017. Mist
Qing Wenxu's body was found after dawn.
He died in the same way as his mother and sister, in a very miserable and ugly way.
Both the female ghost and Shang Changheng targeted all people with the surname Qing as their targets for revenge. When Qing Congnan heard the news and hurried to the backyard, Qing Ling was standing at the door and saw a twisted and crawling female ghost following him. Her next target was Qing Congnan, but she kept a distance, seeming a little timid.
Shang Changheng stood beside him at some point and whispered, "Qing Congnan is wearing a protective item."
Qing Ling didn't care about the commotion outside. He turned his head and looked at Shang Changheng, saying, "According to the time, Qing Wenxu and his sister should have no grudges against her, so why didn't Chen Qiuxin die first?"
Shang Changheng laughed and asked, "What do you think the grudge is?"
Qing Ling paused with some doubt, "The murderer... or the accomplice who killed her?"
"It's understandable to seek revenge on these people, but ghosts are different from humans." Shang Changheng's expression was still cold. He didn't look at Qingling, but at the people who hurried to and fro in the yard. His eyes were sinister and indifferent. "Perhaps it was just a small offense in life that led to a fatal disaster. Or maybe it was just picking on the weak. But this kind of grudge cannot be considered cause and effect."
Qing Ling nodded, he understood.
To put it bluntly, an evil ghost is like an unintelligent beast. If anyone offends it, it will retaliate a thousand times. However, this does not constitute cause and effect sufficient for it to take revenge, so a ghost that kills someone will also bring eternal damnation upon itself.
He was about to say something, but the moment he raised his eyes, his expression suddenly froze.
The Qing Family Ancestral Hall is not outside the city, but it is also very remote. From here you can see the undulating outlines of the distant mountains, and the sunlight hidden behind the clouds pouring down softly. However, Qing Ling saw that the soft and warm light was slowly eroded by the grayish-white mist, as if it was being swallowed up and an ominous haze was rising.
It's getting foggy.
In this season and morning, there shouldn't be heavy fog.
Thick gray fog enveloped the sky, blocking out the sun.
Qing Ling was very familiar with this fog. He once fled in this fog in a panic, and finally found himself back in the familiar courtyard in the mountains to his horror. Recalling the nightmarish memory again, Qing Ling's face turned pale and he took a step back.
After a few breaths, Qing Ling calmed down and guessed why Shang Changheng did this.
He had a complicated expression. Shang Changheng happened to look over. Their eyes met. Qing Ling slowly exhaled and asked, "You...remembered it, right?"
"Not all." Shang Changheng reached out and gently stroked Qing Ling's hair, then held his face up, smiling as cold as frost and snow, "It's just a play, you are a spectator, what are you afraid of?"
Qingling's heart, which was about to jump out of his chest, calmed down again.
But then he thought sadly, he should even feel lucky and happy that Shang Changheng didn't kill him...
"I'm afraid that after they all die, it will be my turn." Qing Ling said truthfully, perhaps with a tentative intention.
Shang Changheng gently stroked Qingling's cheek and said something like a promise, "No."
The ancestral hall is in a mess.
When Qing Congnan ordered people to collect Qing Wenxu's body, his face turned pale. Last night, when he moved the offerings to the bottom of the main house, his eyes suddenly went dark. When he opened his eyes again, the coffin that was being kept in the corpse-raising formation had been opened. There was nothing inside, only a skeleton with no flesh left. The upper body was still hanging on the edge of the coffin, and it looked like it was trying to climb out of the coffin but failed.
Qing Congnan lost all his confidence.
Whether it was his father or previous generations, although they had poor talent, they at least knew some self-defense methods. But by his generation, that little bit of warlock blood seemed to have been drained away, and no matter how much they learned, it was useless because they simply had no talent. The same was true for his son.
He hid in the ancestral hall because he knew that he had a biological father underground, and he relied on him to kill the evil spirit. However, he didn't expect that after he fainted inexplicably, his biological father was almost killed.
The next time he came out, he heard the news that the eldest son was also dead. That way of death was so familiar to him.
The second family took a look and left in a hurry. They must have been very scared. Qing Wenlin, who came rushing over, turned pale. It was the first time he saw such a tragic corpse. He couldn't help but rush to the yard and vomited violently. In the chaos, the ominous gray fog finally enveloped the entire ancestral hall.
Only Qingling was sitting quietly in the house, enjoying the good times.
Until someone knocked on his door. Before he could agree, the door was opened. It was Qing Congnan who came in. He was already in a state of panic and it was obvious that he was trying hard to pretend to be calm. He didn't even bother to wipe the cold sweat off his head.
"Qingling." Qing Congnan saw Qingling, who looked normal, and felt that there was a gloom in this child. However, when he thought about how he was born, he felt it was natural, but still a little disgusted. He took a deep breath and said, "Your brother died, also killed by evil spirits."
Qingling thought he was here to call for punishment.
But unexpectedly, Qing Congnan said in the next sentence: "Now you are the only legitimate young master of the Qing family."
