Chapter 45: The Inn Waiter Appears Once More

The atmosphere inside the carriage hit rock bottom, and the rear door of the bus remained tightly bolted.

Old Black and Little Yellow dared not move a muscle, their eyes fixed on Ye Feifan, hoping for some proper instructions.

Big Yellow had also extended her claws. The windows were all securely shut, and if a fight broke out, she would have no time to escape. Attack, after all, was the best form of defense.

"I didn't kill him!" Chen Biao's gaze was profound. Instead of offering a detailed explanation, he gave Ye Feifan a vague reply before looking out the window. "You guys should get off now."

Ye Feifan remained in his seat and asked instead, "What is inside the Zhang family warehouse?"

"Many things cannot be spoken of. Surely you understand even that much?" Clearly intending to chase them away, Chen Biao's voice grew bone-chillingly cold.

"What did you come to Wuju Town for?"

"Just passing by. Someone gave me a call."

"What was said?" Ye Feifan was somewhat astonished. You could make phone calls in the cultivation world?

"A group of passengers got lost and needed help. I'm taking them to Drowning River."

"What's in Drowning River?"

Giving Ye Feifan a once-over, Chen Biao said, "You aren't qualified to know yet."

"What makes someone qualified?"

"With the three pets in your hands, you can't even reach the bottom of the water."

"What did they do?"

"I'm not entirely sure. You had better take them and leave."

As the bus slowly came to a halt, a reddish glow flickered across Chen Biao's face. Without wasting any breath, Ye Feifan motioned to Old Black and prepared to alight from the front door.

"Passengers exiting must use the rear door."

Ye Feifan turned around. Chen Biao's expression was grim, a layer of dark mist churning across his face, making it plain that he was dead serious.

"Route 88 bus has arrived. Passengers getting off at Wuju Town, please disembark in an orderly fashion. Passengers boarding, please drop one yuan into the coin box. Please yield your seats to those in need of care. Thank you for your cooperation..."

Giving Chen Biao one last deep look, Ye Feifan walked over to the back door and stepped down. Old Black and Little Yellow hurriedly followed.

The bus had stopped outside a large courtyard, and Ye Feifan's feet landed precisely under the eaves of a roof that offered meager shelter from the rain.

Looking toward the front door of the bus, one human-shaped shadow after another drifted out from the courtyard behind, lining up to board the vehicle in an orderly queue.

"Route 88 bus is about to depart. The final stop of this trip is Litchi Bay. Please hold onto the handrails, keep your heads and arms inside the windows. The next stop is Drowning River. Passengers getting off, please prepare in advance."

The bus drove away. Ye Feifan's gaze remained fixed on the roof of the vehicle, where he faintly caught sight of a human-shaped shadow—identical to the one he had seen during the live broadcast. The entity even turned its face to look directly at him.

Its features were shrouded in shadow, hiding its eyes and expression entirely, leaving Ye Feifan clueless as to what it meant to convey.

There really was someone up there!

Little Yellow and Old Black stood in silence by the corner of the wall, their eyes holding a hint of terror. Big Yellow was trembling slightly on his shoulder; the fright brought by the bus was truly formidable.

Chen Biao was hiding something—so much so that he refused to even mention it. Even though he had transformed into a malevolent spirit clad in red, he was still afraid.

The forces operating in the shadows were far more complex than Ye Feifan had imagined... and the root of it all led back to Drowning River!

Ye Feifan gazed quietly at the courtyard, drawing the attention of his three animal companions.

"I plan to go inside and take a look. Which of you is willing to come with me?"

"I... I'll go..." Big Yellow hugged Ye Feifan's neck tightly.

Never before had Big Yellow imagined the cultivation world could be so terrifying. Judging by the earlier behavior of the red-robed driver, staying close to Brother Feifan was definitely the safest bet.

"We'll wait for you in your room." Having been tricked several times, Old Black refused to converse with Ye Feifan altogether. Grabbing Little Yellow, he vanished into the night rain.

"Cowards," Big Yellow muttered under her breath, though her body curled up into a tight ball.

Ye Feifan found a spot where it was easy to climb over, gave a light leap, and dropped into the courtyard. Instead of taking immediate action, he concealed himself to observe his surroundings.

He had landed amidst a cluster of artificial rockeries, likely the back garden of the sprawling estate.

The human-shaped shadows that had boarded the bus earlier did not possess overwhelmingly strong grievances; their deaths were most likely accidental. Coming inside was simply to investigate the cause of death... Completing the system's side quests ought to reward him with a few points, at least.

