ough, cough…" The powder smelled pungent and irritating.I raised my hand and rubbed it, and I actually got a nosebleed!The old crone cackled wickedly, "You should know better than to be disrespectful,...We arrived at the east entrance of Hualong Village, and the two police officers arranged by my uncle were already waiting for us.

"Hello hello, you guys are the experts here to handle this, right" A police officer shook hands with my brother and introduced himself as Xue.

"This is Dong Lane" I was concerned about what had happened to Old Chen, so I leaned out and looked into the alley behind them.

It's not even midnight yet, and there are still quite a few people around. A murder shouldn't happen at this time, right But who knows, old man Chen is that kind of quack who dabbles in the occult. If he's so scared, he must have run into something.

"East Alley is right here, but there are three narrow side alleys inside, called East One Street, East Two Street, and East Three Street. I don't know which one the person you're looking for lives in." Little Xue asked, "Do you have any more specific clues"

"Well, we're looking for an old geezer named Chen Guosheng. He's skinny and short, about this tall." I said to Xiao Xue.

He nodded, leading us inside while asking questions.

My brother walked in front of me, shielding me from those ill-intentioned gazes. The feng shui here was terrible; the men who lived here looked gloomy and violent, their eyes holding a frivolous greed and lust.

As we reached the mouth of an alleyway to the east, a chill permeated from within. My brother greeted two officers and pulled me forward.

I came to the back of a dilapidated courtyard and looked around. The sinister energy was emanating from here. There was a ditch on the ground leading into the courtyard, reeking of foul odor.

"Xia Qiao, stand back a bit. I'm going to climb over the wall and take a look." My brother put on his rough hemp gloves and bit on a copper talisman. These were essential items for him and my dad whenever they went out to collect goods.

He took two running steps and kicked off the wall, using his arms to pull himself up over the fence.

Officer Xiao Xue whispered, "With such skills, you must have trained. Do your Daoist priests still need to undergo military training"

"What place is this, are you kidding me You have time to waste here instead of helping me find someone" I glared at him.

Xiao Xue smiled apologetically and turned to knock on the doors around him, checking.

Places like this, most of the people who open the door are also messes.

Either a drunkard or a woman with suggestive eyes, but no one knows what kind of people live in this courtyard.

“You guys don't usually visit each other” Officer Xiao Xue asked.

"Well, there has to be a gate. This is the back wall of the courtyard. The front door should be in the west alley next door. Going around would take forever. I'm not going all that way. Who cares what kind of people live here We're not the police." The woman impatiently closed the door.

My brother had already clambered onto the roof in the dark. These brick-and-tile houses are very slippery, and I was watching with worry. Just as I was about to call him down to talk, he let out an "ehh" sound: “Isn’t this next to that other house Why isn't there a door here”

As soon as the words left his mouth, a section of the tiles beneath his feet suddenly crumbled!

I screamed in fright, then heard my brother curse "Damn" and silence.

"You guys, you better hurry up and save someone!" I shouted to the two police officers next to me.

They were taken aback and quickly scrambled to climb the wall, but both of them couldn't make it over. They had no choice but to run into the next alleyway, hoping to circle around to the front door.

I ran after him too, but maybe my movements were too vigorous because a sharp pain shot through my side. I remembered the baby inside me and dared not move too much. My heart pounded as I frantically called out for Jiang Qiyun, and in desperation, I even recited incantations to summon the little ghost messenger.

The little ghost attendants were almost always readily available. The two little ghost attendants asked, "Little Lady, what do you summon us for"

"The front... the front yard, you guys go take a look, my brother fell in..." I gasped for breath, dragging myself along at a quick pace.

The little imp ran a few steps with me, then jumped back in fright and exclaimed, "How can there be a ghost prison here!"

"It's not a ghost prison, it's a wellspring. The Shen family has already sealed the house inside, so it should be fine... You guys go check the next room! How come my brother hasn't made a sound!"

This courtyard was indeed next door, but the gate was bricked up with stones!

We thought this was someone's yard before, but now we know it's a sealed-off house!

"What do you want to do!" A police officer guarding the influx of ghosts and a Mr. Shen, a Taoist priest, were sitting in the opposite hut watching TV to pass the time. Hearing our commotion, the two jumped out.

That Taoist priest from the Shen family thought we were here to cause trouble and pushed me hard: “Get away! Stay away from this courtyard!”

I was pushed by him and fell to the ground, angrily saying, “We’re just going into the next room!”

"The next door is out too! Who knows if you're trying to take advantage of this to climb over the wall and destroy evidence! Someone died here, no one can get close until we find out what happened!" he roared domineeringly.

Officer Xiao Xue was also embarrassed and said to his colleagues, "Let's borrow a ladder and climb in to take a look. We need to see if someone really fell in. We were following them just now."

The Shen family's Daoist priest roared, "You're the police! Don't you know how to preserve a crime scene Who fell in How is there not a single sound Who are you trying to fool!"

This guy! He's really infuriating!

A little ghost floated out, probably because they were carrying some negative energy. The Taoist priest from the Shen family immediately became alert and pulled out a talisman, cursing: "Sure enough, there's an evil spirit!"

He glared at me with piercing eyes. As soon as I got up, he slapped a talisman on my head! I was so angry that I tore it off and shouted, "Can you understand what I'm saying! I saw my brother fall in with my own eyes! You won't listen Fine... fine... just call Shen Qingrui, I'll tell her!"

"What do you think you are, calling our young mistress by name like that!" he snarled.

I...

I really want to punch him!

The little demon attendant tugged at my sleeve and said, "My Lady, please calm down, please calm down...that is, there's really no one inside! We went in to look, there was no one!"

Is there no one here! Then where did my brother go!

As soon as I thought about my brother disappearing, tears immediately welled up in my eyes—I saw him fall with my own eyes! And I even heard him curse "Damn it"! How is it possible that he's gone!

Officer Xiao Xue carried over a ladder, and I rushed up to push him aside, intending to climb in myself.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Don’t jump down just yet! How are you going to get back up” Officer Xiao Xue grabbed me. “Let me wait for my colleague to bring another ladder and put it against the wall— ”

I can't wait, I'm dying of worry! That's my brother! He's gone missing!

The moment my brother fell, I felt like I was hit by a blunt object. My mind went blank! This was even more terrifying than when Jiang Qiyun disappeared!

As soon as I stepped onto the ladder, I heard a cold roar: "Mu Xia Qiao! What are you doing!"

As I turned around, I saw Jiang Qiyun standing behind me with a furious expression. He reached out and pulled me down without caring if anyone found the scene strange —

Jiang Qiyun's anger was icy cold, he growled, "Have I been too gentle with you lately, have you forgotten your own belly! Are you still planning to climb the wall—"ock, why are you closing the door""Senior Brother, I feel like someone is following me." I said with a frown."No way Let me check—" He picked up a stick from beside the stairs: "Which little punk was...