A Skinned Corpse Appeared on Her Bed
Mu Lingyan first went to the second victim’s room and found nothing unusual, then headed to the well in the backyard.
She stopped in her tracks.
Because a woman was standing by the edge of the well.
Mu Lingyan held her breath, hiding behind the corner of the wall, and squinted as she looked over.
The woman by the well peered around for a while.
When the other person turned her head, Mu Lingyan’s pupils slightly widened.
To think it was actually her!
That person looked flustered, lifting the hem of her skirt as she quickly slipped away.
Because she ran too hastily, the two mounds on her chest heaved and trembled.
Strange…
This wasn’t what she had expected. Why was Liǔ Niáng here?
And not that person.
Night had already fallen…
Mu Lingyan set up small Magic Arrays in three different locations. Anyone lingering nearby would trigger the arrays.
After setting up the arrays, she looked up at the slanted moon hanging high in the night sky.
“I wonder if Master has had dinner yet,” she muttered softly, continuing to grope her way forward in the dark.
The Hu residence had candles lit at night, but they weren’t as effective as modern streetlights.
Everything ahead was still pitch black. Mu Lingyan thought for a moment and took out a Spirit Treasure from her Storage Ring that could emit a faint light.
It was a bead, unlike a Luminous Pearl, because the light it emitted was a jade-green color like rippling waves.
In the pitch-black night, in the silent backyard of the mansion, she was holding a bead that emitted an eerie green glow.
Really, no matter how you looked at it, it was creepy.
Mu Lingyan: System, shall we chat?
The System, yawning in the Sea of Consciousness, replied slowly: Sure, what would you like to talk about, Host?
Mu Lingyan: Um, actually, nothing much. I just wanted to talk to boost my courage.
System: Then how about I tell you a story?
Mu Lingyan: What story?
System: How about a story about a corpse coming back to life? Once upon a time, four cart drivers stopped at an inn to rest. The inn had no vacant rooms, but the drivers insisted on staying. The innkeeper could only say there was one room available, but…
That room held the corpse of his daughter-in-law.
Mu Lingyan shuddered and gritted her teeth, shouting, “Shut up!”
System: Wuwu…
Mu Lingyan stumbled forward, one step deep, one step shallow. The path that didn’t feel long during the day seemed so agonizingly slow at night.
Just as she caught sight of the candlelight from the guest rooms ahead—
Suddenly!
A scream came from Ruan Jiujiu’s room.
Mu Lingyan immediately rushed into her junior sister’s room, only to see Ruan Jiujiu holding a plate of fruit in her left hand and pinching a bayberry with her right, staring in shock at Mu Lingyan, who had barged in through the door.
“Se… Senior Sister, wh-what’s wrong?”
Mu Lingyan said irritably, “That’s what I should be asking you. What happened? Why did you scream so loudly just now?”
Visibly, Ruan Jiujiu grew nervous, swallowing hard. “There was a bug…” she said, turning to look at the bayberry pinched in her right hand.
Mu Lingyan: This little rascal gave her a fright.
She had thought the Skin-peeling demon had launched a sneak attack.
In her moment of worry just now, she had forgotten that the protective barrier on Ruan Jiujiu’s door was intact, so nothing could have gone wrong.
Mu Lingyan waved her hand weakly. “Go ahead and keep eating,” she said, making as if to leave.
Ruan Jiujiu stood up and chased after her, grinning foolishly. “Senior Sister, do you want some?” She offered the plate of spirit fruit she had washed until it sparkled.
Mu Lingyan didn’t stand on ceremony and took a baiye fruit, biting into it with a crisp crunch.
“Alright, stay in your room and behave. I’m going to find Master.”
“Got it! Senior Sister, call me if you need anything!”
…
After Ruan Jiujiu’s door closed, Mu Lingyan walked a few steps forward to He Xuan’s door.
“Knock, knock, knock—”
She knocked three times first, then cleared her throat and asked softly, “Master, do you need this disciple to prepare dinner?”
After asking, there was no response from inside for a long while.
Just as Mu Lingyan was about to raise her hand to knock again, a faint voice came from within.
“No need…”
Mu Lingyan lowered her head and said, “Alright then, this disciple will take her leave.”
She waited for a reply from inside, but no one answered.
Standing at the door, she looked up at the night sky and remembered how Liǔ Niáng had been pacing around the well earlier that day. After some thought, she headed toward Liǔ Niáng’s room.
People in ancient times had little entertainment at night—either they went to bed early or engaged in procreation activities.
Unfortunately, as Mu Lingyan approached Liǔ Niáng’s window, she happened to hear the creaking of the bed inside, along with soft moans and gasps.
Oh dear…
This was somewhat awkward and not suitable for young ears.
She had originally planned to poke a hole in the window paper to peek inside, but she dismissed the idea.
After Mu Lingyan left, the creaking of the bed and the woman’s passionate cries immediately stopped.
All of this went unnoticed in the eerie, silent depths of the night.
Mu Lingyan thought about the suspect she had in mind and headed straight for Bái Hé’s courtyard.
The candlelight flickered, and Bái Hé’s silhouette on the window paper appeared gentle and intellectual as she bent over her embroidery.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
Everything in the mansion was normal—so normal that it felt eerie.
The boundless darkness stretched before Mu Lingyan, as if eager to swallow her whole into the shadows.
At that moment, the System in her Sea of Consciousness suddenly spoke up.
【Host, be careful! There’s demonic energy!】
Mu Lingyan’s expression turned serious. She held the willow-leaf sword made of green jade and black iron in front of her chest, vigilantly scanning her surroundings.
A gust of wind blew by.
A few leaves fell.
Crickets chirped a few times.
The atmosphere remained as quiet as a chicken.
Mu Lingyan: “Where’s the demonic energy?”
System: “Uh, it seems I misperceived it. Sorry, Host.”
Mu Lingyan: “Now I understand why other Systems have work and you don’t.”
System: Feeling wronged…
It had clearly sensed something, so how did it disappear?
Startled by the System, Mu Lingyan lost the mood to investigate further. She sheathed her sword into her Storage Ring and headed straight back to her room.
After a busy day, Mu Lingyan rubbed her temples and opened the door to her room.
She planned to flop onto the bed like a salted fish, but…
“Holy shit!”
She couldn’t help but curse.
This was a sight she had never seen in her life.
After cursing, Mu Lingyan bent over and began retching violently.
On her bed lay a corpse, its skin stripped away, its clothes soaked in blood.
Scattered pieces of flesh littered the bed, the face was unrecognizable, and two eyeballs dangled precariously from their sockets.
Forcing herself to take a closer look, she turned away and vomited again.
Only when she could only spit up bile did Mu Lingyan finally recover.
After examining for a moment…
She recognized the blood-soaked clothes on the bed…
They were Bái Hé’s??
How could this be!
She had just come from Bái Hé’s courtyard, and the other woman was alive and well!
How could she be dead in her room in the blink of an eye?
Mu Lingyan immediately stepped outside, pulled out a fire starter, and lit a skyrocket.
The light streaked across the night sky, and before long, everyone in the Hu Mansion gathered at Mu Lingyan’s door.