Chapter 134: The Qian Family


    Then, she was pushed by a soft force, and she stumbled out of this world. Back then, her brain was nk. When she walked through the door, something awakened within her. She turned back and saw Han Jingnian, who was pierced through the chest by the ghost and strung in the air.


    Each mission’s ghost was unique. This ghost would only attack when the preys had their bodies turned. Therefore… of the two of them, only one would be able to reach the door and escape.


    The scenery before her shifted and she returned to the camp they had at the foot of the mountain. However, she was alone at the spacious camp. Han Jingnian was dead. Everyone… was dead except her.


    Caught in her memory, she wandered about aimlessly. Suddenly, she tripped on something, and it made a sound. She lowered her head and spotted a ck brick. The bricks were scattered about her. Some were adhered to their previous structure. There was a wall where she was standing. It copsed in the fire. Staring at the ck brick, a strange feeling rose in Yu Man’s heart. She slowly knelt down and moved the still-warm bricks away. A few wooden ques were sheltered underneath. She wiped away the ash and saw the gilded words, Qian Jianguo.


    “Are these the ceremonial ques of the Qian Family members?”


    Bei Qian darted over. He stared at the thing Yu Man held strangely. Zhou Rong bent over to pick up the other two wooden ques. They had the names Qian Jianse and Qian Jianxiu. Based on the names, these three should be from the same generation.


    Chen Xiaomeng looked around. The fire yesterday night was so strong. It had consumed everything but, somehow, spared the three ques. This was clearly unreasonable.


    “Ah!” The sudden scream interrupted Chen Xiaomeng’s thought. Subconsciously, she lowered her body and reached for her waist. Jiang Cheng’s eyes narrowed. It was Lee Lu who screamed. Her pale fingers pointed at Yu Man, “Miss… Yu… Your hand…”


    Blood leaked out between Yu Man’s fingers that held the que. She turned it over, and they realised with shock that there was a fresh bloody handprint on the back of the que. The blood was still fresh. It dripped asionally.“This appears to be Zhao Xiangmei’s doing.” Bei Qian scratched his beard. “Her goal is to lure us here to find the ques of these three people.”


    “Did these three do something to her?” Lee Lu questioned softly.


    “It’s possible.”


    “But no matter what they did, they are dead now,” Lee Lu frowned. She stared at the three ques unnaturally, “Is she unable to forgive them even after death?”


    “Or they are involved in something heinous that still has an impact today,” Chen Xiaomeng said casually, “Like covering or obfuscating the truth.”


    With limited clues, they knew that they wouldn’t reach any conclusion. Therefore, Bei Qian suggested they carry the ques with them and figure out what to do next.


    “Okay!” Jiang Cheng was the first to agree. Then, he turned to Yu Man, “Hurry and hand them over to Elder Bei. He’s the oldest and know about these things.” Bei Qian’s body shook.


    On their way back, they ran into the vigers. The leading vige head had a hard-set face like it was his home that was burned.


    “Experts!” When he saw the travellers, the vige head’s eyes glowed, “We went to the court yard to find you. We didn’t expect you to be here.”


    “We saw the Qian Family Ancestral Hall catch on firest night, so we came to look.” Zhou Rong said calmly, “We might find some clues.”


    “What kind of clues can be found here?” The vige head asked.


    “That is hard to say,” Jiang Cheng walked forward. He extended his neck and whispered, “Do you have any idea regarding the firest night?”


    The vige head was innately afraid of Jiang Cheng. For some reason, he felt ufortable around him. He eventually said, “What… happened? What did you figure out?”


    Jiang Cheng smiled and mentioned a name wordlessly. The vige head almost exploded, “Zhao Xiangmei?!”


    “That’s right!” Jiang Cheng praised the vige head.


    The vige head almost fainted. Thankfully, the man behind him was quick to support him.


    At that moment, Bei Qian took out the three ques. He interrupted, “Vige Head Liu, do you know these people?”


    Qian Jianguo, Qian Jianse, Qian Jianxiu…


    After a while, the vige head’s eyes finally focused. He looked at the ques, and his voice was weakened. “They are all Vige Head Qian’s children. Qian Jianguo and Jianse were the old vige head’s son, and Qian Jianxiu was his youngest daughter.”


    “Were they killed by Zhao Xiangmei?”


    “The brothers were,” The vige head gasped for air. Then, he resumed, “Not Qian Jianxiu. She died from smallpox when she was young.”


    Zhou Rong thought about it and asked, “How many children did the old vige head have?”


    “Four.”


    “So, thest one…”


    “That would be the eldest son, Qian Jianye. He also died.” The vige head licked his cracked lips. His eyes dimmed, and he sighed, “He was also killed by Zhao Xiangmei. That generation is all gone.”


    No one was interested in their deaths. They were more interested in why the three ques were purposely left behind when the entire ancestral hall was burned down. Furthermore, the que of the eldest son, Qian Jianye, was gone.


    The vigers didn’t dawdle for too long. They carried some tools and headed to the ancestral hall to put out the embers just in case it grew into a forest fire.


    Before they left, the vige head remembered something and told the travellers apologetically, “It was alreadyte when we went back home yesterday night. Therefore, we didn’t arrange for anyone to deliver food to you.” He said in fear, “Experts, please forgive us!”


    Lee Lu’s body shook heavily. Then, she rushed to the nearby bush, bent over and started to dry heave.


    The vigers looked at her with confusion. She was perfectly fine earlier. Why… Then, they turned to look at the men among the travellers with an interesting gaze.