Chapter 227
Chapter 227
Heavy snow fell throughout the day.
By dusk, it lay deep on the roads. As far as the eye could see, heaven and earth merged into one vast expanse of white.
The party had reached the foot of Mount Yuebei, but the snow showed no sign of easing. If anything, it was falling faster.
Traveling through snow after dark was difficult, so they decided to find somewhere to stop for the night.
But the post station marked on the map had been completely abandoned and was unfit for lodging.
They traveled another two li before spotting a villa.
Unfortunately, even the villa had long stood deserted.
By then it was fully dark. The snow continued to fall, and there was no sign of habitation anywhere around them.
Under the circumstances, they could only take temporary shelter from the wind and snow inside the villa.
Cobwebs covered a signboard that looked ready to fall.
Yu Lang raised his lantern to illuminate it. Only then could he make out the large characters: Mingyue Villa.
It was not hard to guess that this was most likely some wealthy family’s mountain retreat, though they did not know why it had been abandoned.
Beyond the main doors lay a spacious forecourt. Though deep snow covered the ground, its carefully planned layout was still apparent.
When they entered the main hall, they were surprised again.
All the furniture and ornaments were still there, merely coated in dust from long neglect.
For an abandoned villa, that was distinctly odd…
“This place looks as though it has been deserted for at least six months. Has no thief ever broken in?”
Looking at the jade ornaments, Yu Lang could not contain his curiosity.
In his view, a place like this anywhere else would have been stripped bare long ago.
Yan Zhengchu said, “Could it be… because it is too remote?”
Yu Lang shook his head. After a moment’s frowning thought, he reasoned, “If we could find it, how remote can it be? You underestimate those bandits.”
Ren Fengjue also surveyed the hall’s furnishings. They might not be especially valuable, but they were more than good enough to fetch some silver at a pawnshop.
Yet apart from looking somewhat dilapidated, everything in the hall remained perfectly intact.
There was not the slightest trace of an intruder.
“Usually, the owners of a mountain retreat like this come for short visits at particular times of year,” he said. “The rest of the time, servants or guards look after it…”
Yu Lang readily agreed. “It certainly does not look like a house people lived in all year…”
He went on, “But if something happened to the owners and the villa was abandoned, even if the servants were honest enough to leave everything behind, word would get out sooner or later. How could bandits possibly resist?”
As he reasoned it out, an unwelcome answer suddenly occurred to him…
“Could it be… that this villa is haunted?”
Yu Lang hurried to Yan Zhengchu’s side. “Daoist Master, you must take a good look.”
Yan Zhengchu replied, “I suspected as much before we came in. But now that I have looked, there really are no ghosts.”
Only then did Yu Lang relax a little, though he was more puzzled than ever.
“If there are no ghosts, what is the reason?”
Daoist Yan had no wish to pursue the question. “We are only staying one night. As long as there are no evil things about and we can sleep in peace, that will do.”
Ren Fengjue said, “We have been traveling all day, and everyone is indeed tired. Still, there is something strange about this place. Keep your guard up tonight.”
He glanced at Xia Ximo beside him, then turned to Axia. “Come with me to the back. Let us see whether any bedrooms are fit to sleep in.”
Yu Lang immediately said, “Lord Ren, I will come with you.”
After the three men left the hall, Xia Ximo looked around as well.
Just as Yan Zhengchu had said, there was not a trace of Yin-Sha Qi, much less any sign of ghosts.
She patted the Soul-Ferrying Lantern and quietly asked Wuyou, “Have you found anything?”
From inside the lantern, Wuyou’s voice sounded strangely drowsy. “No…”
Xia Ximo felt that something was odd, but could make nothing of it.
Before long, Axia returned to tell Xia Ximo and Yan Zhengchu that the bedrooms at the back had been tidied up and were fit to use.
Hearing this, the two of them left the hall for the inner courtyard.
No one noticed that as soon as they were gone, every footprint in the dust disappeared. The ornaments they had moved returned to their original positions of their own accord.
Everything was exactly as it had been at the start…
That night, all of them stayed somewhat alert and dared not sleep too deeply. Yet nothing happened.
At daybreak, the wind and snow had still not stopped. After eating a little breakfast in the villa, they set off again.
By then, almost every road and path at the foot of Mount Yuebei had disappeared beneath the snow, making it difficult to tell which way to go.
Suddenly, a strange gust blew through the valley, and the carriage jolted.
Those inside swayed with the jolt, their thoughts growing hazy as well.
They had no idea how far they had traveled before the sky slowly darkened again.
A post station suddenly appeared beside the road.
Axia hurried down to inspect it. Before long, he returned to Ren Fengjue. “Young master, the post station has been abandoned. No one can stay there.”
Ren Fengjue paused slightly. For a fleeting moment, he felt he had heard those words somewhere before.
But his foggy mind seemed caught in a snowstorm of its own, and his memories were growing blurred and confused.
The carriage traveled about another two li, and a villa appeared through the wind and snow.
This time, Yu Lang was the first to get down. He soon returned and said, “My lord, there is no one in the villa either, but it looks as though we could shelter there. Shall we stop here?”
Ren Fengjue nodded. He rose and stepped out of the carriage, then instinctively reached back to steady Xia Ximo.
Their eyes met, and both seemed to pause.
“Mingyue Villa. This place is called Mingyue Villa.”
Yu Lang shone his lantern on the signboard above the entrance, then turned to tell the others.
The people behind him hesitated, and, for no reason he could name, he did too.
In the silence, doubts stirred in each of them, but no one spoke again.
Amid the eerie atmosphere, Axia stepped forward and pushed open the doors. “The snow is getting heavier. Let us go inside first.”
They crossed the courtyard and entered the hall, only to look around in surprise.
Without thinking, Yu Lang said, “This place looks as though it has been deserted for at least six months. Has no thief ever broken in?”
Yan Zhengchu promptly replied, “Could it be… because it is too remote?”
They looked at each other, their expressions strange. Yu Lang was about to continue, but swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue.
Instead, he said to the others, “Why do I feel that we have been here before? Even what we just said was exactly the same…”
Ren Fengjue lightly brushed a jade ornament on the table, then examined the dust on his fingertips. “I have the same feeling.”