The Director wanting to kill him was sothing Yang Xiao had never anticipated, and for a mont, his mind went blank. But it was just that mont of hesitation that allowed an arrow to strike him in the chest.
There was no piercing pain as if the arrow had gone through his body, but rather it felt like being jabbed viciously with a stick, the sheer force causing him to stagger. Surprisingly, it was a blunt-headed arrow that had hit him, and as he fell, a blade glistening with a dark hue barely missed him.
It was the "Bodyguard" behind him who had attempted a sneak attack. Had it not been for Nalan Shuo’s arrow, the Bodyguard’s dagger would likely have run him through.
Still, Yang Xiao felt sowhat resentful. He couldn’t understand why the Director, with such precise archery skills, had chosen to shoot him instead of the "Bodyguard". Was it because it seed cooler this way?
As the "Bodyguard" missed his stab, he raised his foot and stomped heavily towards Yang Xiao on the ground. Fortunately, Yang Xiao reacted quickly and rolled to one side to avoid the attack, awkward but unhard. At that mont, the long-missed fourth drumbeat finally sounded.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
...
As the rhythm of the drumbeats accelerated, the scene changed, becoming suddenly chaotic. The previously devout Ghost-faced Priests rose to their feet and scattered in escape, and the few Lantern Priests in the inner circle extinguished their lanterns. The lanterns hanging all around the courtyard went out one by one, and the light dimd progressively, as if sothing big was about to happen.
"Don’t... don’t panic!" Exhausted, barely catching his breath, Xiang Fengchen shouted hoarsely, "Stay where you are!"
Amidst the chaotic crowd and unclear circumstances, Yang Xiao didn’t dare to run. Using the remaining light, he saw the Ghost-faced Priests tearing down the white cloth from the periter and, with a few people, enclosing the "Bodyguard" not far from him like a net. Oddly enough, once caught in the net, the previously vibrant "Bodyguard" stopped moving altogether, as if dead.
Yang Xiao suddenly rembered what Xiang Fengchen said: the white cloth around the periter was made from the Soul Summoning Banner, suggesting that there was sothing seriously amiss with these "Bodyguards".
The chaos didn’t last long, the trapped "Bodyguard" was dragged away, and the Ghost-faced Priests quickly fled. Within a few minutes, only their group remained in the courtyard, even the percussion ensemble that had been beating drums and gongs had disappeared.
By now, everyone was in a bad state. Almost everyone was at their physical limit, several were injured. Yang Xiao’s ear was wounded, blood spattering his shoulder, Lou Huixiang’s arm was stabbed, but the most severely injured was Gong Banlan. She had used her body to block attacks for the "Green Ghost" from the start and was now wounded in multiple places – her back, shoulder, and most severely in the abdon. Her clothes were soaked with blood as she lay on the ground groaning in pain.
After the dust had settled, Jiang Qingluan stepped forward, unfolded the white dayti bundle skin and bandaged Gong Banlan’s wounds. Fortunately, Gong Banlan’s legs were not injured, so she could at least walk with difficulty.
After what had happened, Gong Banlan seed terrified of being abandoned by the group; she wept and clung to Jiang Qingluan’s hand, pleading not to be left behind.
"Don’t worry," they said to her. "The injuries you have are from protecting that person, they were incurred for all of us, and we won’t leave you behind." Protecting the "Green Ghost" was an order given by Xiang Fengchen, and now was the ti he had to take a stand.
Just as the group was discussing whether to stay or go, a person approached from outside the courtyard gate, holding a greenish lantern.
They couldn’t see his face, but from his attire, he seed to be a man. The man stood outside the gate, waving at them stiffly, as if bewitched.
Nalan Shuo glanced back at the high platform hidden behind a canopy. Not long ago, this was where the "Green Ghost" and nine others dressed like them had erged, "Go over there." Nalan Shuo was the first to walk towards it.
"I’ve co to relay a ssage from Steward Wu; you all did very well. Please go back and rest," the mysterious man said expressionlessly as he turned around, "Follow , please."
"Tap."
"Tap."
"Tap."
Footsteps echoed on the bluestone slabs with a clatter. At this mont, the entire mansion was eerily quiet, a stark contrast to the chaotic atmosphere during the ritual earlier. Yang Xiao and his companions even felt a sense of unreality, as if everything that had happened was just an illusion, a delusion they had experienced.
