Chapter 374 - Fright Amidst the Pond
Chapter 374 Fright Amidst the Pond
Lin Mengya held the pouch to her chest and a contented smile appeared on her face.
Despite the complicated process, she felt she had not made this trip in vain.
If there was nothing special about this medical book, it would naturally not be so painstakingly hidden at the bottom of the pond.
Moreover, the ginseng seal on her mother’s clothes was surprisingly the key to unlock the chain around the dragon turtle. Such an ingenious design sufficiently went to show how precious the medical book ought to be.
Perhaps she would find information on the use of Tranquil Lotus as well as things that her mother had not been able to accomplish recorded in here.
“Shush, quickly hide. It seems that someone is coming this way.”
Lin Mengya was still in the state of elation when to her surprise, Baizhi covered her mouth all of a sudden.
After the two quickly hid behind the rockery where it was dark and hidden from sight, so they were not being discovered.
Lin Mengya, who had been immersed in joy, lost all vigilance. She was lucky to have the witty Baizhi by her side.
As Lin Mengya glanced at Baizhi, who was squatting and observing what was going on around them, Lin Mengya could not help but felt comforted and reassured. The girls had matured and so had she herself.
She wished they would one day become independent power women by her side.
From the angle behind the rockery, they saw a few people acting suspiciously as they headed toward where she entered the water a moment ago.
Could someone have discovered her action just now?
Lin Mengya’s chest tightened, but she put away the thought as quickly as it came. If they were being found out, they would have been caught in the act a moment ago when there were many flaws.
If these people were trying to sneak up to them, the only possibility was that she had coincidentally gone into the water before they did.
Lin Mengya could not see the features of those men clearly under the dim light at night. In the same token, if those men had spotted Lin Mengya unexpectedly, what they saw would have been a blur.
There was no way the moonlight would go through the rockery to lit up the area behind. Lin Mengya and Baizhi could only stay put and open their eyes wide as they watch those men went about their business.
“Are you very sure that thing is really in that pond?”
One of the shadowy figures inquired softly.
“The mistress says the late Mrs. Lin had instructed that maid never to fill up the pond with soil. For this reason, I believe there must be something valuable in the pond.”
So it was the return of Ms. Tian and Tian Ning that had triggered the suspicion in Shangguan Qing.
Lin Mengya finally felt relieved and the corner of her lips curled up into a relaxed smile.
She had not locked the padlock just now. She was puzzled as to why the dragon turtle had been so friendly towards her. Nevertheless, she knew these men would definitely get into trouble with the dragon turtle.
She once heard people say that a full-grown turtle dragon in the wild could break the neck of a human with one bite. The dragon turtle in the pond was at least as big as a millstone and its shell was very hard. She could gauge that it was an adult dragon turtle.
Just as she expected, the moment the men went into the water, they could not wait but started going all around the pond to search for the treasure.
However, two men were stood at the bank, waiting anxiously for the result of their search.
“How is it going? Did you manage to spot any treasure?”
Even though those two men did not dare to raise their voices, the anxious and impatient tone in their voice could not be mistaken.
Lin Mengya waited patiently for the moment when they would meet with trouble with the dragon turtle, which had a strong territorial nature. Even she was almost overcome with fear at first.
“Not yet… ah… what’s this? Something had bit my leg! Help!”
Suddenly, a blood-curdling scream echoed from the pond.
Baizhi was filled with trepidation. Thank goodness the commotion at the pond had attracted all the attention so much so that no one had noticed them.
“What’s all that screaming? Get up here if you can’t find it!”
The person calling out was obviously worried that the commotion would alarm the people in the mansion, so he tried to hurry the men in the pond.
However, little did they expect that the men who screamed struggled and splashed in the water for a while, then he sank into the water and disappeared.
The rest of the men in the pond who witnessed everything that just happened were stunned.
Thereafter, they scrambled as hard as they could to get out of the pond, each fearing that he would be left behind and become the next victim.
“What, what just happened?”
A chilly breeze blew onto the men who were soaked through and they sneezed.
They never expected their companion to lose his life in an ordinary-looking decorative pond.
Baizhi shaken by what she witnessed, held on to Lin Mengya’s hand when the fear set in.
If her master had been unlucky just a moment ago, she would have ended up like that man…
The scene was too horrible to even think about.
“What happened? Where is he?”
Those men standing at the bank only heard the man’s cries, but they actually did not see what exactly happened in the pond.
Trembling with fear, one man standing on the huge rocks by the pond and refused to get into the water again.
“There’s a ghost in the water!” he stammered.
No one expected him to answer in this way.
