Chapter 52

Chapter 52: Stay

The change happened too quickly. By the time Meng Yuniang's feet left the ground, the Jianghu guests still hadn't reacted.

The first person to notice the change in the bracelet was still Qian Gui. He had originally been hiding in the corner of the main room, the most inconspicuous place. All the previous changes hadn’t involved him.

At this moment, the room turned icy. In front of the woman, the cousin who had been holding the knife seemed to be frozen by some kind of power. Several breaths passed, and still, there was no movement...

Until the woman lifted her bloodstained hand and pressed it against her cousin’s neck.

Her cousin's body shook as if all consciousness had suddenly returned. He began to struggle, making raspy sounds from his throat. But Meng Yuniang, much weaker than him, now seemed to have boundless strength. Even though she stood still, she completely restrained her cousin, who couldn't escape.

A cold wind brushed past Qian Gui.

His body instinctively recoiled, and his pupils trembled. He noticed the most striking change in the woman.

Qian Gui shouted out his discovery: "Look! Her bracelet, the bracelet has turned red!"

The words fell into the ears of the people in the courtyard. The remaining conscious Tan family young men had blank expressions on their faces, not understanding what Qian Gui was talking about. A phrase flashed through Bai Zhengliu's mind — it was what the bandit who had ransacked the Tan family and left after their first night had said.

That man kept wiping the bracelet, muttering: "This color, so beautiful! But why can't it be wiped off?"

The bracelet was originally a beautiful green! But why, after they killed the original owner of the bracelet, the woman who went by the name "Meng Yuniang" to the Tan family, did her blood seem to have seeped deep into the bracelet, making it impossible to wipe off?

The bandits couldn’t understand this question the night before, but now the Jianghu guests vaguely noticed something key.

Jun Tao, who often reacted slower than others, was the first to realize: "Brother Qian's hairpin is different, could that bracelet also be different? We were all wrong from the start — it wasn’t Tan Yuanwai, Tan Qiulang, or Wen Ge’er. The 'Chang Laoye' here is the woman, Meng Yuniang, wearing the bracelet!"

The others heard this and didn’t speak, but in their hearts, they all acknowledged it.

— After all, anyone could see that Meng Yuniang’s current appearance was not something a living person could have!

Not to mention her hair and clothes swaying as if blown by the wind, her eyes shedding blood tears. Even her feet, which had been concealed by her skirt earlier, were now becoming increasingly clear. It was apparent now that, much earlier than they realized, the woman’s feet had already left the ground!

Was this a living person? Impossible! She was clearly a vengeful ghost, full of hatred, seeking revenge!

If the key to triggering Meng Yuniang's current state was "blood staining the bracelet," then what would happen next...

Bang!In front of Meng Yuniang, her cousin's head exploded, blood and flesh splattering everywhere.

Bai, Mei, and the Jun brothers, watching this scene, immediately thought of what they had discovered before they entered the Tan family.

In the main room where Tan Yuanwai lived, and in the east wing where the Tan couple lived, the bloodstains were all splattered upward, clearly indicating that the people in those rooms had their throats cut with a single slash. The west wing, however, was different. The blood was scattered all over the place, and everyone had been confused about how this scene had come about.

Their doubts had lasted until now, and they finally had an epiphany.

So that's how it was!

"Bang! Bang!"

While their thoughts were racing, a few more bandits' heads exploded next to them.

Blood and flesh splattered everywhere, and the entire courtyard turned into a hell made of blood and shredded meat.

The Tan family young men who had remained until this moment just stood there dumbfounded, watching as their cousin's head exploded. At that moment, warm blood touched their cheeks, and they suddenly realized what had happened. The young man let out a miserable scream, first collapsing to the ground, then realizing something was wrong.

Warm, wet...

He trembled and slowly looked down at his hand.

At first, his palm was stained with the blood of another Tan family young man, and now, a piece of shredded flesh, nearly the size of a palm, had fallen on it. The flesh even had some hair on it, as if it belonged to a bandit’s beard...

"Ah, ah, ah, ah!!!"

The young man was completely horrified by this sight! His body spasmed uncontrollably, shaking like a sieve. His face turned a pale, almost blue shade, to the point that Jun Tao, who had been startled by the scene of the flying meat, couldn’t help but sigh, "Wasn’t he already dead? Can dead people still be scared?"

Beside him, Bai, Mei, and Nie, Lu couples: "..."

Little brother, you really have a way with words.

Actually, you didn't need to say that.

However, despite their helplessness, they all silently agreed with Jun Tao’s exclamation.Seeing a wandering soul turned into this state by the bloody scene in front of them, everyone’s mood was somewhat complicated. Especially since the young man behind, who was almost half-crawling away to the front yard, most likely ran out the front door, and everyone couldn’t help but sigh: "Clearly, he was alive... so why..."

