Don't be clouded

Chapter 41 The Graveyard

The green will-o'-the-wisp is common in cemeteries and mass graves, but it should not appear on a building in Chongzhou City.

"Feng Yu Lou." Guan Chen recognized the blurred words on the plaque.

Ji Bieyun didn't hear clearly, and asked instead: "Fengyulou?"

When I looked up, I realized that I had heard it wrong. The word "Fengyu" was clearly on the plaque.

"Which restaurant would have such a beautiful name?" He muttered to himself.

Guan Chen glanced at him, "The brothel."

Ji Bieyun was startled, then watched Guan Chen step forward, and tried to push the door.There was a lock on the door, which jingled.

He stepped forward and was about to draw his knife out of its sheath to split the lock, when he saw the door crumbling twice, falling backwards with a creak, hitting the ground heavily and raising a large cloud of dust.

He was pulled back a few steps by the arm, and the hand released him only after the dust on his face dissipated.

"Thank you." Ji Bieyun thanked him, and waved the remaining floating dust with his hand.

At this moment, a hoarse string sound suddenly came from upstairs, which only rang once and then stopped.No one can tell what kind of musical instrument it is, it seems to be a broken zither or pipa, or a qin.

The stringed sound echoed in the empty building, and the lingering sound lingered around the beams, carrying a chilly air.

Ji Bieyun didn't go upstairs blindly, he stood at the door and looked around by candlelight.

There seemed to be some kind of chaos in the building, there were a lot fewer tables and chairs, and the rest were crooked.The curtains and curtains were still in place, but they could no longer see their original color, hanging lifelessly like pickles that had been sun-dried.The air in the building was extremely turbid, mixed with a certain dull smell.

There were some debris on the ground, and he couldn't see clearly, so he had to squat down.

Appears to be a vase arrangement or something, but not many fragments.If it was really a brothel, there must have been a lot of porcelain, calligraphy and paintings, but now none of them can be seen here, and there are not many fragments on the ground, presumably they were moved away.

Guan Chen also came in, came to the pillar, looked at it, and sniffed it closer.

"This building was not built very early, but the wood was soaked in water."

Ji Bieyun turned his head abruptly, "Has there been a flood here?"

The monk walked over with a frown, "The poor monk doesn't remember that there have been floods in Chongzhou in the past five years."

If there was a natural disaster in Daliang, the Xuanqing Temple would have to chant scriptures and pray for blessings, so it is impossible for Guanchen to be unclear.Since Guanchen is so sure, it seems that there has never been a flood, at least not in the memorial sent to Chenjing.

Ji Bieyun finally knew where the dull smell came from, it was the rotten smell of wood soaked in water.

As he walked in, he said, "I see that other nearby houses are very new. They must have been rebuilt later. Why is this building not?"

Guan Chen followed his steps, "Do you want to go upstairs?"

"Let's look at it layer by layer." Ji Bieyun pulled the monk closer, "Don't go too far, the two lights can illuminate more clearly, the road here is not easy to walk."

From time to time, the broken porcelain and wood were stepped under the feet, and the two candles seemed to be plunged into the vast dark sea, which could barely illuminate the feet.

They walked around the stairs to a row of rooms at the back.The doors of the rooms were all open, and the inside was also in a mess, with all the valuable things gone.But each room is decorated like a boudoir, with a carved wooden bed behind the curtain.

Ji Bieyun's face became more and more serious, and he couldn't help constructing the scene in his mind when the building was still lively, and the imaginary laughter rang in his ears, making him upset.

When he was in the city of bones, he heard about the days after the female relatives of some criminals were used as official prostitutes.As long as you think about it for a while, you will feel that there is a chill in Fengyu Tower, which is more piercing than the dungeon.

He closed his eyes and forced himself back to reality.

"Could it be that after the flood happened, the people here were busy escaping?" Ji Bieyun murmured, but he remembered that Fengyu Tower was next to the river, and if the water really flooded, it would be difficult to escape.

Guan Chen followed him step by step, and also asked a question: "Why didn't the government repair this place alone, but sealed it up?"

Ji Bieyun turned his head away, feeling a little chill behind his back.He didn't believe in ghosts and gods, so he couldn't help thinking further and further after hearing this. What he imagined were all man-made actions.

The strings upstairs sounded again.

The ridicule is hard to hear, and the instrument seems to have been soaked in water, out of tune, and the body of the piano is rotten.The chords seemed to have no rules, playing randomly, just to torment their ears.

After a while, the music finally stopped, and the young man seemed to be stunned, standing where he was lost in thought.

Guan Chen gently called him, and then he called the soul back.

Ji Bieyun turned his head to look at Guanchen, with a look of hesitation on his face, and turned around after a while and shook his head.It seems that it is still ringing in the ears, this dangerous building is lifeless, and the string sound is like dead music, people can only hear the resentment in it.

He returned to normal, looked at Guan Chen, and asked, "Do you think this place is really haunted?"

The monk still said calmly in this situation, "No, but the Chongzhou government seems to think so, so they didn't dare to repair this place, but locked Fengyu Tower instead."

