Chapter 632 - 392: Ghoul Traits (Part 2)

Chapter 632: Chapter 392: Ghoul Traits (Part 2)

Li Changxi immediately turned his head.

"The method to enter these ruins was found in the local county records. If we do it the wrong way, the monster inside will never open the door."

After a few minutes, the door opened again. The old woman nodded at the two of them. "Come in."

Passing a screen wall, a slightly dilapidated courtyard came into view.

The courtyard walls were stained with dark, mottled rain streaks, and moss filled the cracks between the corner bricks.

A lantern hanging under the eaves cast a dim, yellow light.

The old woman led them to a few guest rooms on the south side and said, "My master is overjoyed to hear of your arrival. She has already instructed the kitchen to prepare a meal. Please, rest for a moment."

Han Ning said nothing, relying entirely on Li Changxi for guidance.

Li Changxi nodded slightly. "Then we are in your debt."

Fang Fu stepped into the living room and saw a round table in the center of the main hall. The candlelight made the hall dazzlingly bright.

Maids and servants continuously brought plates of exquisite delicacies to the table.

At the head of the large table sat a beautiful young woman in a snow-white, cross-collared blouse and a long, cyan ruqun skirt.

Seeing the two enter the hall, she rose and bowed to them, saying, "My humble abode is simple. I hope you gentlemen don’t mind."

Her voice was so alluring it was like a cat scratching at one’s heart.

Han Ning noticed that the breathing of Li Changxi, who stood beside him, had become much more rapid.

’The oppressive feeling is at least Tier Two, approaching Tier Three,’ he thought. ’No wonder Li Changxi is struggling to resist.’

Feeling the seductive Spiritual Power wash over him, a trace of vigilance rose in his heart.

He didn’t immediately help Li Changxi out of his predicament.

"Not at all, not at all! You are too kind, hostess," Li Changxi said, his brow drenched in sweat as he gave a stiff bow.

The hostess smiled faintly and said, "Please, have a seat, you two."

"Please wait a moment. There is another group of guests."

"Oh? There are others?" Han Ning raised an eyebrow.

Li Changxi, however, simply pressed his lips together without a word, sweat dripping from his forehead like raindrops.

「Not long after.」

The door opened with a CREAK.

A burst of lively conversation suddenly erupted without any warning.

Three men in windbreakers, looking to be in their twenties and thirties, walked in laughing.

Seeing them, the hostess immediately rose to greet them. "Distinguished guests, please, take your seats!"

"Thank you for your trouble, hostess!"

The three men acted as if they hadn’t seen Han Ning and the others, sitting down right next to them.

Seeing the three men beside him, Li Changxi, who had been trembling slightly and keeping his mouth shut, turned deathly pale.

He wanted to say something, but his mouth felt as if it were sealed with glue. He could only shoot meaningful glances at Han Ning.

Han Ning gave him a reassuring look and continued to watch the show.

At this, the hostess beamed. "Please, my guests, let us eat."

Han Ning stared at the delicacies on the table, his hands perfectly still.

This scene reminded him of a horror movie he had once seen.

’Who knows,’ he mused, ’these fine dishes might just be illusions made from dead bugs and rotten offerings.’

After a few pleasantries were exchanged between the guests and the host, someone voiced a question:

"Why haven’t we seen any of the young lady’s elders?"

In this seemingly feudal era, it was rather strange for a woman to be hosting guests all by herself.

The woman smiled gracefully. "My elders are advanced in age and not feeling well, so they have already retired for the evening."

Everyone let out a sound of understanding. As guests, it wasn’t their place to probe further.

After a few cups of wine, the atmosphere grew livelier. A pockmarked, middle-aged man with yellowed teeth, one of the three, noticed the absence of the woman’s elders and started acting up. "Might I ask the young lady’s age? Are you perhaps married?"

’Wow, a classic lecher...’ Han Ning muttered to himself.

Hearing his blunt words, the woman feigned shyness, her tender cheeks appearing especially captivating in the candlelight.

Her rosy lips parted slightly, her tone carrying a hint of displeasure. "Sir, you are being quite forward."

The man just chuckled, a lewd expression of drunken enjoyment on his face. He then asked a few more intimate questions, causing the woman to stammer and blush beet-red.

