Volume 1, Chapter 66: The Third Young Master

With a heavy heart and guided by the maid Xiao Yu, he walked out of the ancestral hall. His expression was indescribable, though to say the least, rather grim.

The moment he stepped out of the ancestral hall, Qin Shang felt drafts of chilly wind piercing through his clothes.

Before him lay an unusually vast courtyard.

The courtyard was overgrown with lush greenery, though it looked as if it hadn't been pruned in a long time, causing many of the plants to grow in twisted, distorted shapes.

Outside was pitch darkness, save for a bright, disc-like white moon suspended in the void, casting a dreamlike yet eerie glow over the entire courtyard.

Complete silence reigned, broken only by the sporadic footsteps of people leaving the ancestral hall one after another.

Yet those who had just participated in the memorial ceremony were virtually silent, walking with hushed, stealthy steps.

It was as if they were deliberately controlling the volume of their movements, afraid of disturbing someone.

Noticing that Xiao Yu beside him was shivering so badly her gait had become stiff, Qin Shang remembered that the young maid was wearing very little. He quickly took off the mourning garb from his own body and handed it to the young girl.

"Young Master, this..."

"Just wear it. I'm not cold."

"I couldn't possibly!"

Xiao Yu shook her head frantically like a rattle-drum.

Qin Shang rolled his eyes. Without wasting words, he draped the garment directly over the NPC.

He was not afraid of Xiao Yu freezing to death out of tenderness toward a mere copy-generated NPC; he wasn't that sentimental.

He simply didn't want an NPC who might provide clues to kick the bucket prematurely due to environmental factors.

"This era is still too backward, with severe class rigidity. People's minds seem imprisoned by an invisible shackle, and the master-servant mindset is far too heavy. What's wrong with just lending you a piece of clothing to wear?"

Draping the garment over Xiao Yu, Qin Shang raised his chin slightly, assuming a look of exhaustion.

"I'm tired. Take me back to rest."

Only then did Xiao Yu bite her lip and obediently lead the way ahead, no longer mentioning the mourning attire.

The Lin Family Fortress was an estate built in a style similar to a traditional quadrangle courtyard. All in all, there were no buildings exceeding three stories; they were primarily low-lying, one- or two-story flat houses.

They hadn't walked far before passing through a bamboo grove, where a voluptuous woman clad in a qipao rushed toward them aggressively.

"'Lick Cockroach's Jade Feet', why aren't you wearing your mourning clothes from the ancestral hall?"

Colliding with Qin Shang head-on, the woman paused slightly in surprise.

Immediately afterward, she blocked the path of the master and servant, her phoenix eyes narrowing angrily.

"Why is your garment on the body of a servant?"

With that, she stepped forward.

*Slap—*

A sharp blow landed directly across Xiao Yu's face, sending the young girl stumbling back several steps.

"Have you forgotten all the rules? A servant daring to wear her master's clothes? You, a mere maid, are not even a blood relative of the Lin family. Who gave you permission to wear the young master's attire?"

Qin Shang reacted a half-beat too slow, largely because he hadn't expected the newcomer to resort to violence the moment she opened her mouth.

Taking the blow, Xiao Yu tumbled straight to the ground. Daring not to argue, she covered her cheek and looked at the woman in terror.

Seeing this, Qin Shang furrowed his brow.

"I told her to wear it. The ancestral hall was too cold, and I was afraid she'd freeze..."

As the saying goes, to beat a dog, one must consider its master.

The woman had struck Qin Shang's maid directly, showing no regard whatsoever for Qin Shang's dignity. This alone demonstrated that the woman did not have a good relationship with the owner of the identity Qin Shang currently inhabited within the instance.

Moreover, her status was likely higher than Qin Shang's current identity.

Otherwise, if she were truly going to strike, she would have exercised at least some caution out of deference to Qin Shang.

In other words, it was akin to a prince in an imperial court seeing the emperor's consort behaving improperly in etiquette and giving her a resounding slap.

Unless their relationship had completely broken down, what prince in his right mind would go out of his way to slap the Son of Heaven's wife?

Wasn't that courting death in the most blatant way possible?

