Chapter 21: "The Baby Tower"
By the pond, two servants were using long bamboo poles to drag Feng Zhenghao's waterlogged corpse to the shore. After soaking overnight, the body had swollen grotesquely, the oversized jacket billowing like a macabre balloon with each ripple.
A player from Feng's room burst into tears. "How could this happen? How did he drown here?"
"You're asking me?" Steward Chen looked incredulous before fixing them with a skeptical glare. "Weren't you all supposed to be masters of the occult? How could you fail to subdue her and even let her drag one of you into the pond?"
Li Zhi withdrew her gaze from the corpse. "Are you saying the former mistress killed him?"
Steward Chen's face twitched with fear. Clenching his teeth, he whispered as if afraid of being overheard, "She drowned herself right here. After her death, three servants died the same way. We all know it's her vengeful spirit."
A player blurted, "Why didn't you warn us about this?!"
Steward Chen sneered. "I never imagined you'd be so incompetent. It seems the master invited the wrong people." With the current mistress nearing labor, replacing them was impossible. His expression darkened with resignation. "Enough. Follow me."
As servants carried Feng's body away, Steward Chen sighed. "Give him a proper burial."
The group trailed silently through the mansion's labyrinthine corridors. Li Zhi slowed to walk beside Feng's roommates. "You heard nothing last night?"
Dragging a full-grown man out unnoticed seemed impossible—especially since Feng possessed protective charms. Even Chi Yi's kitchen knife had repelled the ghost. How could there have been no struggle?
The players looked haunted. "We slept like the dead. Woke up at dawn."
Zhao Lian scoffed nearby. "Impressive nerves, sleeping so soundly in a dungeon."
Their faces flushed with shame.
Li Zhi pressed, "Where exactly did Feng sleep?"
"We shared the bed. He took the outer edge."
Frowning, Li Zhi fell into thought.
Comedian Tian Mingjie sidled over. "Sister Zhi, noticed something?"
Others perked up, including Zhao Lian's faction. Li Zhi didn't withhold her thoughts. "I'm questioning whether the ghost that drowned Feng is the same one that invaded our room with hair last night."
Why go through the trouble of dragging someone across the compound when simpler methods existed? The distance from guest quarters to the pond wasn't trivial.
"If they're separate entities, the time gap between the crashing sounds and the hair's appearance makes sense." She glanced at Tian's pale face. "The first ghost took Feng, knocking over the kettle. Later, the hair ghost came separately."
Realizing two vengeful spirits haunted the mansion, the group's hearts sank. "If the former mistress drowned Feng, what's the hair ghost's origin?"
The severed hair fragments had been tangled with pond weeds—another aquatic specter.
Li Zhi shook her head.
A faint suspicion lingered, but without evidence, voicing it was premature.
Their path eventually led back to yesterday's hall. Rows of waist-high candelabras cast flickering light on Master Jin's stern face. His scrutinizing gaze made several players shrink guiltily.
Though scripted, their utter uselessness as hired protectors was embarrassing.
Master Jin simply waved a hand. A servant presented a tray of peculiar yellow talisman pouches tied with red string, their contents lumpy and obscure.
"Carry these," Master Jin intoned. "They'll keep her at bay. I underestimated her resentment."
The players hesitated. The pouches looked ominous. Zhao Lian frowned. "What are these? And who is 'her'—the former mistress?"
Master Jin's jaw tightened. "After her suicide, three maids who served her drowned. We sought exorcists, but..." His gesture encompassed their failure. "Her spirit haunts these halls. These talismans, made under guidance, protect us." He produced a worn pouch from his waist. "Every Jin carries one. Peace returned thereafter."
Steward Chen displayed his own pouch hung reverently around his neck.
Tian blurted, "Why not give these yesterday?"
Steward Chen's glare could have curdled milk. Master Jin was diplomatic: "I assumed masters' disciples could defend themselves. Presenting these immediately would have been insulting. Yet..."
The players winced. Enough. They'd humiliated themselves enough.
As they pocketed the talismans, Zhao Lian asked, "Besides the former mistress and drowned maids, have other unnatural deaths occurred here?"
Master Jin shook his head blankly.
With NPCs yielding no further clues, Zhao Lian's group left to explore the town while Li Zhi's faction requested to visit the expectant mistress.
Steward Chen balked. "Given her condition and past stillbirth, the mistress is... fragile."
Li Zhi radiated sincerity. "All the more reason to see us. We're our master's finest disciples—adept at dispelling evil. Our presence will reassure her."
Eyeing their track record, Steward Chen hesitated. "Truly?"
Chi Yi thumped her chest. "Absolutely! Those who left earlier are the incompetent ones. We're the real deal!"
The shameless slander of Zhao Lian's group worked. Though skeptical, Steward Chen led them to the mistress's courtyard with stern warnings: "Do not disturb her. No reckless words."
The elegantly appointed rooms reeked of medicinal herbs. Behind beaded curtains, a pallid, hollow-eyed woman lay propped on the bed, her swollen belly tenting the covers. A maid massaged her legs as she muttered incessantly.
This was no poised noblewoman but a broken soul, flinching at shadows, her whispers a mad refrain:
"Must bear a son."
"I must have a son."
Li Zhi asked a maid, "How long has she been like this?"
"Since the first stillbirth," came the hushed reply.
Though aware these were NPCs, the players couldn't help seeing living, breathing humans—frail, terrified, and real.
Chi Yi urged, "Open windows for fresh air. Help her walk—bedrest isn't ideal for labor."
The mistress suddenly focused on them. "Who are you?"
Li Zhi gently tucked stray hair behind the woman's ear. "We're here to help."
The mistress seized her wrist. "Save me! Save my child!"
Before Li Zhi could respond, a midwife stormed in. "Out! No excitement before labor!"
As the mistress shrieked hysterically, the players were unceremoniously ejected.
Steward Chen's thunderous expression suggested they'd be banned henceforth.
Li Zhi watched impassively. "Let's go."