Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Preparation

Under Bai Zhengliu's gaze, Liu Shi's throat emitted another sound, and the resentment in her eyes seemed to change.

Her body leaned forward, looking as if she wanted to grab Bai Zhengliu again. But Bai Zhengliu did not give her this chance. He slightly shifted his body, drew the twenty-eight generals from behind Liu Shi with one hand, and at the same time, widened the wound on Liu Shi's shoulder!

Liu Shi let out a tragic and piercing scream, which quickly faded away!

She appeared swiftly and left even faster. In the blink of an eye, her figure was gone.

The heavy rain that had appeared along with Liu Shi also disappeared with her departure.

Stepping on the first small puddle on the ground, An Bo could hardly resist pressing herself closer to Bai Zhengliu, her eyes full of admiration for this "White Hero," and her mouth was nonstop in praise: "Our master also invited many people to perform rituals at the house, but only our White Hero could drive the vengeful ghost with his own strength! Heh, if we had invited White Hero earlier, we wouldn’t have had those troubles later on."

Bai Zhengliu listened to this, glanced at An Bo, then glanced at Hu Tuhu, who was nearly pushed to the corner by her.

An Bo continued with a sigh: "To be honest, I had no expectations at all before. Whether it was dying sooner or later, it would have been the same. It's just a pity for the Chang family. A few years ago, they were one of the most prestigious families in Guang'an Prefecture!"

Bai Zhengliu: "..." Oh, not anymore.

He inexplicably caught a piece of information.

Although the existence of the Chang residence was quite mysterious, one thing might be true: during the Shunning period, there really was a large family with the surname Huang in Guang'an Prefecture. After finding an outside son-in-law and with the death of Lord Huang, they changed their family name.

Afterward, things happened here that led to another change of hands. By the time the Ninth Prince and his entourage arrived, it had already become the location of the Guang'an Prefect’s residence.

Such a transformation indicated that, at least on the surface, the Chang residence had not been involved in any particular case.

So, were the people who died here, the Daoist priests, and the monks invited to exorcise evil spirits... did they really come?

Many questions circled in Bai Zhengliu’s mind. But the current situation only allowed him to speak a few words.

The first was: "Don’t delay. Liu Shi’s appearance might be to stop us from finding Master Chang."

The second was: "Just now... when Liu Shi tried to kill me, I saw something."

There was also one thing he silently said in his heart.

About his beloved sword.Actually, as early as the night before last, Bai Zhengliu had this feeling.

—The Twenty-Eight Generals seemed to have "come to life."

A strange and powerful force flowed beneath the blade.

This was the true reason why he had driven Liu Shi away the previous night and the night before, and also the reason why, just now, when Liu Shi had clearly trapped him, the Twenty-Eight Generals had saved him.

If it had been another time, Bai Zhengliu would definitely have focused on exploring the changes happening to the Twenty-Eight Generals. But now, things were different. Liu Shi had already shown her murderous intent, and he had personally witnessed Miss Huang’s arrogance, as well as her poisoning of Liu Shi to cause her to miscarry. The previous doubts seemed no longer worth considering.

On the way to find Master Chang, Bai Zhengliu briefly recounted everything he had seen and heard earlier.

An Bo listened, both shocked and afraid, and finally patted her chest, relieved, saying, "Since you’ve mentioned it, I actually remember now. In the beginning, Madam Huang was not harsh to Madam Liu. We, the people here, all had some thoughts about it. But later on, the two women inexplicably turned against each other, and that’s when Madam Huang started tormenting Madam Liu."

Fu Ming: "As expected, Madam Huang is a poisonous woman."

Gu Miao, with a look of sympathy, sighed, "Sigh. I’ve also heard some gossip about household affairs back home…"

The two of them sighed, though their feelings were somewhat different.

Gu Miao was purely thinking of his own family's matters, while Fu Ming’s mind was elsewhere. Every time he cursed Madam Huang, his gaze would inadvertently shift to Bai Zhengliu's sword.

Among so many people present, he was the only one who clearly saw how the Twenty-Eight Generals reversed the situation earlier.

At that moment, the swordsman had been restrained by the vengeful ghost around the neck, unable to move, yet the long sword at his waist once again emitted a faint light and slowly unsheathed.

Recalling this scene, a flash of brilliance appeared in Fu Ming’s eyes. But he quickly concealed it, turning his gaze and continuing to sigh with Gu Miao: "It’s always true that one should marry a virtuous wife. That saying is never wrong."

Gu Miao was about to nod, but then his heart suddenly stirred.

He thought about his relationship with Fu Ming. Did Big Brother Fu’s words have any hidden meaning, referring to him?

Gu Miao licked his lips, his heart skipping a beat. Behind them, Wang Shi let out a long sigh and stopped mentioning the "Liu family girl."

Whether or not one sympathized with another’s misfortune was secondary. The most important thing was still to survive.Perhaps it was the awe of the power of the Twenty-Eight Generals that left them with no further issues as they continued their journey.

However, because of the delay caused by Liu Shi, by the time they truly arrived at the main courtyard of the Chang residence, the sky had already darkened.

Here, for the first time, everyone besides Bai Zhengliu and Mei Yinghan saw Master Chang. And indeed, as An Bo had said, Master Chang was lying in bed, with the blanket covering half of his body. His face was partially hidden in the shadows, and upon seeing Bai Zhengliu and his group, he didn’t speak immediately. Instead, he broke into a series of harsh coughs.

An Bo quickly stepped away from Bai Zhengliu’s side to check on her own master.

