This person was not someone else, but Liang Shuhong, whom he had not seen for many days.
When Wen Chan saw him, he was sitting in the pavilion, talking to Liang Yanbei. He was dressed in white attire with an ink painting of bamboo on it, and he had the mannerisms of a scholar.
He walked over in surprise and said, “Brother Shuhong? Why are you here?”
Who would have known that Liang Shuhong would be more surprised than him when he saw him. He stood up and exclaimed, “Your Ninth Royal Highness?! Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be in the capital?!”
It seemed like no one had told him yet.
Wen Chan was silent for a moment, not knowing how to explain, “It’s a long story.”
Liang Shuhong first took a serious look at him to size him up. He then opened his mouth and piled a lot of words together, which finally turned into, “You shouldn’t be here.”
Wen Chan, “……”
Liang Yanbei said, “Everyone is here. It’s useless for you to say this.”
As soon as he heard his annoying tangdi1younger male patrilineal cousin speak, Liang Shuhong put the blame on him, “Since you knew that His Ninth Royal Highness is here, why didn’t you send a letter to His Majesty as soon as possible and let someone pick up His Ninth Royal Highness back? It’s too dangerous for him to stay here!”
Liang Yanbei shrugged, “He said he wanted to do something.”
Wen Chan nodded, “Yes, I do have some business to do here.”
As Wen Chen said this, he suddenly remembered that Liang Shuhong should have come to Wuyue Island with Zhong Wenting. But now he was the only one there. So he deliberately pretended to be naive and asked, “Are you here alone? Why are you here now?”
“No, I came with the eldest son of the Zhong family.” As soon as Liang Shuhong brought up Zhong Wenting, his2Liang Shuhong’s expression changed immediately, his eyebrows frowned, and his tone became very solemn, “But he left suddenly two days ago. I couldn’t find him. But then I happened to hear there was a Young Master of the Liang family in the mansion. So I came to look for him.”
“He didn’t tell you when he left?” Wen Chan noticed that there was something wrong with Liang Shuhong’s tone.
“It’s a long story too.” Liang Shuhong borrowed his words and said solemnly, “After we came to Wuyue Island, we began to investigate the matter of the Shengui Clan. We learned that the people on this island believe in this clan. Every year in mid-July, a ceremony to worship gods and a gathering to send sacrifices are held in the city.”
“Originally, I discussed with Young Master Zhong finding my tangdi first and then going to explore the Shengui Clan together. But a few days ago, I found that he always went out at night. After I became suspicious, I decided to follow him to check. But who would have known that he would actually go out of Jile City and go straight to the woods to the east.” He said till here, then paused slightly, and his eyebrows closed tighter.
“It is rumoured that in that forest there are monsters and beasts that eat people, and no one will go there at all. Even the woodcutter will only cut wood in the forest to the west. After I followed him that night, I saw……”
“What did you see?” Wen Chan asked nervously.
“I saw a corpse nailed to every tree in the forest.” Liang Shuhong looked serious and gestured with his right hand, “Wooden sticks about the thickness of an arm were nailed to their hearts. But no blood flowed out.”
“It’s on every tree.” He said.
After Wen Chan heard this, he didn’t know if he should be shocked or frightened, and his whole heart started jumping wildly, “Are you sure it was a corpse?”
“There can be no mistake.” Liang Shuhong’s tone was firm.
He was not a timid person, but when he saw the scene that night, he wasn’t any less frightened. Seeing Zhong Wenting walk into the depths of the forest, he stopped at the mouth of the forest and didn’t dare to follow him anymore. But he was able to clearly see the corpses on the trunks of the trees.
Now that he thought of it, cold sweat still seeped out of his back.
“Zhong Wenting hasn’t come out since he entered?” Liang Yanbei asked, breaking the atmosphere of horror.
Liang Shuhong nodded. Obviously, he couldn’t make a decision on his own. So he hurried to find his tangdi.
The three of them became silent at the same time.
Liang Yanbei glanced at Wen Chan and saw that he was looking serious and thoughtful. So he said, “Tomorrow we will go to that forest together to have a look.”
