Chapter 20: Red Terrace
Jiang Ce had no idea that he had unintentionally not only put on a little show of being low-key, but also inexplicably gotten dragged into a game.
He was currently planning to find a graveyard to fight monsters and level up.
After stepping onto the path of cultivation, he discovered that his need for sleep wasn’t that high anymore, feeling energetic at all times.
Having just finished practicing the Soul Soothing Technique, his skills were at their hottest right now, and it was almost midnight, so he couldn’t wait to find a haunted spot to test his new skill.
Jiang Ce reached into his pocket, feeling the portable items he had casually grabbed on the way out, thinking that he had to pull off something big tonight.
As for Chen Mian acting like a hands-off shopkeeper, he actually didn’t take it to heart.
For Jiang Ce, he had gone for this job originally for better work conditions anyway, and whether this job was a sweet gig or a burden for others was none of his business.
He was just a bit disappointed; it was rare for someone to believe in him and entrust him with the heavy burden, only for it to turn out like this.
Heartbroken boy, tonight he was going fully dark!
And the victims of his darkening would naturally be the ghosts and monsters in the graveyard, his imaginary enemies.
Unfortunately, he had already exhausted all the potential in the public cemetery, and neither the phone map nor the travel app showed any haunted graveyards in Luocheng.
But he didn’t come away empty-handed, because he accidentally discovered an urban legend in an urban forum.
[In the southern part of Luocheng, the former Luocheng city center, now the suburbs, there is an abandoned building that hasn’t been renovated or rebuilt in a hundred years—Red Terrace.
This place was once a manor, over a hundred years ago occupied by invaders during warfare and turned into a temporary hospital.
Many wounded soldiers died here full of resentment, and as a result, ghostly figures in military uniforms often appear here.
Many outdoor explorers have ventured here before.
Rumor has it that some people came out of here with drastic personality changes, saying incomprehensible things like wanting to go home.
And those who remained normal were tight-lipped about what they experienced here.
No one knows what secrets lie inside.
Even less is known about why it still stands, enduring on this land soaked in blood and hatred.]
After reading this urban legend, Jiang Ce got interested: “If the story is true, that would be interesting. From the content, if there are ghosts, they should be ghosts of the invaders, so I can squeeze them dry. First, cast Soul Soothing Technique for a round of merit, then take them out directly for another round of merit, let big baby eat the remnants for yet another round of merit—this is taking off, right?”
He couldn’t help pulling out the bronze statue from his shoulder bag, the one called both Aatrox and Sword Demon, his gaze full of affection: “Let me tell you thank you, because of you, the four seasons are warmed~”
In his excitement, he didn’t realize that what he just said would bring tears even to a capitalist’s eyes.
As for the threat of ghosts and monsters, Jiang Ce really hadn’t considered it.
First, he was now Seventh Rank and feeling a bit cocky; second, even ordinary people could survive the ghosts and monsters in the story, let alone a Jianghu sorcerer.
By all logic, he couldn’t possibly fail.
So, Jiang Ce searched for the route to Red Terrace while checking more information about it.
After seeing that many places had similar legends and many netizens insisted they had experienced it firsthand, Jiang Ce became even more convinced that there really were ghosts and monsters there.
He hopped on a shared bicycle and pedaled hard: “You’d better really be haunted!”
Half an hour later, Jiang Ce arrived at the destination.
Sure enough, as the story said, there was a two-story western-style building painted dark red.
And around it were vast low-rise abandoned houses like a ghostly realm.
Jiang Ce had never been to the southern suburbs, but he vaguely remembered that Luocheng had indeed undergone a major relocation in the past.
With the Luocheng River as the boundary, the north side became the current Luocheng city, while the south side all became the southern suburbs, also called the old town.
However, in the nearly half-century after the relocation, the old town gradually had no residents left, so the name was no longer used.
Standing in front of the manor’s iron gate, Jiang Ce put his hands on his hips, somewhat dissatisfied: “Both suburbs, but compared to this, the eastern suburbs where I live have no prestige at all.”
Two seals were pasted on the iron gate. Jiang Ce looked closely; they were from the city government back then, not Taoist or Buddhist Sect seals for suppressing demons.
This made Jiang Ce suspicious: “Sealed by the city government? Don’t tell me it’s just a story and I came all this way for nothing?”
Leaning the shared bicycle against the wall, Jiang Ce stepped on it to climb over the manor wall.
The first thing that came into view was two rows of willow trees grown wildly in all directions. Due to years without trimming, the branches were so dense it caused some physiological discomfort, and the ground was completely invisible, entirely covered by fallen willow leaves.
For some reason, the land inside the manor was lower than outside, so you could see the western-style building from outside, but inside, the willow trees blocked the view completely.
This made Jiang Ce feel a bit strange.
Since ancient times, trees like willow and locust have been considered spiritually communicative and prone to becoming spirits, usually only planted artificially in gardens or parks, not as landscaping in homes.
But here, not only were there willow trees everywhere, they were also extremely lush, which was truly odd.
The willow branches crisscrossed in front of him like layers of spiderwebs; one careless step and you’d get tangled, as if someone was deliberately pulling you. Even Jiang Ce got a bit irritated by it.
Luckily, the manor wasn’t big. After tangling with the willow trees for over ten minutes, Jiang Ce finally reached the western-style building.
Jiang Ce breathed a sigh of relief, intending to go inside, but as soon as he took a step, his entire leg sank straight into the carpet of dead leaves, nearly losing balance and falling in headfirst.
Only then did Jiang Ce realize that the height difference between inside and outside the manor was even more exaggerated than he imagined.
The previous path had willow trees whose roots constantly absorbed moisture from the soil, and the dead leaves and branches decomposed better, making the ground firmer indirectly. But the ground in front of the western-style building had nothing, so when Jiang Ce stepped on the thick dead leaves, it was like stepping into a soft snowdrift and sinking in.
“Holy shit, what kind of fucked-up logic is this? Is this a manor or a swimming pool? Do you know anything about feng shui? Digging such a huge pit like a grave, damn.”
Jiang Ce grumbled as he pulled his leg out, then simply leaped lightly, jumping four or five meters and landing steadily in front of the western-style building’s door.
This was also thanks to the abilities of a Jianghu sorcerer. Compared to superhuman power, this boost in physical fitness wasn’t much, but if Jiang Ce entered the Olympics now, breaking a world record casually would be effortless.
Looking at the tightly shut door also sealed with tape, Jiang Ce didn’t bother circling around to see if there were climbable windows, instead choosing the most direct FBI opening move—
He lifted his foot and kicked hard at the center of the door. The door burst open with a bang, kicking up clouds of dust.
“Little devils! I’m fucking coming!”
