After fifteen years of cultivation, he finally reached the pinnacle of the first rank!

Chapter 163 Haunted
"Where is Shadow Crow?"

Baili Changfeng suddenly shouted loudly, and the entire hall trembled!
The next moment, a gust of cold wind suddenly arose in the hall, and then the figure of a man in a black robe appeared.

"Check it for me immediately!"

"Everyone involved in Wei'er's murder must be found, and I will destroy them all!"

At this moment, Baili Changfeng's eyes flashed with uncontrollable anger and sadness, and the murderous intent released from his body was as real as substance.

The man in black robe nodded his head and agreed. Without saying anything extra, he turned into a gust of cold wind and disappeared.

For a moment, you could hear a pin drop in the entire hall.

Zhu Wu and Cen Luohua's faces changed at the same time as they sat at the octagonal table. They felt a terrifying aura of martial arts from Baili Changfeng at this moment. This aura actually made them feel an extremely fearful sense of crisis.

The two looked at each other immediately, and could see the shock on each other's faces.

At this moment, Baili Changfeng suddenly turned around and said in a voice as cold as ice:
"From today on, my Baili family swears to be sworn enemies with the Murong family. Since your two families are united with the Baili family, you should be clear about what to do."

As he spoke, the martial arts aura on Baili Changfeng dissipated, and he said with a sad expression:

"I have other things to attend to today, so I won't be keeping you two for now. Please make yourselves at ease!"

The next moment, Baili Changfeng grabbed the soldier in front of him and shouted:
"Take me to find Xu'er's body!"

Soon, the other party disappeared from Zhu Wu and Cen Luohua's sight in the blink of an eye.

"Bai Li Chang Feng's martial arts skills have improved. I'm afraid he's not much behind Murong Hong."

Zhu Wu pulled out the pipe from his waist, looked at Baili Changfeng's departing back, and gently twisted the tobacco with his fingers, and scarlet sparks ignited.

Cen Luohua narrowed her eyes slightly, wrinkles forming at the corners of her eyes, and said:
"We are all on the same page. From the moment we decided to side with General Han, there was no turning back."

"Besides, the Murong family has been declining with each generation, and they are no longer what they used to be. They are now on the decline, yet they still want to occupy the position of the number one martial arts family. There is no such good thing in the world."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Wu leaned forward to take a few sips from his pipe and said:
"However, a lean camel is bigger than a horse. The first bird to stick its head out gets shot. The Baili family has suffered this time. We must be more careful when dealing with the Murong family."

Cen Luohua glanced at the other party, but did not refute and nodded slowly.

……

Shengzhou Tianjinwei branch office.

Hu Ruian brought Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong to the gate of the mansion, but found that the huge Tianjinwei mansion was closed, and there was not even a guard at the door.

"It's a branch of the Tianjin Guards in the state after all, why does it look so deserted?"

Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong both looked surprised, while Hu Ruian frowned and motioned Wu Shang to go and knock on the door.

Wu Shang nodded quickly and knocked on the copper ring door in confusion. However, after knocking for a while, no one responded.

"What's going on? It's not time to end the shift yet. Someone from the Tianjin Guard should be staying behind."

Wu Shang turned around and looked at Hu Ruian. The sky was getting darker, but it was not completely dark yet.

However, there seemed to be no one in the Tianjin Guard branch office in Shengzhou, which was indeed a bit unusual.

Hu Ruian glanced around and saw an old man pushing a cart loaded with tea bags passing by on the street behind him.

His eyes moved, and he quickly walked over to stop the other party and asked:

"Old man, do you know what's going on with the Tianjin Guard here? Why is there no one answering when I knock on the door?"

Hearing this, the old man stopped the car and looked at Hu Ruian and the other two with his cloudy eyes for a while, then looked at the majestic Tianjin Guard Mansion behind him.

His expression changed quietly, and he suddenly lowered his voice and said:
"You are from outside the city, right?"

Seeing this, Hu Ruian narrowed his eyes and replied:

"We have been traveling for business for over half a year and haven't returned to the provincial capital. Today we came to see a good friend from the Tianjin Guards, but this is the first time we have encountered such a situation. I hope you can help me understand this."

As he spoke, he took out a piece of silver from his pocket and put it into the old man's hand.

