My words have become law; I truly have no desire to display my divine power before others.

They'd been escorting goods for half their lives; what hadn't they seen? But what they were witnessing was beyond their comprehension.

In the middle of nowhere, amidst a mass grave, a large mansion suddenly appears out of nowhere?

Haunted house!

This word pierced everyone's heart like an icicle.

Lin Zhenyuan stared intently at the two tightly closed vermilion doors, his chest heaving violently.

For a fleeting moment, he wanted to rush out and bang on the door, to drag his son out of that awful place. But reason told him—he couldn't act impulsively.

This house is too eerie.

The lantern light looked warm, but when it shone on the surrounding rubble, it made the crooked tombstones and collapsed burial mounds appear even more sinister.

The two large gilded characters "Wan Zhai" on the plaque above the door, under the lantern, are slightly distorted in the light and shadow, as if they are wriggling.

And that butler.

Lin Zhenyuan could see it clearly—the old man had a smile on his face, but the smile was so stiff it looked like it was painted on.

And the rhythm of his movements... was too precise.

The angle of his bow, the extent of his hand gesture, and even the timing of closing the door were all stiff, as if he were not alive.

"Master, we..." Zhang Kui licked his chapped lips, "Should we wait for Chief Escort Zhao and the others to return?"

Zhao Damang has the most experience in escorting goods and is also the most daring. With him around, we at least have one more pillar of support.

Lin Zhenyuan gritted his teeth: "We can't wait any longer. Every moment Yunfeng stays inside increases the danger."

He turned to look at the three veteran bodyguards and Lin Fu: "Aren't you afraid?"

The four people looked at each other in bewilderment.

Afraid? Of course I'm afraid.

Lin Zhenyuan treated them like brothers, and Lin Yunfeng was the young master they had watched grow up.

Despite the fear, we still had to go.

"What's there to be afraid of!" Li Tie spat. "I've killed at least eighty or a hundred bandits, why would I be afraid of this pretentious nonsense?"

"Yes!" Wang Biao gripped his knife tightly. "I don't care if he's a man or a ghost, if he dares to harm the young master, I'll chop him up!"

Lin Zhenyuan took a deep breath.

"Alright. Let's sneak over and check things out first. Ideally, we can bring Yunfeng out undetected; if not…"

He paused, a ruthless glint in his eyes: "If there's anything unclean here, we'll burn this haunted house down!"

The five people crawled forward from behind the earthen slope, using the weeds and grave mounds for cover, and slowly approached Wan's house.

The closer you get, the more pronounced the chilling aura becomes.

It wasn't the coolness of the night breeze, but a chill seeping from the house, carrying the smell of decay.

It's like an invisible tentacle, wrapping around people's hands and feet, and drilling into the bones.

The lantern light magnified before my eyes.

Lin Zhenyuan finally saw the details of the plaque clearly—the edges of the large gilded characters were slightly peeling off.

What was revealed where the wood had peeled off was not the wood's original color, but... yellowed paper.

Paper?

His doubts deepened.

The five of them reached the base of the outer wall of the house, their backs pressed against the cold wall.

The wall was made of blue bricks, with the joints meticulously sealed, but when Lin Zhenyuan reached out to touch it, the texture... was wrong.

It's too smooth.

Blue bricks should be rough and have a grainy texture.

But the wall felt as smooth as glazed porcelain.

Moreover, the temperature was wrong—the night was so cool, the brick wall should have been icy cold, but only the surface of the wall was cool, and below it... it seemed to have no temperature at all.

"Master, look here," Lin Fu said in a low voice, pointing to a spot at the base of the wall.

Lin Zhenyuan leaned closer to take a look.

At the joint between the base of the wall and the ground, a small piece of "blue brick" is sticking up.

It wasn't that the brick was loose, but rather... the side of that "brick" revealed layers upon layers of paper edges.

Made of paper?

Lin Zhenyuan felt a chill run down his spine.

He drew his short knife from his waist and gently pried open the raised "brick" with the tip of the knife.

really.

The outside is thick paper with brick patterns, and the inside is a frame made of bamboo strips.

With a flick of the knife, the paper tore, making a soft "rip" sound that was particularly jarring in the quiet night.

"This entire house..." Zhang Kui's voice trembled, "is it all made of paper?"

No one answered.

But the answer is already obvious.

Lin Zhenyuan sheathed his knife and looked up at the wall, which was over two zhang high: "Climb over in."

"Climb over the wall?" Lin Fu was taken aback. "The main gate..."

"There's definitely something fishy about the gate," Lin Zhenyuan said in a deep voice. "The butler might be guarding behind it. Let's climb over the wall and catch them off guard."

He looked at the three bodyguards: "Zhang Kui, you crouch down, I'll step on your shoulders to get up. Li Tie, Wang Biao, you two provide backup down below. Lin Fu, you keep watch."

"yes!"

Zhang Kui squatted against the wall, his hands crossed and resting on his knees. Lin Zhenyuan stepped on him, and Zhang Kui slowly stood up, lifting him up to more than a meter tall.

The top of the wall is just inches away.

Lin Zhenyuan reached out to grab the edge of the wall—

Just as my fingertips were about to touch it, something suddenly "grew" out of the wall.

It wasn't a trap, it wasn't a hidden weapon, it was... a hand.

A pale hand reached out from the wall, its five fingers spread wide, facing Lin Zhenyuan's face.

Lin Zhenyuan's pupils contracted sharply, and he jerked backward!

"Bang!"

He fell to the ground and rolled twice in a sorry state.

Zhang Kui was also knocked down, and the two fell into a heap.

"Master!" Li Tie and Wang Biao rushed forward to help him up.

Lin Zhenyuan got up and looked up.

A person was standing on the wall at some unknown time.

No, it's not a "station".

The man's lower body was still embedded in the wall, with only his upper body sticking out.

He was dressed in a gray-blue servant's uniform, with a small hat on his head. His face was as white as if it had been plastered with lime, but his cheeks were painted with two glaring patches of blush.

He just "stood" on the wall, looking down at the five people below with a blank expression.

Even more strangely, the hand he stretched out remained in the same position as before—fingers spread, palm facing outward, as if he were about to push something away.

"Playing tricks!" Li Tie roared, drew his sword, and slashed at the hand!

The blade sliced ​​through the air, a flash of cold light.

"when--!"

A crisp, metallic clang!

When Li Tie's knife struck that hand, a string of sparks flew! But that hand... was completely unharmed!

No, not completely unharmed.

Li Tie's eyes widened as he saw a faint white mark left where he had struck—not a wound, but a mark like a knife scraping against a stone.

Moreover, around the white mark, the paper was slightly curled up, revealing the bamboo strips underneath.

Paper doll!

Li Tie gasped and took three steps back.

The "servant" on the wall slowly withdrew his hand, his movements as stiff as a marionette.

Then, he opened his mouth—

No sound.

But his mouth opened wider and wider, stretching all the way to his ears, revealing a dark, empty cavity inside.

Then, his body began to "squeeze" out of the wall.

It didn't climb out, nor did it jump out. Instead, it was like a lump of soft mud, slowly rising and taking shape from the "surface" of the wall, and finally completely detaching from the wall, landing lightly on the top of the wall.

The whole process was silent, except for the soft rustling of the paper.

The paper servants on the wall stood firm and looked down at the five people.

His pale face remained expressionless, but his eyes, marked with ink dots, seemed to have come to life—cold, lifeless, and mocking.