"You're lying!" Jiang Cheng grabbed the crying man, staring into his eyes. "You haven't even seen the mistress, how could you recognize the maid beside her?"

"I... I may not have seen the mistress herself, but I've seen her paintings. The maid is in the paintings with her, I remember it clearly." The man stammered, not sounding like he was lying.

After a moment of silence, Jiang Cheng took the Bagua mirror from a reluctant Tang Qisheng, hefting it in his hand. It was heavy, and the texture was clearly not ordinary. He returned the mirror to the man. "Does this thing really work? If I carry it in this haunted house, nothing bad will happen?"

"This... should be fine. I haven't been here many times, and it was always during the day. But holding this thing makes me feel secure." The man took the Bagua mirror, checked it over, and clutched it carefully in his hand, then breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good, I want you to take us through this house. Two of our friends are missing, they must be lost," Jiang Cheng said naturally to the man.

Hearing this, the man's expression, which had just improved, instantly fell. Lost? Didn't they just say they were taken by ghosts? How could things change so quickly?

But seeing the unfriendly looks on everyone's faces, the man swallowed nervously. He knew that if he didn't agree today, he probably wouldn't be able to keep the Bagua mirror.

And without the Bagua mirror, he really wouldn't dare to walk around this haunted house alone. He might run into that ghost maid again.

Finally, hardening his heart, the man nodded. "Alright, I'll take you. But I won't stay too long, just for the time it takes an incense stick to burn. If we don't find them by then, you have to let me go back."

"No problem," Jiang Cheng nodded.

"It's a deal," Tang Qisheng said.

That's what they said, but when the time came, if they didn't find the people, it wouldn't be up to him. Either he stayed, or he left the Bagua mirror. In short, by the latest before dawn, if they still couldn't find Fatty and the others, then their chances were slim.

After a brief discussion, Lu Qin, Shao Tong, Jiang Cheng, and Li Bai would go together, while Zhang Qizheng was originally going to join the search, but Jiang Cheng hinted that he should stay behind. After all, there was a chance that Fatty and Yao Shunyu might find their way back, and they needed to leave a reliable person to respond.

The man walked in front, and under Jiang Cheng's direction, the group quickly went to the place where Fatty and the others had last been seen. Maybe it was just psychological, but with more people, the chill that had been pressing on Jiang Cheng's heart dissipated a lot.

The size of this courtyard exceeded expectations. After turning several corners, they still found nothing. People occasionally dared to come here during the day, but once night fell, it was forbidden territory for the entire Marquis's residence.

The man, who was holding the lantern and walking in front, stopped and refused to go any further. "That's about it, don't... don't go any deeper. I haven't been in there before. According to our agreement, I have to leave. The Marquis... the Marquis is still waiting for me to report back."

Li Bai was unwillingly scanning the vicinity, when suddenly, Shao Tong cried out unexpectedly, instantly attracting everyone's attention.

"What's that?" With the light of the lantern, Shao Tong's eyes shone brightly. He was staring at a fork in the road about 10 meters ahead, which looked very desolate.

After everyone walked over, Jiang Cheng discovered that there were actually footprints on the ground. The footprints were wet, obviously someone had just passed by not long ago, and based on the outline and pattern, Jiang Cheng was certain that it was Fatty.

Between the footprints, there were also scattered water stains. Fatty was walking and dripping water, which meant that his whole body was soaked.

"Is there a lake or a pond in this haunted house?" Jiang Cheng asked.

Looking at the wet footprints, the man felt uneasy. "No, I haven't heard of any."

"We should be in the front yard. If there isn't one in the front yard, what about the back yard? Even a haunted house should have a back yard," Jiang Cheng looked at the man, obviously waiting for his answer.

"There isn't one in the back yard either. Although I haven't been there, I've heard people talk about it. It's very remote, and for some reason, almost nothing has been built there. It's just a large wasteland, overgrown with weeds that no one cares about."

Jiang Cheng stared at the direction the Fatty's footprints led, and took a deep breath. "Which way does this direction... lead to?"

"It seems... it seems to be the direction of the back yard." A gust of cold wind blew past, and the man couldn't help but shiver. He was starting to regret it. How did he end up with such a bad job? But it was too late to say anything now.

Everyone followed the footprints, their nerves stretched to the limit, their eyes scanning the surroundings. What awaited them could very well be a cold corpse, or... something even more terrifying than a corpse.

After walking for who knows how long, everyone arrived at a secluded place, where the walls were covered with ivy, and some of the wooden structures showed obvious signs of decay.

Suddenly, Jiang Cheng's ears twitched. "Don't move," he gestured.

Everyone stopped and perked up their ears, listening to the sounds around them.

"Scratch."

"Scratch."

...

A strange sound came from not far away. It was hard to describe, like someone crawling in the grass, bit by bit. You could feel the stiffness of the movement just by listening to the sound.

Slowly, everyone moved towards the direction of the sound. It was a corner, and the sound was coming from behind the corner. The man wasn't stupid, and refused to go any further. Li Bai snatched the Bagua mirror and handed it to Jiang Cheng, then took the lantern as well. The man trembled and wanted to resist, but Li Bai kicked him back.

Finally, after rounding the corner, with the faint light of the lantern, the scene before them made everyone's scalp crawl. In the dim corner, there was a tree, and a bloated figure was carrying someone on their back, bending over, walking around the tree. The "scratching" sound was the sound of shoes rubbing against the ground.

The person was naturally Fatty, but what was truly frightening was that the person on his back was only half there!

Two pale, swollen arms were wrapped tightly around Fatty's neck, and a head was leaning crookedly on Fatty's shoulder. The mouth, still dripping with mucus, was slightly open, as if to whisper something in Fatty's ear.

Li Bai's eyes suddenly narrowed. "How... how could it be him!"

Li Bai's confusion was shared by everyone, because the person on Fatty's back was not Yao Shunyu, but Gao Yanqing, who had died last night!

His upper body had actually appeared here!

On Fatty's back!

At the same time, Fatty's face had a deathly gray pallor. He seemed unable to hear anything, and didn't even notice Jiang Cheng and the others nearby, just endlessly circling the tree, as if he were possessed.