I become a god in another world

Chapter 762 The man with the lantern dies
Chapter 762

When encountering a ghost case, anything is possible, no matter how bizarre.

Zhao Fusheng, unfazed, calmly replied:

Who was the first person to discover Hao Laoyao's body on the day of the incident? Is he still alive?

Hao Dingzhu nodded:
"It's the house cleaning foreman, known as Hao Si. He's still alive. Hearing that you, sir, are going to investigate this case, I've already told him to wait outside. Now, I'm inviting him inside so you can question him."

This person was surprisingly knowledgeable and sensible.

Knowing they couldn't escape the ghost case involving the Hao family, they surprisingly cooperated very actively.

Zhao Fusheng was satisfied and signaled Hao Dingzhu to call the person over.

Hao Dingzhu gave Hao Laoqi a wink, and Hao Laoqi clapped his hands vigorously. A thin old man quickly walked in from outside.

He immediately knelt beside the lamplighter, his forehead touching the ground:
"grown ups."

After Zhao Fusheng ascertained the man's identity and confirmed that he was the steward who discovered Hao Laoyao's death that day, he asked him to recount the details of that day.

Foreman Hao Si then said:

"That day, I discovered that Hao Laoyao was slacking off. Fearing that he would implicate me, I immediately led my men to kick down his door and found the lazybones asleep on the table."

Recalling the scene, he shuddered.
“It was dark at the time, and there was no light in this lowly servant’s room. I am old and my eyesight is failing, so I did not notice anything strange. When I saw him sleeping, I thought he was just lazy and had been drinking too much and had made a mistake. In a fit of anger, I stepped forward and kicked him in the side.”

It was only after that kick that he realized something was wrong.

His kick felt like stepping into a lump of mud; the human body beneath his feet was soft, cold, and like a lump of dead flesh.

The feeling was very strange, and the foreman, Hao Si, immediately felt a chill run down his spine.

The most terrifying thing was that this lump of mud, despite his powerful kicks, only softened and deformed, but did not fall to the ground.

That's where the problem lies.

"I was quite frightened at the time," Hao Si said.

But someone who could serve as a foreman in a large landowner's household like the Hao family was naturally extraordinary.

"I suppressed my fear and pretended to be calm. I had someone light a lamp and then called several servants to carry Hao Laoyao."

That's when the problem arose.

Hao Laoyao's arms were limp, as if they had no bones inside. He was like dough that had been fermented. When the crowd pulled on his arms, they were stretched until they became slightly soft and deformed.

However, he was stuck to certain parts of the table as if glued to the spot, and no matter how hard everyone tried, they couldn't pull him up.

The crowd was terrified and shouted "There's a ghost!" The noise even alerted Hao Dingzhu.

Afterwards, Hao Dingzhu arrived and forcibly ordered the servants to carry Hao Laoyao's body out of the room.

But no matter how hard the men pulled, even until they broke the connection between his arm and body, Hao Laoyao's hands and cheeks remained stuck to the table.

Legs stuck to the ground, buttocks stuck to the chair, chest stuck to the edge of the table.

The scene was extremely frightening; everyone was terrified, and even the lighting of lamps could not dispel the gloom in their hearts.

The night was very noisy, and coupled with what happened during the day, Hao Dingzhu immediately realized that something was wrong at home.

He made a quick decision and sent someone to fetch the lamplighter.

……

At this point, the story connects with what the Lamplighter said about being woken up after falling asleep drunk at night.

Zhao Fusheng looked at the lantern bearer:

"Go on about your visit to Hao Laoyao's room."

After a ghost appears in the house, ordinary people cannot remove the corpse. Based on the state of the coffin during the day, the only way is to ask a person with a lantern to exorcise the "evil" so that the corpse can be properly cleaned and removed from the house.

"After hearing the whole story, I was terrified."

However, if the two cases were related, he really had no right to refuse, so he gritted his teeth and went with a lantern.

Upon arriving at Hao Laoyao's house, Hao Mingshan, the lantern bearer, discovered that the problem was more serious than he had imagined.

A putrid smell had filled the room, and the corpse was torn to pieces by the crowd, making for a particularly gruesome scene.

It is said that Hao Laoyao had just died not long ago, but his body was semi-dried. After the body was torn open, there was not much blood flowing out of the wound, only some semi-congealed blackish-red foul-smelling liquid.

Hao Mingshan did not want to talk much about what happened at the time.

But even from just a few words, it's enough to be frightening.

Having confirmed that the situation was the same as during the day, he had no room for hesitation and lit the lamp again to attract the 'evil'.

As the lights came on, Hao Mingshan was filled with despair, thinking he was doomed. Then, a ghostly face appeared in the light, and Hao Laoyao's corpse, stuck to the table, suddenly went limp and lost its strength.

Hao Dingzhu then had someone clean up the mess, and things went very smoothly.

"..."

