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

After Ren Fengjue finished speaking, the group was about to continue searching for clues.

As Xia, who was standing at the door, suddenly heard the sound of a bell.

His ears twitched, and he turned his head to look, only to find a woman's figure faintly visible under the eaves.

"Young Master!"

A-Xia was startled and quickly called for Ren Fengjue.

But in the blink of an eye, the figure vanished.

He was surprised and pointed to the corridor: "I just... clearly saw a figure."

Everyone looked over at the same time.

Yu Lang, with his keen eyesight, remarked, "There seems to be something on the ground."

He hurried closer to take a look, only to find that it was another yellowed booklet.

It's exactly the same as the previous one.

"Sir, the 'clue' has finally arrived."

As he spoke, he immediately opened the booklet and began to read it carefully.

-

"This place is so dilapidated, how can anyone live here?"

"Sir, how about we go somewhere else?"

Dusk was falling at the foot of the mountains in northern Vietnam.

A carriage arrived at the front of the post station. Looking at the scene before him, the driver hesitated and was unwilling to get off.

He seemed quite dissatisfied with the dilapidated post station in front of him.

Upon hearing this, the master inside the carriage lifted the curtain, glanced outside, and said, "We're still dozens of miles from Liangzhou City. Our horses are tired and should rest."

"Although the inn is a bit dilapidated, you can see the lights are still on inside, so it should still be habitable..."

Upon hearing this, the coachman knew he had no choice. Reluctantly, he got off the carriage and deliberately sighed again.

"Sir, although our trip is supposed to be an 'incognito visit,' the journey has been arduous and exhausting..."

"You'll be studying maps by lamplight late into the night, and the conditions at this post station are so harsh; I'm afraid there's not even hot water..."

He kept grumbling as he helped the people in the car out.

The old man smiled gently and said kindly, "It's alright, as long as we have a place to stay."

The coachman went to knock on the door.

After a long while, a servant with a fierce look came out.

He glanced sideways at the visitors outside the door, his tone rude: "This is official property. Who are you?"

The coachman disapproved of his behavior and was about to announce his master's official title.

The master stepped forward and showed his waist token.

The servant glanced at him, and his expression immediately changed: "Please come in, sir! Please come in, sir!"

He hurriedly opened the door, bowing and scraping as he ushered the man into the room, saying, "It's been far too long since anyone has come to our poor place."

"I was truly blind and didn't recognize your greatness; I almost offended you."

The servant was clearly a master of flattery. After leading the master inside to sit down, he quickly served tea and asked attentively, "Sir, you must be hungry. I just went to the mountains of northern Vietnam and hunted some game during the day!"

"How about we prepare some wine for the master, and let him try my cooking?"

The coachman hadn't had any meat for several days, and upon hearing that there was wild game, he couldn't help but smack his lips slightly.

It's obvious that they really want to eat it.

The master replied, "There's no need for that. Just give us two bowls of vegetarian noodles."

As he spoke, he took a string of coins from his waist and handed it to the servant, saying, "Could you please boil some more hot water later?"

The servant was overjoyed to receive the reward and quickly thanked him, saying, "Don't worry, sir! I'll go right away."

Seeing the servant turn and go to the kitchen, the coachman couldn't help but say, "Sir, why not eat the wild game that's right here? This is an official post station."

The master said, "Look at this post station, there's only one servant. He might not be able to handle everything by himself. We're just passing through and will stay for one night. There's no need to go to all this trouble."

The coachman knew that his master always had a heart that "worried about the country and its people," so he picked up the tea on the table, took a sip, and almost spat it out.

"Sir, this tea is stale!"

The old man drank with a leisurely air, saying, "Old tea is old tea. When you're traveling, you can't be so particular."

The coachman had no choice but to mutter, "Then I'll go feed the horses first, lest the master complains about troubling others again."

Before long, the servant brought two bowls of vegetarian noodles from the kitchen and said that the hot water had also been boiled.

After they finished eating their noodles, the servant led them upstairs to rest and prepared the best room on the upper right for them to stay in.

Although it was called a "superior house," the house smelled musty, the windows couldn't be closed properly, the roof leaked, the floor was damp, and even the tables and chairs were broken.

Such conditions, if placed elsewhere, would probably not even qualify as a regular guest room.

The coachman had a bellyful of complaints, but then he saw his master open the window, look at the distant mountains, sigh deeply, and say, "If I can spend my remaining years in a place like this after I retire, it would be a fortunate thing."

"..."

The driver swallowed his words, silently spread out the writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone on the table, and began to grind ink by lamplight.

These days, while traveling, the master looks at maps until midnight every night, marking up or crossing out the names of various places, the meaning of which is unknown.

The driver didn't understand, and only hoped that the master would say, "If you are tired, you can go to sleep first."

The candlelight was trimmed again and again until nearly midnight.

The master was studying the map, while the coachman was so sleepy he could barely keep his eyes open.

Just then, the sound of knives being sharpened came from the kitchen, which sounded particularly jarring in the quiet night.

When the master stopped writing, the coachman also came to his senses.

"Why is he sharpening his knife so late?"

The coachman became suspicious and quickly took out the knife he was carrying. "Sir, I'll go down and take a look."

As he spoke, he went straight downstairs, intending to find out what was going on.

However, as soon as they reached the backyard, they saw a pool of blood.

The servant was squatting by the well, sharpening his knife...

The driver immediately shouted, "What are you doing?"

Upon hearing the sound, the servant immediately turned his head, and his eyes revealed an eerie red hue.

He already had a fierce appearance, and now he looked even more ferocious and terrifying.

"I just... killed a wild rabbit."

The servant girl offered an explanation, a fawning smile on her face: "Did I disturb you, sir?"

The coachman said irritably, "What time is it? Are you still sharpening your knife to kill a rabbit? Can't a person get some sleep?"

The servant girl then explained with a smile, "I saw the light was still on in the master's room, so he probably hasn't gone to sleep yet, right?"

"So let's slaughter the rabbit first, and hold a farewell feast for the master tomorrow!"

The words sound nice, but the blood everywhere, coupled with that cold cleaver, just looks incredibly eerie…

The coachman couldn't help but glance at the wooden basin beside the young servant, where a wild rabbit lay disemboweled...

He felt a chill run down his spine, and suppressing his nausea, he ordered, "Keep your voice down!"

"yes…"

The coachman hurried upstairs and told the master what had happened.

The old man frowned, but didn't say anything more.

"Never mind, let him be."

But as soon as the words were spoken, the sound of sharpening the knife grew even louder…