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

Ge Chuan was extremely anxious and kept a close eye on Lord Ren's expression.

He noticed that ever since he entered the village, the adults' slightly furrowed brows had never relaxed.

Even when speaking calmly, one exudes authority without anger.

But at this moment, for some unknown reason, Lord Ren not only had a relaxed expression, but also a hint of gentle smile in his eyes.

This surprised Ge Chuan greatly. He turned his head and saw a woman slowly walking towards him from the village entrance.

It turned out to be her...

With just a moment's thought, Magistrate Ge could recall that the other party had also appeared in Kaiming County.

Although her identity is unknown, one can glean some clues simply from Lord Ren's attitude towards her.

This lady might just be the future young lady of the Marquis's household.

Ren Fengjue involuntarily took two steps forward and hurriedly asked, "Why are you here?"

Despite the gazes of the crowd, Xia Ximo continued walking at a steady pace.

To outsiders, it seemed like he was putting on airs.

Despite the stares of so many people, she showed no sign of surprise. Instead, she walked straight up to Ren Fengjue and gave him an order.

"Come with me."

Without saying much, it's unclear what she's up to.

But Ren Fengjue clearly trusted her completely, and immediately followed in her footsteps.

Seeing this, how could the rest of the group dare to hesitate?

Xia Ximo led the group through rows of houses and arrived at the back mountain of Tujia Village.

A winding mountain road leads straight into the mountains.

Because it was deep winter, the mountains and forests were desolate and the fallen leaves were piled up, but Ren Fengjue still noticed the tire tracks on the soft soil under his feet.

The mark ended precisely at the foot of the mountain.

Suddenly, a constable pointed to a thicket of thorns not far away and announced, "Sir, there's something over there."

The group paused, and seeing that Ren Fengjue hadn't spoken, Ge Chuan ordered, "Two people go and take a look."

Two constables were ordered to step forward, part the brambles, and as expected, they found a dilapidated cart hidden inside.

Ren Fengjue understood, but glanced at Xia Ximo.

The latter said nothing and simply stepped onto the mountain path, heading into the forest.

At that moment, the sky suddenly darkened.

The wind whistled through the woods.

All the constables could feel an eeriness in the wind, and their backs trembled involuntarily.

Suddenly, someone asked in a low voice, "Have you heard that this mountain is rumored to be haunted...?"

One person immediately replied, "I have relatives from this Tujia Village; it's been said for a long time."

"It is said that ever since a person who died a violent death was buried on this mountain, the yin energy has become extremely heavy."

"It is also said that a man who went up the mountain to chop wood once encountered this ghost of a violent death. He only glanced at it, and after returning home, he developed a high fever that would not break down. He died within two days."

"Huh? Really? Don't scare me!"

Upon hearing such rumors, the constables immediately looked at each other in bewilderment.

Seeing that the weather was getting increasingly strange, they couldn't help but feel like giving up.

Ge Chuan, who was walking in front, had more or less taken in what they were saying. He immediately turned around, glared at the group, and scolded in a low voice, "A bunch of grown men afraid of ghosts? Look at the girls!"

One sentence made the constables crane their necks and glance at the "girl" at the front.

Xia Ximo always walked at the forefront of the crowd. Despite her slender figure, she seemed fearless of any danger.

She wasn't scared at all.

So, one of the bolder ones whispered to the town official, Li Cheng, "Sir, where exactly are we taking this woman?"

Li Cheng felt a chill run down his spine as he looked at the back mountain; he certainly didn't want to come.

But with Magistrate Ge above him, what could he do?

They simply said, "Wherever the magistrate goes, we'll go; we don't care about anything else."

"..."

The mountain path was steep and narrow, and after a short while, we entered the deep mountains one after another.

At this moment, Xia Ximo suddenly stopped, and the people behind him also stopped.

She twitched her ears and heard the wind gradually subside, but then a faint rustling sound came from the woods again.

Someone reached out a hand, puzzled, and asked, "Is it raining? I can hear rain."

At first glance, it did indeed sound like the rustling of raindrops hitting leaves.

But the sound came from afar, sounding like rain when it was far away, but only when it got close did it become eerie.

Clearly... there was something underground, moving through layers of decaying leaves and rapidly approaching the group.

"It's an insect!"

"Why are there so many insects this time of year?"

"Ah! What kind of insect is this?"

Although the corpse worms were hidden under the leaves, with only one or two peeking out, their bodies glowed with a bluish light, making them quite conspicuous in the gloomy mountain forest.

Seeing everyone in a panic, Ren Fengjue immediately raised his voice and said, "Don't panic, everyone. You all have insect-repelling sachets on you, so they won't dare to come near."

Upon hearing this, the constables stood back to back, clutching the sachets containing cinnabar and realgar powder tightly in their hands.

The corpse worms, upon smelling the odor, indeed stopped moving forward, but did not retreat.

Ren Fengjue finally got his chance, reached out and pulled Xia Ximo behind him, saying, "I'll go first..."

With his pure Yang constitution, he could "exorcise evil spirits" simply by standing there.

As he led the way, the corpse worms indeed retreated one after another.

Although Xia Ximo also had a way to deal with these insects, it was indeed easier with Ren Fengjue in front of him.

However, when she suddenly looked down, she found that his left hand was still tightly holding her right hand.

There's no intention to loosen up...

As Xia Ximo followed his steps, her entire right arm inexplicably felt a faint tingling sensation.

Until the spirits within the soul-ferrying lamp reminded her that they had arrived at their destination.

"Ren Fengjue".

She called out softly.

Ren Fengjue then stopped and asked, "Have we arrived?"

Xia Ximo nodded.

Then, she let go of his hand and slowly walked up to the town official, Li Cheng.

No one understood his meaning.

Li Cheng also seemed quite at a loss.

Until Xia Ximo spoke coldly: "A year ago, there was a murder in Yunxia Town. The victim was a woman who was six months pregnant."

"At the time, the woman's husband, in-laws, and even her parents all said that she had hanged herself."

"But the woman's sister said that her sister was murdered by her husband's family in collusion with them."

"And how did you ultimately determine the verdict in this case?"

These words startled Li Cheng once again, and when he looked at the mountains and forests again, his memory became clear.

Wasn't the woman who hanged herself buried on this mountain?

Could this matter be related to me?

Faced with the sharp gazes, Li Cheng could only bite the bullet and reply, "I do recall this case. It has been confirmed that the woman did indeed hang herself..."

Xia Ximo sneered and asked, "The body wasn't even examined, so how did you find out?"