Chapter 1639: Heaven's Mandate Seven Children's Monster Hunting Chronicle 30

The shopkeeper's room is at the far end of the inn; the hallway requires many turns, making it very secluded.

The further one goes inside, the heavier the yin qi becomes.

This also happened to confirm Jin Chen's suspicion; the shopkeeper's relationship with the Ghost Domain is very deep.

Standing at the doorway, Jin Chen probed the door with his hand, then suddenly heard some movement behind him; alert, he moved to the side and peered secretly.

The darkness was like a bottomless abyss.

Jin Chen heard the sound of a keychain; it was the shopkeeper returning.

He slowly raised his hand, but before he could act, a pair of hands grabbed him from behind.

Jin Chen startled, instinctively struck back with an elbow, but heard a low exclamation near his ear.

"Xiao Chen! It hurts!"

Yang Yu clutched his arm, pain making him grit his teeth, "You little brat, you went for the kill!"

Jin Chen let go, his face darkening with exasperation, "Second Senior Brother, you're so childish, coming here to play hide-and-seek?"

"Didn't we think alike?" Yang Yu jerked his chin toward the direction of the movement, "I suspect the shopkeeper has a problem."

Jing Xingcan and Gong Siyue slowly emerged from behind Yang Yu, apparently having arrived earlier,

"We too."

Jin Chen: "……"

Yang Yu: "……"

This damned tacit understanding.

Gong Siyue gossiped: "Hasn't the eldest senior brother come?"

Jin Chen: "It's dangerous; let him sleep."

Jing Xingcan: "Hiss……"

Love really makes people lose their sanity!

It's really funny how the four of them are squeezed into the corner.

It's also because they're too familiar with each other, having let their guard down completely, so they didn't notice.

Yang Yu walked up to Jin Chen, concerned, and said: "Senior Brother, go ahead; don't get scared."

Jin Chen nodded, pleased to slack off, secretly cast a concealment spell covering the four of them, then entered the door.

The shopkeeper sat in the room, motionless, eyes unblinking, staring straight at the wall, pupils unfocused.

The four slipped from the doorway into the inner room; Jin Chen finally poked his head out to look at the shopkeeper, his gaze lingering on the shopkeeper's neck for a moment, but it was covered by clothing and not clearly visible.

"Xiao Chen! Don't get discovered!"

Yang Yu grabbed his head back again, and the inner room's door closed.

The shopkeeper slowly moved his eyeballs, staring at that door.

Gong Siyue took out a spirit stone from her waist; its lustrous glow temporarily served as candlelight, illuminating the interior.

She and Jing Xingcan went to search the cabinets, while Yang Yu and Jin Chen examined the talisman papers scattered at the foot of the bed.

Jin Chen fiddled with it a bit and whispered, "The paper that once wrapped gold ingots is the same kind of thing."

But the strokes on this paper are crooked, making it impossible to tell what kind of talisman it is.

Yang Yu also found nothing, crouched to glance at Jin Chen's collar, and chuckled: "Xiao Chen, Xiao Chen……"

Jin Chen looked at him in horror, "What are you doing?"

Shouting like that is disgusting!

"Are you together with the eldest senior brother? Your progress is fast." Yang Yu continued with a foxlike smile.

Jin Chen dissatisfied: "I've liked him for a long time; it's not fast at all."

"Alright then… you and the eldest senior brother are this… intimate, help the second senior brother out." Yang Yu bumped his shoulder.

Jin Chen narrowed his peach-blossom eyes suspiciously: "The senior brother won't return the confiscated dice to you."

Yang Yu: "……How do you know."

"The senior brother said only you, idle and bored, gamble with ghosts using dice, and lost all the spirit stones the master prepared to give us seven."

Jin Chen patted Yang Yu's shoulder: "Second senior brother, you're weak; just give up."

Yang Yu clutched his own fan, silently heartbroken: "You're not cute anymore; doesn't the second senior brother treat you well? Those dice are expensive!"

Jin Chen said solemnly: "I'm also afraid of being scolded by the senior brother; he's even harsher toward me now than before."

He's even kicking me on the bed!

Yang Yu was greatly shocked; even harsher than before!

He patted Jin Chen's head pitifully, "I see, then forget it; I'll think of another way."

Jin Chen shook his head, shrugged off his hand, stood up, and went to look for other clues.

Gong Siyue: "Come over quickly, there are a few… letters or love letters here."

Jin Chen almost instantly thought of Mo Ranmei and the shopkeeper's eye contact, quickly stepped over to look.

It was a love letter.

They had seen the shopkeeper's ledger; the handwriting was indistinguishable.

The shopkeeper is named Mo Dongjing, and the recipient of the love letter is called Qi Niang.

"Qi Niang…"

Jin Chen suddenly felt he had heard that somewhere before.

【Zero Egg, you previously said what that man-eating ghost was called?】

【Formed from the resentment of all lovelorn people, it is a pitiful beggar maiden.】 Ling Gun Gun quickly responded.

Beggar maiden, Qi Niang.

Beg…

——「Don't pick up money found on the road, don't meddle in beggars' affairs。」

The warning of the Azure Bamboo Spirit Maiden echoed in Jin Chen's mind, faintly linking all the bizarre events in Min East City.

If Qi Niang is indeed the master behind the Ghost Domain, and the rule they established is to let them witness each day at dusk a maiden's joy turn into mourning, what would the ghost's intention be?

What is the relationship between Qi Niang and Mo Ranmei? Why did Mo Ranmei's eye exchange with Mo Dongjing today seem so strange?

Jin Chen slowly furrowed his brows, again recalling how deeply he sympathized with all the suffering Mo Ranmei had endured for the Red Pearl.

But Mo Ranmei only had two fatal wounds; the dagger to her chest, unclear whether it stemmed from love or hate, was inflicted by Su Su.

But… what if Mo Ranmei isn't Mo Ranmei?

If it were the Beggar Lady, the beggar and the young master of the Mo Family clan falling in love, under Min East City's perverse clan rules, suffering every kind of extreme punishment once would not be excessive, naturally feeling the same suffering.

Jin Chen fell into deep thought, his spiritual sense alert, ready to sense any external danger at any moment.

Half a moment later, Jin Chen became alert, turning his gaze; his aura sharp as a blade, he locked eyes with Mo Dongjing, who had been staring through the door all along.

The oppressive pressure surged forward; Jin Chen clenched the letter, feeling the spreading yin energy and intense killing intent.

Yang Yu and the two others also sensed something amiss, becoming wary and stepping forward a few paces.

The atmosphere was deathly silent, gloomy as water, without a sound.

Bang!

The door panel suddenly fell.

Mo Dongjing stood by the door frame, his hollow pupils fixed on them, a few drops of corpse fluid trickling from the corner of his mouth.