Chapter 9 Feeling at Home

“Is this the white lantern? I heard that when you Huaxia people held funerals in the past, you would hang this thing… I’ve seen many pictures in books, but this is my first time seeing it in real life.”

Anna’s height easily allowed her to reach the lantern, and driven by curiosity, she wanted to observe it closely, but Class Monitor Wu Wen pulled her away.

“Let’s go~ This thing is unlucky, and it might even be dangerous in practice.”

“I know, Wu Wen, I won’t touch it randomly.”

Anna trusted her best friend implicitly and turned to look at the unlocked mahogany door, bracing her strong arm against it.

Creak~

The heavy, slightly rotted wooden door swung inward.

The overgrown courtyard had already covered the stone path, and the cold wind remained strong, making the chill even more intense.

After confirming that there was nothing unusual in the front yard, the four stepped onto the faintly visible stone path, buried among the weeds, and arrived at the main entrance of the Ravenna.

The door, adorned with exquisite wood grain, was not locked, but no one rushed to push it open. After all, the event had already begun, and danger might be lurking behind this door.

They still used the same old method as before.

Everyone retreated as far as possible, and Class Monitor Wu Wen gently pushed the door with her trekking pole.

As the door slowly opened, everyone held their breath, ready for battle.

When the door finally swung open,

Nothing leaped out, nor were there any human figures to be seen.

However, a strong odor rushed out, like an invisible, slender arm burrowing into their throats, gently pinching their stomach walls and pulling at their esophagi with its fingers.

Although everyone had undergone various trainings at school, there was almost no training related to odors.

Except for Luo Di, the other three all had strong gagging reactions.

Class Monitor Wu Wen’s reaction speed was very fast; she immediately took out the masks she had prepared in her backpack and distributed one to each person, which finally provided some relief.

After the interference of the smell was removed, everyone successively entered the main hall of the Ravenna.

The place was set up as a mourning hall.

White drapes surrounded the hall in waves, constantly fluttering in the cold wind.

A mahogany offering table was placed in the center.

Four bowls of already moldy white rice still had burnt incense sticks Insert in them.

The dishes and fruits were completely rotten, and saprophytic organisms had built nests within them, enjoying this hard-earned feast.

Overall, one thing was very strange: the various funeral items were arranged very traditionally and completely, but the most important item was missing.

“The deceased’s portrait.”

At this moment, Class Monitor Wu Wen, wearing a mask, underwent a complete change in demeanor. Her sharp eyes quickly scanned the entire hall before giving the next instruction:

“Next, we need to maintain the integrity of our team, move together at all times, and conduct a comprehensive inspection of the Ravenna. Once we confirm its safety, we’ll come back here to clean up these moldy things.”

Under Class Monitor Wu Wen’s leadership, the full house inspection officially began.

All the windows in the Ravenna were covered with white paper, greatly reducing the natural light and casting an unremovable dim hue over the entire place.

This dimness also highlighted the white lanterns hanging in the corridors, each becoming an indispensable source of light.

A rather tense full-house inspection quickly concluded.

The anticipated dangers and potential strange occurrences did not happen. There wasn’t even a single person in the entire Ravenna, and they also failed to find the 【portrait】 that should have been there.

It’s worth mentioning that,

The master bedroom on the second floor was quite large and well-lit. If safety could be ensured, everyone could rest inside instead of setting up tents outside.

Since no problems were found in the main building, only the backyard remained to be checked.

It was strange that there were no windows facing the backyard within the two-story main building.

However, Gao Yuxuan observed very carefully and found that windows did exist, but they had been completely sealed with cement long ago.

There was only one 【door】 leading to the backyard from inside the main building.

And it was a modern iron door that completely didn’t fit the style of the old house.

The door had no lock mechanism, was completely locked from the inside, and even felt as if heavy objects were blocking the other side, making it impossible for the four of them to open it with their current means.

There was no other way.

The four could only go around the outside of the Ravenna and try to enter the backyard by climbing over the wall.

While the front yard’s wall was perfectly normal, the top of the backyard wall was covered with sharp, barbed wire, heavily rusted.

Through the wall, only the top of a twisted tree could be seen, which seemed quite similar to the locust tree where Luo Di had found the wooden box earlier in the mountains.

