Chapter 110: Mysterious Traces of Ghosts

"Secretary!" Pan Haiyun stood up. Looking at the secretary who had fallen to the ground foaming at the mouth, he took three steps back as if he had been greatly frightened. He pointed at the secretary with trembling fingers and said, "I told you there's something wrong here!" He looked like he had been greatly tormented.

Pan Yueqing stepped forward, took the secretary's hand, and felt his pulse. She apologized to Pan Haiyun, "Father, don't be alarmed. It's just that the sun was too strong earlier. Now that it's suddenly gloomy, his body can't adapt to the sudden change between the heat and the cold." Then she signaled Su Ruoqing to take the man away and let him rest properly. Only then did she say respectfully to Pan Haiyun, "Although the master has such a request, it's better to be sincere now."

"We should indeed be sincere," Pan Haiyun said after hearing Pan Yueqing's words. A hint of joy appeared on his originally pale face. With dark circles under his eyes, he looked at Qian Cheng and said, "Brother Qian! After all, we're on the same side. Why don't you help me this time? Come with me to invite the master. You don't know, this place is really strange!" After saying that, he grabbed Qian Cheng's trembling hand and asked in a confused tone, "What's wrong with you?"

When Qian Cheng let out a scream, Pan Haiyun's smile faded. His face immediately turned stern, and he drawled, "What? You don't want to?"

Even if Qian Cheng had the courage of ten thousand men, he didn't dare to go against Pan Haiyun's wishes in the courier station surrounded by heavy troops. After coming to his senses, he nodded frantically like a chick pecking at rice. "What are you saying, Prime Minister! I'm willing to go through fire and water for you, even if it means sacrificing my life!" Pan Haiyun smiled. With his mood swings, he looked at Qian Cheng and nodded as if he was really pleased. "That's very good."

"Father, don't be in a hurry. Master Baoshan said..." Pan Yueqing looked at Pan Haiyun with a somewhat embarrassed expression. "He wants you to burn incense, take a bath, and cleanse yourself of all impurities. You should go to see him at dusk. It will be more convenient then."

At dusk! Qian Cheng trembled even more. According to the folk legend, dusk is the time when the gates of hell open! He looked up in fright at Pan Yueqing, who was standing beside him with her head down.

Pan Yueqing glanced at Qian Cheng's extremely frightened appearance and secretly laughed in her heart. Pan Haiyun understood her meaning and nodded in agreement. He said, "Naturally, we should go when it's convenient for the master. We must never force him." After saying that, he stood up and invited Qian Cheng to go take a bath with him. Although Qian Cheng wanted to get away as soon as possible, he couldn't resist Pan Haiyun's moody temper. He forced a smile and kept saying that it was a "great honor" and followed Pan Haiyun into the backyard.

Pan Haiyun kept Qian Cheng in suspense. He only entered two elegant rooms with Qian Cheng. Then Qian Cheng was controlled by the soldiers who had been arranged inside. After leaving the room, Pan Haiyun went to find Pan Yueqing. Looking at Pan Yueqing, who had changed into a cyan round-collar robe with Cang He's help, his eyes involuntarily showed a smile. "What are you planning to do?"

"Didn't you and General Lin calculate last night how much of the relief food and supplies that went missing?" Pan Yueqing raised her hand and pinned up all her disheveled long hair. Pan Haiyun nodded slightly. Pan Yueqing sat beside Pan Haiyun and said, "We've found that batch of gold."

Pan Haiyun raised his eyes, full of astonishment. Pan Yueqing coughed softly. She was not used to Pan Haiyun looking at her with such a gaze. "We've also caught his accomplice."

"Have you made him talk?" Pan Haiyun wasn't curious about how they caught the accomplice. He immediately frowned and looked serious. Qian Cheng was difficult to deal with, and he was a bit frustrated. Although he was sure that Qian Cheng was behind all this, before there was conclusive evidence, this scoundrel was still a government official of the court.

