Chapter 485-487: Taking the Initiative to Attack; Avoiding Disaster
Chapter 485-487: Taking the Initiative to Attack; Avoiding Disaster
485: Taking the Initiative to Attack
It was the first time a teammate died in front of them. The air became solemn and even more oppressive.
A man suddenly screamed out, I want to leave this haunted place! I dont want to die here! I dont want to die here!
He rushed into the rain right after. His teammates tried to call him back, but their cries went unheeded.
Ill go find him! Another man rushed out into the rain.
Their friends waited for them to return, but hope faded as the seconds ticked by. It was likely they died outside in the rain. A group of them proposed they send someone out after the men, but no one else agreed with the plan. It was obvious the two men were dead.
Theyre dead. Their team captain said sadly.
Every brother on the team left a trace of their essence with him through which their life and death could be known.
The blood essence from the two that left was gone, proving they were dead.
They had wanted to learn from the two men what the outside world was like beyond the curtain of rain, but after learning their fate, everyone gave up on the idea.
Inside the mansion people were dying, while outside the mansion the smell of death lingered and a sinister spirit lurked.
Who, other than those actively seeking death, would rush out?
Would they all die if they couldnt leave?
A palpable sense of despair permeated the hall. The ancient mansion was like an island in the sea that they couldnt leave and could only watch slowly sink.
Geentes death dealt a tremendous blow to the party. His soul, like everyone else before him, didnt appear. That not a single ghost spirit could be found anywhere made Yaoyue break out in a cold sweat. Being able to kill so many people in front of her proved the spirit was high level with strength that far exceeded hers. There was no way she would have failed to detect anything otherwise.
Yaoyue couldnt keep calm in the face of such a powerful spirit. It was an unknown and could kill without anyone seeing a thing. Too scary!
Mogefei took a deep breath after putting Geentes body away. He couldnt do anything as a team member died in front of him. He was frustrated by his own helplessness and the feeling put him in a bad mood.
A solemn Caesar finally said, Captain Mogefei, Mr. Hart, Captain Jie Ao, I dont think we can go on like this any longer. If we are to leave here alive, we must combine our strength and seek a way out.
Though everyone was under the same roof, they werent united. They were taking care of their own, but they couldnt do that any longer with the current situation. Caesar stood up and called everyone together.
The other three men were silent but mentally they agreed with Caesar. They wouldnt be able to only take care of their own anymore. If they didnt unite, it was likely none of them would make it out alive.
Master Caesar, what are your thoughts? Jie Ao was the captain of the second team that had entered the mansion. His team wasnt weak. A weak team would never have made it so far.
Despite the lack of communication, he still managed to get a good grasp of their identities.
Take Mogefei for example. Jie Ao knew Mogefeis team came from Xingguang Holy academy and were there to gain practical experience.
Hart was a businessman who came seeking treasure, which he intended to sell for a tidy profit.
And Caesar was a powerful young master. He didnt know what family, but he knew with certainty no nameless family would have such an imposing and extravagant entourage.
Jie Ao knew the big families had their own legacies. He was hoping, though he knew it was unlikely, that Caesar would have some useful knowledge about their situation.
Sure enough, Caesar didnt have any extra information. Like the rest of them, he only knew it was a place of extreme yin that was acquired over time.
Though they were disappointed, everyone liked Caesars idea.
Instead of waiting to be killed by an unknown entity, it was better to find it and have everyone work together to kill it.
This wasnt possible initially, but with a necromancer on their side, the success rate was raised considerably. Without a necromancer, even if the evil spirit stood right in front of them, there would have been no way for anyone to see. It was different with a necromancer. A necromancer could see things ordinary people couldnt.
Though Yaoyue said she hadnt seen anything, it could have been because the murderous spirit was hiding. Once they found the spirit, they could work together to take it down and finally be able to leave the mansion.
Even Yaoyue agreed to help with Caesars plan and try to find the murderous spirit. Yaoyue was certain the murders were committed by a ghost spirit and not another person or some other kind of beast. It had to be an undead and one with a lot of resentment.
Only with a vast amount of resentment could people be frozen with so much yin energy.
No one disagreed with Yaoyues assessment. They were all professionals willing to listen to the opinion of another professional. People had died so abnormally; it wasnt farfetched to think it was the work of an undead.
It was the first time the leaders of all four groups sat down together. Yaoyue was given a special spot because of her status as a necromancer.
Yaoyue cared about her image in front of outsiders, so fortunately, she didnt put on any airs. After making up their minds to strike first, Yaoyue followed them to look for the ghost spirit.
The mansion was huge with many rooms. They searched methodically room by room, floor by floor, but failed to find anything. Once they reached the third floor, they found something different. One room in particular was filled with things that would delight a child. A cute princess dress hung in the closet while dolls laid all around the room.
