When Hou San’er’s wife heard the word ‘revenge,’ her dispirited eyes began to sparkle. In the next moment, she got on her knees in front of me, sobbing and imploring me to take revenge for her husband.

“Hou San’er and Gao Erhu were having an evenly-matched fight. You all saw that. Then, at the break of dawn, I suddenly heard a shriek. I rushed to the window and saw Hou San’er bewilderedly looking at Gao Erhu. He didn’t seem to know what was going on. He even asked why Gao Erhu was there, but Gao Erhu didn’t answer him. Instead, he took his knife and started slashing…”

Hou San’er’s wife couldn’t keep herself from crying again.

Lu Bu was betrayed by his own subordinate, Hou Cheng. With this in mind, perhaps he came to take revenge on Hou Cheng’s descendant. As he was his ancestor, Hou Cheng showed up to protect Hou San’er, but later ran away for some reason.

Unfortunately, Hou San’er was stuck bearing the brunt of Lu Bu’s wrath as a substitute.

If Hou Cheng came to save Hou San’er, it meant his soul was living in some otherworldly item. I asked again, “Ma’am, do you have any antiques or a family heirloom in your house?”

Hou San’er’s wife snorted. “That’s your real goal here, isn’t it?”

Then, she wanted us to leave.

Lacking any other way to convince her, I had to tell the truth. “Ma’am, I’m positive that there’s an evil antique in your house. Didn’t you notice that Hou San’er was acting like a completely different person last night when he fought Gao Erhu? In reality, it was a fight between two ghosts. Controlling Hou San’er was the ghost hiding in the antique in your house. If we don’t resolve this, you will also die.”

“What did you say?” Hearing me, Hou San’er’s wife slumped to the ground, her face incredulous.

Her gaze shifted from us to her husband’s coffin. In the end, she said, “You should visit the Hou family’s ancestral hall!”

“The Hou family’s ancestral hall?” I frowned.

“Yeah, the Hou family has a treasure hidden in their ancestral hall. It’s precious, I guess. Throughout all the time we’ve been married, I have never seen that treasure. All I know is that the treasure is kept inside a black iron chest. When my husband was alive, he told me that it’s a family heirloom that dates back to the Eastern Han Dynasty. It’s been in our family for generations. If it’s a family heirloom, why would it harm a member of this family?”

Hou San’er’s wife had cried so much that she’d almost lost her voice. She pulled herself together and stood up, writing me an address. She then looked for the key in her drawer, handing it to me. She asked me to return it to her when I was done.

“Don’t worry, ma’am. I won’t let brother Hou’s death be in vain!”

I took the key and respectfully bowed to her. Then, I drove directly to the Hou family’s ancestral hall.

On the way there, I felt that things weren’t that simple. There were a total of three subordinates that had betrayed Lu Bu. Aside from Hou Cheng, the other two were Song Xian and Wei Xu.

With Lu Bu’s ghost being awakened, he wouldn’t just settle for Hou San’er. Song Xian’s and Wei Xu’s descendants wouldn’t escape this tribulation, either.

I asked Baldy, “What was the surname of the official’s son?”

“Wei. What’s wrong?” Baldy didn’t understand.

I shook my head. “Nothing.”

The next target was Song Xian’s descendant. If Lu Bu wasn’t dealt with, more people would die.

I didn’t understand why Lu Bu had chosen the hotel’s grand opening to show up.

Baldy was always in the hotel, and if there was a grudge between them, he should have been killed already. If there wasn’t any animosity, why did Lu Bu burn his hotel?

Moreover, the incident with Gao Erhu’s wife was also strange. These clues were like threads that were weaving across each other, tangling in my head. However, nothing was clear.

Li Mazi called me, “Something’s wrong.”

“What’s that?”

He pointed at the cornfields alongside the road. “We’ve already passed a few villages, and the GPS shows that we’re just halfway there. Did that woman trick us?”

“The ancestral hall must be built in a remote area. We should take a nap in the meantime.”

I thought Li Mazi had changed. He was too sensitive. I paid him no more heed, closing my eyes for a nap.

Since I didn’t sleep last night, I quickly fell asleep. When Li Mazi woke me up, we had reached our destination.

I shook my head to clear my mind and got out of the car. Li Mazi pulled me back. “Baldy and I already looked around. The ancestral hall is deserted, and there’s a big, rusted lock on the gate. We looked through the window, but the inside was empty. Nothing’s there!”

“Impossible!” I was unconvinced and headed toward the ancestral hall.

While walking, I looked around. This village was really small, and the houses were too far away from each other. Sometimes, random people would walk along the road, but none of them paid attention to us.

The so-called ancestral hall was a shabby, tile-roofed house. Many of the tiles were broken, and the remaining ones were covered with green moss. The yard was covered in lush grass, which also looked tattered.

I frowned, walking to the window to check inside. As soon as I approached the window, I felt strong Yin energy.

Since it was daytime, I couldn’t recognize what kind of ghost it was. However, I felt the Yin energy permeating the entire ancestral hall. It was just like Li Mazi had told me. There was nothing inside the hall.

I didn’t dare to act rashly. I rushed back to the car to take the Yin and Yang Umbrella, black dog blood, refined salt, and a line marker. I gave the items to Li Mazi and Baldy. “I think there’s something inside the hall. You guys should be careful!

With the Yin and Yang Umbrella on my back, I felt much more resolute. I asked Li Mazi to unlock the gate.

He had a wry smile. “I also wanted to open it, but the lock’s center is filled…”

“What?”

I held the lock in my hand, checking. Someone had poured liquid steel into the lock to fill it. We couldn’t open it now.

“I’m afraid someone has been here before us…”

Li Mazi sighed. “This steel has only recently been poured into this lock. Little Brother Zhang, we should go back. The other party has given us a warning. We shouldn’t meddle with this!”

He looked helpless as he said this.

Baldy was a righteous man. He kept silent for a while before smacking his head. “All right, I’m going to change the location of my hotel! Li Mazi is right. You don’t need to risk your life for me!”

“Li Mazi, you’ve been acting off today.” I shot Li Mazi a strange look.

“Little Brother Zhang, Ru Xue called me. She’s pregnant, so I don’t want my kid to be born without a father…” Li Mazi stooped his head, his voice low.

No wonder Li Mazi was acting strange during this entire trip!

Nevertheless, I was elated for him. “You should go home first. Leave the rest to me!”

“I can’t do that.” Li Mazi sighed. “If we’re lucky, everything will go well. If we’re unlucky, we can’t escape no matter how hard we try!”

Then, he took out a small saw blade and began to saw the lock off.

Soon, Li Mazi broke the lock. The moment the door was pushed open, a strong wind blew out. I felt my scalp become numb.

I opened the umbrella, taking the lead, and dashed into the room.

If this room was empty, there should be some secret passage or hidden chamber.