At this instant, the moon in the sky was coincidentally blocked by a large dark cloud. The pond had returned to its usual calm and the atmosphere was even more bizarre and desolate.
Hiding in the corner, Lin Mengya was unable to see the person’s face clearly, but she could clearly hear him swallowing.
“Why, why did this happen? There are no such things as ghosts in this world! This happened most likely because you were careless!”
The man, however, had not given up and strained his voice in a roar.
In the next second, all the men let out a horrible shriek filled with fear.
“God! A Ghost!”
Right at the center of the pond, a lifeless human body floated to the surface of the water.
Lin Mengya had a keen sense of smell. Although diluted by the water, the odor of blood was unmistakable and it shot up her nose.
She reached out her hand to cover Baizhi’s eyes to prevent her from letting out a scream at the horrible sight, which would be too much for her.
It was a badly mutilated corpse.
At this moment, the body was standing upside down right at the center of the pond. It bobs up and down in the water but did not fall flat. At the sight, everyone was greatly shaken and terrified.
“So I, I heard… that over a decade ago, the Elder Miss Lin had been frightened by a ghost here!”
Someone blurted out the mansion’s secret with a trembling voice.
The dark cloud dispersed and the silver moonlight shone onto the maimed corpse, which appeared even more appalling.
“Run… quickly flee!”
Their sharp and unpleasant cries seemed to be forced out of their throat. Thereafter, the remaining men ran off in all directions. They seemed to think that lagging behind would cause them to be slain by the ghost.
They were in such a panic that they did not care which way they were headed. One of them almost tripped where Lin Mengya and Baizhi was hiding.
Lin Mengya and Baizhi felt their heart in their mouth at that moment.
Fortunately, those men had all been so unnerved that none of them noticed that there were other people hiding behind the rockery.
Lin Mengya and Baizhi waited for those men to be completely out of their sight before they emerged from behind their hiding place.
By this time, the mangled body had completely disappeared.
“Master, master, are there really ghosts in this world?”
The fear that remained in Baizhi spurred her to tug on her master’s sleeves. Although she had missed that blood-curdling sight, she could more or less guess what happened judging from the how frightened those men were.
“Where’s the ghost? If there really is, it would be in their hearts. Rest assured that nothing will happen with me around.”
Lin Mengya, not taking this matter to heart, turned around and walked to the side of the pond.
She was pondering over the reason the dragon turtle had acted indifferently towards her.
How was it that it turned savage again? The answer might lie in the seal which was the key to the lock.
Perhaps this dragon turtle was reared by her mother or some professional trainer. If this were the case, he would still be eaten if someone were to go near to the dragon turtle without carrying the key.
At this moment, her belief that the item which her mother had hidden was certainly very precious. With so many layers of protection, even if the secret had been discovered, it would be extremely difficult to lay hands on the item.
However, were the men who came today here to seek the treasure?
Lin Mengya stared at the rippling pond. Her heart was likened to the pond that could no longer revert to its initial calm.
She had hidden the little cloth pouch near her chest in her clothes. All the servants in the mansion did not have the audacity to trail behind to check on her because they were afraid of her.
This way, Lin Mengya had escaped much trouble.
After Lin Mengya and Baizhi returned to their bedroom, she felt that she had been drained of all energy after a perilous night.
After washing up, Lin Mengya went to bed and only woke up around midday.
As Baizhi helped get Lin Mengya ready after she got out of bed, she heard the rumor that a few servants in the mansion had suddenly died of illness the night before.
The physicians in the mansion merely explained that they died of strange reasons. However, they assured the people it was not pestilence and there was nothing to worry about. Lin Mengya laughed grimly, knowing that those men had only been killed to be silenced. These people were indeed ruthless and cruel.
“Could it be those same men who tried to get into the pond in search of something?”
Baizhi asked softly as she nimbly did up Lin Mengya’s hair.
Lin Mengya smiled but remained silent. She thought that would naturally be the case. Nevertheless, Lin Mengya believed that they were not simply there to look for the treasure. Otherwise, why would they be eradicated after being used for once?
It only showed that they were too stupid and it was feared that they would leak out information. Otherwise, the mastermind could have waited for Lin Mengya and Lin Nansheng to leave before getting rid of those men quietly.
“Little Sister, have you heard what had happened in the mansion?”
Lin Nansheng, who had just finished practicing martial arts, was wearing a white long coat with his hair secured with a wooden hair clasp.
Not only was there no longer any sign of fatigue on his handsome face, but his eyes were also sparkling with light as he gazed at Lin Mengya.
“Hm, I’ve certainly heard about it. Everyone was talking it since early morning as if they were afraid that no one knows about it.”