Chapter Seven: The Uncanny
Gugu... gugu...
A strange, eerie sound kept emanating from the wooden pavilion at the center of the small courtyard.
Bang!
The pavilion's door was violently thrown open, the wooden panels groaning under the force.
"Ah!!"
Thud, thud, thud!
A woman, clothed in nothing but a thin veil, her body nearly entirely exposed, burst through the pavilion door in panic and ran outside.
Her bare feet slammed onto the floorboards, each step echoing with a muffled thud.
"Help..."
She had barely emerged from the pavilion, about to shout for help, when—
Whoosh!
Her figure vanished in an instant. The pavilion door swung shut again, as if nothing had ever happened.
Only the faint sounds of weeping and chewing from within the pavilion hinted that a woman might have indeed just been there.
Gulp...
Li Ju swallowed hard, his gaze fixed intently on the wooden pavilion in the courtyard.
Moments ago, with his vision sharpened by his Ghost Bat Technique, he had barely managed to glimpse the reason for the woman's sudden disappearance.
It was a tongue—a pitch-black tongue that shot out from within the pavilion at lightning speed, dragging the woman back inside.
"What on earth is the Zhao family hiding in there?!"
Li Ju had never expected that the Zhao family, which he thought was merely a typical noble household, concealed such ghastly secrets.
"Zhao Bao, eldest son of the Zhao family, infamous for his insatiable lust—he takes a new concubine every day, indifferent to beauty or background. Yet, the women he marries rarely survive the night..."
All at once, Li Ju recalled the tales of Zhao Bao's daily conduct in Yangyuan County.
"Perhaps this Zhao Bao isn't simply a lecher. Maybe he takes so many women as concubines for another reason..."
A sudden realization dawned on Li Ju.
Creak...
The pavilion door swung open again, but this time, it was not the terrified woman who emerged.
A young man in luxurious robes stepped out, his features handsome, his complexion rosy and radiant. At his waist hung a long sword, and in his hand he lightly fanned himself with a folding fan—anyone who saw him would call him a gentleman as elegant as jade.
A massive shadow then enveloped the young man.
The source of this shadow was a colossal, corpulent figure—a man of towering stature and at least three hundred pounds, his bulk alone blotting out the light around him.
Li Ju didn't recognize the handsome man who had stepped out first, but the obese man who followed was unmistakable.
That was Zhao Bao, the eldest son of the Zhao family. Li Ju had once glimpsed him from afar while selling fish on the street.
Li Ju held his breath, shifting his gaze upward to observe the duo from the corner of his eye. Through the stealth techniques he had learned from the Ghost Bat manual, he knew that for those with keen senses, a direct and lingering gaze was easily detected, while a glance from the periphery often went unnoticed.
He watched as the young man in fine robes exchanged words with Zhao Bao, who responded with utmost deference. After a brief conversation, the two left the pavilion entrance and walked toward the courtyard gate. The lights within the pavilion, once bright, dimmed gradually after their departure. Li Ju, using only his peripheral vision, observed the pair until they vanished beyond sight.
"Hoo..."
Only after confirming that no one remained nearby did Li Ju let out a long, quiet breath.
He gazed at the now-dark pavilion, lost in deep thought.
His original plan had been to seek an opportunity to eliminate Zhao Bao, thus averting the potential danger facing his own family, and to probe the true strength of the Zhao family—one of the four great houses of Yangyuan County.
Yet, he had accomplished neither. The mysterious stranger shadowing Zhao Bao made an attempt impossible, and Zhao Bao himself seemed shrouded in an aura of mystery. Without further understanding, Li Ju dared not make a move.
As for the family's strength, tonight he had only glimpsed the tip of the iceberg...
"What secrets are truly hidden within the Zhao family?"
Li Ju took one last look at the enigmatic pavilion, recalling the nightmarish tongue from his memory. He shook his head, deciding to leave the Zhao estate for now, to return home and carefully consider the information he'd gathered before making any further plans.
"If you're so curious, why not go see for yourself?"
A light, floating voice sounded from behind him.
Every hair on Li Ju's body stood on end. Instantly, he channeled the Ghost Bat Technique and struck backward in the direction of the voice.
Ghost Bat Claw!
Bang!
It felt as though his attack had slammed into a slab of solid iron; the recoil sent a jolt of pain up his arm.
Thud!!!
Before Li Ju could react, a powerful blow landed squarely on his back, sending him hurtling through the air. He felt as if his internal organs were being displaced, his heart constricting painfully, blood surging backward. Unable to restrain himself, he coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Enduring the agony, Li Ju used the force of his flight to speed away into the distance, glancing back to catch a glimpse of his attacker.
There, in the spot where he had just stood, was the elegant young man who had emerged from the pavilion with Zhao Bao—just now withdrawing his folding fan.
"A little bug—how interesting," the young man in fine robes mused, raising his hand.
Gugu... gugu...
At that moment, the pavilion—which had just gone dark—suddenly lit up again, strange sounds echoing from within.
"Hmm?"
"Why now?"
The young man frowned, glancing back at the pavilion.
"Ah, what a pity. I thought I might have a bit more fun."
He cast a look at the receding figure of Li Ju, sighing lightly.
Then, drawing a black stone from his fan, he tossed it onto the patch of blood Li Ju had just spat.
Crack... crack...
The stone, stained with blood, turned crimson, then split open. From within emerged a scarlet, menacing little insect, its mouthparts grotesque and sharp.
The tiny creature hovered in the air, circling once before locking onto the direction in which Li Ju had fled, then sped away in pursuit.
"Alive, I want the man. Dead, I want his corpse," the young man murmured, dusting off his hands.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
Several shadows shot out from the surroundings, following the bloodthirsty insect into the darkness.