Chang Yu did not hesitate for even half a second before speaking. “Before her death, the female ghost was named Xi Zhou, and she was a courtesan in the Chunfeng Brothel in the city.
With such an unclean background, naturally, she could never step foot through the doors of the Chang family. However, that rebellious son of mine must have been bewitched by some kind of spell of hers, as he insisted on marrying her as his wife. Therefore, I locked him up within the estate and refused to let him go out to see her. It was precisely during those few days that something happened to Xi Zhou.
Among the dozen or so people who died, there was a bondservant girl born within the estate named Qingyu. Seeing that her appearance and temperament were both quite decent, I assigned her to my rebellious son, Chang An, as a concubine.
To my hatred, her character was completely two-faced, acting sweet on the surface while plotting behind the scenes. All the disasters in Chang’s household were entirely caused by this vicious maid.”
At this point, Chang Yu beat his chest and let out a long sigh, extremely furious yet completely helpless.
“She found out about Xi Zhou’s situation. On the surface, she acted extremely obedient and well-behaved, but in secret, she tormented Xi Zhou relentlessly and even had people ruin her chastity.
Naturally, Xi Zhou could not bear the humiliation and committed suicide. Her body was only discovered a long time later, and moreover, she was already pregnant when she died. I heard that such circumstances make it extremely easy to spawn a vengeful spirit. Not wanting Chang An to know that Xi Zhou was already dead, I seized the opportunity before she could act up and sent him away overnight to his maternal grandfather’s estate.
I also hurriedly invited Taoist priests to perform rituals and ward off spirits, but it still proved useless.
Among the dozen or so people who died were Qingyu’s parents, brothers, and some close relatives. In short, all of them were tied in one way or another to the death of Xi Zhou.”
After listening to the story, Yan Zhu chuckled again. “In that case, those people who died can be considered to have met a deserved end. However, tracing it back to the root, you are still the source. Why didn’t Lady Xi Zhou finish you off as well?
If you hadn’t torn apart a pair of loving partners and played matchmaker arbitrarily, how would Qingyu have grown envious and found the opportunity to murder her?
In my opinion, Young Master Chang An is a man of deep affection and loyalty. He is nothing like the rebellious son you claim him to be.”
Cold sweat broke out across Chang Yu’s forehead, and he instantly didn’t dare to speak another word.
Yu Li, however, said thoughtfully, “Does this mean Young Master Chang An still does not know that Lady Xi Zhou is dead?”
Chang Yu merely shook his head with a bitter expression. “Naturally, it was kept hidden from him at first. But recently, I have been struggling to protect my own life and can no longer spare the effort to seal off the news. He probably has heard about it by now, though his maternal grandfather’s family will naturally block him from returning.”
Yan Zhu wanted to say something more, but Yu Li interrupted him. “Since you said this female ghost haunts only at night, we will wait until nighttime.”
With that, Yu Li turned back to look at Yan Zhu. “You currently possess no cultivation to protect yourself. Stay close to me and do not wander around.”
Yan Zhu gave a sullen, disgruntled pout. In an unfamiliar place like this, where on earth could he even run off to?
When they arrived, it was already past noon. After waiting for barely two hours, the sky outside quickly turned dark.
Yet, the group waited all the way until the depth of midnight without seeing any abnormalities whatsoever in the estate.
Chang Yu, however, couldn’t relax for a single second, and continued stuttering as he spoke, “The first person to die in this estate was that concubine Qingyu. Her death was extremely tragic, and it looked like she had been scared to death.
The next day, several people became too terrified and secretly fled. There were four who left. However, the following morning, the corpses of all four of them were discovered together, right on the busy main street. Yet, the people inside the estate that night were completely unharmed.
Once this happened, the remaining people never dared to flee outside again. No matter how terrified they were, they stayed put within the estate.”
Before his voice had even faded, a shrill, piercing female shriek could be heard in the distance.
Yan Zhu lowered the teacup he had been toying with and smiled faintly, saying, “There it is. Immortal Lord, it is time for you to make your move.”
