Chapter 030

After that, the diary mostly recorded trivial matters, but several of them mentioned that the turnover of servants in the manor was very high. The master was in a good mood after a period of time, but this good mood did not last long, and he returned to his previous irritability.

"So, the painter was the one who had the problem in the beginning?" Cheng Hui said this to Aqiu.

"Maybe. There are not enough clues. Let's wait and see." Aqiu shook his head. They had too few clues. The diary of a housekeeper could only be used as a reference and could not be used as evidence.

Cheng Hui took the diary out and gave it to the master. After reading it, the master chanted the Buddha's name.

There was nothing special in the East Courtyard except this diary, so the two of them returned to the front yard. Xin Erniang and Ye Qi had also returned and seemed to be discussing something.

Seeing Cheng Hui approaching, Xin Erniang revealed a hint of pride: "How is it? Newly promoted demon hunter, what have you gained?"

"It's okay, but judging from your appearance, you should have some clues already, right?"

"Of course." Xin Erniang took out a jade pendant and several yellowed envelopes. "Thanks to the new owner of this place, they haven't had time to clean it yet, so we were able to find these clues."

Cheng Hui opened the envelope and handed the diary he had just found to Ye Qi.

Xin Erniang, who was originally full of pride, immediately put away the smile on her face when she saw that they also made some gains.

Cheng Hui took a look at the letters. They were written by the painter's brother-in-law to his wife, asking why they left their hometown. He also asked his sister whether the content of her previous letter was true and whether the painter had really changed.

The following letters should be the correspondence between the painter's wife and his brother. Although there are no letters written by his wife, it can be inferred that his wife should have complained to her brother about the painter's increasingly violent temper, and also mentioned that the painter almost hurt his daughter once.

"So... what do you think is going on here?" After Cheng Hui finished reading the letter, Ye Qi and the others also finished reading the diary.

"Need I ask? It must be that the painter was seduced by the demon and made an unforgivable mistake. You see, both the diary and the letter mentioned that the servants of the manor would disappear for no reason. They must have been sacrificed to the demon by the painter." Xin Erniang said.

Ye Qi didn't say anything. Judging from the clues he got, this should be the case. It can be seen that he is knowledgeable and has seen many reversals, so he will not speak easily.

"We have already checked the East Courtyard and the West Courtyard, so why not go to the backyard? That's where the painter and his wife live. Maybe there will be more clues there." Master Xuan Tan said gently.

Cheng Hui looked up at the sky. It was already afternoon when they arrived, and the search just now had taken quite a while. Dusk was sinking in the west, covering the desolate manor with an ominous blood-red hue.

"Everyone, hurry up and try to leave here before it gets completely dark." Ye Qi said.

The demon's abilities are greatly enhanced at night, so if possible, it's best not to delay until night.

The others also understood this and quickened their pace.

After walking a few steps, Cheng Hui paused and suddenly asked, "I forgot to ask before, were you all invited by my good friend Li Ying to solve the problem?"

The three of them shook their heads. Master Xuan Tan said that he, like Cheng Hui, had been invited by a friend. Ye Qi, on the other hand, had received a report and was here to verify its authenticity.

Only Xin Erniang hesitated for a moment before saying that she was also invited by a good friend. However, looking at her expression, the other three could guess that she was lying.

"So...we were specially invited here?" Cheng Hui repeated this sentence according to Aqiu's request.

The other three were also thinking about this problem.

Generally speaking, it does not take so many people to deal with demons and monsters. The poor can report to the Demon Suppression Bureau and wait for them to send someone to deal with it. The rich or those who are not convenient to deal with the government will hire demon hunters.

Aside from Xin Erniang, whose strength was unknown, the other three were all relatively well-known. Someone had gone to great lengths to gather them together, clearly with ulterior motives.

"Let me ask again, what's everyone's birthday... No need to go into details, mine is July 15th, how many are you?" Cheng Hui asked again after Aqiu reminded him.

As soon as he said this, the other three were all shocked. Xin Erniang blurted out, "What? You're also on July 15th?"

Cheng Hui looked around and from Xuan Tan and Ye Qi's reactions, it was obvious that both of them were born on July 15th.

This would be a big problem.

On July 15th, the gates of hell are wide open. People born on this day tend to have a lot of yin energy. This is not a bad thing for demon hunters, and some people can even use it to their advantage. But at the same time, people born on this special day can easily be used as special sacrifices by some demons.

The probability of the four of them being invited here at the same time was already very small. If you add in the fact that they all happened to be born on the 15th day of July, then it can basically be concluded that someone must be secretly behind this.

"You really don't know how to live or die!" Ye Qi said gritting his teeth.

Master Xuan Tan smiled gently: "If you want to plot against me, you have to see if the person behind the scenes has the ability to do so."

