Next, beside the stage on the west side of the inner courtyard, they found Huo Mo. The stage had been abandoned for years. Its curtains hung in tatters, and both the stage and the floor below were coated in thick dust.
He sat woodenly on a bench, staring blankly at the stage as if a grand opera were being performed upon its empty boards.
Zhang Yuanqing's expression darkened. In his sight, Yin energy congested heavily around Huo Mo, whose soul was already on the verge of detachment—he was hovering at death's door.
Zhang Yuanqing rushed over and pressed a hand against Huo Mo's shoulder. Darkness swirled in the depths of his eyes as he drew the Yin energy into his palm in a steady stream, devouring and refining it.
Huo Mo shuddered. A spark of life returned to his hollow eyes, and he instinctively cried out, "So cold, so cold..."
Shivering, the Fire Master looked around. Seeing Zhang Yuanqing beside him and Xie Lingxi not far away, he shouted, "Fuck, where did you guys go? The moment I left the main hall, everyone vanished!"
"Everyone was separated," Zhang Yuanqing said, waving a hand to cut off his questioning. "How did you end up here?"
"After getting split up, I walked here without realizing it, and then I heard someone singing opera..." Huo Mo recalled, still shaken. "I followed the sound and saw this stage. A woman was singing up there. I watched for just a few moments, and then... then I don't remember anything."
At this point, another shiver racked his body. Looking at the dilapidated stage in the distance, how could there possibly have been any woman singing? Huo Mo turned to the Night Wanderer beside him, his eyes filled with gratitude. "You saved me?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Zhang Yuanqing replied with a faint smile.
*Phew...* Huo Mo breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a wave of lingering dread as he recalled the encounter. "My skills and items are completely useless against resentful spirits. Brother Wang Tai, thank you."
While every class had its distinct traits, a resentful spirit's ability to control a Fire Master so silently was largely due to level suppression.
Supernatural monsters were bizarre and unpredictable. Without the right class matchup, dealing with them was a nightmare. However, they had a weakness: their methods of harming people were indirect.
They were far less efficient than a simple knife thrust.
In the cobweb-draped dressing room beside the stage, the three found a gold hairpin.
Holding the hairpin and securing his betrothal gift, Huo Mo finally felt his heart settle back into place. Only then did he ask, "Where are Xi Shi and Great Sage Equal to Heaven?"
Xie Lingxi shook her head. "We haven't found them yet. I hope they're as lucky as you."
Huo Mo shot her a sideways glance. "You'd rather they die?"
Xie Lingxi looked utterly pitiful, wearing an aggrieved expression. "How could Big Brother say such a thing? We're companions~"
Huo Mo couldn't be bothered to engage. They had bickered earlier, and her phony, manipulative antics had annoyed him to no end, leaving him with little patience for her.
Of course, it was also because the young girl wasn't Huo Mo's type; otherwise, it might have been a different story.
The three left the area and headed to another courtyard. The compound was larger than expected, with the rear grounds divided into several smaller courtyards—some landscaped as gardens, others housing theatrical stages.
After walking for a while, Zhang Yuanqing, with his night vision, spotted a figure stumbling toward them from the distance.
The person wore driving loafers and tight pants, sporting the signature getup of a flashy street punk—it was Great Sage Equal to Heaven.
"Why are you guys here?" he asked, approaching them in pleasant surprise.
Darkness swirled in Zhang Yuanqing's eyes. After inspecting him for a moment, he confirmed it was indeed the real person.
The four grouped up and recounted their experiences. After getting separated, Great Sage had wandered into a courtyard where a single room was lit with candlelight. Pushing the door open to check, he found it empty, save for a neatly folded wedding quilt resting on the bed.
Great Sage guessed it was one of the betrothal gifts, but obeying his inner cowardice, he had quietly backed away.
Soon after, he ran into Zhang Yuanqing's group.
Huo Mo stared in disbelief. "The biggest coward turned out to be the safest?"
"What kind of talk is that? I was being cautious, not cowardly," Great Sage said, trying to salvage his dignity.
*Fair enough. Sometimes the ones who survive aren't the smartest or most capable, but the most cautious...* Zhang Yuanqing interrupted their pointless squabble, looking at Great Sage. "Where is the quilt?"
Great Sage glanced behind him.
Under his lead, the four arrived at the courtyard. Sure enough, a room stood illuminated by candlelight.
Noticing the fearful expressions on his teammates' faces, Zhang Yuanqing exhaled helplessly. "I'll go get it for you."
This was the Night Wanderer's home turf.
