Chapter 164
Chapter 164: Ghostly Shadows
Hu Rui An’s figure shifted, springing effortlessly from the ground. In an instant, he soared over the towering wall of the Heavenly Brocade Guard’s mansion, disappearing right before Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong.
Wu Shang exchanged a glance with Cheng Zhong, then both surveyed the surrounding streets cloaked in deep darkness.
At some unknown moment, a chill wind whispered through the silent streets behind them, making both men involuntarily shrink their necks. Yet they saw nothing unusual.
At the same time, Hu Rui An drifted lightly into the Heavenly Brocade Guard compound.
The night had cast the Sheng Province Heavenly Brocade Guard mansion into a shadowy gloom. All doors and windows were shut tight, corridors were devoid of any lanterns, and no guards patrolled. Everything lay wrapped in profound silence.
Once inside, Hu Rui An moved along the corridor without a sound. Even his clothes stirred no breeze as he glided forward like a ghostly phantom.
Hu Rui An was unfamiliar with the mansion’s layout, so he walked cautiously, eyes scanning carefully.
His goal tonight was simple: to encounter this supposed ghost and discover any hidden secrets lurking within the Heavenly Brocade Guard. After all, nowhere else in Sheng Province Prefecture City had ghostly troubles. Only here at the Heavenly Brocade Guard mansion were there mysterious incidents, including the deaths of a Commanding Commissioner and several martial experts. Surely, there was something strange happening here.
Time crept by, and Hu Rui An wandered through the quiet darkness, exploring most of the mansion. Yet he encountered nothing unusual along the way.
He frowned slightly. However, just as he reached a secluded hall in the northeast corner, he suddenly halted, his figure pausing abruptly.
Hu Rui An stared at the hall ahead. Unlike all the other tightly locked buildings, this hall’s large door was slightly ajar, revealing a narrow gap.
The night felt thick, the surroundings utterly silent.
He narrowed his eyes, cautiously approaching without a sound, his martial Qi spreading around him, alert for even the slightest movement.
Just then, a shadow flashed through the gap in the hall’s doorway.
Hu Rui An reacted instinctively, about to strike, but quickly stopped himself. The shadow was actually a large black cat.
Seeming to sense Hu Rui An’s dangerous aura, the cat abruptly halted its sprint, raising glowing emerald eyes toward him.
“Meow—” The cat’s voice rang out, breaking the silence.
Hu Rui An frowned, holding back his attack as he studied the cat closely.
This feline was unusually large, almost as big as a dog, its thick black fur glistening faintly in the darkness. Clearly, it wasn’t an ordinary cat.
Hu Rui An shook his head lightly. [It’s just a cat, nothing worth my attention.]
He ignored it and refocused on the hall ahead.
But at that exact moment, a bone-chilling laughter suddenly drifted from a courtyard behind him.
He spun sharply around, but saw nothing. The eerie laughter, however, continued to echo ominously through the night.
“Pretending to be ghosts!” Hu Rui An snorted coldly. Instantly, his figure vanished, reappearing where the laughter had emerged, his powerful martial Qi surging fiercely.
Surprisingly, the moment his shadow appeared, the laughter ceased without a trace.
Just then, a blurry shadow emerged silently behind Hu Rui An, floating past him unnoticed.
He sensed something amiss and turned swiftly, glimpsing only a vague, ghostly shape drifting slowly before him.
“Nonsense!” Hu Rui An barked harshly, standing still and stretching his hand toward the ghostly figure from afar.
Immediately, the Qi around him condensed into a massive, invisible hand, engulfing several meters of space, crashing toward the ghostly form from above.
Yet at this moment, that sinister laughter again echoed mockingly behind him.
Instantly, the ghostly shadow vanished without a trace, leaving his strike empty-handed.
Shortly after, the phantom reappeared quietly on a rooftop nearby, drifting slowly and deliberately, clearly provoking him, accompanied by the same chilling laughter.
