Chapter 160: The Desolate Manor
Li Yanchu looked off into the distance, and with his Qi Sight he quickly detected a surge of malevolent qi.
It was coming from an estate in the southern quarter of the city. Above the gate hung a plaque that read “Liu Residence,” and two imposing stone lions flanked the entrance.
Li Yanchu’s brows knitted. Without the slightest hesitation, he vaulted over the wall and slipped inside.
In the rear quarters! The instant the thought surfaced, his figure vanished into the night.
The rear compound was normally reserved for the household’s women.
***
Inside one of the rooms, the eldest young master of the Liu family lay in a pool of blood, pinned beneath a very strange child.
The “child” looked like a warped, broken rag doll, its body covered in crude stitching. Its skin was corpse-blue, its belly grotesquely swollen, while its limbs were thin and spindly.
In one hand it gripped a gleaming short knife; with the other it pried open the young master’s mouth and slid the saber inside.
Suddenly, it jerked its head up. Across the room, Lady Liu huddled in a corner while clutching her newborn, shaking uncontrollably.
Meanwhile, the doll-child bared its teeth at her in a grin. Its mouth split wide open, fresh blood running down its cheeks. It was indescribably eerie and unspeakably evil.
Seeing this, Lady Liu’s hands and feet went ice-cold. It felt as though an invisible force had nailed her to the spot; she couldn’t make a sound. She stared in hopeless terror at the slit-mouthed child that had appeared out of nowhere.