Normal people would never have such a face, so the late madam was also a disciple, and had been severely eroded to the point where her body had become deformed.

Just as Zhang Qizheng was contemplating whether to abandon the Calamity-Bearing Woman and go to the real late madam, suddenly, his left wrist tightened, and a chilling coldness he had never felt before instantly enveloped him.

He was stunned. The Calamity-Bearing Woman in front of him stopped walking, her right hand reaching out and firmly gripping his wrist.

Her two lifeless eyes slowly turned, finally fixing on Zhang Qizheng's panicked face.

"Name..."

The woman's pale lips moved slightly, uttering two words devoid of any emotion.

Zhang Qizheng couldn't help but be taken aback, until the woman continued, "Name... my name..."

This time, Zhang Qizheng heard clearly. The Calamity-Bearing Woman was asking for her own name, but... but how would he know the Calamity-Bearing Woman's name?

In their previous brief encounters, the Calamity-Bearing Woman had always been unapproachable, never mentioning a word about her life.

Hesitantly, Zhang Qizheng couldn't say a word. At the same time, an even more terrifying scene unfolded. The late madam behind the Calamity-Bearing Woman didn't stop, but continued to approach him step by step at the same speed.

This sudden turn of events completely disrupted Zhang Qizheng's plan. He certainly couldn't escape now, and he knew what his fate would be once the late madam reached him.

The only way to break the deadlock was to answer the Calamity-Bearing Woman's question, but as the late madam closed in, Zhang Qizheng's mind became a jumbled mess.

"Name..."

"My... my name..."

The Calamity-Bearing Woman's voice faded in and out. Looking at her face up close, Zhang Qizheng felt ice forming in his veins. "Calamity-Bearing Woman, your name is Calamity-Bearing Woman, right?" His voice trembled, this was a desperate answer.

As the Calamity-Bearing Woman's fingers tightened, Zhang Qizheng's face contorted in pain. He inadvertently glanced at the Calamity-Bearing Woman's eyes, and found that those gray-white eyes actually showed human emotion—anxiety, worry, and endless pain...

It was as if... as if the Calamity-Bearing Woman also hoped he could answer correctly, so that both of them could be freed.

In a daze, Zhang Qizheng actually felt that the person standing in front of him was a living person, and that this person was definitely not the Calamity-Bearing Woman from the ancestral hall, but someone wearing a different skin.

Recalling the strangeness he had discovered not long ago, Zhang Qizheng's pupils suddenly constricted. He realized what the problem was—yes, that must be it!

But just as he opened his mouth, intending to say what he suspected, the late madam, who had been within reach, suddenly disappeared. Before he could react, a chilling coldness appeared behind him, and with a tightening around his neck, the red rope was torn apart by a huge force, and Zhang Qizheng lost consciousness.

Jiang Cheng and the others, observing from a distance, felt a tremor in their hearts. Consistent with their previous guess, they couldn't see the late madam's position, but from Zhang Qizheng's reaction, he could.

As Zhang Qizheng turned into a statue, the Calamity-Bearing Woman finally let go. But this time, several small objects fell from the Calamity-Bearing Woman, making a crackling sound.

Even from a distance, Jiang Cheng and the others could see a faint red light emanating from these objects, clearly indicating they were extraordinary.

A figure darted out of the darkness. Lu Qin and Shao Tong quickly ran towards the red light, not even caring that the Calamity-Bearing Woman's back was not yet completely out of sight.

Upon seeing this, Fatty immediately became anxious and asked, "What do we do?"

Before he finished speaking, Jiang Cheng was the first to rush out, followed closely by Fatty. Yao Shunyu gritted his teeth and followed.

The dangers in the mission didn't come entirely from ghosts. If the key clues fell into Lu Qin and Shao Tong's hands, they would be in big trouble.

They were still one step too late. Lu Qin and Shao Tong arrived first, and squatted down. The previous red glow disappeared, revealing several wooden plaques to their view.

There were a total of five plaques, all black and similar in texture to the thunderstruck wood plaques they had seen before. But these plaques were obviously smaller, all square, and now arranged vertically in a row.

There were words on the plaques. After careful identification, from top to bottom they were Wang, Lu, Jiang, Shao, Yao.

"What is going on?" Fatty was shocked. "Why does the Calamity-Bearing Woman have plaques with our surnames on them?"

These plaques were simple and archaic, and didn't seem like they had been made recently. Jiang Cheng reached out, seemingly wanting to pick up a piece to examine it closely, but these wooden plaques seemed to have taken root in the ground and wouldn't budge no matter how hard he tried.

Shao Tong's voice came faintly, "It seems this is a prediction. We confirmed that the real late madam is someone else, so we triggered the next stage of the mission. If I'm not mistaken, the order of the plaques is our order of appearance next."

Hearing that the next person might be him, Fatty couldn't help but make a face. Lu Qin watched this, a cold smile rising in her heart.

Very good, from this moment on, they would be entering her rhythm.

Seemingly unwilling, Fatty suddenly raised his head and questioned Lu Qin and Shao Tong, "How could the plaques, which made a clattering sound when they fell, be arranged so neatly? You two must have done something, didn't you?!"

Shao Tong narrowed his eyes, revealing an annoying expression, "If you have the ability, go ahead and mess up the order of the plaques. Conspiracy theories won't save your life."

"You motherfucker..."

Fatty raised his fist to hit Shao Tong, but Yao Shunyu pulled him back from behind.

Unlike Shao Tong, Lu Qin actually explained to Jiang Cheng and the others with rare calm, "Mr. Jiang, we've said it before, we're all in the same boat. The situation is still unclear, and if something happens to you, it won't do us any good."

"Now, we should think about how to survive, and preferably save our previous teammates." Lu Qin's words were sincere, leaving no room for criticism.

"I hope so."

Jiang Cheng replied coldly, then squatted down to check Zhang Qizheng's body on the ground. Like the previous people, the red rope around his neck had been torn off, and the copper coin was gone.

Seeing this, Jiang Cheng was relieved. He was most worried about Zhang Qizheng's copper coin being damaged, because then even a god couldn't save him.

Prying open Zhang Qizheng's eyelids, his eyeballs rolled around in their sockets, adding to the atmosphere, and enveloping the entire courtyard in an inexplicable fear.

Perhaps knowing they weren't welcome, Lu Qin and Shao Tong left quietly. The two soon arrived at a secluded spot, and the gloom that had been on Lu Qin's face was swept away, replaced by an excitement she could hardly suppress.

"This... is going to work!"