When the old man looked down and saw the silver, his cloudy eyes suddenly lit up. He squeezed it hard and then put the silver into his sleeve.

Then, the old man glanced around, then leaned closer to Hu Ruian and said in a low voice:

"No one has entered or left this government office for over a month."

Hearing this, Hu Ruian frowned and asked:

"Do you know the reason, old man?"

"What else could it be?"

The old man sighed, then shrank his neck and whispered:
"It's because this place is haunted. You don't know, over a month ago, evil spirits came out here every night to take lives. It was really terrifying."

Then, the old man told Hu Ruian about what happened in the Tianjinwei branch office in Shengzhou.

As he spoke, the old man seemed to become gradually afraid. He hurriedly left a message saying "Don't come near here" and hurriedly slipped away pushing his cart.

Looking at the old man's departing back, Hu Ruian, Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong all had strange expressions.

According to the old man, a haunted incident occurred in the Tianjin Guard branch office in Shengzhou a month and a half ago.

The cause was that a guard on duty once encountered a ghost floating around at night and heard creepy laughter.

At first, no one took it seriously, but after a night, someone discovered the next day that the guard who had seen the ghost had been hanged to death in his room.

Of course, even so, the people of Tianjin Guard did not take this matter to heart at that time.

Until the second night, someone saw a ghost and heard laughter again, and then on the next day, someone was found hanged in his room like the guard the day before.

However, unlike the previous day, the number of people who died this time increased from one to two.

If such a thing happened on the first day, it could be considered an accident, but if it happened again on the second day, it would seem a bit far-fetched to call it an accident at this point.

Three people died in two consecutive days, and it sounded like a bizarre and unbelievable thing like seeing a ghost.

The people in the Tianjin Guard branch office also began to feel uneasy and quickly reported the matter.

The deputy commander in charge of handling this matter was extremely cautious and immediately dispatched the best investigators from the Tianjin Guard to investigate both cases. However, while the investigation was still ongoing, another incident occurred within the Tianjin Guard on the third day, and this time the number of deaths due to ghost sightings increased from two to four.

And what was different from the previous two times was that after the expert in Tianjin Guard who was investigating the case learned that someone had seen a ghost at night, he sent people to closely guard and protect the four people who were on duty last night the next day.

But even so, the four of them still hanged themselves to death under the noses of the Tianjin Guard's masters.

Moreover, according to the coroner's examination, the conditions of these four people were the same as the previous three. They all committed suicide and there was no sign of poisoning or homicide.

But it is obvious that these seven people did not have any suicidal tendencies before their deaths.

As soon as this incident happened, everyone in the Tianjin Guards in Shengzhou became panic-stricken.

After all, seven people died in three days, and their deaths were so strange. Anyone who saw a ghost in the middle of the night would not be able to escape death even under the care of many masters. It was truly incredible.

In the end, this incident alarmed Mei Yan, the commander of the Tianjin Guard branch office, who ordered that no one be left on duty at the Tianjin Guard branch office that night.

Instead, he left several martial arts masters, including the commanding officer, in the branch office, ready to wait and find out the truth about the ghost in the Tianjin Guard branch office.

However, the result of this incident was a wake-up call for Tianjin Guard. There were a total of six people staying behind in the Tianjin Guard branch that night.

It is said that all six people saw ghosts and heard creepy laughter that night.

But when they tried their best to find out the truth about the ghost, followed the direction of the ghost, and searched hard following the laughter, they found nothing in the end!
And even more horrifying things were yet to come. The next day, all the martial arts masters, including the commander-in-chief, without exception, committed suicide by hanging, just like the previous seven people.

There was still no sign of poisoning or homicide, and even in the room where several people died, there was no sign of any abnormal human presence.

When this incident happened, it not only shocked the entire Tianjin Guards branch office, but also the entire Shengzhou city. It caused an uproar and uproar in the whole city.

Since then, at the Tianjin Guard branch office here, all the people in the office would leave their shifts an hour early at night, and no one would be left on duty in the mansion at night.

After this regulation was implemented, no one died in the Tianjin Guard branch office.

However, at that time, there were some curious and non-believing people in Shengzhou City who thought that the stories about ghosts were pure nonsense.

