The layout of the old houses was all about the same — inside, two withered scholar trees had been planted in the yard. Beneath them sat a large water vat, and beyond that lay the main hall and the bedrooms.
The wooden door slammed against the wall. Chen Ge's kick had nearly split it apart.
"Let me hear about your injustice!"
He strode forward. The dirt path in the courtyard began to loosen, and the dead scholar trees slowly tilted, as if something inside was trying to claw its way out.
Chen Ge walked up to one of the trees. Sand and soil cascaded down, revealing a pitch-black corpse pit, and a pair of hands was reaching out from inside.
"Want to come out? Fine! I'll help you!" Chen Ge stared into the pit at those spiteful eyes, raising the Skull Crusher high above his head. "I'll smash every last bone! Then you won't get stuck!"
The iron hammer came crashing down, and a bone-chilling sound echoed through the old house.
Notably, the other scholar tree nearby suddenly stopped tilting, and the sand began flowing back in reverse.
Chen Ge swung the hammer wildly, and he and Xu Yin forcibly dragged the ghost out from the tree roots.
After stretching his muscles, Chen Ge shifted his gaze to other parts of the courtyard.
"They're hiding under the tree pits. The one crying out for justice just now probably wasn't them."
The voice had come from inside the old house, but the moment Chen Ge entered, it cut off abruptly.
Looking around, Chen Ge noticed a round, ball-like object floating in the water vat. Strangely, it was slowly sinking — as if trying to drown itself.
"A ball that sinks on its own?"
Chen Ge carried the Skull Crusher over to the water vat and peered inside. A ghost was hiding in the vat, its body bloated and whitened from soaking in water, its round head bobbing on the surface like a ball.
"Were you the one crying out just now? If you have injustice in your heart, you have to speak up!"
The hammer smashed through the water vat, sending water splashing everywhere. Chen Ge sent Xu Yin to seek justice for this ghost while he entered the main hall.
Paper spirit money drifted down through the room, as if a funeral had been held here not long ago. In the center of the main hall sat a pitch-black coffin, and peculiar paintings were pasted on all four walls.
"Where are they? Where did they go? Why won't anyone speak?"
Chen Ge stared at the paintings on the walls for a long while. The people here didn't worship gods — they only venerated mountain ghosts. The paintings all depicted terrifying monsters.
"They look like the real thing."
Though they were only paintings, they somehow possessed a lifelike quality, as if something lived inside them.
Chen Ge wasn't sure if he'd been staring too long and was hallucinating, or if it was something else, but he saw the eyes of one particular painting suddenly move.
"It seemed to move — could a ghost be hiding inside the painting?"
While Chen Ge was thinking, Xu Yin — clad in his half red dress — walked in. At the same moment, several dark shadows flashed out from the paintings on the wall and rushed toward the bedroom.
Xu Yin immediately gave chase. As he entered the bedroom, the coffin in the center of the room shook once, and the coffin lid was pushed open a crack.
A ghostly figure spattered with flecks of red blood eyed Xu Yin warily, then threw off the coffin lid and bolted!
"Its clothes are stained with blood — could this one also have the potential to become a Red Dress?" Chen Ge called to Xu Yin and charged after it without hesitation.
The dark shadow saw Chen Ge and Xu Yin in pursuit and ran even faster.
The old house was a mess — digging, a shattering water vat, and the rumbling of a coffin. Grandpa Bai and Old Wei stood outside, not daring to go in.
"Who is Chen Ge talking to in there? Why won't he come out?" Old Wei grew anxious. He summoned his courage and walked to the doorway, but before he got close, a blood-stained dark shadow shot out.
"What is that?!" Old Wei's heart lurched. Before he could react, he saw Chen Ge emerge with reddened eyes, wildly swinging that horrifying iron hammer.