Satisfied after admiring the handsome painting, Wen Qingchen dragged Mu An away.
Lan Lan cupped her face with a dreamy expression. “So good-looking~”
Wen Qingchen replied, “He is good-looking. Might as well keep him around in the future.”
Wen Qingchen was in high spirits. Back in her modern life, she had always been able to see ghosts and monsters.
When she first transmigrated here, her abilities hadn’t awakened, so she couldn’t see them.
It wasn’t until she spent two months in a daze that her powers suddenly awakened, allowing her to see ghosts again. Wen Qingchen wasn’t scared at all; in fact, she felt a certain fondness for them.
What’s there to fear about ghosts?
Could they eat her?
No, they wouldn’t dare.
Since they wouldn’t dare, why should she be afraid of them?
Clearly, they were the ones who should be afraid of her.
With that thought, Wen Qingchen felt even better.
Meanwhile, the black-clad men—Numbers One, Two, Three, and Four—were trailing her closely, not daring to stray even a step away, terrified of encountering more ghosts.
Halfway through dragging Mu An along, Wen Qingchen’s arms grew sore. She unceremoniously tossed Mu An over to Black-Clad Number Three.
“Here, you guys carry him. Make sure to get him back safely.”
Black-Clad Number Three instinctively caught Mu An.
Relieved of her burden, Wen Qingchen clasped her hands behind her back and leisurely strolled forward. Before leaving, she decided to poke around this ghost-infested cave to see if she could find some treasures.
After all, she had picked up that rare Sound Transmission Stone here before. If something that valuable was lying around, there were bound to be more treasures waiting to be found.
“Oh no, miscalculation! I should’ve made those ghosts hand over some treasures earlier,” Wen Qingchen muttered. “But then again, they probably wouldn’t know the value of anything, or they wouldn’t have just left a Sound Transmission Stone lying around without anyone noticing.”
Ahead of them, Wen Qingchen was leisurely hunting for treasures, while the four black-clad men stood frozen in confusion.
Black-Clad Number One lowered his voice, “Weren’t we sent here to kill him?”
Black-Clad Number Two nodded, “Yeah!”
Black-Clad Number Four added, “This is the perfect opportunity! His back is turned, Mu An is unconscious, and if we kill him now, no one will know it was us!”
Black-Clad Number Three agreed, “Fourth Brother’s right. Now is the best chance to strike!”
Number One immediately made a decision, “Alright, we’ll kill him now and silence any witnesses! But Chen Qing isn’t weak. You saw how even those ghosts were afraid of him. We can’t fight him head-on; we’ll need to use our wits.”
The other three quickly asked, “What’s the plan?”
Number One furrowed his brow in thought. “Let me think.”
As the designated brain of their group, Number One’s serious contemplation reassured the others. They were confident this mission would succeed with his clever strategy.
Then, after a quarter of an hour had passed, the cold wind in the cave began to stir again, and faint sounds of a baby crying echoed eerily in the air.
Number One’s eyes lit up. “I’ve got it!”
Black-Clad Number Three, still supporting Mu An, hesitated. “B-but he’s already walked too far ahead.”
“……”
The four assassins exchanged uneasy glances.
Number Four sighed. “Never mind. We’ll wait for another opportunity. As long as we complete the mission, it doesn’t matter when.”
Number One reluctantly agreed. “Alright, we’ll go with Fourth Brother’s plan.”
Black-Clad Number Three adjusted his grip on Mu An and asked, “So, um, do we still take him back?”
“…Might as well.”
Silently, the four assassins dragged Mu An away.
As they left, they couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right.
Wait a minute. Weren’t they supposed to kill Chen Qing? How did they end up becoming his errand boys, even helping to escort someone back?!
The assassins felt a whirlwind of conflicting emotions.
Then, as if to console themselves, they reasoned, “It’s fine. This is part of our strategy! We’re lowering Chen Qing’s guard, making him trust us. Once he does, we’ll strike, and there will be no way for him to escape!”
“Good point!”
“Exactly right!”
