"What does desolate mean?" Fatty pressed.

"It means the people in the village are all gone, but the houses and fishing tools are still there. And it feels like they left in a hurry, leaving many things behind."

"Not long after that, I heard rumors of ghosts in the desolate village. They say a hunter in the mountains lost his way because of the rain. It was late at night, and he saw the village in the distance, with lights on in every house. But when he went around a mountain path to get there, he found there were no lights at all. These empty houses had been deserted for a long time, and there wasn't a trace of human presence in the entire village."

"After that, no one dared to go there anymore. The mountain people and hunters around avoided it. Over time, the rumors grew, and the story of the ghost village spread."

This long-sealed memory awakened the fear in Shopkeeper Qian's heart. He kept wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, which didn't seem fake.

It's unlikely that everyone in the entire village died. Judging from Shopkeeper Qian's description, it was more like they had suffered an unprecedented disaster, and the remaining survivors had no choice but to leave their homes and escape the fishing village.

Needless to say, this must be related to the ghost tower deep in the lake.

But compared to these bizarre stories, Jiang Cheng was more concerned about the timing. The fishing village's catastrophe began on the night the treasures were exposed after the great ebb tide.

On the first night, the villagers went to collect *yin cai* (ghost money), and some went missing.

On the second night, the remaining people had strange dreams, dreaming of their relatives returning, but then strangely drowning themselves in the Spring God Lake. There were also a series of strange events, such as the mute making noise, the blind seeing, and the deaf hearing the sounds of silk and bamboo instruments.

And the third night was not explained, because Shopkeeper Qian's informant disappeared without a trace. Not long after, the so-called fishing village was completely deserted, becoming a ghastly ghost village.

The key is the timing. That is to say, after the great ebb tide appears, it only takes 3 days at the fastest, and something even more terrifying will happen on the third night.

Seeming to see the suspicion on Jiang Cheng's face, Shopkeeper Qian said very quietly: "You're also here for that matter, right? There are rumors outside that the great ebb tide corresponds to the opening of the ghost gate in the underworld. It is said that General Guo was invincible in his lifetime, but in the end he died at the hands of an unknown nobody. General Guo was unwilling, so he is using *yin cai* to recruit soldiers and horses for himself, preparing to seek revenge on the Zhennan Marquis Mansion."

Ignoring Shopkeeper Qian's explanation, Jiang Cheng asked directly: "When was the last great ebb tide?"

Shopkeeper Qian was stunned by Jiang Cheng's question, and then the way he looked at Jiang Cheng and Fatty changed. But before he could speak, Fatty lifted the thick wooden tea table weighing hundreds of pounds with one hand, and then slowly put it down. During this process, the tea water on the stable tea table hardly moved.

Shopkeeper Qian shivered, finally straightened his position, and immediately replied: "It was... it was last night, the most recent one happened last night. I just received the news this morning, and I was just preparing to pack my luggage and leave the city to avoid it."

Last night... This time made Jiang Cheng's heart tighten. Wasn't this exactly the time when the strange carriage drove out of the Zhennan Marquis Mansion late at night? There was also a coffin tightly bound with hemp rope on the carriage.

This is definitely not a coincidence!

What's even more chilling is that their task tonight is to move the spirit, the spirit of the late madam. If they are lucky enough to survive, then the next night, that is, tomorrow night, they will go to the Spring God Lake, and according to the timeline, tomorrow night is the time when the terrible event will happen!

It seems that an invisible hand is controlling all of this. This is not something that the Zhennan Marquis Mansion alone can do. The Zhennan Marquis is just a disciple who is about to be completely eroded. He is not a god.

But Jiang Cheng felt that what he was about to face was traveling with a god, at least in this mission. The ghost tower named Bliss was like a cloud of haze that could not be dispersed or untangled, always shrouded over Jiang Cheng's head. The Battle of Xieming Mountain was just a mediocre prelude, but even so, it almost wiped out the Crimson's top forces, including Lin Wan'er and Number 3. What's even more terrifying is that Jiang Cheng smelled a familiar scent from that ghost tower. That thing seemed to have the same purpose as the old chairman's bus, or it was simply a variant of the same thing, but the threat brought by the ghost tower was far less powerful than the bus.

After questioning Shopkeeper Qian some more, the other party told him everything he knew and was extremely sincere. Unfortunately, the information he had was limited. After all, he was just an antique dealer, not a poor wretch like them.

Without making things difficult for Shopkeeper Qian, Jiang Cheng and Fatty left through the back door. They were not worried about Shopkeeper Qian leaking their whereabouts. This person was a smart person and knew what to say and what not to say.

Watching Jiang Cheng and the two leave, Shopkeeper Qian collapsed on the chair, rejoicing that he had finally saved his life. But a dozen seconds later, Jiang Cheng and Fatty actually came back, which frightened Shopkeeper Qian. He thought that the two had changed their minds temporarily and planned to kill him to silence him.

But before Shopkeeper Qian could tremble and kneel down to beg for mercy, Jiang Cheng waved his hand and said in a voice that sounded fairly kind: "Don't get me wrong, I came back to remind you of one thing. The inspection at the city gate is very strict now. If you must leave, remember to go through the West City Gate. The situation there is slightly better."

After saying that, Jiang Cheng and the two left, leaving Shopkeeper Qian alone in a daze. It took him a long time to react.

Jiang Cheng's words were not nonsense. Liu Da Dan told him that the inspection at the West City Gate was relatively less strict. He was also the famous Master Liu in Wu Family Lane. According to the agreement, tonight he would take Wu Yujiao and her mother away from Luo An City to visit relatives outside the city.

Jiang Cheng didn't have any good or bad feelings about this Wu Yujiao. Everyone met by chance. If they were lucky enough to leave this mission alive, then Wu Yujiao would be considered a passerby in his life, and she would be forgotten in a few days. But Jiang Cheng rarely felt a little disgusted with Wu Yujiao's mother.

This old woman could also be considered a miserable person, but in order to leave a way out for herself, she would plead for Liu Da Dan and his group of scum in front of Jiang Cheng, but when facing the beggar's pleading, she would turn a deaf ear. According to the beggar, he had repaired the doors and windows for the old woman in the cold winter months.

Although this was not a big deal, it greatly reduced the old woman's score in Jiang Cheng's heart.

Walking and thinking along the way, many pictures appeared in Jiang Cheng's mind, like a revolving lantern before death. Gradually, the sounds around him slowly faded away, as if he was the only one left on the entire street.