Chapter 45: A Midnight Chase, Terror in the Mansion
The streets were silent and deserted in the dead of night.
Thud—
A slender figure dashed through the darkness, leaping over a courtyard wall with incredible agility.
“Such swift movements!”
Hua Shuya pursued relentlessly, her face grim as she watched the shadowy figure disappear into a residence.
About half an hour ago, she had received an urgent message from the authorities. The notorious bandit who had been terrorizing the area had reappeared, targeting women in the county.
Without hesitation, she had set out to track him down, finally catching sight of his shadowy figure.
But she hadn’t expected him to possess such impressive lightness skills. She couldn’t catch up, only watching helplessly as he vanished into a house.
She didn’t hesitate, leaping over the wall after him. She knew that if she delayed, the women inside might suffer a terrible fate.
She saw the shadowy figure crashing through a window!
“Stop!”
Hua Shuya shouted, drawing her sword and giving chase. “Harming innocent civilians will only worsen your crimes!”
She hoped her words would distract him. She flung open the door and rushed inside, about to use her movement technique to intervene, but then she froze.
The shadowy figure was gone. The room was silent, eerily quiet.
“Did he conceal himself?”
Hua Shuya’s mind raced.
Since he was hiding, she would evacuate the residents first, to prevent them from getting caught in the crossfire.
She quickly approached the bed, intending to wake the sleeping woman.
“Miss, wake up—”
But as she spoke, her expression changed abruptly. She rushed to the bedside and pulled back the curtain.
A gruesome face, covered in blood and wounds, stared back at her!
“She’s… already dead?!”
Hua Shuya’s face paled as she checked for a pulse.
There was no breathing, her body icy cold, as if she had been dead for a while.
“Wait.”
She frowned. “She’s been dead for some time, and her face… it looks like her skin was peeled off?”
Soft footsteps came from behind her. The girl turned around and saw the shadowy figure disappearing through the doorway.
Hua Shuya’s face darkened, and she dashed out of the room, shouting, “Everyone in the house, wake up! There’s an intruder!”
She channeled her internal energy into her voice, making it loud enough to wake even the deepest sleeper.
But…
The house remained silent, eerily quiet!
“Was there a massacre here before, or… is something sinister at work?”
She had never believed in ghosts and demons, but after her experience on Mount Taiyi, she knew that such things existed. This case could be the work of a human, but it could also be the work of an evil spirit, like the strange incident at the Cheng residence.
Hua Shuya focused her gaze and saw the shadowy figure dashing towards the main hall.
After a moment of thought, she gripped her sword tightly and gave chase.
But as she prepared to fight, she was surprised to see a woman in a black dress standing in the main hall. Judging by her voluptuous figure, she seemed to be one of the women from the house?
Or could this be the true identity of the bandit she had been chasing?
“Madam, could you please speak?”
Hua Shuya asked tentatively, her hand on her sword, ready to draw it.
“Do you know… about the incident at the Li residence?”
The sudden, gentle voice made Hua Shuya’s eyes widen.
But she quickly regained her composure and said calmly, “I’ve heard about it. A concubine died mysteriously at the Li residence. They even invited several Daoist priests to perform rituals. But in the end, it seemed that she accidentally ingested poison and died.”
“You only know part of the story, young lady.” A soft, seductive chuckle echoed through the hall. “Master Li had two wives and three concubines. Although they seemed harmonious on the surface, they were secretly plotting against each other, filled with jealousy and resentment.”
Hua Shuya’s face remained calm. “Are you saying that the concubine was murdered by one of the other women, Madam?”
“Of course not. They wouldn’t dare to commit such a sin.”
The woman in the black dress chuckled softly. “But they are truly despicable, resorting to all sorts of shameless tactics to win Master Li’s favor.
And it worked. Master Li was completely smitten with them, spending his days and nights in their company. The concubine was neglected, treated like a servant, mocked and ridiculed.”
“Tell me, what right did those women have to mock that poor concubine? What gave them the audacity to act so shamelessly? Just because they were more beautiful? Just because their youthful faces would eventually wither and decay?!”
Hua Shuya paused, her eyes narrowing. “This is a family matter of the Li residence. It’s not my place to comment as an outsider.”
“…So, the concubine decided to take matters into her own hands.”
The woman in the black dress sneered. “Since Master Li was obsessed with beauty, she decided to steal their beauty for herself.
No, not just those women in the Li residence, but every woman in the town, in the villages, none of them would be spared.”
“I can’t condone such actions.”
Hua Shuya’s eyes flashed with sword intent. “Madam, are you… the dead concubine?”
“You’re wrong, young lady.”
The woman in the black dress smiled gently. “I am the first wife of the Li residence. But—”
She suddenly turned around, revealing a rotting face, a sinister grin spreading across her lips. “You, young lady, are the next target!”
Without hesitation, Hua Shuya drew her sword and swung it in a wide arc.
The woman in the black dress laughed and blocked the attack with her hand. Her seemingly delicate wrist was as hard as rock, sparks flying as it clashed with the blade.
“You can’t escape, Hua Shuya!”
“Hmph!”
Hua Shuya twisted her wrist, her blade flashing, severing the woman’s arm and decapitating her in one swift motion!
“How—”
The woman’s head, rolling on the ground, gasped in disbelief. Before she could react, Hua Shuya unleashed a flurry of sword strikes, pinning her body to the wall.
With a flick of her wrist, wisps of Yin energy rose from the woman’s body. Her struggling limbs went limp, and she fell silent.
Hua Shuya sheathed her sword and exhaled slowly.
Her swordsmanship and cultivation had improved after days of practice. She had almost reached the Azure Spirit realm, her internal energy now capable of inflicting fatal damage to these evil creatures.
But…
A chill ran down her spine as she looked behind her.
A seductive woman with an alluring figure, clad only in thin gauze and golden ornaments, her skin exposed, appeared silently, licking her finger with a playful smile. “Interesting. I didn’t expect a mere mortal to be able to dispel our Yin energy. It seems my elaborate plan to lure you here wasn’t in vain.”
This woman was undoubtedly a ghost.
Hua Shuya’s face was cold, her expression determined. She banished all distracting thoughts and assumed a fighting stance.
She believed in her training, in the skills Senior Lin had taught her.
Now that this evil creature had revealed itself, she had no choice but to fight.
“I have nothing left to fear.”
She would slay this evil ghost!
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