An Xin put on her outer robe, casually lit a lantern, and said perfunctorily, "If you're afraid to come alone, you can come with me."
Dewdrop was immediately terrified, her teeth chattering. However, she was worried about her young mistress going out alone, and of course, she was afraid that a female ghost would come looking for her if she stayed at home alone. So she had no choice but to bite the bullet and say, "Miss, I'm worried about you. I'd better stay with you."
An Xin couldn't help but laugh and said, "Okay, don't scream when you see a female ghost!"
Dewdrop forced herself to get up, carefully and cautiously carrying a lantern for Anxin, and followed her out of the house step by step.
The night was deep and still, and there was not a sound in the surroundings. There was no light in the distance, except for the lamp in Dewdrop's hand, which emitted a faint glow.
Dewdrop tugged at Anxin's sleeve, glancing behind her every now and then, as if she felt something was following her.
An Xin was forced to slow down. To be honest, for a moment she wanted to knock this girl down with one punch and then leave, but seeing her trembling and tugging at her sleeve, another feeling arose in her heart.
In her past life, she had never been relied upon by anyone so much, or ever relied on someone so much. This feeling was both unfamiliar and refreshing to her.
"Miss, aren't you afraid?" Dewdrop wished she could shrink into a tiny ball and be stuffed into her mistress's pocket. But after asking the question, she realized it was pointless. If her mistress was afraid, why would she have come out?
Of course, her young lady naturally ignored her question.
An Xin had memorized the path perfectly; even without light, she could walk in the dark. Relying on her memory, she slowly walked towards the direction from which the sound came.
This time, the direction didn't come from the grove or the riverbank, but from the direction of Beilong Mountain.
The further An Xin went, the stronger her sense of foreboding became. In fact, that sense of foreboding was always there, and it would follow her like a shadow until the murderer was caught.
It was that sticky, bloody smell again, though very faint, it was unmistakably there.
An Xin suddenly stopped in her tracks, and Lu Zhu also stopped in fear, whispering, "Miss, what's wrong?"
An Xin pursed her lips slightly and said, "Wait for me here, don't wander off."
Dewdrop cried out in fear, "No, I don't want to! I must stay with you, Miss!" Wouldn't she be even more frightened if she stayed behind?
"There's a ghost ahead!" An Xin stared ahead without moving. Lu Zhu felt a chill run down her spine. Using the light of the lantern, she cautiously looked ahead. The next moment, her eyes rolled back and she fainted.
An Xin had no choice but to reach out and catch her, and for the first time in her life, she felt a sense of helplessness.
With her injured arm gripping the lantern and her other hand embracing the dewdrops, An Xin gazed calmly ahead.
A pale figure stood in front of them.
Just as the dewdrop described, the white-clad figure was like a ghost, with her hair disheveled and obscuring her face. In the light mist, she was eerily ghostly!
An Xin's gaze fell on her fingernails, sharp as iron hooks, dripping with blood, staining her white robe red, like a strangely blooming poppy.
An Xin slowly placed the dewdrop on the ground, and then walked step by step toward the female ghost.
Suddenly, the female ghost stretched out her sharp claws and grabbed at An Xin!
The claws come at you fiercely; once the sharp claws touch you, the skin will be torn and bleeding.
An Xin suddenly leaned back, but at the same time kicked out with her toes, aiming her kick at the female ghost with a tricky force!
However, the female ghost was clearly skilled in martial arts. She suddenly turned around and her sharp claws reached for An Xin again, aiming straight for An Xin's eyes.
An Xin's heart sank, and she suddenly reached out to grab the female ghost's wrist.
The female ghost dodged quickly, but An Xin had already increased the force of her foot. The female ghost dodged again, but An Xin was just feinting. Another fist slammed hard into her cheek!
The female ghost clenched her sharp claws, and those long, sharp claws pierced An Xin's fist in an instant. An Xin ignored the pain and continued to punch her fist mercilessly.
"Bang!"
The fist missed the ghost's face and struck her body instead. Using the force of the punch, the ghost retreated abruptly and vanished in the next instant.
An Xin then felt a sharp pain and was about to chase after it when Dewdrop let out a soft moan behind her. Only then did she remember that there was someone holding her back. The female ghost's figure had already disappeared, and both of her hands were injured, so chasing after her would be futile. Besides, she was also a little worried about leaving Dewdrop here.
Looking through the darkness ahead, there was undoubtedly a gruesome corpse. An Xin glanced at the dewdrop; it had already woken up. Then, An Xin covered her ears and, sure enough, heard it scream shrilly: "A ghost!"
****
When Feng Yi arrived, An Xin had already completed the autopsy.
The manner of death was the same as the previous two people. The only thing worth mentioning is that this deceased person, named "Qin Mazi," also moved to Huadong Village ten years ago. Coincidences do exist, but the probability is extremely low.
"What happened to your hand?" Feng Yi grabbed An Xin's hand, his expression worried.
An Xin withdrew her hand and said, "I encountered a female ghost last night and we had a fight."
Feng Yi's expression suddenly changed: "What? You encountered a female ghost!?"
An Xin hummed in agreement, then called out to Yang Hu, "Brother Yang, did you find the things I asked you to look for in Huabei Village and Huadong Village?"
Yang Hu immediately walked over and took out two small wooden figures from his pocket, saying, "Found them, but this thing is truly terrifying."
An Xin glanced at Ning Mei and said, "To prevent the murderer from committing further crimes, Brother Yang should still thoroughly search every household to see if they have such a thing."
Yang Hu said, "Alright, but I'm afraid some people won't dare to hand it over."
An Xin said calmly, "No, they will definitely hand it over. Three of them have already died. Not handing it over means death!"
Feng Yi looked at the small wooden figure and said, "It seems that female ghosts send a small wooden figure before killing someone. How did you discover that?"
An Xin stroked the little wooden figure with her fingertips and turned around, saying, "Come with me."
Feng Yi looked at her simply bandaged hand, took out a bottle of ointment from his pocket and said, "Although it's just ordinary wound medicine, it's better than nothing. Let me bandage it for you."
An Xin glanced at the jade-colored bottle and thought it looked quite similar to Yan Zhen's bottle. She figured it wouldn't hurt to apply it, so she reached out her hand.