Chapter 21
The Unclad
From a distance, the haunted building of the Liu family did not look that big. But when they got closer, this four-story loft occupied a large area, with an exquisite design that was not obvious in appearance.
Each floor had more than a dozen rooms arranged in a circle, with a perfect rain shed and netting at the center of the patio. The top shed warded off rainwater, while the netting prevented children from falling from upstairs.
Unlike the dilapidated exterior of the entire Liu family house, this building looked quite intact. Even with exposure to wind and rain for decades, there was no destroyed door or a window, nor was there any trace of mottling.
This itself was a strange thing.
The girl who came with Gongsun Rou was Zhao Xiaomiao, who was Zhao Liangcai’s half-sister. She grabbed the edge of Gongsun Rou’s sleeve as she begged. “Sister Gongsun, please let me join you.”
Gongsun Rou was unmoved, as she just shook her head lightly. “You came out to play with me so I need to be responsible for you. The situation inside is unknown. What if there’s danger inside?”
Zhao Liangcai had also wanted to get Zhao Xiaomiao to go home, but Zhao Xiaomiao cared not for his opinions. When she saw him opening his mouth, she glared at him. And immediately, he shut his mouth.
Zhao Xiaomiao was not afraid of Zhao Liangcai. It was the other way around—he was terrified of Zhao Xiaomiao. He had been fooling around outside, and god knows how much dirt this younger sister of his had on him. The elders in the family also doted on her. And if she lodged a complaint, he would get into serious trouble.
Zhao Xiaomiao continued to act like a spoiled child. “If there’s danger, won’t you be in the same boat?”
“That’s right.” Wang Longqi interrupted and persuaded them. “Miss Gongsun, how about the two of you don’t come here. This is really not a good place to be.”
Gongsun Rou looked in Wang Longqi’s direction, but her gaze was actually on Li Chu beside Wang Longqi. She smiled faintly. “I’m not afraid.”
Zhao Xiaomiao’s eyes flickered. “Sister Gongsun, think about this. After going in, they can share a room, but you can only sleep in one yourself. How scary is that? There’s not even a person to take care of you, and if those ghosts specifically bully those who are alone, what will you do?”
Gongsun Rou pondered a little, seemingly still did not want to agree, but she said nothing.
Zhao Xiaomiao grinned and then coiled her arms around Gongsun Rou’s. “You cannot leave me behind.”
Zhao Liangcai also made his own plans secretly. ‘It seemed like Miss Gongsun is still afraid. Heh, knowing that she is afraid will get things going. In this situation, just scaring her a little with some tricks, will she not throw herself into my arms?’
Gongsun Rou glanced at Li Chu’s side profile again as her heart skipped a beat subconsciously as she thought. ‘In this situation, if I am really terrified, can I just use it as a justification to throw myself into Daoist Li’s arms?”
Wang Longqi was closer to Gongsun Rou and could smell a faint fragrance at the tip of his nose. His mind perking up as he began to think. ‘In such a situation… how do I get Miss Gongsun to throw herself into my arms instead of others?’
All of those present had thoughts of their own, only Zhao Liangchen and Li Chu remained calm. One was ugly and composed, while another was handsome and composed, each maintaining their own air.
The group first circled around the open space on the first floor and found that not only the building had no pests in it, there was not even any vegetation.
The green bricks on the ground had no trace of moss, even after so many years of being soaked by rain.
Zhao Liangchen only then spoke. “Yin alone does not give birth to life. The Yin Qi inside this building is too potent, and Yang Qi does not exist. It seems like the talk of ghosts is not a mere rumor.”
As he said that, he looked coldly at Li Chu.
‘A usual martial art fraudster will find an excuse to slip away now, right?’
Yet, Li Chu, who did not look at Zhao Liangchen at all, only nodded in agreement. In fact, long before he came in, he had sensed that the Yin Qi inside this small building was even more potent than the mass grave at Ten Li Slope.
It would have been strange if there were no ghosts in this place.
But since the ghosts here had never left, they were probably not powerful ones.
There was a basis for his judgment. It was because most of the Earthbound Ghosts he had encountered were all low-level ghosts, like the Ghost Lanterns and the Vengeful Spirit.
