A false alarm, Martial Saint felt a bit embarrassed.
There might be a chance of reanimation.
But damn it, how could a mannequin turn into a living thing?
"Hiss...Bro, if it’s a mannequin lying in the coffin, then the portrait falling down can’t just be a coincidence. Bro, generally, when this happens, it indicates that the deceased has strong resentnt!"
Got it.
At this point, he understood.
Jiang Chen remained noncommittal, fell silent for a mont, and then said, "What’s it got to do with you?"
Martial Saint was speechless.
Exactly.
He was just here as a bystander, why get involved? Learn from Brother Jiang Chen, keep out of it, observe coldly, and play dumb with great wisdom.
"Where’s Sister Liuli?"
Martial Saint looked around but didn’t see any trace of Tanki Liuli.
So the two started searching the surroundings.
"Sister Liuli!"
From outside, it wasn’t obvious, but upon entering, they discovered that the Fujiwara Family’s ancestral ho was unexpectedly large. After wandering around half a day, encountering many guests who ca to mourn, they finally found the figure of Tanki Liuli in a secluded and rarely visited corner.
"Sister Liuli, why did you co here?"
Martial Saint shouted, stepping over the weed-covered stones, only to find that Sister Liuli wasn’t alone.
In the faint and indistinct locust trees, besides Sister Liuli, who had her back turned to them, there were several lean and fit Japanese. He knew they were Japanese because they were wearing tight-fitting samurai outfits with a strong folkloric style.
Seeing this, Martial Saint frowned, hurriedly quickening his steps, arriving at Tanki Liuli’s side, joining this confrontation.
Wait a minute.
Why describe it as a confrontation?
Jiang Chen in the back was calm and unhurried, not anxious at all.
"Who are you?"
Martial Saint imdiately questioned, instantly making the others sowhat silent.
Who exactly is here as a guest?
"This area is not open to the public, please move elsewhere. There are many beautiful sceneries in the courtyard for you to enjoy."
The Japanese were comndable in attitude, polite and courteous, and spoke Chinese fluently.
Not open to the public?
But it’s not indoor, and it’s so dilapidated here that generally, no one would wander here anyway.
However...
Why did Sister Liuli co here?
Not important.
He was here to support Sister Liuli, not to reason things out.
"Your people let us wander freely, never inford us of any restricted areas. If there’s sothing valuable here, you should hang warning signs in advance."
Martial Saint sarcastically quipped.
Judging by the situation.
Sister Liuli hadn’t yet erupted into a full-blown conflict with these Japanese.
"I’m sorry, please leave."
The other party didn’t continue to argue, maintaining a firm attitude.
Predictably, these Japanese were likely "fighters" or house slaves raised by the Fujiwara Family.
Considering today’s occasion, these house slaves should be fully aware, so any unfamiliar faces appearing today must be heavyweight guests.
In theory, as house slaves, they wouldn’t risk offending guests and harm the family’s interests.
When sothing abnormal happens, there must be sothing strange.
Could it be there’s truly sothing valuable here?
Martial Saint’s eyes unconsciously started roaming around, and he indeed discovered sothing peculiar.
Behind those Japanese, there was actually a well!
In such historic old residences, finding a well is not unusual. Many rural areas in the country still depend on well water for living. But this well was sealed with cent at the opening and obviously, from the traces, it wasn’t long ago that it was sealed.
Sealing a well isn’t actually strange. If it’s already abandoned, without treatnt, there is a risk of soone accidentally falling into it, especially if they’ve co here and relieved themselves at random. But what puzzled Martial Saint was that besides being sealed, the well was wrapped with thick iron chains, the end wound around the surrounding locust trees, resembling a "five flowers tied" scene.
Such a view, any normal person would definitely find it eerie.
Moreover, deliberately assigning people to monitor and guard it makes one’s imagination run wild.
And if you observe closely, you can also find those thick iron chains have inscriptions that are incomprehensible, as if they are mysterious incantations.
"Brother Jiang Chen."