The two men quickly calmed down when they realized they had stepped into a trap. After all, they were experienced people and there was no reason for them to panic without even seeing the enemy.

However, Xin Erniang, perhaps because she was a newcomer, was obviously a little panicked. Her eyes moved around nervously, and you could tell at a glance that she was definitely thinking about which big leg to cling to.

Cheng Hui silently approached Master Xuan Tan. One was a government official, and the other was a compassionate monk. No matter how you look at it, the monk was the one who was more likely to save people.

Xin Erniang also thought of this, but when she saw that Cheng Hui had already taken the seat next to Master Xuan Tan, she stamped her feet in anger and hurriedly followed Ye Qi to his side.

Master Xuan Tan and Ye Qi were shocked by their blatant act of flattery. No... we are all demon hunters, do you two really need to do that?

Cheng Hui answered in his heart: It’s so...

As the saying goes, you are not afraid of god-like enemies, but you are afraid of pig-like teammates, especially a guy who is not strong enough but still uses the banner of a big man to pretend to be a tiger. If the two big guys misjudge their own strength when they meet the enemy, wouldn’t they be in trouble?

When they were said to have been tricked into coming here, Cheng Hui had already noticed that he had not closed the gate when he came in before, but at this time, the gate of the manor was clearly closed.

He didn't think the other three had the time to close the door, so the question was... who closed the door?

Ye Qi and Xuan Tan also noticed the condition of the gate, and their expressions changed slightly. Ye Qi stepped forward and wanted to push the door, but found that although he was walking towards the gate, he could not get close no matter what.

After taking a few steps back, I was able to walk back easily.

Ye Qi's expression was somewhat ugly, "It's like a ghost wall."

Master Xuan Tan chanted the Buddha's name and lowered his eyes in thought.

Xin Erniang looked extremely nervous. Cheng Hui suspected that if he walked over and got startled, he might be stabbed to death by her sword.

Lin Qingqiu felt the strange thoughts in Cheng Hui's mind and was suddenly at a loss whether to laugh or cry. What on earth was he thinking...

"If it's a blessing, it's not a disaster. If it is a disaster, it can't be avoided. Since we can't leave, we might as well solve the problem here first. After all, we are now mentally prepared and won't be ambushed in the dark."

Xuan Tan and Ye Qi both nodded in agreement with Cheng Hui's idea. After discussing it, they simply walked straight towards the backyard.

Xin Erniang followed Ye Qi closely. Cheng Hui stole a few glances at her and found that she looked really scared, but her fear was mixed with a bit of resentment. It was very likely that she was cursing the person who tricked her into coming here.

The group came to the backyard, which was still in a dilapidated state.

Cheng Hui is now basically certain that the letter was most likely meant to lure him in. As long as he enters the manor, the purpose will be achieved, and there will be no need to do any cover-up cleaning.

The yard was covered with thick dust. There was also a big tree in the center of the patio. The tree canopy was very dense, and the entire yard was also covered under the tree.

There is also a well under the tree, and it seems that the layout here is exactly the same as that in the east courtyard.

Cheng Hui asked, "Is the layout of the West Courtyard the same?"

Ye Qi gave an affirmative answer.

Cheng Hui kept this matter in mind for the time being, maybe it would come in handy someday.

The backyard was obviously colder than the east yard, and Cheng Hui couldn't help shivering as soon as he came in.

"Hiss...it's so cold..." Xin Er Niang couldn't help but complain.

"The yin energy here is very strong." Xuan Tan said solemnly.

"Heh, you've been exposed so you even dropped your disguise?" Ye Qi sneered.

A Qiu quickly told Cheng Hui: "You must be careful and don't go near any suspicious places."

Cheng Hui thought to himself, I do want to, but the problem is...how would I know what's suspicious?

"Separately... never mind, let's go all together." Master Xuan Tan was hesitant to separate. There were only four of them, and they had to get rid of Xin Erniang, who had already lost her composure. It would be bad if they were defeated one by one.

"Then... let's investigate together?" Xin Erniang asked tentatively.

"Yes." Ye Qi agreed, and everyone pushed open the door of the master bedroom together.

Squeak——

The door hinges, having been in disrepair for a long time, made a harsh friction sound. Ye Qi walked in first. The outer room was empty, but suddenly a woman's crying sound was heard from the inner room.

"Hmph, playing tricks." Ye Qi snorted coldly and kicked open the screen. A cold wind blew into the room, and the light and darkness were uncertain. The four of them saw a woman in a wedding dress sitting on the edge of the bed, crying mournfully.

The light in the room soon returned to normal, and the female ghost in the wedding dress disappeared, leaving only a bright red wedding dress on the bed.

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