Jia Mingqiao saw Xu Shaowei's large chest pressing against Lu Jiuling, squished out of shape, and his eyes turned red with envy.
Compared to a pure, innocent campus beauty like Jiang Shan, he preferred Xu Shaowei's domineering figure.
"Be more careful next time!"
Lu Jiuling pushed Xu Shaowei away and examined the thing he had picked up.
It was a palm-sized pouch embroidered with gold thread bearing the two traditional characters 'Lai Cai.' It looked very exquisite.
Lu Jiuling pinched the pouch. He could feel small, hard objects inside. He casually opened it, and a slightly sweet, aromatic fragrance immediately wafted out.
Achoo!
Lu Jiuling rubbed his nose and poured out the contents.
They were four marble-sized silver ingots.
They weighed a little over two taels combined.
Lu Jiuling immediately lost interest.
If it were gold, at current market prices, it would be worth over ten thousand yuan, but silver wouldn't fetch a good price.
Lu Jiuling put the pouch away.
"Move out!"
After speaking, Lu Jiuling immediately ran toward the next red lantern.
The others hurriedly followed.
When Lu Jiuling and the others got three meters away from the red lantern under the eaves, the qipao-clad female ghosts that had been circling nearby and could no longer hold back immediately charged over.
"Faster!"
Xu Shuo shouted.
No one needed his reminder. Nobody wanted to die, so they all exerted themselves to the limit, trying to reach the next red lantern as quickly as possible.
But this time, after chasing them for a stretch, the ghosts suddenly stopped and looked toward the northwest in unison.
"What's going on?"
Li Yinuo's scalp went numb.
Something that could scare the ghosts might very well be an even more terrifying monster.
A red ball of light appeared, trembling and flickering, drifting about like will-o'-the-wisps floating through a graveyard at night.
It was approaching.
When the girls saw this, they subconsciously edged closer to Lu Jiuling in fear.
"Should we run?"
Feng Xiu urged with a sob in her voice.
Lu Jiuling didn't move.
Running along the red lanterns just now had been a last resort. Now that a new anomaly had appeared, he naturally wanted to take a look and gather more intel.
Only by containing the forbidden object could they completely leave this damned place.
The 'ghost fire' drew closer. Finally, it emerged from the thick fog.
Only then did everyone see that it was actually a red lantern with the 'Double Happiness' character pasted on it, being carried by a little girl of six or seven.
The girl was dressed in a red traditional wedding garment, her hair done in two buns. Her face was caked with thick white powder, matched with a pair of dead fish eyes that showed not the slightest cuteness. Moreover, she walked without a sound, drifting along the ground like a ghost, exuding a heavy aura of horror.
"Is this a wedding welcome child?"
Xu Shaowei looked at the large Double Happiness lantern the little girl carried, feeling that she was a child greeter welcoming guests.
They just didn't know whose wedding this was!
"Good lord, don't tell me we've run into a ghost marriage?"
Ke Xinyi looked at this wedding welcome child, which emanated an eerie aura from head to toe, and her hair stood on end.
"Stop talking nonsense!"
Ning Qian tugged at her best friend, telling her to shut up quickly.
"She didn't see us! She didn't see us!"
Feng Xiu muttered under her breath, praying that this lantern-bearing welcome child hadn't seen everyone and would quickly leave, but she was destined to be disappointed.
The lantern-bearing welcome child drifted over.
Everyone's nerves immediately tensed.
Despite this little welcome child being less than a meter tall, frail and small—even the slender, baby-faced Li Jiayao could knock it over with a kick—no one dared to make a move. They didn't even dare to breathe.
The lantern-bearing welcome child arrived under the red lantern.
Except for Lu Jiuling, the others instinctively retreated, wanting to maintain a safe distance from it.
Seeing this, the welcome child's thick eyebrows furrowed, and displeasure clearly surfaced on its little face.