"Master Baoshan is already dead. I just wanted to bluff him a bit earlier. I didn't expect that the talk of ghosts and gods would be so unexpectedly effective," Pan Yueqing rested her chin in her hand. "Since he's so afraid, let's make some changes to the original plan. Father, you'll still be the one who's disturbed by a nightmare and encounters a ghost in the middle of the night..." After saying that, she stood up and whispered in Pan Haiyun's ear.

According to the original plan, Qian Cheng should have woken up from a nap and then found himself being haunted by a "ghost". After all, this place was a mass burial ground, and there were all kinds of starving and resentful victims of the disaster. But having those soldiers pretend to be ghosts was a bit likely to reveal the truth... Pan Yueqing turned around and looked at Pan Haiyun and Qian Cheng sitting in the carriage. The corners of her mouth curved into a smile.

The mountain gate of Fengxiang Temple was in a dilapidated state. The carriage drove straight in and stopped in front of the Main Hall.

Because there was calming incense lit in the carriage, Qian Cheng felt a bit drowsy on the way.

When he was poked by Pan Haiyun and signaled to get off the carriage, what he saw was a brand-new Main Hall lit with lights, which looked extremely out of place against the dark sky behind it and the courtyard with weeds growing on the ground. The door creaked open. A young novice monk, wearing a gray monk's robe and holding his hands together in a gesture of greeting, stood on the steps. He half-closed his eyes and chanted a Buddhist prayer, "The master said that as distinguished guests have come from afar, we apologize for not welcoming you properly. Please forgive us."

It was Xiaoshi Tou. After shaving his head and putting on the gray monk's robe, he looked just like the little monk from Cibei Temple, acting in a proper manner.

Qian Cheng stood there and didn't dare to move any further. Pan Haiyun stepped forward with a smile and cupped his hands in greeting, saying a few polite words. When he turned around and found that Qian Cheng had fallen behind, he called out with a smile, "Brother Qian? Brother Qian! It's time to go!"

Although the Main Hall had been cleaned and renovated according to Xiaoshi Tou's understanding of the Buddhist hall, the smell of decay still couldn't be dispelled. Mixed with the scent of sandalwood, it made the already dimly lit Buddhist hall seem a bit eerie. Pan Haiyun ignored it and asked Xiaoshi Tou, "Where is Master Baoshan? I have a difficult problem and hope Master Baoshan can help me..."

Xiaoshi Tou completely ignored Pan Haiyun's eagerness. Instead, he walked steadily in front of Qian Cheng. Suddenly, a fierce smile appeared on his young face. He put his hands together, and his mouth opened slightly, just revealing a row of blood-stained teeth. He laughed shrilly at Qian Cheng, "Remember me?!"

Qian Cheng was scared out of his wits. He took a step back, and Xiaoshi Tou took a step closer. Since he had grown up in a temple, he walked carefully. At this moment, in Qian Cheng's extremely frightened state, he had the illusion that Xiaoshi Tou was "walking without making a sound".

Qian Cheng let out a strange scream and waved his arms randomly. He said to Pan Yueqing, who was standing aside, "Young Master! Please help me drive him away!"

"Commander Qian... What are you talking about? Drive who away?" Unexpectedly, Pan Yueqing tilted her head and asked with a look of confusion. Qian Cheng widened his eyes and pointed at Xiaoshi Tou, who was standing in front of Pan Yueqing. "Him! That little monk! He's right in front of you! Are you blind? Can't you see him?!"

Pan Yueqing looked around and looked at Qian Cheng in surprise. "What little monk?"

Xiaoshi Tou laughed loudly and took a step closer to Qian Cheng. Qian Cheng had nowhere to retreat. He was tripped by the threshold and sat down on the ground with a thud. Xiaoshi Tou stopped, bent down, and smiled softly at Qian Cheng, "You remember me..."