Chapter 21: Explore the Haunted Mansion

The night fell quickly, with no moon and even the faint starlight was obscured by dark clouds, leaving the world pitch black.

Two figures moved swiftly through the streets in the darkness, their movements so quick that it was astonishing, like a gust of wind passing by.

"What a perfect weather for thieves."

"Shut up."

The two were none other than Dugu Baitian and Xuan Xuan. They soon arrived in front of a large mansion and swiftly entered. There was no light in the mansion, and the courtyard was overgrown with weeds. Dugu Baitian spotted a few scattered bones in the grass, indicating that it was a long-abandoned haunted mansion. The courtyard looked eerie and terrifying, even though it was in the peak of summer, Dugu Baitian still felt a chill in his heart.

"Xuan Xuan, look at what's beside your left foot."

"A dog bone." After saying that, she squatted down gracefully, as if wrapping something with a piece of cloth.

Dugu Baitian sighed inwardly. He originally wanted to scare her, but she wasn't afraid at all. He felt a hint of fear facing such a creepy environment, but he didn't expect this young girl to be so fearless.

"Hehe, Xiaobai, here's a gift for you. Catch it." Since she learned Dugu Baitian's name, she had been calling him Xiaobai.

"Xiaobai" sounded more like "A Pig" or "A Cat" no matter how Dugu Baitian heard it, although it sounded frustrating, he could do nothing about it.

Taking the cloth package, he opened it to find a shiny white skull, which scared him so much that he dropped it.

"What are you doing, you little witch, trying to scare me to death?"

"Hehe, don't you find it amusing? I've never seen a dog skull before, and I decided to give my first one as a gift to you. Aren't you grateful?"

Dugu Baitian snapped back to his senses and looked carefully. Indeed, it was a dog skull. Even so, it was still quite frightening in such a night and in such a courtyard.

"You gave me your first time, but have you ever considered if I want it or not?"

Before he realized the grammatical error in his words, "Smack!" he was slapped on the left cheek.

"Hey, little witch, what are you doing? You misunderstood me. I meant that we can't joke like that."

"Smack!" Another slap.

Dugu Baitian was extremely depressed. The image of Xuan Xuan in his heart had changed again. When he first met her, she felt like a little fox, but later he felt more and more like she was a little witch. He couldn't win in verbal sparring with her, let alone physical fights, and she always liked to tease him.

Seeing Dugu Baitian's depressed expression, Xuan Xuan smiled again. "Xiaobai, I'm sorry, I accidentally hit you just now. Maybe there really are ghosts in this courtyard."

Dugu Baitian cursed in his heart: "Damn it, you're the one with ghosts in your heart. When my martial arts are fully developed, not only will I xxx, but I'll also xxx. You dare to show off in front of me." But upon closer thought, this little girl was indeed clever. With just a few words, she brushed off the awkwardness from earlier.

Xuan Xuan didn't know that Dugu Baitian's mind was filled with dirty thoughts. Seeing him silent, she thought he was angry. She smiled and said, "What's wrong? Feeling uncomfortable?" She deliberately avoided mentioning what happened earlier.

Seeing her smiling expression, Dugu Baitian reflexively took a few steps back. In the past half day, every time he saw this "smiling" expression, he felt defeated. In his heart, her "smiling" had now been fixed as "the devil's smile".

"I'm fine, let's keep moving. Finding the treasure is more important."

The two continued forward. They pushed open the door of the hall with a creak, and a stench of mold rushed at them.

Dugu Baitian lit a torch and saw that the room was in a mess. The original furniture had been chewed into pieces by rats, and occasionally a broken table leg lay on the ground. Several other rooms they entered were the same. In a room that might have been the owner's bedroom, several large rats ran out from under the tattered quilt, and Xuan Xuan screamed in fright.

Dugu Baitian laughed heartily. He didn't expect this little witch to be fearless in the face of a terrifying dog skull, but be scared by a few small rats.

