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

Upon hearing this, Black Swallow subconsciously reached up and touched the back of her head, only to be startled by the bloodstains on her hand.

"How...how did I get a cut on my head?"

He stood there stunned, unable to recall what had happened.

Guojianglong's throat moved, and he swallowed unconsciously due to nervousness before stepping forward and pulling him along.

"Brother, something's really wrong here, we have to go."

At this moment, Black Swallow was not listening to any of his words. She shoved him away, not caring about the wound on her head.

"If you're going to leave, you should at least take something with you!"

The man who had crossed the river patiently advised, "Listen to me, you can't take anything from here! This manor is haunted, do you understand?"

"Besides, what we're doing now... we've done before!"

"Trust me, this place is really no fun!"

"What nonsense are you spouting? Are you saying this on purpose to try and hog all the credit?"

Black Swallow wouldn't listen to a word, gave a cold laugh, and turned to stuff the two gold ingots into her pocket.

Then, he saw a piece of cold jade on the shelf and immediately went forward with great joy.

The dragon who crossed the river was already terrified.

He knew he couldn't keep going like this, and he didn't care about the lives of others, so he turned around without hesitation and ran outside...

Inside, Black Swallow tucked the jade disc into his robes, then turned and saw the Youth-Preserving Bead again. He trembled with excitement, muttering to himself, "I'm rich! I'm really rich! It's all mine! All of it is mine!"

He was so engrossed in the treasure hunt that he didn't even notice when the intruder had left...

Outside, a bright moon rises high in the sky.

The cold wind howled, and snowflakes fluttered down, quickly turning the world into a vast expanse of white, stretching as far as the eye could see.

Black Swallow noticed the blinding light shining through the window and stepped outside, only to be stunned by the sight before her.

Snowing.

How could it snow so heavily in September?

He clutched the treasure tightly to his chest, a chill running down his spine. He finally realized that what the outsider had said was true…

Black Swallow immediately cried out in alarm, stumbled through the wind and snow, and ran out of the manor. Her figure quickly disappeared into the vast snowstorm.

A short while later, a cold wind blew by, and the strange scene vanished in a flash.

Mingyue Manor has returned to its original tranquility.

At this moment, two figures, one after the other, walked to the entrance of the manor once again...

-

"What happened in the end?"

It wasn't written on it.

Inside the hall, the group that had gone to various parts of the villa to search for clues gathered again.

By this time, an hour had passed.

After hearing Yu Lang recount that he had found a "clue," everyone fell into deep thought.

The so-called "clue" was a yellowed booklet that told the story of two thieves who went to Mingyue Manor to steal treasure.

The story does not record when it was written, nor does it know who wrote it, and even the characters in it are unknown whether they are real.

It lay quietly on a table in a room, and strangely enough, it wasn't dusty.

It looked like someone had just left it there, waiting for them to find it…

Ren Fengjue then asked, "Besides these, were there any other discoveries?"

Yu Lang replied, "No, we searched several rooms, but apart from some daily necessities, there was nothing else inside."

"We also tried to find the 'Treasure Pavilion' mentioned in the story, and finally found that the room where we found this book was the same room, but it was empty and there were no gold, silver or jade artifacts at all."

Ren Fengjue pondered for a moment, then said, "If this story is true, we can extract some useful information from it."

He began to recount: "The story mentions 'Hall of Suspended Mirrors'..."

Yu Lang immediately said, "I remember, the assassin who secretly tried to kill you on the ship last time was an assassin sent by the 'Suspended Mirror Hall'."

"good."

Ren Fengjue nodded: "This so-called civilian assassin organization is not as simple as it seems on the surface."

"The story also mentions that the owner of this villa was an official family in Liangzhou City, and there was a sick young lady in the family."

Following this clue, Yu Lang pondered carefully: "In Liangzhou City, apart from the Marquis of Zhenbei, there don't seem to be any other high-ranking officials."

Ren Fengjue remained silent for a moment, then nodded.

Since the Marquis of Zhenbei moved his residence to Liangzhou City, the important positions of prefect and vice prefect in the prefecture have remained vacant.

In previous years, officials were indeed dispatched from the capital to take up their posts, but within half a year, they all fell from grace due to issues related to disaster relief funds.

Yu Lang understood without saying a word.

He knew that there were rumors in the capital that the Marquis of Zhenbei wanted to seize power in the northern border and become the "emperor" of Liangzhou City.

How could they possibly tolerate the "lackeys" sent by the imperial court?

These rumors, some true and some false, may seem like fabrications, but upon closer examination, they are not without merit.

Yu Lang then asked, "Does the Marquis of Zhenbei have a daughter?"

Ren Fengjue: "I've heard my father mention that he has a son, about my age, but I've never heard of him having a daughter..."

Yu Lang asked doubtfully, "But in the story, it's claimed that the young lady of the manor disappeared a year ago, and then Bright Moon Manor was abandoned."

"If the master of this place is indeed the Marquis of Zhenbei, then it is only natural that the thieves and bandits in Liangzhou City would not dare to come."

At this moment, Xia Ximo, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up: "You have overlooked a person who appeared in the story."

Yu Lang immediately chimed in, "That's right. The story mentions a veiled woman who appeared in a Jianghu inn. She warned two thieves that they would never return from the manor..."

"I almost forgot... Now that I think about it, it really is suspicious."

Xia Ximo: "Could this veiled woman be the missing daughter of the Marquis of Zhenbei?"

Ren Fengjue glanced at her, as if to say "great minds think alike," while also boldly guessing, "Moreover, it might be the person who wrote this story."

Master Yan, who was still puzzled by the twists and turns of the story, couldn't help but speak up after hearing this: "I don't really understand the story you just told me..."

Ren Fengjue explained to him, "It's actually very simple. The situation those two thieves encountered is almost identical to what we are facing now."

"Once they leave the manor, they forget their previous memories, so they keep repeating the same things they've done."

Yan Zhengchu was even more astonished.

Just as he was about to say something, Ah Xia, who was standing by the door, suddenly exclaimed, "Young master, isn't the scene outside exactly as described in the story?"

The group walked to the doors and windows and looked out. Sure enough, they saw a bright moon rising high in the sky, illuminating the silent wilderness.

Snowflakes were falling heavily, and the cold wind was biting.

Perhaps this snow isn't real snow, but rather represents some special meaning.

Ren Fengjue suddenly said, "I have a feeling that there are more than just us in this manor right now."

Upon hearing this, the lantern on the table began to sway.

He continued, "Let's go, let's look around some more. Maybe they'll give us more clues."