He strode into the room. The moment he crossed the threshold, the lattice doors slammed shut on their own.
Outside, Xie Lingxi and the others watched as 'Wang Tai's' figure vanished the instant the doors closed. The candlelight inside was dim, yet it cast no shadow of him.
After several agonizing minutes of waiting, the lattice doors burst open with a loud bang, and 'Wang Tai' bolted out, clutching a wedding quilt.
He looked somewhat battered, his clothes torn in several places and stained with blood.
"Great Sage, catch!"
Zhang Yuanqing tossed the quilt to Great Sage Equal to Heaven, who caught it in delightful surprise and hugged it tightly against his chest. Just as he was about to ask what had happened inside, Zhang Yuanqing spoke up:
"Let's go. Time to find Xi Shi."
Great Sage didn't press further, following his teammates as they continued exploring the inner grounds.
The night was deep, devoid of stars or moon. The only light came from the red lanterns hanging under the eaves, casting a crimson shroud over the deathly silent world.
Occasional gusts of ghostly wind set the lanterns swaying under the eaves, making the scene all the more terrifying.
"Come over quickly, I'm here..."
Suddenly, a soft, alluring voice drifted from up ahead.
Zhang Yuanqing and the others looked over and saw Xi Shi standing beneath a lantern at the corner of an eave, waving to them.
She stood there rigid as a clay sculpture, her waving hand stiff and her smile equally unnatural, tinged with an eerie quality.
"Xi Shi!"
Seeing that she was unharmed, Great Sage breathed a sigh of relief and moved to approach, but Huo Mo clamped a hand onto his shoulder.
At the same time, Zhang Yuanqing's voice sounded in his ear: "Look at her shoes."
*Shoes?* Great Sage looked closely, his pupils contracting slightly.
On her feet were a pair of red embroidered shoes.
She wasn't Xi Shi!!
"Come here, come over here..."
Xi Shi continued waving, her smile stiff and bizarre.
"Bypass her, don't pay any attention!" Zhang Yuanqing whispered.
Seeing the grim look on the Night Wanderer's face, Great Sage quickly pulled his gaze away, his nerves frayed, not daring to look again.
The group walked on for a moment before Zhang Yuanqing, staring ahead, said, "Do you remember when we first entered the mansion, Xi Shi said she saw a woman standing under a red lantern?"
Hearing that, Huo Mo couldn't resist glancing back. He faintly saw the woman still standing in place, no longer waving, watching them in silence.
"Fucking creepy..." the Fire Master spat.
Xie Lingxi asked in confusion, "Why did she take Sister Xi Shi's appearance?"
Zhang Yuanqing looked toward a spot ahead and sighed. "Go look for yourselves, and you'll understand."
*What does that mean?* The three didn't grasp it at first, but after walking a short distance further, they faintly spotted a figure hanging beneath the eaves up ahead.
"Sister Xi Shi?!" Xie Lingxi cried out in shock.
It was indeed Xi Shi. She was hanging by her neck beneath the eaves, her delicate, pretty face contorted from suffocation. Her eyes bulged, bloodshot, her face pale and bluish, her lips slightly protruding.
It was a gruesome death.
Great Sage and Huo Mo were stricken with shock and terror; they hadn't expected her to die here so quietly.
With his night vision, Zhang Yuanqing had seen it long before reaching the spot, and had already moved past the initial shock. He led his shaken companions closer to the corpse.
Xi Shi hung silently. Zhang Yuanqing touched her hand; it was ice-cold. She had been dead for over half an hour.
"It's Sister Xi Shi's wedding invitation."
Xie Lingxi pointed at the ground beneath the corpse's feet, where a red booklet lay.
Zhang Yuanqing glanced at the invitation without picking it up. Darkness surged in his eyes as he made contact with the residual spirit body inside Xi Shi's corpse.
He needed to verify whether Xi Shi had died at the hands of a resentful spirit or something else.
A sudden pressure swelled between his brows as foreign memories flooded into his mind.
He saw fragmented glimpses of Xi Shi's past: she was a Level 2 Water Ghost, a Spirit Realm walker from Nanhang City in Tong Province, unaffiliated with the authorities and a member of a civilian Spirit Realm walker organization.
Her real-world profession was a nurse, yet she maintained relationships with multiple men at once—her department director, wealthy businessmen, and an executive from the Spirit Realm organization.
She was an anti-marriage advocate who didn't believe in love, viewing men merely as resources.
She was an accomplished socialite.
At the end of her memories, Zhang Yuanqing saw the apparition of a figure in a wedding dress appear, and the vision abruptly cut off.
