Chapter 28

Cheng Hui: … Fine, if I have to pay more, then so be it. Seems like all the silver notes in my pocket were meant for this anyway.

He pretended to be generous and said, “Money’s not a problem, but if I find out you’re tricking me…” He clenched his fist and let out a cold laugh.

“Wouldn’t dare, wouldn’t dare. How could I deceive a demon hunter, sir…” The shop owner chuckled nervously.

Cheng Hui was taken aback: “You know me?”

“Haha, the newly appointed demon hunter Mr. Cheng, who solved a case that had been ongoing for nearly thirty years on his first try. Such an outstanding young demon hunter, how could we not pay attention?” The shop owner flattered with a grin.

Cheng Hui thoughtfully looked at him. It seemed… the identity this world had crafted for him was quite impressive.

“I knew it, no matter where he is, my fiancé is always exceptionally outstanding,” Ah Qiu chuckled softly.

Cheng Hui: … Can we not bring up the fiancé thing?

“Wait a minute, if you value demon hunters so much, then why…” He gestured towards the direction the cross-dressing beauty had left. That person was also a demon hunter, yet you didn’t treat them any better.

The shop owner smiled: “Mr. Cheng, you must understand that even among demon hunters, the differences can be greater than those between humans and demons. We are businessmen, and those who can do business with us are our clients. As for those who want to gather information through violence… hehe…”

He chuckled meaningfully twice, and Cheng Hui couldn’t help but twitch his mouth, feeling that the cross-dressing girl might get scammed by the shop owner.

He swiftly took out the silver notes. In his view, if money can solve a problem, then it’s not a problem… Besides, the silver notes weren’t his anyway.

Sure enough, once the shop owner saw the silver notes, his attitude improved even more. He repeated the previous information without hesitation and even provided more details.

The manor had been built over ten years ago, and during its construction, four workers died. Later, the first owner probably thought the house was too eerie and never lived in it, directly selling it through an agent. The ones who actually moved in were a couple with their daughter.

At first, nothing seemed amiss. They lived there for about a year or two without any incidents, and people began to dismiss the construction deaths as accidents. But about two and a half years into their stay, things started to feel off.

The couple, who could afford such a large manor, clearly weren’t short on money. It’s said that the man was a famous painter, and his works were highly sought after, with people visiting him regularly. But at some point, the visits dwindled, and those who left the manor lingered in town, mentioning that the painter seemed to have become somewhat abnormal.

Later, the servants in the manor began to have issues. During that period, the servants who came to town for supplies always seemed worried, and eventually, people noticed that no one had come for supplies in a long time.

By then, even the slowest people realized something was wrong. Such a large manor, with over twenty servants and the family of three, consumed a lot daily. They used to come out for supplies every few days, but now it had been so long. Unless they had another supply source, they’d starve.

With the incident out in the open, the townspeople became uneasy, and rumors spread that whatever had haunted the house during its construction was acting up again.

Eventually, the townspeople couldn’t take it anymore and went to check the manor, only to find it completely empty. Dust covered the floors, and the rooms hadn’t been cleaned in ages, indicating no one had lived there for a long time.

The townspeople were terrified, convinced that some evil entity had devoured everyone. Yet, the large manor had no survivors, nor were there any bloodstains or remains, making it seem like no crime had occurred.

In the end, the townspeople collectively locked up the manor, and it remained that way to this day.

After hearing the shop owner’s story, Cheng Hui realized that paying up indeed made a difference. At least he learned many detailed pieces of information.

For instance, the painter only had one daughter, but no one had ever seen what she looked like. Of course, it was normal for a lady of a noble family to stay out of sight, but the problem was that even the manor’s servants rarely mentioned their young miss, and in over two years of living there, she never stepped outside the manor.

Cheng Hui had observed earlier that the era he was in wasn’t too harsh on women. While going downstairs, he saw many young girls walking the streets through the window, indicating that even noble ladies could go out for leisure. Yet, the painter’s daughter never showed herself.

If it weren’t for the townspeople witnessing a ten-year-old girl with a veiled hat getting off a carriage when he moved in, people might have doubted her existence.

