"Ghosts?" Liang Zheng was stunned for a moment.

"It's a ghost." Sun Zixian's voice seemed to come from another world, "It's dark, but the lights in the West Cross Courtyard are bright, so I can see ...... See ......"

She swallowed: "The courtyard is full of blue-faced and fanged ghosts, all of them are fierce and vicious, and they are fighting with open fire, and they are carrying something there, but they can't see it clearly." At the head of these monsters is a giant who is three meters tall! The swollen muscles are exaggerated unimaginably, and the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys are all covered with pale skin, looking like zombies...... Rao is so ......"

When she said this, she couldn't say any more, and her beautiful eyes that were wide open showed great fear.

Seeing this, Liang Zheng couldn't help but feel a pang in his heart, and hurriedly asked, "What?" ”

Sun Zixian was stunned for a long time before he said: "It also seemed to hear it, turned its head and glanced at the west wing, and I found its face...... I don't know how to describe it, it looks like a zombie, and it has no lips like a zombie, and all the facial muscles are directly exposed to the face, whether it is horizontal, straight, oblique, crooked, ......"

Liang Zheng: "......"

Sun Zixian: "Under the sudden yin wind, I can even clearly smell the corpse stench on the zombies, and I almost fainted with fright......

"Corpse stench?" Liang Zheng suddenly waved his hand to interrupt, "Are you sure it's the smell of corpses?" ”

Sun Zixian thought for a moment and nodded affirmatively.

However, Liang Zheng didn't say anything, just paced back and forth in the room, and after a while, he stood up sharply, and two lightning-like eyes shot over: "Are you scared?" ”

"It shouldn't be ......"

"Is there or isn't?"

“…… No, but it's pretty much the same. ”

"Okay, how far is the West Wing from the West Courtyard?"

"Only separated by a wall......"

"A wall?"

"Yes...... What's wrong? ”

Liang Zheng's leapfrogging step by step obviously made Sun Zixian a little overwhelmed.

“…… It's nothing. Liang Zheng thought for a moment and said, "You go on." ”

Sun Zixian said: "At this point, where do I dare to look at it again?" I want to run away right away. But I didn't have any strength in my whole body, and my brain was dizzy, so I bit my tongue fiercely and finally came to my senses. So I turned back and went downstairs, but the door could not be opened, I was frightened, and shouted loudly, and pushed it hard, but who expected it to open, and then I broke the door with all my might, but I saw a face. ”

Liang Zheng asked: "It's not strange to have a face, maybe that servant heard your shout, so he ran to take a look." ”

"No, you're mistaken." Sun Zixian shook his head, "That's ...... It's just one face......"

Liang Zheng's eyes shrank and asked urgently: "Only one face?" ”

I only heard Sun Zixian say quietly: "There is only one face." I...... I can't describe what that face looks like...... I was so frightened that I took a few steps back. Through the faint light outside the house, I saw ...... See...... Three not consecutive images, the first time the face hung in the doorway like a stake, the second time the face had actually floated into the room, and the third time it was already less than a step away from me. It was like a patchwork of freeze-frame images, and at the same time I could smell the strong stench coming to my face......"

"Stench? Be...... Zombie stench? ”

"Yes, I'm sure it's that face. Then I could see the face - the ...... It was clearly a dead man's face, and I don't know how long it had been dead, with long hair, one eye was missing, and the other had been left and hung crookedly. There was a large knife wound on the neck, and maggots and maggots in the mouth, nose, and eye sockets were everywhere, and they kept surging. From the incision in the neck, you can also see the bones of the cervical vertebrae, and there is yellow or green liquid coming out of it......"

"So that's ......" Liang Zheng nodded, looking out the window and not knowing what he was thinking, and asked again after a while: "What happened later?" ”

"Later...... It's gone. ”

"Gone?"

Sun Zixian sighed and said, "I don't know, I dodged around the house, circled with it, and I almost didn't have the strength to run, but that face was like a maggot on a tarsal bone." That's when I thought, 'Oh no, I'm going to die here today.'" But who would have expected that it didn't take long for there to be no movement behind him. When I looked back, I realized that the face had disappeared, and it had disappeared silently, as if it had never been there. ”

"Hmm."

