Shroud Monster

"Grandpa!" Meng Yao's big eyes darkened, and her small body hid in Lu Chen's long hair.

"Enter!"

With a wave of Fang Yuqi's hand, ten soldiers lined up and rushed towards the house opposite.

After a round of inspection, Fang Yuqi asserted, "His identity should be Yaoyao's grandfather, Meng Jiu. Only his clothes and skin are left. His bones and flesh are gone. It doesn't seem to be done by a human. It should be the work of a ghost."

"General, we found two more bodies!"

The shouts of the soldiers came from the front. Lu Chen burned Meng Jiu's skin and walked into the courtyard with Fang Yuqi.

In the courtyard, a middle-aged man was lying on the ground facing the sky. A large piece of flesh was missing from his neck, as if something had bitten him. Even his throat bone had been bitten off.

His eyes were widened. He died with grievances!

Lu Chen narrowed his eyes and sized him up. Then, he followed Fang Yuqi into the room.

In the boudoir, on the elegant bed, a twenty-eight-year-old woman died miserably. Her eyes were gouged out, and her tongue was torn out. Most of her tongue was cut off, and her face was covered in scratches. She was dressed in a paper-like red wedding dress, and the internal organs in her abdomen were gone. There were traces of being licked by wild beasts.

"Brother, there's an older sister living in that body."

"…"

The two of them looked at each other and Lu Chen said, "It should be a wraith. Looks like… there will be ghosts coming to welcome the bride tonight."

"Mm." Fang Yuqi nodded solemnly and asked, "Yaoyao, can you communicate with the older sister inside?"

Yaoyao's little body swayed and flew out from Lu Chen's long hair. She landed on the corpse's head and shook her little head. "Sister fell asleep and will only wake up at night."

Lu Chen's gaze shifted. He reached out to pick up the small bowl on the tea table by the bed and realized that there was some brown liquid at the bottom of the bowl. He sniffed it and muttered, "Smells like medicine."

"I smelled it when I walked in the door. It's a blood supplement. I drank it when I was young."

"Circular Light!" Lu Chen chanted and formed a hand seal. A black needle appeared in his left eye.

"Any leads?"

"Yeah, there was a third person last night." Lu Chen nodded. He reached out and grabbed a dark gray aura from the edge of the bowl. After injecting it into the mirror on his left hand, the silver-white needle began to spin. After stopping, he pointed in a direction again. "Yaoyao, follow me. Let's go!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the group of people chased after him again.

Not long after, Lu Chen and Fang Yuqi appeared at a crossroad. People came and went from all directions. Not far away, there was a pharmacy. Three words were written on the plaque in front of the door:

Ji Chun Hall.

"Phew." Lu Chen took a deep breath and canceled the Circular Light. He pointed at the pharmacy and said, "It's in there!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"Alright, I'll go gather my men first. Wait for me first. Don't act rashly."

"Okay!

Seeing Lu Chen nod, Fang Yuqi didn't say anything else and quickly ran towards the Town Guards Mansion. Since Lu Chen had nothing to do, he might as well take the opportunity to inquire about the situation in Ji Chun Hall.

"Uncle, whose pharmacy does this Ji Chun Hall belong to?"

"Leave me alone!"

"Brother, I want to ask about something."

"I don't know!"

"Auntie, may I ask…"

"Pfft, am I that old?"

"…"

…

Lu Chen lowered his head and looked at the long robe he was wearing. He suddenly remembered that he had not worn a Daoist robe for a few days. This long green robe was bought for him by Qing He.

"I can't just rely on my looks." Lu Chen muttered and turned to walk into the tea shop opposite Ji Chun Hall. "Boss, give me a bowl of hot tea!"

"Guest, please wait a moment!"

The person who replied was an old man in his fifties. His back was already bent, but his legs were still nimble. He walked over with a pot of hot tea, and his weathered face tried to squeeze out a dry smile.

After the old man filled the cup with tea, Lu Chen took out the remaining two copper coins from the sealed space and gently placed them on the table.

"I want to ask about something."

"Feel free to ask."

The old man's smile became much more sincere as he quietly took the copper coin away.

