He Became a Salted Fish After Inheriting Millions of Secret Arts

"Why are you here?"

"It's a long story." Alther was trembling, he was only in his pajamas, "I slept until midnight, and suddenly felt out of breath. When I opened my eyes, I saw a pair of hands that appeared out of nowhere to strangle me. I hurriedly woke up Mr. Yeats , ran away with him, but couldn’t escape at all, the space of this house—”

"—Distorted." Duan Feizhuo finished for him.

"So you also met?" Yeats asked.

"It's not just met! I just met the undead! The undead wandering here are the past lords and wives!"

Xenophon bathed in the moonlight that didn't exist at all, with a shovel on his shoulder and a staff of civilization pinned to his waist, he bounced into the oak forest.

He was humming and walking briskly. The owls cooed above him, the leaves rustled in the wind, and everything seemed to echo his out-of-key song.

Once in the oak forest, he quickly lost his way. But it doesn't matter, he has his own way to get out. It doesn't matter if he can't get out, then he won't have to work from dawn to dusk every day. It's just that Z and the newcomer are a bit pitiful. If his guess is correct, then their situation is extremely dangerous.

But Xenophon was sure they would be safe. He saw no death in them. And he's always right.

"Let me see, where is it this time?"

Xenophon looked around and selected an old tree stump. It was completely decayed, perhaps decades since it was felled.

Without further ado, he dug directly. Starting from the roots of the tree, he dug up the soil with one shovel after another. After digging for a while, he was tired, so he leaned on the shovel and looked up at the sky.

"It's no wonder that gravediggers are a specialized profession. You really shouldn't underestimate this job." He said with emotion.

There is no moonlight tonight, which is the most suitable night for ghosts to appear.

"No." He muttered to himself, "I'm a mystic, why do I have to dig it with my hands?"

He dropped the shovel, pulled out the staff of civilization, and pointed at the shallow pit he had dug. The soil in the pit dug out automatically, and a hill was piled up beside it.

When I was about six feet deep, something appeared in the hole.

Xenophon put down his staff of civilization, jumped to the edge of the pit, bent down and looked inside.

"Poor man." He shook his head and sighed, "Don't worry, I will set you free tonight."

"So, the ghosts of Lord Perilla have been haunting the generations, and they are the culprits of all the strange things in the manor?"

After listening to Duan Feizhuo's narration, Yeats touched his chin.

"It's not impossible. But Lord Perilla is their direct descendant, why would they murder their own descendants?"

Yeats seemed to have thought of something inadvertently, and grabbed Duan Feizhuo's shoulder, "The trading house! Please go to the trading house and bring out two books!"

Duan Feizhuo always carries the magic circle talisman paper of the trading house with him. Fortunately, Z and Xenophon did not search him before, otherwise he would not be able to clean up after jumping into the Thames River.

He entered the trading house and took out the two books Yeats needed. One is the genealogy of the Midlow family, and the other is the notes on the previous renovations of Oak Manor. They were all found by Yeats in the secret research room of the former lord, and they are temporarily stored in the secret trading company.

Regardless of the danger they were in, Yeats picked up a book and began to read quickly. Al approached with a lamp to illuminate him.

Duan Feizhuo looked around uneasily, and urged, "Mr. Yeats, can't we read it after we go out?"

"All truth is hidden in books." Yeats said enigmatically.

He turned the two books to the last page, adjusted his glasses, and looked solemn.

"What did you find?" Duan Feizhuo asked eagerly.

"A few very interesting facts." Yeats said, "The genealogy records the dates of birth and death of sixteen generations of the masters and wives of the Midlow family. The strange thing is that each generation of wives can be considered to have died young, Comparing the birth dates of their children, we can see that they all died within one to three years of giving birth to their eldest son. The causes of death were all illnesses, except for the current Lord Perilla's mother. She is still alive today."

"Do you know what I'm thinking of?" Duan Feizhuo lowered his voice, for fear that his words would be heard by the invisible ghost, "Bluebeard, the nobleman who killed his wife."

