Chapter 400 - Difficulty in Distinguishing Between Man and Ghost

"What’s wrong?""Faces, faces, there were... there were several women’s faces... just now on the tree, right on the tree, they seemed to be smiling at me... a chilling smile..."

"Where are the faces? Are you sure you didn’t mistake the tree knots’ shadows for faces?"

"Whether it’s tree knots or faces, I can still tell them apart, they were definitely faces, and not those of ordinary humans, they looked a bit like the Fae Race, no, more like Dwarves Elves..."

"Shall we just leave? I feel like there are malicious gazes all around us."

"No way, we’ve come this far already, we’ve already reached the main building, we are the first ones to make it this far, it would be a real pity not to go in and take a look. Hold on, hold on, Mr. Mike, isn’t this the moment for you to play the enchanting melody, if not now then when?"

"Alright, alright, alright, I’ll start right away."

One of the merchants, a Bard as if snapped out of a trance, immediately put his instrument to his mouth and started to play.

The cheerful sound of the harmonica instantly soothed everyone’s unease.

Timid and hesitant yet fond of playing.

This sentence was fully exhibited by this group of merchants.

They were like those horror movie buffs who were faint of heart.

They would scream at every scare but could not bear to miss the following scenes, even dragging a group of uninterested friends to stubbornly watch the movie to the end.

So far, Ghost Manor created an atmosphere filled with fear, but it was mostly psychological suggestions, without any real shock to scare everyone away.

Squeak!

The manor’s main door was slowly pushed open, making a piercing sound of friction that immediately had everyone’s heart jump.

It looked as good as new, so why would it make such a sound as if it had not been maintained for years?

As the doors opened, a sound of flames leaping up was heard.

In the dimly lit corridor, two rows of candles were lit simultaneously one after another.

But these candles looked somewhat strange, wrapped in a swirl of black mist; the flames they burned with were not red but a greenish gleam. The light they cast was weak and dim, barely providing enough visibility.

Damn! That’s craftily sinister!

Everyone couldn’t help cursing in their hearts.

This kind of lighting was even worse than having none at all.

It was like providing natural cover for ghosts.

In such an environment, even if a person approached, they could be mistaken for a ghost.

"Eh, there’s a sign over there. Looks like it says something?"

"It’s too dark, I can barely see it. It seems to say, ’Congratulations on passing the first test, the Silent Courtyard. You are true warriors who can face ghosts. The second test is the haunted main building. Inside, there are three treasure chests. Two contain treasures, and one contains a scare. Brave ones, go forth and seek them. The treasures found within the chests belong to the finders, and the value of each chest is no less than one bottle of Ghost Grape Wine.’"

"Ha... There’s such a good deal? A treasure chest valued at a bottle of Ghost Grape Wine? That’s worth at least one hundred eighty Gold Coins, quite generous."

"What are we waiting for? Let’s start searching!"

"Don’t get too excited too soon. Do you think the chests will be easy to find? The places suitable for hiding a treasure chest might hide something else, too."

While the merchants were intrigued by the treasure chests and discussing fervently.

They did not notice that they had been led into the main building by the vague instructions on the sign, and the doors closed behind them silently until the last moment when they shut with a thunderous bang.

It was as if it had been done on purpose to remind them.

The merchants who had realized what happened, instantly freaked out and started shouting.

"Who closed the door? Who did it?"

"No one closed it, we are not crazy, who would close the door? It closed on its own."

"Hurry up, open it. Hurry and open the door."

"It’s no use, it won’t budge, the door seems to be locked from the outside."

"Weren’t we here to visit? Why would they close the door, why lock it?"

"Hurry and open it; I don’t want to play anymore. I want to get out."

"It’s no use, I checked earlier, there was no one behind us, at least not a human that locked the door."

"Mr. Dame, now is not the time to pretend blind, quickly use your Ghost Eye Blindfold, let’s see if there’s something or someone around us that’s not human."

The self-closing and unopenable door immediately escalated the horror atmosphere to a new level.

Before, even if they were scared, there was an element of fun involved; they could just run away and leave the manor if it got too much, at worst being mocked by the merchants waiting outside.

But now, their escape route was blocked.

The merchant named Dame wasted no time pulling out a ribbon-like black blindfold and tied it around his eyes.

Dame immediately felt tendrils of cool air seeping through the black blindfold and into his eyes.

His vision was not as severely impaired as he had anticipated – it was only a bit blurry, but the quality changed. Everything lost its color and turned black and white, a characteristic of the Shadow Plane.

From now on, what he saw was not just the things from the Material Plane but also those that were half on the Material Plane and connected to the Shadow Plane.

Dame verified this right before his eyes.

The Ghost Cloak auctioned off at the sale was coincidentally restrained by the Ghost Eye Blindfold.

This made Dame inwardly cheer for his luck.

He secretly scorned the owner of Weizemay Manor for being a fool to auction off items with restraining powers at the same sale; he wasn’t afraid of the restrained party asking for a refund.

As it turned out, his worries were unnecessary.

Even if the invisibility power of the Ghost Cloak was suppressed by the Ghost Eye Blindfold, the rest of its abilities were still desirable.

The regret for that merchant was not having the foresight to bid for the Ghost Eye Blindfold as well, which could have allowed for bundled sales or keeping the Ghost Eye Blindfold for personal use without selling it.