Martial Saint didn’t blindly provoke a conflict with the Japanese samurai, signaling to Jiang Chen, hinting at the strange well, whispering, "There’s definitely sothing inside."
Jiang Chen seed not to hear, turning his head to look at Duanmu Liuli, who was wandering to this place alone, "Are you okay?"
Completely redundant.
Even if there were sothing, the real problem should lie with the few samurai house slaves of the Fujiwara Family.
Jiang Chen certainly knew the other party’s capability, hence the deliberate redundancy, purely to showcase his concern.
Indeed.
Concern.
People understand the concept of repaynt.
Given Daoist Sister’s personality, or rather her way of dealing with the Japanese, in the past, those samurais would have certainly been half-paralyzed on the ground or hanging from a tree. Why hasn’t she acted this ti? Whose face is she saving?
Daoist Sister has indeed grown up.
At least to so extent, she understands the importance of the bigger picture.
Faced with soone’s sowhat pretentious concern, Tanki Liuli silently shook her head.
"Let’s go."
Upon seeing this, Jiang Chen said.
Go?
Martial Saint was stunned, unable to comprehend, bewildered.
The well clearly isn’t ordinary—leaving without fully investigating it?
This feeling is like going to Kabukicho for so entertainnt, only to run into a police raid just after entering.
Martial Saint’s opinion naturally couldn’t dominate the decision. Tanki Liuli glanced at the person, surprisingly not voicing any objection, obediently turning away, giving that person a lot of leeway.
Martial Saint, though filled with reluctance, felt his words carried no weight. Helplessly, he glanced at the few Japanese around but could only follow along.
"Brother Jiang Chen, why do we have to leave? There’s definitely sothing wrong with that well."
Before they’d gone far, Martial Saint could no longer hold back and spoke up.
The phrase ’sothing wrong’ didn’t refer to neutrinos but was just a commonly used taphor in folklore.
After speaking, he glanced at Tanki Liuli, "Sister Liuli, how did you end up here?"
Tanki Liuli did not explain.
So things can’t be explained clearly or don’t need to be.
"Sister Liuli, do you know what’s in the well? Why is it chained up? What do the words on the chains an?"
Martial Saint’s words were like a string of pearls.
"Don’t you understand Japanese?"
Jiang Chen interjected.
"Those aren’t standard Japanese; many words I can’t understand."
After speaking, Martial Saint, with a scrutinizing look as if examining an alien, suspiciously asked, "Brother Jiang Chen, aren’t you the least bit curious?"
Everyone has curiosity.
It’s just a matter of degree.
From the funeral ho onwards, this mansion has radiated an eerie atmosphere, yet Brother Jiang Chen remained calm throughout. This exceedingly composed deanor beca part of the mystery.
"What’s the use of curiosity? Do you want a boxing championship or to compete on which excavation company is the best?"
Martial Saint was speechless, then glanced again at Tanki Liuli.
In certain specific situations, he harbors a mysterious confidence in Sister Liuli.
"There’s no need to dig it up; Sister Liuli must know about it, otherwise, she wouldn’t have gone there, right, Sister Liuli?"
The mansion is so large, and the well is so hidden that the chances of stumbling upon it by accident are slim.
Sister Liuli probably didn’t stumble upon it, so more likely... she sought it out.
"You’re right."
Tanki Liuli spoke, her expression indifferent.
"?"
Martial Saint pointed at himself doubtfully, then beca puzzled.
What had he said?
What was right?
Suddenly.
A light bulb went off in his head, his expression frozen.
"Sister Liuli, are you saying, there’s really a... ghost in that well?"
He previously said "sothing wrong," a connected phrase, and now it turned into a single word.
Tanki Liuli nodded slightly.
Martial Saint was shocked, involuntarily looking back.
But the well was already engulfed by a locust tree.
Wait a minute.
Locust tree?
"Brother Jiang Chen..."
The man remained calm as usual; Martial Saint looked at him, and he raised his head towards the slowly rising sun.
What’s there to fear about spirits.
In this world, only two things should not be faced directly.
One is the rising sun.
And
the human heart.
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