Chapter 30: Sailing in the Mist

What is going on?

Did those two groups also find the Third Young Master?

Su Tingting's face was drained of blood, and her whole body trembled incessantly; she was terrified by the inexplicable, eerie scene before her, and by the angry Yang Xiao.

People do unpredictable things when in fear; Yang Xiao knew he could not frighten her any further and slowly loosened his grip. Su Tingting slumped to the ground, her lips trembling as she apologized repeatedly, her eyes reddening. "I... I'm sorry, I just wanted to leave here quickly, I'm sorry, I didn't know it would..."

Glancing at the reed marsh, the Third Young Master was still in that ghostly state, his back turned to them, emitting a constant, strange wailing sound.

Yang Xiao took a deep breath, slowly crouched down, and gently hugged her amidst her fearful gaze. "Don't be afraid, I know you didn't mean it; please calm down now."

Haste leads to chaos, and chaos leads to change—Yang Xiao understood this principle well; ensuring Su Tingting calmed down and did not do anything foolish was of utmost importance.

After Su Tingting stopped trembling, Yang Xiao cupped her face, making her look at him. "From now on, you will listen to everything I say. I am responsible for taking you home, alright?"

Upon hearing the words "take you home," Su Tingting's dim eyes lit up, and she nodded vigorously; compared to the sense of alienation she felt from the other teammates, Yang Xiao was practically an angel at this moment.

"Okay, I will listen to everything you say." Su Tingting was very cooperative. "Then what do we do now? We should leave here first, right?"

Yang Xiao shook his head. "Not yet. Do you remember what Liu Guanjia said, besides the Third Young Master going missing, what else was there?"

Su Tingting reacted immediately. "There were also the Third Young Master's two Paper Substitutes."

"Correct. I think that among the Third Young Masters our three teams encountered, only one is real; the other two are impersonated by Paper Persons."

There was no need to spell out the rest; if one were to accidentally take a Paper Person onto the boat, the people on that boat would be doomed.

After a moment of hesitation, Su Tingting asked the most critical question. "Then in your opinion, is this Third Young Master real or fake?"

"I don't know. He has his back to us, so it's hard to judge." Yang Xiao instructed Su Tingting to keep an eye on the Lantern at the bow and the life-extending Incense, while he stood up and operated the pole, intending to change direction to get a look at this Third Young Master's true face.

The sound of the pole splashing in the water did not attract the Third Young Master's attention at all, which was very strange; however, considering the Third Young Master was already insane, this was not enough to serve as a basis for judgment.

But after changing direction, both Yang Xiao and Su Tingting fell silent; they still could not see the Third Young Master's face because his posture had changed as well.

He was half-crouched, his body tilted, one arm extended diagonally while the other was bent, his wide sleeves hanging down and coincidentally covering his face, with the chilling wailing sound coming from behind the sleeves, intermittent and broken.

This hazy scene of "half-hidden behind the lute" appearing here held no aesthetic beauty; on the contrary, it brought only deep fear to Yang Xiao and his companion.

Yang Xiao moved the pole, and the boat slowly sailed toward the Third Young Master. This startled Su Tingting, and she looked at Yang Xiao with a terrified expression.

Yang Xiao gave her a reassuring look. At this moment, Yang Xiao could even hear his own heartbeat, but he had to get closer; otherwise, if this Third Young Master were real, the consequences would be very serious and might even implicate the teammates on the other two boats.

When they were only 3 or 4 meters away from the Third Young Master, Yang Xiao immediately steered the boat backward, the speed several times faster than when they arrived. Su Tingting didn't notice much, but she knew Yang Xiao must have discovered a clue and confirmed that this Third Young Master was fake.

Once the distance increased and the Third Young Master's figure completely disappeared into the mist, Yang Xiao finally breathed a sigh of relief, and only then did Su Tingting speak up to ask.

"This Third Young Master is fake?"

"Yes." Yang Xiao nodded.

"How did you tell?"

"Just now, when the boat got close, I used the light from the Lantern to see his clothes clearly. His clothes were dry, and the hem was dry too. Just imagine, if a crazy fellow stole a boat in the dark of night and ran out onto the lake, could he possibly not have gotten any water on him?" Yang Xiao sat back against the side of the cabin, still gripping the pole tightly in his hand. "Unless it's that kind of thing."

Su Tingting suddenly realized. "A Paper Person?"

"Right, only Paper Persons are afraid of water."

At this moment, Su Tingting couldn't help but feel fortunate that she was assigned to a group with this person named Yang Xiao; it was truly a blessing in disguise. "You are really amazing, you don't seem like a newcomer at all."

"There isn't that much difference between newcomers and veterans. You need to observe carefully and trust your own judgment." Yang Xiao rarely had the mood to offer Su Tingting a few pointers.

"Huh?" Su Tingting's gaze paused, then she pointed behind Yang Xiao with a look of joy. "Look quickly, someone is coming."

Yang Xiao immediately stood up and looked back, only to see a white speck of light drifting and flickering in the hazy mist, approaching them.

It was the White Lantern hanging on the bow of another boat. Yang Xiao thought it must be the other boats that saw the red sky lantern they released and had rushed over, though he didn't know which one it was.

"I hope it's Brother Kuang and Xu Sujie." Su Tingting's face was full of anticipation; on this vast lake, there was nothing more desirable than meeting one's teammates.

As the two boats drew closer, Su Tingting could already see two blurry figures standing on the opposite boat, but it was at this very moment that Yang Xiao realized something was wrong.

He gripped the pole tightly, began trying to change course, and at the same time gave an order to Su Tingting, "Quick, go and extinguish our Lantern!"

After doing all this, the other boat in the mist gradually became clear. First, a large White Lantern broke through the mist, followed by a Black-awning Boat almost identical to the one they were on.

But at this moment, Su Tingting's heart stopped, because the two people standing on that boat were not their teammates at all; they were two people dressed as servants.

Both were soaking wet, their hair dripping with water as if they had just been fished out of the water. Even more terrifying was that the one in the very front was none other than the servant who had drowned not long ago, Sun Amao!

Su Tingting still remembered the name; not long ago, they had almost come into conflict with the servants in the manor because of this person's death.

The person behind had clearly been dead for much longer; the whole body was bloated from being soaked in water, the skin stretched open, and the face was a blur.

The two corpses just stood stiffly on the boat, motionless.

Under Yang Xiao's control, the two boats finally managed to narrowly avoid each other. Afterward, he couldn't help but feel a lingering fear; if they had been a second later, they probably would have collided.

Yang Xiao swallowed hard. The moment the two boats brushed past each other, he saw clearly that the boat opposite was indeed their teammates' boat; there was an Incense Burner placed at the bow, miscellaneous items were scattered on the boat, and a Short Blade was stuck diagonally into the upper edge of the cabin, the bloodstains on it clearly visible.