Yunchu’s Vengeance - Chapter 50

Chapter 50 - There Are Ghosts in the Estate 

The journey led all the way to the northern part of the city.

Passing out through the city gates, the road began to grow uneven. After traveling for roughly half an hour, with the sky completely darkened, they finally arrived at the gates of that estate.

This estate had been haunted for over twenty years. Aside from the surrounding farming households and those specifically tasked with managing the estate, outsiders actually knew very little about this matter.

Take the sturdy footmen and matrons brought by Yun Chu, for instance. They gazed curiously at the desolate estate before their eyes, unable to understand why no crops were being cultivated.

"Madam, the entrance is completely overgrown with weeds; you shouldn't go in," Chen Defu urged. "This old servant will take a few men to scout out the situation."

Yun Chu carefully observed the entrance of the estate, a smile suddenly surfacing upon her lips. "At first glance, it is indeed overgrown with weeds. But Uncle Chen, did you notice how the patches of grass on the left and right part to form a hard-to-find little path? The people inside the estate must use this path to enter and exit."

Chen Defu stared in astonishment. "Someone actually dares to live here?"

Yun Chu merely smiled without a word.

Mortals feared ghosts by three parts, while ghosts feared mortals by seven parts; even if ghosts truly existed, there was actually no need to be afraid.

She took the lead, stepping onto the parted trail. Her skirts were caught by the weeds, and with every step forward, numerous threads were snagged, ruining the dress entirely.

Chen Defu hurriedly trampled down the weeds to forge a path ahead of her.

Tingshuang held the lantern at the front, while Tingfeng and Tingsheng flanked Yun Chu on the left and right to lift her skirt.

The footmen and matrons followed close behind in a noisy cluster. Only then did they realize something was amiss—with the sky completely pitch black, why wasn't a single lamp lit inside the estate?

Upon entering the estate, the weeds inside grew as tall as a person. As the moonlight cascaded down, the shadows of the trees swayed, and the timid Tingsheng turned pale with fright.

Chen Defu led the men to clear a path, escorting Yun Chu into the main hall. Using his own clothes to wipe the chairs in the main hall clean, he respectfully invited Yun Chu to sit.

Tingshuang even retrieved tea water from the carriage and brewed tea right there on the spot.

Once the tea was brewed, its fragrance filled the air, and the night grew even deeper.

The courage of Chen Defu, Tingshuang, and the others gradually grew. With so many of them present, even a fierce ghost would probably not dare to manifest its true form.

"There is plenty of tea brewed; everyone have a few sips to moisten your throats. We'll be doing physical labor shortly."

Yun Chu smiled as she rewarded them with the tea.

The matrons had always drank only coarse tea, and this was their first time tasting such exquisite, mellow-scented tea, prompting each of them to drink a few extra cups.

Before long, a matron clutched her stomach and said, "Madam, can this old servant go relieve herself? I'll be right back."

Yun Chu nodded. "It's dark outside; have two people accompany you."

As it happened, two other matrons were also pressed, so the three of them left the main hall together. Outside, the weeds grew as tall as a person, making it completely impossible to distinguish directions or figure out where the latrine was located. Thus, after a brief discussion, the three of them found a spot with lush vegetation, untied their waistbands, and squatted down...

Suddenly, a rustling sound echoed through the air.

One matron called out loudly, "We're over here, you lot go find somewhere else if you need to go."

Yet those footsteps drew closer and closer...

Sitting inside the main hall, Yun Chu and the others soon heard the consecutive shrieks of the matrons.

Tingsheng trembled so badly her entire face quivered. "Could there really be ghosts..."

"Don't talk nonsense," Tingshuang said, her voice also somewhat trembling. "Madam has already sent Uncle Chen over, nothing will go wrong."

No sooner had her voice fallen than Chen Defu had men carry the three matrons back. Two of them had already fainted from fright, while the remaining one gibbered incoherently, "It's a ghost, such a terrifying ghost! Such long fangs, that ghost is going to eat us..."

As the matron spoke, her eyes rolled back, and she fainted as well.

