With a "thud," the corpse fell to the ground, sounding like a dry piece of wood hitting the soil.
As the corpse of the servant appeared, the anomaly in the woods did not cease but intensified instead. Locating the corpse, Nalan Shuo seed to have disturbed that daunting ghost; now, it seed to have its sights on him.
The mont the lantern went out was the mont he was attacked.
However, having faced considerable challenges before, Nalan Shuo was not yet flustered by the current situation. Gathering his composure, he once again stepped out of the tomb’s vicinity and cautiously observed from behind the tree. This ti, besides the lone corpse lying there, there were no abnormalities near the tomb area.
Looking back, the shadows of the trees behind him lood ominously, resembling creatures lurking in the darkness, baring their fangs and claws at him. He knew without even trying that he couldn’t leave.
The ’Ghost Hitting the Wall’ was still in effect, guarding the Ancestor hidden within this forest.
But... where exactly was it hidden?
He still had half of the ashes in the paper bag left, his only remaining chance.
Suddenly, as if realizing sothing, his gaze fixed on a crooked tree in front of him. Not long ago, he had discovered the existence of the seventh tomb right here. In other words, his current location was akin to the Array Eye in Feng Shui.
Suppressing the fear in his heart, Nalan Shuo pretended everything was normal and turned to walk outward. As expected, despite nurous attempts, he was unable to leave, and he noticed that no matter which direction he walked, he would pass by this crooked tree.
His suspicions were further confird. At that mont, the candle inside the lantern had burned down to its last bit. There was no ti left. Passing the crooked tree for one last ti, Nalan Shuo threw out the ashes he had been clutching in his palm. As the dust from the ashes touched the crooked tree, everything changed. The once crooked tree disappeared, replaced by a gaunt, withered corpse.
The corpse was tall, with its back to Nalan Shuo, and the exposed skin exhibited a gloomy, purplish-brown color. This person wore the sa servant clothes as those found in the mansion.
But now, Nalan Shuo had no ti to examine this newly appeared corpse, because behind it stood another "person." Unfortunately, the ashes were blocked by the corpse and didn’t directly scatter to the back.
A ghostly face began to squeeze out from the right side of the corpse’s head. Seeing the ghostly face, even Nalan Shuo, who had seen many frightful scenes, couldn’t help but be shocked. Fear surged up from beneath his feet and straight to his skull. He had never seen such a face before.
With the last of his strength, Nalan Shuo took out a Life Burning Incense and attempted to light it with the fla in the lantern. However, the fla in the lantern flickered wildly as if soone was blowing air at it, making it unstable.
The next second, with a "puff," it went out.
...
In the northwest corner of the courtyard, also marked by Xiang Fengchen as the first area, Lou Huixiang had arrived.
Specifically, by the ti Nalan Shuo was still trapped, he was already on his way. Xiang Fengchen had estimated that the thirty minutes was almost up, which also roughly matched the ti the candle in the lantern burned out.
Like Nalan Shuo, after searching the first two areas of the compound, Lou Huixiang didn’t notice anything abnormal until he stopped at the third area, right outside the small forest where Nalan Shuo had failed.
The woods gave him a particularly quiet feeling, and the temperature was sowhat more suitable than the previous two areas checked, making him feel a long-lost sense of calm.
However, it was only for an instant. He soon realized sothing and did not rashly enter, but instead walked around the periter of the woods. It wasn’t long before he found a series of clear footprints in the moist ground, unfortunately only heading in, with none coming out.
The unease in Lou Huixiang’s heart finally turned into reality. Even a senior like Nalan Shuo had fallen, although he had been ntally prepared before seeing it for himself, this fear and unease still sent a chill down his spine.
He couldn’t be sure whether Nalan Shuo was hidden by a ghost or if he was dead, but discussing that was futile now. Since he had chosen to co, he had to follow the rules and do what he was supposed to do.
The words Nalan Shuo had said earlier were correct; if there was a way out tonight, then the plan proposed by Xiang Fengchen was the best solution.
Nalan Shuo had already cleared one area for everyone with the presence of ashes. In other words, the Ancestor wouldn’t hide here again for the ti being.
To save ti for those who might follow, Lou Huixiang looked around, picked up two fallen tree branches, found a noticeable spot, and drew a large "X" on the ground. Then he crossed the two branches and placed them on the outermost tree.
In this way, as long as one wasn’t blind, they could see the mark he left. After completing all of this, he swiftly moved to the last area.
This final area was primarily a small puddle, only about a few dozen square ters, but now the water had dried up, leaving moisture scattered in various pits under the moonlight, resembling cold, clear mirrors.
He searched around nearby and found no anomalies. He had been out for a while, and the candle in his lantern had burned halfway. These signs pushed him to enter the dry puddle and investigate it further.
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