Perhaps this tree had a direct connection to this practical exercise.

Class Monitor Wu Wen took out all the protective gear from her backpack, such as knee pads and wrist guards, preparing to fully equip herself and try to force her way over the sharp wire to climb over.

Standing at the back of the group, Luo Di, who was estimating the height of the wall, suddenly offered a suggestion, “Let me stand on Anna’s shoulders. Maybe I can saw through the wire on top; that way, it will be safer.”

Anna strongly agreed with this proposal, hitting her palm with a fist, “That’s a good idea! Wu Wen, you shouldn’t climb the wall alone. It would be troublesome if you got scratched and contracted tetanus.”

“Alright~ Then it’s up to you two to coordinate.”

It must be said, Anna’s physical fitness was truly excellent.

As soon as Luo Di stepped onto her shoulders, Anna, who was in a squatting position, rose at a steady pace, without any unnecessary swaying throughout the process.

But even with their combined height, they could only just barely reach the top of the wall.

Luo Di tried to grasp the edge of the wall with his gloved left hand to increase stability.

Buzz!

The automated electric saw, bought from the terminal supermarket, started for the first time. Driven by its motor, the alloy saw teeth effortlessly cut through the rusted, rough barbed wire.

As a large section of wire fell, an opening wide enough for a single person to pass through was created at the top of the wall.

Bracing himself, Luo Di nimbly stepped onto the wall, seeming quite skilled at such things.

When his eyes fell upon the interior of the backyard, he visibly froze for a moment, and his words became somewhat cold,

“The iron door leading to the main building should be able to be opened from the inside. You guys just wait at the iron door, and I’ll open it from in there.”

With that, Luo Di leaped and landed steadily in the backyard.

Class Monitor Wu Wen and the other two quickly returned to the Ravenna. On the way, Anna whispered in Class Monitor Wu Wen’s ear: “Wu Wen~ This guy really seems to have something going for him. His center of gravity is so stable, and he acts so cleanly and efficiently.”

The eyes above Wu Wen’s white mask narrowed into a curved slit, “He’s very capable.”

By the time the three of them returned to the iron door leading to the backyard, they could faintly hear heavy objects being moved one by one from behind the door.

This was followed by the sound of an electric saw cutting again.

Crack!

The internal chain was sawn through and fell.

The sliding iron door slowly opened.

The iron door opened, revealing the backyard.

The three high school students standing at the entrance were all stunned, their expressions changing rapidly and repeatedly in a short period.

It wasn’t just a visual impact;

There was also a smell, a strong smell carried by the cold wind,

It could penetrate masks, burrow into nasal passages, and even allow the tongue, held tightly between lips and teeth, to distinctly taste this unusual flavor, many times stronger than the smell in the hall.

The intertwining of smell and sight brought about the most extreme mental shock.

Like a high fever, it consumed their consciousness, washing over their thoughts from deep within their brains.

If the previous sensation in the foyer was an appetizer, then this scene was definitely today’s signature main course.

Anna was the first to give in, vomiting on the spot.

Gao Yuxuan covered his abdomen with his hand, turned around, and left for the Ravenna’s restroom.

Class Monitor Wu Wen’s hands tightly covered her mask, and after a struggle in her eyes, she finally steadied her turbulent stomach, re-examining the scene before her.

The entire backyard was filled with the corpses of cattle and pigs, along with their post-mortem excrement, and swarms of flies.

Strangely, despite such an intense smell, no one had been able to detect it from outside the wall earlier, as if the entire backyard was enveloped by something invisible.

The animal carcasses and their smell were not the real focus.

Class Monitor Wu Wen’s gaze quickly locked onto the center of the backyard, onto that huge, twisted old locust tree.

Four Huaxia people, dressed in vintage attire, were suspended by hemp ropes from different areas of the crooked-necked tree. The degree of decomposition of their bodies varied, but their bulging eyeballs uniformly stared at the Ravenna,

Staring at the only entrance and exit,

Staring at the young people who had intruded.

Combined with the funeral theme of the Ravenna,

It seemed they had held a funeral for themselves, and the guests were the four people who had found the Ravenna’s key.