They didn’t continue speaking.

With the deaths of the bandits and the escape of the young men, the only ones still standing in the Tan family house were the Jianghu guests, along with Meng Yuniang and Tan Yuanwai.

Meng Yuniang had already thrown aside her cousin, Meng Tangxing. Then, with great care, she crouched down and lifted her husband.

Tan Junqiu had already passed away. All the bandits' weapons were poisoned, and unlike the Jianghu guests outside, even if they were struck by poisoned weapons, they could delay the effects by techniques like bloodletting. However, Tan Junqiu had been struck in a critical spot, his chest, and the poison quickly spread to his heart, causing him to die on the spot.

But Meng Yuniang didn’t care that her husband had lost his breath. Her blood-stained hand gently stroked Tan Junqiu's face, and she softly spoke: "Qiulang, you’re too foolish. You’ve always suspected my relationship with my cousin, and now you know we came to the Tan family to rob you and your father-in-law, yet you still took this blade for me."

Her blood tears flowed, and the white of her face was instantly marked with several long red streaks.

In her arms, Tan Junqiu would never respond again.

Whether she was aware of this or simply didn’t want to face it, she continued muttering: "What relationship could I have with him?... It was only that he threatened me, saying he would tell you and your father-in-law that I was not the true Meng family daughter. If I didn’t want you to know the truth—that I had ill intentions coming to your family—he would join forces with them to rob everything..."

Her voice wasn’t loud, but it seemed to drift into the ears of everyone present.

The Jianghu guests silently thought, "As expected." The situation Meng Yuniang revealed now was not much different from what they had previously guessed.

Jun Tao’s expression even became a little lighter, and he jokingly said to the couple beside him: "Based on Bai Gege and Mei Gege’s experience, as soon as the female ghost vents her resentment, we should be able to leave! Shijie, shijiefu, we need to hurry and get back to Emei. You two have been ‘missing’ for so long; the master must have been worried sick!"

Nie Qing'e smiled at this. Under the moonlight, her pale and weak face from blood loss looked even more frail. Now, the smile on her lips also seemed forced, but Jun Tao, seeing this, thought it was just her injury acting up again, not realizing the truth.

He was more concerned about another detail: "We all got injured. Bai Gege, Mei Gege, after we leave this ghostly place, will our injuries remain, or will they recover?"

Bai Zhengliu had been observing Meng Yuniang, feeling vaguely puzzled. The bandits were all dead, and in theory, the scene here should match the situation where "Lady Liu catches Lord Chang and An Bo, then burns them with ghostly flames." But at that time, Lady Liu had already returned to her living form, while Meng Yuniang still maintained a ghostly appearance.

He felt uneasy. Just then, he heard Jun Tao’s words.

Bai Zhengliu snapped back to attention and answered, "I’m not sure. The last time at 'Chang Residence,' except for Brother Hu’s death, we were mostly just exhausted, with no serious injuries. However, when I was thrown into the well, my clothes were soaked and filthy. When I returned to the Guangan Prefecture Guardhouse, I brought all that dampness and filth with me."

Jun Tao, hearing this, felt a little disappointed but still smiled: "I can guess this situation. No matter, it’s enough that we can all leave."

Bai Zhengliu didn’t say anything.He tried his best to restrain himself, not letting his gaze shift to Nie and Lu.

Thus, the swordsman's eyes turned back to Meng Yuniang, who was still holding her husband and mourning. By this time, she had stopped speaking, only holding her husband and softly sobbing.

During this, blood continued to drip from her palms.

Was he supposed to wait for her to finish crying? It seemed like it; such a sudden tragedy...

Bai Zhengliu’s pupils suddenly twitched.

“There’s a problem.” He quickly muttered to himself. “When we were in the Tan family, we saw the situation in the west wing, which means the Meng family members had already died by then.

"Why has the government never been able to find the bandits? It must be because..." He glanced at the blood and flesh surrounding them.

In other words, "Meng Yuniang knew the bandits intended to kill and silence everyone, and had already slaughtered them all." Clearly, this was something that had already happened.

So, if that’s the case, why does the "Tan family" still exist?

"This is bad," Bai Zhengliu said. "Everyone, we need to leave quickly!"

As Bai Zhengliu’s words echoed, inside the main room, the crying woman slowly raised her head.

She looked at them with her blood-red, tear-streaked eyes, and a pale, eerie smile twisted on her face.

"Everyone, since you’ve already come to the Tan family, why not stay with us from now on?"

"Stay with me, Qiulang, father-in-law, and my child. We’ll hold banquets every day, and we’ll live happily every day."

"I want Qiulang to live, I want everyone to live... Haha, haha!"

Her laughter grew sharp again, causing the wounds on the crowd’s bodies to throb in pain, threatening to burst open once more!