CHAPTER 913: CHAPTER 463

Lin Chuqiao and Pan Wendi also looked at him with skeptical eyes.

No matter what is said, Chen Xu’an’s words and actions have too many doubts, making it difficult to clear his suspicions.

Fang Cheng’s expression remained unchanged as he quietly awaited his explanation, but his body showed no signs of relaxation.

Chen Xu’an took a deep breath, as if to muster all his courage:

"I also want to do something, but that Black Building is our Chen Family’s forbidden place for suppressing fate. Without conclusive evidence, even as the acting Family Head, I don’t have the authority to conduct a thorough investigation."

"Otherwise, if something goes wrong and shakes the foundation of the Chen Family, I would be a sinner for the ages in the eyes of the family."

"Moreover, all of this was merely my suspicion until you came to investigate and I heard Mr. Bai say you found traces of the culprit. It was then that I had the idea to use your investigation as a reason to gather the family and force my grandmother to open the Black Building to uncover the truth thoroughly."

"But who would have thought... before we could wait for tomorrow, the family members who returned from the Secret Realm all fell ill one by one..."

After he finished, he sighed deeply.

The entire lounge plunged back into oppressive silence.

"You claim you’re not the killer..."

Fang Cheng timely asked, breaking the silence:

"Then, who exactly do you suspect is the killer?"

Chen Xu’an hesitated for a moment, a touch of absurdity flickered in his eyes.

He then raised his head, looking at Fang Cheng, and asked hoarsely:

"If... I say the culprit is a corpse, would you believe it?"

"A corpse?"

Lin Chuqiao frowned slightly, muttering to herself.

Bai Ling paled a shade upon hearing this.

Pan Wendi also took a sharp breath, seemingly recalling the horrifying scene in the Black Building.

Fang Cheng was equally surprised, thinking Chen Xu’an would mention the bizarre three-eyed idol.

"Yes."

Chen Xu’an forced a bitter smile again:

"It’s the corpse you saw in the basement, my grandfather, Chen Hongye."

Fang Cheng and the others were even more astonished upon hearing this.

"But according to the information records."

Lin Chuqiao was the first to react, immediately questioning:

"Didn’t your grandfather pass away three years ago? How could his corpse commit murder?"

"It’s a long story."

Another bitter smile appeared on Chen Xu’an’s face as he pulled a chair nearby and sat down.

After calming himself, he slowly said:

"Three years ago, my grandfather suddenly fell ill and didn’t last a few days before passing away."

"According to the Chen Family’s rules, after a family member dies, they are not immediately buried."

"Instead, the body is kept in the Black Building for three years to let the corpse’s energy disperse. Three years later, the remains are exhumed and moved to the family’s Secret Realm for worship alongside the ancestors."

Fang Cheng’s eyes flickered, recalling Pan Wendi’s comments during his exploration of the Black Building.

There were no bodies in the coffins of Chen Shaoze and the other three victims, indicating some hidden secret.

"This tradition of the Chen Family is indeed strange, but it’s a rule passed down from the ancestors, and no one dares to break it lightly."

Chen Xu’an continued, his voice turning wistful:

"Originally, it was just a regular family funeral."

"But not long after my grandfather’s burial, my grandmother began having nightmares. She repeatedly said she dreamt of my grandfather shivering cold below, constantly crying of hunger, and claiming an Evil Ghost was chasing him, wanting to devour him."

"Not only her, but several elders in the family also had similar dreams. Some even dreamt of the Evil Ghost dragging my grandfather’s hand towards Hell."

"As this news spread in the family, a panic set in. Everyone believed my grandfather’s spirit was restless."

"One day, my grandmother claimed my grandfather came to her in a dream, begging her to ensure his body is quickly interred in the family’s Secret Realm to finally be at peace."

"My grandmother immediately convened a family meeting, but the Elders dismissed her suggestion, citing ’ancestral rules cannot be violated.’

