The Horror of the Broken House and the Obsession of the Ghost in White
By the time they descended from the altar, darkness had completely enveloped Qingwu Town. The ice on the stone pavement crunched underfoot, and every step felt like treading on broken glass. Lin Shen walked in front, holding Xiuxiu's hand. The girl's body was terribly hot. The peach wood sword was slung across her waist, its red light so faint that it was almost invisible, only occasionally flickering to prove that she was still holding on.
"The temporary shack is just ahead. Just hold on a little longer." Lin Shen's voice trembled without him noticing. The pain in his chest made him grit his teeth with every breath. The wound on his arm began to bleed again. Black blood beads dripped onto the ice and instantly solidified into tiny blood crystals.
They supported each other and finally reached the dilapidated house half an hour later. It was an abandoned house with a large hole in the roof and dry vines crawling on the walls. The door, which they had blocked with wooden boards when they left, was now open, leaning against the wall at an angle, as if it had been forced open by something.
"Something's wrong. We clearly locked the door when we left." Li Ye's alertness instantly reached its maximum. Although the wound on his back still hurt, he still clenched the broken hiking pole tightly. "Su Wan, light a torch first."
Su Wan trembled as she pulled out her lighter and lit a rolled-up piece of talisman paper. The orange flame lit up in the darkness, illuminating the scene inside. The backpacks, originally piled in the corner, were now in disarray. Their remaining rations and water lay scattered on the floor. Most horrifying of all, the walls were covered in black liquid—words that read "hate." The words were densely packed, like countless eyes, fixed intently on the people at the door.
"It's the resentment of the White-Robed Ghost!" Chen Ba's voice trembled. She squatted down and gently touched the black liquid on the wall with her fingertips. A piercing chill instantly came from her fingertips. "This is the condensation of her resentment. She has been here!"
Meng Yao clutched the hem of Lin Munan's clothes tightly, her eyes fixed on the corner of the room. There lay something white—a woman's white dress, neatly folded, as if waiting for its owner to return. "That...that's her dress..." Meng Yao's voice was tinged with tears, the torchlight dancing on her face, reflecting a look of fear.
Lin took a deep breath and walked in, dagger in hand. The air inside the room was even colder than outside, and the torch flames were trembling slightly. He carefully checked every corner, but didn't find the figure in white. However, he found something under the bed—a purse embroidered with mandarin ducks. The purse was stained with black blood, exactly the same as the blood stains on the costumes used for the funeral sacrifice he had seen in the theater.
"This purse..." Chen Ba's face suddenly turned pale when he saw it. "I've seen similar records in ancient books. A hundred years ago, there was an opera singer named Ah Xiu in Qingwu Town. She sang 'The Pair of Mandarin Ducks' very well. She was later murdered by the town's gentry and her body was dumped in a dry well behind the opera house. Before she died, she was clutching a purse embroidered with mandarin ducks."
"Ah Xiu? Could the ghost in white be Ah Xiu?" Xiu's voice was soft. She leaned against Lin Shen, her body temperature rising. "She holds such a deep grudge. Is it because her death was so unjust?"
Lin Shen put away his purse, a complex wave of emotions welling up within him. If the ghost in white were truly Ah Xiu, then her hatred would have a source. But centuries had passed, her enemy had long since turned to dust, yet this hatred still tormented her, and everyone who set foot in Qingwu Town. "Pack your things first. We'll take turns keeping watch tonight, and we can't let our guard down any longer."
Everyone began packing up the house. Li Ye and Lin Munan propped up the door with wooden planks, while Su Wan pasted talismans in the four corners of the house to try to block out the negative energy outside. Meng Yao sat in the corner, hugging her knees, her eyes fixed on the white robe, feeling that the white-clothed ghost would emerge from within at any moment.
In the middle of the night, it was Lin Shen's turn to stand guard. The torch flame had dimmed, and the room was dark, lit only by the faint light of the talisman paper. Lin Shen leaned against the door, the pain in his chest easing slightly. He pulled out the purse embroidered with mandarin ducks and examined it closely by the light of the talisman paper. The stitching was fine, revealing the meticulous care of the embroiderer, but the black bloodstains on it stood like a scar, a reminder of its owner's tragic fate.
At this moment, there was a sudden sound of light footsteps outside the house, like someone wearing soft-soled shoes, walking slowly on the stone pavement. Lin Shen instantly clenched his dagger and looked towards the door with vigilance. The footsteps got closer and closer, and finally stopped outside the door. Then, a hoarse voice came in -
"My purse...you took my purse..."
It's the ghost in white! Lin Shen's heart instantly jumped into his throat. He gestured to everyone in the room to keep quiet, then slowly walked to the door, put his ear to the door panel, and listened to the movement outside.
