Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Night Investigation

After last night’s experience, tonight, at this time, the swordsman and the swordmaster no longer tried to walk in the corridor.

They directly leaped onto the roof, lightly pressing down, their figures like two delicate swallows, one black and one white, swiftly disappearing into the night.

The remaining three—Fu Ming, Gu Miao, and Wang—watched their retreating figures. Wang’s concern went without saying, and Gu Miao was also unsettled. Even Fu Ming, who had felt repeatedly humiliated by Bai Zhengliu and Mei Yinghan, couldn’t help but grip the doorframe tightly, silently hoping the two would return soon.

The Ninth Prince, known as the "King of the Jianghu," refused to stay in the imperial palace, instead coming to mingle with the common folk. In the eyes of the royal family in the capital, this was an incomprehensibly dangerous move. However, Fu Ming knew that he had always been protected by guards, and later, he befriended the Tianshan disciples and the Bai Family swordsman, two of the most skilled young fighters in the Jianghu. Even when the Blood Demon caused chaos, Fu Ming was always well protected, suffering only minor injuries.

He had never truly felt the danger.

Until now.

If Bai Zhengliu and Mei Yinghan could return safely, then the chances of them making it back alive would likely increase, right?

As Fu Ming was thinking this, a cold and damp wind suddenly blew through the courtyard outside the hall.

He shivered, instinctively stepping back a bit. Gu Miao and Wang both looked at him, and Fu Ming reluctantly said, "This place is chilling. Shouldn’t we wait inside the house?"

Wang, having never experienced a night in the Chang residence, felt the same unease after hearing this. She cautiously replied, "Yes."

Gu Miao then thought of last night. The senior brother had said that he and Bai Zhengliu had encountered vengeful ghosts not long after leaving the house. This implied that perhaps it was indeed safer inside than outside.

He exhaled deeply. "Alright, let’s go inside."

The door to the main hall closed, leaving only the flickering candles.

They illuminated a small damp stain on the floor beneath the door.

But the stain was too faint, and the three sitting in the hall didn’t notice it. They were still distracted by the two outside. At first, Fu Ming and Gu Miao had found Wang’s chanting of Buddhist names with her accent annoying, but by now, they couldn’t help but quietly join in.

Meanwhile, Bai Zhengliu and Mei Yinghan had already quickly reached the outer perimeter of the main courtyard of the Chang residence.

The journey had been smooth, with no encounters with the housekeeper or servants trying to stop them.

But Bai Zhengliu didn’t see this as good news. Could it be that the ghost of Lady Liu was really that powerful? He had dealt with her personally, and he didn’t think so.

But if he was wrong earlier, and An Bo, Ping Ge, and the others weren’t concerned about Lady Liu, then what were they worried about?As his thoughts were turning, Mei Yinghan softly called, "Bai brother?"

Bai Zhengliu turned his head at the sound, seeing Mei Yinghan making a few hand gestures to him.

Bai Zhengliu observed, then nodded.

What Mei Yinghan meant was: "We should try not to separate and infiltrate together. If we really encounter something difficult to deal with, we will adapt accordingly."

This was also what Bai Zhengliu had intended to say, but at that moment, he wasn’t in the mood to dwell on the unspoken understanding between him and Mei Yinghan.

The swordsman and the swordmaster tightened their grips on their weapons, took a small leap, and landed in the main courtyard.

"Whoosh—"

Don’t misunderstand. This wasn’t the sound of water that always accompanied Lady Liu’s appearance; it was the wind rustling through the trees in the courtyard.

Under the wind’s influence, the leaves at the tips of the branches made a rustling noise.

Bai Zhengliu focused his attention and realized it was a locust tree.

He immediately thought, "The word 'ghost' is hidden in 'locust.'"

The swordsman’s gaze darkened, but his expression didn’t change. He instead turned his focus to the surroundings.

Master Chang had once been a scholar. Although later he married a young lady from the Huang family and naturally took over the Huang family business, his tastes still seemed to reflect his scholar origins.

The entire courtyard’s arrangement was different from the barren residence of his first wife and the luxurious residence of his new wife. Instead, it displayed a kind of elegant scholarly aura. What came into view were stone tables and stone chairs, on which there was even a half-rolled scroll of paper. There was also a small patch of bamboo, a small cluster of orchids, and...

Bai Zhengliu moved toward the area that had caught his attention.

It could be seen that there had once been a pond in Master Chang’s courtyard. But now the pond was dry, with no other decoration. Standing aside and casually lowering his head, one could see the bottom of the pond through the moonlight and the lantern light from a distant eaves.

Empty, with a few fallen leaves, nothing else of note.

After a moment, Bai Zhengliu shifted his attention toward the main building of the courtyard not far away.The lights were still on over there.

The light cast a shadow on the window, faintly showing the image of a scholar shaking his head.

— Strange. The only person who could be reading in the main courtyard would naturally be Master Chang. But throughout the afternoon, Bai Zhengliu and Mei Yinghan had heard countless mentions of "our master is seriously ill," "our master sleeps all day," and "our master can hardly get out of bed." Why, then, was he reading now?