Chen Defu reported, "Madam, when this old servant led the men over, that thing had already fled. It ran away with incredible speed, disappearing the moment it darted into the woods."

The trees in the woods were tall and the vegetation dense. Coupled with the darkness of night and their unfamiliarity with the place, they had fainted the moment they ventured inside.

The footmen and matrons in the main hall were badly frightened. None of them expected that ghosts actually existed here, and every single one of them developed the urge to retreat.

Yun Chu stood up. "Let's go, we'll go take a look."

The footmen and matrons exchanged glances.

They could not understand why the lady wasn't afraid. How could the lady remain so composed, showing not a shred of panic?

One could only conclude that a master was a master, not something ordinary servants like them could compare to.

With Yun Chu taking the lead, these people found their backbone. The urge to retreat slowly dissipated as they surrounded Yun Chu and walked outward.

Chen Defu and four footmen cleared the path ahead, quickly reaching the spot where the three matrons had just relieved themselves. In one direction, the weeds had been flattened, and following that trail, the crowd walked a dozen paces before arriving in front of the estate's small woodland.

The small woodland was even darker, with denser trees. Entering it, let alone encountering ghosts, getting lost alone would give anyone a hard time.

Yun Chu closed her eyes and sniffed the air.

Earlier, she had placed a nameless fragrance into the tea water—a spice her mother had tinkered with when she had free time during her childhood. She liked it immensely and would burn some whenever she had nothing to do.

Later, she discovered that this fragrance lingered for a long time. Even if ingested into the stomach and excreted from the body, it would still carry this scent, and the scent would be even deeper.

Those matrons had drunk the tea and relieved themselves, so when that "ghost" passed through here, it would inevitably pick up the scent.

After sniffing for a moment, Yun Chu opened her eyes and pointed directly south. "Uncle Chen, go this way."

Chen Defu nodded, stepping forward with the four footmen to clear the path.

There were no traces of anyone having walked here at all, but upon closer inspection, one would notice that the weeds were all bent in a very regular direction. Someone accustomed to walking here could pass through smoothly without disturbing the weeds.

Leading the group deep into the woodland, Yun Chu spotted a thatched cottage. Although the dwelling was nestled deep within the dense forest, it looked clean and bore the signs of human habitation.

Chen Defu was utterly incredulous. "So someone really does live here."

Tingfeng frowned. "What kind of person is playing the god and acting like a ghost here? Uncle Chen, quickly capture them and interrogate them properly."

Yun Chu made a gesture signaling against it.

Walking up to the door of the thatched cottage, she said in a calm tone, "Madam Wu, Young Master Wu, let's meet."

Before deciding to purchase this estate, she had already investigated the family of the very first original owner of this estate—the Wu family.

After the members of the Wu family contracted the strange illness, they died one by one and were buried in the Wu family ancestral tombs. She had deliberately sent people to make a trip there; in the massive ancestral graveyard, two gravestones were missing.

Those belonged to the very last matriarch of the Wu family and the young master who was only about a year old at the time.

The massive fire ten years later in her past life should have burned this mother and son to death, which was why the haunting rumors had ended just like that.

When Yun Chu's voice fell, there was no response whatsoever from inside the cottage.

She was not anxious either, continuing, "A divine physician has recently arrived in the capital. Does Madam Wu not wish for the physician to examine Young Master Wu and cure his illness?"

At these words, movement stirred within the house. Before long, a stooped woman leaning on a cane walked out.

Yun Chu could not help being greatly startled.

Back then, when that Madam Wu had just given birth, she was only around twenty years of age. Twenty years had passed, making her roughly forty-odd years old now, yet she looked as though she were in her sixties. What on earth had she experienced to age a woman to this extent?

Before she could finish her astonishment, another figure draped in a black cloak walked out from the house.

That person's face was covered entirely in water blisters the size of a baby's fist. Some of those blisters had broken skin and were festering, making the entire face look horrifying. He extended a hand to support his mother, and his hands were likewise covered entirely in blisters, as was likely the rest of his body...

Yun Chu knew that this was Young Master Wu, afflicted by the hereditary strange illness of the Wu family.