The group could only hear Master Chang’s agonizing coughs as he bent his head. His already pale and worn face looked even more frail. After a long time, he finally gathered enough strength to speak, offering a bitter smile: "I hope you heroes can forgive me. In my condition, even if I wanted to help you, I am powerless."

Bai Zhengliu looked at his empty clothes, inhaling the stale, damp air in the room, mixed with a faint, lingering odor that seemed to come from someone who had been ill for too long.

This display clearly told everyone that the reason Master Chang had not met with them earlier was because he truly lacked the strength to do so.

His gaze swept around the room, and the swordsman’s attention returned to Master Chang.

His hand silently reached for the Twenty-Eight Generals—before realizing that his beloved sword had some special ability. At this moment, Bai Zhengliu's choice would normally have been to slowly negotiate with Master Chang and An Bo. But now, the power of the Twenty-Eight Generals had been revealed, and this was already the third night they had spent in the Chang residence.

The food and water they had brought with them were almost used up, and Liu Shi’s murderous intent was becoming more apparent. Therefore, Bai Zhengliu felt they could be more direct.

He didn’t continue with Master Chang’s words but instead directly asked, "What year is it now?"

Master Chang and An Bo were both taken aback.

Behind Bai Zhengliu, the others were also startled by his straightforwardness. Prince Ji and Young Master Gu instinctively took a step back. Only Mei Yinghan, instead of retreating, took half a step forward.

One sword, one blade, four eyes, all focused on Master Chang.

Both of them saw Master Chang tighten the fingers resting on An Bo's arm, and even An Bo’s face revealed signs of surprise… Hmm, was it "surprise and doubt"? Not aggression?

The swordsman’s fingers slowly slid across the Twenty-Eight Generals, and An Bo caught this small detail, instinctively swallowing.

The two sides faced each other, but the confrontation didn’t last long before Master Chang sighed deeply.

He spoke to Bai Zhengliu, "What I’m telling you now is the truth. You young people have indeed caught our attention because of your talents…" He paused, glancing at Wang Shi, and then an awkward smile appeared on his face, "We came to find you because we really want you to help the Chang residence out of this predicament."

Bai Zhengliu simply nodded and said, "Hmm," signaling Master Chang to continue.Perhaps realizing that things had already reached this point and it no longer made sense to hide the truth, Master Chang finally spoke: "That year, I invited the Taoist priest and the great monk from outside the city, along with a few well-known figures in the jianghu who were said to be capable of handling such situations. But later on, it turned out that only the Taoist priest and the great monk had any real skill. The others were just after the silver we, the Chang family, offered."

Bai Zhengliu: "..."

"Your" Chang family?

He spoke with such righteous indignation.

The emotion on Master Chang’s face became apparent. He coughed several times, probably realizing the need for face, and quickly added in a softer voice, "The Chang family has grown to its current scale, and if I say I’ve contributed, it’s not an exaggeration."

Then, Master Chang didn’t dwell on this matter but quickly moved on to the next topic.

In short, it was true that the Taoist priest of Miaojing Temple had sealed Liu Shi in the well, but Master Chang and his group still did not escape their disaster. They were eventually killed by Liu Shi and left to linger in the Chang residence for a long time.

"I was wrong to covet the Huang family’s wealth. If Liu Shi, the poisonous woman, had only killed me, I wouldn’t have much to say. But those servants who never wronged her, and the Taoist priests and masters who came later, they were truly innocent," Master Chang sighed.

This statement, whether sincere or not, wasn’t entirely wrong.

Seeing the change in the group’s expressions, Master Chang quickly added, "What you see now are merely our spirits. Trapped by Liu Shi, the poisonous woman, we can’t return, nor can we reincarnate."

"I brought you here for the reason I mentioned earlier. But the truth is, you’re not helping the living, you’re helping a bunch of wandering souls who wish to be reborn."

"As for the 'Chang residence' now, it’s merely a shadow between the realms of yin and yang."

When he finished, Master Chang let out a long sigh, looking somewhat embarrassed.

He even shared with Bai Zhengliu and the others some more personal details. Why couldn’t he meet people during the day? They hadn’t been wrong in their assumption. As the most despised living soul of Liu Shi’s, Master Chang was also the most broken and decrepit of them all. At night, it was dark, and others couldn’t see clearly, but during the day, if anyone saw him, they would immediately sense something was off.

Hearing this, Fu Ming and Gu Miao’s expressions were quite telling.

Perhaps it was Master Chang’s attitude that gave them the courage to ask, "You’re all not human, so... what exactly are we eating every day?"

Master Chang was slightly taken aback and replied, "Naturally, it’s all bought from the taverns outside. We never dared to deceive you heroes. It’s just that there are too few servants in the house, and we didn’t want to leave any traces in front of you, so we’ve been covering it up."

Fu Ming and Gu Miao both sighed in relief.

Bai Zhengliu, however, wasn’t concerned with such details. He asked directly, "The formation and techniques left behind by the Taoist priest of Miaojing Temple, I hope Master Chang can explain them to us in detail."Hearing his words, Master Chang’s face immediately showed joy, and he repeatedly said, "Good! Good! Heroes, I’ll speak frankly—out of all the people who have come these years, you are the ones who’ve lasted the longest. If anyone can rid us of Liu Shi’s vengeful ghost, it’s only you!"

He thought of this as a compliment, but what Bai Zhengliu felt after hearing it was a single thought.

"This Master Chang truly doesn’t value the lives of others."

Author's note:

It's here! It's here!

(:з」∠) It feels like this illness really follows a pattern. I heard from a friend, after I progressed to a stuffy nose and constant coughing, that according to her experience, this means it’s almost over.

I hope it gets better soon, fighting!!