“You can’t go there during the daytime.” Liang Shuhong said, “I have been there during the day, and there is nothing in the woods. It is clean, and it’s only there at night.”
“Then we can go at night.” He fixed the tone with a single hammer blow3to make the final decision.
Liang Shuhong cast a disapproving look.
“What are you afraid of? Zhong Wenting was able to go in. Then how can we not go in? How do you know what is hidden in the woods if you don’t go in?” Liang Yanbei said.
“What Liang Yanbei said is right.” Wen Chan nodded heavily. They say that you can’t get a tiger if you don’t enter the tiger’s den4Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
“Your Ninth Royal Highness, you can’t go!” Liang Shuhong refused solemnly.
Where would Wen Chan listen to him. He just nodded casually in response, turned around, and left, planning to go to the street to buy a sharp sword.
Self-defence weapons still had to be prepared.
Early the next morning, the actions of the gathering to send sacrifices and sacrificing by the Shengui Clan began. The multitudes of people who came out from everywhere gathered in the place where they burned the bonfire a few days ago.
Liang Shuhong said a lot of words to dissuade Wen Chan from following. In the end, his throat became hoarse from talking, but he still couldn’t persuade him. After nightfall, Wen Chan still took Qin Qi and Shu Hua with him.
Ah Fu stayed in the mansion, together with Qiao Yanci and Situ Zhoulan, who were unaware of the things.
Dan Ke hadn’t seen them for several days, and he didn’t know what they were up to.
Five people, each one with a horse, avoided the crowd in the city and took a relatively secluded lane to go to the woods to the east.
The woods were far from the city, and after leaving the city, there was no road. Liang Shuhong only remembered the general direction, and they arrived at the place in less than half an hour.
After dismounting, Wen Chan glanced up at the night sky and saw an extremely bright full moon hanging in the thick darkness.
Today was the fifteenth.
There was a trace of uneasiness in his heart, and Wen Chan hugged the long sword in his arms.
Qin Qi and Shu Hua stood guarding around him, watching the surroundings with great vigilance.
The few people walked into the woods, and as soon as they stepped in, a wind blew across their faces. Obviously, it was the time of hot summer. But this wind was cold and freezing, which made Wen Chan couldn’t help but tremble a little.
When they walked up to the trees, Wen Chan saw a hand exposed from behind the tree. Under the moonlight, the pale skin was pierced with red blood, which seemed to be still flowing.
Liang Shuhong and Liang Yanbei looked at each other, and their eyes were saying: Look, it appeared.
They took two more steps forward, and when they turned their heads, they were able to clearly see a body nailed to the tree.
They could identify it as a man in a burlap shirt with his head lowered. The branch in the pit of his stomach was just as Liang Shuhong had described. It was as thick as a forearm, and it nailed the people tightly to the tree. The blood was still flowing down, but the person was obviously long gone.
The two people, Qin Qi and Shu Hua didn’t know about this. They turned their heads and looked at the corpses nailed to the trees around them. It was eerie and terrifying.
Liang Yanbei had been silent all the time. Seeing this scene, those elegent eyebrows rose up and his expression became heavy.
Just as each of them was in their own thoughts, a sudden movement came. All of them had sensitive ears. And they all looked up at the same time and saw a figure hidden in the forest, sneaking.
“Who is it?” Liang Yanbei asked in a deep5serious voice.
As soon as it heard his voice, the figure turned around and ran away, still limping. Wen Chan saw it and said, “It seems to be the one surnamed Wu.”
Even before his voice fell, Liang Yanbei had already left with qinggong. Wen Chan and the others quickly chased after him, and soon screams came from the front. When Wen Chan and the others arrived, Liang Yanbei was stepping on the man.
“My lord! Forgive me. I don’t dare anymore! Please spare me!” The man on the ground cried for mercy, and listening to the voice, it was really Wu Qi who had escaped a few days ago.
“I still have an elderly mother and a young son. Please let me live!” He said shamelessly.
Liang Yanbei sneered, “You still remember your old lady? She had already killed herself by knocking herself against the wall in prison. Even if you want to take care of her, there is no chance.”
