Chapter 54: Everyone’s a Liar—But You’re the Real Deal?

Zhao Yu muttered sincerely for quite a while, believing the ghosts had heard his earnest intentions, before he finally closed his eyes with peace of mind.

He would sleep for a bit.

When he woke up, Master Nanshan and the others would surely have finished their fight, and he could simply collect his money and go home.

He really was a clever little ghost.

Perfect.

He slept all the way until the middle of the night.

"There's a ghost..." A shrill scream pierced the night sky.

Zhao Yu, who had been sleeping soundly, was jolted awake in an instant.

Rubbing his sleep-blurred eyes, he found himself still in the same courtyard, with only the bright moon illuminating the earth in a silvery-white glow.

The woman with the red mole from earlier came running out of the house in a panic.

Master Nanshan and the fierce-looking man poked their heads out, their faces filled with doubt and alarm.

Soon, the fierce-looking man frowned and asked, "What are you screaming for?"

"A ghost... There's... there's really a ghost..." The woman with the red mole stared in terror at the room she had just emerged from.

The expressions of both Master Nanshan and the fierce-looking man shifted drastically.

A moment later, the fierce-looking man suppressed his panic and said, "Even if there really is a ghost... it hasn't caused any trouble for two full years, so it must just be a weak specter! Let's all gather together right now. That way, our collective vital yang energy, combined with the fierce aura I carry, will surely keep ordinary specters from daring to approach us!"

Master Nanshan stopped twirling his horsetail whisk and silently moved closer to the fierce-looking man.

The woman also drew near, looking slightly relieved.

The fierce-looking man glared at Zhao Yu and asked, "Why aren't you coming over?"

Zhao Yu blinked, unable to hold back his confusion: "Aren't you guys here to fight ghosts?"

He saw that the woman who had been sitting by the well that afternoon was currently clinging to the back of the woman with the red mole... Of course, that wasn't the important part. The important part was that the real ghost hadn't even shown up yet, so why were these people scared into such a pathetic state?

The fierce-looking man stared blankly for a long while before muttering, "Is there something wrong with his brain?"

Master Nanshan looked toward the courtyard gate and said, "Never mind him. Let's see if we can break the door open and get out. No matter what, leaving this courtyard is the only way to be out of danger."

The three of them rushed swiftly toward the courtyard gates.

They pulled hard, but the doors did not budge.

The fierce-looking man's expression sank. "The door has been locked from the outside."

Simultaneously, all three of them turned to look at Zhao Yu.

They still remembered how Zhao Yu had casually moved the stone table earlier. If Zhao Yu used brute force, he might just be able to wrench the doors open directly.

"Though I haven't the foggiest what you're trying to do, I suppose you have your reasons. I'll go back to sleep for a bit; wake me up when you're done fighting the ghost."

Zhao Yu rubbed his eyes again, rested his head on the table, and continued sleeping.

He missed his own bed at home; sleeping hunched over a table was terribly stiff and uncomfortable.

Master Nanshan could finally hold back no longer. "Are you an idiot? There's a ghost here! If we don't get out, we could be beaten to death by the ghost at any moment!"

"Aren't you guys here to fight ghosts..."

Before he could finish, realization dawned on Zhao Yu: "Are you all swindlers?"

Earlier, Master Nanshan had put on such a grandiose show that Zhao Yu thought he must be tremendously powerful. As it turned out... were these people even more shameless swindlers than the barbarians?

The faces of the three turned hot with annoyance.

Then, the woman with the red mole couldn't help but sneer, "Look who's talking, as if you aren't a swindler yourself."

Zhao Yu immediately corrected her, "I'm not a swindler. I'm just here to pick up some easy cash."

Master Nanshan urged impatiently, "Whether you're a swindler or just after money can wait for later. You have great strength, so hurry up and open this door! If pulling it doesn't work, use your fists to see if you can smash the door down directly. If we waste any more time... what if we've underestimated that ghost and we all end up dying here?"

Zhao Yu thought about it for a moment and nodded. "Alright, I suppose."

