Pan Wendi wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, his hand still trembling slightly:
"I originally planned to look around inside and then return the same way to report back to you. But when I turned around, I found a hidden staircase leading underground in the corner of the first floor."
"The entrance of the staircase was like a dark hole, resembling the gaping mouth of a monster. At the very bottom, there was an iron door, so rusted it was falling apart. Red light seeped through its cracks, exuding an unspeakable eeriness."
"At the time, I thought you were still outside waiting for news, and I hadn’t discovered anything yet. I couldn’t just go back like that! So, I steeled myself and went straight in."
"Goodness, that basement was no place for humans—an outright cult ritual site!"
"In the center was a dark green stone altar, resembling the lotus platform upon which the Buddha sits in temples."
"Scattered around were piles of bones. Whether they belonged to animals or humans was unclear, but they were visibly white."
"The walls weren’t clean either, covered in scribbled symbols, mingling red and black—both filthy and unnerving."
"As for the altar, it was even more bizarre, with a statue enshrined."
At this point, Pan Wendi’s voice couldn’t help but change:
"The thing was incredibly sinister-looking, about half as tall as a person, with horns and three eyes, entirely blood-red, as if soaked in human blood for forty-nine days."
"The third eye on its forehead embedded a glowing red gem. The red light I saw was emitted from it."
"Moreover, in front of the statue was a big black lacquered coffin, and its lid was pried open... inside lay a man’s corpse, appearing seventy or eighty, an old man."
Bai Ling instinctively clutched the corner of her clothes and asked:
"Are you sure it’s a corpse? It couldn’t possibly... be a living person, could it?"
Pan Wendi instantly retorted:
"I could feel it; there wasn’t a trace of life in him. The corpse was dressed in funeral clothes, as if he had just died recently. The skin on his face was still wax yellow, barely decomposed..."
Fang Cheng, upon hearing this, fell into deep thought.
According to old societal traditions, some big families indeed set up private mourning halls, temporarily storing the deceased there until an auspicious day for burial.
But filling an entire building with coffins seemed over-the-top.
That must be nearly a century’s worth of several generations of Chen Family’s remains gathered there.
Stranger yet was the three-eyed statue in the basement and the newly deceased old man’s corpse.
He remembered the intelligence on Naihe Bridge being very explicit that the recent victims in the Chen Family were all young or middle-aged, none over fifty.
This old man’s corpse didn’t match any profile.
Upon this realization, Fang Cheng’s eyes darkened, feeling more convinced.
This family harbors an unspeakable secret, without a doubt.
Perhaps, Uncle and the Professor came to Tian Nan Province precisely for this crucial secret.
"Wendi, you’re going back in again."
Fang Cheng suddenly spoke, his eyes firmly fixed on Pan Wendi.
Pan Wendi’s face instantly drooped, looking bitter as though he had tasted coptis:
"I have to go in again? I haven’t even gotten over the smell in there yet."
Fang Cheng ignored his complaints, adding details in a solemn voice:
"I need you to verify two things."
"Firstly, thoroughly check the name plaques to see if ’Chen Shaoze’, ’Chen Qiweng’, or ’Chen Talai’ are among them; secondly, check if there are any bodies in the coffins."
"Boss, your requests are way over the top! Do I have to open a coffin too?"
Pan Wendi rubbed his hands, shrinking back with a troubled expression:
"What if there’s something unclean in the coffin?"
"Come on, Big Brother Wendi! We’ll keep watch for you outside, fully supporting you!"
At this moment, Bai Ling chimed in, waving small fists to encourage him, unable to hide her amusement at the spectacle.
Pan Wendi looked at Bai Ling’s "encouragement" that concealed schadenfreude, then glanced at Fang Cheng’s expectant eyes.
Finally, biting the bullet, he steeled himself:
"Fine! Since you asked, even through blades and sea of flames, I’ll go for it!"
With that, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and turned to dash toward the wall of the building.
In a blink, he disappeared into it, leaving only a brief shimmering ripple on the wall’s surface.
This time, the wait lasted nearly five minutes.
Just as Bai Ling, clutching her clothing’s corner, began to worry somewhat.