Witnessing this, Hu Rui An’s expression darkened.
He turned sharply, gazing sternly at the shadowy figure on the rooftop and the surrounding darkness, filled with that unnerving laughter.
Hu Rui An’s expression turned cold. Clearly, these ghostly tricks and laughter treated him with utter disdain, provoking his wrath.
The next instant, Hu Rui An briefly closed his eyes, then slowly opened them once more.
In a moment, his aura surged powerfully, the Qi around him gathering like mountains pressing forward, forming an invisible battle drum in midair. The sound exploded forth, overwhelming and silencing the eerie laughter completely.
Hu Rui An’s robes billowed like a thousand sails. His form blurred into a shadow, instantly appearing behind the ghostly phantom.
Without hesitation, he struck forward with a mighty palm, unleashing a wind that seemed to tear space itself, carrying the power to crumble mountains.
This attack alone could utterly crush a typical Heavenly Union Expert, shattering bones and dispersing their Qi.
Evidently, Hu Rui An’s anger had awakened fully. He intended to show this ghostly trickster exactly who he was dealing with.
As for whether this palm would end the ghost’s existence, Hu Rui An hardly cared. After all, it was their own fault for challenging him so brazenly.
If he didn’t use real strength, this ghost might actually think he could be toyed with as easily as others had been before.
A thunderous boom erupted. The space in front of Hu Rui An seemed to collapse beneath his palm.
In that instant, the blurry ghostly shape dissipated completely, vanishing into the darkness.
Simultaneously, the sinister laughter was also shattered and scattered by the powerful vibration of Qi.
Once again, the Heavenly Brocade Guard mansion sank back into deep silence. The ghostly shadow and eerie laughter were swept away by Hu Rui An’s thunderous strike.
Hu Rui An gently descended onto the rooftop tiles, the gathered Qi around him gradually dispersing.
He glanced around. Everything was empty, except for the enormous black cat, sitting quietly on the stone steps before the slightly open hall. It stared up at him, its jewel-green eyes glowing softly in the night.
Soon after, the large black cat suddenly opened its mouth again, letting out a loud “Meow.” Then, it turned its feline head to stare at a spot near Hu Rui An.
Hu Rui An instantly felt something was wrong. Quickly turning his head, he saw that the ghostly shadow he had just shattered had reappeared boldly in the air nearby, silently drifting about.
Just at that moment, the chilling laughter once again echoed overhead. Within that piercing sound was clear mockery, disdain, and an icy, sinister intent.
Hu Rui An’s expression darkened immediately. It was clear the ghost and laughter ignored all his attacks, as if he could do nothing against these supernatural tricks.
Still, Hu Rui An refused to yield, striking out again without hesitation. Unfortunately, the result was no different than before—he simply couldn’t harm the ghost or the laughter. Instead, they grew even bolder, almost drifting directly beside him, whispering coldly into his ear with mocking taunts.
“Who exactly are you?” Unable to counteract the eerie phenomena, Hu Rui An retreated several steps to put some distance between himself and the ghost, sternly demanding answers.
Yet, neither the ghost nor the laughter had any intention of responding. Instead, they shadowed him relentlessly, sticking to him like parasites gnawing deep into the bone. Wherever he went, the ghost and laughter followed, impossible to escape.
Out of options, Hu Rui An struck again, but the situation remained unchanged. Meanwhile, on the stone steps before the hall, the large black cat quietly watched everything with emerald-green eyes, casually licking its paw as if unconcerned.
Glancing at the great cat and the hall behind it, Hu Rui An noticed the ghost and laughter pressing even closer as time went by. His expression shifted dramatically, and decisively, he transformed into a shadowy blur, swiftly retreating from the Heavenly Brocade Guard’s mansion.
The ghost and laughter’s strangeness deeply unsettled him, and the closer they approached, the more strongly he felt danger looming. His instincts warned him that he must no longer remain here.
