Translator-Rhapsodite
Editor-Pierce, Proofreader-Adjective
By this point in the discussion, 15 minutes was almost at an end.
That’s when Chao Xi also woke up.
At first, she panicked. Then, after realizing her situation, she simply resigned herself to her fate.
Ren Jianmo passed the [Ghost] to her.
“Don’t worry. Someone will take over for you later.”
Ji Dong looked at Chao Xi’s dejected and pale face, looking very pitiful. He could not help but open his mouth to comfort her.
However, Chao Xi did not answer; she only silently hung her head down and remained silent. Ji Dong wasn’t sure if she had heard what he said.
Not having the time to explain everything to the girl, they let her sit quietly in the corner for another 15 minutes to hold the [Ghost] identity for them.
During this time, several people quickly discussed a plan of action.
At present, they needed to find the pen, ink, paper, and inkstone set that Zhao gave to the Young Master. The demons probably deemed them as valuables in those days, so Wutongshen probably put them in the warehouse.
To enter the treasury, they needed the key, and the key was in the hands of Wutongshen. And to obtain it, they had to defeat him.
If they wanted to put down Wutongshen without bloodshed, there was only one way. They had to get the fruit wine “Thousand Days of Drunkenness” and entice him to drink it.
So the group pressured Chief Steward Yan to point out each of the critical locations of the mansion and ordered him to point out, one by one, the exact locations of the cellar with the hidden wine, the residence of Wutongshen, and the treasury..
“Let’s split up!”
Ji Dong silently calculated the time left and the number of times left for each person to take on the [Ghost] title and made a plan. “Five people. Let’s divide into two groups to achieve optimal efficiency. Moreover, it won’t be too conspicuous because of the number of people.”
They remembered the group of demon guards outside, still searching for the humans who might be lurking in the mansion.
Ren Jianmo and Mo Tiangen, as well as the two siblings of the Fan family, were also in agreement with this plan.
After some detailed discussion, the group quickly finalized the plan.
Ji Dong, Mo Tiangen, and Fan Luming would go to the wine cellar to get the “Thousand Days of Drunkness.” Meanwhile, Fan Hemian and Ren Jianmo took the time to dress up and disguise themselves as the new “Empress” and her maidservant and went to the vicinity of the residence of Wutongshen, who was waiting for them to get the wine.
Once they got the wine, Ren Jianmo and Fan Hemian would try to trick Wutongshen into drinking it, take the key from his crown, and finally go to the treasury to find the set of four treasures.
Alongside their battle plan, they also carefully discussed the order of whom to transfer the identity of [Ghost] next.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Remember—regardless of who the [Ghost] is—within 15 minutes, you must pass the [Ghost] to the next person, got it?”
Mjc Lfwljc fwqtjrlhfv ktlif rajglcu ja tfg ygbatfg. Vtf jikjsr ofia atja atlr xlv kjr qjgalmeijgis ecgfiljyif, olcvlcu la tjgv ab yf ja fjrf lo tf kjrc’a ecvfg tfg kjamtoei fsf.
Vtf atbeuta jybea la jcv atfc jvwbclrtfv.
“Whether you are the [Ghost] or not, press the timer function on your watch. Once you hear the prompt, check if the probability of safety is higher. It will allow you to grasp the timetable accurately.”
Mjc Lfwljc—ralii kbgglfv jybea tfg sbecufg ygbatfg—ujnf tlw jc fzagj kjgclcu.
All of them agreed.
After getting everyone’s consensus, Ji Dong and the others looked down at their watches.
The time shown was 4:08 a.m. Calculating it according to ancient times, it was already past the Yin hour.
In olden times, there were no instant messaging devices like smartphones. There was also the restriction of the [Ghost] which was comparable to systematically timed plot killings. It meant that once the plan started, it could not be stopped halfway. If the person didn’t want to endanger themselves and implicate their teammates, everyone should strive to achieve the predetermined goal within the limited time.
Originally, Zhao Zhui expressed that he also wanted to help. However, although Fan Luming’s power had treated the arrow wound on his lower leg and stopped the bleeding, it was still far from full recovery.
Furthermore, Ji Dong and Teacher Dagen fought against him. If taken into account that he wasn’t injured, his combat effectiveness was still not good. And currently his legs were injured.
Not to mention that Zhao Zhui had already been a [Ghost] twice. There was no value in buying them more time. Hence, everyone bluntly refused his request, only wanting him to stay in place. They gave him the responsibility of watching over Chief Steward Yan and that he must not let this black dog escape to sabotage their plans.
Nevertheless, to show his sincerity and support, Zhao Zhui gave them a bunch of props he was carrying, along with a collectible.
“All right then. Let’s move!”
Fan Luming, a registered nurse, was the first to get on his feet. He opened his mouth to give everyone a FLAG, “Whether we fail or succeed, everyone must return alive!”
Then, he walked to Chao Xi’s side and grasped her hand that was bundled behind her back.
“Here. Pass the [Ghost] to me,” Brother Fan said.
Chao Xi froze. Her lips trembled, and her eyes widened in disbelief. But her desire to live still made her say the words.
“I- I- caught you.”
[04:09:21]
[{Fire C} passed the identity of [Ghost] to {Water B}.]
The soft juvenile voice belonging to the young male of the mountain villa echoed. And the five people – Ji Dong, Ren Jianmo, Mo Tiangen, and the Fan siblings – simultaneously tapped the watch dial twice to turn on the timer.