Pan Wendi’s figure suddenly emerged through the iron door, stumbling, nearly falling.
Fang Cheng was quick to react, extending a hand to steady him.
Pan Wendi was panting heavily, his face looking worse than before:
"The plaques for Chen Shaoze and the others are all on the fourth floor, I checked them one by one, there’s no mistake."
"But... those three coffins, they’re all empty!"
Fang Cheng’s eyes narrowed, his brows furrowed.
Just then, his ears twitched slightly, catching the faint sound of footsteps approaching from afar.
Almost instinctively, Fang Cheng suddenly raised his hand, pulling Pan Wendi and Bai Ling back, who were about to speak, and whispered urgently:
"Someone’s coming, hide!"
The three reacted quickly, swiftly ducking into a dense bush nearby, holding their breath.
A moment later, the footsteps drew nearer, becoming clearer.
A figure was seen walking briskly through the woods, coming from the depths of the estate.
The person was tall and slender, dressed in a well-fitted black Tang suit, with hair meticulously combed, not a single stray hair out of place.
It was the Chen Family’s housekeeper, Li Tiansheng.
He walked straight to the small building, first pausing to cautiously scan the surroundings.
After confirming no one was around, he took out a bunch of keys from his pocket, expertly picking out a bronze key, inserting it into the rusted old lock on the iron gate. Latest content publıshed on novel•fire.net
The old iron gate slowly opened a crack, the sound of rust scraping particularly harsh in the silence.
Li Tiansheng didn’t go in immediately; instead, he leaned slightly forward, peering carefully inside the darkened doorway, as if confirming something within.
After a brief pause, he ducked inside, lightly closing the iron gate behind him, leaving just a barely noticeable narrow gap.
Behind the bushes, Fang Cheng and Pan Wendi, Bai Ling exchanged a glance, seeing the gravity in each other’s eyes.
Time ticked by second by second.
The small building remained silent, no sound to be heard, as if Li Tiansheng had been swallowed whole.
After about ten minutes, the iron gate once again gave a soft "creak."
Li Tiansheng came out, his demeanor seemingly more relaxed than when he entered, even a hint of relieved ease at the corner of his mouth.
He didn’t linger, promptly relocking the gate.
He again scanned his surroundings vigilantly, then hurriedly retraced his steps, quickly disappearing into the woods.
"Wasn’t that old man supposed to be helping us prepare meals in the kitchen? What’s he doing here?"
Pan Wendi whispered in confusion.
"Could it be... he’s the killer?"
Bai Ling speculated quietly.
Fang Cheng said nothing, just silently watching Li Tiansheng’s departing figure, deep in thought.
Once the footsteps faded completely, the three emerged from behind the bush.
"What should we do next? Should I go back in to see what that housekeeper was up to?"
Pan Wendi clenched his fists, showing a bit of eager anticipation:
"If worse comes to worst, we could just burn this spooky place down and be done with it!"
Having entered and exited several times, he seemed to have lost much of his fear of this "cursed" mortuary building.
Fang Cheng shook his head slowly.
His purpose in coming to Tian Nan Province was to uncover the truth behind the Chen Family case and find the reason for his uncle’s disappearance.
Whether or not they could catch the killer and bring them to justice wasn’t the main priority.
From what had been discovered so far, the secrets hidden by the Chen Family went much deeper than a mere black magic murder case, possibly even affecting the survival of the entire family.
Barging in without knowing the full details wasn’t a wise move.
"Let’s head back to the hospital, meet up with Lin Chuqiao, and then we’ll plan our next steps."
After a brief thought, Fang Cheng made a quick decision:
"If nothing else happens tonight, we’ll bring Chen Xu’an here tomorrow and confront him about the secrets of this building, the basement statue, and the bodies."
Just as he finished speaking, his pocket vibrated suddenly.
For convenience, he had set his phone to silent mode.
Taking it out to check, Lin Chuqiao’s name flashed on the screen.
Fang Cheng’s eyes narrowed sharply, and he immediately pressed the answer button.
From the receiver came Lin Chuqiao’s urgent and grave voice.
"Fang Cheng, something happened to someone else in the Chen Family!"