Chapter 88: Into a Martial Arts Novel, Day 10

Chapter 88: The Tenth Day of Transmigrating into a Wuxia Novel

An Yi ignored them, his gaze fixed on the tightly closed door of the main house.

The faint, elusive yin-cold energy seemed to have its source behind that door, and he walked slowly toward it.

Ling Fengyao's eyes were also fixed on that spot, and seeing this, he immediately followed like a tail, leaning in to whisper by his ear, warm breath grazing his ear: "Found something?"

"There's something interesting inside," An Yi said softly, reaching out to push the door open.

"Creak——"

A stronger wave of yin-cold air, mixed with a musty smell, rushed toward them.

Inside, the room was dim, the furnishings simple and covered with a thin layer of dust, with indistinct debris piled in the corner.

Yet what caught the eye most were the scattered items on the floor in the center of the room... a few pieces of old women's jewelry.

A faded gold hairpin, a cracked jade bracelet, and several rusted silver bells—these were free of dust, as if they had been wiped clean.

There were also dried bloodstains on them.

These objects appearing in this abandoned, uninhabited courtyard room seemed especially odd and creepy.

"Look! Again!"

A wandering martial artist who had followed them in exclaimed: "This is the strange thing the steward said! These women's old things just appear out of nowhere!"

The big burly man with a curly beard stepped forward, grabbed the gold hairpin, examined it closely, and found it was fake: "Bah! Just some worthless scrap! Think that scares me?"

Yan Yu stepped forward quickly, his expression serious as he took the jewelry from the big man, examined them carefully, then looked up at the rafters and scanned the room:

"It doesn't seem like it was thrown in from outside. The doors and windows have been sealed for years; the dust patterns don't lie. If someone did this, how could they have gotten them in?"

He was baffled, frowning deeply.

Ling Fengyao also picked up the cracked jade bracelet, twirled it between his fingers, his peach-blossom eyes narrowing as he looked at An Yi, a teasing tone in his voice: "Ayi, maybe it really is a seductive ghost? Seeing how handsome you are, she left you a token?"

"Is this MC seriously messed up?"

"Why is he constantly flirting?! Help!"

"Why’s he hitting on An Yi every single day?!"

No way!

"Judging from the earlier chapters, he was the carefree type, very strong, and didn't give a damn about anything. So why’s he flirting all day now? Is his character totally ruined?"

"Yeah, even if he used to joke around, he wouldn't joke about this kind of thing. He clearly knew his limits!"

"@Author! Come out and explain!"

"Elementary, my dear Watson! Obviously, An Yi is the CP arranged by the author for the male lead..."

"...I've said it many times, this is a male-focused story. Can you people who ship gay couples just get the hell out?!"

"Yeah, go away! I'm begging you, I'm seriously at my wit's end..."

"Hee hee hee hee~~ Not leaving!"

"..."

An Yi: ...

An Yi tuned out the chatter around him and ignored Ling Fengyao's nonsense.

His spiritual power had already detected a trace of extremely subtle energy fluctuation, originating from underground. He lowered his gaze, eyes falling on the dust-covered floor beneath his feet.

Beside him, Yan Yu glanced at Ling Fengyao, then looked at An Yi, who appeared as a cool, refined scholar, with downcast eyes as if oblivious to the world. Several conjectures crossed his mind:

Could it be that this Young Master An was coerced by this lecher and had no choice but to travel with him?

With that thought, his gaze toward Ling Fengyao involuntarily took on a hint of scrutiny and disapproval.

Before he could dwell on it further, An Yi's voice cut through.

"There's something below." An Yi suddenly spoke, his voice not loud, yet it instantly silenced the noisy room.

All eyes turned to him.

Yan Yu was taken aback, following his gaze downward to the floor: "Below?"

Ling Fengyao raised an eyebrow, immediately crouching down. Using his inner energy, he swept away the dust from an area, revealing the floor tiles beneath.

Noticing nothing unusual, he curled his knuckles and knocked.

Knock knock.

It sounded a bit hollow.

"Hey! There really is something off!"

Ling Fengyao laughed, looked up, and winked at An Yi: "Ayi, your eyes are sharp."

A female warrior holding a blade said: "Is it a secret passage? Is the troublemaker entering the manor from here?"

"Whether it is or not, we'll find out by going in," a gruff-voiced man stated bluntly.

"How do we get in? Is there a mechanism?"

A few martial artists immediately began searching the surroundings but found nothing.

The burly bearded man had already lost patience. Not finding any mechanism, he roared: "To hell with mechanisms! I'll break it open!"

Before his words died away, he had already channeled his inner energy, and with a palm as big as a winnowing basket, with a whoosh, he slammed down hard on the hollow-sounding floor tile!

"Boom!"

The tile shattered with a crash, revealing a pitch-black hole. An even chillier air surged out from within, carrying an indescribable staleness and stench.

The crowd leaned in to look, seeing below a narrow, dark passageway, chilling to the bone.

"There really is a secret passage!" the martial artists exclaimed.

"It seems someone is indeed using this passage to pretend to be a ghost and stir up trouble!"

Yan Yu said in a deep voice, his hand already on his sword hilt, his gaze sharp on the hole: "We must go down and investigate!"

"I'll go first!" The burly bearded man, confident in his prowess, rubbed his hands and was about to jump down.

"Hold on." An Yi suddenly stopped him.

The big man frowned: "What? Scared?"

An Yi ignored him, only reaching out to block the entrance of the hole. He smiled: "We should inform the steward first."

The big man scowled, wanting to scold him for being overly cautious, but when he saw An Yi's smiling face, he held his tongue: "Fine."

He had a feeling that saying more would bring bad consequences.

This pale-faced young man seemed... and with Ling Fengya standing nearby, arms crossed and eyebrow raised, smirking at him—whatever, he was magnanimous enough to let it go!

One person hurried off to call the steward. Soon, the hurried footsteps of a large group approached.

Before long, the frail Lord Li, supported by his son, made his way over, trembling, followed by his household members, each with expressions of shock and suspicion.

When he saw the dark hole in the ground and the scattered old women's belongings, Lord Li's face turned even more ashen, and he sighed repeatedly.

"This... this really is a secret passage..."

Ling Fengya strolled forward, his tone still languid: "Lord Li, do you know who the previous owner of this courtyard, or rather this entire residence, was? These women's belongings are old-fashioned."

Lord Li shuddered, his eyes flickering as if harboring an unspeakable secret.

Seeing him hesitate, everyone looked at him suspiciously.

But an old nanny beside him suddenly fell to her knees, tears streaming down her wrinkled face: "Master! At a time like this, what is there left to hide? Are you waiting for that... that 'thing' to take the lives of the whole family before you reveal the truth?"

Under Lord Li's resigned silence, the old nanny choked out a long-buried story from the past.