Chapter 2 The Wooden Brides

　　The Second Young Master visibly trembled, then gave a wry smile. "You masters have noticed, I wanted to invite you all here today to have a good talk."

　　The fat man's expression was normal, but in his heart, he was already cursing. Such a big lantern, anyone with eyes would notice it.

　　"This arrangement was my father's order. A few days ago, when he was still alive, he ordered many things, and the lanterns were one of them. He even held a funeral for himself," the Second Young Master said slowly.

　　"Held a funeral for himself?" The fat man couldn't understand.

　　But the Second Young Master nodded emphatically. "That's right. We couldn't understand it at the time, but my father had a very strong personality. What he said was law at home, and no one dared to disobey him. And it wasn't just this. He also...he also..."

　　Everyone noticed that the Second Young Master's fingers were involuntarily clenching, and his emotions were changing. "You must also think the lanterns hanging outside are strange, right? The white mourning lanterns are for my father, but have you considered who the red celebratory lanterns are for?"

　　Jiang Cheng looked at the Second Young Master and said calmly, "They're for you, Second Young Master."

　　The Second Young Master smiled bitterly upon hearing this, his fingertips digging deeply into his palm. He leaned back in his chair, his emotions fluctuating greatly. "You're half right. There's definitely a part for me in there, but it's not just me, it's also my two brothers. The three Wu brothers are all married! Under my father's orchestration!"

　　"We didn't marry young ladies from any famous families, but...but three wooden figures! My father was crazy, he actually forced us to have a wedding ceremony with three wooden women!"

　　Luo Tianhe, Jiang Cheng, and the others listened quietly. The clues were gradually piecing together. No wonder there was no bride entering the Wu mansion on the wedding day, and no grand celebration was held. There was no way they could publicize something like that. They just didn't expect it to be so bizarre as marrying wooden figures.

　　"You...didn't you ask why?" Afraid of upsetting the Second Young Master, Lin Qianqian's tone was especially gentle.

　　"Of course, we asked, but my father wouldn't explain it to us at all. In recent years, he's been like a different person, especially cold to the three of us brothers. Sometimes I even feel like we...we three brothers are dispensable in my father's eyes. He treats us even worse than he treats his steward. We're like tools, summoned when needed." The Second Young Master's eyes were filled with despair. Perhaps he knew his time was coming, so he was saying these things that had been buried deep in his heart for so long.

　　"Where is that steward? Would it be convenient for us to meet him?"

　　Hearing this, the Second Young Master shook his head. "There's no chance. He's dead. The day before my father was killed, he was walking at night and was dragged away by wild animals in the mountains. I heard my father gave him a proper burial."

　　The clues were piecing together. The Second Young Master wouldn't have guessed that these people had just dug up the steward's coffin today.

　　After a moment of silence, Yao Shunyu slowly spoke. "In other words, after learning of the steward's death, Master Wu began preparing for his own funeral, and at the same time, your three brothers' weddings."

　　"That's right, that's how it was." The Second Young Master pursed his lips, seemingly still unable to escape his father's shadow.

　　"I...I don't know why my father would become like this, and also, what exactly did he offend? Those things actually hollowed out his stomach, and also, those wooden brides also...also..."

　　Staring at the Second Young Master's terrified expression, everyone knew that these wooden brides were definitely not that simple. "Second Young Master, don't get agitated. We're here to solve these problems for you. With us here, everything will be alright." Lin Qianqian's expression was very serious when she was comforting people.

　　But the Second Young Master didn't appreciate it at all. He covered his head with his hands, his body trembling uncontrollably. "No, you wouldn't imagine it, it's too terrifying. I...I didn't notice at all. When I woke up, the wooden bride sleeping next to me had actually...actually turned into that appearance. My father must have known something, he must have known!"

　　"If the three of us brothers hadn't listened to him that night, hadn't gotten married, and hadn't consummated our marriages with the wooden brides, it would have been us who died. No, it's...we're going to die too!"

　　"We're going to die too, just like those three wooden brides!"

　　Seeing the Second Young Master becoming hysterical, Jiang Cheng was worried that he would get too agitated and pass out. He didn't care about the Second Young Master's life or death, but he was currently the most important clue, he couldn't die, at least not yet.

　　Jiang Cheng stepped forward, ignoring Lai Fu who was also walking over, and extended his left hand, placing his palm in front of the Second Young Master's face, pressing his thumb and index finger on the latter's temples, applying slight pressure.

　　After a few seconds, the originally extremely agitated Second Young Master actually slowly calmed down. After exchanging a glance with Jiang Cheng, Jiang Cheng withdrew his hand, and the Second Young Master took a deep breath and nodded. "I didn't control my emotions, didn't I scare you."

　　"It's good that you're alright," Yao Shunyu said. "We still need you to explain in detail, what happened to those three wooden brides?"

　　"The three wooden brides' stomachs were all hollowed out." The Second Young Master couldn't help but breathe rapidly as he spoke about these things. "Can you imagine, that day...that night, the wooden brides were sleeping next to us three brothers, on one bed, but the next day when I opened my eyes, the wooden bride's stomach had been dug open, inside...inside it was hollowed out!"

　　Everyone could completely understand the Second Young Master's fear. First, that thing was able to hollow out the wooden brides' bodies without them noticing, which was clearly not something a human could do. Second, the scene of the wooden brides was exactly the same as Master Wu's death!

　　The most direct conclusion drawn from this was that Master Wu had done something shady before, and now, those things had transformed into vengeful ghosts and come knocking!

　　"If it's convenient, can we see those three wooden women?" Luo Tianhe looked at the Second Young Master, his steady voice making the whole scene much quieter.

　　The Second Young Master slowly nodded and looked at Lai Fu. Lai Fu also understood and retreated, and after a while, he returned with a few people. Those people were carrying something wrapped in red cloth.

　　After dismissing the irrelevant people, Lai Fu uncovered the red cloth. Under the red cloth was an extremely exquisite wooden woman. The woman had a smile on her lips, giving people a sense of leisure and elegance.

　　But when the line of sight moved to the woman's abdomen, a shocking huge depression instantly destroyed all the beauty. Indeed, as the Second Young Master said, the woman's abdomen was almost completely hollowed out, leaving only a thin layer of shell.

　　The few people walked over, squatted down, and carefully examined it. Jiang Cheng stretched out his hand to touch the wooden woman's abdomen, and found that the hollowed-out abdomen was full of dense scratches.