Chapter 130

Chapter 130

The windows inside the room were shut tight. Judging by the layer of dust gathered along the top, they had not been opened at all.

As for the furnishings-the cabinets, table and chairs, and the bed-aside from traces left by Second Master Liao himself, there was nothing else.

What had bitten him to death?

Could it have been done by a Vengeful Ghost?

Ren Fengjue turned back and asked Yan Zhengchu, “Daoist Master, are there any traces of a Vengeful Ghost here?”

Daoist Yan, who had just collected the soul, held the jade gourd in his hand and gave it a shake. Hearing the question, he shook his head with absolute certainty.

“There is no Yin-Sha Qi here. If it were Bai Qingshuang, my compass would definitely have reacted.”

Bai Qingshuang, as a Vengeful Ghost, was unusual.

After taking form, she was no different from a living person. The Yin-Sha Qi around her was extremely faint; no one knew what method she had used to conceal her presence.

Because of that, compared with ordinary ghosts, her tracks were especially difficult to find.

He brought the jade gourd to his ear, then added, “Second Master Liao’s soul is still in a muddled state. I doubt we’ll be able to ask him anything for the time being…”

Hearing this, Ren Fengjue had no other leads in mind and could only continue searching the room for traces.

Just then, hurried footsteps came from outside the door. It was the servant who had gone downstairs to boil hot water returning.

He carried a bucket of hot water in his hand, but when he reached the doorway and saw the state of the room, he was so frightened that he spilled the entire bucket onto the floor.

“Second Master?”

The servant rushed into the room in a panic. Looking at the corpse on the floor, he seemed utterly unable to believe it. “Second Master, he… how did he end up like this?”

Seeing him cry so grief-strickenly, anyone else might have thought master and servant shared a deep bond.

But everyone present had seen, downstairs, how Second Master Liao had beaten and cursed him at the slightest disagreement. They could not help feeling doubtful.

Could there really be such a blindly loyal servant in this world?

Ren Fengjue quietly took in the servant’s every movement and asked, “Before you went downstairs to boil the water, what was the situation in this room?”

The servant wiped his tears and answered honestly, “Before I went downstairs, this humble one removed Second Master’s shoes and socks, hung up his clothes, and helped him lie down on the bed. Only then did I leave and go downstairs.”

“But… it was only a short while. How could something like this happen?”

As he spoke, his face filled with remorse. He knelt on the floor and knocked his head heavily against it several times.

Ren Fengjue saw his forehead strike the bloody water.

It was the water that had just spilled on the floor, mixed with Second Master Liao’s blood, now flowing toward the lowest part of the room.

And at that moment, as he watched the direction in which the bloody water flowed, he suddenly noticed that a large section of flooring in the corner was clearly lower than the rest…

Off to the side, Xia Ximo suddenly asked without warning, “With a master like that dead, shouldn’t you be celebrating your freedom?”

The servant was still kowtowing. When he heard such words, he actually grew angry.

“Miss, my Second Master’s body is not even cold yet. How can you say something like that?”

Xia Ximo gave a cold laugh. “I simply don’t believe there is anyone in this world who would feel gratitude toward someone who beat and cursed them every day.”

“A person like that is either stupid or pretending.”

“And judging by the look of you, it should be the latter.”

The servant’s expression instantly darkened. It was unclear whether he was angered by her rudeness or because she had struck a nerve.

Just then, Yu Lang and Axia also arrived at the doorway. They reported to Ren Fengjue, “My lord, we’ve searched the entire inn inside and out. We found nothing else.”

Inside the room, Ren Fengjue had already walked to the corner. Seeing the bloody water gather precisely there, it had just happened to soak out the outline of a hidden door.

He beckoned Yu Lang inside, pointed to that corner, and said, “Go to the adjacent Earth-Class Room now and check carefully to see whether there is also a section of flooring like this.”

“If you can’t tell by looking, pour some water on it.”

Yu Lang accepted the order and went off. Ren Fengjue then instructed Axia, “Go see whether that inn worker Thirteen is still there.”
After roughly a few minutes, the two returned one after the other to report.

Yu Lang said, “My lord, aside from the Earth-Class Room, I also checked the rooms beside it. Three or four of them are the same.”

Axia said, “Young Master, I’ve searched the entire inn, but there’s no sign of Thirteen.”

Yu Lang flew into a rage at once. “That brat! I knew there was something wrong with him!”

“My lord, at this hour, he can’t have gotten far. I’ll go after him right now.”

But Ren Fengjue stepped in and blocked his way. “There is no need to chase him.”

“Why not?”

“He must still be in this inn.”

“What?”

Yu Lang and Axia both looked puzzled.

Ren Fengjue glanced at Xia Ximo and said, “I thought over what Miss Xia said just now, and I find I agree with her.”

As he spoke, he slowly walked up to the servant and asked, “Are you certain you know nothing about Second Master Liao’s death?”

Seeing so many pairs of eyes fixed on him, the servant trembled and hurriedly said, “I really don’t know anything! I went downstairs to boil water just now. You all saw it!”

“Besides, when I brought the water up just now, that young waiter was in the kitchen out back!”

Ren Fengjue gave a cold smile. “If you confess now, I can refrain from holding you responsible. But if I discover that you colluded with that waiter…”

The moment those words were spoken, the servant seemed to understand something. He immediately dropped to his knees and kowtowed again and again.

Everyone watching knew at once that there had to be more to the story.

“My lord, spare me! I did not collude with the waiter. I only…”

Seeing him stammering as if the words were difficult to say, Yu Lang also threatened, “Are you still trying to lie to us? Speak!”

The servant jolted in fright and finally admitted it.

“It is true that before I came here, I had already heard of this Death Inn. But that waiter and I truly met for the first time today. How could there be any collusion?”

Yu Lang frowned. “What Death Inn?”

The servant glanced around, shivering. “Before we even entered Yan County, I heard that many people had died in this inn over the past six months, one after another. Most of them were merchants traveling to the capital…”

“That was how it earned the name Death Inn…”

“People are saying that the innkeeper’s wife, who died here with grievances, is claiming these people’s lives.”

Yu Lang understood as soon as he heard that, but he deliberately asked, “Since you knew there had been murders at this inn, why did you still bring your master here to stay? What exactly were you planning?”

The servant lowered his eyes guiltily. Then he looked at Second Master Liao’s gruesome corpse, his emotions clearly complicated.

In the end, he gritted his teeth and spoke harshly. “It is exactly as this young lady said. In my heart… I hated Liao Er very much!”

“On the way here, I thought that if he could die in this inn, I would finally be free…”

“But I was also afraid I would lose my own life here.”

Ren Fengjue asked, “Then who gave you the courage to enter this inn?”

A trace of confusion appeared on the servant’s face. “I… had a dream.”

“In the dream… a woman told me that as long as we entered this inn and stayed in a guest room, Liao Er would undoubtedly die.”

Ren Fengjue sounded skeptical. “It was truly a dream?”

“Absolutely true.”

The servant continued, “That dream was very strange. I saw a lot of mist in front of me… but I couldn’t see anyone. I could only hear a voice. And I remember that at the time, I was driving the carriage. I wasn’t asleep.”

“But after I ‘woke up,’ I had already driven the carriage to Ge Town.”

“And just then, a torrential rain began to fall. Everything seemed perfectly natural. I even thought Heaven was helping me.”