Chapter 78: Damp Footprints

It was now two-thirty in the morning. The wind rustled through the trees, sounding almost like something was crying.

Xiao Lan walked ahead with her head down, her thin frame blending into the shadows, trembling slightly.

“She’s afraid of something,” Tongguan observed, walking alongside Chang Nian and watching her every move.

Chang Nian was ready; as soon as Xiao Lan led them to the guest rooms, she would act. She only gave a faint response to Tongguan’s remark.

Tongguan glanced at her and suddenly smiled, sending a shiver through the group. Even Xiao Lan froze in place.

She timidly whispered, “We’re almost there. You’d better hurry.”

“Why? A nighttime stroll isn’t so bad; I’ve never seen such a large garden,” Yu Guo remarked from behind.

No one stopped him. Everyone could sense that ghosts haunted the Li Mansion.

Xiao Lan, however, remained tight-lipped, likely following the elderly woman’s prior instructions. But they could still probe a little.

Yu Guo’s words caused panic to flash across her delicate, youthful face. She instinctively glanced in a direction before quickly turning back.

“Let’s hurry; it’s quite cold.”

“I’ve had enough! Tell me the truth—what’s really in this house? And those empty coffins you move every day!”

Tao Xiaoyi suddenly erupted. Her nerves already frayed, she could no longer hold back. Seeing the others merely probing made her feel even more unsettled.

Xiao Lan screamed in fright as Tao Xiaoyi grabbed her sleeve.

“I don’t know! I know nothing! Don’t ask me! I’m only responsible for leading you to the guest rooms!”

Tongguan focused all his attention on Chang Nian’s profile. “You’re planning to question her by taking her aside, aren’t you?”

Chang Nian instinctively nodded, then realized herself and quickly looked at Tongguan.

“We’ve been together all these years; how could I not guess? But since we’re still in the early stage of the mission, I don’t recommend doing that. Besides, if the old woman sent her here, it’s certain she won’t reveal anything.”

Tongguan spoke halfway when another voice came from behind—it was Fang Shenyan, who had caught up.

Looking at Xiao Lan’s timid demeanor, he added, “Or perhaps the elderly woman has a way to make sure Xiao Lan cannot speak! Just like Chen Fu controlled us back then!”

Tongguan nodded and then looked at Chang Nian, who was still deep in thought, squeezing her hand. “Don’t worry; there’s plenty of time.”

“We’re here.”

When they reached a courtyard, Xiao Lan suddenly stopped and softly pointed to several houses.

“There are three rooms in the North Courtyard, and two more next door.”

Tao Xiaoyi interjected, “No need for all five; these three rooms are enough. Let’s stay together.”

Tongguan nodded. “North Courtyard works for us.”

Xiao Lan hesitated, seemingly considering whether this complied with the elderly woman’s instructions, but said no more.

“Then settle in. I’ll come back tomorrow morning,” she said and turned to leave.

The staff did not stop her. Since they couldn’t extract information, they had to adapt.

Tongguan led Chang Nian to the first room along the west wall. They didn’t gather together to share information but prepared to inspect the guest room first.

Tao Xiaoyi grabbed Yu Guo’s sleeve, wedging herself between him and Fang Shenyan. “Let’s not sleep separately. Can we squeeze together?”

Yu Guo didn’t mind and nodded; during missions, there was little time to sleep anyway.

Fang Shenyan, however, spoke coldly: “You two sleep in the middle room. I’ll take the room by the east wall.”

“Ah?”

Tao Xiaoyi was stunned, and so was Yu Guo. He pinched his arm, thinking he’d misheard. Looking at Tao Xiaoyi’s shocked face, he thought,

“That doesn’t make sense. By his habits, he’d normally stay with Tao Xiaoyi so he could act if a ghost attacked. How could he…”

But then he looked into Fang Shenyan’s eyes and understood.

A strange light flickered, and an unspoken suspicion grew in their minds, yet no one asked about it.

Fang Shenyan casually nodded to Yu Guo and, carrying his backpack, walked into the east room.

Yu Guo whispered as he followed, “Go in and back quickly; Tongguan might want to analyze the intelligence soon.”

“What did you say, Brother Yu?” Tao Xiaoyi asked, holding her bag and looking confused at his muttering.

“Nothing. Let’s just go in and see.”

It was nearly three in the morning. Even the night birds had fallen silent.

The old mansion lay as still as a pool of stagnant water.

In the west room, an old square wooden table was set with four white candles, and four store employees sat around it.

Tongguan, surprised by the missing corner of the group, asked Yu Guo, “Where did Fang Shenyan go?”

Yu Guo scratched his head, glanced at Tao Xiaoyi, and shrugged casually. “How should I know?”

Meanwhile, Fang Shenyan had already left the North Courtyard and was making his way to the back door of the mansion.

A map was etched in his mind, guiding him through the darkness.

No one knew what Fang Shenyan’s previous work had entailed.

No one knew that his greatest strength was not strategy, but memory—far superior even to Tongguan’s.

Though Yu Guo and Tongguan spoke most of the time since entering the Li Mansion, silence did not mean incapability. Perhaps it was just another way of surviving.

Fang Shenyan remembered the paths he had walked and could sketch them as lines in his mind. He could roughly infer the mansion’s layout and, by observing the white-robed figures carrying coffins into the alley, deduce the back door’s location.

Even so, his path was far from easy.

The mansion covered a vast area. The route they had taken, including the North Courtyard, was roughly in the front yard, but now he had plunged into the back yard, without guidance. He relied entirely on his earlier observations of alley layouts and street distances.

The back yard was quieter than the front. In the dead of night, even the sound of leaves rustling in the wind had vanished.

Only the sound of Fang Shenyan’s footsteps broke the silence. Despite his multiple missions, he still felt unease.

But his goal was vital. Successfully uncovering valuable intelligence could determine the outcome for all the store employees.

The living still moved, but the atmosphere subtly shifted around them. Something had changed, though the unaware human mind did not notice, focused only on moving forward.

They did not realize that the footprints they left in the sandy ground were damp.

The steps of the living were inexplicably filled with water!