That wretched vixen has disguised herself as my wife!

Its only distinctive feature is that it is extremely well hidden. If you don't walk along the road to the entrance of the manor, you would never be able to tell from a distance that such a large manor has been built here.

Jiang Jingming walked in front and gently placed his hand on the door.

Before pushing open the door, he turned around and exchanged one last look with everyone.

Xie Yunqi had already grasped Fushuang in her hand, and she firmly believed that many corpse ghosts were hidden in Tingpu Manor.

Fang Zhiyi stood under the eaves to avoid the rain, arms crossed, looking back at her with great interest.

Aqing followed closely behind him, listening intently to the sounds coming from inside the door, her gaze calm and sharp.

Lu Zhao stepped forward, placed his hand on another door, and nodded emphatically to him.

Jiang Jingming no longer hesitated and pushed open the door.

The deep red wooden door was heavier than expected, requiring some effort even for Jiang Jingming and Lu Zhao.

The gate slowly opened, and a breeze blew out from inside the manor, carrying with it icy rain that fell on everyone.

The stench of blood and decay mingled with the damp earth, mixing with the strange fragrance of crimson flowers behind them, creating a sticky and uncomfortable feeling with every breath.

Jiang Jingming lowered his head to shake off the raindrops from his forehead, then looked up to look ahead.

What comes into view is a vast expanse of stone slabs, with weapon racks and puppets scattered haphazardly in the middle of the area.

The stone pavement was flooded due to the incessant rain, and the water level was about ankle-deep when you stepped on it.

Beneath the rain, some suspicious dark red patches, slightly purplish, are visible.

There are elevated walkways on both sides of the venue, presumably for the purpose of appreciating martial arts on ordinary days.

Overall, the situation at Tingpu Villa was much more ordinary than expected; perhaps the rain had washed away many traces of the family annihilation case.

This was certainly a bad thing for them, but Jiang Jingming was not in a hurry and slowly walked towards the center of the field through the water.

Jiang Jingming took a few steps closer and looked at the several wooden puppets that were lying askew in the corner.

Upon closer inspection, it is not a puppet, but a marionette.

The puppetry technique practiced at Tingpu Manor involves using extremely fine yet resilient threads to guide puppets, making them fight in place of the user.

With just a flick of the puppeteer's finger, the puppet can perform actions that are unimaginable to ordinary people.

The puppet's joints, such as shoulders, elbows, wrists, and knees, are all connected by mortise and tenon joints, and sharp iron blades are inlaid in its arms, fingertips, and knees, making it a deadly weapon from head to toe.

The puppets' faces are painted with colorful paint in the shape of a Peking Opera character, and rainwater slides down their faces like tears.

"Oh dear, these puppets look so scary!"

Xie Yunqi curiously leaned over for a look, then jumped away in fright like a rabbit.

"Don't underestimate these puppets."

Lu Zhao also approached, shaking his head and sighing:

"I once saw disciples from Tingpu Manor come to the capital to participate in martial arts demonstrations. The puppets' moves were ever-changing and really difficult to defend against."

The young man who came to participate in the martial arts demonstration was not a prodigy in the manor, and since puppetry was a skill that was bound to be criticized, he was the one who received the most challenges.

But in the end, no one could defeat him and his puppet, and Listening Waterfall Manor won back that batch of top-quality black iron.

At that time, Lu Zhao did not participate in the competition; he was just one of the disciples maintaining order at the scene.

However, Lu Zhao knew very well that he couldn't beat that person either.

"Sometimes I think that practicing these unorthodox methods at Tingpu Manor might not be so wrong. After all, if there's an opportunity to become stronger, what fool wouldn't take advantage of it?"

At this point, Lu Zhao sighed, feeling the sword in his hand become very heavy.

"Oh."

Xie Yunqi suddenly let out a cold laugh, looking down at him disdainfully:

"Once you take the crooked path, you can never get back to the right path! They took the shortcut of puppetry, so they only wanted faster and stronger methods, which is why they started researching poison and venom. But in the end, they still brought trouble upon themselves and ended up with nothing!"

"That's true."

Lu Zhao nodded, feeling for the first time in his life that this domineering young lady was right.

As Jiang Jingming listened to the two talking, his gaze fell on the front of the martial arts training ground, where there was an altar.

In this secluded and unassuming mountain villa, the scale of this altar can be described as grand.

The huge semi-circular stone wall, made of bluestone, looks as if it were created by nature.

The incense burner on the offering table remained in its original place, its ashes soaked with rainwater.

The stone wall is engraved with countless names, the names of the ancestors of the Shun family.

But what attracted Jiang Jingming was not that, but the line of blood-red words that looked as if they had been splashed on the surface.

"A gift to you all—the young master's wife of the Crossing Moon Sect."

Despite the heavy rain last night, the blood-stained words still looked as if they had just been written, with even the writer's habitual brushstrokes clearly visible.

It must be said, it's beautiful handwriting.

Jiang Jingming fell into deep thought.

If we could identify the murderer by comparing their handwriting...

I seem to have seen Fang Zhiyi's handwriting once by chance.

It was on the ferry on the Posuo River that the boatman heard Xie Yunqi say that she was a very remarkable doctor.

So he excitedly asked her for advice, saying that his wife coughed incessantly on rainy days, and that many doctors had come but to no avail. He wanted her to prescribe a medicine for him to try.

