Chapter 10 Strange Noises

Upon hearing this, Fatty felt terrible all over, goosebumps erupting all over his body as if insects were crawling on him. "That door... that door is made of coffin boards?" Fatty couldn't understand how anyone would do that.

Lu Qin pondered for a moment, then said, "Coffins weren't necessarily considered ominous in ancient times, and there weren't as many taboos surrounding them. It's said that many elderly people would prepare their funeral clothes and coffins while still alive, and the coffins would even be placed in a quiet corner of their homes. This had a good meaning, implying that their descendants would accumulate blessings and longevity, and be promoted and become wealthy. This is the origin of the common saying about saving up for one's coffin."

Zhang Qizheng glanced at Lu Qin, his tone unusually formal. "While that may be true, this is the first time I've seen someone dare to split a coffin and use the lid as a door, and this is a black vault hall submerged underwater."

Zhang Qizheng emphasized the words "submerged underwater," which was clearly a hint. He didn't even need to remind them; the Jiangcheng group had already thought of their encounter last night, and that place called Chun Shen Lake.

"That door isn't for people; it's for ghosts," Tang Qisheng said suddenly.

Everyone was taken aback, and Shao Tong revealed an intrigued expression, pressing, "Tell us more about that?"

Tang Qisheng ignored him, turned around, and looked directly at the path they had come from. The corridors were nested and twisted and turned. As a folklore researcher, Tang Qisheng naturally knew something about feng shui. Feng shui was, in essence, a flow of qi. In his opinion, the qi in this marquis's residence was not smooth; it was stagnant, and even faintly carried an aura of death.

"I've seen the matter of using coffins as doors in an ancient book. Ordinary doors can't stop ghosts, but coffins are different. Coffins are the final resting place for the physical body after death. In the understanding of the ancients, they have the effect of isolating yin and yang, and inherently possess the attribute of suppressing evil."

As a folklore researcher, Tang Qisheng naturally knew something about feng shui and geomancy, so everyone didn't feel that what he said was abrupt.

"Also, the alley we passed through is actually a maze. Some of us were almost blinded. Now it seems that we may have underestimated the power of that road. The real purpose of that road is not to defend against people, but is the same as the role of the coffin door: to ward off ghosts."

"The paint on the walls on both sides is mixed with the blood of dead children. The blood of wronged children has the heaviest baleful aura, which has a fatal attraction to those things. This way, even if those ghostly things really enter the alley, they will be attracted by the blood of the wronged children on the walls, lose their way, and won't find the side door of the marquis's residence."

As soon as Tang Qisheng finished speaking, Li Bai continued, "Even if they can break free from the attraction of the blood of the wronged children and find the door, they will be suppressed by the coffin door, making it difficult to cross."

"That's right, that's how it is," Tang Qisheng nodded.

"So all these arrangements in the marquis's residence are to prevent ghosts from finding their way to the door." Fatty listened in fear and trepidation, and his gaze towards the courtyard in front of him changed. "Why is this Zhennan Marquis so afraid of ghosts? No, how does he know that ghosts will come to the marquis's residence?"

"That depends on what our Zhennan Marquis has done."

Having seen similar things many times, Jiangcheng didn't feel anything special. Find out the truth and then leave; that was the task for all of them.

As for what the world would eventually become, whether the Zhennan Marquis lived or died had nothing to do with them. They were just passers-by in this world.

Suddenly, a strange sound rang out in the courtyard, like several pieces of porcelain being broken. Then, there was a loud crash of something falling to the ground, accompanied by a woman's scream.

Jiangcheng and the others, who were standing outside the courtyard, were startled. Fatty poked his head out, wanting to get closer to the courtyard gate to see what was happening, but Yao Shunyu stopped him and shook his head cautiously. "Don't interfere; pretend nothing happened."

Fatty blinked and immediately reacted. "You think this is a trap?"

"Possibly. Otherwise, how could something like this happen as soon as people went in?" Since arriving at the marquis's residence, Yao Shunyu felt that everything was wrong. "Better safe than sorry."

A little later, a maidservant ran out in a hurry. The maidservant didn't even look at Jiangcheng and the others. While running, she shouted, "Come quickly! The Marquis's illness has relapsed! Quick... come quickly!"

Jiangcheng and the others automatically made way at the door for the flustered maidservant to pass through, then watched her run away alone, her steps staggering and her expression full of fear.