However, it didn't complain. Instead, it raised the red lantern to shine on Lu Jiuling's face while looking up at him.
Lu Jiuling smiled faintly, wondering if he should take the initiative to greet it.
The lantern-bearing welcome child looked for a dozen or so seconds, then lowered the lantern. After sweeping its gaze over the group, it turned around and walked back the way it came.
Before everyone could breathe a sigh of relief, the little welcome child, after walking seven or eight steps, suddenly stopped and looked back at them.
Xu Shuo and the others were as if petrified, not daring to move a muscle.
The little welcome child continued forward with the red lantern. After another seven or eight steps, it stopped and looked back at the group.
This time, the displeasure on its little face was very heavy; it looked like it was about to start cursing at any moment.
"What does this damned thing want?"
Xu Shuo was utterly exasperated.
"Stopping and starting, what the hell is there to see?"
"Is it telling us to follow it?"
Jiang Shan reasoned. She felt that this lantern-bearing welcome child seemed to be guiding guests.
"That's exactly what it means!"
Lu Jiuling followed.
"No way!"
Feng Xiu didn't want to go: "Following it will definitely mean trouble!"
"690, don't go!"
Ning Qian didn't want to follow this lantern-bearing welcome child, nor did she want Lu Jiuling to leave: "If we follow the red lanterns, we can definitely leave this damned place!"
"What should we do?"
Feng Xiu looked at Xu Shaowei, then glanced at Jiang Shan.
"Let's go. There's no choice."
Jiang Shan noticed that those qipao female ghosts seemed very fearful of this lantern-bearing welcome child. The moment it appeared, those ghosts immediately hid far away.
Once this little welcome child left, they would definitely come back. And with Lu Jiuling gone, could they count on Xu Shuo and Jia Mingqiao?
They would definitely die quickly!
Xu Shaowei and the others also thought of this. They felt it was safer to follow Lu Jiuling, so they reluctantly trudged over.
The lantern-bearing welcome child moved silently, taking the lead!
The few of them exchanged glances, their faces filled with worry.
The good news was that those filthy things were circling nearby and didn't dare to approach and attack.
The bad news was that no one knew where this lantern-bearing welcome child was taking everyone.
It couldn't be to attend someone's wedding, could it?
And judging by the atmosphere, it was most likely a ghost marriage!
Lu Jiuling followed behind this festive little girl, looking at its double buns, then at the qipao female ghosts surrounding them that clearly didn't dare approach out of fear. He suddenly realized this was an opportunity.
Why not take advantage of this to kill a wave!
It was like playing a game—when you encountered an excellent mob-grinding opportunity, you definitely had to go for it.
Lu Jiuling thought and acted, charging toward the female ghost on his right side—the one closest to him.
The female ghost was stunned. It hadn't expected the prey to deliver itself to its door, and was overjoyed. Its mouth, painted with scarlet rouge, opened wide, and a huge tongue shot out, wrapping toward Lu Jiuling's neck.
"Holy crap, stop it!"
Xu Shuo was furious. Why are you provoking those filthy things?
What if they get angry and surround us?
Lu Jiuling swung his bamboo torch, striking at the tongue.
The female ghost feared fire, so it jerked its head, making the huge tongue dodge the torch.
Lu Jiuling seized this gap, suddenly accelerating to charge in front of the female ghost, fiercely thrusting the torch at its head.
The female ghost couldn't dodge.
With a smack, it was thrust backward!
The next second, the torch swung around and smashed into its head.
The female ghost staggered.
Lu Jiuling pressed forward, continuously thrusting the torch at the female ghost's head. In moments, its hair was ignited.
The fire blazed up.
"Ah!"
The female ghost shrieked. The flames on its body grew larger and larger. After a dozen or so seconds, its entire body was engulfed in flames, and then, in the blink of an eye, it was burned to ashes.
A gold-threaded pouch fell to the ground.
Lu Jiuling picked up the pouch and charged toward another female ghost.