"But the Midlow family is different from Bluebeard. The owners of the past generations never remarried after the death of their original wives. Of course, several of the owners had illegitimate children, which means that they at least found mistresses after their wives died, but these mistresses never got married. .”

"Then, the early deaths of the wives of the past are all coincidences?"

Yeats smiled darkly: "Leave that aside. The second interesting fact is that no child in the Midlow family has ever died. You must know that in the past when medicine was not prosperous, the death rate of children was astonishingly high. Even if you are an aristocrat, the **** of death treats everyone equally. However, even during the epidemic period, no child in the Midlow family has ever died, and all children have grown up safely and healthily."

"That doesn't sound like a coincidence..."

"The third point." Yeats showed the repair ledger, "According to these records, every time the lady passes away for the first anniversary, the Oak Manor will be renovated, and most of the materials come from the Lord's private woodland. The most recent renovation The record is thirty years ago. At that time, the mansion caught fire and was almost burned to nothing. That repair was almost equivalent to rebuilding, but all the materials were shipped from other places, and it cost a lot of money.”

Duan Feizhuo shuddered. "You know what I'm reminded of again? Edgar Allan Poe's "Black Cat", the main character killed his wife and built the body into the wall. Could those renovations be to hide the body..."

"Isn't it too late to hide the body after being dead for a year?" Al said.

Duan Feizhuo said, "But the cause of death of the wives of the past is indeed suspicious, and they have indeed turned into ghosts and wandered in this manor. The undead attached to the chair also thought of the lady. Ghosts can be attached to items used in life, right? ?”

Yeats nodded, "They can indeed linger where they walked before, or they can be attached to something and move around."

"Then the truth is obvious. Lords and ladies of the past have died with hatred, and now they have turned into ghosts to seek revenge on the current owner of the Midlow family. All the supernatural phenomena only appeared after the death of the previous Lord, because he was a member of the family. The last one who knows the secret technique, once he dies, the protective barrier of the manor will also be invalidated, so..."

"The Lord is their direct descendant," Yeats reminded him. "Do you think the Lord's grandmother would have wanted to murder her grandson?"

"How can I know the thoughts of ghosts?" Duan Feizhuo sarcastically, "They have all become ghosts, is there any logic?"

Yeats closed the two books, "The difference between what Mr. Chester said. Everything in the world has logic to be found, but the naked eye cannot perceive it."

Books are about logic. Real life is **** bullshit. Duan Fei is clumsy.

"Let's not stand here and talk," he said. "We have to find a way to escape and get Z out by the way."

"You mean the night watchman?" Al said, shrinking his shoulders. "Wouldn't it be better for him to be stuck here for the rest of his life?"

"Rescuing him can sell his favor." Duan Feizhuo said.

In fact, he doesn't care about human feelings or not, he just simply wants to rescue Z. Even if Z survives, it will bring him all kinds of troubles.

"I'm going to the trade shop to get something."

He entered the trading house again, and took out the Sword in the Stone from the iron box under the counter.

"Oh, you think of me!" Shi Zhongjian shouted loudly.

"I don't know why, but as soon as you appeared, the supernatural atmosphere disappeared."

"Spiritual? Have you encountered a ghost? Then I won't be able to handle it." Shi Zhongjian was very self-aware of his business scope.

"You are the sword of the king, can't you even kill ghosts?... No, they are already dead, and it is impossible to die a second time..."

"That's the problem, young man! How do you kill the undead? If you want to deal with ghosts, I suggest you use the lamp over there."

Duan Feizhuo raised his head and saw the wind lantern presented to him by Mrs. Wei Liu. Lady Willow says she can drive away evil, but only with a hidden fire.

Hidden fire... when he first heard the word, he was completely puzzled by it. But after reading the book he bought from Yeats, he already knew what it was.

