Super Zoo

The courtyard was flanked by mottled walls, and at the other end, as you walked in, was a large room, the hall of the mansion.

The roof was almost completely devoid of tiles, exposing the interlaced beams, beneath which was a row of half-open wooden doors, their paper windows long rotted and tattered, hanging in the window frames. It was a good thing there was no wind on the ground, otherwise the blowing would have surely produced a very scary whistling sound. Now both Suming and Zhao Yun's hearts were in their throats, and even a slight stir of grass or leaves made them extremely nervous.

Only Su Meng seemed oblivious to the word "fear" and showed no curiosity about the surroundings, almost as if he were coming home.

"You really kill the mood. Do you know how hard it was for me to create a bit of a horror atmosphere?" Suming said helplessly as he looked at him.

The three of them stealthily made their way to the bottom of the great house, tiptoeing. They first listened carefully through the door; hearing nothing inside, Zhao Yun then signaled with a gesture and gently pushed one of the wooden doors with his gloved hand.

The door creaked open with a grating sound that made one's ears ache, slowly opening inwards as twin beams of flashlight followed, piercing the pitch-black room.

The flashlight swept through the room, revealing a hall with a square table in the center, flanked on both sides by empty Taishi Chairs. Lined up on the table were three four-legged dishes, as if for offerings, only they were empty as well.

In front of the table, two rows of chairs stood parallel, like the meeting hall of a large family clan. From the design of these chairs, one could imagine that the town, though remote when it existed, was a place of educated people, perhaps even a locally prominent family.

The room was divided into front and back sections by a screen wall that connected to the winter melon beams on the roof. Seeing the round, bulging beams confirmed the previous judgment. These types of beams, which are quite laborious to construct and are carved from whole pieces of high-quality wood, are resistant to pests, and could endure for hundreds of years, indicating they were not something an average farmer could afford.

The square table and Taishi Chairs were under the screen wall, while at the very top of the wall hung a plaque full of dust, almost covering the original writing.

Suming could barely make out the four characters on the plaque but couldn't discern the content. On either side of the plaque, at the edges of the screen wall, the round columns were carved with a pair of couplets, which weren't as dusty, so the characters were readable. However, they were written in a cursive style, almost like grass script, and the lighting was dim; Suming glanced at them but hardly recognized anything.

While Suming couldn't recognize them, Zhao Yun was a specialist in this area. He walked softly into the room, aiming the flashlight at the plaque and the couplets, slowly moving it along while murmuring the words under his breath.

"It seems the owner of this house wasn't an ordinary commoner. He should have been a military officer from the Ming Dynasty," Zhao Yun said with a fair degree of certainty.

A military officer? Suming, puzzled, asked, "Wasn't this place all civilian dwellings?" The 'relics' he had taken to Zhao Yun for appraisal earlier were said by Zhao Yun to have patterns used by commoners. Since arriving at this underground complex, all the houses they had seen along the way, judging by their standards, belonged to commoners, not nobility. At most, they represented a somewhat wealthier family.

In ancient times, the class hierarchy was strict. No matter how wealthy a commoner might be, they couldn't use items reserved for nobility without committing an offense that, at its most severe, could warrant the death penalty. The bigger the family, the more they would be aware of this, with no one willing to risk making such a mistake and ruin the entire family.

Zhao Yun pondered a moment and said, "Perhaps he was a retired official who returned to his hometown to live out his days, or someone who had been deprived of his rank and exiled back to his hometown due to some offense. Anyway, from these couplets, the master of this house must have been on the battlefield and earned military merits. It isn't that they used the standards of nobility."

Not quite understanding these things, Suming just listened to what Zhao Yun said. Military officer or civil official, as long as there were no zombies or monsters, he wasn't afraid.

Just as he scanned the surroundings, from behind the screen wall came a rustling sound, as if something were dragging itself along the ground.

The sound wasn't loud, but the room was so quiet that it landed distinctly in the ears of both Zhao Yun and Suming. They almost thought they had misheard and exchanged glances, but the surprise they saw in each other's eyes confirmed they were not mistaken.

Almost simultaneously, Huiya arched its back and let out a low growl toward whatever was behind the screen wall!

Under normal circumstances, Zhao Yun and Suming would chat and joke, even making nonsensical quips. But at critical moments, they both reacted almost identically and immediately!

Startled, they both sprang into action, each taking a side, darted past the large screen wall, and made their way to the room behind.

Behind the screen wall was a half-empty room filled with shelves, pots, and the like, along with several pots of long-withered flowers. One side led to a door to the back courtyard, and the other side to a room from which the sound emanated.

Once the flashlight shone, the dust-covered ground displayed a long drag mark leading towards that door.

In the blink of an eye, Suming and Zhao Yun took a deep breath and simultaneously rushed into the room.

As the flashlight beam swept across, surprisingly, a bedroom appeared with a large copper mirror standing beside a big bed, so rusted it couldn't even reflect the flashlight's glow.

During the brief sweep of the flashlight, something seemed to flash by. Suming instinctively moved the flashlight to the side.

There stood a tall, slender figure with its back to them!

The figure wore a dark red robe, facing the direction of the large bed and mirror, as if it was admiring its own reflection.

Suming's heart pounded wildly, thinking he had mistaken hanging clothes for a person again. Since it was a bedroom, it wasn't odd for there to be clothes hanging on a rack, so he subconsciously reached out to grab the red robe.

Just as he extended his hand, Zhao Yun suddenly bellowed, "Withdraw your hand!"

From Zhao Yun's perspective, he saw it clearly, this time it wasn't just clothes—it was indeed a person!

The person's head had two tall hair buns, making the back of their head look extremely elongated, resembling a hat-wearing ghost with their shoulders slightly shuddering as though they were silently sobbing.

This wasn't a scene from "A Chinese Ghost Story"; a weeping woman in red suddenly appearing in an ancient underground house was never a good omen. In movies, such scenarios usually followed with the woman turning her face to reveal a horrifyingly pale and ghastly countenance.

***********

PS: This section won't count toward the paid word count.

Today, I noticed two more patrons, and I was prepared to add more chapters. But then I suddenly saw a comment saying, "updating ten chapters for a reward of fifty thousand..."

My heart raced at the mention of commemorative coins. Fifty thousand starting coins were one thing, but more importantly, I felt incredibly inspired by everyone's enthusiasm!

It shows that as long as I work hard, everyone is supportive enough! Effort does pay off!

But ten chapters... heavens, where would I find ten chapters? After posting on Sunday, I wrote for a whole day and currently have a backlog of ten thousand words. I was planning to save some just in case and wait until the subscription hits 1500 before releasing ten chapters in a burst.

But seeing everyone so passionate, I'm quite excited about the commemorative coins...

So here's the deal, I'll push myself, and we'll do as we did on the first day of VIP—with a minimum of two thousand words per chapter. I'll try to write some more tonight and see if I can find some time tomorrow to add a bit more. Including the current backlog, it would be best if I could reach ten chapters. But if I really can't make it, don't be disappointed, everyone!

After writing, I will set up a timed release, starting from seven in the morning, with a chapter every fifteen minutes.

I'm all in!

Lastly, I still plead for a legitimate subscription, recommendations, and monthly tickets. If the performance is good, perhaps I could score a great recommendation on the client application—it all depends on you all!