Chapter 23 | Days of Being a Constable in Ancient Times

“Everyone, stay quiet and stay put. Don’t run around wildly.”

Gu Qingyun channeled her mental cultivation technique and stamped her foot lightly. Everyone felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted from them; they stopped running around in panic and looked at her with even greater fervor.

“Constable Gu, what do you think we should do? Should we charge out now?”

Gu Qingyun looked around, her gaze sweeping across everyone before she slowly shook her head.

“That is unwise. I cannot protect all of you by myself, and it is already pitch-black outside. It is safer for everyone to stay in one place for now. As long as we hold out until sunrise tomorrow, I am confident I can lead you all out.”

Everyone nodded like garlic mortars, agreeing with whatever she said without the slightest objection.

Gu Qingyun nodded in satisfaction. As long as these people followed instructions and didn't drag her down, she was willing to rescue them to the best of her ability.

As the night wore on, the oil in Gu Qingyun's lantern gradually began to run out, and the light flickered unevenly. Someone noticed this and forced a smile that looked worse than crying.

“Constable Gu, the lantern is about to go out! What should we do?”

By now, the lantern was nothing less than a lifeline, providing them with most of their courage. Once the light went out, who knew where that entity might suddenly spring from to snatch them away?

At this thought, the others stared intently at the lantern as well. There were only two sources of light in the room: an oil lamp and this lantern. If the lantern went out, half the room would sink back into darkness—a terrifying prospect to imagine.

Gu Qingyun didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

“Rest assured, I brought extra lamp oil. It will last through the night.” Saying that, she added more oil to the lantern, restoring its bright glow. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, quietly finding places to sit down as they waited for daybreak.

Perhaps because Gu Qingyun's presence brought them a sense of security, once they relaxed, they couldn't resist their fatigue, and one by one, they closed their eyes to rest.

Time flew, and it was soon the Chou hour. Outside, a violent gust of wind blew up, accompanied by eerie weeping and unnatural laughter that made everyone shudder.

“Hehehe...”

As the sound drew closer, those with faint hearts curled into balls while covering their ears. One of them, frightened out of his wits, screamed in despair,

“What do we do? It's here! We're all going to die!”

“No, I can't stay here and wait to die. I have to hide!” With that, he ran behind the crowd, desperately searching for a hiding spot.

Suddenly, besides the lantern in Gu Qingyun's hand, the other oil lamp in the room abruptly went out. Everyone held their breath in terror. It was not until Gu Qingyun walked over and rekindled the lamp that a maidservant spoke up, her voice choked with tears,

“Steward Zhao is gone! He was standing right among us before the lamp went out!” Fear made her voice shrill and trembling, sounding exceptionally mournful in the quiet room.

Outside in the courtyard, the sinister laughter persisted. Inside, a person had vanished without a trace, and no one knew who would be next. Unable to endure the terror any longer, many began to weep softly.

“I want to get out... I want to live, I don't want to die... Waaah...”

Gu Qingyun looked toward Liu Zhiyuan. He sat in a chair with his eyes cast down, his expression flickering obscurely beneath the swaying flame of the oil lamp.

Gu Qingyun pulled her gaze away, picked up the lantern, and opened the door.

“Stay here and don't move. I'll go check outside. Little Black, protect them,” Gu Qingyun instructed Little Black before stepping swiftly out the door.

Just as she reached the courtyard entrance, a thick stench of blood hit her nose. She darted forward to find a corpse lying outside the courtyard, its limbs grotesquely twisted, having died in sheer terror with blood leaking from every orifice.

A chilling wind blew past, but she acted as though she didn't feel it. Spinning around, she drew her saber and slashed backward in a single motion.

“Die!”

Gu Qingyun executed a swift flurry of slashes with her saber. The ghostly shadow before her lunged recklessly toward her, letting out ear-splitting, shriek-like cries.

As Gu Qingyun landed several consecutive strikes, the black energy cloaking the specter grew increasingly faint, gradually revealing its form. Realizing it was no match for the person in front of it, the specter turned and retreated without hesitation, intending to flee.

How could Gu Qingyun let it escape? She launched another series of heavy slashes. Just as she was about to deal the finishing blow to the specter, a woman's voice abruptly echoed out,

“Senior, spare them! We have not harmed any innocent people!”

Gu Qingyun's blade halted right in front of the specter's face. The bone-chilling wind vanished without a trace, and several ghostly figures manifested about ten meters ahead of her.

Leading them was a somewhat familiar-looking woman with soft, lustrous black hair that was clearly well-maintained. She had delicate features and wore fine silk garments, making it obvious at a glance that she hailed from a wealthy family.

Standing beside her were an older woman and several young girls in their mid-teens. They wore attire similar to the maidservants of the estate, and every single one of them had strangle marks around their necks, clearly having died of strangulation.

“Are you Young Master Liu's mother?” Gu Qingyun finally realized why this female ghost looked familiar—she shared a four-to-five-tenths resemblance with Liu Zhiyuan.

The lead female ghost looked at Gu Qingyun and said,

“I am.”

Gu Qingyun asked in a deep voice,

“In that case, why have you killed people?”

Gu Qingyun's question caused several of the ghosts to lose control, exposing their gruesome ghastly manifestations. Seeing that they were about to rampage, she was forced to stamp her foot lightly again,

“Quiet! Keep calm.”

The surging spiritual energy Gu Qingyun unleashed dispersed a third of the black energy clinging to the ghosts, restoring their sanity completely. In a few brief sentences, they made the truth clear.

It was nothing more than the story of a heartless scholar, yet every time Gu Qingyun heard such a tale, she couldn't help but feel irritated. She had several sisters back home—why were there always such utterly revolting men in this world?

“This humble woman is Zheng Zhenzhu. Eighteen years ago, my family was prominent and second to none. Liu Zhengchuan was the husband my father chose for me.

“Back then, his family was poor, but he possessed natural talent and became a Xiucai at a young age. My father always admired scholars, so after both families met, I married into the Liu family. For a time, we lived in perfect harmony.

The female ghost spoke, a self-deprecating smile involuntarily appearing on her face.

“However, good times do not last. Within just four or five years, my father passed away due to poor health, and my brother mismanaged our business, squandering our entire family fortune until he had to move in with his father-in-law.

“With no maternal family to back me, my husband treated me worse with each passing day and took several concubines. Fortunately, I still had a substantial dowry, and my son was sensible, so there was still hope in my life.

“But later on, he sat for the imperial examinations every three years and failed every single time. Others whispered that I brought him bad luck, and he actually believed them. Whenever he came home, he subjected me to cold taunts and harsh ridicule. I endured it constantly, but he only intensified his cruelty.

“Later, without my knowledge, he got involved with the County Vice Magistrate's daughter born of a concubine. Eyeing my dowry, he brought men to murder me and my confidantes, dumping all our bodies down a well.

“What I could bear least was that he actually told my child that I had eloped with another man, smearing my reputation. If my son hadn't been so bright, his character would have been corrupted long ago.”