After fifteen years of cultivation, he finally reached the pinnacle of the first rank!

Chapter 188 Exploration
On the dark, empty street, the carriage slowly came to a stop in front of the Tianjin Guard branch office.

Cao Gaoshan dismounted and looked up at the dark mansion with its gates tightly closed. Then, Hu Ruian and the others also got off the carriage.

Upon arriving at the Tianjin Guard branch, Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong, still haunted by the ghostly scene they witnessed the previous night, immediately followed Li Musheng closely.

Li Musheng glanced at the Tianjin Guard branch office in front of him, seemingly noticing nothing unusual, and then gestured for the others to open the door.

Seeing that Wu Shang and the other man were somewhat afraid of the mansion in front of them, Cao Gaoshan had no choice but to climb over the wall and enter himself, and then opened the gate of the Tianjin Guard branch mansion.

“Your Highness, last night I was passing through a hall when the ghostly figures and laughter suddenly appeared.”

As Hu Ruian spoke, he entered the mansion. It was completely silent inside, with no lanterns illuminating the area and not a single person in sight, just like the last time.

He then led Li Musheng straight to the hall they had seen before, with a clear purpose, since they weren't there to wander around this time.

Before long, Hu Ruian stopped in front of the hall he had seen the night before. He glanced around and saw that the situation here tonight was the same as last night.

All the other rooms and halls in the mansion were locked and their doors and windows were closed, but the door of this inconspicuous little hall in front of us was slightly ajar.

Upon seeing this, Hu Ruian's gaze sharpened.

He looked around and waited quietly for a while. Seeing that there were no ghostly figures or laughter, he immediately walked towards the small hall in front of him.

Hu Ruian stepped onto the stairs, his gaze fixed on the crack in the door, his aura locking onto the entire small hall.

Just then, the big black cat arrived as expected, suddenly emerging from the crack in the door and meowing.

"Huh? What a big cat."

When Li Musheng saw the black cat, he immediately raised an eyebrow; it was the first time he had ever seen such a large cat.

The large cat in front of me had jet-black fur all over its body, but I don't know what it ate to grow up. It was so big that if you didn't look closely, you would think it was a big black dog that had suddenly appeared.

At this moment, the black cat seemed to be startled as well, and stopped abruptly in front of the steps. Then, with its bright green eyes, it looked at Hu Ruian and the others in front of the hall.

"Meow, come here."

At this moment, Li Musheng bent down and squatted down, looked at the big black cat in front of him, clapped his hands, and teased it by calling out to it.

In the past, when he went to the park, he would often encounter stray dogs and cats. He would usually play with the good-looking cats and dogs for a while, but he would not if they were ugly.

Upon hearing Li Musheng call out to it, the large cat stared at Li Musheng, its eyes narrowing slightly. It meowed twice and stood there, seemingly hesitant.

However, the next moment, Li Musheng moved and instantly appeared next to the big cat, and then began to reach out and pet the cat.

"There are quite a few rats in the Jinwei branch office these days. Look how fat this cat has become from eating so much."

While petting the cat, Li Musheng turned around and spoke to Hu Ruian and the others. Upon seeing this, Shen Anran's eyes lit up, and she quickly took small steps to Li Musheng's side.

Looking at the big, black cat with its glossy, smooth fur, I couldn't help but reach out my soft, boneless white hand and stroke it.

However, the big cat suddenly turned around, its fur standing on end, and glared at Shen Anran with its bright green eyes.

However, seemingly aware of Li Musheng's presence, it did not turn around and scratch Shen Anran.

Instead, it meowed softly, held its tail high, and walked away to one side.

"This cat seems a bit fierce!"

Shen Anran frowned slightly, while Hu Ruian looked at the big black cat, pondered for a moment, and said, "I always feel that this cat is in cahoots with the ghosts in this mansion."

Last night, almost at the same time he saw the black cat, he encountered the ghostly figure and the laughter.

Moreover, it's rather unusual that the big cat could coexist with those ghosts and demons in the Tianjinwei branch office without any problems.

Upon hearing this, Shen Anran looked thoughtful and said:
"Maybe this cat was raised by some ghost."

At this moment, Li Musheng stood up, glanced at Hu Ruian, and waved his hand, saying:
"It's just a big cat that's gotten a bit fat; Lord Hu shouldn't be so paranoid."

As he spoke, he turned to look at the small hall in front of him and said:

"Since Lord Hu says there's a problem here, let's go in and take a look first."

Upon hearing this, Hu Ruian glanced at the large black cat that was already lying on the steps in front of the hall, and then scanned the surrounding darkness. However, he did not see any ghosts or monsters tonight.

A hint of suspicion flashed in his eyes, but he didn't say anything more. He simply agreed and walked towards the small hall in front of him again.

"Squeak!"

The palace doors were pushed open completely, revealing a pitch-black interior. Hu Ruian took out a tinderbox from his pocket, blew on it, and then stepped into the palace, walking on the floor tiles.

Wu Shang, Cheng Zhong, and the others followed Li Musheng into the hall.

Soon, Hu Ruian arrived in the hall and stood still. He casually picked up a wisp of flame and flicked it lightly, scattering the flame in all directions and lighting up the oil lamps standing around him.

In an instant, the entire small hall became bright, revealing its general layout.

This appears to be a storeroom of the Tianjin Guard, with rows of wooden shelves neatly arranged around it, on which are placed volumes of books and numerous wooden boxes sealed with white paper strips bearing vermilion characters.

Hu Ruian glanced around briefly, then began to look around, clearly trying to find some clues.

Seeing this, Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong felt that it would be safer to stay by Li Musheng's side, but they couldn't slack off, so they immediately gritted their teeth and began searching the hall as well.

Shen Anran and Cao Gaoshan naturally lent a hand, but after searching for a while and looking through the entire hall, they found nothing.

The case files and wooden boxes on the wooden shelves showed no signs of being disturbed; it appeared to be just an ordinary storeroom.

Hu Ruian frowned. He had also considered looking for hidden mechanisms, but he was still clueless.

"My lord, why don't we go and check other parts of the manor? Perhaps our encounter with the ghost here last night was just a coincidence."

Wu Shang approached Hu Ruian and whispered his suggestion.

Upon hearing this, Hu Ruian did not speak, but instead glanced at Li Musheng.

Logically speaking, they had been in the Tianjingwei branch office for some time, and the commotion caused by so many people was considerable. However, strangely, the ghosts never appeared.

This further convinced him that the ghost might genuinely fear the prince before him and dare not reveal its form.

But at that moment, Li Musheng suddenly looked at a wall in the hall and walked over.

"Look at these cat paw prints, do you notice anything wrong?"

He pointed to the wall, then turned to Hu Ruian and the others and asked.

(End of this chapter)