The traveler bid farewell to the shopkeeper and hurried to a house. He reported the secret code before entering.
Two armed guards were guarding the door. There were already several people in the house discussing matters around a square table. The person in the lead was the young master of the Liang Household, Liang Lian.
After the man bowed, he reported the news to Liang Lian.
Liang Lian's body shook and he slammed the armchair. "This Xu Xian really is in contact with that evil Taoist. Quickly go back and report to His Highness."
"Yes!" The person accepted the order and left.
Liang Lian's expression was gloomy.
His Highness had been the prime minister for many years and his network was spread all over the world.
These days, Liang Lian and the Pan family's power had waxed and waned. In addition, the Imperial Preceptor appeared out of nowhere to guide the Emperor in his cultivation.
And Xu Xian, who was viewed as a great enemy by the Liang family, was actually sent by the Emperor to Baiyun Temple to guard the pills.
Although this matter was held in contempt by the common people, it clearly showed how much importance the Emperor placed on this matter. It made Liang Wangye even more anxious, he suspected whether Taiyin Zhenren had any relationship with Xu Xian. Thereupon, he increased the manpower, wanting to find out the reason behind it. He sent many spies to Qiantang Prefecture, secretly investigated, and sure enough, he found some clues.
When night fell, more than a dozen people came to the house. Each one of them was very agile, they were all experts in martial arts.
Liang Lian ordered them to change into night clothes.
One of them hesitated. "Young Master, are we really going?" It was the leader of the Liang Household's guards.
Young Master Liang said, "Leader Wang, don't you want to avenge your brother?"
Leader Wang's brother was a great bandit who committed all kinds of crimes. He was later captured by Li Gongfu.
Leader Wang used Prince Liang's letter to force Qiantang County's magistrate to release him. However, he happened to meet Pan Yu and Xu Xian. He was rejected and his brother was sent to Lingnan.
Leader Wang gritted his teeth. "I want to tear that Li Gongfu to pieces."
"Sister Xu Xian's house is in the middle of the city and someone is secretly protecting her. We can't do anything to her for now.
However, I've already sent people to investigate. There's no one in Xu Xian's mansion. Moreover, it's in a desolate location. If we light a fire there, hehe! "
Liang Lian's face was filled with malice. "Xu Xia, Xu Xian, you actually dared to cause trouble in my Liang Household. Today, all of our grudges will be repaid by you!"
Originally, there was no need for him, the prince, to personally come here to investigate, and there was no need for him to be so careful. It was precisely because he harbored hatred in his heart that he had to personally take revenge. Otherwise, there was no need for him to hide like this.
Commander Wang said, "But His Highness only told me to gather information!"
Young Master Liang suddenly laughed and said, "This bit of information is nothing. I heard that Xu Xian's wife is as beautiful as a fairy, and even her maidservant is a peerless beauty. When we capture her alive, please interrogate her. We can get any information out of her!"
These words elicited a wave of lascivious laughter.
Only Commander Wang didn't have any strange thoughts. Instead, he felt his entire body go cold. Liang Lian's temperament was cruel, and he could use any method to torture people. His love for this was even greater than his lust. There were some things that made even Commander Wang tremble with fear. Thus, he didn't dare to persuade Liang Lian any further and retreated.
In any case, no matter what the consequences of this matter were, it had nothing to do with him.
Everyone, including Liang Lian, changed into their night clothes. Outside the door, the rain had stopped and the clouds were still thick. It was so dark that they couldn't even see their fingers in front of them, but this was exactly what Liang Lian wanted.
With an order, they began to explore the Xu Manor.
The Xu Manor was surrounded by desolate grass and dense trees.
Occasionally, a gust of wind would blow away a patch of dark clouds, sprinkling down silvery white moonlight, revealing the outline of the entire manor. It was so dark that it seemed like an isolated city.
Before they could take a closer look, they would disappear into the darkness once more.
The night owl was startled by something and flew out of the forest with a strange cry.
When Liang Lian saw this scene, his heart went cold for no reason, and he wanted to retreat.
The Xu Manor had originally been King Chou's manor. It was built far away from the city, and later, in order to expand the Wang Manor, the surrounding land was forcefully occupied. Later on, the entire family was exterminated, and there were rumors that it was haunted. No one dared to approach it, and even those who weren't occupied moved away.
Later on, it was transferred to Xu Xian, and only then did the situation improve a little. However, the manor's surroundings were still extremely empty.
However, the flames of hatred filled his mind. Liang Lian suddenly waved his hand, and a group of people rushed forward. They nimbly flipped over the high wall and stepped into the Xu Manor's domain.
The rain began to pitter patter again.
Commander Wang asked in a low voice, "Young Master, is this really the Xu Manor?" The entire manor was vast, but weeds grew everywhere, reaching up to the waist.
Moreover, there wasn't a single light in such a large manor. One could only vaguely see the outline of the buildings in the darkness. It didn't seem like a place where people lived at all.
The more bustling a place was, the more chilling it was when it was deserted.
Young Master Liang said, "There's no mistake!" After choosing a clear direction, they headed straight for the main manor, flipping over walls and detouring around ponds.
However, they hadn't gone far when they saw a flicker of light in front of them.
