Chapter 27: Ventilation Valley

  The next day, Fang Yiai ate something and let Qin Hu bring Ma Daguan over. Looking at Ma Daguan's bitter melon face, Fang Yiai couldn't help but laugh, "Alright, Old Master Ma, what are you afraid of in broad daylight? Are ghosts daring to come out even during the day?"

  "You look like a dead man, Qin Hu is very displeased with Ma Daguang's appearance. Fang Yiai waved her hand to Linglong and said: "Linglong, you stay in the inn with Bao Shu and the others, I'll be back soon."

  Linglong nodded slightly, and Qin Bao also clasped his fists and said: "Young master, rest assured, with us here, nothing will happen to Miss Linglong!"

  "Alright, let's go to Tongfeng Valley with Old Horse now!"

  Ma Daguang took a look at the situation, today is unavoidable, even if he wanted to run, he couldn't. Qin Hu was standing right behind him. Under Ma Daguang's lead, the group left Maliu Town and headed west for about two miles before stopping in front of a hill. "Second Master," Ma Daguang said, pointing ahead, "that is Tongfeng Valley up ahead. I've brought you to the place, can I go back now?"

  Fang Yi'ai didn't respond to him, instead she gave Qin Hu a look, and Qin Hu suddenly widened his eyes and roared: "Qin Yong, Qin Wu, you two keep an eye on this guy for me. If he dares to run, I'll have you chop him down."

  "Yes!" Qin Yong and Qin Wu, two big rough men, responded loudly. This made Ma Daguang even more confused, feeling that he was really out of luck. Fang Yiai rode his horse slowly towards Tongfeng Valley, and after arriving at the valley entrance, Fang Yiai tied the horse to a tree and smiled at Ma Daguang: "Boss Ma, where did you find Liu Sheng back then?"

  Ma Daguang led Fang Yiai and others to a place, then said with a bitter face: "Second Master, it was here that we found Liu Sheng's body!" Fang Yiai carefully observed the surroundings, which were all grasslands, with a hill and a poplar forest not far away. There were still some bloodstains on the ground. Fang Yiai looked at the poplar forest on the nearby hill and asked: "Master Ma, was it in that poplar forest where the ghost appeared?"

  "Yes, at that time we were just about to collect the body of Liu Sheng when we heard that terrifying voice, and then saw that headless ghost! You don't know how eerie it was, with its greenish-black color, and it was moving around erratically. It was really too scary!" Fang Yiai ignored Ma Daguan's complaints and simply estimated the distance from where Liu Sheng was lying to the Yang tree forest, about 100 steps away. This distance was also quite coincidental, just enough for people to see but not clearly. Fang Yiai thought for a moment and asked: "Old Master Ma, which direction were Liu Sheng's feet pointing at that time?"

  "Uh, Liu Sheng's footprints are heading towards the poplar forest and the hills." Fang Yiai listened to Ma Daguan's words and fell into silent contemplation. She looked at the poplar forest on the hillside with a furrowed brow and said: "Tiger Uncle, let's go take a look up there!"

  "Alright, I'll lead the way, young master follow me," Qin Hu said as he drew his sword and took the lead. After walking up to the hill, Fang Yi Ai furrowed her brow, realizing that this hill was actually the highest point of Tong Feng Gorge. Standing here, the entire landscape of Tong Feng Gorge lay before their eyes. Fang Yi Ai stroked her chin and smiled, "Uncle Hu, now I understand why this place is called Tong Feng Gorge. This place is just like a vase with two openings, it's definitely a great place for ventilation."