Fire in alchemy is divided into four levels, which are natural fire, hidden fire, central fire and heavenly fire. Among them, the hidden fire refers to the flame contained in everyone's body, and only real mystics know how to control it. If this lamp is to be ignited with the hidden fire, it must be said that it must be ignited by a secret technique, and cannot be ignited by ordinary fire.

"Will it work?" he asked Sword in Stone.

"Anyway, you don't have anything else to use, so let's treat a dead horse as a living horse doctor."

Duan Feizhuo sighed, took out the lantern from the display cabinet, and hung it on his belt. He still doesn't know how to ignite this thing, so he has to go back and ask Yeats for advice.

He left the trading house with the sword in the stone and returned to the corridor. The magic circle talisman lay at his feet, but Yeats and Al disappeared. Only the broken lantern stood alone in the corner, flickering with dim light.

"Yeats? Al?" Duan Feizhuo stuffed the talisman into his pocket and called out their names.

A chill came from behind. He dodges subconsciously.

A pair of white arms protruded from the wall, like twisted white snakes, baring their fangs and claws to bully them.

"do not come!"

Duan Feizhuo pulled out the sword from the stone and slashed at Baishou. The blade passed through the white hand, but it didn't hurt it at all, as if the white hand was just a pair of illusory shadows.

- They are not illusory when they catch people!

"Lamp! Lamp!" Shi Zhongjian roared.

Duan Feizhuo took off the wind lamp that claimed to be able to dispel evil from his belt, and held it high in front of his white hands.

"Come on, you ugly monster!" he shouted threateningly, "Look what a big baby this is! Are you afraid!"

Baishou hesitated for a moment, then rushed towards Duan Feizhuo with lightning speed.

"It's not easy!" Duan Feizhuo screamed and dodged the white hand's attack.

"How can you use it without lighting it up!" The Sword in the Stone roared.

"I won't!"

"It really is an idiot!"

Duan Feizhuo had to dodge White Hand while enduring the muttering of Sword in the Stone ("My God, how can I have a master like you! Where is my destined king!"). He rushed towards the end of the corridor desperately, kicked open a door and broke in.

He entered the ballroom. The dance floor is big enough to accommodate twenty couples of men and women dancing together, and there is still space left.

He ran to the door on the other side of the ballroom. This time he entered the study, not the research room hidden in the hedge maze, but the ordinary study used to conceal people's eyes. The collection of books accumulated by the successive Lords of Perilla is so magnificent that any book lover will regard this place as paradise.

Duan Feizhuo has no time to appreciate the superb scenery here. He turned and opened the door and entered the restaurant.

He thought that he would be able to avoid the attack of white hands by using the chaotic characteristics of the room to keep running away, but he didn't expect that a pair of white hands immediately stretched out from the wall of the restaurant, blocking his way. He could only turn back and open the door to see where he would be teleported this time.

He went back to the mistress' bedroom.

"Come on..." Duan Feizhuo moaned.

In an instant, countless pairs of soft white hands spewed out from the ground, wrapping tightly around Duan Feizhuo's legs.

The vine-like white hands almost covered him from the knees down, and they continued to climb. The ground gradually became soft, and the carpeted floor turned into a swamp. In the blink of an eye, Duan Feizhuan below his ankle sank into the floor.

"The sword in the stone!" Duan Feizhuo shouted.

"Your body...can't move at all!" Shi Zhongjian roared.

Pairs of white hands climbed onto Duan Feizhuo's body, wrapping his arms like layers of spider silk. He couldn't even lift his arms. This is how Z was captured. The same fate happened to the missing Yeats and Aldo. Duan Feizhuo is the only one left now, and he will soon be with them as well.

White hands climbed onto Duan Feizhu's cheeks. The skin they touched seemed to be coated with something cold and sticky. The slender fingers even reached into his ears. It felt like ice water poured into the ear canal. A strange sound scratched his eardrums. It sounded like a scream, or the noise of fingernails scratching a wooden board.

Duan Feizhuo couldn't speak, he could only make a "woo hoo".

