Midnight Offering - Chapter 30

The dilapidated courtyard was surrounded by damaged walls filled with visible cracks spreading out from large dents like huge spiderwebs. In the front, there was a half covered wooden door with a large plaque nailed onto it with the words Yue Mansion inscribed on it.

Pervert and I stood near the fencing which had metal web wrapping the mansion tightly. The walls blocked our view and I had no way of knowing what the courtyard looked like.

I could only barely make out the roof of the mansion in the darkness and its ancient eaves. The tiles on the roof were green-grey in the darkness of the night.

A wooden sign with the words DO NOT ENTER hung on the metal fencing.

How do we get in? I turned and whispered to Pervert. Although it was the middle of the night, there were still some tourists who did not want to stay in their hotel rooms alone and were wandering about.

The old site of the Yue family was in a distant corner, but I still lowered my voice just in case. I had no idea how to proceed. It would be a shame to have come all this way just to go back.

When Pervert said we would come to have a look, he meant go inside, not just stop outside the fence.

Hold on tight.

Those were Perverts first words since we had come here and he had only said them in response to my question.

I could tell he was acting differently than normal, but I didnt know if he was anxious or just cautious. Obediently, I held onto him with both arms, as he wrapped his arms around my waist. The world spun and my vision went black. By the time I realised what had happened, Pervert had already taken me to the other side of the metal fence.

Surprised, I looked around. When I turned around expecting to see the metal fencing behind me, what I had seen instead was the wooden door closing behind me.

All I had to do was walk forward a few steps to be able to touch that ancient, rusting metal knocker and open the damaged door. Then, I could see what was inside of the mansion.

However, I was not brave enough to do so alone.

Pervert had just walked in when his entire aura changed. He coldly spat out the words: They dared!, scaring the hairs on my back into rising upwards.

The unexpected anger shocked me and I looked at him questioningly. I automatically thought that I had done something wrong.

What had he discovered?

Pervert looked around, his hands curled into fists: I wondered why the aura around the villa was so strange. Now I finally know whats going on.

I looked at him expectantly and asked: Did something happen here?

There was no way that nothing had happened! I still remembered clearly what the old couple arguing outside the elevator had said. Something big must have happened to the mysterious Yue family that had secluded themselves in this mansion!

Hua Er, lets go. If you can, go home tomorrow with An Ning and never come back to this place ever again.

What?

I was confused, I didnt know what Pervert meant. We had just arrived, why would we have to leave?

He was the King of Hell, and if even he said that was this place truly a forbidden area?

He took me by the hand and skirted around the crumbling walls, as if he was looking for something. He stopped and bent down, I mirrored his actions and looked at where he was pointing.

A corner of a yellow piece of paper was peeking out from within a patch of wild weeds.

Pervert cleared away the grass and I saw clearly what the yellow paper was. It was not something dangerous or bad, but its appearance changed the entire nature of the existence of the old site of the Yue Family.

The yellow paper was a paper talisman.

On it in scarlet ink were symbols that I could not understand. The paper was stuck on the very bottom corner of the wall, hidden behind a clump of grass. This along with the metal fencing around the mansion ensured that nobody would notice this piece of paper.

I vaguely understood why Pervert had said that we should leave as soon as possible.

Everybody knew what paper talismans were for. They were used to suppress and avoid evil.

Since the the yellow paper was on the outside wall, it meant that inside the old site of the Yue Family, there was definitely something unclean*. Pervert got up and grabbed my hand, continuing to walk alongside the wall.

The old site of the Yue Family took up a lot of land, and by the time we walked around the whole site and returned back to the wooden door, I was completely in a state of shock.

This was because along this extremely long wall were a total of twelve paper talismans.

I started to doubt the information on the Wikipedia page about the old site of the Yue Family. It had said that the company decided to leave the old site of the Yue Family out of respect for the Yue Family.

However, the truth was definitely not as simple as said in the description. There was almost certainly a hidden reason.

Suddenly, I thought of a reason that made me shudder in a cold sweat.

Maybe the company left this place alone, not because they wanted to preserve it, but because there was no way to destroy it as they did not have the ability to tear it down.

