A Haunted Mansion?

Chen Mei, interrupted by Su Qing, stopped her questioning of Yudie. She looked up at the sky and saw that it was indeed getting late.

She nodded and said, "It is indeed late... but there are no towns nearby. How about we walk a bit further and see if we can find a cave or an abandoned mansion?"

Su Qing naturally had no objections. After all, her main goal was to change the subject.

"Then let's walk a bit further. If all else fails, we'll just camp out for the night," Su Qing nodded and said with a smile.

Ruan Shuxiang raised her hand and added, "If we camp out, I can keep watch for everyone. It doesn't matter if I don't sleep."

Su Qing glanced at Ruan Shuxiang and nodded with a smile.

Through their time together, Su Qing had gained a better understanding of Ruan Shuxiang. Aside from being a bit timid, she was excellent in every other way and very willing to help others—especially Su Qing.

Chen Mei also looked at Ruan Shuxiang and said, "It wouldn't be right to always have you keep watch."

"I'm a tree demon; it's fine," Ruan Shuxiang shook her head.

In Ruan Shuxiang's eyes, Su Qing and Yudie were ordinary people, and Yudie was a sick child. Naturally, she couldn't let them handle the arduous task of keeping watch. Moreover, since Su Qing was her benefactor, she couldn't bear to let them suffer.

Seeing Ruan Shuxiang's insistence, Chen Mei went silent for a moment before nodding. "Fine, have it your way."

Over these past few days, Chen Mei's trust in Ruan Shuxiang had grown. Although she hadn't completely let her guard down because the other was a demon, the wariness in her heart had certainly lessened.

The group chatted as they walked, searching for a suitable place to stay.

Before they knew it, they had reached the top of the mountain.

As if luck were on their side, the moment they reached the summit, they saw a large mansion standing there.

The mansion was quite grand, clearly the residence of a wealthy family. However, despite their long walk up, they hadn't seen even a glimpse of such a large estate until they reached the very top.

"Eh? There's actually a large mansion here?" Chen Mei looked at the house, surprised. "That's strange."

Hearing this, Su Qing looked at the vermilion gates and asked, "You didn't know there was a family living on this mountain?"

Chen Mei nodded. "I didn't... To be honest, this is only my second time taking this road. Although I've passed through here before, I was in a hurry and mostly just glanced at the scenery. I don't remember if there was one here."

Chen Mei tried to recall. She seemed to remember a house being here... but not one like this. Unfortunately, too much time had passed, and her memory was blurred; she couldn't remember what it was originally supposed to look like.

"I see..."

Su Qing nodded, looking at the gates with a thoughtful expression. She quietly formed a hand seal and cast an illusion-breaking spell.

Sure enough, once the spell took effect, the true appearance of the mansion was revealed to her.

The grand courtyard vanished, leaving only a sense of endless desolation. The "grand mansion" was actually a dilapidated, ruined courtyard that looked as if it hadn't been inhabited for hundreds of years. The vermilion gates were long rotted, and the plaque above the entrance had vanished without a trace.

Seeing the true state of the courtyard, Su Qing had a good idea of what was going on.

'This spirit has some skill. If I hadn't sensed something was off and cast a spell, I really might have been fooled,' Su Qing thought with a smile. 'Too bad its cultivation and luck are a bit lacking, since it ran into me.'

Facing such a situation, Su Qing wasn't worried at all. She had encountered such situations more than once or twice. Back when she accompanied Chen Chaoyan on the pilgrimage to the West, they ran into haunted houses like this every few days.

'Should I play along with these ghosts for a bit?'

Su Qing rubbed her chin, thinking to herself. 'No, I'm currently disguised as an ordinary person. Logically, I shouldn't be able to see through this. Oh well, the journey is boring anyway; I'll use you all to pass the time.'

While she was thinking, Yudie, whom she was holding by the hand, used sound transmission to point out the truth.

"Mommy... should I find a way to tell Chen Mei?" Yudie asked.

Su Qing replied, "No need. Since we're here, let's go in and have some fun. But when the time comes, keep an eye on the people around us to make sure their minds aren't actually clouded by the ghosts."

Yudie understood Su Qing's meaning and stopped the transmission.

After finishing her talk with Yudie, Su Qing feigned a thoughtful nod and said to Chen Mei, "It's probably because you were in a hurry back then that you didn't notice it."

Chen Mei scratched her head. "I suppose so. It's been so long, I really can't remember."

Su Qing said, "Well, since we're already here, why don't we go in and rest for the night?"

"Alright... but it's better to be cautious," Chen Mei said with a frown.

Su Qing tilted her head and smiled. "Mhm, I'll listen to you."

Beside them, seeing that the two had made a decision, Ruan Shuxiang raised her hand and said, "I-I'll go knock!"

Su Qing didn't stop her, only saying, "Just make sure you don't get scared by the people inside."

"I... I'm not that timid! What's there to be afraid of from humans?"

Ruan Shuxiang replied weakly, her voice lacking any real confidence. Her lack of confidence wasn't about whether she'd be scared, but about her claim of being brave. She had some self-awareness; she knew she was just being stubborn.

Ruan Shuxiang walked to the door and reached out to knock. But before her hand could land, the door opened on its own.

This gave Ruan Shuxiang a fright. She scrambled back several steps, shrinking back to Su Qing's side.

Su Qing glanced at Ruan Shuxiang, then at the maid who had opened the door, the corners of her mouth curling slightly. With a single glance, she could tell the maid wasn't human.

'So the ghost couldn't sit still and came to invite us in?' she thought.