Why has misfortune and disasters followed since he traveled to this world? Is he really born with no luck? If this is his destiny, then he...

— He must not give in to this!

"Give me — let go!"

The fear and anger that had been accumulated for a long time broke out at this moment.

The wind lamp in his hand bloomed with dazzling brilliance, like a thousand suns rising from the night, dispelling the boundless darkness and chill.

The white hand seemed to be scalded by the light, and quickly retracted to the ground. The ground was also flat and firm again.

Duan Feizhuo knelt on the ground, gasping for breath. For some reason, his heart was beating fast, and the blood was oversupplied to his limbs and bones. It wasn't the result of being frightened, it was more like being out of breath after sprinting a kilometer.

The light from the wind lamp was so bright and pure that the whole bedroom was illuminated as bright as day. Duan Feizhuo looked at the dressing table, only his figure was reflected in the mirror.

"Wow, well done." Shi Zhongjian seemed to forget that it had scolded Duan Feizhuo as an idiot just now, "Did you come to this room before?"

Duan Feizhuo clutched his heaving chest. He could feel his heart beating violently through his clothes.

"Yes, there is also a ghost of a woman in the mirror."

"It means that the ghost liked that dressing table very much when he was alive. Ghosts generally like to be in a place where they feel comfortable, unless they are forced to be expelled or bound to a certain place. Take a closer look at that dressing table, do you see any clues? ?”

"Farewell! If I see something unclean again, I will be scared to death!"

"Your uncle can not only see the special power on the items, but also see the aura left by their owners on the items. He even knows who the owner is and what they have done before. Of course, it is his long-term study. And the results of practice. I don’t expect you to see it so clearly when you first come up, but seeing something will help you fight against ghosts, won’t it?”

Duan Feizhuo looked at the sword in the stone that was shining brightly under the light.

"You can also speak human words occasionally."

He swept away the cosmetic box on the dressing table to make a place for the lantern. With the sword in the stone on his lap, he sat in front of the dressing table and gazed intently into the mirror.

He could see nothing but his own face. Even his face looked grotesque, and the light shining from below cast strange shadows on his face, as if wearing a sinister mask, which made him feel creepy to see.

—Show me your master.

Duan Feizhuo said silently in his heart.

—I wonder what happened to your master. Ladies who have used you, Lords and Ladies of all ages, let me see what they are like.

Ripples appeared on the surface of the mirror. Duan Feizhuo's eyes widened, and he hurried to the mirror to observe carefully.

Suddenly, his face in the mirror disappeared and was replaced by a pale woman's face.

The woman was combing her shawl-length hair. She is also very familiar, but she is not a member of the portrait army in the hall, because she is still alive - Duan Feizhuo recognized that she is the mother of the current Lord Perilla, Lady Edith.

In the mirror, she is at least twenty years younger than she is now, but her indifferent and arrogant look has not been changed by time. She wore a heavy, fur-trimmed dress, and she had a brazier by her side for warmth. She looked in the mirror, her eyes were indifferent, but there was a trace of sadness, as if she was about to attend someone's funeral.

The door opened, and a well-dressed man walked in. He was holding a tattered little silver-gray book. He and the lord look similar, and Duan Feizhuo speculates that he is the lord's father.

"Why don't you let the maid come and comb your hair?" asked the former lord.

His wife said coldly, "I don't want to see others today. I can take care of myself. When I didn't have a personal maid, I didn't live with my hair disheveled every day."

"So... are you ready?"

"I've got everything settled about the house. The new governess is very nice, and I think she's good enough for her job. The cook is getting old, and she'll be retiring in two years, but that's all right. I think the girl she helps is pretty good. You remember to send her to learn cooking. Besides, I have also decided on the candidate for the next housekeeper. Let Hote come. Although he has not been in our house for a long time, he You have rich experience, after I am gone, you need a capable helper..."

The former Lord looked sadly at his wife.

"Why don't you refuse?"

