Chapter 23: Yaoguai in the Wall

The Wei family must have been relatively well-off in this town.

At least they had been, once.

Otherwise, there wouldn't be over twenty mouths to feed.

As for their house, it was located in the middle of Dangxun County.

The county town was not large, and it didn't take many steps to walk there.

It was just that after eating dinner and walking over, coupled with the misty, rainy weather, the sky was gradually growing dim, which made the timidity in Wei Yuanzhong's heart increase with every passing moment along the way.

It was true that he knew this yaoguai only beat people and didn't injure them, but how many people could endure not being afraid?

Being whipped on the body was also very painful.

"We're here, we're here."

"Creak..."

Wei Yuanzhong pushed open his own door and, trembling with fear, gestured for Lin Jue to enter.

"Please come in, sir."

"You are too polite."

Lin Jue had long since understood the principle that feeling timid when encountering a yaoguai was of no benefit, and he had also long since understood that many yaoguai were not as terrifying as he had imagined. Regardless of reason or emotion, whether intentional or not, he naturally would not let his heart show obvious fear at this moment, so he strode inside.

At the same time, he turned his head to look around.

The Wei family residence could house over a dozen people and was much larger than an ordinary person's home, so much so that there was a small courtyard just inside the gate.

It was just that the houses here were often relatively compact and exquisite, not as spacious as a courtyard house, and since land in the city was also expensive, this courtyard was actually not very big.

Small as it was, it lacked nothing in elegance.

The moss and mottled patches at the base of the walls showed its age, and the decorative bricks embedded in the walls were all carved with plum blossoms, orchids, bamboo, chrysanthemums, and evergreen pines. Generally speaking, this kind of courtyard would have a tree planted in it; whether in Heng Village or Shu Village, the houses of wealthy families were designed this way to add a touch of scenery. With the shade of a tree, even if the sun was blazing during the day, it would be very cool and quiet inside.

It was just a pity that the tree in this courtyard had been cut down not long ago, leaving only a stump.

There were some green plants left, which could barely be considered lively.

The big house and big courtyard that Lin Jue's little cousin often talked about wanting to cultivate in the future should look like this: able to house a dozen or twenty people, and then planting a tree in the courtyard; after it grew tall, it would naturally pass through the courtyard wall to reach the sunlight, and it could see off several generations.

Just at this moment, his footsteps suddenly paused.

He had been feeling regretful just now and turned to look at that stump, but his vision blurred, and he seemed to see a faint luster and shadow flowing on the stump, just like when he was meditating and practicing breathing.

"?"

Lin Jue couldn't help but frown.

He didn't say anything for the moment and crossed the courtyard into the house.

The house was cool, and the skylight cast a faint light.

"Young sir..."

"Wei Gong, do not look at me. I am not a Daoist priest; I do not know how to find yaoguai, nor do I know how to dispel them. I only promised Wei Gong to come here to sleep for one night, and it may not necessarily be of any use." Lin Jue said, "I will only see if that one comes out tonight and lets me suffer this beating as well."

"Yes, yes! Very good, very good!"

Wei Yuanzhong hurriedly took him to find a room with two beds.

For the past few days, no one in their family had dared to live in this house, and the rooms were locked. The bedding had to be taken out of the cabinets, and by the time it was made, it was completely dark, so he found an oil lamp to light.

Wei Yuanzhong was extremely afraid, practically seeing ghosts in every shadow; he suspected every movement of the wind or grass was a yaoguai. Lin Jue, however, had a normal demeanor, just like staying at a friend's house, calmly and composedly finding clear water to rinse his mouth and wipe his face.

As for why he was like this? Half was because he wasn't afraid, and half was because he couldn't let himself be afraid. But neither one alone was enough to constitute half; the two had to be combined, relying on not being afraid to act calmly, and relying on acting calmly to nurture the courage in his heart, telling himself that he was truly not afraid. Only by combining the two could he achieve such complete fearlessness as he had now.

"Wei Gong, sleep in this bed; I will sleep in the one by the door."

"Very good, very good..."

"Wei Gong, do not be so nervous. Have you never heard the saying that yaoguai also bully the weak and fear the strong, and that timidity actually attracts yaoguai?"

"Ah? This..."

Wei Yuanzhong became even more afraid.

"Haha..."

Lin Jue laughed twice, lay down on the bed, and conveniently placed his firewood knife under the pillow. With his eyes open in the room lit by the oil lamp, he changed the subject to chat with Wei Yuanzhong:

"I heard you say at the inn that a very powerful Daoist priest recently came to the vicinity, and that the very powerful demons and monsters in the neighboring county were all eliminated by him. You even went to find him; is that true or false?"

"Going to find him is true. Hearing it is also true."

"Who did you hear it from?"

"Merchants traveling between the two places said so..."

"What does that Daoist look like?"

"They say he is an old Daoist."

"It seems I heard you say that he uses Daoist arts to eliminate yaoguai?"

"That's right! Why does everyone say that old Daoist is powerful? It's because of his yaoguai-eliminating arts! It is truly an immortal skill that can be seen."

"He came from the neighboring county?"

"Yes, Qiru County."

"Where is he going?"

"Who knows..."

"..."

Lin Jue chatted with him while pondering.

He was already tired after the bath, and after eating and drinking his fill, he felt comfortable and fell asleep before long.

The oil lamp was still placed in the center of the room, and the lamp oil inside was very sufficient, but as the wick burned shorter and shorter, the light grew dimmer and dimmer.

As the light dimmed, it grew redder.

Suddenly, there was a shadow on the wall.

"Slap!"