Everyone hurriedly stopped, and their hearts tightened. They saw the flicker of light leisurely swaying as it floated over.
When it floated closer, Commander Wang let out a sigh of relief. It was a servant dressed in black, walking over with a lantern. From afar, it looked like he was floating.
The servant seemed to have discovered something, and walked towards them. Under the illumination of the lantern, the servant had a strange smile on his face. Without waiting for the servant to speak, Commander Wang, who was in the lead, raised his knife and chopped off the servant's head. The servant spat out fresh blood as he tumbled to the ground, and the lantern was extinguished.
After killing one person, everyone's mood became much more relaxed. They were all people who lived on the edge of a knife. They weren't afraid of killing people, but they were afraid of finding things they didn't understand. Now that they had proven that there were people in this manor, it was easy to deal with them. Other than women, they would kill anyone they saw.
The group continued forward, but after a few steps, they saw the flicker of light. Commander Wang knew what was going on, and was no longer afraid. He rushed forward and struck the servant's chest with his knife, and the servant fell to the ground without a sound.
Commander Wang faintly felt that something was wrong.
They hadn't taken more than a few steps when they saw the flicker of light again. Commander Wang pierced the servant's chest with his knife again, but he stood there in a daze.
Liang Lian frowned and said, "What's wrong?"
Commander Wang slowly turned his head, and the expression on his face shocked even Liang Lian. It was a twisted expression of terror. "I … I … I killed a person!"
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Liang Lian frowned.
Just now, Commander Wang had felt that something was wrong. Only now did he understand what the problem was. "I'm not speaking nonsense. Those three servants looked exactly the same." But they all had the same strange smile on their faces, even at the moment before they died.
Everyone was in an uproar. They originally didn't care about the little servants.
In addition, the flicker of light in the darkness disappeared in a flash, and the person was killed by Commander Wang. Not many people could clearly see what the servants looked like, but when they saw Commander Wang like this, they all felt a chill in their hearts.
"Commander, you … you didn't see wrong, did you?"
Commander Wang said, "Impossible, I killed them, I know!"
Liang Lian frowned and said, "Don't scare yourself, or the triplets. Let's go, we're not far from the main manor."
Commander Wang reluctantly accepted this explanation, but when it came to killing the fourth person, he was no longer willing to walk in front. The others were naturally not willing either, no matter what orders Commander Wang gave.
The main manor was right in front of them, and the group stopped, unable to take a step forward.
Endless darkness wrapped around them in the night rain, and the desolate old manor suddenly became gloomy and terrifying.
Liang Lian suppressed his anger. "Keep walking, there will be a great reward when we return."
But before his reward could take effect, someone said with some difficulty, "Wait, we … seem to be … missing a few people!"
Commander Wang quickly checked the number of people, and in the end, his face was deathly pale.
They were indeed missing people, missing a whole four people!
"Who was the one at the back just now!" Liang Lian's voice was also trembling.
"I … I keep hearing footsteps behind me!" And the voice that answered him was already on the verge of crying.
The atmosphere was extremely oppressive.
"Young master, there is something strange in this manor, let's go back!" Commander Wang said carefully, as if he was still afraid of alarming something in the darkness.
Liang Lian cherished his life very much, and at this time, his desire for revenge had completely cooled. Moreover, even if he wanted to continue forward, no one would be willing to follow him.
"Let's go back. The people at the back, grab the belt of the person in front, don't let go.
Commander Wang, when you see him later, don't … be in a hurry to attack, capture him. "
This order was in line with everyone's wishes, and they acted according to it. One by one, they grabbed the belt in front and slowly walked back.
Commander Wang's heart was in his throat, but he braced himself and walked in front. But after a long time, no more servants appeared.
They encountered a short wall that they had climbed on the way here, and after climbing over this wall, they returned to the outer courtyard.
But they couldn't lead the people in front over the short wall, so they could only split up and climb over one by one.
Commander Wang was the first to climb over the wall, and Liang Lian was the second.
Then they stood together at the foot of the wall, counting the number of people.
And when they counted to the last person, Liang Lian and Commander Wang's faces paled.
Commander Wang pressed down on the last person to climb over the wall. That person cried out in alarm, "What are you doing!"
Commander Wang let go, and slowly said, "There's another person!" And the one who spoke was the person who had just been the last to climb over the wall.
Everyone was in an intense uproar, and they immediately kept their distance from the people around them. They looked at each other suspiciously, thinking that there was one more person who shouldn't be here. That kind of feeling was even more terrifying than having one less person.
And who could say, was that "person" still a "person" now?
Liang Lian gritted his teeth, and ordered, "Take off your masks!" Then he opened the fire, and let the faces come closer.
That's right, they were all people he had brought.
Commander Wang swept his eyes around, trying to remember who the four people who were missing were. But his mind was a mess, and he couldn't calm down.
Just at this time, in the fire, someone suddenly smiled strangely. That smile was exactly the same as the servant's smile.
Commander Wang's body tensed up, and almost instinctively, he slashed out with his sword.
But at the same time, everyone's blades also slashed at him. Everyone was nervous to the extreme, and the first person to act strangely was the person who shouldn't be here.