Chapter 267

"You dead fatty, go die for me!" Four eyes locked, Han Duo narrowed her eyes, Han Duo whipped out her leather whip, and I, fallen on the ground, spun around again like a top.

"You... what do you want to do?" Pangzi stared wide-eyed, stammering, Han Duo's fierceness scared him so much he couldn't recover.

Han Duo stepped forward, cracking her finger bones, and fiercely said to Pangzi: "I want to kill you, then commit suicide."

"Don't, miss, you still have a beautiful youth, flower-like years. It's not worth it to kill yourself for me, an ugly and clumsy fatty." Pangzi curled his lip, after being cowed he actually pointed at me: "He, yes, that's Hai Sheng; if you kill yourself, Hai Sheng will surely follow you in love-death, that's three lives with one whip, miss!"

Seeing Pangzi shift the blame onto me, I silently thought "uh-oh", and hurriedly explained to Han Duo: "Little millet, calm down first, your clothes weren't taken off by me, it was Pangzi who hired someone to strip you, a woman. Putting you in that pot of herbal soup was to dispel your cold poison."

I gave an embarrassed laugh while explaining the situation; fortunately, Han Duo's anger was just talk. Mainly, upon waking up, I found myself lying in a pot of feces soup—who wouldn't be furious? Moreover, Han Duo had been stripped naked.

"Alright, stop dragging this useless nonsense, Hai Sheng, pick up your gear and follow me." Han Duo put away her whip and waved at me.

I rubbed my head, curious: "Where to?" My wounds had just healed; how could I not resist running around everywhere so soon?

"Naturally to find the culprit." Han Duo crossed her arms, recalling carefully: "When I was unconscious last night, I thought it over: although we don't know the origin of that corpse, I know that to raise a corpse you need a funerary feng shui layout for corpse-raising. The front gate is paved with lime glass, and all around nothing grows."

"Don't you think this is a great clue for us?" Han Duo stared at us, word by word: "Moreover, controlling corpses is done via souls; the other party's location must be within the suburban range, not exceeding ten li. Coincidentally, I know there's a house in the suburbs that fits this corpse-raising layout..."

"You couldn't possibly mean that haunted house!" Han Duo hadn't finished when Pangzi shouted first.

The haunted house they spoke of lies in the suburbs north of the city; before the Qing dynasty, it was an execution ground for criminals, and during the Republican war period it became a potter's field. Corpses littered the ground, and strange things often happened.

However, such a place where strangers should not approach still has several houses left. Of course, no one lives in them. The owners hold onto them, mainly hoping the government will someday develop the area and requisition their houses. That way, the owners will at least receive a substantial demolition compensation.

Among these houses, the most famous is a villa left behind by a Republican-era officer. At night, passersby often hear ghostly wailing from inside; many feng shui masters say the house's layout is a "burial yang produces yin" pattern, suitable for ghosts to dwell, not for humans.

Unfortunately, the officer's concubine had a fondness for cats, so she had long pillars built on the southeast and northwest sides of the gate; the tops of the pillars feature two claws holding up a chubby, endearing beckoning cat. Though it seems meant to invite wealth, it actually blocks sunlight. Moreover, the cat is western yin metal, which easily attracts yin energy in feng shui; over time, the mansion became a place of excessive yin and deficient yang.

Thanks to Han Duo's reminder, we all recalled that haunted house. What Han Duo said seems quite reasonable; the classics record that the conditions for controlling corpses are extremely strict, with limits on distance from the moving corpse, and moreover the haunted house's layout is indeed very suitable for raising corpses.

"I think we should wait for QingSongShu and Seventh Lord to return before discussing further." I recalled Seventh Lord's parting instructions to us, and couldn't help but worry.

"I can't wait; you go wait on your own!" Han Duo is impatient; thinking of the tragic deaths of the siblings in Tongyuan Bay, she can't stay calm.

Pangzi also chimed in: "What's there to fear? I'm here! Lord Wang, I've painstakingly cultivated the Huaguang Dao method for twenty years; that fire technique isn't for show."

Can I say it's because of you, this uncertain factor, that I'm so worried?

Pangzi also went to get his gear; seeing this, I can't stop them. So I have no choice but to risk my life to accompany them, joining them to explore that haunted house.

Everyone's gear was ready; just in case, Pangzi drew a few more corpse-suppressing talismans. Picking up our things, just as we reached the gate of Chan Yi Tang, an old man suddenly blocked me.

"May I ask, are you Mr. Chen Hai Sheng?" the old man wearing white gloves asked me.

I racked my brain many times but had no impression of this person, so I asked him: "I am Chen Hai Sheng; may I ask who you are, and what business do you have with me?"