"Give me back my purse..." Bai Yigui's voice was filled with tears, "That's all I want...Give it back to me..."
Everyone in the room woke up. Xiuxiu struggled to sit up, and the red light on the peach wood sword became brighter. "Brother Lin Shen, she doesn't seem to want to attack us. She just wants her purse back..."
Lin Shen hesitated. He wasn't sure if this was a trap set by Bai Yigui, but if he didn't return the purse to her, she might stay outside and even attack again. "Chen Ba, are you sure she has no ill intentions now?"
Chen Ba pulled out the fragment of the bronze compass. A faint black aura emanated from the fragment, but it wasn't as violent as before. "Her resentment seems to have calmed down a bit. Maybe she really just wants her purse back."
Lin Shen took a deep breath, slowly moved the wooden planks blocking the door, and opened it a crack. Standing outside was a ghost in white. Her hair hung down in front of her face, covering most of it, revealing only a pair of dark eyes. In her hands, she clutched a few dry vines. Seeing Lin Shen through the crack in the door, she stopped crying and said in a hoarse voice, "Purse...my purse..."
Lin Shen slowly pulled out a purse from his bosom and passed it through the crack in the door. The ghost in white reached out her pale hand, carefully taking the purse, and cradling it in her arms as if it were some rare treasure. She didn't attack Lin Shen, but simply stood outside the door, silent for a long time. Then, suddenly, she said, "Can you... help me bury the purse by the dry well behind the theater? That's where I'll die..."
Lin Shen was stunned. He hadn't expected the White-Robed Ghost to make such a request. Everyone in the room was also surprised. Su Wan whispered, "If we help her fulfill this wish, maybe it can calm some of her resentment. That way, we'll be more confident the next time we meet her."
Lin Shen nodded and said to the White-robed Ghost, "We can help you, but you have to promise not to attack us while we are burying our wallets."
Bai Yigui was silent for a moment, then nodded gently: "I promise... I just want Hebao to stay with me..."
After saying this, she transformed into a black mist and disappeared into the night. Lin Shen closed the door and leaned against it, feeling relieved but also a bit heavy. The White-Robed Ghost's experience reminded him of those who had been harmed by evil spirits. They probably all had their own difficulties, but their minds were clouded by resentment.
"Let's go to the dry well behind the theater early tomorrow morning and bury the purse," Lin Shen said to the crowd. "I hope this will appease some of her resentment. Otherwise, given our current state, we won't stand a chance if we meet her again."
Everyone nodded. Although they were still a little worried, they had no better solution. Meng Yao looked out the window at the night and whispered, "Actually... she's quite pitiful. She was murdered, and now she has to stay here for a hundred years with resentment..."
Lin Shen remained silent, simply gazing out the window at the night sky. He knew that even if he could appease some of the White-Robed Ghost's resentment, the crisis in Qingwu Town wasn't over yet. The shadow controlling the White-Robed Ghost was still lurking in the shadows, and the blood formation on the altar hadn't been completely destroyed. Their mission still had a long way to go.
The next morning, just as the sky was getting light, everyone packed up and headed towards the theater. The road was quiet, and no evil creatures were encountered, and the White-Robed Ghost did not appear either, as if they had truly kept their promise.
Soon, they reached the back of the theater, where there was indeed a dry well. The well mouth was overgrown with weeds, and the well walls were covered with dry vines, making it look eerie. Lin Shen walked to the dry well, squatted down, and began to dig a hole with a dagger.
At this moment, Xiuxiu suddenly pointed into the dry well and shouted, "Brother Lin Shen, look, there's something in the well!"
Lin Shen raised his head and looked into the dry well. It was pitch black inside and he couldn't see anything, but he could sense a familiar grudge - the grudge of the White-Robed Ghost, and it was even stronger than before!
"Oh no! It's a trap!" Lin Shen suddenly reacted and wanted to get up, but found that his feet had been entangled by black vines. The black energy climbed up along the vines and instantly wrapped around his calves.
"Hahaha... you really are here..." The voice of the white-clothed ghost came from the dry well, with a crazy laugh, "How could I let you go... You are just like those who killed me, you are all liars!"
A large amount of black gas suddenly gushed out of the dry well, and a figure in white clothes floated out from the black gas. Her resentment was stronger than before, and the vines under her skirt were longer and thicker, like countless black pythons, wrapping around everyone.
"I hate... I hate everyone who deceived me... I want you all to die with me!" The roar of the white-clothed ghost made the surrounding trees tremble. The black air swept towards everyone like a tide, and a more dangerous battle began again.
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