Chapter 53: Teaming Up to Bluff

Despite it being a stormy night, Ye Feifan discovered that something seemed to have gone wrong with his deductions at some point.

The West Courtyard was exceptionally quiet. The sounds of rain and thunder masked an underlying dread as Father Zhang and Zhang Da accompanied Ye Feifan in search of the so-called unknown entity.

Yet, after searching the entire estate, not a single trace could be found. Doors and windows were tightly shut, and the cabinets and boxes in the rooms had all been inspected without revealing anything unusual.

Through the dim night, Ye Feifan observed the expressions of Father Zhang and Zhang Da. The fear on their faces was faint, quite unlike the panic they had shown on that night at Shaba; they seemed entirely confident and unbothered.

That being the case, the reason behind the Zhang family keeping their mouths tightly shut became somewhat clearer... No one had died among them. The secrecy was merely a smoke screen they had put up to mislead the major clans and the people of Tianzi City.

Old foxes!

Ye Feifan had previously found their attitude somewhat strange, but now, following this line of reasoning, everything fell neatly into place. Even the side quests issued by the system would likely change accordingly...

A streak of yellow flashed by. Ye Feifan’s eyes lit up, and his expression grew a fraction more serious.

"Patriarch Zhang, where is the latrine in the West Courtyard?"

Seeing how grave Ye Feifan looked, Father Zhang broke out in a cold sweat. He pointed toward a corner and said, "Right over there... Is there something dangerous in the latrine?"

"Uncertain for now. Stay here and do not move about; I will go in and take a look."

"Rest assured, Brother Xiao. We will keep watch here for you."

As he gradually approached the latrine, Ye Feifan’s expression remained unchanged. Holding his sword in one hand, he pushed open the wooden door with the other and stepped quietly inside.

Neither Zhang Da nor Father Zhang dared to speak, staring intently for fear of missing anything.

The latrine was a partitioned compartment. Little Yellow was crouched atop the window at the back of the latrine.

To avoid leaking any sound, Ye Feifan transmitted his voice to Little Yellow directly. His voice-transmission technique came from the Scripture Pavilion of the Wufa Sect. Little Yellow, Old Black, and Big Yellow had all been taught this method for the sake of easy communication and tricking others.

"Little Yellow! How is the situation?"

"I've got the stuff. I smashed it all up." Little Yellow handed a bag over to Ye Feifan.

"Did anything happen?" Accepting the bag, Ye Feifan stored the items away into the system space, then pulled out a small red robe belonging to the Buddha statue and handed it to Little Yellow.

"I ran into that woman in red, and she led me to find her ashes. She went on a killing spree in the Liu family estate... In the chaos, I managed to get the distribution map of the Buddha statues. There is one statue at the Beichen Teahouse and another at Shaba... There are three Buddha statues in the Liu family patriarch's study. I almost missed them..."

Listening to Little Yellow’s account, Ye Feifan felt somewhat strange. He took the map, unfolded it, and took a look, his heart skipping a beat.

There was a secret room at the Shaba outpost, and a Buddha statue atop the octagonal tower of the Beichen Teahouse... He hadn't seen any Buddha statue when he took the pocket watch last time!

The Buddha statue was in the hands of the inn waiter!

That waiter had hidden motives!

"Where are Old Black and Big Yellow?"

"Old Black is outside, and Big Yellow hasn't returned yet."

"We're in trouble. There is no danger in the Zhang family; the vengeful spirit didn't come out."

Glancing at the dark red Blood-Smeared Novice Sword in his hand, Ye Feifan guessed that the entity might be afraid of the weapon he wielded.

"Brother Feifan, what should we do now?"

"Hang the little red robe on the crossbeam of the guest hall, and don't give yourself away later... Go outside and find someone to control. I need to bluff these two into going to Shaba..."

After receiving his instructions, Little Yellow nodded earnestly.

"Go on. Big Yellow is likely in danger over there."

"I understand."

Watching Little Yellow leap out of the window, Ye Feifan quickly pushed open the wooden door and walked back outside.

"Brother Xiao, any discoveries?"

With a gloomy expression, Ye Feifan looked up at the sky and slowly said, "Patriarch Zhang, we may be in big trouble."

"What happened?" Father Zhang remained calm, merely suspicious, without sensing that anything was amiss.

"Do you remember the Route 88 bus your son took last time?"

"That bus... It's coming over!" Father Zhang was startled, and Zhang Da, standing behind him, trembled incessantly.

"The situation today is very bad. That ominous entity might have boarded that bus. If it reaches Drowning River..."