The old man calmly said: "I am a servant of the Yao family; our young lady wishes to see you!"

A servant of the Yao family must be Yao Yirong. I couldn't think of what Yao Yirong wanted from me, and didn't take it to heart, so I told the old man, "If there's anything, let's talk after I return."

But the old man wouldn't relent, grabbing me and insisting I must see Yao Yirong. His anxious tone let me sense something off. Since he refused to say what was going on even if it killed him, I could only look helplessly at Pangzi and Han Duo.

"Go to Yirong's place; here I and Han Duo are enough." Pangzi patted my shoulder and said.

"Yeah, you all be careful; if you spot anything amiss, run back immediately. As long as the green hills remain, we need not fear lack of firewood."

Having said that, I followed the old man and got into his car.

Yao Yirong sought me out so urgently—what could it be? This old man couldn't even wait a moment.

Full of doubt, I followed the old man to the Yao residence. Upon entering, I saw Yao Wenju sitting in the living room, his face sallow and gaunt—just the sight startled me greatly.

In my memory, Yao Wenju has always cared about his appearance. Yet today he is utterly disheveled, much like my missing master. Approaching him, a strong stench immediately assailed my nostrils.

"Wen brother, what's wrong with you? And Yirong, why did he summon me so urgently—is there something?" As soon as I finished speaking, Yao Wenju weakly covered his face.

"Yirong is upstairs; go up and see her." Yao Wenju's words were choked with tears, expressing unspeakable heartache.

Startled, I rushed up to the second floor; Yao Wenju's whole presence gave me a strong ominous feeling, telling me that Yao Yirong had met with misfortune!

I practically charged up to the second floor in one breath, even shoving open Yao Yirong's door with great force.

Opening the door, the sight before me startled me. Yao Yirong lay exhausted on the bed, her face completely bloodless, deathly pale. Seeing me, she struggled to sit up, but any movement triggered a violent coughing fit.

"What's wrong? Are you sick?" I hurried over anxiously, helping her up. At that moment, a servant entered carrying a bowl of bright red herbal medicine.

"Aunt Zhang, why are you bringing the medicine in again? I told you I hate the taste, I don't want to drink it, cough cough." As Yao Yirong spoke, she burst into a fit of violent coughing.

"If you're sick, how can you not take the medicine? Stop acting like a child. Come, drink it." I picked up a spoon, without hesitation scooped a spoonful of the herbal broth, and fed it into Yao Yirong's mouth.

This time Yao Yirong was obedient, unexpectedly so; she merely gave a soft hum and swallowed the spoonful of medicine in one gulp.

Although called a soup, this brew was more like a thick gruel—red all over, sticky, resembling sesame paste, with a hint of huanglian flavor, yet its color resembled blood swallow and saffron.

Spoonful by spoonful, after feeding Yao Yirong the medicine, I handed the bowl to the servant, who took it away.

I gently took Yao Yirong's small hand; it felt icy cold. In the process of casually feeling her pulse, what I sensed startled me.

Her pulse was extremely weak, almost unbelievable; since pulse reflects heartbeat, this indicated her heart beat much slower than normal.

I was hesitating whether to ask her, when she suddenly spoke to me: "Chen Hai Sheng, I want to ask you, in your impression, what kind of person am I really?"

"What kind? Tsundere, likes to throw childish tantrums, sometimes unreasonable." After a moment's thought, I forced a very kind smile: "You're a little angel, gentle, lovable, kind-hearted."

I admit what I said was nonsense, but Pangzi is right—when facing women, you must learn to spout lies. When a woman asks you what kind of person she is, you must answer honestly; it's like her sincerely asking, "Tell me about your ex-girlfriend, I won't get angry."

If you describe your ex-girlfriend as perfect, she may seem fine on the surface, but in reality her hands could be pinching each other behind her back, nails digging into flesh.

A blush rose on Yao Yirong's face, revealing two small dimples; she shyly said thank you to me.

At this moment Yao Yirong is truly strange—she neither teases nor harms me, but instead becomes, well, a lovely little beauty. This abnormal behavior doesn't make me happy; rather, it makes me more worried.

She talked with me about many past events, such as when I first barged into her room, and the laughable kiss at the Anhui ancient castle. Also, the little things that happened in Aomen.

"Do you remember? That night in Aomen, I smashed the northeastern tiger's head with a glass bottle. You were the weakest fighter among us, yet when those thugs surrounded me, you still fearlessly stood before me."

Saying this, Yao Yirong broke into a bright smile and said: "Chen Hai Sheng, you are a good person."