"This doesn’t seem like the way back," Jiang Qingluan suddenly said from behind.
"After the Evil Exorcism, there are taboos to observe. Steward Wu is worried that you may have been contaminated with so bad aura, so he had us servants clean the courtyard to dispel it. The mansion has arranged other rooms for you, please wait a mont," the man said without turning, his tone respectfully chilly, as if his movents were stiff, yet his steps were very fast.
Yang Xiao and his group were sowhat disheveled, with Gong Banlan sustaining relatively serious injuries, making it hard for her to walk quickly. Jiang Qingluan and Chang Chuchu supported her on either side.
Before long, the group followed the man to an unfamiliar courtyard, long abandoned it seed. In the center was a large house, with faint light filtering through. The man opened the door and settled the group inside.
Inside the house was a square table, with tea and a triangular incense burner on it. The man took out a thick incense stick, dark red in color, from his chest, lit it, and inserted it into the burner, "This incense stick will last for about thirty minutes. By the ti it burns out, the cleaning of the courtyard should be done, and you can go back."
He paused, then his tone shifted. The already stiff face beca even colder, "But rember, do not go back together, one or two at a ti is best, and be quick about it. The mansion enacts a curfew after dark."
"Why can’t we go back together?" Yang Xiao pressed, "Is there a problem with our rooms?"
"Traveling the sa path is ominous."
The man coldly answered only Yang Xiao’s first question, vaguely at that, and ignored the second one entirely. But it was precisely this attitude that knotted everyone’s nerves.
After finishing, the man pointed in a direction and left without looking back, presumably toward the courtyard where they had been staying.
Once the man had completely left and his footsteps were no longer audible, Zhang Songde and Chang Chuchu who were guarding the door imdiately closed it and bolted it. The door, which didn’t look very sturdy, now supported their scant sense of safety.
"What does he an by that?" Chang Chuchu asked quickly, "Did they tamper with where we’re staying?"
"Could they have hidden a ghost in there?" Zhang Songde’s thoughts grew more grim, "The ghost lurks in one of the rooms, and whoever enters, dies."
"Life on the line?" Lou Huixiang paled at the thought.
Everyone present was seasoned in their field and, while the scenario seed too horrific to consider, upon closer examination it wasn’t impossible. Going back one by one could be because a ghost is only able to kill one person in a short ti. What was most troubling was that after the ghost killed the first person, it could impersonate the victim, luring the next person into its trap, and it was possible that soone in any room could be the next target.
Jiang Qingluan had once ntioned a mission she experienced where they had made a grave error, mistaking a ghost for a villager and bringing it ho. That night, they lost four people and only three barely survived.
At this point, everyone turned their eyes toward Xiang Fengchen and Nalan Shuo, the most experienced among them.
"Let’s not panic; we have plenty of ti. First, let’s take care of our injuries," said Nalan Shuo after he quickly checked the room upon entering and found a small dicine chest with hemostatic drugs and so neatly folded, clean cloths.
Suddenly, Gong Banlan, who lay on the floor due to her serious injury, grasped Xiang Fengchen’s pant leg, pleading, "Mr. Xiang, please help bandage my wound, I... I don’t want to die!"
With everyone’s help, Gong Banlan was carried into an inner room with a bed where she lay down. Since so wounds were in sensitive areas, Xiang Fengchen gestured for everyone to continue their discussion in the outer rooms, leaving him alone to undress and bandage Gong Banlan’s wounds.
When no one was paying attention, Xiang Fengchen sprinkled the white dicine on the wound, leaned in as if to observe, and whispered softly, "What do you want to tell ?"
Gong Banlan had given his pant leg a tug, obviously indicating she had sothing to say, and... it was sothing that couldn’t be said in front of everyone.
"Mr. Xiang, you had us watch each other earlier. The last person I was watching was Zhang Songde. I saw with my own eyes his leg... his leg was chopped!" Gong Banlan spoke hastily and tremblingly.
Xiang Fengchen took a deep breath, turned casually, and just then caught sight of Zhang Songde outside the room arguing fiercely with soone, his legs completely intact.
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