Chapter 123: Shadows of the Old House

Creak…

After knocking on the wooden door for a while, light footsteps were finally heard from inside. The mottled wooden door opened, and a wrinkled face peeked out.

Her hair was messy and white, her complexion pale, with deep wrinkles covering her face…

An old, frail woman stuck half her head out from behind the door.

There wasn’t a bit of color in her face—at first glance, she looked like a dead person crawling out from a mass grave, which gave people a scare. The already weak Jing Wushuang let out a scream and instinctively pressed tightly against Mu Feng.

Mu Feng remained calm and collected, quickly recovering. He bowed and said, “I am Jianning Scholar Mu Feng, traveling for studies and passing through your area. Elder, sorry to disturb you—may we trouble you to let us stay for the night tonight?”

Standing straight without fear of a crooked shadow, being an upright person who had never done anything to feel guilty about, he naturally wasn’t afraid of ghosts knocking. With a heart full of Virtuous Righteousness, he was naturally immune to all evils. The woman’s pale face looked extremely frightening, and Jing Wushuang trembled all over in nervousness, but Mu Feng saw nothing to fear.

Even if the other were just a scary old woman, or even if she were a real female ghost, there was still nothing to fear. He had already killed the Devil Leaders, the North Flow Twin Ghosts, who specialized in capturing and controlling ghosts—why would he be afraid of a mere female ghost?

“Not… con… venient… Young man, you… go… now…”

The old woman’s voice was hoarse, hollow, and weak. Though she stood right in front of them, her voice seemed to come from far away. In the dark night, her voice was especially eerie. As she spoke, she pulled her head back and began to close the mottled wooden door.

“Elder, wait!”

Mu Feng pressed his hand against the door. Having finally come across a house that could shelter them from wind and rain, saving them from sleeping in the wild, he couldn’t bear to give it up so easily. Looking at the dull-eyed old woman, he sincerely continued, “My book companion caught a chill on the road and is very weak—we truly cannot travel through the night. If we sleep outdoors, there’s a risk his condition will worsen, or he might even catch a severe cold. Elder, could you please make an exception and let us stay here for one night? At daybreak, we will leave right away!”

“Caught a chill?”

The old woman perked up a bit, looking more closely at the weak Jing Wushuang, her expression shifting uncertainly. After a long while, she gave a soft sigh and slowly opened the mottled wooden door. “Fine… then… come in. Stay… in the room… on the right. Re… member… no matter what happens tonight, do… not… get up to look around, and do… not… open the door!”

After pointing out the nearby room to Mu Feng and the others and giving them these instructions, the old woman closed the main door and hobbled quietly away. The large old house quickly returned to silence. No insects chirped, no frogs croaked—unlike a typical rural house, it was pitch-dark and eerily quiet.

Being quiet wasn’t so bad, but upon closer look, one could also see strange Talismanic Scripts pasted behind the door, in the corners of the rooms, and even on the beams. The house was already old, at least several decades so, and with all these Talismanic Scripts, it looked even more sinister. Perhaps because he’d traveled often and seen much of the world, the carriage driver parked the Carriage and went to sleep in the next room. After closing the door, Jing Wushuang looked around everywhere and simply couldn’t fall asleep.

“Shuang’er, it’s all right, go to sleep!”

Mu Feng lit an oil lamp, then sat down cross-legged beside Jing Wushuang.

“Mmm!”

Jing Wushuang responded softly and quietly closed her eyes. Seeing Mu Feng’s concerned gaze, she felt a little warmth in her heart. With him by her side, she felt much safer. Perhaps due to her weak body or fatigue, she soon fell into a deep sleep after closing her eyes.

“Sleep. Once asleep, there’s nothing to fear anymore.”

Looking at Jing Wushuang’s peaceful, lovely face, Mu Feng gently tugged the quilt up for her. Suddenly standing up, he silently recited the Shamanic Incantation, bit his index finger, and used his own blood to draw a circle on the ground, encircling the sleeping Jing Wushuang.

Yang Blood Array!

Using his Lifeblood Essence as the base and pure Yang Energy as the guide, he set up a simple yet effective Shamanic Restriction! Any creature attempting to approach would surely be attacked by the Restriction!

Mu Feng was calm and composed; on the surface, he seemed not to care about anything and comforted Jing Wushuang not to be afraid. But in truth, the moment he stepped into this old house, he had sensed a faint but present danger. There was one thing he hadn’t told Jing Wushuang—the Talismanic Scripts pasted on the walls were all curses to suppress evil ghosts. They were densely plastered everywhere; clearly, this isolated old house was not at peace.

The old woman who opened the door wasn’t just aged and pale—her body also contained considerable Yin Energy. There were only two explanations for this. Either the old woman was near death, her Yang Energy fading and Yin Energy growing; or some lonely spirits and wild ghosts had been around her for so long that Yin Energy had invaded her body. In either case, she definitely wouldn’t live much longer!

“Blood is the foundation of a person, the essence of power; a single drop of blood carries one’s will. Blood is the vessel for the Dao…”

Mu Feng silently recited the Shamanic Incantation, focused his gaze inward, and sat cross-legged on the floor to cultivate quietly. When the night was deep and all was silent, and he confirmed that both Jing Wushuang and the carriage driver next door were asleep, his Spiritual Soul then left his body, transforming into a streak of blood-red light that shot upward, coldly looking down at the old house below from above.

The moonlight was hazy, the cold wind howled—in this pitch-dark night, the air was especially chilly.

But after breaking through to the Late Mortal Realm, his Spiritual Soul had undergone a qualitative leap. He could release it from his body even in broad daylight; at night, he was even more free. Fused with a thread of extremely pure and Yang-like blood energy, his Spiritual Soul pulsed with Yang Energy at the slightest movement. No lonely spirit or wild ghost dared to come near.

From above, the entire old house was square-shaped, with ornamental trees planted along the walls; the large estate had hills and water features. It seemed like a manor left behind by a wealthy family. At first glance, aside from the faint presence of Yin Energy, nothing else seemed amiss. Compared to ordinary manors, it didn’t appear to be much different.

“Huh? Could it be that I misjudged? Maybe there are no lonely spirits, wild ghosts, or demons in this old house?”

Feeling puzzled, Mu Feng willed his Spiritual Soul to descend sharply. It swiftly circled the old house, then landed on a branch of a banyan tree, observing the strange house up close.

The house was large, with over a dozen courtyards of various sizes, but without exception, all were overgrown with weeds. The iron railings outside the courtyards were thickly covered with lush vines; weathered by wind and rain, many of the railings had begun to decay. Looking around, everything appeared dilapidated. In the distance, there was a pavilion with an old well, surrounded by moss. It looked as if no one had drawn water from it for many years.

Dong…

Just as Mu Feng’s Spiritual Soul was about to leave, suddenly, a drawn-out, melodious sound of a zither came from the darkness, followed by a sorrowful, prolonged woman’s voice echoing through the old house. Then, a large amount of white mist rose from the moss-covered old well, and a Yin Wind began to blow fiercely. From afar, the silhouette of a woman in white could be seen faintly in the mist.

Here it comes!

Mu Feng’s spirit lifted. His Spiritual Soul turned into a red streak across the night sky and re-entered his body. The next moment, his physical body, which had been sitting cross-legged in the room, suddenly stood up, leaped through the window, and dashed out.