Chapter 11 Picking People

Through the paper door, one could vaguely see something emitting a warm light drifting over. It was a lantern, held by someone, and a very young woman's voice followed shortly after: "Greetings, masters. The Marquis and his wife invite you to come over for a chat."

This had been arranged beforehand, and they couldn't refuse. Besides, everyone was eager to contact the Marquis Zhennan to obtain more information. After repeated probing, the woman didn't reveal any flaws.

When the door opened, standing outside was a girl dressed as a maid. She was very young, probably not yet an adult, with beautiful eyes and a hint of liveliness.

"Does the Marquis want all of us to go together, or just those who didn't meet this afternoon?" Jiang Cheng asked very naturally, while also observing the girl's reaction.

The girl seemed embarrassed by Jiang Cheng and the others staring at her. She lowered her head slightly, gave everyone a bow, and asked, "I won't trouble all of you to go. The Marquis has ordered that all masters please tell me your birthdates, so the Marquis can choose the right people."

As soon as these words came out, everyone felt a chill. Fatty even glanced at Jiang Cheng surreptitiously, because in the story Jiang Cheng had told, there was a group of pitiful fishermen who were tied up by the Marquis's soldiers and taken to Spring God Lake to carry out the task of salvaging treasure. And the way they were chosen was through their so-called birthdates.

According to everyone's later calculations, the old fisherman was most likely able to come back alive because his birthdate didn't match the one calculated by the night celestial master. After all, he was the only one added to the list outside of the roster. He replaced someone named Gouwa.

This wasn't choosing people at all; it was choosing people to die.

But everyone was helpless and could only tell their fabricated birthdates. Even so, four people were still selected.

Fatty, Yao Shunyu, Lu Qin, and Shao Tong.

Except for Shao Tong, who was still acting crazy, the other three looked very uneasy.

"These four masters will come with me to see the Marquis. The rest of you can rest well. I'm afraid we'll still need to trouble you tomorrow." The girl was very polite, not like an ordinary maid. Her every move made people feel comfortable. If it weren't for being in this kind of situation, she would have gained a lot of people's favor.

Soon after, the girl, holding the lantern, led Fatty and the four of them away. Watching their departing figures, the worry in Jiang Cheng's heart grew stronger.

Finally, at the last moment when the light outside was about to disappear, Jiang Cheng gently opened the door. "I'll follow them to take a look. Wait for my message."

Li Bai stepped forward. "I'll go with you."

"No, it's easier for me to go alone." Jiang Cheng gently pushed Li Bai back behind the door, gave her a reassuring look, then closed the door and followed after them along the corridor, his footsteps light.

Jiang Cheng's attention was focused on the flickering lantern in the darkness ahead, and he therefore overlooked his surroundings. As he passed, the light in each of the long row of white paper lanterns hanging under the eaves of the corridor seemed to be suppressed, becoming increasingly faint.

Even more strangely, the two were not completely in sync, but changed like this one or two seconds after Jiang Cheng passed, as if there was something invisible following closely behind him.

Fatty and the others naturally didn't know that Jiang Cheng was following behind. Especially Fatty, who became more and more alarmed as they walked. It was too quiet in this Marquis's residence after nightfall. The surroundings were as silent as death. They could only hear their own footsteps.

Indeed, as everyone said, the path in this courtyard was too winding. He hadn't paid much attention when he came, but now it seemed extremely complicated. He felt like he had been walking for a long time, but it was still the same corridor, one layer nested within another, like a maze. If a thief broke in, they would probably wander around until dawn.

According to the order in which they were called, Fatty was walking in the first position, followed by Yao Shunyu, then Lu Qin, and finally Shao Tong, who was in an abnormal mental state.

Fatty was very satisfied with Shao Tong bringing up the rear. After all, this guy looked like he had a few tricks up his sleeve and might be a hidden expert.

Jiang Cheng had told him before that when walking on such a night road, he wasn't afraid of walking first, but he was afraid of being the last one. After all, you never knew when you turned around, the last person would disappear.

"It's so quiet."

Fatty had just finished his sigh when, the next second, a hand suddenly landed on Fatty's shoulder. The hand was still trembling slightly.

Fatty immediately didn't dare to move. Then he slowly, slowly turned his head, facing Yao Shunyu's tense face. His face was very ugly, and his eyes were full of tension. Yao Shunyu moved his body slightly, and Fatty glanced behind him. The next second, the hair on his body stood on end. Behind them was actually empty. Lu Qin and Shao Tong, both of them, were gone.

This was a task requirement to go to the Marquis, and it had been discussed in advance, so it was unlikely that the two of them had run away because they were afraid. Something must have happened.

But what could have caused both of them to disappear?

Yao Shunyu nudged Fatty, signaling him to continue walking. The lantern light in front was still swaying, and the girl's hand holding the lantern was very steady, as were her footsteps, but after looking at it for a long time, it actually had a rigid feeling.

Cold sweat was pouring out of Yao Shunyu's forehead. Fatty suspected that Yao Shunyu had seen something was wrong long ago, but he hadn't acted rashly because he was concerned about him.

"Something's wrong." Yao Shunyu mouthed to Fatty, his voice extremely low: "The road she's taking is wrong. It's impossible for us to not have left the courtyard for so long. This other courtyard can't be this big. I've been counting my steps. It's enough for us to have walked out of the Marquis's residence."

Fatty immediately felt a thump in his heart. He also sensed something was wrong. "Is she leading us in circles?" Fatty signaled with his eyes. The girl in front was five meters away from them, but her figure was becoming increasingly blurry.

"No, it's not leading us in circles." Yao Shunyu's expression was getting worse and worse.

Soon after, Fatty also took a deep breath. He thought he understood Yao Shunyu's concerns. If the maid in front wasn't leading them in circles, then where had the roads they had walked gone? The extra distance was enough for them to walk out of the Marquis's residence, so... where were they now, and what exactly was this place?

Suddenly, Shao Tong's annoying face appeared in Fatty's mind, along with the sentence he had said: Since the road we came on was sprinkled with dead baby blood, then it wouldn't be too much to drive a few living human stakes into this courtyard, right?

Could they have been blinded by ghosts?

Were living human stakes planted in this other courtyard?

"She's leading us in the opposite direction of the courtyard gate." Yao Shunyu lowered his voice, his pale teeth clenched tightly together.