From the direction of the Li family mansion in the distance, several faint barks came! It could be the sound of the wind, or perhaps... they had sensed something!

She shook her head violently, forcing herself to clear her mind; she needed to rest first.

More importantly, the Li family! She couldn't let the Li family get away with it! Those who pushed them into hell!

Report to the authorities? She immediately rejected the idea. The government? They might have already received benefits from the Li family, or they simply wouldn't believe a "runaway concubine" like her. That path was blocked.

An idea took shape in her mind.

ghost……

Are the Li family afraid of ghosts?

In particular, are they afraid of these "ghosts" who were buried alive by them?

She needs a large audience. The most marginalized, the most talkative, and the most superstitious audience.

"Go find your own way to survive!"

Jiang Chan struggled to her feet, discerned her direction, and headed towards a desolate wilderness far from the Li family mansion and the official road.

Sweat soaked through the thin shirt underneath.

The wind grew colder, and it felt like a knife cutting into the wounds on my face.

She didn't know how long she had walked, only that her strength was rapidly draining away.

Finally, she saw the outline of a small, dilapidated building at the foot of a hill ahead—an abandoned temple.

She stumbled and rushed over. The temple gate was long gone, leaving only half-collapsed earthen walls and a roof covered in cobwebs. The statue lay on the ground, broken into pieces.

The ground was covered with a thick layer of dust and withered grass, and some tattered straw was piled up in the corner, which seemed to be a beggar's dwelling.

She turned on the camera and pointed it at herself...

Her own face appeared on the screen—dressed in red, with venomous eyes, muttering, "Waaah... I'm so wronged... So cold... So cold..."

Just as I finished adjusting it, I heard footsteps outside.

Two beggars entered, dressed in tattered clothes, with hunched shoulders, and carrying the food they had begged for.

The taller one broke the bun in his hand in half and handed it to the shorter one, saying, "Erwa, eat up! I got this bun from the bun shop, it must taste great."

The shorter one shook his head, "Brother, I'm not hungry, you eat."

The taller one glared at him, "What are you babbling about? Eat up, we still have to go begging in the west of the city after the rain stops."

The two had just sat down when the shorter one suddenly pointed at the wall and said, "Brother, look at that wall, why is there light coming from it?"

The taller one looked up and saw the faint shadow of a woman in red reflected on the wall.

At first I thought I was seeing things, but then the shadow moved!

The woman slowly raised her head, her hair falling over her face, "blood" trickling from the corner of her mouth, her voice seeming to come from all directions, as if drifting from hell:

"Waaah... I'm so wronged... It's so cold... It's so cold..."

"Hiss... The underground palace... It's so dark... So stuffy... I can't breathe..."

"Master...Master...why...why did you pull me..."

"The Li family...the Li family...they killed me...pay me with your life...pay me with your life..."

The two beggars' faces turned pale instantly.

The shorter one grabbed the taller one's arm, his nails digging into his flesh. "Brother, is that...is that a ghost?"

The taller one swallowed hard, trying to stand up, but his legs gave way and he fell to the ground. "Damn it, this dilapidated temple is really haunted!"

The shadow on the wall suddenly lunged forward, as if trying to burst out of the wall.

The crying grew louder, mixed with the sound of fingernails scratching the wall.

The shorter one screamed, scrambled to his feet, and ran away. The taller one followed, and they even dropped the buns they had begged for.

...

Jiang Chan watched their retreating figures and laughed out loud.

She touched the projector. "Li family, you want me to be buried with you, so I'll let you experience what it's like to be haunted by a ghost."

The next morning, the tea stalls in the county town were in an uproar.

The tall beggar, A Niu, sat on the threshold of the tea stall, holding a bowl of free tea in his hands, spitting everywhere. "Let me tell you, yesterday Erwa and I went back to the dilapidated temple. As soon as we sat down, we saw a female ghost in red floating on the wall!"

Wang Po, who was selling vegetables nearby, came over and asked, "Really? What did that female ghost look like?"

Ah Niu slapped his thigh. "He looks terrifying! His hair is all over his face, blood is dripping from the corner of his mouth, and his voice sounds like he's wailing, saying, 'Waaah... I'm wronged... It's so cold... It's so cold...'"

Erwa huddled next to Aniu and added, "Yeah! That ghost looked like it was about to pounce on us, and my brother even lost his shoes!"

Everyone at the tea stall gasped. Old Zhang, the candy seller, shook his head. "Master Li just died, and I heard his concubine was to be buried with him. Could it be that she's become a ghost?"

"Definitely!" Liu Dadao, who sells pork next to him, slapped the table. "Didn't his servants say that as soon as Master Li died, all his concubines were locked up and buried with him?"

"Then these ghosts really are them in disguise?" Granny Wang covered her mouth in fright. "What a tragedy! Such a good girl, buried like this."

The rumors spread like wildfire, reaching the entire county in half a day.

An eerie atmosphere began to permeate the entire county.

"Have you heard? The Li family's place... is haunted!" In a corner of the teahouse, a porter lowered his voice, his tone filled with a mysterious fear.

"Really? Didn't the Li family patriarch just have a grand funeral?" The people around didn't believe it.

"Tsk! It's all because of the funeral!" The porter leaned closer. "Old Ding and his nephew went to the local temple early this morning to avoid the wind, and they heard it with their own ears! A female ghost was crying and complaining! She said things like 'The underground palace is so dark,' 'The Li family harmed me,' 'Pay back my life'... She was crying so pitifully! She was dressed in red! She was the concubine who was buried with the deceased! The beggar who lived there before said the same thing!"

"Hiss..." The listener gasped. "A female ghost in red? One of those who were buried alive with the dead?"

"That's right! Old Ding was so scared he almost jumped out of his skin, he swore he heard it all!"

The rumors spread like wildfire, quickly reaching every corner of the county town, growing increasingly bizarre with each passing day.

Some say they saw a female ghost in red floating around the back door of the Li family's house, while others say they saw a red shadow on the wall and staring at them with a smile when they passed through Li Family Alley in the middle of the night.

"The night watchman on West Street said he saw a red shadow floating on the roof of the Li family's house the night before last!"

"Old Wang, who sells tofu, said that she heard a woman crying in the backyard of the Li family in the middle of the night. It was a soft, continuous cry that lasted all night!"

"What's even more frightening is that the eldest son of the Li family has been dreaming for several days in a row that someone is choking him, saying that his father needs someone to serve him down there and that they want to drag more people down with him..."

Li Mansion.

The once bustling and magnificent gate was now tightly shut, and even the stone lions at the entrance seemed shrouded in gloom. The gatekeeper huddled inside, peering out cautiously, his face pale.

"Get out! You're all useless!" Li Mingyuan, the young master of the Li family, slammed his teacup on the ground, splashing tea everywhere!

The maidservant screamed in fright and knelt down, trembling.

"You bastards!" He slammed his fist on the table, veins bulging on the back of his hand. "Who gave you permission to spread these rumors?"

The butler stood to the side, trembling, and said, "Young Master, everyone in the county is saying that the ghosts of those women have returned and are seeking revenge on the Li family..."

"Ghosts? Those women disappeared without a trace, where would ghosts come from?!"