This place is protected by an enchantment set by a Taoist or a spirit. The yellow papers stuck on the wall are the best evidence.

Pervert looked up at the wall, his tone serious: This aura is extremely rare in the world of the living, the one who set the enchantment must have extremely high xiuwei**, but the paper talismans only suppress whatevers inside the building. It does not eliminate the aura from coming out, so I was able to detect it.

His brows furrowed, as he continued: Only a certain kind of secret ritual that forces a connection with the Underworld can form this kind of aura, what they were trying to do made this place no longer fit for the living.

I swallowed nervously and pulled on his sleeve, telling him softly: Then lets go.

If Pervert thought it was too dangerous, then we should just leave. Just being able to look around inside the metal fencing had satisfied enough of my curiosity. As for going through the wooden door, it was better to not do so.

I touched my stomach. The little one was still in there and I could not forget what Pervert had said. No matter how curious I was, I wouldnt risk the little one.

If Pervert had said we could safely look around, I would have chosen to satisfy my curiosity, but given what he said, I could only let it go.

A thought rose in my mind.

Sometimes, looking too deep into an issue was not a good thing.

Curiosity killed the cat, and even though my husband was the powerful Hades, I wouldnt risk him and our child just for a moment of satisfaction.

Pervert nodded and patted me on the head.

I knew that Hua Er would understand, lets go.

Okay.

I smiled and nodded, then grabbed onto his robes. He lifted me up, but before we could leave, footsteps sounded from outside the metal fence, quickly getting closer.

Why would someone come here at this time?

Was it someone coming for a late night adventure? It was quite likely. Young people all liked excitement, and this old site would definitely attract some brave teens to come exploring.

Except, the footsteps only sounded like they were coming from one person.

It wasnt what I thought, why would someone come exploring here alone? How would I describe this person? Brave? Reckless? Having a death wish?

With someone coming towards us, Pervert could not just take us away. He could only drag me to hide in a corner.

I could see a tall thin figure near the fence, but because it was nighttime and there were no lights, I couldnt clearly make out the features. This place was not like the nearby pavilion which was lit up 24/7.

Judging from the height and the hair, I determined that the person was a man.

Also, the man had a package on his back, which was not too big and not too small. From a distance it made him look like a hunchback.

Who would come here in the middle of the night?

The tall thin man walked right up to the metal fence and stopped. He stood there completely still.

It was a little creepy. He did not move at all, and his stillness scared me.

Actually, I did not even think about the fact that Pervert, who was standing right next to me, was the real ghost, while the man that I was scared of was probably just a human. It was kind of funny.

Finally, the tall thin man moved. He looked left, then right repeatedly, before flipping lightly over the fence and landing on the grass.

The resulting thud reassured me.

He was undoubtedly a human. If he was a ghost, his landing would not have been so heavy.

Perverts footsteps never made a sound, neither had the young girl in white from before. As long as they were ghosts, their movements would not make any noises.

The tall thin man rose and patted down his clothing, putting the package back onto his back, and walked towards the wooden door. However, he hadnt gotten very far before he halted and looked in our direction.

Come out, I know youre there.

His voice was very pleasing, good enough to be a male idol, with good pronunciation and no self-righteousness. However, his tone was filled with surprise and caution.

I was surprised as well. How had he detected our presence? I could guarantee that after hiding in the shadows, we had not made any sounds. I was barely even breathing in fear of being discovered, but he had still noticed.

Which elite member of the Underworld is honoring this place with their presence. With such a powerful aura and no attempts of hiding it, were you afraid that I would not notice you?

Pervert walked out from the shadows with his arm around my waist. The lighting from the distance let me make out the mans features.

The tall thin mans expression was shocked, but his shock was not directed at Pervert, it was directed at me.

I knew because once his gaze had met mine, it had not left.

*Chinese use this term to mean evil spirits or things that are dead or to do with witchcraft
**means ability, mostly spiritual, people who followed Tao and wished to become gods (live forever) or had spiritual powers had to train and meditate to elevate their xiuwei, the higher it is the more powerful and closer to godliness a person is