Yu Li grabbed his hand, interlocking his fingers tightly with his own, before stepping out of the room. However, instead of heading toward the north where the sound originated, he went south.
Yan Zhu was dragged along by him. He tried to exert force to pull his hand away, but naturally, he couldn’t break free.
Chang Yu stood to the side with an expression of mingled shock and uncertainty, hesitating as he asked, “Immortal Lord, why are we not going that way?”
Yu Li ignored him, so Yan Zhu answered for him. “Idiot, is such a simple logic beyond your comprehension? What is located on the north side of your estate?”
Only then did Chang Yu experience a sudden realization. The north side of his estate was an empty expanse housing the back garden, while the servants’ quarters were situated on the south side. At a critical juncture like this, naturally, no one would be in the mood to stroll through the garden at night. This female ghost was truly cunning, resorting to a diversionary tactic.
While he was lost in thought, the two figures ahead had already walked quite a distance hand in hand. He hurriedly broke into a small trot to catch up with the two Immortal Lords, terrified of being left behind and caught by the female ghost.
When the group arrived at the southern courtyard, a figure dressed entirely in red with flowing long hair was sitting right atop the wall. Although her complexion was deathly pale, one could still discern her striking and gorgeous features, suggesting she must have been a rare beauty in life.
It was precisely the female ghost, Xi Zhou.
Yet, perched lazily on her shoulder was a small, living grey sparrow.
An unreadable, faint smile lingered on her face as she half-grasped and half-released a person in her hand, who was already down to his last breath. Seeing them arrive, she spoke in a light and ethereal voice, “Which sect’s immortal has Lord Chang invited today?”
With someone backing him up this time, Chang Yu hid behind the two of them and hollered, “You better not be so smug! Since these two Immortal Lords are here today, you won’t dare to act so audacious anymore. We will make sure you never make it back.”
“What kind of talk is that from Lord Chang? I merely feel that my unborn child and I died with deep grievances, so I came back out of anger to seek vengeance. Since my death has nothing to do with you, naturally I won’t kill you. Once I finish killing everyone who harmed me, I will leave on my own.”
Chang Yu’s eyes widened in horror as he blurted out, “You’ve already killed a dozen or so members of the Chang family! Isn’t that enough?”
Xi Zhou’s intensely vibrant, blood-red lips curved once more, her voice remaining tranquil and serene. “Is Lord Chang playing dumb on purpose? Naturally, there is still one person left. The one missing is that heartless scoundrel, Chang An.”
“He isn’t a heartless scoundrel! It was me! I was the one who locked him up in the estate and refused to let him go out to see you, which is why something happened to you! It was also me who sent him away overnight to his maternal grandfather’s estate after the incident, refusing to let him come back to see you!”
Chang Yu grabbed tightly onto Yan Zhu’s shoulders with both hands, trembling with fear as he finally blurted out those words.
Yu Li’s gaze chilled as he stared at Chang Yu’s hands. Catching on belatedly, Chang Yu hurriedly released his grip and even helpfully smoothed out the wrinkles he had clawed onto the fabric.
The female ghost Xi Zhou froze. Two trails of blood tears suddenly streamed down her pale face, and she reined in all her fury, looking as lost and bewildered as a newborn infant.
After a moment, she snapped back to her senses, but her expression abruptly turned ferocious. Disregarding the person held in her hand entirely, she lunged toward Chang Yu in a flurry of red garments.
Yu Li’s gaze narrowed slightly. A stream of pure spiritual energy struck the female ghost directly, while another stream of spiritual energy caught the already unconscious person.
Struck by that pure surge of spiritual energy, the female ghost let out a miserable shriek on the spot.
Yan Zhu curved his eyes into a smile and looked at the terrified Chang Yu. “I didn’t expect Lord Chang to be so quick on the uptake. Before we even had to remind you what to do, you went ahead and provoked the female ghost all on your own.”
“I, I…” Seeing the female ghost sprawled on the ground, glaring at him with a harrowing expression, Chang Yu tried to defend himself, but no words came out.