Yet, as soon as these words left his mouth, the expression of the qipao-clad matron instantly darkened.

Before Qin Shang could speak, Xiao Yu beside him broke down first.

"Second Young Mistress, I was wrong, I was wrong! I'll never dare do it again!"

"Please punish Xiao Yu alone, do not harm the young master! The young master has just returned and may have forgotten the proper etiquette while away."

"It was me, it was me who shamelessly begged the young master for his clothes, it was me who forgot the distinction between master and servant. Please do not hold it against the young master."

The woman known as the Second Young Mistress was far from satisfied. Seemingly harboring lingering resentment from Qin Shang's earlier retorts, she stepped forward and delivered two more crisp slaps.

*Slap! Slap!*

The blows made Xiao Yu cry out in agony, after which the woman finally clapped her hands in satisfaction.

"Hmph!"

"Without rules, nothing can be accomplished. So be it. Since you committed a wrong, tonight you shall be punished to accompany the Third Young Master in escorting Miss Shen's spirit tablet to the graveyard in the back mountain."

"This is a simple task, you should have no objections, right?"

"If you feel the Third Young Master is fatigued from his journey, you may also go and escort the spirit tablet all by yourself."

A spirit tablet?

Qin Shang frowned, sensing that the way this bitch looked at him was filled with mockery and malice.

Her appearance here was no coincidence. Even if he hadn't given Xiao Yu his clothes, it felt like she would have found an excuse to pick a fight anyway.

*Aha!*

It seemed she was an NPC set by the God's Path specifically to drive the plot forward.

Xiao Yu's beatings were entirely unprovoked disasters.

Even if he had done nothing at all, running into this Second Young Mistress would likely have resulted in her using his late return as an excuse to make trouble.

*Swish!*

However, the expression on Xiao Yu's face changed drastically in an instant.

Her entire body began to tremble involuntarily.

"Second Young Mistress, I, I..."

"You what you? Didn't you see the Third Young Master hasn't spoken? Does it your turn as a mere servant to speak? What are you interrupting for?"

"Since the Third Young Master hasn't objected, then it's settled. As it happens, Number Two has been feeling a bit unwell lately and hasn't attended the third day of the ancestral sacrifices."

"Number Three, since your mourning garb is no longer of use to you, hand it over to me. Your sister-in-law will kindly wash it for you along with the rest, and you can have this maid come fetch it in a couple of days."

Having said that, the Second Young Mistress snatched the mourning garment straight off Xiao Yu's body.

Not the maid's own clothes, but the one Qin Shang had given her—the mourning robe bearing the character for 'Lin'.

Seeing this, Xiao Yu hastily lunged forward to embrace the Second Young Mistress's calf.

"No, you absolutely cannot do that! This is tantamount to sending our Third Young Master to his death, Second Young Mistre—"

*Slap! Slap!*

Before she could finish, the matron in traditional costume let out a cold snort and raised her hand once more, though this time she refrained from striking.

Qin Shang reached out and grabbed her arm.

"If my sister-in-law wants it, she can take it..."

Since Qin Shang was the Third Young Master of the Lin family, this Second Young Mistress was naturally the wife of the Lin family's Second Young Master—in other words, the sister-in-law of his current identity.

"At least you know what's good for you!"

"Hmph!"

The Second Young Mistress curled her lip.

"If it weren't for you, would the Lin family have so many damned troubles?"

"Second Young Mistress, watch your tongue..."

Xiao Yu's expression shifted.

Only then did the Second Young Mistress收敛收敛 her expression with a cold snort, spitting out the word, "Sensible."

With a mocking smile, she yanked the mourning garment away, exchanged a glance with Qin Shang, and strode off into the distance.

Soon, she vanished into the darkness of the bamboo grove.

Qin Shang finally understood the situation: his identity in this instance seemed to be the Third Young Master of the Lin family.

And this Third Young Master appeared to hold very little weight...

No matter how many senior family members there were, he was still supposed to be the legitimate Third Young Master of the dignified Lin family.

Yet during the kneeling and kowtowing in the ancestral hall, he had been relegated to the second row...

On top of that, he was treated with such utter disdain by a mere matron. His status was truly difficult to describe.