As he said, he kicked him quite angrily.
“Ah…… How could it be……” Wu Qi was not sad when he heard that his mother was dead, and he switched to saying, “I still have a son. If I die, he will be left all alone……”
Wen Chan was really angry when he heard this, so he swung his sword and beat his head with it, “Shut up!”
The scabbard hit his head and made a crisp sound. Wu Qi was in pain, and he forcibly held himself back, not daring to scream anymore. He kept trembling, as if he were very scared.
“Let me ask you, why are you here alone?” Liang Yanbei asked sternly.
“Masters, please don’t go in. It’s better to leave quickly. Many people have already died!” Wu Qi began to wail again, “You can’t get in inside!”
Shu Hua lit the torch that he was carrying, and after the light came out, they saw that Wu Qi was already crying his eyes out.
Liang Yanbei gave him a heavy kick, “What do you mean by this?”
Wu Qi screamed twice and quickly replied, “This humble one has been keeping a watch here. Previously, many people who claimed to be from the Immortal Sect went in and said they wanted to subdue the monsters and get rid of the evil spirits. However, after a while, this humble one heard screams, boldly went to look, and found a lot of corpses lying on the ground. Some of their stomachs had rotten, and the blood was everywhere. This humble one was scared to death. I just wanted to escape quickly, but I unexpectedly ran into you lords just when I escaped.”
“They really came on the wrong day. They’re so unlucky!” He shouted.
“What do you mean, it’s the wrong day?” Wen Chan captured his wording.
“Today is the fifteenth and full moon. The leader of the clan is offering sacrifices to the gods. There is no way for anyone who trespasses to survive! This humble one only dared to keep watch outside the woods……”
When Wen Chan heard that, he glanced up at the sky, and in the gap between the branches, the round, bright moon hung calmly and quietly.
As Wu Qi talked about it, he still wanted to plead for himself.
Liang Yanbei was tired of hearing this, and he gave him a good beating with his fist, and Wu Qi was beaten so hard that he no longer had the strength to even groan.
“Tie him to this tree and tie him tightly. Let’s take him back when we come out!” Wen Chan also looked at this Wu Qi, who wasn’t pleasing to the eyes.
After receiving the order, Qin Qi found a rope and tied Wu Qi, who kept screaming, to a tree, next to the corpse on the tree. Finally, he found something to block his mouth, and then he became quiet.
“This person said that it is not advisable to go in today. Let’s go back first and come back another day.” Liang Shuhong suggested.
“A group of the younger disciples from the Immortal Sect have already gone in before. Let’s follow behind and take a look. If they can really stop the demon, we can happen to run into this good deed. If they can’t subdue it securely, we can also run away.” Wen Chan thought for a while and said, “Since we are here, there is no reason to go back.”
He looked at the corpses on the surrounding tree trunks and had a strong premonition in his heart. After hearing about the sacrifice that Wu Qi talked about, he had a guess hovering in his mind.
“Young Master Wen is right, and I disagree with going back now.” Liang Yanbei immediately agreed with Wen Chan’s words and said to Liang Shuhong, “Tangge, if you feel scared, stay here or go back first. You can’t handle this kind of scene.”
Liang Yanbei was actually giving him some consideration. Because he knew that Liang Shuhong read poetry and rarely danced with knives and guns. He was a gentleman. If they really encountered something, he was afraid he would have to rely on the protection of others.
But the meaning of this changed in Liang Shuhong’s ears. He stubbornly said, “I just proposed it casually. If you guys don’t leave, would it make any sense if I escaped alone?”
Wen Chan nodded, “If that’s the case, then let’s not delay. Let’s go quickly.”
A gust of cloudy wind came, and at the same time as he stopped saying it, there came a mournful scream.
The faces of the people who heard it changed slightly.
Translator’s corner
Thank you so much for reading the chapter. If you liked my translation and wanna support me, you can comment down your thoughts or send me a Kofi.
KO-FI
Don’t feel shy to let me know in the comment section or in the discord of Knoxt if you find any mistakes~