Aside from the mysterious daughter, the painter’s wife seemed frail and sickly, but she at least appeared occasionally. Sometimes, when wealthy families visited the painter, she would entertain them.

As for the manor’s servants, there wasn’t much to say. They were brought by the painter and lived in the manor, unfamiliar with the townspeople. However, according to the shop owner’s investigation, someone had seen a human trafficker delivering people to the manor. Whether they were buying or selling was unclear.

Cheng Hui couldn’t help but look at the shop owner with newfound respect. Regardless of anything else, being able to gather such secretive information made this shop owner quite impressive.

Spending some money, the information Cheng Hui received left him quite satisfied.

“What do you think?” In a short time, he seemed to have gotten used to Ah Qiu’s presence and directly communicated with him.

The flamboyant young man, residing somewhere in his consciousness, slowly curled his lips, his full red lips slightly parted: “I think… you should take another look at that letter.”

“Hmm?” The letter from his ‘friend’?

He returned to his room and re-examined the letter. The content could be divided into three parts: the first part was Li Ying expressing how much he missed Cheng Hui after not seeing each other for so long, the second part invited Cheng Hui to stay at his newly purchased manor, and the third part mentioned some strange occurrences at the manor, hoping Cheng Hui could help take a look.

Cheng Hui read it for a while but couldn’t pinpoint anything wrong, just felt something was off. Until Ah Qiu reminded him: “Don’t you think his tone is too casual when describing the strange occurrences?”

“Hmm? Didn’t he seem very scared?” Cheng Hui felt that Li Ying’s words conveyed fear.

Ah Qiu chuckled softly: “If I were an ordinary person encountering something eerie, I’d be terrified and would describe the manor’s horrors in detail when seeking my friend’s help, rather than catching up on old times.”

Cheng Hui suddenly realized, it’s like when someone calls the police, they would immediately describe their situation rather than chat with the operator.

“You mean… this letter wasn’t written by my friend, but by someone else to trick me?”

“Not necessarily,” Ah Qiu said calmly. “Perhaps your friend harbors ill intentions and wants to lure you to your death.”

Cheng Hui: … No, it can’t be that vicious, right?

But looking at the letter in his hand and recalling how the shop owner described the manor as terrifying, he suddenly felt uncertain.

“Alright, don’t overthink it. No matter what, you have to check out the manor first. Don’t worry, I’ll be with you all the way,” Ah Qiu said with a smile.

“True.” Cheng Hui agreed, regardless of what was hidden behind the incident, he had to go to find out what was really going on.

He glanced at the sky. It was morning when he arrived here, and he hadn’t spent much time gathering information from the shop owner. So, he left the inn and headed straight for the manor.

On his way out, he encountered the inn’s attendant, who, seeing him leaving, smartly brought over his mount.

Cheng Hui: … I actually have a horse…

Facing the black steed, Cheng Hui felt a bit uneasy. Riding a horse was a high-class skill that a regular college student like him obviously couldn’t master. So… what should he do?

Maybe, just get on and see what happens?

He looked at the horse, which seemed very docile, gritted his teeth, and mounted it using the stirrup.

Then… his body instinctively adjusted its posture and galloped away.

Cheng Hui: … Whoa!

As he rode the horse at full speed, Cheng Hui was a bit dazed. His skills were quite proficient. Could it be that this world had directly granted him this ability?

Forget it, don’t mind the details.

He rode for about half an hour and saw the eaves of a house faintly appearing in the woods ahead.

“Whoa—”

He dismounted and walked to the front gate, finding it already open. He paused and knocked hard on the door, but there was no response.

According to the task, his friend Li Ying should have already disappeared, so… who opened this door?

He thought for a moment, led his horse into the manor, and walked around the screen wall to see three people standing in the front yard.

One of them was very familiar, the cross-dressing beauty who had challenged him at the inn. The other two were a man in black armor with deep-set eyes and a stern expression, with an iron plaque on his waist that read ‘Demon Suppression,’ and a kind-looking old monk.

Cheng Hui’s entrance immediately caught the attention of the three.

The cross-dressing beauty clicked her tongue in disdain. The demon suppression officer remained expressionless, while the old monk greeted him with a cheerful smile.

Cheng Hui: … Oh, turns out I have teammates.