Although the main quest didn't seem to have progressed much, the encounter with the Second Young Mistress had provided him with a good deal of clues.

Watching the qipao-clad matron recede into the distance, Qin Shang quickly helped Xiao Yu up from the ground.

"Are you alright?"

The young girl clutched her swollen, red cheek, staring anxiously in the direction the Second Young Mistress had departed.

"Young Master, how, how could you let the Second Young Mistress take your mourning clothes?"

"What's wrong? Is there something special about that garment?"

Qin Shang raised an eyebrow in confusion, prompting Xiao Yu to look as though she were about to burst into tears.

"Didn't Manager Cui send you a telegram? The mourning clothes have spells cast upon them by the shamaness to ward off misfortune and keep one safe."

"After the first day of sacrifices, the Second Young Master ignored everyone's warnings and discarded his mourning garb, and immediately fell gravely ill. He must have been targeted by Miss Shen!"

"You're too foolish! If the Second Young Mistress took your mourning clothes, what are you going to do?"

Spells cast upon them?

No matter, I have the 'Cursed Red Dress' and the 'Holy Cross'.

Even if Miss Shen were to manifest as an evil spirit and come looking for me, I could still stall her for a while.

Qin Shang was currently far more curious about what on earth had transpired within the Lin family.

The background lore stated that the entire Lin family household had been slaughtered, yet the Lin family estate he currently inhabited was clearly flourishing. Combined with the main quest requiring him to survive for seventy-two hours,

this meant that the time he had entered the God's Path instance corresponded to the seventy-two hours before the Lin family's extermination.

That explained why the main quest was simply to survive for seventy-two hours...

Because seventy-two hours later, the entire Lin family household would be massacred.

Immersed in it, and currently playing the role of the Lin family's Third Young Master, he would be no exception—chances were high he would die right here in the Lin residence!

Qin Shang smiled and offered the young girl some words of comfort, casually pulling out a Holy Cross and dangling it before her eyes.

"Don't worry, I acquired quite a few treasures during my time away. You don't need to worry about me. Have you ever heard of Western missionaries?"

"This was given to me by a foreign devil... a blond-haired, blue-eyed missionary!"

His assigned persona was that of a scion who had been away for a period before returning to the Lin family, anyway. Weren't the details of what he had obtained outside entirely up to him to fabricate?

Besides, missionaries were everywhere during the Republican era; the earliest prototypes of pyramid schemes seemed to be those blond-haired, blue-eyed foreign devils.

Local residents rarely had the chance to interact with foreigners and knew nothing of any special abilities they might possess.

Upon seeing the cross, Xiao Yu felt an instinctive tremor of awe, which was swiftly replaced by genuine excitement.

"Then you must be completely safe!"

Qin Shang smiled, sensing that the young girl's excitement was entirely heartfelt. It seemed that the original owner of his current identity had indeed possessed considerable personal charm.

The next moment, Qin Shang inquired, "Is today the third day of mourning for Miss Shen?"

"Yes, the third day."

*Aha!*

Qin Shang rubbed the bridge of his nose.

The third day was still manageable.

If the seven-day limit were reached and corpses began undergoing drastic transformations, not even a legendary exorcist could salvage the situation.

Then again, one couldn't say for sure. Who knew when Miss Shen had actually passed away? Today was merely the third day of mourning for her, which didn't necessarily mean she had died precisely three days ago...

The moment this thought flashed through his mind, Qin Shang shook his head.

Moreover, I am a Trickster, not a Taoist priest.

Damn it, the God's Path didn't even have a Taoist priest class!

Even if Miss Shen hadn't mutated into a monster, but merely attained a form akin to 'El's' phantom entity, Qin Shang still wouldn't be able to deal with her—at best, he could only skirmish for a few rounds.

"Lately, have there been any strange occurrences in the household?"

The next instant, regaining his composure, Qin Shang looked down at the young maid and asked, taking a deep breath.

Everything prior had merely been appetizers; this single sentence was the question Qin Shang had been holding at the very bottom of his heart ever since he stepped foot into the instance [Lin Residence No. 37].

Sure enough.

Upon hearing this, the young girl's expression instantly twisted into a knot of dread.