  "Young master is right, this is indeed a good place. If we were to lure the enemy into the valley during battle and block both entrances, even if they had thousands of soldiers, they wouldn't be able to move around. Just set a few fires and no matter how many people there are, they'll only have death waiting for them." Qin Hu chuckled and Fang Yilai nodded in agreement, this Windy Valley was indeed a "dead land" as described in the art of war. However, what Fang Yilai thought of wasn't these things. He found it strange looking at Windy Valley, its east side had Malu Town, but there were no villages on its west side. If people from Malu Town didn't dare to come to Windy Valley, then Windy Valley would become a mysterious place, and whatever happened inside, wouldn't be discovered by anyone. Fang Yilai looked around at the poplar trees and asked Ma Daguan: "Old Master Ma, where was the haunted place back then?"

  Ma Daguang thought for a moment and pointed to a small poplar forest not far away, saying: "Second Master, it's over there. I'm not sure about the specifics, but I think it should be around there!" Fang Yiai nodded and walked over, carefully observing the poplars in front of him, but found nothing. He then tightened his robe, hugged a tree trunk, and climbed up. After climbing the tree, he still didn't find anything, which made Fang Yiai curious - shouldn't there be some trace left behind?

  After getting down from the tree, Fang Yiai climbed another poplar tree. On this tree, he found something unusual: on a branch of the tree, there was a very deep groove mark, clearly left by a rope. Upon discovering these marks, Fang Yiai suddenly became spirited and shouted to Qin Hu and others below the tree: "Uncle Tiger, you guys also take a look at the nearby poplar trees to see if there are any groove marks. Remember to observe carefully!"

  Qin Hu and others climbed up the willow tree separately, and soon Qin Yong shouted: "Young master, there is also a mark here!" Fang Yiai heard this and laughed out loud. After carefully measuring the distance between the two trees, he smiled at Ma Daguan and said: "Boss Ma, was the ghost you saw that time always hovering back and forth within ten zhang?"

  "Second Master, I'm not quite sure myself, but that headless ghost just keeps jumping back and forth in a fixed location. But that ghost fire is definitely not fake, one moment it's in his hand, the next it's floating far away!" Ma Daguan said with a worried expression, but Fang Yili didn't think so. Now that it can be confirmed that the haunting was man-made, why did the other party want to pretend to be a ghost? And since Liu Sheng had already been killed, why did they still need to hollow out his entire upper body? It's completely unnecessary! When things go against the norm, there must be a reason. Since the other party has done this, they must have a purpose.

  Fang Yiai looked around the entire Wind Valley and felt that something was not quite right, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was. After descending from the hill, Fang Yiai and Qin Huo rode their horses to another pass in Wind Valley, only to unexpectedly discover some wheel tracks at this pass. Qin Huo furrowed his brow and said, "Young Master, looking at these wheel tracks, they were left not long ago. Didn't we say that no one passes through Wind Valley now?"

  "Uncle Tiger, this isn't the strangest part, did you notice that there are tire tracks at another intersection?" Fang Yiai said with a smile. Qin Hu nodded, and indeed he hadn't noticed the tire tracks at the other intersection when they came. Fang Yiai carefully observed the tire tracks and found that the things on the car seemed to be quite heavy, otherwise the tire tracks wouldn't be so deep. Fang Yiai felt that this matter was getting stranger and stranger, it seemed that Tongfeng Valley was definitely hiding some unknown secrets. After thinking for a moment, Fang Yiai rode his horse and led Qin Hu and others away from Tongfeng Valley. When they returned to the inn, Fang Yiai sat at the table and said to Qin Hu: "Uncle Tiger, take people to Tongfeng Valley tonight to keep watch, I estimate that there must be a problem with Tongfeng Valley, otherwise the other party wouldn't be pretending to be mysterious, it's clear that they want to make Tongfeng Valley a forbidden area."

  "Uh, I've thought of that too. Tonight, I'll bring two people to keep watch." Qin Hu also found it strange about the ventilation valley. Although there were people in the ventilation valley, they couldn't find anywhere to hide after searching for half a day. Fang Yi Ai's fingers lightly tapped on the table as she instructed, "Uncle Hu, no matter what happens, you two must not reveal yourselves."

