"Is this the white lantern I've heard about? I read that you Huaxia people used to hang these during funerals... I've seen plenty of pictures in books, but this is my first time seeing one in real life."

Anna, tall enough to easily reach the lantern, raised her hand to examine it closely. But before she could touch it, the class monitor yanked her away.

"Come on, let's go! This thing is considered unlucky, and it might even be dangerous during our practice."

"Alright, Wenwen, I wasn’t going to mess with it."

Anna trusted her best friend implicitly and turned her attention to the now-unlocked redwood door. Her strong arms pushed against it.

Creak~

The heavy, slightly rotten wooden door swung inward.

The courtyard was overgrown with weeds that obscured the stone path beneath. The chilling wind persisted, and the cold seemed to deepen.

After confirming that there was nothing unusual in the front yard, the four of them followed the faintly visible stone path, buried under the grass, to the main entrance of the mansion.

The intricately carved wooden doors were unlocked, but no one was in a hurry to push them open. After all, the event had already begun, and danger could be lurking just beyond the door.

They decided to stick to their tried-and-true method.

Everyone stepped back as far as possible while the class monitor used her hiking stick to gently nudge the door open.

As the door slowly creaked open, everyone held their breath, ready for battle.

When the door was fully open, nothing leaped out, and there were no human silhouettes in sight. Instead, an overpowering stench rushed out like an invisible, slender hand that snaked into their throats, clawed at their stomachs, and tugged at their esophagi.

Although they had undergone various training sessions at school, they had little practice dealing with such intense odors.

Except for Luo Di, the other three were overwhelmed by the urge to vomit.

The class monitor reacted quickly. She immediately pulled out masks from her backpack and handed one to each person, which helped alleviate the discomfort.

With the smell somewhat under control, they stepped into the mansion's grand hall.

The space had been arranged as a mourning hall.

White drapes hung in waves around the room, fluttering in the cold wind.

A redwood altar stood at the center.

Four bowls of white rice, now moldy, sat on the altar with burnt-out incense sticks sticking out of them.

The food offerings and fruits had completely rotted, becoming nests for decomposers that feasted on this rare banquet.

Upon closer inspection, one thing stood out as particularly odd. The funeral setup was traditional and meticulous, yet one crucial element was missing:

The deceased's portrait.

At this moment, the class monitor, now wearing a mask, seemed to transform. Her sharp gaze swept across the hall before she issued the next instructions:

"From now on, we need to stick together as a team and conduct a thorough inspection of the mansion. Once we've confirmed it's safe, we'll come back here to clean up this moldy mess."

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Under her leadership, the inspection began.

All the mansion's windows were covered with white paper, significantly reducing the natural light and casting a persistent gloom over the interior.

This dimness only served to highlight the white lanterns hanging along the corridors, making them the primary sources of light.

The tense inspection of the mansion concluded quickly.

Contrary to their expectations, no dangers or anomalies appeared. The entire mansion was devoid of life, and they couldn't find the missing portrait.

One noteworthy discovery was the master bedroom on the second floor. It was spacious and well-lit. If they could ensure its safety, they might even rest there instead of setting up tents outside.

With the main building cleared, only the backyard remained unchecked.

Oddly enough, the two-story mansion had no windows facing the backyard.

However, Gao Yuxuan's keen observation revealed that windows had once existed but had been sealed with cement long ago.

The only access to the backyard from the main building was a modern iron door, completely out of place in the old mansion's design.

The door had no keyhole and was bolted shut from the inside, with something heavy seemingly blocking it. The four of them couldn't open it with their combined efforts.

Left with no other choice, they decided to try climbing over the outer wall to enter the backyard.

While the front yard's walls were unremarkable, the backyard's walls were topped with sharp, blade-like barbed wire, rusted and menacing.

Through the gaps in the wall, they could only see the twisted top of a tree, resembling the locust tree where Luo Di had previously found the wooden box in the forest.

Perhaps this tree was directly related to their current practice.

The class monitor pulled out various protective gear, including knee and wrist guards, from her backpack, preparing to climb over the barbed wire.

Standing at the back of the group, Luo Di offered a suggestion: "Let me stand on Anna's shoulders. Maybe I can cut through the barbed wire; it would be safer that way."

Anna immediately agreed, punching her palm. "Good idea! Wenwen, you shouldn't climb alone. If you get caught on the wire and get tetanus, it'll be a big problem."

"Fine~ I'll leave it to you two."

Anna's physical strength was truly impressive.

As Luo Di stepped onto her shoulders, Anna, in a crouched position, rose steadily without any unnecessary wobbling.

Even with their combined height, they barely reached the top of the wall.

Luo Di, wearing gloves, grabbed the edge of the wall for stability.

Buzz!

The automatic chainsaw they had bought at the Terminal Supermarket roared to life. Its alloy teeth easily sliced through the rusty, coarse barbed wire.

As a large section of wire fell away, the top of the wall was cleared, leaving an opening wide enough for one person to pass through.

With practiced ease, Luo Di climbed onto the wall, displaying remarkable agility.

When his eyes fell on the backyard, he froze, and his voice turned icy.

"The iron door to the main building should be openable from the inside. Wait for me there; I'll unlock it."

With that, Luo Di leapt down into the backyard.

The class monitor and the others quickly returned to the mansion. Along the way, Anna whispered to the monitor, "Wenwen, this guy's got some serious skills. His balance is incredible, and he's so efficient."

Wu Wen's eyes crinkled into crescents above her white mask. "He's very capable."

When they reached the iron door leading to the backyard, they could faintly hear the sound of heavy objects being moved on the other side.

This was followed by the buzz of the chainsaw.

Clang!

The chain securing the door fell away.

The sliding iron door slowly opened.

The backyard came into view.

The three high schoolers standing at the door were stunned, their expressions shifting rapidly.

It wasn't just the visual impact.

A stench, carried by the cold wind, assaulted their senses.

It penetrated their masks, invaded their noses, and even seemed to seep into their mouths, leaving a distinct taste on their tongues. It was several times stronger than the smell in the hall.

The combination of the stench and the scene before them created an overwhelming mental shock.

It felt like a feverish hallucination, flooding their consciousness and washing over their thoughts.

If the earlier experience in the hall was an appetizer, this was undoubtedly the main course of the day.

Anna was the first to succumb, vomiting on the spot.

Gao Yuxuan clutched his stomach and hurried back to the mansion's restroom.

The class monitor gripped her mask tightly, her eyes flickering with struggle. After a moment, she steadied her churning stomach and once again surveyed the scene.

The backyard was littered with the corpses of cows and pigs, along with their excrement. Flies swarmed in droves.

Oddly, despite the overwhelming stench, they hadn't noticed it while outside the wall. It was as if the backyard had been shrouded in some invisible barrier.

But the animal carcasses and the smell weren't the real focus.

Wu Wen's gaze quickly locked onto the center of the backyard, where a massive, twisted locust tree stood.

Four figures dressed in traditional Huaxia attire hung from the crooked branches by ropes. Their levels of decay varied, but their bulging eyes were uniformly fixed on the mansion.

Fixed on its sole entrance.

Fixed on the intruders who had ventured inside.

Given the mansion's funeral theme, it seemed these people had arranged their own funeral, with the four students as the unwitting guests.