486: Avoiding Disaster
The room wasnt clean and the dresses were no longer in style, however the dolls, maybe because of the quality of the material used, were in fantastic condition. They werent damaged in any way, despite the grime of neglect on them.
This doll is so cute! Girls liked dolls and Shani was no exception. She carefully picked one up and removed the dust and grime on it with a cleaning spell.
She held a princess doll with blue eyes and golden hair wearing a beautiful tutu skirt. It was an exquisite doll to behold.
Zi Cheng and Ai Lin werent interested in the dolls, having passed the age of playing with dolls years ago. Even though their personalities were different, they shared the same goals to improve their strength.
Yaoyue was also very interested in the dolls, not because of any childish innocence, but she recognized how precious and rare the dolls were.
The skin was similar to real skin and the facial features were exquisitely carved and held a remarkable resemblance to real features. These kinds of dolls were very popular a thousand years ago and were still popular amongst the noble girls even now. Unfortunately, the only person who knew how to craft them died without passing on the technique.
Many studied the manufacturing and process of the dolls, but no one could successfully replicate a single one; these already rare dolls became even rarer and easily demanded outrageous prices. Ladies, from nobles to royalty, would go in to a frenzy every time one came on the market.
And now several of them were here inside the dilapidated mansion. Yaoyue couldnt believe her eyes. Shed only seen them at auction once. That same doll was later seen with a prince who presented it as gift to his five-year-old daughter.
If the dolls were taken out, they would be worth a lot of money!
Just because Yaoyue was from nobility didnt mean she had unrestricted access to money. In fact it was harder for her to use family money. She received a monthly allowance every month, but family resources had to be evenly distributed, so anything beyond her allowance had to be earned.
Yaoyue was moved by the rare dolls in front of her and her eyes glinted with joy. She wouldnt have to worry about the cost of future training supplies if she could sell them. She wasnt worried about them being possessed by evil spirits because there wasnt any evil aura surrounding them.
She had wanted to grab all the dolls by using the excuse that she liked dolls, but after witnessing Shanis display, she knew she wouldnt able hoard all of them. Clearly she wasnt the only one who recognized the dolls value.
It wasnt just the two girls either, Ming Xi knew as well, it was just that he chose to remain quiet, because for him, they werent much. He was the future king of the dignified Ancient Moon kingdom. There was no reason for him to fight girls over a few dolls.
Feng Wu recognized the dolls were made from a lost technique because she remembered reading about them in a book. This got her curious. She stepped forward to pick up a doll, intending to study it.
But before she could reach it, Shani stopped her.
Dont touch that. Its mine. Shani didnt like Feng Wu at all. Who told her to have a good relationship with Zo? Caesar was likely to be the next patriarch of the family and was extremely talented. This put him out of her reach. She was just the first daughter of a branch family; there was no way she could marry him.
Zo, on the other hand, changed from being a waste to a genius. He had excellent talent but he would never be the next patriarch, so naturally, Shani wanted to ride his coattails.
When Shani saw she couldnt get his attention, she assumed he was focused on getting stronger and simply didnt have time for love, because though he didnt accept her attention, he didnt accept anyone elses either. This gave her hope so she didnt give up.
A pity though, this Zo had lived an entire life and saw things clearly now. He didnt care about Shanis special favor.
Shani noticed Zo acted differently in the mansion. The smile he gave Feng Wu was different from the polite and distant one he gave the rest of them. His smile toward Feng Wu were sincere and happy. Shani was very unhappy with Feng Wu for having the ability to get Zos favor.
She didnt have a chance to deal with Feng Wu before, but now she had an opportunity. How could she let it go?
Feng Wu was a sensitive girl and could always tell when someone liked or didnt like her. On top of that, Shani didnt bother hiding the maliciousness in her eyes either, so it was pretty obvious.
Despite this, Feng Wu was still uncertain. And her eyes reflected her doubt. Why was there so much hate?
What a strange person! Feng Wus method for dealing with nonsense people was to ignore them. Feng Wu completely disregarded Shanis words and picked up the doll then proceeded to stare at it.
Stop! I said thats mine! Dont you understand?!
Feng Wu was deliberately ignoring her! Shani reached over to slap Feng Wus hand, but Feng Wu avoided it by stepping to the side. The slap landed on Zi Cheng, the person standing behind Feng Wu.
Zi Cheng felt a sudden sharp pain on her shoulder.
Xiao Cheng! Caesar immediately stepped forward in concern when he saw that had happened.
Zi Cheng frowned a bit before settling her expression. It had smarted, but wasnt that painful. At most there would be some redness and swelling on her shoulder.
This Shani girl slapped too hard! Zi Cheng was secretly displeased with both Shani and Feng Wu. At Shani because she was the instigator and at Feng Wu for dodging. If Feng Wu hadnt dodged, she wouldnt have been hit and suffer an injury.