  "Understood, young master." Qin Hu also knew that this was the safest approach. After finishing dinner, Qin Hu took Qin Yong and Qin Wu and left the inn. Fang Yi Ai lay on his bed thinking about the Tongfeng Valley matter. What he couldn't understand now was why the other party had hollowed out Liu Sheng's chest. This act could be said to be too cruel.

  Linglong lay in Fang Yiai's arms, frowning and asked: "Second Young Master, did you find any problems when you went to Tongfeng Valley today?"

  "Heh heh, I've discovered some problems, but there are still some things that aren't clear yet. However, one thing is certain: the haunting is intentionally caused by someone, and their goal is to prevent people from going to Tongfeng Valley, making it convenient for them to do something.

  Fang Yiai stroked Linglong's face with a smile, "So, you don't have to be afraid anymore. Those missing people are probably all human-caused, and have nothing to do with ghosts!"

  "Second Master, is it really someone's deliberate doing? These people are too much! But how did Old Man Ma create that ghost fire?" Linglong said with some anger. Fang Yili slowly explained: "Actually, the matter is very simple. It's just letting two people stand on two trees and tie a rope to pull back and forth a headless fake person. At that time, Old Man Ma and others were at a distance where they could see the fake person but couldn't see it clearly. As for the green ghost fire, it was actually phosphorus fire. There is a substance called phosphorus on human or animal bones, which will emit a green glow when burned. Originally, these things would be understood with just a little careful observation, but unfortunately, Old Man Ma and those officials were scared silly at the time. Later, people in Ma Liutown didn't even dare to go through Tongfeng Gorge, which is why we have the current situation."

  "So that's how it is, but who could have done such a thing? They caught so many people, what was the point of it all? And where did they take those people after catching them?" Linglong's doubts were also Fang Yilai's doubts. Fang Yilai sighed and smiled: "It's still unknown for now, but I think the secret must be in Tongfeng Valley, otherwise the other party wouldn't have gone to such great lengths to create a ghost case. And I think Liu Sheng should have escaped, that's why Suo was killed by those people." Fang Yilai stopped talking here, if she were to say more about Liu Sheng's death, Linglong would probably be scared again.

  Thinking of being scared, Fang Yi suddenly understood a bit. The hollowed-out corpse, the white-clothed headless ghost, it seemed that the other party was trying to scare people. But why did the places where Liu Sheng's body was cut off disappear? Wouldn't scattering those human organs and bones around Liu Sheng be more frightening? "No, there must be a problem, what is the problem?"

  Linglong heard Fang Yiai's muttering and curiously asked: "What's wrong?"

  "It's nothing, just thinking of some strange places. Alright, you go to sleep first," Fang Yi'ai said after finishing, then covered Linglong with a quilt. Linglong asked with beautiful, flowing eyes: "Second Young Master, aren't you sleeping?"

  "Hehe, Uncle Hu and the others have gone to Tongfeng Valley. If they don't come back, I won't be able to sleep at all. You go to sleep first, don't worry, I'll stay with you." Linglong nodded, leaned against Fang Yilai's arm, and soon fell asleep, while Fang Yilai couldn't fall asleep at all, thinking about the Tongfeng Valley matter.

  The night in Tongfeng Valley was pitch black, but fortunately it was summer and the nights were not cold. Qin Hu and Qin Yong and Qin Wu sat on a large poplar tree, carefully observing every move of Tongfeng Valley. Qin Yong furrowed his brow and asked: "Big Brother Tiger, why is there no movement at all? Did Young Master think wrongly?"

  "Ayong, don't be impatient. Since Young Master said that Tongfeng Valley has a problem, there must be his reason. We just need to keep an eye on it patiently." Qin Hu also furrowed his brow. It was already the third watch of the night, and dawn would break soon, but until now, Tongfeng Valley had not shown any signs of movement. In the end, nothing happened in Tongfeng Valley that night, and all was quiet.