"What are you laughing at? Hurry up and carefully check this room and drive all the rats out."

"Is it necessary to be so exaggerated? What's so scary about a few small rats? If you want me to help you fight tigers, I could be a hero who fights tigers, but now I have to deal with little rats. Ah."

"What do you think I need you for?"

"Of course, it's to drive away the rats."

"Of course, there are other uses too."

"What do you take me for, a tool or an object?"

"Big brother Dugu, you're my partner, how can you think like that?" She put on a pitiful look.

This little witch was really scared by these rats. She even called "Xiaobai" as "Big brother Dugu" in a submissive manner.

"Stop it, it's so cheesy. Hurry up and change to a more beautiful mask. I feel like vomiting looking at that expression."

"You hmph." Xuan Xuan was so angry that she had nothing to say.

Dugu Baitian decided to call it quits when he saw that the house was now clear of mice. In the meantime, he had caused Xuan Xuan to scream a few times.

The once soft bed was now a playground for mice, and the luxurious mansion had turned into a creepy haunted house. Dugu Baitian couldn't help but feel saddened for the original owner. What could have happened that caused them to abandon the house, with no one else moving in since? Xuan Xuan had been asked multiple times, but she brushed him off with a "Can't you see I'm busy?" and continued to knock on the walls and walk around, keeping herself occupied.

Dugu Baitian couldn't take it any longer. He caught a squeaking mouse from outside and confronted Xuan Xuan, saying, "Are you going to tell me now or not?"

Xuan Xuan had originally intended to scold him for his foul mouth, but when she turned around, her face instantly paled, and she screamed in terror, "I'll tell you, just get rid of it quickly." Her voice was filled with fear.

Dugu Baitian threw the mouse outside and said, "You really pushed me to use drastic measures. Now, speak up."

"You bastard, trying to scare me to death! You're asking for a beating!"

Without a word, Dugu Baitian turned around and started to leave.

"Hey, you come back! Who's going to help me chase away the mice if you leave?"

"Don't worry, I'll catch a mouse and come back immediately."

"You're so ruthless. You come back, I'll tell you."

Dugu Baitian returned calmly. Xuan Xuan glared at him with anger, wanting nothing more than to give him a good beating. But she knew she had to rely on him to escort her out, so she could only hold back her anger.

"Ten years ago, the owner of this house and his family of more than a dozen people died inexplicably one night, even the livestock in the house didn't survive. The neighbors nearby realized that something was wrong when this family had not been seen for several days. When they entered the house, they found the people lying peacefully in their sleep, cause of death unknown. After the family was buried, several other families moved in one after another over the next three years, but the tragedy happened again and again, and these people also died inexplicably.

The local authorities were at a loss and ordered that no one should set in this haunted house. The consecutive tragedies alarmed the emperor of the Qingfeng Empire, who sent over a dozen royal experts to this place to investigate the case. However, after these dozen people moved into the haunted house, they found nothing and died inexplicably after one month, causing a shock in the imperial court.

The Emperor then secretly ordered the recruitment of martial arts experts from all over the continent to solve the case. A total of seven people were summoned into the palace from the martial arts world, and all of them had reached the level of King. This matter was kept secret, as if the martial arts world were to know that seven King-level experts had gathered together, it would cause a huge sensation. It should be noted that there were less than twenty known experts who had reached the King level in the entire continent, and if this matter were leaked, it would cause unnecessary trouble with other countries on the continent.

The seven King-level experts arrived at this place and stayed in this mansion for only three nights before moving out. They met the emperor of the Qingfeng Empire in the palace and only discussed for less than half an hour before leaving in a hurry.

Later, the emperor of the Qingfeng Empire secretly ordered that no one should step into this mansion, and anyone who violated the order would be beheaded."

Hearing this, Dugu Baitian secretly wiped off his cold sweat. He didn't expect that the eerie and terrifying mansion he was in had such a bizarre and terrifying history.