Nightmare Apostle Chapter 72: Madness

Upon hearing this, Su Tingting was startled and quickly spat out the grave soil, "Not there? How... how could it not be there? Could it be that Master Bai and his people killed soone elsewhere?"

"Or they have been carrying the body the whole way. The child’s body isn’t big; it could easily be placed in any box," Su Tingting began to think hard.

Looking into the distance toward the Soul-Suppressing Pagoda, Yang Xiao’s face also darkened. Now, only the tip of the pagoda was visible. "It doesn’t make sense. This is the best place to bury a body. They would not travel a long distance with a corpse; the risk is too high. Besides, burying the body here would also an the pagoda could suppress it, trapping the child’s resentful spirit and preventing it from leaving. This would also eliminate the likelihood of revenge being sought."

Putting himself in their shoes, Yang Xiao really couldn’t think of a better place to bury a body. If he were Master Bai, this would be the only choice for the entire route from Feng Mansion to the dock.

After a silent mont, Kuang Hongyi finally voiced the thought that had been weighing on his mind, "Could it be... that the child is not actually dead?"

Su Tingting was taken aback. She wondered if her ears were malfunctioning and exclaid, "Kuang, what are you talking about? How could that be possible? If the child isn’t dead, where is she? Moreover, you weren’t there and might not know, but Manager Liu from the coffin shop also said that if the child wasn’t dead, it wouldn’t make sense for Ms. Chun’s vengeful spirit not to find her."

However, Yang Xiao seed to be on to sothing, and gradually, a bold conjecture ford in his mind, one he himself found implausible. "Let’s go, let’s head back."

"Go back... where?"

"Back to the coach, of course. We’re heading to Crouching Tiger Manor to find Manager Liu," Yang Xiao hinted to Su Tingting with his eyes. "Rember, when we see Master Zhao and the others, don’t ntion anything about what just happened. Just say the situation is more complicated than we initially thought, but we have so clues now, only so preparations are still needed."

"Miss Su, you better not say anything at all. If there’s a problem, Chu and I will handle it." Kuang Hongyi was worried that Su Tingting’s lack of experience and cunning would give them away.

By the dusty yellow road, two coaches were parked one behind the other, the coachman of the front coach had plucked a handful of fresh grass leaves and was feeding the horse.

Behind, Master Zhao and a few others gathered in a shaded spot, their eyes sharply fixated on the road Yang Xiao and the rest would be returning on.

A square-faced young martial master with a scar on his right cheek leaned close to Master Zhao and whispered, "Chief Zhao, it’s been so long, why haven’t they co back yet?"

"What’s the rush? They went to the Soul-Suppressing Pagoda, do you think they’re as useless as you are at visiting brothels?" The Zhao surnad martial master frowned and glanced at his three subordinates. "You know what to do later, right?"

Another martial master, dressed bare-chested, grinned cruelly, "As soon as they show up, without a word, we chop them up and bury them on the spot..."

But before he could finish, he was knocked on the head with a punch. Master Zhao was seething with anger, "Damn it, you’re ready to chop people up before even speaking to them? How are we going to explain that when we get back? Is the job done? What do we say to our master? How do we collect our reward?"

"Rember, don’t rush when you see them. First, trap them in conversation, confirm that the job is done, then we can make our move."

"Right, right, right. We brothers all listen to Chief Zhao, working with you is always smooth; we can’t go wrong!" Another martial master complinted with a keen eye for opportunity.

"Also, that Kuang guy is a bit off. The way he moves is too disciplined, and he seems to have so skill. I’ll deal with him personally, the other three are yours to handle," the Zhao surnad martial master instructed.

"Three?" the square-faced martial master was taken aback.

Master Zhao nodded toward the coachman who was feeding grass to the horses not far away, "And him. He has driven these ’Blessing Guests’ before, it’s hard to guarantee that he hasn’t picked up so information. We can’t leave him behind either."

"This..." the bare-chested warrior hesitated for a mont, his face showing difficulty, "Chief Zhao, he’s just a coachman, what could he know? Besides, those ’Blessing Guests’, if they had secrets, they wouldn’t tell him."

"That’s right, that’s right. This... Old Wu has been with the mansion for years, known for his honesty and diligence. When my mother was sick, I couldn’t leave my post for several days, it was him who went to buy herbal dicine and delivered it to my mother."

The other three martial masters all spoke in favor of the coachman, but Master Zhao smirked with indifference and laughed, "Fine, Master Feng has promised a total of 200 taels of silver for this job. One more person ans one more share to be divided. We were supposed to get 50 taels each, but now with Old Wu included, it’s 40 taels per person."

"There’s such a thing!" The square-faced warrior’s expression changed, "Then don’t bla our brother for the swiftness of our blades."

"Let’s kill him, and let him be their companion on the Road to the Netherworld!" The bare-chested warrior’s eyes glead viciously, and the remaining one echoed in agreent.

"Hey, hey, they’re coming!"

In the distance, three figures erged from the forest and made their way toward the horse carriage. Master Zhao’s heart leapt with joy as he hurriedly stood up, "Be ready, follow my lead!"

As the figures approached, Master Zhao switched back to his obsequious deanor, running up to greet them with clasped hands, "Honorable Guests, how did it go?"

"Ah, ran into so minor trouble." Yang Xiao waved his hand impatiently and plopped down, breathing heavily as if utterly exhausted.

Su Tingting, knowing she wasn’t as skilled in acting as Yang Xiao, pretended to have a headache and went to rest in her own carriage first.

Hearing that the task wasn’t completed, Master Zhao taphorically hacked Yang Xiao to pieces in his heart, but his face still wore a smile, "No problem, no problem. So, shall we now..."

"Depart, to Crouching Tiger Manor."

After a brief rest, the group set off for Crouching Tiger Manor. This ti, Yang Xiao lifted the curtains of the carriage, chatting with the old coachman while enjoying the scenery. It was this man who had taken them to Old Bull Dock before, so they were sowhat familiar with each other.

After so random chatter about directions, Yang Xiao broached the main topic, "Old Wu, the Young Lady of your household is really beautiful. Is she also from the town?"

"You an the Young Lady? She’s not a local. I’m not sure exactly where she’s from, but she cos from a prominent family too. It’s just that her family fell into hard tis later on. Master Feng and her family were old acquaintances, so out of kindness, Master Feng took the Young Lady in."

"Master Feng is truly a man of benevolence and righteousness!" Yang Xiao exclaid, then swiftly changed the subject, "By the way, when did the Young Lady enter the mansion?"

This ti the coachman pondered for a mont and let out a wry smile, "Oh dear, I really don’t know that. The Young Lady never leaves the mansion; common folks can’t even see her. But... it’s been quite so years, at least seven or eight. Oh, that’s right, I once heard Nurse Rong, who cooks in the mansion, say that the Young Lady had madness as a child and was confined within the mansion for treatnt, so Master Feng did not allow her to et people."