"How is it? What do you see? Is there anything else around us?" the other merchants anxiously asked.

"Nothing, there’s nothing, it’s just us here," Dame’s answer brought a measure of relief to everyone.

"What do we do now?"

"What else can we do? Of course, we move forward. There can’t be just one entrance and exit to this building; there must be others. Let’s all search carefully together."

"And look for treasure chests along the way."

"You really are after money instead of your life."

"If you didn’t want the money, would you be here? No one ever complains about having too much."

Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!

Without knowing when, the eerie music that had been winding around their ears had disappeared, and the entire main building had become eerily silent.

The sudden activity that sprang forth seemed especially startling.

The group naturally turned to look, only to see a broom appearing at the corner, swaying back and forth.

A broom is not scary.

But a broom that moves on its own without anyone holding it is scary.

Especially when the silence had lasted for half a day and the music abruptly started with a clang.

Several of the more cowardly merchants immediately crumbled, screaming, "It’s a ghost..."

They then ran wildly along the dim corridor.

Influenced by them, a few others ran headlong without thinking.

The merchants who had been sticking together were completely torn apart.

A few who still had some sense shouted, "It’s not a ghost, not a spirit, it’s an awakened broom, just an awakened broom."

"Don’t run around everywhere, we are unfamiliar with the inside, and that’s where the real danger lies."

As those few merchants in the throes of panic ran wildly, more green candle lights were lit in the deeper parts of the dim corridors.

The situation inside made the already panicking merchants scream continuously and run even faster.

Those who hadn’t fallen apart felt their scalps tingle.

The candle holders were, astoundingly, a series of black wooden sculptures, lifelike human figurines, with candles placed on their heads.

These sculptures, each devoid of expression, watched over everyone.

No, they seemed to be rotating along with the passing merchants, always silently staring at the ones in panic, making their escape even hastier.

"A treasure chest, there’s a treasure chest there."

"It really is a treasure chest."

Some sharp-eyed merchants spotted the large treasure chest at the end of the corridor.

The chest matched the common perception of a treasure chest perfectly: one meter long, half a meter high, big enough to fit an adult comfortably, made of solid wood, with golden edges and silver locks, iron-wrapped corners, extravagantly ornate.

"Don’t open it, don’t open it, don’t open it. What we were told earlier is very clear: of the three treasure chests, only two contain treasures; the other one is a scare. Do you think that Mr. Gaven would be so kind as to give us gifts for nothing? If it’s placed so obviously here, it’s more likely to be a shock than a pleasant surprise."

"You make a lot of sense. The position of this treasure chest is just too conspicuous; only a blind man would miss it. There must be a trap inside."

"Maybe they’re using your kind of thinking against you, putting the real treasure chest here, making you afraid to open it, waiting until you confidently open the other two chests only to spring a big surprise on you."

"You have a point. Since that’s the case, I’ll leave this treasure chest for you to open. Whatever treasure is inside, it’s yours."

"Haha... that... I’ll pass. I didn’t come here for the treasure. My main reason was to see the reputation of Ghost Manor, and now that I have witnessed it, its reputation is well-deserved. Let’s hurry and find a way out."

"Coward! You spoke so confidently just now, but you don’t have the courage to check it for yourself."

An incredibly luxurious treasure chest sat there, yet not a single merchant dared to approach and open it.

They had no concept of the scare mentioned in the instructions and dared not try rashly.

Moreover, these were all smart people; the chest was so visible and easy to find.

It would not be too late to come back and open this one after the scares were triggered by the other two chests.

They had just followed the stairs to the second floor when, in the darkness, several shadowy figures emerged, rushing towards them.

"It’s a ghost!"

"It’s a spirit!"

Shouts of terror erupted from both sides, and they turned to run.

But after just a few steps, they suddenly found the entire corridor shrouded in a faint black mist, making the green candle lights even dimmer, and it became impossible to completely distinguish the faces of others beyond five steps.

The large group of merchants that had been beside them had vanished, leaving only a few strays.

A corridor that one could usually see from one end to the other had become abnormally deep and winding, with forks everywhere.

These merchants couldn’t help but have the illusion that they were no longer in the Material Plane, but had entered another world.

As for which world, they knew without asking—it was the Shadow Plane.

Dame felt this most acutely because the black and white sensation was more complete and pronounced.

Footsteps sounded, and Dame instinctively thought it was the lost companions and hurried towards them. But after just three steps, he turned decisively and ran.

Because these footsteps were uniform, without a hint of panic, and the sound of their landing was unnaturally crisp, like steel nails striking stone, which is not the sound of adventure boots.

The black mist had been infiltrated by other entities.

Although he knew they would not harm him, he did not want to meet them head-on.

The intermittent screams echoing through the black mist were enough to inform him; it was definitely not a pleasant experience. The source of thɪs content is NovᴇlFire(.)nᴇt

Dame didn’t know how long he had been running through the black mist, as the companions around him became fewer and fewer until he was left alone.

In the black mist, when he heard a disturbance, he didn’t dare to approach it, but instead ran in the opposite direction.

Because nobody knew if the others were humans or ghosts.

The presence of non-merchant entities amidst them grew.

Dame was acutely aware of this fact.