Chapter 43: Guests

At the same time, Kuang Hongyi outside the courtyard gate was not having an easy time either. After confirming the change in the singing, he knew that Xi Yao had arrived and the Ghost Opera had officially begun. He immediately raised the red Lantern to signal, while simultaneously lighting the Welcoming Incense in his hand.

Not long after, a mist drifted over from afar, shrouding everything around it at an extremely fast speed. The figures in the mist were indistinct, with visibility not exceeding 5 meters. Gradually, human silhouettes emerged from the mist and walked straight toward the courtyard gate.

Kuang Hongyi strictly followed the old man's teachings, steadied his mind, held the three sticks of Welcoming Incense, wore a five-part smile, and nodded slightly to the guests to signal them.

Not daring to look the guests in the eye, Kuang Hongyi could only observe them from the corner of his eye. Most of those who came were men in gray cloth shirts, black shoes, and black trousers, paired with a linen belt tied around their waists; this was the attire of servants in the manor.

These people moved in groups of three or five. Except for their somewhat stiff movements and the fact that they did not speak to each other, they were no different from living people in other respects.

As the singing inside the courtyard reached its peak, more and more figures emerged from the mist. There were burly men with broad shoulders and thick waists wearing black short-sleeved shirts, as well as young women in dark blue satin clothes taking small, dainty steps.

The former were clearly the Martial Masters guarding the manor, and Kuang Hongyi judged the latter to be the maids of the manor.

These people had no obvious external injuries on their bodies. If nothing went wrong, they had all foolishly become scapegoats for Master Feng's family.

Fortunately, most of these people ignored him, walking into the courtyard to listen to the opera with slightly stiff gaits. Occasionally, a few gazes swept toward him, but Kuang Hongyi naturally avoided them by lowering his head or other such actions.

The mist gradually thickened, carrying heavy moisture. At some point, the ground outside the courtyard gate became wet. Looking closely, one could even see wet shoe prints extending all the way from the depths of the mist.

Kuang Hongyi took a deep breath. He understood that his judgment was correct: these guests looked fine, but they were actually drowned ghosts who had been dead for who knows how long.

Rustle, rustle...

A strange sound made Kuang Hongyi instantly alert. It was true that these drowned ghosts made sounds when walking, but this sound was different; it was clearly more agile.

Following the sound, he saw a head poking out from behind a crooked tree not far ahead. It was unclear through the mist, but Kuang Hongyi was certain the other party was staring at him.

"Stay calm, just act like nothing happened." Kuang Hongyi moved his gaze away nonchalantly and continued to nod to the approaching guests.

Rustle, rustle...

With no guests appearing for the moment, the sound rang out again, approaching him rapidly. By the time Kuang Hongyi regained his focus, that sneaky figure had already arrived before him. Kuang Hongyi held his breath, suppressed his instinct to run, lowered his head slightly, tried his best not to look at the person's face, held the three sticks of Welcoming Incense, and nodded with a smile.

Yet the other party actually spoke, and the first sentence stunned Kuang Hongyi on the spot: "Brother Kuang, something happened at the lake!"

This person seemed to have traveled a long way, breathing heavily and panting, "Liu Guanjia told me to inform you, the two of you... the two people you had at the lake are both dead. The Ghost Opera cannot be sung tonight; if it continues, something big will happen!"

Kuang Hongyi looked the person up and down from the corner of his eye. It was a man, probably in his early 30s, dressed as a servant. He looked somewhat familiar, but Kuang Hongyi could not remember where he had seen him.

Seeing Kuang Hongyi not moving at all, the man became anxious, his gaze constantly scanning the mist, seemingly worried that something would suddenly pop out. "Brother Kuang, why are you still dawdling? Come in with me quickly. The one singing cannot be saved, take the other one away!"

At this moment, Kuang Hongyi felt completely settled. He ignored the man entirely, turned his body to look the other way, and acted as if he did not exist.

This was not a human; it was a ghost in disguise. Honestly, the acting was passable, and the expressions were on point, but the timing was terrible.

He came too early.

After all, from the moment he released the Lantern until now, it had been at most the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn. For Shi Dali and Shi Guanming to be dead in the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn was impossible. With Shi Dali's calculating nature, he even suspected that the two of them hadn't even entered the water yet.

Furthermore, considering the distance from here to the lake, plus the thick mist, it was hard to say if someone with poor legs could even make it in the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn, let alone avoid the ghostly things they might encounter along the way.

Besides that, there was another flaw. Kuang Hongyi looked around. Ever since this person had sneaked over, no new "guests" had appeared in the mist. What was this? This person must be very important; when he arrived, the ghosts stopped coming. Then why did Master Feng ask for a Lucky Guest to come over? It would be better to just tie this big brother outside the bedroom door—a human-shaped magic treasure, physically warding off evil.

At this moment, the man seemed to realize it too. He stopped talking, his expression turned gloomy, and a pair of eyes emitted a cold light. After staring at Kuang Hongyi for a few seconds like this, the man decisively gave up on Kuang Hongyi and slipped into the courtyard.

After the man left, a puddle of water remained where he had been standing.

Kuang Hongyi knew that since the trick didn't work on him, the ghost intended to try and trick someone else. To be honest, he was a little worried about Chu Xi at first, as this was a newcomer, but thinking of Chu Xi's previous performance, Kuang Hongyi felt he was overthinking it.

At this moment, the Ghost Opera in the courtyard had reached its peak. Su Tingting on the stage was impeccable in both her posture and singing. The Paper Person behind her moved without wind, making a crackling sound, as if applauding and cheering.

Yang Xiao had already gone up to change the offerings once. He kept the old man's warnings in mind and was careful and cautious in every step. Fortunately, he was safe and sound.

These Paper People were all attracted by the Ghost Opera on stage and did not notice him at all.

The next second, a rustling sound rang out from behind him. Someone was approaching him. Yang Xiao had heard many footsteps before, but this time it was different.

Then came the sound of a wooden chair being moved, and someone sat down behind him.

Yang Xiao became alert. This was very wrong. The previous footsteps had all suddenly disappeared after getting close. Yang Xiao guessed that the Resentful Soul had crawled into the body of a Paper Person, but how about this time...

"Lucky Guest Chu, something happened!" The person behind him leaned in close, their voice very low but very urgent, extremely urgent. "The people on the lake are all dead. Liu Guanjia wants you to leave quickly!"

After a pause, the person behind him added hurriedly: "I have already informed Brother Kuang. He told me to inform you before he left. You should run quickly too."

Yang Xiao calmed down quickly. His mind turned and he understood what was going on. How could people be dead and someone come to report it in such a short time? Besides, brother, don't you think about it? There are ghosts everywhere nearby. I put on such ugly makeup and took three needles, and only managed to sneak in with a talisman on my face, and you just walk in swaggeringly?

Are you bullying me for having low intelligence, or are these ghosts blind?

Yang Xiao did not react at all, imitating those Paper People by staring blankly at the stage, and when the wind blew, he would coordinate by swaying his body.