After the maidservant ran far away, Lu Qin stared in that direction, a strange look in her eyes. "It doesn't seem like she's faking it to lure us in. Did you see just now? There were signs of tearing on the maidservant's clothes, and she also had injuries on her arms: bruises and abrasions. That matches the sounds we just heard."

"She just said the marquis's illness relapsed." Fatty said cautiously, "Could it be that this marquis has some strange illness? Judging by the looks of it, could it be some kind of madness?"

Zhu Jie snorted coldly, her words implying something. "It would be fine if he were truly mad; I'm just afraid he's pretending."

For some reason, these words instantly evoked a memory from Jiangcheng's past. A long time ago, it was also in a similar deep mansion, the figure singing opera in the lake late at night, the Huang Master who was obsessed with his son.

Before he could continue thinking, a cacophony of footsteps approached from afar. A dozen maidservants and servants gathered together, running over in a panic. To everyone's surprise, these people were actually holding sticks and carrying carrying-poles, and the person running at the front even had a coil of what looked like sturdy hemp rope draped over his shoulder.

Like the maidservant who had rushed out earlier, these people also completely ignored Jiangcheng and the others and rushed straight into the courtyard. Their momentum didn't seem like they were going to treat an illness, but rather like they were going to fight.

Soon, clanging and banging sounds rang out in the courtyard, along with things being knocked over, and the dull thuds of sticks and carrying-poles hitting people. Various sounds were mixed together, making it very lively.

Fatty couldn't sit still now, craning his neck to peer into the courtyard. Unfortunately, the distance was too far, and there were things blocking his view, so he couldn't see anything. "I say, are we really not going to take a look? I feel like if we're any later, the marquis will be beaten to death by them? Or... or maybe the marquis will beat them all to death; it's hard to say."

Hearing this, everyone wavered. What was happening inside didn't seem as simple as acting. Necessary caution was essential, but being too cautious might mean missing out on more things. Going in now was reasonable and might also uncover some very hidden clues, which would be very helpful for their next task.

"Let's go, let's go in and take a look; everyone go together."

Zhang Qizheng took the lead.

But as soon as he stepped into the courtyard, he bumped head-on into someone. The person was panting, and his eyes were very unfriendly. "What are you masters doing?"

The person was naturally General Yuwen. At this time, General Yuwen's chest was heaving violently, and his armor was also slightly askew, as if he had just escaped from a fierce battle.

Jiangcheng cupped his fist at General Yuwen, his tone calm as he said, "General, we heard someone shouting, saying that the Marquis was ill, so we were thinking of going in to take a look. Not to hide it from the General, I also know a little about medicine and might be able to help."

Hearing this, General Yuwen's expression worsened. "We don't need you. The Marquis has been fighting on the battlefield for many years and has some old ailments on his body. Recently, the Marquis has been worried about the strange events in the city and has been thinking too much, which has caused his old ailments to relapse. After being diagnosed by the doctors in the residence, he's now fine."

Fatty thought to himself, *You're a big man; how can you just open your mouth and lie?* Diagnosed by a doctor and now fine? Where were the doctors? It was clearly some guards and maidservants who rushed in. I'm afraid that pretending to treat the Marquis's illness was a lie; beating the Marquis up and controlling him was the truth.

At the same time, Fatty suddenly came up with a melodramatic drama in his mind: What if the Marquis was licentious and tyrannical, and one of his beautiful concubines had an affair with the young and vigorous General Yuwen? As a result, the Marquis discovered it and wanted to separate the lovebirds and execute them privately. But General Yuwen struck first and controlled the Marquis, as well as the entire marquis's residence. Just now, the Marquis knew that people had come from outside, so he was trying to break free and ask for help, but he was suppressed by General Yuwen's people.

The more Fatty thought about it, the more likely it seemed. If not, why would General Yuwen be so nervous, and treat them with such an attitude?

Suddenly, Fatty's peripheral vision swept over something, and then a chill arose in his heart, because General Yuwen was staring at him intently. Then, he suddenly stepped forward. "What are you thinking?" he asked Fatty.

Fatty's heart immediately panicked, but after being with doctors for so long, he didn't show it on his face. He pretended to be calm and replied, "I'm just worried about the Marquis's health. I've long heard that the Marquis is exceptionally brave and is a great figure, a great hero, who captures flags and kills generals on the battlefield. I didn't expect him to suffer from old ailments."

