MTL - He Became a Salted Fish After Inheriting Millions of Secret Arts-Chapter 28 Oak Manor

"Uh...I...I can pretend I didn't see it..." Duan Feizhuo said.

Z walked into the room, sat down on the only chair, took out his golden cigarette case from the pocket of his bathrobe, and shook out a cigar. As he was about to light it, Duan Feizhuo said, "Smoking is harmful to your health. I have studied medicine, please believe me."

Z said casually, "Your statement is different from that of the doctors I know. They all say that smoking can keep your body active."

"Truth is often in the hands of a few."

In this day and age, the dangers of nicotine have not yet been discovered. In people's eyes, cigarettes are just a fashionable pastime, a status symbol, just like coffee and tea. For the sake of profit, businesses even advocate that smoking is good for health.

Z dusted off the cigarette ash, and curled his lips, "As I said, I can't taste it. All food tastes like wax to me. Smoke is one of the few things that can make me feel a little bit stimulated."

When he spoke, his expression was a little bitter.

Duan Feizhuo's chest tightened. How did Z become what he is now? Blind in both eyes, all limbs were replaced with mechanical prosthetics, and even the sense of taste was lost...

"Since you have seen it all, I have nothing to hide." His voice was a little hoarse, "My body became like this because of injuries on the battlefield."

If it was a wound on the battlefield, how serious was it? With such an injury, is there any possibility of survival?

Seeing that Z's hair was still dripping, Duan Fei hurriedly found a handkerchief from his luggage and covered Z's head.

"Wipe. Don't catch a cold."

Z was taken aback, completely unexpected that he would say such a thing.

Duan Feizhuo saw that he was indifferent, so he did it himself. He wrung out Z's hair and rubbed it several times with a towel.

Z sat without saying a word, letting him work on his head.

In this era, there is no hair dryer, and it is not easy to dry it with a towel. Z raised his hand to stop Duan Feizhuo, "That's it."

He got up and walked out the door. When closing the door, Duan Feizhuo heard a soft whisper from outside.

"thanks."

That night, Duan Feizhuo couldn't sleep until very late.

He repeatedly recalled the feeling of Z's long hair brushing against his palm. So silky, like spun yarn, and like silk. Z's "thank you" echoed in his ears repeatedly. He was so happy that he covered his head with the quilt and laughed for a long time.

"No, no, I have to go to bed quickly. I have to visit the lord tomorrow."

Duan Feizhuo put down the quilt and prepared to fall asleep.

At this moment, he noticed that there was another person in the room.

The man sat in the only chair and stared out the window.

The facilities of this small hotel are outdated, from the bed to the table exudes a strong atmosphere of the times, but only the chair in the room is brand new, exuding a slight woody fragrance.

Sitting on the chair was a young woman with long hair tied into a beautiful bun and wearing a floral dress from the Jane Austen era. She just sat there quietly, as if she didn't realize that she had broken into someone's room.

Duan Feizhuo felt a little uncomfortable. Why is there a woman in his room? Did he also go to the wrong door like him? But why didn't she make a sound when she entered the door?

"Ma'am, did you go to the wrong room?" Duan Feizhuo asked.

The young woman turned her head. She has a delicate and melancholy face.

"I don't know..." she said quietly, "I seem to have come to a place far away from home..."

"Then you go back!"

The young woman lowered her eyes, her eyelashes trembling slightly, "I can't help it... Sir, can you do me a favor?"

Duan Feizhuo didn't know whether to answer or not. Always feel that if you say "yes", something bad will happen.

He hurriedly put on his clothes and touched his pockets. Luckily, the phantom leaf and magic circle talisman paper were still there. In case of danger, he can hide in the trading house to save his life.

Is this woman... really human?

Duan Feizhuo walked towards the young woman and held out his hand.

His hands passed through the young woman's body.

Her body is translucent.

Duan Feizhuo shrank back like an electric shock, backed up again and again until he hit the wall, and there was no way back.