"This is for the family, for the territory, for my children, isn't it?" The lady closed her eyes, "Will it be... painful?"

"No. I will take you into the woods and give you a sleeping pill first, and you won't feel anything." The former Lord turned to the window, and from his position he could clearly see the lush oak forest, "This is The secret technique that our family has passed down from generation to generation has been using this secret technique since the first generation of Lord Perilla." The former Lord patted the cover of the silver-gray book.

"It's been working really well, hasn't it?" Lady Edith smiled sarcastically.

"Yes." The former lord sighed, "The Midlow family has not been prosperous, but every child can live to adulthood in good health. He is only a small lord in a remote village, but he has accumulated so much wealth. It's all Thanks to this secret technique."

"But you have to make a lot of sacrifices." The lady's expression darkened.

"When my father taught me this secret technique, he said that all sacrifices are worthwhile. Isn't it worth it to sacrifice one person's life to protect the entire family, the entire land, and the people on this land? "

"Do you agree with him?" asked Lady Edith.

The former Lord was noncommittal. He walked to the window, pressed the glass, and said softly, "I only know that my mother's sacrifice gave me everything I have now. This secret technique is a unique spiritual technique. Do you know the origin of May Day? It is a festival dedicated to Diana, the goddess of the forest. Diana is in charge of plants, harvest and fertility, and making a marriage contract with her means that there will be plenty of grain and good weather. Therefore, every May Day, people will elect a man and a woman, let them Play as the king of the forest and the goddess of the forest.

"The principle of this secret technique is the reversed version of May Day's origin. Instead of marrying the forest goddess, let one's wife become a forest goddess. This secret technique requires burying a person alive under a tree, letting her body and soul Decay in the soil, turn into the nourishment of the tree, and finally merge with the tree. When the tree grows up, she is the tree, and the tree is she, there is no difference. Her roots extend in all directions, and her branches and leaves cover the sky. If you take her Cut it down, build a house with its wood, and she will become a part of the house... No, it should be said that the house is her.

"She knows everything that happened in this land, she can protect her people and resist her enemies. It is because of this sacrifice that the Midlow family has achieved prosperity and wealth, and the children of the family no longer die prematurely due to disease , the people of this land have lived a life without worrying about food and clothing. Everything we have today is thanks to this secret technique."

Lady Edith dropped the hand that held the comb. Her hand was shaking, and she pressed her wrist with the other hand, not wanting her husband to discover her weakness.

"No wonder all the wives of Lord Perilla died young," said Lady Edith bitterly. "No wonder you want to marry me. My father was a poor country gentleman, and I married a titled Noble, everyone praises my luck, but in fact my luck is the worst. You chose me because I had no choice at the time. You will pay off my father's debts and prepare a generous dowry for my sisters. So no matter what request you make, I can only obey."

Lady Edith wore her long hair in a bun, netted it, and adorned it with a tiara of gems and pearls. In the mirror, she was beautiful and radiant, and her indifferent expression made her not like a lady, but like a marble goddess of ancient Greece.

"I'm ready," she said. "Let's go."

She lifted her skirt and walked towards the door. The former lord was still standing at the window, gazing dreamily at the scenery outside, or perhaps at his own face.

"What's the matter with you?" Madam asked back.

"You are mistaken, Edith," whispered the lord.

"Which part are you referring to?"

The former lord lowered his head, clutching the silver-gray book tightly. "I didn't marry you because you yielded easily. I fell in love with you the moment I saw you at Earl Lincoln's ball. That was your first mistake."

The lady's eyes became crystal clear. She turned her head so that her husband could not see her expression. "What about the second one?"

"You don't hate me either."

"Of course I hate you! You're going to kill me, turn me into a tree, and then use the tree to build a house. I don't hate you to be a ghost!"

"That was in the past." The Lord turned around and met his wife's eyes, his eyes were full of determination, "From now on, you won't hate me anymore."

After speaking, he resolutely threw the silver-gray book into the brazier.