Holding a lantern, guiding souls across, Lady Hou comes from the underworld.

To avoid causing panic, Yan Zhengchu naturally chose to keep it a secret, but he did ask the two of them about Qiao's situation.

From the shop assistant's explanation, we can learn that this clever girl's family runs a tofu shop.

She was nicknamed "Tofu Beauty" simply because she was beautiful and had a gentle personality.

The people in town all liked her.

But this clever girl's life wasn't so good.

Her mother was weak-willed and bedridden for many years, and her father was a gambler and alcoholic.

She had a very close twin sister who also committed suicide a year ago.

Despite her striking appearance, gentle personality, and hardworking nature.

However, due to her family circumstances, even though she was of marriageable age, no one dared to propose marriage to her.

The townspeople all felt sorry for the girl when they talked about her.

The shop assistant said, "I remember Miss Qiao started selling jewelry in the store about two weeks ago..."

The first time she came, she hesitated outside the door for a while before walking in hesitantly.

She handed a jade bracelet to the counter and timidly asked, "I want to sell this bracelet. What price would you offer based on its quality?"

At that moment, her eyes darted around, so something must have happened.

The waiter and the shopkeeper didn't ask, but they knew exactly what was going on.

If I'm not mistaken, it's most likely that his gambling father got into trouble outside.

However, the bracelet had only been sold for two days when the clever girl came again.

Similar to the last time, she sold a jade pendant.

From then on, Qiao Guniang would come every three to five days at most, and every day at least.

As he calculated, the waiter said, "Looking back now, I realize that apart from the first time she came, she wasn't much different from usual."

"On the next few occasions, they either wore hats or covered their faces, as if they really didn't want to be seen clearly..."

"It's even stranger that he came today. He's wrapped up from head to toe, and he doesn't even want to show his fingers."

At this point, the waiter, remembering the other woman's gruesome fingernails, couldn't help but say, "Shopkeeper, do you think Miss Qiao might have caught the plague?"

After hearing what he said, Manager Qian felt a wave of fear wash over him.

Yan Zhengchu quickly asked, "What plague? Was there a plague outbreak in town recently?"

The waiter said, "It seems to have happened about half a month ago in a village less than five miles from our Yunxia Town. About ten households died of the plague overnight."

"After the government learned of this, it issued an order that no one in the surrounding area could set foot in that village again."

"I heard that the corpses were burned on peach wood soaked in black dog blood because the evil spirits were too strong."

Yan Zhengchu frowned upon hearing this. "Is that so? Do you know what this plague is all about?"

The waiter shook his head: "We don't know about that. We only found out a little bit after it happened."

"In our town, it seems only the night watchman went to take a look. He said the corpses were all rotten and had signs of cannibalism, like they had gone mad after a plague and were eating each other..."

The phrase "people eat people" sent a chill down Yan Zhengchu's spine.

Is this really a plague?

Why does it sound more like evil spirits causing trouble?

Of course, the most important thing is that clever girl, what happened to her?

After leaving the money exchange, Yan Zhengchu first took a walk around the town to pre-order goods for his junior brothers to prepare for the New Year.

When he passed by Qiao Guniang's tofu shop, he made a point of glancing inside twice.

The shops in front were completely dark, and the houses behind were also without lights.

At this hour, are they already asleep?

Yan Zhengchu felt something was amiss, so he couldn't help but move closer to their courtyard and peer around intently.

There is no malevolent energy.

But a faint stench of decay could be detected near the nose.

To confirm his guess, he leaped into the courtyard and quietly approached the main house.

Sure enough, the stench intensified.

Yan Zhengchu felt a churning in his stomach and almost gagged again, but he forced himself to swallow it down.

He covered his mouth and nose with his hand, and was about to get closer when suddenly a dark shadow pounced on him.

Master Yan was startled, but fortunately, he reacted quickly and nimbly flipped over to avoid the attack from the dark figure.

"Woof woof woof!"

The barking of dogs followed incessantly.

Yan Zhengchu then realized that the one attacking him was actually a black dog.

Seeing this, he had no choice but to temporarily leave Qiao's courtyard.

The intense barking attracted neighbors who came out to check on the situation, but strangely, Qiao's house remained completely silent.

Yan Zhengchu knew something was wrong, but fearing he would be mistaken for a thief, he immediately slunk back to the inn.

Inside the inn, Yu Lang, for some unknown reason, came downstairs and was wearing an outer robe, looking troubled in the lobby.

Seeing Yan Zhengchu return from outside with a solemn expression, he couldn't help but ask curiously, "When did Daoist Yan go out?"

"What were you doing behind our backs? Tell us the truth now!"

Yan Zhengchu casually found a seat, poured himself a cup of tea to calm his nerves, and then asked him, "Didn't you say you were tired and wanted to sleep this morning? Why did you come down here?"

Yu Lang immediately frowned, scratched himself, and whispered, "I suspect there are lice on that bed. It's so itchy all over as soon as I lie on it."

Although he spoke softly, the waiter in the shop still heard him.

The waiter immediately retorted, "How could there be lice? The sheets, blankets, and pillows in the guest rooms are changed as soon as the guests leave, and we even take them to the backyard to air them out when the weather is nice."

"The quilt in your room was just aired out during the day today."

Yan Zhengchu, being familiar with the inn, chimed in, "That's undeniable, isn't it? It must be because Young Master Yu is too spoiled. Look at the young marquis and Miss Xia, why aren't they saying anything?"

"..."

Yu Lang frowned in displeasure and quickly rolled up his sleeves to show him. "Would I lie? Look, it's covered in welts, what else could it be but lice?"

The waiter then came over to join in the fun.

Upon closer inspection, they were quite surprised to see that Yu Lang had indeed developed large bumps on both arms, with some redness and swelling.

The waiter asked doubtfully, "This doesn't look like a louse bite. Louse bites wouldn't be this big."

"..."

Yu Lang felt increasingly itchy as he talked, and scratched himself again, growing more and more annoyed: "You still don't believe me after I told you! I don't care what bit me, you go to my room right now and... catch the bug!"

Knowing he was in the wrong, the waiter immediately went upstairs without saying a word, taking the candle and lamp to catch the insects.

Yan Zhengchu grabbed Yu Lang's arm again and stared at him for a while, but he felt something was not right.

To calm him down, she said, "I have a wonderful medicine in my room that cures mosquito bites. I'll get it for you now."

He was about to go upstairs when he heard a crash from the guest room upstairs, followed by a dull thud, as if something heavy had fallen to the ground.

Yu Lang had a keen ear and immediately knew that the noise was coming from his room, and his expression changed instantly.

"not good!"