As I was contemplating, a strange song suddenly drifted in with the wind.

It was a woman singing, her voice gentle and sorrowful. From her singing, one could clearly feel her pain. But amidst the pain, her voice seemed like a call from hell, enough to send shivers down your spine.

The song she sang was neither a known melody nor a local folk song. The tune was peculiar, somewhat resembling the traditional Xintianguo from the northern Shaanxi region. However, with the woman's interpretation, it had a mysterious and terrifying feeling that made one extremely uncomfortable.

After hearing just a few lines, goosebumps covered my body.

The woman's singing made us restless. We walked anxiously in the courtyard, following the sound, until we saw a peculiar black mist surrounding a large locust tree.

The locust tree was lush with branches that resembled ghostly hands, countless of them reaching out from the trunk.

However, what caused fear was not the tree itself, but the figure hanging from its top.

It was a woman, with long disheveled hair covering her face. She wore a bright red bridal gown and red embroidered shoes, hanging like a puppet, singing in a eerie voice. Swinging back and forth with the wind, she appeared faintly in the dense fog.

King's Village lacked vitality, filled with wandering lost souls. The woman singing on the locust tree, everything here exceeded the imagination of ordinary people.

For an average person, this was a nightmare, a suffocating nightmare.

Having witnessed so many supernatural events, even I couldn't help but shudder at the sight of the woman in red.

Fatty didn't have the same psychological resilience as me. He screamed "mom" and sat down on the ground, his face turning pale as he trembled uncontrollably.

The expressions on the faces of the others were no better. They looked as if they had just eaten something foul.

Suddenly, Xie Lao Ba shouted and ran towards the door.

I was startled and chased after him, asking what he was doing.

Xie Lao Ba, like a scared bird, screamed, "I want to leave, I don't want to die! I want to leave!"

"Don't go out! Don't open the door!" I quickly ran up and grabbed Xie Lao Ba's clothes, but he struggled and pushed the door open.

A strong gust of cold wind swept in, causing Xie Lao Ba to stagger backward.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Seizing the opportunity, I pulled him back into the courtyard.

But when Xie Lao Ba opened the door, it made a creaking sound that, although not loud, was incredibly clear in the silent atmosphere.

The wandering lost souls outside stopped their footsteps and turned to look in our direction upon hearing the noise.

I inwardly cursed, things were bad. I immediately flashed back into the courtyard and tightly locked the door.

Xie Lao Ba continued to struggle, shouting and causing a commotion to let him out.

I became furious, regardless of whether Xie Lao Ba was related to Xie Qiang or not, and shouted, "You damn well killed us!"

Xie Lao Ba also had a burning anger inside him and had no place to vent. With my words, his anger ignited.

Xie Lao Ba shouted and pounced towards me.

Fatty and I were brothers, so naturally I wouldn't stand by and watch.

I quickly grabbed Fatty and told him to stop. Fatty spat on the ground.

Since I dealt with Young Master Long, Fatty and I were practically invincible. Though Fatty hadn't gained much knowledge over the years, he had grown stronger and his temper had worsened. Coupled with being easily provoked, he was quite irritable.

Liu Jie and Chen Dong came up and pulled us apart. "Stop fighting! Listen to the sound outside the door."

I heard banging sounds coming from the gate of the courtyard, as if something was ramming into it. The wooden lock on the gate swayed and emitted creaking sounds, like an old man in his last moments.

I glared at Xie Lao Ba. It was all because of him. Obviously, the lost souls outside were ramming the door, all because he had opened it earlier, startling those ghosts.

Fatty ran over and climbed onto the wall to look outside. He turned back to me in shock and exclaimed, "Yang Cheng, there are so many... so many people outside!"

I hurriedly ran over and peeked out. I couldn't help but be filled with horror.

More and more vengeful spirits gathered at the gate, from just a few in the beginning, to a dozen, and now dozens of them. These lost souls came from all directions, extending their decayed hands, continuously beating on the gate. Dust fell from the lintel above the gate.

Fatty swallowed hard and asked me what to do.

I gritted my teeth. We mustn't let these ghosts break in, or else Xie Lao Ba and the others would be finished.

I slipped down from the wall and quickly took out two talismans from my pocket, one on each door panel, left and right.

The talismans lit up, and the ghostly hands that were pounding on the door immediately recoiled. Those who couldn't retract their hands in time were scorched, emitting wisps of black smoke.

Though the talismans were placed on the inside of the door panel, separated by thick boards, they still retained their power to ward off spirits.

The vengeful spirits that had gathered at the gate were soon pushed back by the talismans.

However, the effectiveness of the talismans was limited. Although they temporarily withstood the onslaught of the ghosts, over time, the relentless tide of lost souls continuously attacked the gate. The talismans ultimately couldn't hold their ground.

Fatty hadn't even been happy for two minutes before he panicked and said to me, "Cheng-ge, they're coming again!"

This time, even more fierce ghosts gathered at the gate, their hands pounding on the door panels as if they wanted to pry them open.

The patterns on the talisman gradually dimmed, and the talismans were on the verge of extinguishing.

Once the talismans lost their effectiveness, the horde of ghosts outside would rush in like a swarm, and everyone in the courtyard would be doomed.

Niu Fu Gui was so anxious that smoke seemed to be coming out of his seven orifices. He didn't know what to do.

Liu Jie was already crying, sobbing on the side.

Chen Dong's face was covered in cold sweat, trembling from head to toe. The cold sweat dripped down like beads off a broken necklace, one after another.