"What's the situation in Ji Chun Hall opposite?"

"Young mister, are you sick? Are you looking for a doctor?"

"Just asking."

"Oh, this Ji Chun Hall is the Xu family's ancestral signboard. It has been passed down for three generations. Its medical skills are really extraordinary. When the medicine is used, the illness is cured. All the neighbors are here to treat the illness. The effect is obvious. It's just… Hehe, it's not cheap.This Ji Chun Hall is now passed down to the fourth generation. There is the father, Xu Shilin, to suppress the pharmacy, and his son, Xu Hanwen, to sit in the hall…"

The old man was a talkative man. He didn't stop talking.

Lu Chen yawned and interrupted, "Old man, did someone go on a house call yesterday?"

"A house call?" The old man thought for a moment and replied, "My sleep is light. I really do know. About four o'clock in the morning, someone knocked on the door. From the conversation, it seems that someone suddenly fainted. It was Old Physician Xu Shilin."

"Xu Shilin?"

Lu Chen seemed to be deep in thought. He turned around and saw the crowd on the street making way in panic. Groups of soldiers in armor and sharp weapons were running over. Each of them was like a calf, and there were a hundred of them.

The leader, Fang Yuqi, was riding a tall black horse.

White-armored and tasseled helmet. She was majestic.

"Hey, hey, hey. Sir, you haven't had your tea yet…"

Lu Chen quickly walked out of the tea shop and waved his hand. "Yuqi, over here!"

"Neighhh~"

The black horse raised its leg and stopped in front of Lu Chen. Lu Chen hurriedly said, "Ji Chun Hall, Xu Shilin!"

Fang Yuqi waved her hand and ordered, "Break through the door and capture Ji Chun Hall's Xu Shi Lin!"

"Yes!"

The guards obeyed.

There were a lot of soldiers. Groups of soldiers rushed towards Ji Chun Hall. The workers at the door scrambled to the front hall. With a bang, the soldiers smashed the door and surged in like a tide.

Lu Chen followed Fang Yuqi into Ji Chun Hall. Many people were already kneeling in the front hall.

"Who's Xu Shilin?" Fang Yuqi shouted, and the entire place fell silent.

A middle-aged man in his thirties suddenly trembled and hurriedly said, "Greetings, General. Xu Shilin is my father."

"Where is he now?"

"My father went out for a consultation last night and returned at dawn. He's… resting in the backyard."

"Search!"

Tap, tap, tap~

Groups of soldiers ran towards the backyard. Lu Chen and Fang Yuqi followed closely behind. They suddenly stopped in their tracks. When they turned around, they saw that the middle-aged man wanted to slip away through the front door. They frowned.

"Hold on!"

The middle-aged man stopped and said with an embarrassed smile, "What can I do for you, sir?"

"Your name is Xu Hanwen?"

"Yes, yes. I'm Xu Hanwen."

"You're not worried that something will happen to your father. Instead… you plan to slip away?"

"N-no."

At this moment, a red coin appeared out of thin air and hit Xu Hanwen's forehead. Xu Hanwen staggered and a huge bump appeared on his forehead. Meng Yao placed her small hands on her hips and pointed at him. "Brother, he's a bad guy!"

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Two sword chimes sounded one after another. The peach wood sword appeared out of thin air and stabbed into the other party's chest. Fang Yuqi was slightly slower, and her long sword flew out and stabbed into the other party's shoulder.

Both swords hit the target. It didn't even penetrate his body and only penetrated an inch into his flesh.

"Hehe… Hehe~" Xu Hanwen let out a hoarse laugh. He swept his right arm in front of him and sent the two swords flying. There was blood on the wound. Instead, it was pitch-black.

"I'm so hungry!" Xu Hanwen roared at the sky. Two black claws pierced through his chest and tore him in half. The human skin fell to the ground and a monster jumped out.

Its face was ferocious. Its back was bent. Its entire body was covered in black scales, and a terrifying mouth occupied half of its head. Its mouth was filled with white fangs, and its bloody eyes rolled.

Evil, brutal!

At the same time, a putrid smell of decay filled the air.