"That’s enough!"

A relatively younger and rather handsome man from the group picked up his wine cup, rose, and bowed to the woman with an apologetic look.

"Hostess, my companion is a crude man. Please think of his words as nothing more than a dog’s bark and pay them no mind. I will drink three cups as punishment."

GLUG GLUG GLUG. After downing three cups of wine, he turned to his companion and hissed, "Ma the Third, are you not going to apologize to our hostess?"

"I’m sorry, miss. I have a big mouth. I’ll slap myself, I’ll slap myself." Ma the Third also stood up, making a show of raising his hand and giving himself two light SLAPS on the face.

The slaps were so light they probably couldn’t have killed a mosquito.

"Hmph." The woman, blushing, lowered her head and didn’t look at him.

Aside from this small incident, the dinner proceeded quite pleasantly. Afterward, certain individuals kept looking back again and again as they returned to their rooms.

WHOOSH!

A torrential downpour began.

Han Ning was led to the adjacent guest room by the old woman.

Once the door was shut, Li Changxi finally gasped for air like a man who had been holding his breath to the absolute limit.

"Those three just now... they were my former companions. They... I’m afraid they’ve already been killed by the monster..."

"Before, it was that Ma the Third. His insolent words angered the monster, and we were attacked because of it."

"Unfortunately, that’s more than 99% likely," Han Ning said coldly, walking to the windowsill and gazing out at the pitch-black courtyard.

"Do you have any other clues?"

"I’m not too clear on the details myself. When I entered this place, my mind was in a daze."

"It was like I was drunk. In my stupor, I felt my other three companions gradually disappear."

"By the time I realized something was wrong, they were all gone."

"Luckily, I had a talisman left to me by my master before he died, which is the only reason I escaped."

Ever since entering the ruins, Li Changxi was gradually reverting to the crazed state Han Ning had first found him in.

His eyes were bloodshot, and the muscles in his face twitched uncontrollably.

"I understand. You rest here. Don’t go wandering off."

With a thought, a shimmering white, ethereal Spiritual Shield enveloped Li Changxi’s body.

...

Outside, the wind and rain had stopped. A thin fog rose in the night. As Han Ning walked through the courtyard, it was as if a veil had been draped over his eyes. There was no light source to guide him in the darkness.

’Hm? What’s that sound?’

Faintly, he heard a series of indescribable sounds coming from a nearby room.

The sound was familiar to Han Ning. He followed it to a closed door.

The panting sound grew clearer. He peered into the room through the crack in the door.

Just then, moonlight appeared in the dark environment.

Pale moonlight streamed through the cracks in the door and windows, casting two distorted shadows on the wall.

One was the figure of a man, swaying back and forth.

The other shadow was motionless, as if frozen.

His gaze drifted downward.

On the bed, Ma the Third—the one who had been harassing the hostess earlier—was kneeling.

Beneath Ma the Third lay another figure.

It was a paper effigy with garish red blush smeared on its cheeks and lifeless eyes.

Between the two of them, a beautiful face flickered in and out of view.

Her crimson lips parted and closed over Ma the Third’s face, as if she were sucking something out of him.

Ma the Third, being sucked on, trembled all over, an expression of ecstasy on his face.

’Still not dead?’

Suddenly, a pair of hands reached out from the darkness and rested gently on Han Ning’s shoulder.

He turned around, his expression unchanged.

An old woman’s face, pale with sunken eye sockets, was inches from his own.

"What is our guest doing here?" The old woman asked, her voice still calm, as if she hadn’t noticed his expression.

’If my Spiritual Power was only Tier Three, this place would probably be extremely dangerous.’

Han Ning felt that if you removed the actual danger from this Illusion Realm, you could open a horror-themed escape room in the city and make an absolute killing.

He reached out and swatted his hand casually, as if shooing a fly.

SMACK!

The old woman instantly exploded into a cloud of gray Residual Soul.

Everything around him fell deathly silent.

TAP... TAP... TAP...

The sound of light footsteps echoed from within the thin fog.

Reflected in the puddles on the ground was a pair of bright red embroidered shoes and ankles with skin like fine jade.

A long, cyan ruqun skirt, a snow-white cross-collared blouse, and a pale face tinged with an ashen hue—it was none other than the beautiful hostess.