He really wanted to scream loudly, calling Yeats, Al, even Z and Xenophon to save him, but for some reason, he couldn't utter a word, as if a mysterious force sealed his lips and tongue, his voice.

The young woman got up, and her translucent body went straight through the oak chair.

"Sir, can you help me carry this chair?"

Can Duan Feizhuo still say no? This female ghost might just open her **** mouth and bite his head off.

He could only nod, and carefully lifted the chair.

The young woman went through the door and disappeared.

Duan Feizhuo hesitated for a moment, but decided to move the chair and follow.

He pushed open the door and looked left and right, only to see the ghost of the young woman standing at the stairs, staring at him with resentful eyes, without blinking.

On the left is Z's room, and on the opposite side are Yeats and Al's rooms, and as long as he can rush to the door and knock, they will rush out to help.

But is he destined to hold out until the moment they reveal themselves?

It might take only a second for the ghost of the young woman to slit his throat and drain his blood dry.

If her purpose was to kill herself, then she would have done it long ago, there is no need to ask him to carry the chair, isn't it?

Maybe the chair was moved for another purpose. Duan Feizhuo just obey her orders and see what kind of medicine she sells in her gourd.

He picked up the chair, walked out slowly, and walked towards the stairs. As soon as he approached the young woman, the young woman turned into a shadow and floated further away.

Duan Feizhuo hoped that the sound of his footsteps would wake someone up, but he was disappointed. It was dark, and no one in the hotel was awake. The village also fell into a deep sleep. The whole land was silent, and even the night wind stopped whistling.

The ghost of the young woman floated out of the hotel and out of the village.

Duan Feizhuo was carrying the chair, full of confusion. Where the **** is she going?

The ghost floated all the way to the oak forest near the village, and it seemed that it was going into the woods. Duan Feizhuo hesitated. He remembered that the forest was Lord Perilla's private domain, if he trespassed, would it be considered a crime?

"Hurry up, sir," urged the young woman's ghost, "we're almost there."

Duan Feizhuo swallowed nervously, and walked into the deep woods.

The moonlight is dim tonight, and the woods should be even darker, but Duan Feizhuo can see everything in the darkness clearly. Is this because he inherited Joseph Chester's abilities, or was the ghost lady bestowing on him unique powers?

The tall oak trees are luxuriant, and may have grown here for tens or hundreds of years. They are like silent guards, guarding this forbidden area where no one sets foot.

There is no sound in the forest, there is no sound of animals moving among the vegetation, no night birds chirping, not even the rustling of the wind blowing through the treetops.

It was eerily quiet.

The ghostly young woman stopped in front of an exceptionally tall and sturdy oak tree. She looked up at the crown of the tree, with a look of pain on her mournful face.

"It's right here..." With a sigh, her figure turned into the night wind and drifted away.

Duan Feizhuo put down his chair and moved his sore shoulder.

Is this the home of the ghostly young woman?

He looked up at the tallest oak tree, standing silently in the middle of the woodland like the king of the trees.

Something was moving on the trunk.

Duan Feizhuo took a step forward.

The lines on the bark flowed like water, interlacing to form a woman's face. Her eyes were wide open, her facial features were distorted, as if she was in extreme pain. Her body emerges from the oak tree, the bark being her skin. She scratched her face and screamed incoherently.

Duan Feizhuo covered his ears.

The woman's scream hit his eardrums and nearly deafened him.

He turned and ran, but within two steps he ran into another oak tree head-on. It was thinner and more slender than the previous one, and there was also a woman's face growing on the trunk. Her upper body writhed painfully in the air, trying to break free from the tree trunk, but her lower body was still embedded in the tree trunk, and she couldn't get away no matter how hard she struggled.

Duan Feizhuo turned to the left. There was a wooden woman nailed to an oak tree there. Her posture is like a crucifixion. But the expression of the crucified **** is always so noble, full of pity for all living beings, but the face of this wooden woman only has anger and fear. Her eyes were tearing apart, as if she was suffering from the flames of hell, and the most vicious curse in the world was silently spit out from her open mouth.