Fang Zhiyi readily agreed, asked about the symptoms and patterns, and then swiftly wrote on the yellow paper.

Jiang Jingming originally thought her handwriting would be delicate and refined, but to his surprise, it was wildly messy and quite sloppy.

It looked like a bunch of eerie caterpillars were crawling on the yellow paper.

I can't recognize a single word.

The boatman scratched his head and looked at it for a long time, but he couldn't understand it either. However, Fang Zhiyi just smiled and said that if he took it to the pharmacy, someone would be able to understand it.

Perhaps this is the strange tacit understanding between doctors.

Chapter 106 If only you were the enchantress!

Aqing was taught to write by Master Han, but she was very rigid from a young age and could only write stroke by stroke.

When they were little, Aqing kindly helped Jiang Jingming with copying Han Fuzi's punishment homework, but she always got caught right away.

However, Aqing had very little time to practice calligraphy, as she always had to train with Chen Zhuo, so her handwriting still looks like a child's.

Jiang Jingming was also fortunate enough to have seen Xie Yunqi's calligraphy.

She has absolutely no refinement whatsoever; it's a classic doggy-style position.

Moreover, the young lady seems to be very prone to daydreaming, so she often writes a character in a messy, disjointed way. For example, she would write "明" (bright) as "日月" (sun and moon) in a crooked and distorted manner.

I wonder what Master Wen, who taught by example, would think if he saw this.

The words written on the stone wall were completely different from those of the three of them.

"It's written in a place like this..."

Lu Zhao felt that this witch was truly a heartless killer. After wiping out the entire family, she even wrote the words in blood on the altar, which clearly showed that she was someone who did not believe in ghosts or gods.

“Fengling City places great importance on ancestral worship, and the demoness is clearly here for that reason.”

"Yes."

Jiang Jingming nodded.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have specifically chosen the day of ancestor worship to make her move. Although it would have made it easier for her to wipe them all out in one fell swoop, given her ability, chasing them down to their homes and killing them one by one wouldn't have been a difficult task.

Aqing walked to the stone wall and frowned as she examined it closely.

Her gaze slowly descended from the top of the stone wall, and after a long while, she vigorously rubbed the blood-red words with her fingertips.

"It can't be wiped off."

Aqing shook her head, then lowered her head to sniff lightly, her brows furrowing slightly.

"But it is definitely blood."

She paused, then added:

"Human blood."

That's really strange.

Jiang Jingming followed her example and wiped the blood-written words with his own hand. He was surprised to find that the words were hot, as if they had been written on the blood of someone who had just passed away.

"Hey! You two, don't touch these things! Who knows if that witch has tampered with them!"

Xie Yunqi grabbed their hands and nervously wiped them on the hem of his clothes.

"Look, even rain can't wash away these blood-written words. They might be some kind of terrifying curse!"

"What curse?"

Jiang Jingming found it amusing and let her hold his hand.

Xie Yunqi coughed to clear his throat, then shouted in a shrill voice:

"Hahaha, you foolish wretch, how dare you touch the curse I left behind!! Tonight at midnight, my army of ghouls will come smelling your scent to take your life!! Die! Hehehe..."

"If that witch were really you, young lady."

Jiang Jingming sighed, his face full of sincerity.

"Huh? Why?"

Xie Yunqi blinked a few times, looking bewildered.

“I agree. If that’s the case, we can close it tonight. We can go to Tingyuxuan for roasted chicken and osmanthus-flavored glutinous rice lotus root.”

Lu Zhao nodded in agreement and walked up the steps on the other side of the stairs alongside him.

Xie Yunqi then belatedly realized that Jiang Jingming was mocking him, and immediately raised his fist, ready to chase after him and punch him to vent his anger.

Jiang Jingming quickened his pace at just the right moment, appearing unhurried, yet always maintaining a distance from the young lady that was just out of her reach.

"Hey Jingming, wait for me!!"

The noise drifted deeper into the mountain villa.

Fang Zhiyi and A Qing lagged behind by a step, not looking at each other; one had her eyes downcast and indifferent, while the other had a faint smile.

Behind them, the rain continued to fall, and ripples spread like rings in the puddles.

……

Only after climbing the steps did I see the main pavilion of Tingpu Villa.

It was the kind of house most common in Fengling City, with blue tiles and white walls, carved beams and painted rafters, and two menacing stone lions standing in front of the gate.

"I think you two are of no use whatsoever!"

Xie Yunqi stood with his hands behind his back in front of the stone lion, looking like a superior sternly reprimanding his subordinate.

Childish ghost.

Jiang Jingming brushed past her and walked into the main pavilion.

The railings had collapsed, and even the beams and pillars were broken. Cracks were everywhere, and it was a complete mess.

It seems this place is also part of the battlefield. Some people fought their way back from the altar to the main pavilion.

Unfortunately, he ultimately could not escape the clutches of the killer.

Jiang Jingming walked forward slowly, his eyes slightly closed, imagining the scene when the family was wiped out.

Swords flashed and blood splattered everywhere. All around were screams and cries of agony, and limbs flew everywhere, leaving no way to escape.

"In such a closed indoor space, the Shun family disciples should have had the advantage, which is why they retreated here."

Lu Zhao looked up at the collapsed attic and shook his head:

"I never imagined that the devil would be one step ahead of the saint."

"Don't they have some kind of 'Rain of Pear Blossom Needles'? Why don't they just stand on high ground and shoot them down!"