I was discouraged and dispirited, but I wanted to save Lu Ming. I took a short moment to rest then took out the precious medium-level spirit talismans Chuyi had given me and adhered them on the teapot. Then, I just sat and watched.

If this couldn’t do anything to the ghost, I would have to call Senior Shu for help…

Around one minute later, the quiet house made a crackling noise, followed by loud sounds of people fighting. An uncomfortable feeling rose in my heart. Subconsciously, I watched the teapot. To my surprise, it was shaking.

It’s working!

The teapot started to spin on the ground, moving faster and faster. It bounced up and down. Every time the teapot bounced up, the gold light radiating from the medium-level spirit talismans subsided a bit. I was afraid that the talismans couldn’t endure it until Lu Ming returned, so I held the Sirius Whip in my hand and focused on the teapot.

I would strike as soon as the power of the talismans was gone.

Fortunately, after bouncing for a while, the teapot landed and stopped moving. Right after that, the scene reverted back to the village. Lu Ming rushed out with a pale face. When he saw me, he screamed, “Master Zhang, where the heck is this place? I couldn't get out of it!”

He choked with sobs, but I didn’t feel like making fun of him. We had both underestimated the ghost.

Afterward, we didn’t dare to linger and returned to the hostel. Lu Ming was scared of the ghost. He didn’t want to stay in his room alone and insisted that we stay together.

After he calmed down, I asked, “What did you see in there?”

Lu Ming’s face turned as white as a sheet of paper. His hands shook as he held a cup of water.

“Don’t worry. We’re all right now, aren’t we?” I tried to comfort him.

He looked a little better after that.

“I saw ghosts,” he said gingerly. “Right when I asked if you wanted to watch the Dai people dance and sing, everything in front of me changed. Those beautiful women became ghosts with malicious faces. They laughed and encircled me. They opened their horrible mouths as though they wanted to eat me whole…”

Lu Ming shivered. “Master Zhang, why don’t we go back now? I’ll give you your commission. I would rather sleep during the day than see those female ghosts again!”

“You said that a horde of female ghosts encircled you?” It was beyond my imagination.

I had only seen the ghost of the old man for now. Where did those female ghosts come from? Moreover, how did Lu Ming escape from those ghosts?

“Yeah, they were female ghosts!” Lu Ming confirmed. Then, he described what he saw in detail.

The female ghosts surrounded him and scared him, but they didn’t do anything to him. It was as if they were afraid of something. Afterward, Lu Ming heard a voice in the back of his head. He followed that voice and left the village. However, his escape didn’t go smoothly. There were many times where the voice in his head disappeared. When it happened, the horde of female ghosts swarmed him again.

He was lucky that the voice returned on time. In the end, the ghosts couldn’t do anything to him.

Lu Ming mocked himself. “I almost wet myself. Master Zhang, did you know what happened back there?”

I contemplated as I was somewhat stunned. I reviewed what I saw in the dream and then, I had an idea that I could hardly believe. I took out the teapot to observe it. There were a few thin cracks at the spout.

“Will you come with me to that fortified village one more time?” I looked at Lu Ming.

I was so excited when I thought I had gotten the key clue to this case.

Lu Ming shivered. “What? Are we going there now? I haven’t calmed down myself yet.”

“Then you should rest in the hotel. You can’t help me in this state,” I said.

Every art has its rules, and one couldn’t ask an ordinary man to take risks with an otherworldly merchant. To assure him into staying in the hotel, I drew a few talismans and stuck them at the entrance to his room. I even used cinnabar to draw the Heavenly Dipper formation around the bed.

After everything was done, I smiled at Lu Ming. “The Heavenly Dipper formation is the strongest formation I know. I’m sure it can protect you well! Even if something foul enters this room, it won’t be able to touch you.”

“How do you know that the formation will work?” Lu Ming felt better, but he couldn’t ease his mind yet.

I smiled. “Because I used my spirit power to draw this formation. As long as I’m alive, nothing can break that formation.”

“Thank you!” Lu Ming felt touched. His eyes turned red.

“No need to thank me. When this is over, just remember to give me a big reward.”

“Haha, it’s no big deal!” As I crossed the door, Lu Ming suddenly called me. “Master Zhang!”

“Yeah?” I turned, feeling skeptical.

Lu Ming looked hesitant as if he was struggling hard inside. Perhaps he felt embarrassed that he was safe in the hotel while I was about to risk my life out there. Before he could speak, I stopped him. “There’s no need to feel embarrassed. You’re not specialized in this business. Just wait here for me.”

I closed the door and headed to the village. I wanted to know what those female ghosts did to Lu Ming back there.

Menghai Township wasn’t a big place. I soon reached the village. I went to the place where I had put the Yin and Yang Umbrella and checked it. After confirming things, I went in.

The place was so dark that I had to use my flashlight. I went around the village. All the houses here were stilt houses.

Except for the sizes, the stilt houses here looked almost the same. It was as if they were molded from the same model.

My heart sank as I thought I was trapped in an illusion formation. However, after taking a closer look, I saw that those stilt houses had different levels of damage. The location of the spider webs varied, too. They shouldn’t be part of an illusion.

Although I didn’t know what made the residents here build similar-looking houses, there was one thing I could confirm: This entire village was unoccupied. I didn’t find any living people there.

Although the night was dark, as long as I opened my eyes wide, I could see the dark mist emitted from the roofs of the houses. If it were a normal day, I wouldn’t hesitate to run away if I saw this. However, tonight, to confirm my assumption, I had to try no matter the cost.

When I went to the last stilt house, I climbed on the bamboo stairs to enter the house. The stairs were damaged so badly that I broke a few steps as I walked on them. I almost fell off the stairs.

After entering the house, I found that the floor underneath my feet was both soft and crispy. It was as though it was a mattress. I lowered my head and saw that the place was covered in a thick layer of tea leaves. I had read a lot of books about tea in Lu Ming’s house. At first glance, I recognized they were new and young tea leaves, which were also the best. In the market, this sort of tea had a surprisingly high price. However, the leaves were air-dried. They would break into powder at even the gentlest touch.

I checked around. The room was arranged simply. There was a small bed, a chair with a backrest, a vanity, and some simple tools for tea picking.

I saw a few small wooden boxes on the vanity. They were cosmetic boxes that women used in ancient times. From this, I gathered that the owner of this stilt house was a woman. I carefully examined the house to see if I could find something useful. However, after a while, I didn’t learn anything new. I just got a lot of dust in my eyes and nose.

It seemed this trip wasn’t helpful. Feeling dispirited, I brushed the dust off my body. As I was about to leave the house, I was startled to catch a pair of red eyes gazing at me!

I pulled myself together and carefully checked what it was. I saw a dried skeleton on the opposite wall. It was hung high so I didn’t see it when I first entered the place.

I had seen a lot of skeletons and corpses, but I had never seen anything like this one. The body was a white skeleton, but the head was well-preserved. The eyes were especially lifelike. They looked no different from a living human’s eyes.

This skeleton had a woman’s head. I guessed she was the owner of this stilt house. I bowed to the skeleton and went to check the other stilt houses.

The situation in the second house was the same as the first house. The floor was covered with tea leaves, and the owner of the house was hung on the wall. Her body was a skeleton, but her head was well-preserved.

A little later after midnight, I had checked out every house in this village. Every house was the same.

I was as tired as a dead dog as I lay on the floor of the last house. I no longer cared why those female ghosts wanted to harm Lu Ming. I just wanted to know why they had collectively committed suicide!