He was only here to earn money, not to start a brawl.

Upon seeing this, the three of them were overjoyed.

They even secretly resolved that once they got outside, they would immediately bolt to avoid being liquidated by the Liu family.

However...

"Wuwuwu..."

A chorus of ghostly howls suddenly echoed around them.

Only then did the group discover in terror that clinging to the back of the woman with the red mole was indeed a disheveled female ghost.

"Save... save me..." Master Nanshan could no longer maintain his immortal, otherworldly demeanor and collapsed limply to the ground.

The fierce-looking man fared slightly better; scrambling and crawling in a panic, he rushed toward Zhao Yu's location.

Having more people around always provided a sense of security.

The woman with the red mole wanted to run as well.

However, she felt her body enveloped by a bone-chilling cold that completely paralyzed her.

She could only tremble frantically and plead, "Save... save me..."

The fierce-looking man had no intention of saving anyone. He only muttered, "This ghost is vicious. Good thing I have plenty of tricks up my sleeve from my days wandering the jianghu."

He pulled a rope and an iron hook from his bosom and flung them over the courtyard wall with a flick of his wrist.

With a tug, he prepared to scale the wall and flee.

"Better a dead fellow Daoist than a poor me." Master Nanshan had also recovered quite a bit of his composure by now; springing up from the ground with a kick, he leaped high and grabbed the top of the wall, preparing to climb out.

Completely engulfed by despair, the woman with the red mole could only look at Zhao Yu. "Save... save me..."

Though she didn't believe Zhao Yu could save her, right now... apart from begging him for help, there was no one else left.

Ignoring her, Zhao Yu picked up his wood-chopping saber and muttered softly, "Saber, should we run too?"

The ghost was already this ferocious before even properly showing up, and if it truly materialized... he was only here to make a quick buck, not to fight for his life.

The wood-chopping saber agreed wholeheartedly: "Though I feel we might have misunderstood something, you're right. Let's make a run for it first, lest any weird complications arise."

With the saber's concurrence, Zhao Yu became even more certain that his decision was the right one.

Fly?

No, no, there were people here, and those wings of his were far too improper; he couldn't let anyone find out.

Taking a running start and executing a mighty leap, he instantly vaulted onto the wall.

Just as he was about to jump outside—

"Thud..."

Zhao Yu felt as though he had crashed into an invisible, transparent wall.

Not only him, but Master Nanshan and the fierce-looking man, who had already fled in hopes of saving themselves, were knocked violently back down to the ground.

There was a special barrier sealing the place off.

They couldn't get out.

Master Nanshan and his companion stared at the ghost clinging to the woman with the red mole, their expressions turning frantic. "It's over... We're finished..."

They couldn't run, and they couldn't fight...

They were dead for sure.

"Wuwuwu..." The female ghost let out another spine-chilling wail.

Realizing he couldn't escape, Zhao Yu readied himself to shout for his wife to save him... when he noticed that Master Nanshan and the other man seemed to be staring at the disheveled woman?

He couldn't help asking, "Are you guys scared of her?"

The two of them managed bitter smiles. "Aren't you? Then why were you running?"

Zhao Yu wore a dark expression and remained silent.

He had thought there was some terrifying, monstrous ghost lurking here; it turned out to be nothing more than a pitiful, disheveled mute girl.

He dropped back down to the ground.

Approaching the woman with the red mole, he tried negotiating with the female ghost: "Little girl, you look rather pitiful. I have no intention of beating you. How about this—drop that glowing wall and let me out, alright?"

As he had said before, he was here for the money, not to fight.

Being a person meant one had to see things through to the end.

The female ghost instantly fixed her gaze on Zhao Yu.

"Wuwuwu..."

Amidst the ghostly wails, a wave of nauseating, foul stench rolled relentlessly toward Zhao Yu.

Zhao Yu was forced backward instantly, covering his nose and mouth with his hand: "Hey, when was the last time you brushed your teeth?"

The female ghost tilted her head slightly, a fierce murderous intent erupting in her eyes as she transformed into a black gale and lunged straight at Zhao Yu.