Moreover, given the current stillness of the courtyard, plus the keen hearing of the swordsman and the swordmaster, it wasn’t that Bai Zhengliu was exaggerating—if a needle fell inside, he might not hear it. But if someone was reading inside, he would never miss it.

There was something wrong.

Bai Zhengliu squinted his eyes slightly. However, he didn’t choose to approach directly. Instead, he made a gesture to Mei Yinghan, who nodded. The two of them used their extremely light and agile movements to circle around the entire main courtyard.

Unfortunately, they found nothing else.

Even though An Bo, Ping Ge, and others had told many lies, their statement "there are not many people left in the house" had to be true. Bai and Mei had observed closely, and apart from the figure in the room with the light, they found nothing else.

Occasionally, they felt a chill.

This reminded Bai Zhengliu of the feeling in Miss Huang's room. It had looked rather luxurious, yet that cold, eerie feeling lingered.

However, in a cold, lifeless courtyard, it seemed almost normal to feel chilly.

Bai Zhengliu thought for a moment and decided to turn back.

"If that is really Master Chang," there was much to say, but the room with the light was still a distance away. He simply spoke in a very low voice, "Let’s see how he behaves."

If communication was possible, it would be one way to deal with it. If not, and if it was something like Lady Liu from last night, then that would be a different matter entirely.

With this thought in mind, Bai Zhengliu lightly ran his fingers over the scabbard of his sword.

Mei Yinghan noticed the swordsman's small movement. Something flashed in his mind—last night, when Bai Zhengliu had swung his sword at Lady Liu, a brief moment of dazed expression had crossed his face.

There had been too many things happening since then, so he had forgotten to ask Bai Zhengliu about it. Clearly, now wasn’t the right time, but if Bai Zhengliu’s behavior was still off... In the blink of an eye, Mei Yinghan had already formed a plan in his mind.

If they encountered any danger, he would take the lead, and Bai Zhengliu would follow behind. As for what exactly had caused the brief confusion on Bai Zhengliu’s face and the mysterious glint he’d seen last night, that would have to wait.

Once their discussion was over, the two of them once again ascended to the roof.It wasn’t that they intended to be burglars, but the affairs of the Chang residence truly couldn’t be measured with common sense. They couldn’t simply push the door open, but if they made a small hole in the window, they might be able to peek inside. However, this would not only make it easy for them to be discovered, but the posture would also restrict their movements.

It was better to do it like this. The two of them stood on the roof, quickly pinpointing the location of the figure reading, and then removed a roof tile—

Even at this moment,

Bai Zhengliu and Mei Yinghan both thought,

They still hadn’t heard a single sound from inside the room.

This made them feel a heightened sense of alertness. Bai Zhengliu gripped the roof tile in his hand, his body already tensed to the limit. He felt like a tightly drawn bow, ready to spring into action at the slightest hint of danger.

Both of his hands were occupied, so Mei Yinghan signaled with his hand to count down.

Three, two, one—!

Safety first! Bai Zhengliu quickly and lightly placed the tile aside, but without the slightest hesitation, his body leaped to one side. The two figures, one black and one white, swiftly adjusted their positions, yet there was still no sound from inside the room.

At this point, even the possibility that "Master Chang was indeed quietly reading, but just didn’t have the habit of reading aloud, which made it seem quieter" was ruled out.

You see, as long as a person is alive, there will definitely be some sound. Take the swordsman and the swordmaster here—if they concentrated fully, they might make themselves disappear from the other’s senses for a brief moment, but it would only last for a moment!

Or they would have to be martial arts masters of the highest caliber, those who could use their internal energy to adjust their breathing to such a degree that even Bai Zhengliu and Mei Yinghan couldn’t perceive it.

...Impossible.

The two of them exchanged a glance in midair, each taking a deep breath, then slowly returned to their observation of the open roof tile.

They didn’t squat down but maintained a standing position, gazing downwards.

This time, Bai Zhengliu and Mei Yinghan’s pupils both contracted!

What they saw was a gaudily dressed, brightly colored figure, with only a face that was deathly pale and tinged with red. It was staring at the book in its "hands," a motionless paper figure!

The light in the room flickered, stretching the shadow of the paper figure behind it. The candle tears slowly dripped down, but they could not match the red on the paper figure’s face.

Bai Zhengliu and Mei Yinghan were stunned by this scene, speechless for a long time. In that moment, they even felt disoriented.They had been alert and planning for so long, and what did they end up seeing? Just this kind of thing?

Bai Zhengliu closed his eyes for a moment, then suddenly turned and leaped off the roof.

Mei Yinghan barely managed to make a soft sound of "Bai Brother" before taking a deep breath and following closely behind.

But he was still a step too slow. By the time the swordsman landed on the ground, Bai Zhengliu had already reached the door of Master Chang’s house, with one hand placed on the door.

Mei Yinghan instantly understood what Bai Zhengliu intended to do. He didn’t speak but quickened his pace, reaching Bai Zhengliu’s side and also placed a hand on the other side of the door.

Both of their palms pushed firmly.

The door creaked open.

Inside the room, the paper figure was no longer reading but quietly staring at the two people at the door.

Author's Note:

They're here, they're here!