There are oak trees in every direction. Every tree is carved with a woman. They are screaming, they are screaming, they are screaming, they are screaming. Are they trapped in the tree like prisoners, or are they the tree itself...?

Duan Feizhuo had nowhere to escape. He clutched his head and knelt in pain on the soil covered with fallen leaves. It was as if a hacksaw was being pulled back and forth in his head. His eyes hurt so much, it seemed like all the blood had poured into the eyeballs, and the eyes were burning with flames, it was going to burn his brain to the boil...

After some time, he heard someone calling his name.

Did he pass out?

"Mr. Chester? Can you hear me, Mr. Chester?"

Duan Feizhuo opened his eyes in a daze, and the faces of Yeats and Al came into view.

"Where am I...?"

"Clover Inn," Al said, with a concerned look on his face.

Duan Feizhuo sat up. He was lying in bed, in his room at the Clover Inn. The contents of the room remained intact, except for the oak chair.

"What's wrong with me?" He asked, holding his aching head.

Yeats and Al looked at each other.

"Earlier this morning we found you not in your room," said Yeats, "and there was only a dirt-like track on the floor that stretched all the way to the outside of the hotel. Everyone was terrified, and the villagers were mobilized to look for you, but there were no traces in the whole village." Can't find it."

"I'm in that forest." Duan Feizhuo said weakly.

"Yes. But that forest is Lord Perilla's private domain, and the villagers dare not trespass. Everyone says that you must ask the Lord's permission before you can search the forest. But the night watchman," said the night watchman Yeats pouted, "The white-haired one rushed into the woods without any explanation, and single-handedly brought you back."

Duan Feizhuo looked towards the door of the room. The door was half open, and a white shadow flashed past behind the door. Slow footsteps sounded in the corridor, and each step was accompanied by the sound of mechanical gears turning.

Yeats asked, "What happened? Why did you run into the woods in the middle of the night?"

Duan Feizhuo covered his head, "I saw a female ghost last night..."

He recounted everything that happened last night. Yeats had a solemn expression, while Al looked around in horror, hugging his shoulders tightly in fear.

"So, that's an undead, isn't it?" Duan Feizhuo asked, "She lured me into the woods, trying to harm me? But why did she insist that I move that chair? Speaking of which, what about the chair?"

Yeats said, "Don't you see that there is something wrong with that chair?"

"It looks new, compared to the rest of the furniture."

Yeats got up silently and left the room. Duan Feizhuo looked at him inexplicably.

After a while, the poet came back, followed by the hotel proprietress. She is like a child who has done something wrong, her hands are uneasily covering her apron, her head is lowered, she dare not look at Duan Feizhuo.

"Can you explain, Madam?" Yeats asked.

It was the first time Duan Feizhuo saw such a serious expression on his face. When the poet became severe, his tone remained calm, but there seemed to be a thunderstorm roaring in his eyes.

The proprietress was terrified, "Actually...a guest who lived in this room said...he heard a woman talking in the middle of the night. But we didn't take it seriously. We just thought the guest heard it wrong..."

"Where did that chair come from?"

"My husband made it himself, sir."

Yeats raised his eyebrows, "That wood looks very expensive, can a small shop like yours - no offense - afford it?"

The landlady's round face was flushed red, "That wood was picked up, sir! We definitely didn't steal it! Not long ago, Oak Manor, the manor of Lord Perilla, was rebuilt, and a lot of wood was used. My husband picked up some scraps and brought them back. .In the eyes of the lord, they are all waste materials, but to us they are precious wood."

"You'd better burn that chair and pour the ashes into the river."

The proprietress trembled, "Could it be that the wood... has a problem?"

"Just do as I say." Yeats said coldly, "unless you want more serious incidents to happen in the future."

"Yes! I understand, I'm going to burn it now!"

Duan Feizhuo watched the proprietress run away in a panic, and asked, "I don't quite understand, Mr. Yeats. The wood comes from the Oak Manor. Does it have anything to do with the ghost?"