Qing Ling said "Oh" nonchalantly, spread his hands and said: "Even if you put me in the position of the head of the family now, I can't do anything. Don't you know? Evil spirits are irrational and unreasonable. Maybe I am alive because he thinks it's fun, but I can't order him. However, I think you know better than me how to quell the resentment of evil spirits."
Qing Congnan was stunned. Perhaps it was because Qing Ling acted too naturally, so he believed it a little.
A ghost is a ghost, different from a living soul. He knew a little about this, but he had no talent for these things and had never studied them seriously. He only knew the basics and had always followed the path arranged by his zombie father. However, his father had never expected that after so many years, a ghost who had died in vain would come back to seek revenge.
Qing Ling asked again: "So I am also curious, you always think that the one who follows me can do a lot of things, so you brought me back?"
Qing Congnan's face froze for a moment, and then he managed to put on a fatherly look, "How...how could it be, but now is the time for the Qing family to survive. If this continues, I'm afraid we will all die at the hands of that evil spirit."
Qingling found that he finally panicked.
Unlike his previous calmness, Qing Ling thought about the things Shang Changheng brought back last night, and thought that he must have done other things, such as... the zombie. That should be the reason why Qing Congnan had been so calm before.
Few people can remain calm in the face of life and death. The knife hanging behind the neck may fall at any time, chopping off the head and causing blood to flow. The process of waiting to die is extremely painful, and Qingling has been struggling in it.
He coldly watched Qing Congnan's panic and confusion, and a sense of pleasure that could be called revenge rose in his usually calm mind.
It’s a pity that even at this time, Qing Congnan still refused to tell the truth.
Qingling was not in a hurry either.
Judging from Shang Changheng's expression, he is not planning to simply start a massacre.
Qing Congnan was turned down by him, and the ancestral hall was no longer safe, so he could only order his servants to prepare the carriage and return to Qing's house first.
But it was not so smooth, and soon the second wife and her husband started arguing with him in the front yard. Of course, the weak wife rarely interrupted, and it was always the two brothers who were arguing.
Qing Conglan lost his usual elegance and asked at the top of his voice: "Didn't you say you had a plan? What kind of plan is this! Going back to Qingzhai, what's the point of going back to Qingzhai! We are not going back to Qingzhai with you, we are going to Yanhua Temple."
"Okay." Qing Congnan sneered, "Then go ahead, you are just a bunch of bald donkeys who are trying to cheat people out of money for incense offerings. Do you really think you won't die if you go into a temple?"
Qing Conglan also sneered: "It's not certain whether she will die or not. Now those who died are all from your eldest family. Qiao Lian was killed by your family. If she wants revenge, she will only target your family. Every grievance has its perpetrator. Don't think that no one knows how Chen Qiuxin and your children humiliated her. This matter has nothing to do with us!"
During this time, Qing Congnan tried to interrupt him several times, but Qing Conglan did not stop. It didn't seem like he was talking to Qing Congnan at all. Instead, it seemed like he wanted to say these words to the invisible evil spirit, constantly emphasizing his innocence.
Qingling sneered as he listened from behind. If he was really so honest and innocent, why would he be so scared?
Sure enough, Qing Congnan quickly said loudly: "Nothing matters? It's not certain whose child it is. If I hadn't taken her as a concubine first, wouldn't you have told father that I wanted to make her my second wife? What good intentions do you have? If you want to leave, go ahead and see if she will let you go!"
"So what? It was you who did it in the end, wasn't it?" Qing Conglan's tone was a bit gloating and sarcastic. "Brother is still tolerant. You took the girl I played with into your room for the sake of the family property. Now that something has happened, you guys in the first room should bear the consequences. Madam, let's go."
After the front yard was quiet for a while, someone called Qingling and Qingwenlin to go out together. The fog was so thick that they couldn't even see the road clearly.
Qing Congnan felt that the entire ancestral hall was eerie and all he wanted was to get back to the mansion as soon as possible. He kept reaching out to touch the jade pendant hidden in his clothes on his chest and was completely at a loss.
The three of them were sitting in the same carriage, Qing Wenlin's face was pale. He really was unaware of everything, but he also realized that there was a reason for the successive deaths in the Qing residence.
Only Qingling looked calm and composed.
He had experienced this countless times before, and he still felt uneasy now because he didn't know how far Shang Changheng would go. Even with Shang Changheng's promise, he didn't know how long he could remain a "spectator".
But at least this time it wasn't aimed at him. It was quite interesting to watch these people panicking from the sidelines.
And he was sure that no matter whether it was them or the second family who were going to some temple, no one could escape from this thick fog.
As Qingling expected, the carriage stopped in less than an incense stick of time.
Qing Congnan frowned and urged: "Why don't you leave?"
Before anyone outside could respond, Qing Wenlin screamed first. He pointed at the open carriage window, widened his eyes and screamed in horror: "Outside...outside is the ancestral hall!"
Qing Congnan leaned over to take a look outside and suddenly felt cold all over. The old black wooden door of the ancestral hall was looming in the gray fog, like a gloomy road leading to hell.
At this moment, a carriage came from the opposite direction and stopped in front of the ancestral hall. The same terrified cries of women and angry shouts of men were heard from inside.
They were the second wife and her husband who had escaped.
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