The Rebirth of the Cultivation Leader Qin Zhao as a Celebrity
Chapter 195 - 192: The Strange Locals

Chapter 195: Chapter 192: The Strange Locals

The mansion’s main gate had closed itself, but it wasn’t locked.

They reached the gate and went straight out.

Si Xuekai had the keys, so he took the opportunity to lock the main gate.

A few minutes later, they had almost reached the guesthouse.

In the secluded, overgrown garden of the large mansion, a square patch of earth was lifted aside, revealing a passageway underneath that led to a hidden cellar!

The entrance to the cellar opened, and a woman holding a lantern emerged.

It was the female innkeeper!

When Qin Zhao and the others had left the guesthouse, they hadn’t seen her.

As it turned out, she had been in the mansion’s cellar the whole time.

In the desolate garden stood an old locust tree, beneath which a translucent soul appeared.

The Ghost, donned in a long robe, was the man who had lured Xing Changqing.

He spoke with a tinge of regret, "It was so close."

"It doesn’t matter."

The innkeeper smiled, a chill in her eyes.

"The night of the full moon is approaching, and their timing is just right. If my plan succeeds, this place won’t be able to hold you any longer. I’ve waited so long, and finally, the day has come!"

Towards the end of her declaration, the innkeeper’s eyes morphed into a bizarre, blood-red color.

A thick, dense black mist enveloped her, an aura even more terrifying than that of the long-robed man.

The long-robed man stared at her for a while, his expression complex.

Ultimately, he let out a long sigh and chose to remain silent.

-

When Qin Zhao and his companions returned to the guesthouse, they found that the hall was still empty.

A few tourists loitering outside, having seen that no one was inside the guesthouse, called out a few times. Receiving no response, they eventually left for another inn.

However, this guesthouse was in a very remote location, so there weren’t many tourists to begin with.

"The innkeeper is definitely hiding something; she’s not around even during broad daylight, clearly not interested in doing business."

Si Xuekai remarked, recalling last night’s dinner.

"By the way, are you guys hungry? Shall we go out to eat?"

Since their arrival, they had been eating nothing but instant noodles and compressed biscuits, and Si Xuekai was getting tired of it.

"What if the restaurant has issues too?"

Xing Changqing was truly frightened, worried about encountering something weird again.

Shangguan Qiu replied, "Let’s just make do."

As they were about to head back upstairs, a woman with a backpack walked in through the entrance.

Thinking she was a traveler looking for accommodations, Si Xuekai said, "Are you looking for a place to stay? The innkeeper isn’t here, and I don’t know when she’ll be back. You might want to find another place."

But the woman came in anyway, "It’s fine, I’ll wait for her."

"You might have to wait a long time, and there aren’t many tourists around now. Other guesthouses have vacancies too. Moreover, this place is a bit out of the way, not very convenient for sightseeing."

Si Xuekai continued to persuade the woman.

He wanted her to leave, partly because the innkeeper wasn’t there, but mainly because there was something wrong with this guesthouse, and he didn’t want anyone else to become a victim.

"It’s okay, I’ll stay here."

Si Xuekai clenched his teeth and lied, "Sister, we’re not taking in any guests anymore, you should leave!"

The woman looked at him discontentedly, "You’re not the boss, how do you know they’re not taking in guests? I come here every month and I’ve never heard that they’re not accepting people."

"You come here every month?"

Si Xuekai continued to dissuade, but Qin Zhao raised a hand to stop him.

"Yes, I come here every month, and I’m friends with the innkeeper."

"You’re not here as a tourist, are you?"

Chu Yan suddenly asked, having closely observed the woman’s appearance and attire.

Though somewhat attractive, she had dark skin, rough hands—clearly accustomed to hard work, perhaps even laboring in the fields—and her backpack was stitched and patched, very worn out.

How could such a person travel a long distance to vacation in the remote mountains?

It could only be a local.

"Yes, I’m local, I live just at the foot of the mountain."

The woman gave a definite answer.

"May I ask what your name is?"

"Everyone calls me Cui Fang. You all look young, so just call me Sister-in-law Cui Fang."

Si Xuekai stared at Sister-in-law Cui Fang with a peculiar expression, "Are you friends with the landlady of this guesthouse? How many years have you known each other? Haven’t you noticed anything unusual about her?"

"What could be unusual about her? She’s a good person!"

Sister-in-law Cui Fang, sensing Si Xuekai’s distrust of the landlady, glared at him angrily.

Si Xuekai smiled awkwardly and said no more.

"Oh? How good is she?"

Qin Zhao squinted her eyes with profound meaning and asked.

"She often helps us poor women. If something happens at home, she’s willing to lend us money unconditionally and even take us in!"

"Did something happen at your home? Is that why you’re staying here on a loan?"

After Qin Zhao asked, hesitation appeared on Sister-in-law Cui Fang’s face, and she seemed reluctant to tell her.

"I don’t mean anything by asking this; I just want to help you. We are interns from the city which requires us to understand the life of local residents. If you need help, we will do our best to assist."

In order to glean some useful information, Qin Zhao had fabricated an identity for them.

"People from the city?"

Sister-in-law Cui Fang snorted softly, "Some people from the city came here last time with much fanfare, saying they were going to help us deal with that monster, but in the end, they couldn’t even find the shadow of the monster and accused us of lying!"

She was clearly very angry when she brought up that incident.

"Does that mean the monster truly exists?"

"Of course! Why would we need to lie? But you city folks insist we’re just superstitious! I see it every month, how could it be fake?!"

Sister-in-law Cui Fang’s eyes bulged with anger.

"You see it every month?!"

Shangguan Qiu immediately caught the main point, "Where do you see it?"

Thinking that Sister-in-law Cui Fang would mention this guesthouse, as she came here to stay every month, it turned out she was talking about seeing the monster at her own home, always staring at her through the window as she slept!

"I run here because of that monster. The night of the full moon is coming, and it will come for me again. It’s really frightening, I’m so afraid it will eat me one day!

I can only run here in advance, then it won’t find me. Fortunately, the landlady is kind enough to take me in every month, or else I wouldn’t have survived to this day!"

Hearing Sister-in-law Cui Fang’s words, Qin Zhao and Shangguan Qiu were both plunged into confusion.

Why come here to hide from the monster?

This is supposed to be the place with the monster!

If last night Shangguan Qiu was the only one who heard that cry, she might have thought she heard wrong.

But Qin Zhao heard it too and even saw the shadow of the monster!

"Cui Fang, you’re here."

The landlady finally returned and smiled when she saw Sister-in-law Cui Fang.

"Ah, when will these days come to an end?"

Sister-in-law Cui Fang walked towards her with a worried face.

"You said you would help me contact a few Taoists to deal with that monster, can you reach them? However, I’m tight on money for now, so I’m afraid I can’t afford the exorcism fee just yet. Can I get the service first and pay later?"

The landlady said kindly, "Don’t worry, I can pay for you."

"That’s too much! You’ve helped me enough already!"

"It’s not much for me."

Sister-in-law Cui Fang glanced at the decor of the guesthouse and the expensive home appliances.

Just this air conditioner in the hallway must cost tens of thousands, as much as her family makes in a year!

Her eyes darted about, and she didn’t speak.

As if by silent agreement, she let the landlady pay on her behalf.

And when Qin Zhao and the others heard the conversation between the two, they felt an elusive eeriness.

Although the landlady was smiling, the smile didn’t reach her eyes.

The look that turned toward them carried an icy chill that seemed to pierce to the bone.