A few days later, they joined forces with a group of people and sneaked into the unmanned Tianjin Guard branch, ready to test the law themselves to dispel the rumors.

However, the result was predictable. That night, seventeen martial arts masters who went to the Tianjin Guard branch office, without exception, all followed the same fate as the Tianjin Guard commanders and committed suicide by hanging. No one survived.

And since this incident, the area around the Tianjin Guard branch has become a restricted area for the entire Shengzhou city at night.

No one from the underworld dared to come here at the risk of their lives anymore, and even the people in the city kept their mouths shut when talking about this matter.

"So many people died because of a haunting? And most of them were people with martial arts skills, and one of them was even a commander. If that old man isn't lying, this sounds quite mysterious!"

Cheng Zhong frowned and spoke, looking at Wu Shang and Hu Ruian beside him.

Hearing this, the three of them subconsciously looked towards the Tianjin Guard residence behind them.

Cheng Zhong and Wu Shang were not believers in ghosts and gods, but there was something strange about this matter, and their martial arts skills were not as good as that of the commander, so they couldn't help but feel a little uneasy about the mansion in front of them.

Hu Ruian's eyes moved slightly, and after a moment's silence, he said:
"All the things about ghosts and gods in the world are actually just rumors, or they are secretly manipulated by people to create ghosts."

"If this is true, in my opinion, the key to finding the truth of the whole matter lies in this Tianjin Guard Mansion. It may contain some great secrets."

Hearing this, Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong exchanged a glance, then looked at Hu Ruian together, and asked in some surprise and doubt:

"Sir, you don't want to go inside, do you?"

Hu Ruian glanced at the two of them, snorted coldly, and said:
"Why not?"

Wu Shang and the other man looked at each other in confusion. The old man's words just now were so scary. Ever since the haunting, no one who entered the Tianjin Guards' mansion at night could survive.

Even so, Hu Ruian still dared to take such a risk, which really made them a little confused.

At this time, Hu Ruian seemed to see what the two were thinking, shook his head, and explained:

"Actually, I have no other choice. Your Highness will only be staying in the state capital for two days. It is basically impossible to deal with the matter of Governor Zhu Ziming and Commander Mei Yan in such a short time."

"Therefore, conventional methods are obviously no longer feasible in order to achieve all of this. We have no choice but to find another way. This haunted incident is quite unusual and is closely related to the Tianjin Guard. I have a feeling that this may become a breakthrough in the Shengzhou incident."

Then, Hu Ruian sighed again and said:
"Of course, there's a chance we won't find anything in the end, but we can't let go of any chance. Now that we've encountered it, we have to give it a try."

Hearing this, Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong said nothing more, and all bowed and said:
"Everything must be obeyed, sir."

After saying that, Wu Shang and the other two turned and headed towards the Tianjin Guards' branch office. However, Hu Ruian reached out to stop them and said,

"Don't worry for now. Go to the nearby people and confirm whether what the old man said just now is true or not."

As soon as these words were spoken, Wu Shang and the other man reacted and stopped in their tracks.

We must always be on guard against others. What if the old man just now made up a story to deceive them? Then they would really become the "clowns" that His Highness often mentioned.

Thinking of this, the two of them immediately agreed, and without staying for long, they disappeared into the twilight and ran quickly towards the nearby streets.

When the sky was completely dark, Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong returned one after another.

"How's the check going?"

"Sir, what we have learned about the Tianjin Guard branch from the people around here is not much different from what the old man said before. There is indeed a ghost incident."

Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong both nodded, but then they frowned and said:

"However, we've discovered that the information known by the locals is not as detailed as what the old man just said. Perhaps there's something wrong with this person."

Hearing this, Hu Ruian's eyes moved slightly, but he still waved his hand and said:

"Let's not worry about the old man's question for now. I just need to know that this is true."

After saying that, he looked up at the Tianjin Guard branch in front of him and narrowed his eyes.

The haunting was indeed strange. Although he was proud of his profound martial arts skills and did not believe in ghosts and gods, he still couldn't help but feel a little uneasy at this moment.

"You guys stay here for now, I'll go in and check it out alone."

Hu Ruian gave Wu Shang and the other two a few instructions, then headed towards the dark mansion in front of them.

(End of this chapter)