# 363
**Chapter 363: The Manor**
Lin Qiye stood behind the door, his mental energy constantly monitoring the situation outside.
He saw the white paper figure drift down lightly onto the stone path in front of the manor. Its pale face, with mismatched eyes, scanned the surroundings. After examining the manor where Lin Qiye was hiding for a moment, it turned and continued searching ahead.
Only when the paper figure left did Lin Qiye quietly exhale. In a place like this, if he were entangled by a paper figure, with his speed, he might not be able to shake it off. If more and more of them came after him, the scene outside the bronze gate would repeat itself sooner or later.
These paper figures’ methods were too bizarre. Lin Qiye had no intention of getting involved with them. He just wanted to leave this place as soon as possible and reunite with his companions outside.
Lin Qiye reached out to open the manor door, preparing to leave, but at that moment, he froze in place.
The door, which had opened and closed easily before, now wouldn’t budge at all. No matter how much force he used, it wouldn’t move an inch!
Lin Qiye’s brow furrowed slightly, a sense of foreboding rising in his heart…
**Slap—!**
In the dead, dark silence, a soft sound came from the house behind him.
Lin Qiye spun around instantly, his right hand flying to the hilt of the blade on his back. Every muscle in his body tensed, ready to strike at any moment.
His gaze swept across the dark courtyard and house, his eyes full of confusion.
Before entering this place, he had scanned the entire manor with his mental energy and confirmed there was no one here. If that was the case, where had that sound just come from?
Lin Qiye used his mental energy to scan inch by inch, comparing every object to its position before the sound. After a moment, he finally found the source.
In the northeast corner of the courtyard, a paper broom had fallen to the ground at some point.
“A paper broom?” Lin Qiye’s brows knitted tightly. He clearly remembered that the sound had been sharp and crisp, like something hard hitting the floor. Even if it was a broom, it should’ve been a real one—how could paper make such a sound?
**Creak—**
**Thud—!**
The main door of the house in the center suddenly swung open, then slammed shut, hitting the old threshold with a soft crash!
Lin Qiye whipped his head toward it, expanding his mental energy to the limit!
…Nothing.
There was no one—nothing—touching the door. Yet it had opened and closed on its own… as if someone he couldn’t see or sense had opened it.
Lin Qiye’s frown deepened. He gripped the hilts of the blades on his back, slowly drawing the two Straight Blades from their sheaths. Holding them tightly, he stepped toward the house where the sound had come from.
A locked manor door. A paper broom that had fallen for no reason. A door that opened and closed by itself.
All of it seemed to hint that some mysterious force—or mysterious person—was present in this house.
But Lin Qiye couldn’t see them.
He stopped at the entrance, his mental energy already mapping the interior of the house. Inside, there was nothing but a pale paper bed, paper money, and paper furniture.
Lin Qiye couldn’t help but feel puzzled. Those paper beds and furniture were so thin and light—what could possibly use them?
Anything with even a little weight would crush them.
He shook his head, clearing away the distracting thoughts, and focused his attention, ready to act at any moment.
Even though his mental energy told him there was nothing inside, Lin Qiye didn’t relax in the slightest. He had a faint guess that whatever was in there… he couldn’t see or sense it.
A wisp of night crept onto the door in front of him, and under its push, the door slowly opened…
Lin Qiye stood at the entrance, blades in hand, a faint golden light flickering in his eyes.
**Puff—!!**
As soon as the door cracked open, a flood of paper money burst through the gap, surging toward Lin Qiye!
His pupils shrank. The twin blades in his hands danced rapidly, tracing dense arcs of pale blue light in front of him. In an instant, all the paper money was shredded—not a single piece touched him!
But soon, Lin Qiye realized his reaction had been unnecessary.
Because the paper money held no attack power at all. It drifted out lightly, fluttering in the air… it was just paper money.
As Lin Qiye stared in surprise, the paper furniture inside suddenly toppled over, as if someone had bumped into it.
When the paper furniture hit the floor, it made the same hard clashing sound, as if it were real wooden furniture—not paper at all.
Lin Qiye frowned, his gaze sweeping across the room. There was still no sign of anyone.
After hesitating for a moment, he opened his palm and chanted softly:
**“Wildfires cannot burn it all; spring winds will bring it back to life.”**
**Whoosh—!**
A flame appeared in his hand. With a flick of his wrist, he prepared to burn all the eerie paper furniture and money.
Just then, a piece of paper money suddenly floated up from the ground!
It trembled as it drifted toward Lin Qiye. He stared, stunned.
On the paper money, scrawled in black lines, were a few crooked characters.
—**Spare us, my lord!**
**Spare us, my lord?**
Lin Qiye stared at the words in bewilderment. After a moment, he tentatively asked, “You… are people?”
The paper money drifted back to the ground, and more black lines began to appear.
Soon, a second line formed.
—**We are ghosts, spirits living here.**
Lin Qiye’s frown deepened.
A third line appeared quickly.
—**My lord, if you must kill, kill me! Spare my wife and daughter. My little girl was just startled and accidentally knocked over the broom in the corner. Please, show mercy!**
Lin Qiye recalled the paper broom that had fallen earlier, and his confusion grew.
A ghost had knocked over the broom?
Still, he dispersed the flame in his hand. For now, it seemed these ghosts posed no threat to him.
Lin Qiye spoke in a low voice, “Ghost or human, I’ve done nothing to provoke you. Why lock the door and prevent me from leaving?”
The fourth line appeared rapidly, as if afraid that any delay would result in being obliterated.
—**My lord, we didn’t lock it on purpose! All the doors here are like this. The dead may enter, but the living cannot leave. You’re alive—you can come in from outside, but once inside… it’s hard to get out!**
**“Your place?”** Lin Qiye asked in confusion. **“What is this place?”**
The ghost paused. Then, on the paper money, it wrote two large words.
—**Fengdu.**