Raid on Shen manor

Little did they realize that behind a wall, there was a pair of amber gray eyes peering at the three figures running away as if their lives depended on it.

When they were out of sight, the hidden figure moved from behind the wall. One could see that it was the small figure of a little girl, she looked to be about seven or eight years old, dressed in a thin cotton-padded jacket and simple cloth shoes. Her ink black hair was pulled into two buns on each side of her head, it made her seem childlike. Her body seemed very frail as if she could be easily blown away by a gust of wind. Her skin was pale like snow, with cute features that made her look adorable.

She seemed to have understood every word that was spoken between the three, as she started toward the forested land with a gaze that did not belong to a child. Wavering on whether she should go.

~

Lian and housekeeper Jiang stood a good distance away from the door that led to the forbidden ground. They were extremely respectful of the old master and listened to his orders, even if he was unable to give them orders.

They had both waited patiently for well over three hours, it had been a while since Zhong, Da and Zan had entered the forbidden ground and had not yet come out. The other servants had long retreated in to wait, while some already left because the forbidden ground did not seem like a place that there would be anything worth noting.

After all, the old master was only an imperial physician, he may have occupied the highest position, but his money most likely went to the medicine shops, for he was a firm believer in the advancement of medicine.

"They aren't back yet, uncle Jiang, should we go in and look for them?" Lian turned to housekeeper Jiang and asked.

Housekeeper Jian had his eyes closed "No, keep waiting." he answered.

Lian seemed like she wanted to say something, but changed her mind when she saw that housekeeper Jiang had his eyes closed. She could only keep watching the door silently.

After a while, there was a shout, "Uncle Jiang, they're back!" Lian shouted.

Her voice startled housekeeper Jiang into opening his eyes to see the blurry figures of three people running toward the door, all trying to fit through the narrow door at once. Some servants who came out from inside at Lian's shout, to meet with the three people bumping into each other, trying to fit through the door.

In normal circumstances, they would laugh if it were not for the three sweating profusely, muttering incoherently and foaming at the mouth. The servants decided that they should help the three people that they warned against going into the forbidden ground with the goodness of their hearts.

Obviously, there was nothing good about that place judging by how the three people that went in just three hours ago ended up.

"What happened to you guys?"

"Corpses… bodies everywhere… monsters…" Da repeatedly muttered, he was the only one awake at this point. Zhong and Zan were out coldly.

"What? Say it clearly." Lian said what everyone was thinking, they were all stumped at the mindless muttering.

"Let them rest, we'll ask them when they wake up." Housekeeper Jiang said, stopping Lian from trying to slap the three awake.

"Okay," Lian said as the servants tried their best to bring the three back inside, without them falling to the ground.

~

When the sun was about to set, the three who fainted were still unconsciously sleeping on the beds, the servants had nothing to do, but sit around and wait until Da, Zhong, or Zan awoke.

Aside from that, there was not much work to do, since there was no head of household to give orders. Even when old master Shen was at home, there was barely any work. They began suspecting that the old master had taken pity upon them, not wanting to dismiss them from their jobs.

Zhong was the first person to wake up.

"Ahhhhh~!" He made sure everyone in the manor knew with his ear deafening screech.

Housekeeper Jiang, Lian along with some servants rushed in immediately, to see Zhong hugging his pillow like he had just seen a ghost.

"Zhong, what happened? Why are you like this?" A servant asked Zhong who was clinging to the pillow and shivering uncontrollably.

"Ghosts… Dead bodies… Zombies!" Zhong said in incomplete sentences.

"What the hell is he saying?" Someone angrily asked.

"How the freak would I know."

"Yeah, tell us, what did you see?"

Zhong tried his best to control his mind that was firing at a thousand li's per second. Taking heavy breaths, he said: "When we went in, we saw many dead bodies, maybe a few hundred. They have been in that crumbling building for a long time, it smells terrible. Later when we were walking, there was the sound of some shattering sound... The dead must have returned to life!!!" Zhong's mind became more unstable as he spoke.

"What?" Some servants were in bewilderment.

But the main idea of what Zhong said was clear…

The old master collected dead bodies and they piled up in the forbidden ground.

"No, I don't believe old master would do that!" A servant cried. The old master had been a generous and kind man, who cared for his servants, no one would believe he would do such a horrendous activity, such as collecting dead bodies.

"Relax, relax, there must be some explanation to this."

Zhong once again fell back into his slumber on the small space that he shared with Da and Zan, who had not woken up, a much-needed one after a day of fright.

"We'll discuss this matter later." Housekeeper Jiang said.

~

Unfortunately, there was no time for later discussions, as when the sun was no longer in the sky and the cold chilly weather set in. Under the cover of the night, the emperor's guards raided Shen manor and put the entire manor and everyone in it under tight lockdown.