"I was resting against the wall, but at this moment, I suddenly heard a 'squeak' from nowhere, as if a crack had been cracked somewhere, and a strong light was squeezed in, and people couldn't open their eyes at all. Then I heard a terrible cry, as if it was about to pierce the eardrums. It's like cutting into the brain. ”

Sun Zixian said, as if she was also frightened by her own narrative, her cheeks and shoulders were as white as frost and snow: "That voice came from the ground, wailing, screaming...... One after another, the sound was so terrible that it seemed to tear my ears apart and shatter my atrium. ”

Liang Zheng stepped on the ground: "You mean...... Are those screams coming from underground? ”

"That's ...... Voices from Yama Difu! Sun Zixian's expression was in a trance, as if he had eaten a bowl of overnight rice, "I think it's a cry from a terrible ghost ghost, but that's it." ”

"Okay, I got it." Liang Zheng nodded, paced back and forth in the room, and asked again after a while, "What happened later?" ”

Sun Zixian said: "Later, I didn't know anything. When I woke up again, I was back in my room. ”

"Back in the room?" Liang Zheng's eyes jumped, "Who sent you back?" ”

"I don't know, I asked all the maids and servants privately, and they all said no. I wanted to talk to that old ghost, but he's gone to Qi County again......"

"Hmmm......"

"But from that night on, almost every night, I saw that face...... Hearing those voices...... "Sun Zixian said this, as if his whole body had not drained his strength, and he leaned desperately against the wall to barely hold on, "I can't forget it, I can't shake it off...... I invited the master of Fahua Temple to do a water and land dojo, and I also went to the Golden Immortal Temple to invite the Taoist to subdue the demon, but it was useless, I knew that if I continued like this, I would ...... I ......"

"Alright, don't panic yet." Liang Zheng helped her sit down at the table and poured her a cup of tea, "First of all, you have to understand that there are no ghosts in this world. ”

Sun Zixian hurriedly said: "How can you say such a thing!" Do you think I'm lying to you? ”

"No, you're mistaken." Liang Zheng said, "I believe you didn't lie to me, you did see that terrible face and heard those terrible voices." You think you must have seen a ghost, but I still have to tell you that there are no ghosts in this world. ”

"You ......"

"So what you see is an illusion."

"Phantom ...... Straight? ”

"Do you know the mandala?"

"Mandala?"

"It is a plant, native to Tianzhu, generally pale green or purple, with lignification in the lower part. The leaves are broadly ovate and apex aperated, and unlike ordinary flowers, it has a pungent smell and smells like a decaying corpse...... It can stimulate the nerves of the human brain and cause hallucinations. It is often used as a tool for torture in the local area. ”

This is what Liang Zheng saw in medical books before.

The whole herb of mandala is toxic, the main toxic components are hyoscyamine, atropine and scopolamine (mandala extract) and other alkaloids, they are a muscarinic blocker, competing for muscarinic receptors, interrupting the innervation of the parasympathetic nervous system, atropine has the effect of stimulating or inhibiting the central nervous system, scopolamine is a kind of belladonna like apine, which has an excitatory effect on the respiratory center, and the central effect is mainly inhibited, which can inhibit the secretion of glands and have a sedative-hypnotic effect on the brain.

In the famous detective novel "Sherlock Holmes", the terrifying "devil's heel" is based on it.

"This ...... Are you saying that what I smell is the smell of mandala? Sun Zixian's eyes widened.

"Hmm." Liang Zheng nodded, "Only in this way can we explain why you feel dizzy and weak for some reason." Later, you bite your tongue to refresh yourself, and although you break away a little, the poison has already been planted, so you will see the hallucination. ”

The dream was born from the heart, Sun Zixian's subconscious had already decided that she was seeing a ghost, and naturally under the effect of the mandala, this fear was infinitely magnified, so in the hallucination, she saw the grimace and heard the ghost howl......

"You're saying what I'm seeing is fake? Those blue-faced and fanged demons, the three-meter-tall zombies, the grimaces, and the ......"

"Nope." Liang Zheng said, "The ghosts and zombies in the West Cross Courtyard should be real." ”

"...... this?"

