Chapter 251 - 250: Sit Down and Watch the Show

Chapter 251: Chapter 250: Sit Down and Watch the Show

Changsheng froze in place, his face filled with terror.

Gu Qingyin raised an eyebrow. "Why so scared? Was your mother unkind to you?"

Changsheng stood in place, not daring to move.

Gu Qingyin stared at him for a few seconds, then suddenly let out a scoff. "Just messing with you."

Changsheng was first confused, then angry, and finally, his expression settled into suspicion. ’Is she really not there? Is my mother really not standing behind me, watching me?’

Zhang Qiuyan was kind and soft-hearted, but she was by no means a fool. Otherwise, she never would have become Dongfang Lingjun’s disciple. From those two short sentences, she had already pieced together the general situation.

Not only was Changsheng’s mother gone, but her death was also connected to him. Or rather, Changsheng knew how his mother died, and he felt guilty—even conscience-stricken—because of it.

Zhang Qiuyan took a deep breath, unable to bear dwelling on it. Her gaze darkened as she looked at Changsheng. "Take us to your mother." Only after speaking did she remember to consult Gu Qingyin. "We should be able to go, right?"

Gu Qingyin nodded, her tone pointed. "Since we’re already here, we should see things through to the end."

Changsheng didn’t understand. ’Don’t they know this is a trap? Why do they still want to go in?’ But his task was to bring people back. If he failed, he would be beaten and starved...

He turned in silence, not caring whether the two women followed, and walked straight inside.

Gu Qingyin raised her hand and placed an Amulet on Zhang Qiuyan. "Let’s go. Stay behind me. It shouldn’t be a big problem."

Zhang Qiuyan nodded. After a moment’s thought, she put away her Compass and took out an Array Plate. It was primarily for defense; once activated, it could be used to handle any sudden developments.

The door of the old house was made of thin wooden planks, and there was a large hole broken in the bottom.

Changsheng pushed the door open and stopped at the entrance, motionless. "It’s inside."

Gu Qingyin glanced inside. It was pitch-black. Even with her Yin Yang Eye, she couldn’t see clearly; the Yin Qi was simply too dense.

"Can you see anything?" she asked, tilting her head.

Zhang Qiuyan also strained to look inside, her eyes squinting one moment and widening the next. "It’s too dark... I can only make out things near the entrance. Is that a large vat? And an axe and a stool... Why doesn’t this house have any windows?"

Gu Qingyin sighed. "Of course you’d need a hidden place to do this sort of thing."

Zhang Qiuyan pursed her lips. "Do you smell that? The stench of rotting flesh. It’s foul."

Gu Qingyin didn’t respond, but Changsheng, who was by the door, stiffened again. "Old houses all smell like this. If you don’t know anything, don’t just spout nonsense."

After hearing that, Zhang Qiuyan clapped her hands. "I almost forgot!" she exclaimed, pulling a flashlight from her storage bag. She switched it on, and a bright beam of light illuminated the dark room, leaving nothing within it able to hide.

A stone slab bed in the center of the room. Mottled, dark red stains on the walls. And standing inside, the men, waiting with extreme patience for their prey to fall into the trap.

There were three men, each holding a vicious weapon: a hammer, a long blade, and a rake.

Caught off guard by the sudden light, the three men didn’t even have time to wipe the savage, ugly expressions from their faces. After a two-second stunned silence, the man closest to the door, the one with the hammer, suddenly charged out.

"Don’t let them get away!"

The other two men snapped out of their daze and followed without hesitation.

Seeing that things had gone south, Changsheng ducked and shot out from beside the door, vanishing in a flash.

At the same time, the first man had already raised his hammer, bringing it down toward Gu Qingyin.

Gu Qingyin’s expression was impassive. She simply raised a hand and caught the hammer by the handle. At some point, a Strength Talisman had been drawn on the back of her hand in vermillion. Its runes glowed with a faint red light, providing her with a continuous stream of power.

At that moment, Gu Qingyin dearly missed her own body.

The man was surprised by Gu Qingyin’s strength, but he didn’t dwell on it, simply assuming he was weaker than usual because he hadn’t eaten properly.

It didn’t matter. He still had two accomplices.

Gu Qingyin, of course, wouldn’t stoop to fighting a few backwoods villagers with her bare hands. After blocking the blow, she had already flicked a Ghost Summoning Talisman out with her other hand.

The instant the talisman activated, a chilling whirlwind kicked up in the courtyard. In the span of a single breath, the entire sky grew dim, losing all semblance of day.

This scene, straight out of the underworld, made the three men—who had committed endless evil—feel a surge of terrified guilt. They forgot all about the women before them and could only stare around in horror, as if on guard for something to suddenly appear.

A mocking smirk played on Gu Qingyin’s lips as she pulled Zhang Qiuyan aside to watch the show.

Soon, their fears were realized. But the figures didn’t leap out from any single direction; they appeared abruptly on all sides. Among them were not only women, but children as well.

The three men’s faces were filled with terror. They tried to run but found they were already surrounded by the victims’ souls. They could only shrink into a huddle and scream for help.

But it was no use. The courtyard was already sealed by Yin Qi. Not only could no sound escape, but the scene itself was also frozen in place.

Anyone passing by at that moment would have seen nothing but a desolate and silent yard.

Of course, the place was so remote that no one ever passed by unless they were leaving the village. Otherwise, these three men wouldn’t have used it as a base for their repeated crimes.

As the victims’ souls gradually closed in, the men, with nowhere left to run, finally broke down. Since the situation was already hopeless, they decided they might as well go all out.

"I wasn’t afraid of you when you were alive, and I’m even less afraid now that you’re dead! Come on, I dare you! I’ll kill you all over again!"

It was the man with the hammer who straightened up first, a desperate, nothing-to-lose expression on his face, as if he were ready to take the victims’ souls down with him.

People fear ghosts, but ghosts also fear people who carry a murderous aura.

For a moment, the victims’ souls were actually intimidated by the man’s ferocity.

Seeing this, the man laughed even more wildly. "Come on! You broads didn’t have any guts when you were alive, and you’re no better as ghosts! Think I’m scared of you?! Bunch of cowards!"

The victims’ souls stared at him with their black, empty eye sockets, their faces expressionless, but they didn’t take another step forward.

The other two men exchanged a glance. Their fear subsided considerably. They tightened their grips on their weapons, straightened their backs, and mustered the courage to look at the victims’ souls. But the moment they saw those deathly-pale faces and black, empty eyes, a shiver ran down their spines, and they instinctively looked away.

Sensing their cowardice, the victims’ souls began to tentatively advance again.

The man with the hammer sensed the agitation among the victims’ souls. He whirled around and cursed, "Useless fools! What are you afraid of? Get up! Raise your blade and your rake! If we really fight, it’s not a sure thing who’ll die!"

The victims’ souls were once again cowed by the man’s vicious aura and stopped in their tracks.

Gu Qingyin tsked. She was getting a little impatient, but this was a banquet for the victims’ souls—the chance for vengeance they had waited so long for. She couldn’t interfere.

"Let them drag it out. A mortal’s stamina is limited, but ghosts don’t get tired."

Gu Qingyin tugged on Zhang Qiuyan’s sleeve. "Got a chair or something? I’m tired of standing."

Zhang Qiuyan opened her storage bag and rummaged around. "No chair. Will a meditation cushion do?"

Gu Qingyin reluctantly accepted. "I guess." After sitting down, she asked, "Any snacks? Sunflower seeds, peanuts, anything like that?"

Zhang Qiuyan replied, "I really don’t have any of that..."