Chapter 181: Master Yin Takes the Stage

The Zhang residence was one of the wealthiest households in Turtle County, and thus, its grandeur was unmatched. Upon entering the estate, Yin Mao was led by Master Zhang through winding corridors, turning left and right, until they finally arrived outside a secluded courtyard.

A round gate marked the entrance to the courtyard, beyond which the ground was blanketed with thick snow. Among the snow, a few shallow footprints could still be seen.

After casting a glance at the courtyard gate, Yin Mao, following Master Zhang’s lead, stepped onto the thick, white snow and entered the yard.

It was winter, and the courtyard appeared desolate. Apart from a towering, black three-story pavilion, the space between the building and the courtyard wall was an unbroken expanse of white.

When they reached the pavilion, two constables in official uniforms were conversing in the first-floor hall. Upon seeing Yin Mao, they hurried forward to greet him at the entrance.

“Master Yin!”

Their eager greeting showed that Yin Mao held considerable authority in this small county, for even the constables from the magistrate’s office treated him with utmost respect.

Yin Mao nodded to them before entering the pavilion. His gaze swept the hall and found, in a corner, three corpses covered with white cloth—clearly, the second wife of Master Zhang and her two children.

“Have you discovered anything?” Yin Mao asked as he lifted the white cloth to examine the tragic remains of the mother and her children.

“We’ve found nothing out of the ordinary. From their condition, it seems they died in the latter part of the night. This morning, when we arrived, there was only a single set of footprints belonging to a servant in the snow leading to this courtyard,” one constable began, and the other continued, “According to the servants, the heavy snow had stopped before midnight. From the courtyard gate to this pavilion, until our arrival, only that servant’s footprints were present. As for this family…”

“Very well, I understand. You may return to your duties. Leave the matter here to me,” Yin Mao dismissed them, then turned his gaze to Master Zhang, who stood trembling by the door.

“Master Zhang, will you accompany me upstairs for a look around?”

“Must I… must I go up?” came the timid reply.

Yin Mao smiled, recognizing the fear in his voice, and nodded. He ascended the stairs alone.

On the way here, he had already learned from Master Zhang that the estate had seven separate courtyards. Each of Master Zhang’s four concubines resided in her own courtyard, along with their respective children.

The pavilion where the second wife had lived was spacious, its second and third floors containing eight rooms. Yin Mao inspected each room thoroughly. In three of them, he sensed a dense presence of ghostly energy—denser than anything he had encountered in his ten years living in Turtle County.

When he had studied under Zhou Qing, his master had explained such matters of evil spirits in detail. Judging by the current state of the Zhang residence, a particularly vicious specter had appeared.

“This spirit is far too fierce. In all my years as a priest, I’ve never encountered such malevolence. I wonder if the talisman my master left me will be enough to exorcise this evil from the Zhang household.”

His face grave, Yin Mao stood in one of the rooms thick with ghostly aura, then clasped his hands behind his back and descended the stairs.

Seeing Yin Mao return, Master Zhang quickly met him at the foot of the staircase and asked anxiously, “Well, Master Yin, did you discover anything?”

“The trouble in your household is indeed caused by something unnatural, and this entity is no minor threat. Earlier, you claimed the culprit was your first wife, who has been dead for sixteen years. I do not believe you have spoken the whole truth. If you will not be honest with me, I will not involve myself further in your affairs.”

“No, please, Master Yin! I, Zhang Zhiming, swear to Heaven that everything I have told you is the absolute truth.”

Yin Mao only shook his head with a faint smile. “Even now, you’re not being honest,” he said calmly, picking up his pace and heading straight for the main gate.

Seeing Yin Mao about to leave, Master Zhang panicked. He knew well that the disaster in his home was no ordinary crime, but the work of ghosts or monsters—and in all of Turtle County, only Yin Mao possessed the skills to deal with such evils.

He hurried after Yin Mao, trying to stop him while earnestly insisting that every word he’d spoken was true. Only when they reached the main gate did Yin Mao finally pause.

“You claim your first wife has been dead for sixteen years, but the ghostly energy I sensed in your second wife’s rooms is not what one would expect from a spirit dead that long. Moreover, you said her death was the work of your first wife, and that you heard her calling you outside your room last night. That strains credulity.”

“Master Yin, I swear it is all true! I have concealed nothing. If you don’t believe me, I’ll take you to my neighbors and you can ask them yourself; my first wife did die sixteen years ago. And yes, last night, I truly heard her voice. She didn’t appear before me, only called softly outside my room, saying she wanted me to join her…”

“Are you certain it was your first wife?”

“We were childhood sweethearts, married at fifteen and together for many years. Though she’s been gone sixteen years, I remember everything about her as clearly as if it were yesterday…”

Even now, Master Zhang held to his story without wavering, and, considering the present situation in the Zhang residence, Yin Mao finally believed him.

If what Master Zhang said was true, then after her death, his first wife must have encountered some extraordinary event, or she could not possibly possess such powerful ghostly energy.

Furthermore, only the second wife and her two children perished so horribly last night, while the other concubines remained unharmed. There was something strange about that.

Ordinarily, such a malevolent spirit, capable of approaching the living, could easily have slaughtered everyone. Yet only one branch of the family had suffered.

“How was the relationship between your first wife and your second wife during her lifetime?”

“Relationship?” At this question, Master Zhang lowered his head with a sigh. “They did not get along at all. It was terrible—every meeting led to an argument.”