Chapter 52: Ghost Marriage (4)

Soon, the two ghostly figures absorbed all the faces, and in the end, the two began to merge. At the center of their conjoined forms, a rotation started, and two whirlpools formed within their merging bodies, gradually blending into a single vortex.

By now, the ghosts had lost all semblance of humanity, transforming into something akin to a miniature black hole, drawing in the lingering magnetic energy and resentment from their surroundings, growing stronger with every trace they devoured.

“Though the process was troubled, I have finally succeeded! Once you reach the realm of a five-star ghost spirit, I shall devour you and become the first awakened one at the five-star level! Hahaha!” The man, witnessing the transformation of the two spirits, lifted his head in wild laughter.

Anyone watching would have noticed by now that the whites of the scarred man’s eyes had nearly vanished, his pupils dilated until they almost consumed the entire eyeball, leaving his gaze as black as a demon’s from the depths of hell.

When his laughter subsided, the scarred man extended his palm. Instantly, the spirit’s body began to shrink, finally condensing into a black bead the size of a longan, which dropped into his hand.

“At the upcoming election for the Thirteenth Elder, I shall have my place. By then, with a more advanced method for devouring ghost spirits… Five stars? That’s but a milestone on my path to glory!”

Clutching the bead tightly, the scarred man muttered to himself, his expression wild with madness.

His composure quickly returned. With hate-filled eyes, he gazed into the distance—the direction of Old Mountain Village. “Though I used that oddity merely as an experimental subject for the fusion, someone dared destroy it! I will find out what fool dares to meddle with my slaves!”

With that, he grabbed a black umbrella at his side and left the basement, heading for Old Mountain Village.

A ghostly voice echoed, “Let’s go hunting—caw caw—”

In the home of Old Mountain Village’s chief, Xiao Ke’ai had already awakened and now faced Wu Zui’s stern lecture.

“A fine job! Surpassed the master, have you? I taught you Bajiquan for use when you lose your weapon, for hand-to-hand defense. So why fuse it with your hammer? You even spun yourself dizzy! If you’re fighting alone and wear yourself out, what are you planning to do—wait to die?”

Under Wu Zui’s stormy reprimand, both Xiao Ke’ai and Commander Cat hung their heads in silence.

As for why Commander Cat was included? He failed to stop Xiao Ke’ai when she used her chain hammer, and now shared in the blame.

Seeing her silent posture, Wu Zui’s heart softened.

[Sigh… Female disciples truly test one’s patience.]

“Will you try that again?”

He looked at the downcast Xiao Ke’ai and asked.

“No, Master, never again. Besides, you’re always here for me!” Hearing his words, Xiao Ke’ai knew his anger had subsided and immediately put on a charming, ingratiating smile.

“Don’t get cheeky! If you hadn’t passed out, we could have organized the villagers’ evacuation already. Now, we must spend the night here. After those five ghost puppets died, the forming sealed space in Old Mountain Village collapsed on its own.

I imagine the ghost bride is now maintaining her sealed space in Southern Mountain Village, or else she would have come by now! Send Commander Cat out to patrol; caution never hurts.” Wu Zui, watching the distant direction of Southern Mountain Village through the window, instructed Xiao Ke’ai.

Xiao Ke’ai nodded and released Commander Cat.

A blue, spherical form began its patrol around Old Mountain Village.

Outside, the wind picked up, sending the already withered leaves swirling through the air. The rustling of the wind in the trees became almost raucous. The air, once cleared of the corpse-stench after the death of the oddity, now carried a faintly strange odor again—subtle, but present.

Wu Zui reached out and closed the window.

“Master, Commander Cat is out patrolling. What should we do now?” Xiao Ke’ai asked as the room grew quiet with the window shut and the leaf-rustle gone.

“Rest for now. Tomorrow, once we’ve helped the villagers leave, we’ll check the water system. I thought the oddity had polluted the water, but despite its being burned to ash, the water hasn’t changed.”

He turned on the tap by his side as he spoke.

From it flowed the same water the villagers had described: a blackish-yellow liquid with an unbearable stench, far worse than any uncleaned public restroom.

Wu Zui quickly shut off the tap, and the two hurried out of the room. In another room, Xiao Ke’ai fanned her nose, as though the foul odor still lingered in her nostrils.

“Huh? Master, where’s that boy?” Xiao Ke’ai glanced around, noticing Li Zhi’s absence.

“He’s gone back home. There are no more ghosts in Old Mountain Village. Tomorrow, when daylight comes and the villagers regain their senses, we’ll send them away,” Wu Zui explained.