"They are afraid of the female ghost coming out of the building." Ji Bieyun sneered, "Let's go upstairs and see who is playing tricks."

Guan Chen suddenly stretched out his arms to stop him, "Wait, there is an anomaly over there."

Ji Bieyun became alert instantly, his hand had already touched the Quehan knife.

"There is no one else," the monk reassured him. "The benefactor, relax."

Guan Chen led the way into a room, walked to the carved wooden bed in the inner room, and waved to him.

"There are traces of running water here, but it didn't burn."

Ji Bieyun approached and looked, the mattress had been scorched, the wooden bed also had traces of being burnt, and a burnt smell floated on the tip of his nose.

He bent down and touched the bed with his fingertips, but felt wet water stains.

"Someone put out the fire just in time, and not so long ago," he concluded.

Gathering the current clues together, we can deduce the general event.After the flood here, it was sealed up by the government, and the people inside are missing.And just before they came to Chongzhou, someone wanted to set fire to the Fengyu Tower, but someone else put it out.

Things are complicated.

But since Tang Sipan wanted them to come here, it meant that there must be clues here.

The two looked at each other, Ji Bieyun turned and walked out, but was stopped by Guanchen.

He came back to his senses, and saw the monk looking at him with that caring and compassionate gaze, and asked him, "The donor is not feeling well?"

Ji Bieyun was taken aback.

Was he that obvious?What's more, how could Guan Chen see his expression clearly?

"No, it's just that the smell here is a bit unpleasant." He lowered his eyes and made a fool of himself, then turned and walked out.

When they stepped on the stairs, there was an unpleasant creaking sound, as if telling them that the stairs were about to collapse.

Ji Bieyun walked cautiously, turned around and gave Guan Chen a word, and after slowly walking up to the second floor, he found that there was still a decaying smell here.

He touched the railing, and the wood under his palm was obviously soaked in water. Although it had dried, it still left marks.

"Did the water rise to the second floor at that time?" The more he thought about it, the more suspicious he became. "How could such a serious flood not be reported to the court?"

Guan Chen expressed his conjecture: "It was concealed."

They walked around the second floor, which was similar to the first floor, empty and dilapidated, and there was no one there.

It seems that the string sound should come from the third floor.

Ji Bieyun leaned towards Quehan Dao at his waist, stepped up the stairs first, and blocked Guanchen behind him.

When taking the first step, the hoarse string sounded at the same time as the whine of the stairs.

A hand was suddenly placed on his side, pulling him back.Ji Bieyun resisted subconsciously, but suddenly remembered that Guanchen was behind him, so he relaxed and followed the force.

His back hit his chest, and his warm breath passed by his ears, making him tremble slightly.

Guan Chen quickly backed away and retracted his hand, a slightly apologetic voice came from behind.

"The armor is smooth, there is no place to borrow strength, so I had to wrap around the waist of the benefactor, what an offense."

Ji Bieyun's heart beat a little faster, and he said dryly, "No problem".When he was pulled back just now, he noticed that he almost stepped on something.Move the lantern over, and there is a white bone on the stairs.

"It's a human leg bone." His voice was a little tight.

Guan Chen had already walked to his side from the side, avoided the bone and stepped up the stairs, "It's dark all around, the donor is restless, let the poor monk lead the way."

Ji Bieyun didn't object.

It seemed that it was more difficult for him to control his thoughts in the dark, and he couldn't help thinking about some things.For example, the piano at home when I was a child, and the back view of fleeing with the wind in the field outside Shugu City.

He took a deep breath, and the stale and dull air entered his body, which actually made him wake up a lot.Gathering his mind, he followed the footsteps of the monk.

The unbearable strings continued to sound, as if they knew they were approaching, so they played more and more intensely.

Ji Bieyun stepped on the place where Guanchen had stepped, avoiding several human bones along the way.There were leg bones, fingers, and even a skull, with empty eye sockets staring at them.

The surrounding air seemed even more dull.

Although Ji Bieyun had seen many corpses, they were still covered with skin and flesh. He was not familiar with the real bones, so he didn't know where some of the bones belonged to the body.

However, every time he passed a corpse, his heart became colder.

This is all human life.

When they finally stood on the third floor, the string sound suddenly stopped.

But Ji Bieyun had already heard the direction, striding forward, while drawing out the Quehan knife.

He kicked open the door, and a young girl was facing them with her hands on a broken piano.

Under the dim candlelight, the figure was like a dream, and the red on the clothes was like blood pouring down.There were a lot of corpses piled up in the room, and the ghostly fire was faint.

Ji Bieyun said in a trembling voice, "Liu Fengmian?"

For a moment in his trance, his eyes were covered by a hand.

Sensing the familiar aura, he didn't resist, but just stood there blankly.He blinked in vain, but could only see darkness.

Guanchen's voice seemed to be filled with the tranquility of Xuanqing Mountain, "Master Ji, you look good."

Ji Bieyun leaned back as if he lost his strength.