Soon, Hu Rui An flashed over the high wall of the Heavenly Brocade Guard’s compound, appearing before Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong, who waited by the gates. Seeing Hu Rui An emerge, they quickly moved forward, asking urgently, “Lord, did you find anything?”
However, before they even finished speaking, an icy laughter sounded in their ears, sending chills down their spines. Instinctively, the two men glanced up at the archway above the Heavenly Brocade Guard gates, spotting a twisted ghostly shadow drifting silently, laughter continuously echoing around it.
Fortunately, the ghost and laughter stopped at the boundary, clearly unwilling to step beyond it.
Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong exchanged shocked looks, hastily turning toward Hu Rui An. However, he offered no explanation, merely saying, “We must leave here first.”
Glancing one last time at the Heavenly Brocade Guard’s residence, he swiftly led Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong away without another pause. Only after traveling some distance did the two men suddenly turn back, distinctly hearing the chilling laughter behind them uttering a clear and unmistakable word—“death.”
It wasn’t until Hu Rui An and his companions had entirely vanished that the ghostly shadow and laughter above the Heavenly Brocade Guard’s gate slowly faded away.
At that moment, from the shadows of a dark alley nearby, the old man who had earlier pushed the tea sack handcart quietly emerged from the darkness. Gazing in the direction Hu Rui An’s group had gone, he narrowed his eyes slightly. “And here I thought you might uncover something useful. In the end, tomorrow there will simply be three more corpses.”
Speaking softly to himself, the old man glanced toward the gates of the Heavenly Brocade Guard once more but made no move to approach. He shook his head gently, then disappeared again into the night.
Meanwhile, Hu Rui An’s group galloped swiftly through the dark, each wrapped in silence. Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong exchanged a glance, noticing Hu Rui An’s darkened mood, and wisely held back from asking anything further.
Half an incense stick’s time later, they reined in their horses before a brightly lit, luxurious residence with red walls and glazed tiles illuminated by palace lanterns.
Seated firmly upon his horse, Hu Rui An looked at the plaque bearing the words “Mei Residence,” then turned to Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong. “The haunting at Heavenly Brocade Guard is not simple; it’s beyond my expectations.” As he spoke, his expression grew extremely serious. “Both of you, listen carefully. No matter what happens tomorrow, remain close by my—by Your Highness’s side.”
Hu Rui An sighed inwardly. Initially, he had wanted Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong close to him so he could protect them from danger caused by the ghostly shadow and laughter. Yet now, he even worried about his own safety. Perhaps, tomorrow, the safest and wisest course would indeed be to remain beside Li Mu Sheng.
Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong exchanged startled glances, immediately taking Hu Rui An’s instructions to heart. Even Hu Rui An feared the haunting at the Heavenly Brocade Guard compound, so naturally, the two men knew they had to be cautious if they wanted to survive.
Hu Rui An spoke no further, guiding them toward Mei Residence to see Mei Yan, the deputy commander of the Heavenly Brocade Guard branch.
The mystery at Heavenly Brocade Guard had to wait. Though Hu Rui An felt deeply unsettled by its strangeness and sensed it might be the key to a breakthrough, clearly, something hidden beneath the surface was deeper than he could currently explore. For now, he must refocus on the matters of Sheng Province.
Deep down, Hu Rui An understood clearly that this visit might yield no results. His rank was equal to Mei Yan’s, yet Mei Yan’s family and status far surpassed his own. If Mei Yan chose not to cooperate, even Hu Rui An’s backing from Prince Li Mu Sheng might not compel him.
But he still needed to try.
After knocking at the door and sending word inside, Hu Rui An and his two companions followed the steward deeper into Mei Residence. Palace lanterns hung brightly everywhere, making the mansion as bright as day.
Not long after, the three reached a lively garden courtyard in the back. Unlike the cold, ghost-like emptiness of the Heavenly Brocade Guard’s mansion, here lanterns blazed brightly, and voices rose joyfully—a vibrant scene bustling with excitement.