"..."
Everyone watched, dumbstruck.
The lantern-bearing welcome child heard the commotion and looked back. Then its usually expressionless face revealed a look of shock.
It clearly hadn't expected that a human would actually dare to proactively provoke those filthy things.
While everyone was still in a daze, Lu Jiuling had burned another one to death and obtained another gold-threaded pouch.
Without taking the time to check how much silver was in the pouch, Lu Jiuling prepared to take down another one, but the nearby female ghosts weren't stupid and fled directly.
There was no need to give chase, and besides, Lu Jiuling saw that the lantern-bearing welcome child was already staring at him, so he hurriedly returned.
The little welcome child eyed Lu Jiuling, then looked at the pouch in his hand.
The corners of Lu Jiuling's mouth curved into a social smile as he held out one of the pouches.
"Thanks for leading the way!"
One can never be too polite—besides, it wasn't like Lu Jiuling had any use for these silver ingots.
The lantern-bearing welcome child hesitated and didn't take it.
Lu Jiuling forcibly stuffed the pouch into its hands.
Hmm!
He could touch its hand. Although it was somewhat ice-cold, like well water in winter, it didn't seem to be a ghost?
The little welcome child gave Lu Jiuling a deep look, tucked the pouch into its bosom, and continued forward with the lantern.
Jiang Shan's group was deeply worried.
With the lantern-bearing welcome child leading the way, those filthy things didn't dare come attack them. But a new problem arose: where was this little girl, emanating a bizarre festive aura, taking everyone?
It definitely wasn't to an exit.
Lu Jiuling checked the pouch. Inside were still a few chunks of silver.
"690!"
Xu Shaowei leaned over and poked Lu Jiuling's arm.
"Hm?"
Lu Jiuling turned his head.
"I feel like if we keep going, there will be danger!"
Xu Shaowei whispered.
"Definitely!"
This was taboo contamination. It would be unexpected if there were no danger.
Xu Shuo's whole being turned awful upon hearing this. With a face full of indignation, he accused, "Then why did you still make us follow it?"
"You have no choice!"
Lu Jiuling chuckled. "Instead of complaining, you might as well focus your energy on observing the surroundings. Pay attention to the details. Maybe the intel you accumulate now will save your life later!"
"I don't need you to tell me. I know what I'm doing!"
Xu Shuo was stubborn, but he stopped arguing with Lu Jiuling and began staring wide-eyed at their surroundings.
Li Yinuo lowered her head irritably, fiddling with her phone. Still no signal.
"Classmate Lu!"
Jiang Shan asked curiously, "Aren't you afraid?"
The campus beauty noticed that whether it was burning female ghosts or following this lantern-bearing welcome child to an unknown destination, this classmate remained completely calm the entire time, as if he had an emotional disorder and his feelings didn't fluctuate.
"If being afraid could get us out of here, I could be scared to death!"
Lu Jiuling shrugged.
Compared to the trembling Xu Shuo and Jia Mingqiao, the girls looked at the steady, calm Lu Jiuling and subconsciously edged closer to him.
Even Jiang Shan was no exception.
At this moment, Lu Jiuling gave people a stronger sense of security.
Jiang Shan wanted to memorize the route they had taken, but the Fan Family Mansion was huge. Coupled with the thick fog that reduced visibility to thirty or so meters, Jiang Shan was soon disoriented and could only leave things to fate.
The group followed the lantern-bearing welcome child for over ten minutes, passing through the rear garden, two small courtyards, and several moon gates before entering a large courtyard filled with noisy voices.
Under the eaves of the surrounding red-brick buildings with black tiles hung large red lanterns with the 'Double Happiness' character, illuminating the place bright red.
What reassured everyone the most was that there were many classmates in the courtyard.
"Jiang Shan!"
"Shaowei!"
Jiang Shan and Xu Shaowei were the core of the girls' social circle. When the girls saw the two of them, they immediately surrounded them.