After speaking, Fatty even sighed pretentiously, and it was hard to say whether it was worry or disappointment.

Looking at Fatty's increasingly skilled acting skills, Jiangcheng was silent. This Fatty already had 50% of his skill. Although he wasn't yet able to stand alone, he was enough to fool ordinary people. Even if he wasn't around in the future, Jiangcheng would be more at ease.

Sure enough, this acting skill really fooled General Yuwen. After his initial dissatisfaction, the latter seemed to realize that his attitude towards these people was too bad, so he nodded and his tone softened. "I'm sorry, everyone. Just now, my attitude was problematic. After all, the Marquis treats me very well, and I was just anxious. Don't hold it against me, everyone."

"Haha, General Yuwen is too polite." Everyone followed the slope down, because from the current point of view, this General Yuwen with a name and surname was also a clue character, and there would probably be a lot of scenes later.

"The Marquis still needs to rest for the time being and it's not convenient for him to see you right now. How about this? I'll have the maids in the residence take you to your residence to rest first. When the Marquis has rested well, he will naturally see you." General Yuwen waved his hand, and a maidservant standing not far behind him came forward, facing everyone.

"Is that so?" Jiangcheng nodded. "We'll listen to the General's arrangements, but the Marquis invited us here, naturally also to solve the strange events in the city. So we thought about it before, and if we want to solve this matter, we still have to go to various places in the city and understand the basic situation. After all, this is our first time in Luo An City, and we don't know enough about the local customs, and we hope the General can allow it."

"You want to go out and take a look at the city?"

"That's right." Yao Shunyu echoed.

General Yuwen hesitated for a moment, and finally nodded. "Alright, then you can go and take a walk in the city, but remember, don't go too far. The situation in the city is complicated now, so pay attention to your safety. I will send people to protect you."

Saying "protect" was actually to monitor them. Everyone understood this, so Jiangcheng wanted to find a reason to decline, but General Yuwen was very firm on this issue and didn't give them any room for discussion. In the end, everyone had no choice but to compromise.

At the same time, a strange emotion floated in General Yuwen's eyes. "By the way, everyone, the Marquis said that he doesn't know when he will summon you, so... you can't all go out to the city. At least half of you have to stay in the residence."

The people who stayed were equivalent to hostages. This repeated mistrust made everyone angry, but they were helpless and had to agree.

"I'm tired; I'll stay and rest. You guys go out." Zhu Jie took the initiative to state her attitude. Her face had a sickly pallor, as if she hadn't rested well for a long time.

Seeing this, Tang Qisheng also said that he would stay. He wasn't at ease leaving Zhu Jie alone in a place like this. Zhu Jie secretly gave him a look that told him to focus on the overall situation, but Tang Qisheng acted as if he didn't see it and still insisted on staying with her.

"I'll stay too," Lu Qin said.

"In that case..." Shao Tong narrowed his eyes, shrugged, and had a couldn't-care-less attitude, "In that case, I'll stay too. It's really boring; it's not easy to come out and play."

"Play?"

Li Bai was a little surprised. She was considered a veteran who had experienced many missions, but she was still very nervous every time she entered a mission world, because this wasn't a game. As long as there was a slight mistake, she would have to leave her life behind. This Shao Tong actually thought that such difficulty was like playing?

Lu Qin glanced at Shao Tong silently, and the latter immediately grinned and smiled. "Alright, I'll admit I said the wrong thing. We're here to heal the wounded and rescue the dying, and save the lives of the people in the entire city. This is an arduous task, hehe."

Lu Qin's glance was secretive, but because some people had long suspected the relationship between her and Shao Tong, it was keenly captured by Jiangcheng and the others. The relationship between the two became even more confusing.

This Shao Tong was obviously very powerful, and it was likely that his methods were above Lu Qin's. But such a combination appeared here, at this sensitive time, and it was hard not to speculate too much.

But now wasn't the time to think about this. Jiangcheng had more important things to do. His hand unintentionally brushed across his pocket, where there was a relatively hard object inside.

It was the armor fragment that Gao Yanqing brought back from his dream. He needed to find someone to identify it.

He could only investigate secretly. The situation was unclear now, and he must not let the people of the marquis's residence know.