Chapter 403: The Ground Is Hot, the Night Is Dark

Chapter 403: Chapter 403: The Ground Is Hot, the Night Is Dark

Xu Jingxi calmly picked up his tools, pushed the door open, and walked inside.

Shen Ningning and Ye Shangyi hurried in after him, with the guards forming a protective circle around them.

WHOOSH— A chilly draft snaked down the back of Ye Shangyi’s neck and into her clothes.

She turned pale with fright. "Who’s there?! Who’s blowing on my neck? A ghost! There really is a ghost!"

Just then, Shen Ningning silently tugged on the corner of her clothes from behind.

"Changyi, it was me."

"Ah!" Ye Shangyi’s startled heart slowly calmed. "Ningning, don’t scare me. It’s not that I’m a coward, I just... get scared easily."

Shen Ningning’s small, fair face looked especially adorable in the glow of the lantern.

She blinked her big, round, dark eyes. "I wasn’t trying to scare you. I saw a spider on your collar and thought you’d be scared, so I wanted to blow it off for you."

Ye Shangyi gasped. "Well, did you blow it off?"

"Not yet," the little one said, shaking her head honestly.

Ye Shangyi’s expression froze. She immediately started shrieking and hopping around. "I’m terrified of spiders!"

Shen Ningning reached out her small hand to grab her sleeve, but Ye Shangyi was frantically swatting at her own shoulders, and the little one couldn’t get a hold of her.

Finally, a long, slender hand reached out, firmly gripping Ye Shangyi’s arm. Then, before she could react, it plucked the spider that had crawled onto her shoulder.

"There," Xu Jingxi said, tossing the spider to the ground. "It’s gone."

Ye Shangyi let out a breath of relief, almost losing her balance.

Shen Ningning ran over to look at the spider. Shaking her little head, her soft voice was full of sympathy.

"You poor little spider, you’re seeing stars."

Xu Jingxi’s calm gaze seemed particularly profound in the silent, strange old mansion.

"This mansion is old, and many parts are in disrepair. It’s probably infested with pests, too. The path ahead won’t be easy, and since Miss Ye is so frightened, you two should just wait for me by the entrance."

"Or you can go back first. It will probably take me about two hours to dismantle everything."

Ye Shangyi was about to nod, but Shen Ningning flatly refused.

"Leave you here all alone? No way! Your hand isn’t even fully healed. Since we came, we’re going to see this through to the end. Right, Changyi?"

Staring into the little one’s big, sparkling eyes, Ye Shangyi wanted to cry but had no tears.

"Right, right..." ’I’m so sorry. Why was I foolish enough to come along?’

A guard holding a lantern walked at the very front to light the way, while Xu Jingxi led Shen Ningning and Ye Shangyi along the dilapidated corridor.

The once-expensive mahogany floorboards now let out a faint creak under their feet.

The Black Wolf King didn’t take the normal path. He stayed outside the corridor, sometimes loping a few steps, sometimes sniffing around.

Xu Jingxi walked to the rear garden hall and used a flint to illuminate the area. Shen Ningning saw faded paintings hanging in the hall, and the wooden beams overhead were exquisitely carved.

"It’s golden silk nanmu," Xu Jingxi recognized at a glance.

He had learned woodworking from Grandpa Xu since he was a child, so identifying lumber was no challenge for him.

Shen Ningning let out a "wow." "So many of them! No wonder the owners still wanted to pry off this expensive wood and take it with them, even after so many people died here."

But safely dismantling so many beams was a huge undertaking.

It was a job that would normally require five or six people, but Xu Jingxi took it on all by himself.

For safety, he went to an open space outside and laid out a square cloth he had prepared.

"You two sit here and eat. Don’t wander off. I’m worried other areas are in disrepair and have broken wood," Xu Jingxi said. After a glance at Shen Ningning, he walked back into the garden hall.

He set up the ladder he had brought, grabbed his tools, and climbed up.

Ye Shangyi arranged for two guards to go in and help him.

The guards placed lanterns around where the girls were sitting. As the night grew pitch-black, their spot became the only source of light.

