Free Web NovelChapter 173: Chapter 165: The Qingxi Town Chronicles
"Did... did you see that?"
"This is the price!"
"That last attack wasn’t aimed at me! It was aimed at all of us!"
"But that thing, it looks down on you! It thinks you’re trash, insects that it can crush at will!"
"Do you think I wanted this? That I wanted to be burned like this?!"
He pounded his chest violently, producing a dull THUD THUD sound.
"I was kind enough to lead you out of a desperate situation, and in return, I have to suffer like this for you!"
"But the point of all this isn’t how badly I was hurt! Nor is it that I blocked that fatal blow!"
"The point is that I’m using my life, using my pain, to teach you cowards a lesson!"
"Why did this happen to me?! It’s not because I’m stupid! It’s because I knew I couldn’t rely on you lot! I knew you would die!"
"I, Dong Changsheng, am suffering in your place!"
...
「Meanwhile, at the haunted house card game.」
"Sigh..."
The scholar sighed in frustration as he watched his character card die.
He subconsciously looked up, his gaze piercing through the curtain of light to the main hall outside.
Countless twisted black shadows drifted silently between the pillars and walls, sending an instant chill down his spine.
However, that chill was quickly replaced by a sense of relief in his heart.
’Thank goodness...’
’Thank goodness I acted decisively and sided with this great immortal!’
’Otherwise, I’d be out there facing those dangers myself...’
’I wonder... how are the people outside doing now?’
"Don’t worry about it," Lin Qingfeng said, pulling him from his thoughts. "It’s your first time playing. Dying early is perfectly normal."
Hearing this, the scholar immediately snapped back to his senses, his face breaking into a wide smile as he nodded repeatedly and said:
"You are absolutely right, Great Immortal!"
"This Three-X-Kill Talisman Card Game is truly profound and endless fun!"
"I... I’ll be sure to play my best and learn diligently! Please, Great Immortal, teach me a few more rounds!"
...
Meanwhile, the group, caught up in the earlier commotion, was completely unaware that they were now one person short.
Dong Changsheng gave a weak wave and staggered, looking as if he might collapse at any moment, further adding to the tragic heroism of his sacrifice.
"Say no more... This is... my duty. Quick... let’s go. We mustn’t linger here..."
"I just need to take some pills..."
And because of this, one person’s silent disappearance seemed utterly insignificant.
Only the woman walking in front of the peddler vaguely sensed that the faint warmth and breathing behind her had vanished.
She glanced back in confusion, but the space behind her was empty.
’Strange... Where did that young man behind me go?’
But in the noisy surroundings, her fleeting doubt was quickly drowned out.
She didn’t dare dwell on it, forcing herself to find an explanation: ’Maybe he got separated in the crowd and pushed forward to get a better look at Mr. Dong’s heroic display.’
After all, the Great Immortal had just saved all their lives.
Finally, they reached the rear hall.
The rear hall was much smaller than the main hall, with an offering table placed in the center.
The table was bare save for an overturned bronze censer, its ash long since caked into a solid block by the passage of time.
"Look! I think there’s something under the table!"
Everyone’s hearts leaped into their throats as they carefully gathered around.
Wang Xiedi crouched down, held his breath, and used his fingertips to lift a corner of the mold-stained tablecloth.
Underneath the cloth was not the flagstone floor, but an ancient book bound in some unknown, dark-yellow animal hide.
Written on the cover in cinnabar ink, long since dried and blackened, were three words—*Qingxi Town Chronicles*.
Working together, they pulled it out, blew the dust from its cover, and turned to the first page.
The script inside was a small, regular script penned with a wolf-hair brush. The handwriting was elegant, seemingly that of a woman.
Turning the page released a musty smell of decaying paper.
The book’s contents were mostly about the local customs, products, and anecdotes of a place called Qingxi Town, all recorded in great detail.
The group flipped patiently through the pages until they reached the middle of the book, where they found an entry almost entirely obscured by a large ink blot.
Beneath the black blot, some of the elegant script was still faintly discernible. It appeared the writer had, in a moment of great agitation, accidentally knocked over their inkstone while writing this passage.