Yeats winked at Al. Al immediately walked outside and closed the door. Duan Feizhuo didn't hear the boy's footsteps leaving, which meant that he would keep guarding the door to prevent anyone from eavesdropping on the conversation between the two inside the house.

"Now let us tell what we heard in the village," said Yeats. "You remember that Lord Perilla is going to demolish his mansion?"

Duan Feizhuo nodded.

Yeats smiled slyly, "I've heard great gossip from the villagers. The reason why the lord wants to demolish that magnificent mansion, and would rather sell the land for less money, is because he thinks the mansion is haunted." .”

Duan Feizhuo was dumbfounded.

Yeats went on to say, "I heard that the lord has encountered many accidents recently, and has brushed shoulders with death several times. Since then, he has become suspicious, thinking that there are ghosts in this house, and even decided to demolish that 'haunted house'. Once and for all, no future troubles."

Duan Feizhuo thought, "If there is indeed an undead attempting to murder the lord, then everything makes sense. The undead resides on the wood, and the leftovers of the wood were picked up by the hotel owner to make a chair. That's why I saw the undead .But what kind of hatred does she have with Lord Perilla?"

"The undead can be manipulated, Mr. Chester." Yeats adjusted his glasses and said inscrutably, "The subject of 'Spirituality' in esoteric philosophy studies the knowledge of communicating with spirit bodies. Lord Perilla's family has studied esoteric philosophy for generations, and it was not interrupted until his generation. It is entirely possible that his ancestors had feuds with other mystics, and they were retaliated against. What I am more concerned about is that all the weird phenomena are in the Lord's It came after my father died."

"What does my lord's father have to do with these events?"

Yeats crossed his hands and rested his chin, "This is just my inference, and it may not be correct. The old Lord is a mystic, and mystics generally put some protective measures on their homes. But his son Albert Midlow is ignorant of esoteric philosophy, and even if someone uses occult techniques to murder him, he will have no way to defend himself."

"I understand." Duan Feizhuo suddenly understood, "After the old Lord passed away, his protective measures became invalid."

"Well, probably so, but it's not without other possibilities."

Al, who was guarding the door, suddenly shouted, "Oh, isn't this Mr. Steward? What, you are looking for my master? You can't go in directly, what a shame! You are the steward of the big manor, so you don't even think about it You don’t even know the rules, do you? Please wait at the door, and I’ll inform the master.”

The two people in the room stopped talking at the same time, and pricked up their ears vigilantly, listening to the movement outside.

The door opens and Al pokes a head in. "Master, Mr. Haut, the housekeeper of Perilla Manor, is here to visit."

His expression was aggrieved, obviously he was still angry that the butler Hao Te had neglected them before.

Duan Feizhuo also wanted to take revenge on the butler who looked down on others. He deliberately said in a lazy tone, "Didn't you see that I'm still on the bed? How can I meet guests? Al, come and change my clothes and ask the guests to wait outside!"

Yeats lowered his head and laughed silently, his shoulders trembling.

Al strutted in. Duan Feizhuo went out in his pajamas last night. Al picked up his coat and helped him put it on very slowly.

After getting dressed, Al shouted loudly again, "Master, your hair is messed up, let me tidy it up for you!"

So they tossed their hair for another ten minutes.

Guessing that Hao Te was getting impatient, Duan Feizhuo sent Al to open the door.

Al pushed open the door proudly, and stepped aside, "Master can see you now. Please come in, Mr. Haut."

The butler, Mr. Haut, came in with a flattering smile on his face. While rubbing his hands like a fly, he bowed to them and saluted, "Dear gentlemen, my master welcomes you."

"Lord Perilla?" Duan Feizhuo frowned, "What does he want from us?"

"The master said that he has changed his mind. He wants to discuss business with the gentlemen. Please, please bring your luggage. The master invites the gentlemen to stay in Perilla Manor."

If it was yesterday, Duan Feizhuo would definitely have picked up his luggage and rushed to the Oak Manor, happily talking and laughing with Lord Perilla.

But today, when he learned that the manor was haunted, he suddenly became less happy.