"Because they appeared before you were dizzy." Liang Zheng said, "I remember you told me that you almost fainted when you saw that zombie, right?" ”

Sun Zixian couldn't help but take a breath, only to feel a chill rising from the soles of her feet.

She did say it, and she said it......

Just after seeing that zombie face, she was almost scared.

"Actually, you weren't 'scared' and fainted......," Liang Zheng paused, "but from that time on, those 'ghosts' should have seen you, and he applied mandala poison to you at that time, and the west wing and the west cross courtyard were close, so you quickly felt dizzy." You think you're scared, but you're poisoned. ”

The fruits, especially the seeds, are the most toxic, followed by the young leaves, and the dried leaves are less toxic than the fresh leaves. Mandala poisoning, generally in about half an hour to appear symptoms, symptoms of dizziness, lethargy, severe cases will be cramps, cyanosis, and finally faint death.

"Then ......," Sun Zixian reacted a little at this time, "You mean those green seedlings and fanged ghosts and zombies I saw in the West Cross Courtyard......"

"It's supposed to be a human being, maybe a human skin mask." Liang Zheng said, "The poison in you should also be done by them, that 'zombie' looked back at you, should have found you, I think the situation should be like this at the time - he found that someone was peeping, so he opened the medicine bottle containing the mandala, and the smell of the mandala was sent to the west wing with the wind, his purpose was to scare you to death unknowingly, but you didn't die...... That's why they continue to poison. That's why you see those visions every night. ”

"This ...... Why? ”

"You should have seen something you shouldn't have seen." Liang Zheng said, "Do you remember? You just said that your maid Zijuan just accidentally approached there, and they grabbed her and beat her half to death. ”

Sun Zixian nodded.

At that time, it was because of Zijuan's incident that triggered her curiosity and wanted to get a glimpse of it.

I only heard Liang Zheng say again: "You sued the master, but the master beat you instead, he is reluctant to even talk about you, isn't he?" So obviously, your master Li Shiqing is also involved in this matter. ”

"This ......"

"Zijuan is just a subordinate, so they dare to do it directly. But you are different, you are the hostess after all, so they don't dare to do it openly, and they want to scare you to death with the help of a mandala. ”

These words knocked on the bone and buttoned the marrow, Liang Zheng spoke eloquently, Sun Zixian felt that every sentence was whipped into it, and if everything was in line, he couldn't help but shudder, his hands and feet were cold, and he was stunned.

"That'...... What should I do? What am I going to do......? She muttered, her eyes scattered, and she grabbed Liang Zheng's sleeve again, "I don't want to die, save my ......!" ”

"To save you, we need to know who those people are and what they are doing. I remember you saying that they were out day and night, constantly carrying things in the west courtyard...... What exactly is being moved? Liang Zheng's eyes were blazing, staring at the direction of the west courtyard of the Li Mansion.

It seems that it is really necessary to go to the Yama Underworld.

"Well......" he said, "you will send a trustworthy maid later, and put on my clothes and depart in disguise—lest I linger too long and arouse suspicion, and we will visit the West Cross Courtyard by night." ”

"Night Exploration West Cross Courtyard." Sun Zixian shivered as if she was frozen, "Will that be dangerous?" ”

"Don't be afraid." Liang Zheng said, taking out the pistol from his arms, "I carry this with me." ”

"That's good." Sun Zixian was a little relieved at this time, thought about it, and asked, "However, wouldn't it be enough to directly pretend to stay in my room, why bother?" ”

"That's not good." Liang Zheng shook his head, "You made such a fuss at the door today, our ...... Well, our relationship is considered to be open in your house, and there must have been some people talking about it, and if I stay overnight openly, it will definitely attract attention, which will be extremely inconvenient for our investigation tonight. By the way, there's one more thing......"

"What?"

"Can you find the blueprints from when the house was built?"

“…… It should be ok. Sun Zixian thought for a moment, "I remember that dead old ghost put it in the study, what use do you want it?" ”

"Because it's the key." Liang Zheng smiled mysteriously, glanced in the direction of the West Wing, and a glimmer of light flashed out of the corner of his eye.