"It's rare to see anyone today, and yet more have come..." The maid's brows quirked as she saw them. She muttered under her breath, "I wonder what kind of day it is..."

Then she asked:

"May I ask... is there something you need?"

"We were passing by and saw it was getting late, so we were hoping to stay the night. We're not sure if that would be possible," Su Qing said with a gentle smile.

Hearing this, the maid frowned and said, "I'll have to ask my mistress... I can only let you in if she agrees. If she doesn't... then I'll have to ask you to leave."

Su Qing raised an eyebrow, not taking it seriously. She just felt the maid was being quite theatrical and professional.

Su Qing said, "Then I'll trouble you to go and ask."

The maid nodded:

"Then please wait a moment..."

She closed the door and turned to leave.

Once the maid was gone, Su Qing patted Ruan Shuxiang's shoulder and teased, "Didn't you just say you wouldn't be scared?"

"That was an accident... I didn't expect her to pop out so suddenly. I didn't even hear footsteps inside..." Ruan Shuxiang said aggrievedly. "Besides... that maid gives me a bad feeling."

Su Qing raised an eyebrow and asked with feigned confusion, "What kind of feeling? Is it just because you were startled?"

"...It's just that, she doesn't feel human," Ruan Shuxiang said, scratching her head. "Even though she looks human in every way... for some reason, she gives off a non-human vibe. But maybe I'm just sensing it wrong?!"

Hearing Ruan Shuxiang say this, Su Qing was actually a bit surprised. Although Ruan Shuxiang was weak and couldn't see through the transformation directly, the fact that she could sense the non-human aura was quite impressive. After all, the maid's transformation was very well done. If Su Qing hadn't looked intentionally, she might not have noticed the difference between human and ghost immediately.

Su Qing thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "Who knows? Maybe she really is a ghost!"

"Sister Su... don't scare me," Ruan Shuxiang said with a shiver.

Su Qing was a bit speechless. "You're a demon yourself; why are you afraid of ghosts? Back when you were just a tree, your state wasn't much different from a ghost!"

Ruan Shuxiang shook her head. "That's different... back then the 'ghost' was me. Now the 'ghost' is someone else."

"..."

Ruan Shuxiang's logic left Su Qing with no rebuttal.

"Forget it, I'll stop teasing you. You really need to work on your courage..."

In all her long life, Su Qing had never seen a demon as timid as Ruan Shuxiang. It was both exasperating and hilarious.

Beside them, Chen Mei stared at the vermilion gates without saying a word. Although she didn't sense anything wrong with the maid, her years of experience in the jianghu told her this courtyard wasn't as simple as it looked.

'Maybe I'm overthinking it?' Chen Mei sighed inwardly. 'But it's better to be prepared... just in case they're bandits.'

Just as she was thinking, the vermilion gates were pushed open again. It was the same maid.

"Please come in... my mistress says you may stay for the night, but you must leave at dawn," the maid said.

Su Qing looked at Chen Mei, who only nodded without speaking. Su Qing then thanked the maid.

The maid said, "You should thank my mistress; I'm just a messenger."

Su Qing chuckled, thinking the maid was quite a good actress. Naturally, she didn't say it aloud. She just casually chatted with the maid, asking a few questions.

Meanwhile, Ruan Shuxiang held Yudie's hand, scanning the courtyard and looking at the maid. That non-human feeling hadn't disappeared. In fact, after entering the courtyard, it had grown even stronger. She felt more and more certain that it wasn't an illusion.

Thinking of this, Ruan Shuxiang couldn't help but look at Su Qing. Seeing that Su Qing still seemed to have noticed nothing, she tugged on Chen Mei's sleeve and whispered, "I feel like... that maid isn't human."

Chen Mei glanced at Ruan Shuxiang and whispered back:

"I can't tell, but I also feel something is wrong here... if there's trouble later, you and I will take Big Sister Su and Yudie and run."

Ruan Shuxiang nodded and whispered, "Don't worry, I'm best at running for my life."

Chen Mei: "..."

Yudie: "..."

Yudie was right beside them; their "whispers" were no different from a loud conspiracy to her. Of course, it was the same for Su Qing. Whispering was far less secure than sound transmission.

Su Qing heard their conversation clearly but showed no reaction. She simply used her magic to observe the situation in the courtyard.

To be honest, the situation inside was a bit unexpected. She had thought the place would be piled with corpses, but instead, it was just dilapidated. There weren't even animal carcasses, let alone human ones. It didn't quite fit her image of a haunted house.

What puzzled Su Qing even more was that despite being a haunted house, there wasn't a hint of baleful aura or a sinister atmosphere. If she were under an illusion, that would be one thing, but she could see the reality. The illusions here couldn't fool her at all.

For a moment, Su Qing found it quite interesting—more interesting than she had anticipated. Her curiosity shifted from simply looking for amusement to wanting to know what was really going on.

The group followed the maid and soon arrived at the living room. In the main seat of the living room, a sickly young lady was drinking medicine, the air thick with the scent of herbs. Beside her, a young woman sat elegantly, chatting with the sickly lady.

Seeing Su Qing and the others approach, the lady coughed twice and said:

"Please, have a seat. Don't be formal."

Su Qing looked at the lady, intending to see what kind of ghost she was. But as she looked, Su Qing's brows furrowed.

Because... she discovered that the lady wasn't a dead person at all. She was a genuine, living human. She was just incredibly ill, looking as though she had one foot in the grave. It was as if she might die if she missed a single breath.

Su Qing found the situation even more intriguing.

"Thank you, Miss, for allowing us to stay the night," Su Qing said to the lady.