劍問蒼天 - 第201章 異人 - 翰墨軒

Xiao Wan ignored him and walked quickly to the Wild Wolf Daoist's side, looking ahead. Sure enough, at the end of the little path stood a house, and by the look of it not a small one either. But from a distance the courtyard was overgrown, the walls broken, not a trace of human habitation about it—clearly long abandoned.

Zhou Yixuan came up slowly, wagging his head and clicking his tongue, still seeming to praise himself. Xiao Wan shot him a look and scolded, "Hurry up, Grandfather."

With that, the three made their way toward the house. The night wind blew, and it was somewhat cold out on the wilderness; all three shrank their necks.

Drawing near, they saw it more clearly: it was truly a dilapidated house. The old perimeter wall had collapsed in places and crumbled in others; even the courtyard gate was nothing but a battered, crumbling doorframe, the door panels long gone. Within the courtyard stood but a single building, and from outside the roof seemed to be missing half of itself, the beams exposed. The house still had a door, left ajar. The whole structure appeared to have been built of planks, and after years of wind and rain, a musty smell drifted over on the breeze.

Xiao Wan frowned, but Zhou Yixuan was rather pleased. He walked slowly into the courtyard and looked about. Though weeds grew thick, there was nothing else strange to be seen. It seemed that although he still could not recall what this house had been, at least there should be no danger here.

He turned and called Xiao Wan and the Wild Wolf Daoist in. Xiao Wan came to Zhou Yixuan's side, hesitated a moment, then suddenly turned to the Wild Wolf Daoist: "Daoist, don't you feel that the layout of this house is something we've seen somewhere before?"

The Wild Wolf Daoist was startled and looked around, but after a long while could make nothing of it. He shook his head to say he did not know. Zhou Yixuan said impatiently: "What would you remember? This house is ancient—even your grandfather here can't recall it, so could you really have seen it before?"

Xiao Wan shrugged. "Fair enough. Never mind, let's go in and have a look."

Zhou Yixuan gave a chuckle and waved his hand: "Come then," and led the two of them up the stone steps before the house. With a creak, he pushed the door open.

Just as Zhou Yixuan stood in the doorway, craning his neck and peering into the dark interior, Xiao Wan suddenly felt something shift beneath her foot—she had stepped on something. Looking down, she saw a battered black plaque with what seemed to be writing on it. Curiosity roused, she crouched, pulled the black wooden plaque from the rubble, brushed away the debris, and looked closely. A moment later her body gave a sudden shudder; she staggered back several steps, her face pale, a flash of anger in her eyes, and cried out: "Grandfather, look—what is this place?"

Zhou Yixuan turned in astonishment. Clearly, though he had been peering about for some time, it was too dark inside, and he had not yet made anything out. "What is it, Xiao Wan?"

Xiao Wan pointed at his feet. "See for yourself."

Zhou Yixuan looked down, examined the wooden plaque closely, and suddenly froze. He shook his head, rubbed his eyes, looked again, and then with a sudden cry of "Ah!" leaped down from the stone steps with an agility that belied his years.

On that black plaque, though the writing was somewhat blurred, two characters could still be made out: "Morgue."

Xiao Wan was both furious and frightened. "What kind of path are you leading us on—bringing us to a cursed place like this again! You did this once before, back in He Yin City!"

Zhou Yixuan's old face flushed red and pale by turns with sheer embarrassment. "Well—well, didn't I say so myself? I really did only remember there was a house here, but I honestly couldn't recall what it was for. So it was—so it was—"

Xiao Wan spat. "You and your endless talk! Enough, enough—let's go!"