But when Ye Shangyi looked around, all she could see was the bright glow of the lanterns. Looking into the distance only made the darkness seem deeper.

The mansion was backed by a range of mountains, which now appeared as a pitch-black mass, like a ferocious beast crouching in the shadows, ready to open its massive jaws at any moment.

Shen Ningning, in contrast, was already humming a tune and setting out the food she had brought, one bowl at a time, on the ground.

Then, she took out chopsticks and empty bowls.

"Time to eat!" the little one announced with a grin, pouring three cups of Spiritual Spring Water.

The Black Wolf King, lying beside her, was given two meat buns to tide him over. He wasn’t hungry yet, so he just had a little snack.

Ye Shangyi looked at the dazzling array of dishes but found she had no appetite.

"Ningning, don’t you think it’s strange for us to lay out the food like this? Especially on the ground..." She trailed off, her uneasy gaze sweeping her surroundings.

Shen Ningning had already taken a bite of braised pork, thick with a rich, red sauce.

"Yum, delicious!" After exclaiming, the little one tilted her head. "Hm? What did you say? Why is it strange?"

Ye Shangyi scooted closer to her. "When I used to go with my family to pay respects to our ancestors, the food offered to them was placed on the ground. We’re not having a picnic, and look how scary it is around here."

Shen Ningning freed a small hand and gently patted her shoulder.

"Don’t be scared. An upright person has nothing to fear. You haven’t done anything wrong, so why would a ghost come for you? Even they know to go after the one who wronged them!"

Reassured by Shen Ningning, Ye Shangyi managed to eat a little.

After that came a long wait.

An hour passed. It was almost Si hour.

Xu Jingxi hadn’t rested for a moment, continuously dismantling the wooden beams. From inside, the sound of heavy wood hitting the ground could be heard from time to time.

With so much time having passed without incident, Ye Shangyi was no longer so afraid.

Seeing how late it was, Xu Jingxi took a moment to call out, "I have a blanket in my other bundle. If you get sleepy, you can take a nap."

Shen Ningning immediately stuck her little bottom in the air, rummaged through the bundle for a while, and pulled out a thin blanket.

"Wow! Xu Jingxi, you’re so thoughtful," she said, spreading the blanket over herself before lying down and using the Black Wolf King as a pillow.

Ye Shangyi looked at the Black Wolf King, feeling hesitant.

She didn’t dare lean against him like Shen Ningning.

However, the little one beckoned her over. "It’s okay, Changyi! You can lie down with us. I already talked to Langlang. You just have to promise not to drool!"

Ye Shangyi shuffled over. The Black Wolf King was lying on his side, and she ended up resting against his legs.

The two girls shared the thin blanket. At first, Shen Ningning was giggling, thinking it was great fun.

She murmured, "Is it just my imagination, or is the ground here really warm?"

Ye Shangyi replied distractedly, "It must be your imagination. How could the ground be warm?"

Perhaps it was the sense of security from the Black Wolf King, or maybe the rhythmic sound of Xu Jingxi’s hammering, but soon, both Shen Ningning and Ye Shangyi felt drowsy.

The two of them, wrapped in the blanket, fell asleep. After an unknown amount of time, Ye Shangyi woke up in a daze.

’I shouldn’t have drunk so much soup. Where’s the latrine?’

She wanted to ask a guard to accompany her, but on second thought, she didn’t want to go too far. She decided to just quickly relieve herself in the courtyard on the other side of the wall.

In that case, she definitely couldn’t call a guard.

Ye Shangyi quickly walked away.

The dozing Black Wolf King cracked open an eye, watched which direction Ye Shangyi’s retreating figure went, and then closed his eyes again.

Shen Ningning was having a sweet dream, smacking her little lips.

Suddenly!

Ye Shangyi’s terrified scream pierced the silent night.

Shen Ningning shot upright, just as Ye Shangyi let out another bloodcurdling shriek.

The little one’s expression changed in an instant. "Langlang, go! See what’s happening!"

SWOOSH! The Black Wolf King shot off into the darkness.