After he finished speaking, the hall fell into a brief silence.

Steam rose from the teacups on the small table next to Zhao Fusheng, carrying the aroma of tea. For a moment, no one spoke.

At this point, things had spiraled out of control.

The lantern holder once again succeeded in attracting the ghost.

Several months have passed—seven months since the beginning of the year—and he is still alive. Moreover, the matter has escalated, proving that it is far from over.

"The same thing happened again after that?" Zhao Fusheng asked.

Hao Dingzhu nodded with a bitter expression:

“I come often.”

Now that the case has been brought to light, he no longer hides anything, but instead speaks frankly:

“Sometimes he comes every night, sometimes every two or three days, it’s hard to say. After someone dies, the lamplighter has to clean up the mess.”

The ups and downs of the past six months have left the Hao family exhausted.

Meanwhile, the lamplighter was also suffering greatly.

Zhao Fusheng asked him:
"Do you feel like something's not right?"

This person is extremely unlucky.

It is said that killing someone is just a matter of beheading, but he was on edge every day, unable to sleep at night, and living in constant fear. No wonder when Zhao Fusheng first met him, he was unsteady on his feet, had dark circles under his eyes, and looked very uneasy.

Lantern bearer Hao Mingshan nodded:

"To be honest, I feel that my lamp is becoming more and more eerie."

"How do you say this?"

When Zhao Fusheng asked the question, he beckoned to him, signaling him to bring up the ghost lantern he was holding.

This thing was supposed to be his lifeline and source of wealth, but now it's become a hot potato that he doesn't dare to throw away.

Seeing that Zhao Fusheng wanted to see the ghost lantern, he felt uneasy.

In the past, letting someone touch his ghost lantern would be like stealing his precious treasure; but now that his precious treasure has changed, he not only doesn't feel bad about giving it away, but also feels a subtle sense of relief at sending trouble away.

It would be one thing if someone else took over, taking the blame and making him the scapegoat. But the one wanting to take the lamp is an official from the Imperial Capital's Demon Suppression Division. If something goes wrong—

He was terrified, and a complex expression appeared on his face as he whispered:
"Sir, please be careful. This lamp is strange."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Zhao Fusheng's hand appeared to be acting strangely.

The skin on the back of his hand was stone gray, with blue veins like worms, exuding a cold and malevolent aura, unlike the arm of a living person. At the same time, the ghost lamp that was originally held in Hao Mingshan's hand suddenly began to surge with black energy as if it were alive, and the lamp lit up on its own without anyone touching it.

This unexpected turn of events startled Hao Mingshan.

Before he could even scream, Zhao Fusheng had already taken the ghost lantern away.

As soon as the lantern fell into his hands, an unusual phenomenon occurred.

The green light reflected into her eyes, and immediately it seemed as if a strange force began to dig into her eyes.

As soon as the excruciating pain appeared, Zhao Fusheng let out a soft groan and drew upon the power of Erlang Shen.

As soon as the evil spirit's power appeared, the beggar ghost was instantly suppressed. At the same moment, a strangely bright red ghost eye appeared on Zhao Fusheng's forehead.

Upon seeing the ghost eyeball appear in the world, everyone felt a chill run down their spines and their legs trembled with fear.

Cao Gu felt a jolt in his heart, as if he had been marked by a vengeful ghost, and his forehead throbbed with excruciating pain.

A huge ghostly eye appeared in his mind, and for a long time his consciousness was occupied by this ghostly eye.

"What kind of divine power is this?!"

Cao Gu thought to himself.

After a while, he finally regained his senses, his heart pounding wildly. He quickly lowered his head, no longer daring to look directly at Zhao Fusheng's face.

At the same time, these people also missed a good show.

The moment Zhao Fusheng opened his ghostly eyes, a blood-red light enveloped the ghost lamp.

With the power of the demon's eyeball, the scene inside the lantern instantly changed: a slender black figure appeared inside the lantern at some unknown time.

Judging from the figure in the image, the ghostly figure in the lamp appears to be a woman.

The woman's face slowly emerged from the lamplight. Her features were initially blurry and not very clear, but in a person's 'vision,' she looked like a beautiful woman.

She smiled at Zhao Fusheng, but in the next instant, the blood-red light of the ghost's eye enveloped the ghost lantern.

The ghostly aura that Hozuki had created on her own was immediately broken, the evil energy dissipated, and the female ghost's body decayed, revealing her true form.

Her features were a jumbled mess; her eyes, nose, and lips were irregularly arranged and scattered across her face.

These facial features vary in number and overlap, sometimes appearing as if they are phantoms, which is quite frightening.

The power of the demon eyeball penetrated the ghost lamp, instantly erasing its malevolent aura.

The alluring, twisting ghostly figure was reflected in Erlang Shen's third eyeball. The shadow seemed to be swallowed up, gradually dissipating and then turning into black mist that disappeared into the eyeball.