But that also sounded a little unreasonable as for many cultivators, a Vengeful Spirit was already considered strong…
After looking all over, Zhao Liangcai pointed towards a room in an ingratiating manner as he said to Gongsun Rou. “Miss Gongsun, according to my observation, this is the best room in the building. It is spacious and clean and is also close to the exit. It’s just on the second floor with eaves hanging outside. So even in an emergency, you will not get hurt if you jump out.”
Gongsun Rou nodded noncommittally.
Wang Longqi said, “So you’ve been paying attention to the exit. It seems like you’ve been thinking of running away all along.”
“Humph, I’m just thinking of Miss Gongsun.”
“Then, you’ll find an excuse to stay beside Miss Gongsun. That way it’ll be convenient for you to run away, ain’t it?” Wang Longqi sneered.
“You! You’re blathering nonsense!” With his thoughts being seen through, Zhao Liangcai’s face instantly flushed red.
“Oh I see, then would you dare to stay in the topmost fourth floor, furthest away from the stairs?” Wang Longqi pointed towards the top floor.
“Why would I dare not!” Zhao Liangcai roared.
“Alright! Then we’ll stay next to Miss Gongsun.” Wang Longqi turned and rushed to push the door open.
Gongsun Rou originally did not agree to stay in the room Zhao Liangcai had chosen, but seeing Li Chu and Wang Longqi had entered the room next door, she smiled and nodded at Zhao Liangcai before slowly walking into her room.
“…” Zhao Liangcai stood in place for a few seconds before realizing that he had probably just been bamboozled.
He looked aggrievedly at Zhao Liangchen and said, “Cousin, you have to stand up for me.”
“Heh.” Zhao Liangchen sneered as he looked at the darkening sky above. “Let them be.”
…
It was a full moon tonight, yet somehow, when one looked at the moon from the haunted building of the Liu family, one would see a layer of fog, and there was no glow no matter how big the moon was.
The room was spotless. The bed, screen, table were all clean and tidy as if someone had been cleaning it daily.
No matter where he touched, everything felt cold, with a gloomy scent to it. After taking a whiff, it felt a little sickening.
As he sat on the chair, Zhao Liangcai felt a chill on his back. As night fell, his anxiety became more and more intense.
He could not help but say, “Cousin, this place can’t be cleaned by ghosts every night, right?”
Zhao Liangchen was meditating on the bed, cherishing every moment of cultivation. A habit he had cultivated over the years.
After completing a full circulation of his vital energy, he opened his eyes displeasedly. He looked at Zhao Liangcai as if he was looking at a full. “If not, then who? A human?”
“Huh?!” Zhao Liangcai sprang up in shock as he panicked a little. “Saying something and doing something are totally two different matters. Don’t joke around with this! Although I want to scare them, I don’t want to run into ghosts.”
“I’m here, so what are you afraid of?” Zhao Liangchen gave a contemptuous glare. “Back then, someone in the Liu household had died with bitterness, and the soul of the dead remained here and refused to leave. Heh, if they dare to show up, what’s so difficult about exorcising this god-forsaken place?”
When Zhao Liangcai heard this, he felt a bit more reassured. After all, he had always known that his cousin was amazing.
After he regained his confidence, he began to think about other things.
“Cousin.” He leaned over and said, “You said before you want to do something to scare them. What is it? It’s dark already. Are we making a move now?”
When Zhao Liangchen heard that, he took out a small black bottle from his sleeve. “I just need only these brats to deal with them.”
As he pulled off the cork of the bottle sealed with a talisman and poured it down, a thick, mutton-fat-like white mist flew out of it and filled half of the room in a blink of an eye.
Several small figures gradually appeared inside the mist. They all huddled together with their heads buried in their knees.
Zhao Liangcai was frightened when he saw them. “Wh-Wh-What are they?”
“The Unclads, also known as a ghost child. I caught them by accident some time back. Zhao Liangchen said.
Zhao Liangcai had heard some rumors about the Unclads before. Children who had died before eight were called the unclad deaths as they were not clad in funeral robes. Children who died at this age would often turn into ghosts easily because they perished long before they could enjoy the world, and would be bitter within.
However, children were often simple-minded, and had little to no grievances, so they often would not cause much harm.
As the white mist slowly dissipated, the figures became clear. They were four boys and one girl, all wearing thick clothes, looking like a Zhizha paper art.
When the mist totally cleared, the child ghosts all raised their heads.
Immediately, Zhao Liangcai heard a loud, crisp, exciting question asked in unison.
“Is it dinnertime?”