Chapter 212

I stared intently into the innkeeper's eyes and said, "Since you're so afraid of death, hurry up and tell me the truth. Otherwise, I'll definitely wait here for that thing to come out."

"When that happens, we might be able to escape, but you might not be so lucky."

The innkeeper, on the verge of tears, said, "Ask whatever you want!"

I pointed to the window and said, "I'm asking why this house faces the iron tower, and what happened after my friend came here? Tell me everything in detail."

The innkeeper said, "This matter has to start with my ancestors. My ancestors were tower sweepers."

"Tower sweepers?" I frowned slightly. "I don't think there's such a profession in the world of術道 (Shu Dao, the esoteric arts)?"

The innkeeper explained, "Tower sweepers aren't really術士 (Shu Shi, practitioners of the esoteric arts). To put it bluntly, they're just cleaners."

"Tower City has many ancient towers, but usually no one takes care of them. So, some people paid honest and reliable people to come and clean the towers from time to time."

"There were four tower sweepers in Tower City, one for each of the four directions. My ancestors were the tower sweepers for the northern area. They did this for generations, until my father's generation stopped."

I said in a deep voice, "Who paid the tower sweepers? What else did you do besides sweeping the towers?"

The innkeeper said, "The whole city paid! The older people in Tower City all believed that the ancient towers were extraordinary things. Those with money gave more, those with less gave less. Everyone could contribute a little. This has been going on for a long time. Later, as time passed, no one paid anymore."

"Besides, when my grandfather was alive, he originally wanted my father to sweep the towers as well."

"But this job was tiring, and there were many rules. My father didn't want to suffer, so he refused to learn it no matter what."

"After the founding of the country, my father even went against my grandfather. Whenever my grandfather asked him to sweep the towers, he would say it was feudal superstition, which angered my grandfather so much that he stopped talking to him about it. So, my family stopped being tower sweepers."

It seemed that being a tower sweeper was not just about cleaning. They must have been guarding some secret.

I said calmly, "Continue!"

The innkeeper continued, "Before my grandfather died, he called me to his side and said, 'In a moment, I'm going to tell your father something.'"

"'Your father is stubborn and never listens to me. He might not do what I tell him to do.'"

"'I know you're a good child. If he doesn't listen to me, then do what I tell you to do, understand?'"

"My grandfather also gave me a yellow satchel and told me, 'Hide the satchel first, then go find your father. Don't rush to see what's in the satchel. I'll give your father a copy of the things in the satchel later. The things inside are the same.'"

"I did as my grandfather said."

"Before he died, my grandfather told my father again and again that he was leaving this house to him. My father could do whatever he wanted with the house, but he couldn't open those three doors. He couldn't touch the three locks on the doors. He couldn't let anyone live in the house."

"On the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month every year, he had to enter the house at noon to clean it once, and he could only stay in the house for one *shichen* (an ancient Chinese unit of time, equivalent to two hours). After noon, no matter if the house was clean or not, he couldn't stay in the house any longer."

"When leaving, remember to take everything with you and leave nothing behind. Nothing from the house could be taken out."

"If you really left something in the house, quickly go hide in the Little Dragon Tower in the east and don't come out until after the thirtieth day of the lunar year."

"My grandfather finally told my father: 'After I die, don't bury me in the grave. Carry me to the Little Dragon Tower and stuff me inside. Don't let anyone see.'"

I interrupted him at this point, "Where is the Little Dragon Tower?"

The innkeeper said, "It's at the base of the mountain east of my house. The tower has already collapsed. I guess there are only one or two stories left now!"

I nodded and said, "Continue!"

The innkeeper continued, "Although my father didn't want to be a tower sweeper, he was very filial to my grandfather in other ways."

"Let me put it this way! My father didn't listen to my grandfather about being a tower sweeper because he thought it was all superstition. He was annoyed by it from the bottom of his heart."

"As long as it didn't involve superstition, my father was great to my grandfather. He would give my grandfather the best food and the best things. He would rather not buy new clothes for himself than buy new clothes for my grandfather for every season."

"My father was stubborn with my grandfather about the tower sweeping thing his whole life. Now that my grandfather was gone, he wouldn't go against my grandfather anymore. But he didn't agree to the last thing my grandfather told him to do. Instead, he responded to the call and cremated my grandfather's body and buried it in the public cemetery."

I waved to Jiang Jiu Yuan, "Get him some water and let him drink it before he continues!"

I had a feeling that the innkeeper was about to say that his father didn't listen to his grandfather, and then something happened in a certain room.

From a術士 (Shu Shi, practitioner of the esoteric arts)'s point of view, this was a natural thing. How many lives in the world of術道 (Shu Dao, the esoteric arts) were lost because they didn't listen to the older generation?

However, things that were too obvious were easy to arouse suspicion.

Hadn't Feng Ruoxing and the others asked the innkeeper the same questions?

Haven't Feng Ruoxing done the same thing that I am doing now?

Why did Feng Ruoxing and the others still disappear?