In the silence, there was suddenly a whipping sound; just hearing the sound, one knew it was full of force.

In this summer, how could one dare to cover oneself with a thick quilt? Wei Yuanzhong could not endure it and immediately opened his eyes, letting out a loud wail.

"Ouch!"

There was a hint of terror in the wail.

Lin Jue also woke up immediately.

He opened his eyes and sat up at once, the firewood knife already in his hand; the sense of security brought by its thickness and weight was completely incomparable to a small knife.

He saw his gaze was sharp as he looked around.

He saw nothing.

However, there was an indescribable feeling in the room. This feeling did not come from the five senses, but from his perception of the five qi of heaven and earth when he was meditating and practicing breathing in the mountain valleys; it was mysterious and elusive.

This feeling pointed to the wall on his left.

This was the second floor, and the doors and walls were all made of wood.

Lin Jue turned his head to look, and in a daze, his eyes blurred; he seemed to truly see faint light and shadows flowing in the wall.

He knew at once—

This one was hiding here.

He probably also guessed that this one must have been hiding in that tree stump at dusk today, and was even practicing breathing the essence of heaven and earth.

So Lin Jue put on his shoes but remained sitting on the bed to show his restraint, his hand gripping the firewood knife tightly, facing the wooden wall. Although he knew nothing about what kind of yaoguai this was or what means it had, there was not a hint of hesitation or fear in his voice and demeanor as he asked:

"Why are you hiding in the wallboard?"

As soon as the words fell, Wei Yuanzhong was startled.

He was closest to this wallboard, and after a brief moment of shock, he hurriedly scrambled down and hid to the side, his mouth crying out "ouch" incessantly.

The light and shadow on the wall moved silently, shifting from the wall on Lin Jue's left to the wall on Lin Jue's right.

Lin Jue's gaze was like a torch, following the movement.

He kept staring at it.

At the same time, he was thinking in his mind.

There was something wrong with this matter.

"You have been causing trouble here for a month and have never killed anyone. Just now you appeared to cause trouble again, but only beat the person beside me and never beat me... It is said that Lord Wei once went to the City God Temple to invite a divine statue, but it only worked for a few days before it became useless. Could there be some other origin to this?"

The light and shadow remained silent and moved to the side again.

Lin Jue's brows furrowed slightly, his eyes flickering.

"Where are you hiding?"

The moving light and shadow paused, and finally stopped.

A moment later, a voice actually came from the wall:

"Where did this village bumpkin come from? This family took the matter to the City God, and they didn't win the lawsuit against me. Even the City God approved of my whipping them. What kind of meddling do you want to do?"

There was quite a bit of resentment in the voice.

Wei Yuanzhong was shocked upon hearing this.

Lin Jue, however, breathed a sigh of relief.

He hadn't guessed wrong; it seemed there was truly no danger for him tonight.

This one was actually reasonable!

As for going to the City God to file a lawsuit? The City God allowed whipping? What kind of strange matter was this?

Lin Jue couldn't help but feel puzzled.

Beside him, Wei Yuanzhong was terrified and dared not speak, but he kept bowing to him, as if he regarded him as a life-saving straw.

Lin Jue naturally saw it, and amidst his confusion and surprise, he pondered and asked: "It seems you truly have some origin with the Wei family. May I ask if you can speak of it?"

"What business is it of yours?"

As soon as the words fell, several things actually flew out from the wall.

Lin Jue still had his guard up, and since these things didn't have much force and the speed at which they flew out wasn't fast, he instinctively lowered his head to dodge two, and subconsciously swung his firewood knife to knock down another.

"Clang, clang, clang..."

The things fell to the ground; they were a few wooden lumps.

"I see your five qi are not mixed, your spirit is pure and clear; you don't look like someone who has done evil things. I also know you eliminated harm on the road today, so I don't want to make things difficult for you. Why don't you leave quickly!"

The voice continued to come from the wall.

Lin Jue knew that the other party had no intention of hurting him, nor any intention of harming him, so he didn't get angry. He thought for a moment before saying:

"You are a reasonable person. Being able to win a lawsuit at the City God, you must be in the right. Now that a conflict has arisen, if it continues like this, it will only make the Wei family afraid to return home, and they will constantly think of ways to deal with you. Who knows when they might invite some fierce and evil person, or burn the house down with a fire? Why suffer like this?"

"Who is afraid?"

"Why not discuss a solution?"

"What is there to discuss?" The voice continued to come from the wall.

"That's right! The young sir is right! What did our Wei family do to wrong you? Tell us! We don't know, and we can't even admit our mistake. Tell us, and we can discuss a solution!" Seeing hope, Wei Yuanzhong immediately echoed repeatedly, nodding like a chicken pecking at rice.

"Wei Gong's words are reasonable. Even for those convicted in the mortal world, they must know what their crime is. You being like this is truly too puzzling." Lin Jue said sincerely, "Although I was invited by Wei Gong, I was only invited to sleep here for one night. No matter what, I will definitely leave tomorrow morning. I am not biased toward anyone, but in my opinion, this is an excellent opportunity to talk things through. What do you think?"

"Listening to you, you are indeed an upright person!"

"I dare not accept the praise."

"..."

The wall was silent for a while.

But the light and shadow did not disappear.

The silent atmosphere was the most unsettling. Wei Yuanzhong couldn't help but turn his head repeatedly to look at Lin Jue.

Lin Jue, however, was completely relaxed, and even had the leisure to ponder what kind of yaoguai this was, and what kind of art its method of hiding in the wooden wall was. It felt quite magical; could he learn it? ===== CHAPTER 24 =====