Chapter Ten: Bedroom Fog

  The autumn girl frowned, dodged to the side, and hummed: "I didn't expect you to be Taoists, I misjudged. However, no matter how powerful your Taoist magic is, don't think about escaping!" She laughed loudly twice, her figure slowly faded away, and surprisingly disappeared into thin air right in front of us.

  I took a cold breath and thought to myself, this female ghost is really arrogant.

  "Are you hurt?" Jiang Zhun turned his head, slightly furrowing his brow.

  I shook my head hastily: "No, no... cough, what was it, should we go out first and think of a way, or find Qiūniáng?"

  "After leaving, there may not be an opportunity like today again." Jiang Zhen pursed his lips and said, "It's dangerous here, I'll send you out first."

  I rolled my eyes and walked towards the stairs: "What are you babbling about? We've come all this way, how can we still go our separate ways?"

  Behind him, Jiang Zhen smiled lightly and followed closely after.

  The stairs were wooden, and every step creaked with a "creak" sound, as if walking through a minefield, afraid of stepping on a landmine and getting hurt. Finally reaching the second floor, I saw a dark corridor stretching out in front of me, all the doors on both sides were closed, except for one bedroom door at the end which was slightly ajar, letting out a faint yellow light.

  Shu Ling.

  "Huh?" I turned around, "What's wrong?"

  Jiang Zhen's eyes were particularly bright in the darkness, and he smiled as he said, "Go behind me."

  I looked at him for a while, and he made a sound of disapproval, stretching out his hand to pull me behind him: "At times like these, it's better to hide safely behind a man."

  "You're a great hero..." I covered my mouth and chuckled, then looked over his shoulder to survey the passageway. A faint light seeping in from somewhere cast strange, patchy shadows on the walls on either side.

  We tiptoed through the long corridor and arrived at a room with a slightly ajar door. Jiang Zhen covered me from behind with one hand, and gently pushed the door open with the other. The creaking sound of the door revealed what was inside.

  I stood on tiptoe and took in the whole scene of the room at a glance.

  The area in front of the eyes is a grayish-white carpet, which cannot be seen for years, but it can also be felt that it is a very old thing. Next to the door is a coat rack, on which only one pocket watch is hung, motionless and still. Inside, there is a double bed with European style, covered with neat burgundy cotton quilt, embroidered with mandarin ducks playing in water on the quilt cover. On the wall behind the head of the bed is an oil painting, painted in medieval style, depicting a half-naked woman holding a ceramic pot.

  Across from the bed was a desk, cluttered with things, Jiang Zhun led me closer to take a look, it was already covered in dust, clearly no one had touched it, and there were no visible clues. By the window was a dresser, the mirror was dusty, on the jewelry rack hung several pairs of earrings and a necklace, the luster was gone, but you could still see that they were exquisitely crafted.

  "This thing is quite good-looking." I stretched out my hand wanting to touch it, but was stopped by Jiang Zhun.

  Jiang pointed silently at the few dark-colored water stains on the dresser, and I leaned in to take a closer look. Suddenly, my scalp felt a chill run down it. These weren't just dark-colored water stains - they were clearly dry bloodstains with a blackish-red color.

  Is there blood flowing by the dressing table? Has someone even died? Who is it?

  "Look." Jiang Zhun had already pulled me away from the dresser, he half-knelt in front of a chair at the corner of the room, his face slightly solemn.

  A cheongsam was half-hanging on the chair, as if its owner had casually flung it there. This cheongsam, we had just seen it on Autumn Girl's body a moment ago.

  I looked around for a while, then turned my head back to the bedroom and slightly furrowed my brow: "I always feel that this house has an aura of evil."

  "The clothes are neither new nor old, and there is no dust." Jiang Zhun stood up and looked at me, "Autumn Girl must be here."

  It can be said that Qiu Niang cannot leave this house, and this bedroom is likely to be the master bedroom, possibly Tang Mo Wen's bedroom back then. Qiu Niang's resentment is so deep, she must have chosen this room as her place of refuge.

  Master bedroom...

  Mandarin ducks on the bed...

  Tang Mo Wen

  I suddenly lifted my head and looked at the oil painting on the bed: "Jiang Zhun."

  "Huh?"

  "As the master of the house, Tang Mo's bedroom, especially his new marital chamber, shouldn't have a wedding photo? If not that, at least a festive couplet. I gazed at the medieval oil painting, narrowing my eyes, 'This painting shouldn't be here.'"

  Jiang Zhen walked forward and touched the oil painting with his hand.

  Solid.

  He turned his head and shook it at me.

  At that moment, I suddenly saw the woman in the oil painting on his head, eerily curling up the corners of her mouth!

  "Be careful!"