"...The thirty-seventh year of the Xuanhe era, autumn."
"The Shen Family of the eastern district, annihilated in a single night."
"The master of the house, Shen Gang, was a Martial Cultivator. His wife was gentle and virtuous, and his son was bright and clever... all met violent ends."
"I accompanied the government constables inside to investigate. The residence was a scene of utter chaos, with enough blood spilled to float a pestle. The bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Shen and their son... were all headless."
"The authorities investigated for several months and interviewed all the neighbors, but to no avail. The case went cold. Afterward, a sense of panic gripped Qingxi Town."
"Gradually, rumors began to spread that the Shen Residence... was filled with soaring resentment, and the sound of wailing was often heard at night..."
Reading this, everyone’s expression froze.
"A... a headless cold case?"
"So, this place... we’re in the house where that massacre happened a hundred years ago?!"
"A family massacre! And a headless cold case! No wonder the ghostly energy here is so dense!"
"We’re doomed, we’re doomed! Was this the work of that fiend? Is he raising ghosts here? Did he throw us in here to feed them?!"
Hearing this, the ordinary people in the group were even more terrified.
"A m-murder house! We’re trapped in a murder house!"
"I don’t want to die! I want to go home! My wife and children are waiting for me..."
"Great cultivators, you have to save us!"
The woman with the child clutched her child to her chest even more tightly.
Meanwhile, in the midst of the group, Li Chunfeng simply drew his sword, not daring to look around, terrified of seeing something he shouldn’t.
At this moment of widespread panic, Wang Xiedi, who was squatting at the front, became so engrossed in reading that he leaned forward unconsciously, his shoulder lightly bumping into the disciple beside him.
"AHHH—!"
A bloodcurdling scream erupted in the rear hall!
Disciple A leaped to his feet. Fear had robbed him of his senses. Without a second thought, he raised his Wooden Sword and swung it down at Wang Xiedi beside him!
Su Ling’er’s mind went blank with a buzz.
She watched, wide-eyed, as the Wooden Sword sliced a vicious arc through the air, while Wang Xiedi merely sidestepped nonchalantly, flicked his wrist, and slapped it against Disciple A’s wrist.
The next second, Disciple A’s Wooden Sword went flying. He fell backward, stiff as a board, and hit the back of his head on the floor. Foaming at the mouth, he fainted dead away.
Wang Xiedi hurried forward to check on him.
"You can’t be serious! Senior Brother, what are you doing? You can’t just swing your sword at me and then immediately collapse on the ground!!"
"Are you trying to frame me? It’s a little too obvious, don’t you think?"
Su Ling’er stared blankly at this scene, a wave of absurdity and helplessness washing over her.
’What in the world... are you people doing?!’
’The real ghosts haven’t even appeared, and you’re already at each other’s throats?!’
’Could you not be so ridiculous? This is a genuine haunted house! There are actual ghosts here, hello?!’
’Can’t you take this seriously?!’
As Wang Xiedi frantically pressed the acupressure point under his nose, Disciple A slowly regained consciousness.
The first thing he saw upon opening his eyes was Wang Xiedi’s face, close at hand. He immediately scrambled backward, using both his hands and feet.
"Don’t touch me! Wang Xiedi! Get away from me!"
"I’d rather be strangled to death by that little eyeless ghost than have my virtue sullied by you!"
"I’ve explained it a million times, it was a misunderstanding! Why won’t you believe me?!"
Wang Xiedi looked so wronged he was on the verge of tears.
He turned his head, hoping to find a glimmer of trust from Su Ling’er, only to discover that his senior sister had, at some point, silently taken half a step to the side, creating a subtle yet distinct distance between them.
’Senior Sister! How could you look at me like that, too?!’
Wang Xiedi’s heart sank to the depths.
’I’m so tired. Just let the world burn...’
However, at that very moment.
High above, on the rafters of the main hall, a figure in white was hanging upside down in total silence.
A pale, bloated face stared down at the crowd below. She just watched them. Silently... silently... her gaze fixed on each and every one.
