing to do with him." Xu Su stared at the corpse shrouded in the night and sighed slowly, "It's that his Paper Person was tampered with by someone."

"Shi Dali." Kuang Hongyi no longer avoided the subject, "He was the last of the three to come out from over there."

Yang Xiao naturally understood the trick behind it. Long before this, even though Kuang Hongyi and Xu Su had completed the mission, they had stayed not far outside the door precisely because they were worried someone would take advantage of them to tamper with the Paper Persons, such as secretly dotting an eye or something.

By comparison, Ke Long, also an old player, was much less vigilant; he actually had the mood to chat with Shi Guanming outside.

Of course, there might be reasons behind this that he didn't know, such as Shi Dali and Ke Long knowing each other in reality, being friends, or having reached some kind of agreement.

But no matter what it was, it didn't matter anymore; after all, the person was already dead.

"Heh, the human heart is separated by skin." Xu Su sighed pretentiously, with a tone of quite some regret, but Yang Xiao understood—Xu Su was saying this for his benefit. If Shi Dali could make a move on Ke Long, Kuang Hongyi could naturally make a move on him.

"Miss Xu is right. One must keep their eyes open when choosing friends, after all... you can know a person's face but not their heart." Kuang Hongyi added, his words carrying a hidden meaning.

In the other room, seeing Ke Long's miserable state, Shi Guanming's body kept trembling. Finally, he stumbled and sat back down on the bed. Having the intent to kill and daring to actually participate in murder were two different things.

"Sigh~" Slowly closing the door that Ke Long had crashed through, Shi Dali reached out to steady the overturned table and chairs, "Don't be afraid, he brought this on himself. He was the one who wanted to kill you first. Sigh, I don't know what's wrong with this world, how can people's hearts be so vicious."

Only then did Shi Guanming slowly come to his senses. With a thud, he knelt before Shi Dali, crying bitterly, "Brother Shi, I will never forget this life-saving grace. From now on, I will listen to everything you say!"

"Oh my, Brother Shi, what are you doing? Get up, get up! What is this about listening or not? In the future, if there's anything, you and I, brothers, will discuss it together."