As the ghostly figure disappeared, the light inside the lantern went out silently.

Under the glow of blood, everything was revealed in its true form.

Suddenly, an extremely strong stench filled the hall, and blood seeped from the human skin inside the lantern, defiling the skin.

Then the lantern suddenly sank, as if a large amount of heavy objects had accumulated inside. These objects piled up more and more, tearing the human skin apart.

The moment the lantern shattered, a torrent of blood gushed out from the crack.

With a splash, thick filth splattered everywhere.

Zhao Fusheng immediately threw the lantern in his hand, and the lantern, along with the sewage, was thrown into the middle of the courtyard.

Much of the splattered blood landed on the Hao family foreman and the lantern bearer who were kneeling in the hall.

The lantern bearer, who had been speaking just moments before, suddenly turned deathly pale the instant the lantern went out, as if his life had been cut off. His face turned purplish-black with lividity, and his body emitted a foul stench, as if he had been dead for a long time.

This unexpected turn of events nearly made everyone scream.

The stench was overwhelming.

For a moment, everyone froze in place, while the broken lantern spewed out foul-smelling blood like a fountain.

Everyone felt a surge of nausea and vomiting.

But in front of Zhao Fusheng, no one dared to actually gag.

"Have someone clean this thing up."

Zhao Fusheng spoke.

Hao Dingzhu breathed a sigh of relief.

With each breath he took, he felt his stomach churning. He dared not look at what was in the pool of blood, which seemed to contain a mixture of internal organs and other debris, with occasional eyeballs and ears mixed in with the thick blood, making it particularly horrifying.

"Sir, let's talk in another room. This place is no longer clean."

Cao Gu took the initiative to speak.

From the moment the ghost lamp shattered to the death of Hao's lantern-bearer, everything happened very quickly, and the substance flowing out of the lamp made this ghost case even more perplexing.

Cao Gu had already realized the trouble this case was going to cause.

This level of ghost story is beyond the capabilities of the Lamp Bearer to solve.

Zhang Xiansheng and Qin Yongchun were filled with anxiety.

For Qin Yongchun, he hated Hao's lantern bearer because of the feud between the Qin and Hao families. But seeing Hao's lantern bearer die, he couldn't help but feel a sense of shared sorrow. At this moment, the ghost lantern in his hand was like a hot potato, making him both afraid and reluctant to let go.

Zhao Fusheng couldn't stand the pungent smell either.

She pinched her nose and nodded:

"Change somewhere."

Everyone quickly covered their noses, and led by Hao Dingzhu, they moved to another hall.

This ordeal took another half an hour.

As soon as the group sat down, a steward came in and winked at Hao Dingzhu. Hao Dingzhu said:
"My lord, Hao Jinyi has arrived."

This case is bizarre.

Upon inquiry, all that was known was the frequent deaths. The characteristics of the deceased were known, but there was no clue about the laws governing vengeful ghosts or how to mark people.

Hao Jinyi is closely related to this case.

The first victim was a woman who eloped with him to Tongshan County. He was the one who reported the incident, and the fact that he is still alive today is quite a strange story.

After all, the victims in this case included men and women, young and old, and he was deeply involved in the case. Logically, he should have been the one marked, but it is very strange that he is still alive.

Thinking of this, Zhao Fusheng immediately said:
"Let him in immediately."

Hao Dingzhu was worried, but seeing Zhao Fusheng's appearance, she breathed a sigh of relief and quickly waved her arm:
"Hurry up and bring that wretched creature in!"

The lantern bearer was dead, and he could no longer remain calm.

The reason he remained calm in the face of the ghostly calamities of the Hao family was that, although ghostly calamities frequently occurred in his home, there was, after all, an immortal lantern bearer, which allowed him to remain unperturbed.

However, something strange happened with the lantern earlier. The living lantern bearer died the instant the lantern broke—as if he had been dead for a long time. His body decomposed instantly, as if he had been dead for a long time, but neither the people nor the lantern bearer noticed. This made Hao Dingzhu feel uneasy.

The ghostly calamity of the Hao family has not yet been resolved. Without the lantern bearer, what will happen if more and more people die and the bodies cannot be collected?
Hao Dingzhu's mindset has changed.

At first, he wanted to consider the overall situation of the Hao family and try his best to solve the problem within his own family, at least until after the Altar Festival. Now, however, he wants to protect the foundation of the Hao family first, and at least save the lives of everyone in the Hao family before he can talk about the future.

Hao Dingzhu's change in tone revealed his state of mind.

As soon as he finished speaking, the servant immediately withdrew. A short while later, a tall, thin young man walked in listlessly, his shoulders slumped.

Hao Jinyi was very tall. Although he looked distraught and his face was extremely pale, it was still clear that he had delicate features and a handsome appearance.

　I'm taking a day off tomorrow and won't be updating, so please don't refresh the page.

　　(End of this chapter)