He turned to Yeats "Mr. Yeats, we see we still..."

"Let's go now." Yeats said without thinking.

"But Oak Manor..."

"I'd like to see what ghosts and monsters are hiding there."

Now that Yeats had spoken like this, Duan Feizhuo had no choice but to obey. They hurriedly packed their luggage and checked out the room to the proprietress. The proprietress thought they checked out because of the ghost incident last night, and kept apologizing.

The housekeeper, Hote, came in the manor's carriage. He took the initiative to help Duan Feizhuo carry the luggage into the carriage, and his attitude was so attentive that it made people feel a little disgusted.

When the carriage drove to the Oak Manor, a cloud of smoke rose from the backyard of the small hotel, and the oak chair was thrown into the raging fire. The shape of the thick smoke, like a slim woman, was blown away gently by the wind.

"Welcome, gentlemen! Come in! I am terribly sorry for what happened yesterday, and I hope gentlemen will be lenient enough not to take it to heart."

In Oak Manor, Lord Perilla warmly welcomed Duan Feizhuo, Yeats and Al. His tough mother wasn't there today, and neither was the pretty Miss Melissa.

"I thought about it carefully, and decided to sell my father's inheritance. It is most appropriate for you professionals to handle it."

His attitude made a 180 turn, which made people unable to avoid suspicion.

"Doesn't your mother object?" asked Yeats.

Lord Perilla said, "That was exactly my mother's idea. I had two detectives call on me yesterday. They are 'that' detectives, gentlemen, I suppose you know that?"

He must be talking about Z and Xenophon. Yeats nodded.

"They don't have a search warrant, so they can't search our house at will, but since they are here, it means that they have become suspicious. Well, at this juncture, I don't want to make extra trouble."

The lord's square face turned shy, "To be honest, I decided to get married recently. You have seen the person I got married, that is Miss Melissa. Our relationship has not been made public, so the public does not know her yet. but I can privately tell a few gentlemen that she is in fact the daughter of a certain duke. This marriage is of the utmost importance to me as well as to Melissa. If anything gets out at this critical juncture, it will be to my reputation Unfavorable rumors..."

Duan Feizhuo nodded knowingly, "Then your marriage with Miss Melissa will have to fail."

"So, I hope that the gentlemen will count and remove my father's belongings as soon as possible. In this way, even if the police come to search at night, they will not be able to find out why."

Yeats, who had been listening from the sidelines, interjected, "Your lord, you are so anxious to invite us to the manor, I'm afraid it's not just for business, is it?"

The lord's face was flushed purple, and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

"Worthy of being a poet, observation is keenness. I do want more from gentlemen."

"What is it for?"

The Lord calmed down and said in a low voice, "I think there are undead wandering in this manor. Gentlemen are all experienced and knowledgeable mystics. Can you expel those undead for me?"

It was beyond Duan Feizhu's expectation that Lord Perilla confessed so honestly that his house was haunted. He thought that these nobles strictly abide by the ancestral precept that family ugliness should not be exposed.

Yeats asked, "Are you sure there are undead here?"

Lord Perilla sighed, "Since my father passed away, strange things have happened one after another. I have encountered danger to my life many times in this mansion. The first time was in the living room, where I read a book and fell asleep in a daze. A spark burst out of the fireplace, fell on my clothes, and caught fire. I was almost burned to death. Although I took off the burning clothes in time, I was still burned."

"Sounds like a coincidence." Duan Feizhuo said.

The Lord shook his head violently, "If this kind of thing happened only once, it could be called a coincidence. But then accidents happened one after another, I'm afraid it can't be explained by coincidence, right? The second time was when I was taking a bath. I lay in the bathtub I was drowsy, and suddenly I felt someone grab my ankle, and I slid into the bathtub, almost drowning. The third time, the whole roof collapsed, if it wasn’t for Hao Te’s sharp eyesight and quick hands to pull me away, you guys Probably going to my funeral right now!"

Duan Feizhuo asked, "Are you sure these accidents are not man-made?"