“Let’s go!”
Fan Luming took a deep breath, pointed his fingers toward Ji Dong and Mo Tiangen, opened the door, and took the lead to flash out of the concealed, small back room.
From this moment on, their plan had officially begun.
—————————-
The entrance to the wine cellar was behind the kitchen.
When Ji Dong woke up, the [Peach Blossom Spring] had arranged for him to be a servant. And when he served meals, he had gone in and out of the back kitchen, so he was at least familiar with the route.
Ji Dong took Mo Tiangen and Fan Luming around the courtyard wall. He first checked the big bunk where the servants rested, and when no one was around, he hurriedly found two sets of clothes for Mo Tiangen and Fan Luming to change into and then went straight to the courtyard where the kitchen was.
According to the plan, they needed to obtain the “Thousand Days of Drunkness” within the remaining 30 minutes and find Ren Jianmo and Fan Hemian with the wine in the next 15 minutes to ensure flawless execution of transferring the identity of [Ghost].
The “people” inside the mansion were composed of demons and monsters accustomed to being unrestricted. Despite being trapped inside the manor, it was impossible for them to have a clear division of labor and work rigorously like in human society.
By this time, the banquet in the front hall had ended, and the kitchen stove had long since turned off.
When they passed the yard, a group of monsters was setting out all the good wine and food that hadn’t been eaten at the banquet. Each one of them was drinking and stuffing their mouths with food.
The surrounding laughing demons were whipping and kicking several large, fat, black-haired pigs. They were all shivering with fear, unable to stand up, only grunting and wailing as if in pain and begging for mercy.
Somehow, Ji Dong immediately understood.
These pigs must be the guests at the banquet. They had to endure this much beating and torture before being slaughtered by the demons for meat, it was miserable!
With their heads down, the three pretended they were just passing by and walked quickly across the courtyard, around the back kitchen, to the door of the wine cellar.
At this time, there were only two middle-aged monsters at the entrance of the wine cellar, one male and one female. Looking at their clothes, it seemed they were kitchen servants.
The two monsters took advantage of them guarding the wine cellar, eating a platter of roast chicken, and drinking an entire jar of wine. They opened the mud seal of the second jar and poured the drink directly into their mouth.
Ji Dong, Mo Tiangen, and Fan Luming exchanged glances.
Immediately, Ji Xiao’niao pulled the Fan family’s brother forward and subserviently said to the two guards.
“Chief Steward Yan asked me to come and fetch a few jars of wine.”
The male demon on guard barely lifted his eyelids, looked at Ji Dong and Fan Luming, and rolled his eyes with difficulty, “No, no!”
He vehemently argued, the scent of wine on his breath apparent.
“We have all given you today’s portions of wine! No more! No more!”
“That’s right!”
The female banshee beside the male demon seemed to be a little more sober than him. Waving her white hand, she scolded in a sharp voice.
“If we give you more, when we count it tomorrow, we will have to bear the blame!”
Ji Dong: “……”
Although their combat strategy was to use intellect instead of force to win – so as not to mistakenly notify the other demons – time was tight. They didn’t have as much time to squander on lip service.
The next second, Ji Dong and Fan Luming jumped at the same time. With the momentum of a fierce tiger, they knocked the fat banshee to the ground. The two tightly covered her mouth with their hands, preventing her from screaming.
Mo Tiangen, on the other hand, used minimal effort to come around the back, leap from behind, and backhandedly strangle the male demon.
Mr. Dagen was a body-builder maniac. His foundation was good. Plus, the points he earned were all nearly spent on strengthening his physique. Even without using his psychic powers to transform into a black giant, he had already smothered the male demon, whose eyes had already rolled back and was close to fainting.
Next, Mo Tiangen held the male demon’s chin with one hand and pressed the back of his head with the other hand. With a “click,” he instantly dislocated the cervical vertebra, ending the demon’s life.
The monster slowly slid down. And the moment he hit the ground, he turned into a dead big civet.
“Okay. Get in! Get in!”
While Mo Tiangen held the civet’s corpse upside down, he urged Ji Dong and Fan Luming to get inside.
Combining their efforts, the three restrained the female banshee and dragged her into the wine cellar.
Initially, they wanted to lock the door for safety.
It’s just that the door lock in ancient times was latch type. It was probably never considered to lock the wine cellar from the inside. Without a latch, they could only improvise to close it.
Mo Tiangen casually threw the dead civet in the corner by the door, looked into the wine cellar, and was immediately dumbfounded.
The wine cellar had only one oil lamp on a shelf by the door, and the lighting was terrible.
Looking inside the dimly lit space, both sides of the wall were densely lined with large and small wine jars.
Moreover, they were clueless about how big and deep this wine cellar was and how many more wine jars were placed inside.
“Speak!”
Mo Tiangen pulled out the dagger on his waist, pressed it against the banshee’s neck, and asked loudly.
“The wine you have here, called ‘Thousand Year Drunk.’ Where is it?!”
“You–you mean the ‘Thousand Days of Drunkenness’?”
The banshee just saw her partner get killed, so she was so frightened that she dared not resist.
“That is the treasure of Emperor WuTong Shen, hidden in the depths of the wine cellar and guarded by the spirit of the rhinoceros…”
She shuddered and replied.
“I– All of us are not allowed to touch it…”
Thank you!