"Maybe... maybe we're just lucky." Fatty stared at the lush green grass inside the Hidden Ghost Road, uttering a dry sentence that even he didn't quite believe.

Unexpectedly, Tang Qisheng nodded with a serious expression. "Brother Wang, you are indeed very fortunate. A rainbow between your brows signifies good luck in adversity, turning misfortune into blessings. But these two..."

Tang Qisheng looked at Jiang Cheng and Yao Shunyu, the unspoken part of his sentence clear to everyone.

Taken aback, Fatty found the words familiar, as if someone had said them to him not long ago. Realizing this, his eyes widened slightly. "Do you know Luo Tianhe?"

"Are you referring to Master Luo, the physiognomist?" Tang Qisheng raised an eyebrow. "We are considered friends despite the age difference. Master Luo is highly skilled, and I also consult him on matters I find difficult to discern. What, has Master Luo also read Brother Wang's face?"

Worried that Fatty would let something slip, Jiang Cheng naturally took over the conversation. "We're not close, but we know each other. Master Luo is a master of feng shui and geomancy."

Hearing this, Zhu Jie slowly shook his head. "Master Luo specializes in face reading and bone touching, methods for discerning people. It's rumored that Yu Chengmu is the true master of feng shui and geomancy, but it's said that he is gloomy and difficult to befriend. We haven't met him yet."

Zhu Jie paused before continuing with a wry smile, "What nonsense am I talking about? It's best... best if we never meet him at all."

Fatty breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, thinking that his wish would be granted, because those two were already dead. Thinking back to the effort it took to deal with them, he realized he had put in a lot of effort, and lost a lot of lives, especially as the doctor was even more sinister than those two combined, otherwise the outcome would have been hard to predict.

"Experts~"

"Ex~ Experts~"

Several soft voices came from behind, filled with fear and a hint of tentative probing. Everyone immediately turned around and saw a man standing behind a pillar covered in ivy.

The man was slightly chubby, with a forced smile on his face. It was more fear than anything else. "Experts, why aren't you in your rooms? What are you doing here?"

"Who are you? Why are you sneaking around? Can't you walk without making a sound?" Seeing the Hou Manor insignia on the chubby man's clothes, Zhang Qisheng frowned.

"It's like this, the Lord... the Lord has sent me to ask why the esteemed experts didn't go to see him last night. Was there something that delayed you? And... and..."

"And what?" Li Bai pressed.

"And... and the duty manager of the manor has asked me to inquire if the experts know where Quan Fu has gone. After being sent to inform you last night, he hasn't returned."

As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Cheng immediately turned to look at the threshold in front of the Hidden Ghost Road. Zhang Qizheng reacted. "That person last night also crossed the threshold?"

"Yes, not only did he come in, but he also tripped on the threshold."

Jiang Cheng recalled what had happened last night, confirming that Quan Fu had fallen into the Hidden Ghost Road, and he was now missing. Considering what Tang Qisheng had said, he was likely in grave danger.

The chubby man, sensing the displeasure on everyone's faces, felt his unease amplified. There had always been rumors of hauntings in this Yin house. It was fine during the day, but once night fell, one could feel the Yin energy inside the house even through a door. Some of the maids who were menstruating even said they could hear women crying.

Swallowing hard, the man forced a smile and bowed obsequiously. "Quan Fu's matter is a small matter. Let the managers find him themselves. Now... now the Lord is still waiting, experts, what do you think..."

"Lead the way."

The Lord's matter could not be delayed, and more importantly, Jiang Cheng also wanted to see the Zhennan (Pacifying the South) Lord with his own eyes.

The paths inside the manor were intricate and looked similar, making it easy to get lost without a guide. Gradually, everyone was surprised to discover that there were quite a few arrangements similar to the Hidden Ghost Road and dead-end alleys in the manor. Some paths were clearly dead ends, but they were unusually well-maintained, while others simply had holes carved into the walls, with clay statues placed inside. The clay statues were adorned with gold and silver, appearing quite wealthy, but they all had one thing in common: no faces.

Although they had already heard about the strangeness of the Zhennan Lord from several people, seeing him in person still made them sigh inwardly. This was not how a valiant general on the battlefield should look or behave.

Inside a simply decorated front hall, behind a gauze curtain, the Zhennan Lord sat at the head of the table. He wore a half-mask covering only his right face, revealing his left cheekbone, which was pale and bloodless. His figure was gaunt, and his clothes seemed almost too big for him.

If it weren't for the support of the chair back, Jiang Cheng suspected that this so-called Zhennan Lord would turn into a pile of bones and shatter on the ground.

"Greetings, Lord." Jiang Cheng and the others were neither humble nor arrogant. It was the Zhennan Lord who was asking them for help, not the other way around, and no one knew what he was up to.

"Cough... cough cough..."

Raising his hand and covering his mouth with a white handkerchief, even this simple action seemed extremely difficult for the Zhennan Lord. He was like an old man on the verge of death, yet the first words he spoke shocked Jiang Cheng and the others.

"The backyard... have you all seen the tombstones in the backyard?" The Zhennan Lord lowered his handkerchief, revealing a patch of glaring red on it.

Jiang Cheng cupped his hands and replied calmly, "Replying to the Lord, we have seen them. I believe the Lord arranged for us to stay in that house with this intention in mind."

Fatty clenched his fists, sweating profusely for Jiang Cheng. He had seen the things in the backyard and knew how many secrets they held—a general from the previous dynasty, and the Lord cursing his own wife to death. If any of these things were revealed, his position as the Zhennan Lord would be over, and it could even lead to his death.

Unexpectedly, after hearing Jiang Cheng's reply, the Zhennan Lord simply nodded. "You are perceptive, unlike those Jianghu (Martial World) practitioners I hired before. They had some skills... cough cough... but they all liked to hide things. They saw through things but didn't dare to speak out. I... I don't like that."

"Since you have been to those hundred-odd desolate graves and returned unscathed, you must have real skills. Ask whatever questions you have."

The more candid the Zhennan Lord was, the more cautious Jiang Cheng and the others became. Seeing that everyone was unresponsive, Jiang Cheng took the lead. "May I ask, Lord, were the rebel general Guo and his accomplices all killed by you on Spring God Lake?"

"Not killed, drowned. I didn't have the ability to defeat him head-on. Not just me, no one in the entire dynasty could stand against his might."

"And... it wasn't me who defeated them, it was my wife."