"Are there any dogs inside?" Ye Feifan held up his umbrella and turned to look at Big Yellow.

Big Yellow pricked up her ears, a flash of golden light crossing her pupils as she stared into the distance for a long moment before shaking her head. "Nothing at all. The servants are all asleep."

Nodding, Ye Feifan carefully slipped away from the rockery cluster and headed in the direction of the eastern courtyard.

Passing through a circular moon gate, a vast pond came into view. The human-shaped shadows must have drowned in here during their lifetimes.

Walking a circle around the pond, Ye Feifan noticed a layer of moss growing on the ground, with footprints treading over patches of it. The cause of death for those people instantly became clear to him.

An accidental mishap, not murder?

Leaving the pond behind, Ye Feifan entered the eastern courtyard and spotted a faint light still glowing from within one of the rooms.

"Big Yellow, go over there and eavesdrop. Tell me all about it once we get back to the inn."

"Fine." Giving a reluctant response, Big Yellow slipped down from Ye Feifan's shoulder.

Wading through the wind and rain, she scrambled up to the windowsill and gently poked a tiny hole in the paper window with her claw.

Ye Feifan found a place to hide, standing guard for Big Yellow while pulling out his pocket watch to check the time.

Three o'clock in the morning!

After heading to Drowning River, Chen Biao had rushed off to Litchi Bay. Could Li Xunhuan's household be haunted as well?

Time ticked away second by second. When the hands of the pocket watch approached five o'clock, the light in the room finally went out.

Big Yellow leaped down from the window and scurried back, settling herself once more upon Ye Feifan's shoulder.

"How did it go?"

"I overheard a huge secret. Those people didn't die by accident; it was murder."

"Oh?" Ye Feifan furrowed his brows. Things seemed rather different from what he had originally imagined.

Accompanied by Big Yellow, Ye Feifan left the vicinity of the courtyard and headed back toward the inn, questioning her about what had transpired along the way.

"The family itself is blameless. The problem is that their son visited the Welcome Hotel."

"That junior waiter?" Ye Feifan asked suspiciously.

Big Yellow blinked her eyes and said, "Brother Feifan, you've stirred up massive trouble."

"Did that waiter come looking for us?"

"The son of that family mentioned that the waiter sent someone to assassinate that group of servants, staging it to look like an accident. They only managed to fool the magistrate's office just yesterday..."

"Then what's the issue?"

"As the price for letting them off, the waiter demanded that they gather some information regarding whether there is a person named Xiao Martin within the Boundless Sect."

"Did they find out?"

"They didn't, but they did track down traces of Xiao Martin. The waiter extorted a sum of gold coins from them and will come to collect them in person tomorrow night."

"He's coming here?" Ye Feifan stopped in his tracks as the rain in the sky began to taper off.

"The head of that household has quite some nerve; he paid out a sum of wealth to the families of the deceased servants. He seems rather superstitious."

No wonder the human-shaped shadows boarded the bus and left without harming the wealthy family. The master of the house must have understood the karmic debt, settling accounts so that neither party owed the other anything, naturally leaving no intent to torment them in return.

That master was truly a brilliant mind!

Another batch of water ghosts had been added to Drowning River. Were they planning an assault on the Liu family at the first opportune moment?

As long as he dared to show his face, he would make sure the fellow had no way to fly away!

"Do you know when he's coming?" Big Yellow asked, pulling her neck inward.

"He certainly won't expect me to know about his impending arrival. Old Black remembers his scent; he won't be able to run."

Ye Feifan was not lying. Old Black had sensed the aura of the Buddha statue at the brothel, which carried traces of the waiter's presence... The moment the fellow set foot in the town, Old Black's nose would instantly pick up his scent.

"I reckon Old Black is extremely knowledgeable. He's probably looted quite a few major tombs." Big Yellow glanced at Ye Feifan and shared her suspicions.

"I know. He has a fragment of the Chaos Jade. I was just probing him last time by mentioning it deliberately, but I didn't expect him to actually possess one."

"You'll have to reimburse him."

"Energy fluid? I've got plenty of that!"

As the sky gradually brightened, Ye Feifan arrived back at their inn room, where Old Black sat quietly on the bed waiting for him.

"Where are my things?" Seeing him return, Old Black straightened up.

"I need to inspect the goods first."

Ye Feifan produced a small jade vial containing the energy fluid. The vial had been plundered from the leader of the Liu family's men in black and possessed a storage capacity of ten cubic meters, though currently, it held only the exact quantity Old Black was owed.

"Take it." Old Black tossed over a spatial pouch.