Suddenly, a faint voice echoed behind them. “You’re still here? Do you want to stay and feed the wild ghosts?”
It was Chen Qing’s voice.
The four assassins froze.
“…Let’s go.”
Annoyed, they left in silence, their footsteps hurried.
Wait—did he overhear our ‘flawless and undetectable’ plan?!
72
The four black-clad men left the cave but did not see Chen Qing again.
Initially, they had wanted to look for Chen Qing’s whereabouts, but as soon as they exited the cave, they felt a chilling breeze around them. It was as if more ghosts had begun to gather nearby.
Curiously, after leaving the Night Chill Cave, the ghosts they had seen inside completely disappeared.
It seemed these ghosts could only be seen within the confines of the Night Chill Cave.
The realization that ghosts truly existed left them awestruck. Still, they comforted themselves: they had written their names down, so the ghosts likely wouldn’t come after them!
Just as they were preparing to leave, a thick black fog suddenly emerged from within the cave, engulfing them before they could react.
When the fog dissipated, the four stood frozen for a moment. When they blinked and opened their eyes, their gazes were filled with confusion.
“Where are we?”
“No idea. How did we end up here?”
“Mu An? Why is Mu An in our hands?”
They had the vague feeling they had forgotten something important, but no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t remember what had brought them here.
Behind them, the Night Chill Cave vanished silently after the appearance of the black fog.
Perplexed, the four black-clad men scratched their heads, completely baffled. In the end, they hoisted Mu An onto their shoulders and aimlessly made their way down the mountain.
Somewhere deep in their minds, it felt as if a voice was guiding them, urging them to take Mu An down the mountain…
Wen Qingchen was unaware of what the four black-clad men had experienced.
After urging them to leave, she continued walking ahead.
As she walked, she keenly sensed a sharp gaze locked onto her from the darkness.
Wen Qingchen narrowed her eyes. “Who’s there?”
The eerie silence of the Night Chill Cave seemed to deepen, and all the previous noise—be it the chatter of the ghosts or the eerie cries—vanished completely.
Wen Qingchen felt a faint sense of unease.
Based on her pace, she should have already exited the cave. Yet, despite walking for nearly another hour, she still hadn’t found the exit.
“Lost in a ghost maze?”
Wen Qingchen’s red lips curved into a faint smile, but there was no trace of fear in her heart.
“Interesting…”
When she once again found herself at what seemed to be the same spot she had just passed, Wen Qingchen stopped and stared at the stone wall in front of her.
If there were a ghost here, she would definitely be able to see it. However, she couldn’t see any ghosts, and she kept looping through the same section of path. This either meant she was trapped in a “ghost maze” or that this place was some kind of labyrinth.
“Could it be like the stone wall from before? It looked solid but was actually a transparent wall?”
At this point, Wen Qingchen was still unaware of concepts like “forbidden zones” or “barriers.” In her view, the place where the hundreds of ghosts had worshipped the beautiful ghost painting earlier was just a clever illusion. She had no idea that she could pass through such barriers herself.
She reached out and knocked on the stone wall in front of her, producing a deep, heavy sound.
It wasn’t hollow; it was definitely a solid wall.
But based on her repeated looping, she was sure part of this path had to be fake.
Wen Qingchen continued walking, knocking on the wall as she went—three knocks every two steps. After about a hundred steps, the sound changed; it now had a hollow echo. She stopped, a sly smile curving her lips.
“This is the spot.”
She pressed against the wall with force, but it didn’t budge. Focusing her energy into her palm, she gave it a strong shove. Suddenly, the wall vanished, and she lost her balance, stumbling forward.
“What the—! Playing tricks on me?”
Before she could react, she crashed into something and then hit her head on something hard and metallic.
“What is this?”
“Who’s there?”
Two voices rang out simultaneously, followed by silence.
Then, a light flickered on, illuminating the darkness. The first thing she saw was a silver mask.
Wen Qingchen and Yin Chenming locked eyes, both equally stunned.
“What are you doing here?” they asked in unison.