“I see… Master, that awakened one is heading our way!” Xiao Ke’ai was mid-sentence when Commander Cat, through their shared vision, spotted the awakened man they had seen earlier in the day now approaching the chief’s house where Wu Zui and Xiao Ke’ai were staying.

She immediately gave warning.

At that moment, on the wall behind Xiao Ke’ai, a patch of black matter swiftly expanded. Oily and slick, it closely resembled the lower half of the corpse from the coffin—disgusting to behold.

“Behind you—look out!” Wu Zui shouted.

Xiao Ke’ai instinctively leapt forward, but the black substance instantly expanded, enveloping both of them.

Once wrapped in darkness, Wu Zui and Xiao Ke’ai could see nothing—but then, as a tiny flame flickered to life, the gloom gradually retreated.

They now stood in a pitch-dark room, a sacrificial table before them.

On the table, two white candles burned at either end, their dim yellow flames wavering. It seemed they had been lit only moments before, their glow the first light to pierce the darkness.

Between the candles sat a small incense burner, three sticks smoldering, a wisp of smoke curling down from the table.

But rather than a deity, the offering placed on the table was a red character for “double happiness” on white paper, the rest of the space shrouded in inky blackness—eerie and chilling.

“Hm?” Wu Zui tried to move, but found himself completely immobilized. Rolling his eyes about, he saw he was dressed in a red-and-white wedding robe, rigidly standing inside a coffin. His golden weapon was nowhere to be seen.

Beside him stood another coffin, within which stood a “person”—their face obscured, but Wu Zui sensed with certainty that this was the ghost bride, who should have been in Southern Mountain Village!

First bow—to Heaven and Earth—

A cold, androgynous voice drifted through the gloom, raising every hair on Wu Zui’s body. His own body bent forward, compelled against his will; he struggled so hard his spine cracked, but still he bowed.

With that first bow, Wu Zui felt a thread of connection to the ghost bride. Though he couldn’t see her directly, he was aware of her gaze, as if he were a marionette whose strings had just been pulled for the first time.

[I cannot let this ghost wedding ritual be completed!]

A blue flicker of magnetic energy shone about Wu Zui, only to be instantly absorbed by the surrounding blackness.

[Even my magnetic energy is devoured!]

As he reeled at this discovery, the eerie voice sounded again.

Second bow—to the honored elders—

With this, four wavering black silhouettes appeared at the sides of the sacrificial table, two on the left and two on the right, standing like the parents of both bride and groom.

Once more, Wu Zui’s body bowed uncontrollably.

At the same moment, Xiao Ke’ai was experiencing the same ordeal, save that the coffin beside her contained the drowned boy. His swollen face was frozen in a grotesque smile, sending chills down her spine.

As both of them bowed, the second ritual was complete, and the sense of being pinned under the ghost bride’s (or groom’s) gaze grew ever more unbearable.

Wu Zui began converting his magnetic energy into crimson flames.

The flames burst from the underworld chapel, incinerating the shadowy figures and surging toward the ghost bride!

Outside the illusion, in the chief’s home in Old Mountain Village—

The scarred man was already there, standing before Wu Zui and Xiao Ke’ai, both enveloped by the black matter. In his hand, blue magnetic light glimmered as he gripped the limp body of Commander Cat.

This black substance had been forged from the corpses of the ghostly wedding couple and their many relatives, capable of dragging victims into the illusion of a ghost marriage, turning them into helpless puppets.

With the newly fused ghost mist, now endowed with the power to absorb magnetic energy, even a typical three-star awakened one would be unable to escape. Once the ghost wedding was complete, the victims would become slaves to the ghost spirit, ultimately serving as nourishment for its advancement.

The ghost puppets of Old Mountain Village had been made in just this way.

The scarred man’s voice was chilling. “A shame to lose such a beauty, but two three-star awakened ones are rare indeed! With the nourishment of your magnetic energy, my ghost spirit will break through to four stars. Complete the ghost wedding, and become sacrifices to my spirit!”

The fusion of the two ghosts had cost too much resentment energy—otherwise, the ghost mist would already be at four stars. Eager for its advancement, the scarred man had set his sights on Wu Zui and Xiao Ke’ai.

Suddenly, a loud thump echoed from within the black substance, like the amplified beat of a heart stopping.

At that sound, crimson flames erupted from the mass encasing the two. The black matter pulsed like a heart, trying to draw the flames back in, but the fire burned fiercely, quickly opening a hole.

Two figures burst out. Wu Zui wreathed in crimson flames, pulling Xiao Ke’ai, who glowed with magnetic blue light. The black substance that had trapped them was consumed by the fire.

The nauseating stench faded away…