Chapter 3: Feng Yushu

The bizarre scream that sounded like crying and laughing made Ning Zhe shudder instantly. Before his brain could react, his body subconsciously turned around and kicked toward the direction the sound came from.

Looking closely, the owner of the voice had already been kicked to the ground, curling up in pain while clutching her abdomen.

"It's actually a living person." Ning Zhe breathed a sigh of relief.

Behind him in the ancestral hall, Zhang Yangxu and the female OL, who had been startled, were already walking toward the side door.

Knowing he had already been exposed, Ning Zhe no longer thought about leaving, his gaze quickly sweeping over the person who had suddenly appeared outside the door and been kicked to the ground by him.

This was a middle-aged woman whose apparent age was about 30-40, but this estimate wasn't necessarily accurate because she was wearing quite a few expensive jewelry pieces, and her clothing was even more gorgeous and bright.

The pearl necklace on her neck was round and smooth, and the translucent white jade bracelet on her left hand might have a higher price tag in a display case than the demolition money for Ning Zhe's old family home. Her long, jet-black, soft hair was carefully coiled up with a gold-inlaid jade phoenix hairpin, and her snow-white, delicate skin had no wrinkles at all, showing she hadn't been exposed to much sun. The string of bright, translucent bodhi beads on her right hand suggested she might even be a Buddhist.

In a dark purple slim-fitting dress, with a pink-purple waist seal embroidered with exquisite lace edges tied around her waist, the meticulous design and tailoring highlighted a plump and perfect mature woman's body. Her round, goose-egg face had a gorgeous, dignified, and elegant appearance, with refined features.

... All of this made her look like a wealthy, leisurely lady who had been pampered for years and was very well-maintained. People with good living conditions always age very slowly, and Ning Zhe couldn't be sure how old this lady actually was; she looked like thirty, but could actually be forty, or even over seventy.

Hearing Zhang Yangxu's footsteps approaching behind him, Ning Zhe patted the woman's shoulder lightly: "Sorry, are you okay?"

Although the kick just now was subconscious, due to the narrowness of the ancestral hall's side door, Ning Zhe hadn't been able to use his full strength. He felt that this kick would at most cause some not-too-large impact on the other party's abdominal cavity, not to the extent of injuring internal organs and causing internal bleeding.

His calculations for such things were always very accurate. As early as elementary school, Ning Zhe could beat up the bratty kids who provoked him until they were bruised and swollen, but he perfectly controlled all the external injuries on each person to be just right—superficial wounds—without ever making a big scene. This time was no exception.

A moment later, the gorgeous, wealthy lady covered in jewelry struggled to climb up from the stone-paved road, leaning against the wall and panting heavily while clutching her stomach.

"You, why did you hit someone as soon as we met..." The lady's voice was a bit weak due to the abdominal pain, but unexpectedly, she didn't speak harshly to him.

"I'm really sorry. You appeared behind me without a sound, and I thought it was those He family people who are neither human nor ghost trying to sneak up on me. I reacted too strongly for a moment." Ning Zhe apologized sincerely and repeatedly.

"It's okay, it's okay..." The lady shook her head repeatedly: "I understand. In this kind of ghost place, anyone would be on edge. I don't blame you, I don't blame you..."

Ning Zhe noticed that the way the other party looked at him was very complicated. Her pale face revealed unease about this strange, bizarre place, and her slightly pursed lips showed lingering fear and terror of the boy who had just beaten her, but more than that, it was the joy and relief of finally seeing other living people after being terrified for a long time.

"This woman's personality is cowardly and lacks independent judgment. After being beaten by me, not only did she not show hostility or disgust, but instead actively tried to excuse my mistake and tried hard to show goodwill, attempting to win my favor." Ning Zhe quickly dissected the lady's personality traits in his mind.

He then turned around and greeted Zhang Yangxu, who had already walked to the side door: "Hello, Mr. Zhang, I didn't expect to see you here. My name is Ning Zhe, a high school senior at Qinzhou No. 1 High School."

"Hello, I am Zhang Yangxu," Zhang Yangxu said indifferently.

"I am Mr. Zhang's legal advisor, my name is Xie Sining." The woman following behind Zhang Yangxu had a relatively more cheerful tone. Zhang Yangxu's gaze swept quickly over the lady leaning against the wall and Ning Zhe, looking a bit surprised: "Lady Bai is actually here too... Ning Zhe, is it? Do you know me?"

"Who in the world doesn't know you? Mr. Zhang, you are being humble. At least not many people in Qinzhou don't know you." Ning Zhe smiled lightly: "It's thanks to you that I asked for leave from school to return to my hometown. I originally thought that I could become a demolition household and collect rent beautifully all day long, but who knew that as soon as I opened my eyes, I came to such a ghost place."

Zhang Yangxu nodded slightly: "So that's how it is."

He also didn't expect that Ning Zhe was actually a local from Gubei Town.

Ning Zhe pointed his chin at the lady leaning against the wall and continued to ask: "You just said Lady Bai, does this lady have the surname Bai? Mr. Zhang, do you know her?"

Zhang Yangxu didn't speak. Xie Sining, the legal advisor standing behind him, spoke up at the right time to introduce: "This is the largest shareholder of the 'New Home' Group, Mr. Bai Fugui's wife, Lady Feng Yushu. Mr. Bai and Mr. Zhang both took a fancy to this area of Gubei Town, and both sides wanted to win the development contract for this area. Our two companies are currently in a competitive relationship."

"So that's how it is." Ning Zhe smiled slightly at Xie Sining: "But in this kind of place, the relationship in the business world doesn't seem to have much meaning."

Zhang Yangxu also smiled: "Indeed, it has no meaning."

In the outside world, he, Zhang Yangxu, might be a tycoon worth hundreds of billions with extensive connections in all walks of life, but in this isolated little village, a bizarre place of gods and ghosts, he was just a middle-aged man who was a bit overweight and had a thinning hairline.

This was also the reason why he was willing to talk to Ning Zhe as an equal.

Here, Ning Zhe wasn't a high school student who studied until late at night, but a strong, energetic adult male.

Ning Zhe walked to the wall and reached out to Feng Yushu, who was covered in gold and jade and full of nobility, pulling her up: "Lady, how did you come here?"

Feng Yushu endured the abdominal pain and patted the dust off her dress, saying somewhat cautiously: "I came to Gubei Town with my husband and my daughter. He is usually busy with work and rarely at home. This time, I originally wanted to take advantage of the field bidding opportunity for the family to get together and get some fresh air in the countryside, play around and see the scenery, but I didn't expect..."

Didn't expect that a sudden change would occur, dragging her into this bizarre place called He Family Village.

"Then where are your husband and daughter? Did they come here too?" Ning Zhe pursued.

Feng Yushu shook her head: "No, I searched for a long time in the village yesterday and violated taboos several times, but I didn't find them. It seems that I am the only one who accidentally entered here."

"Okay, understood." Ning Zhe nodded with satisfaction. In this way, he had a basic understanding of the situation of the few people in front of him.

Meeting living people in this kind of place was always a good thing, but under the harmonious appearance of huddling together for warmth, the actual situation was far from harmonious.

Behind Zhang Yangxu, legal advisor Xie Sining's phone vibrated slightly. She unlocked the screen calmly and took a quick glance. Above was a text message sent to her by "Mr. Zhang": "The almanac was flipped by Ning Zhe. He arrived earlier than all of us. Be careful of him."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 4 =====