At this point, Chen Xu’an sighed:

"My grandmother had no choice but to discuss with my father and compromised by moving my grandfather’s coffin to the basement of the Black Building."

"There we installed a Three-eyed Wealth God idol passed down in the Chen Family, hoping its power would suppress any malevolent spirits and allow my grandfather’s soul to rest in peace."

"Indeed, after doing so, the nightmares haunting the family vanished, but who would’ve thought, the real nightmare had just begun."

"For the first year, nothing unusual happened, everything was peaceful."

"Then, two years ago, my father, a newly appointed Family Head, suddenly passed away."

"Initially, everyone thought it’s due to overwork, but soon enough, last year my second uncle and fourth uncle also passed away."

"They were always healthy without cardiovascular diseases, yet they died silently in their sleep, the cause being heart failure."

"Though it was strange, it was initially dismissed as coincidental because birth, old age, sickness, and death are all natural."

"This year during the Spring Festival, things spun completely out of control."

Chen Xu’an took a deep breath, his face darkened and said:

"My younger brother Chen Shaoze visited the manor with his fiancée, intending to meet our parents. The next evening, his fiancée went for a walk and disappeared."

"We searched throughout the night, only finding her body the next day in the woods near the Black Building. Her skin was dried like bark, her face sunken as if all her blood had been drained."

"Since then, Shaoze was like a lost soul, locking himself in his room without food or drink. Within two months, he too..."

At this point, Chen Xu’an’s voice choked with emotion, causing him to pause.

"Then, more and more horrifying events occurred, claiming family members one after another. Even my elder brother got into a car accident and is now in the ICU."

"These incidents are documented in the Naihe Bridge intelligence files you’ve obtained, so I won’t elaborate further."

Chen Xu’an narrated smoothly, each bizarre death sending chills down the spine.

As Fang Cheng listened, he swiftly correlated this information with the clues he held.

"You just mentioned that Chen Shaoze’s fiancée was also a victim?"

Lin Chuqiao keenly grasped the point. "Why wasn’t this included in the intelligence files?"

"Because she hadn’t yet become a member of the Chen Family."

Chen Xu’an explained:

"Her death was too strange, and my grandmother, fearing police and Special Search Team involvement, used family connections to settle the matter privately, keeping it hidden."

"Other than her and subsequent investigators, were any other non-Chen Family members victimized in the manor?"

Fang Cheng subsequently asked.

"Two servants also died, discovered at night, in the exact manner as Shaoze’s fiancée."

Chen Xu’an

Fang Cheng and Lin Chuqiao exchanged glances, both seeing the gravity in each other’s eyes.

Blood draining, resembling some sinister creature’s feeding behavior.

"I know what you’re thinking."

Chen Xu’an said bitterly:

"At the time, I thought the manor hid a flesh-feasting monster and secretly investigated for a long while, but after those two servants died, it seemed to vanish, as if disappearing into thin air."

"Until a week ago, when I became the acting Family Head and obtained the Black Building key."

"On impulse, I decided to use the Spiritual Eyes again on Shaoze’s remains, hoping decomposition might leave some clue."

Chen Xu’an’s voice lowered once more.

"But when I opened the caskets holding the bodies, I found Shaoze’s body gone, as well as the other two victims’ remains had disappeared without a trace."

"In shock, I used the Spiritual Eyes to trace and sensed a faint aura coming from the basement."

"Carefully, I ventured into the perpetually locked basement with the key..."

As he recounted this, Chen Xu’an’s fingers on the table trembled slightly, as if revisiting that horrific scene

"Stacks of bones filled the space, the air reeking of decay."

"Following the aura, I halted before a pitch-black coffin, and when I opened it, I froze."

"Inside the coffin, I saw... my grandfather’s corpse."

"Though three years had passed, his body showed no decay, the skin still had a tinge of color..."

"His muscles even appeared fuller than they did in life, and his chest subtly rose and fell, as if... as if he was alive."