*She was killed by the Ghost Bride?!* Zhang Yuanqing opened his eyes, astonished, a chill running down his spine.
*That shouldn't be possible,* he thought. *Why would the Ghost Bride act ahead of time? Isn't she waiting to choose a groom?*
If the Ghost Bride could strike whenever she pleased, how were they supposed to play this game?
Furthermore, if the Ghost Bride had acted personally, why did she kill only Xi Shi and leave the rest of them alone? Or had she simply not gotten around to them yet?
Just then, he overheard Xie Lingxi and Great Sage talking:
"Why is her gender crossed out?"
"No idea. Maybe after you die, it gets crossed out?"
Zhang Yuanqing froze, then said immediately, "Let me see."
Xie Lingxi handed the wedding invitation over.
Zhang Yuanqing peered closely. The "Gender" section on Xi Shi's card was struck through with a thick line of black ink.
Xie Lingxi looked at him with bright eyes. "Brother Wang Tai, what did you see in Sister Xi Shi's spirit body?"
Great Sage and Huo Mo turned their eyes toward him at once.
"She was killed by the Ghost Bride!"
"What?!"
The three turned pale with terror, glancing around vigilantly.
If the Ghost Bride intervened directly, probably none of them would survive. Logically speaking, it shouldn't be this way—even in an S-rank quest, no matter how brutal the difficulty, there had to be a slim chance of survival.
"I have a theory, but there's a logical hole..." Zhang Yuanqing pondered for a moment, then looked at the doe-eyed Xie Lingxi. "Can you let me see your wedding invitation?"
"Sure!"
She was very cooperative, pulling the invitation from her waistband.
Zhang Yuanqing took it and opened it, his expression turning odd. "Gender: Male?"
Huo Mo and Great Sage leaned in. In the gender column, it indeed said "Male."
Great Sage felt a sharp pang of betrayal. "You look so sweet and delicate, who knew you were packing a handle downstairs?!"
"What are you talking about~?" Xie Lingxi's face flushed red, and she explained, "I was thinking that since the Ghost Bride is looking for a husband, the husband obviously has to be a man! If I wrote female, wouldn't that violate the rules and get me eliminated immediately?"
Huo Mo and Great Sage fell into deep thought.
*Xie Lingxi wrote 'Male,' which means my guess was correct. In the old version, women cleared automatically, but in the new version, women are directly killed because this is an S-rank dungeon. Clearing automatically? Nothing comes that cheap...* Zhang Yuanqing's deduction was confirmed.
Xi Shi had been directly eliminated by the Ghost Bride simply because she didn't fit the requirements of a groom.
He shared his reasoning with the group. After hearing it, Xie Lingxi said remorsefully, "It was only a guess, so I didn't dare say it out loud... If only I had warned Sister Xi Shi earlier."
*Whatever you say!* The same thought crossed all three men's minds in tacit agreement.
Now only four people remained in the party. One more person could die at the Ghost Bride's hands—and at most, only one more. *Thank goodness...*
Out of respect for having known her briefly, Zhang Yuanqing untied Xi Shi's body and laid her gently on the ground. He surveyed his remaining three companions. "Time is running short. We need to find the bridal chamber."
Although they hadn't been counting the seconds, they could roughly estimate that nearly an hour had passed since entering the mansion.
Xie Lingxi, Huo Mo, and Great Sage swiftly put Xi Shi's death out of their minds, steeling themselves.
Each carrying a betrothal gift, the four moved forward, venturing deeper into the compound. They navigated silently between the courtyards, accompanied only by the red lanterns.
After searching for a long time without locating the bridal chamber, they suddenly saw a courtyard appear ahead. Its eaves curved gracefully upward, double happiness characters were pasted on the windows and doors, and warm candlelight glowed from within.
A crimson carpet paved the path leading to the main room.
"When the time is up, the bridal chamber appears." Zhang Yuanqing looked at his teammates' tense expressions and said in a low voice, "Let's go."
He had originally wanted to crack a joke—*Don't be so nervous, the Ghost Bride might be a busty, curvy mature beauty*—but seeing his companions' somber expressions, as though they were marching to the execution grounds, he tactfully abandoned the idea of lightening the mood.
Even now, they still didn't know how the Ghost Bride would choose: pick one out of four, or take them all?
Likewise, none of them knew if they would survive.
Entering the courtyard, Zhang Yuanqing stepped across the red carpet and halted before the door. He took a deep breath and shoved the lattice doors open.
*Bang!* The double doors swung inward. Zhang Yuanqing crossed the threshold, his muscles tensed as he scanned the room's layout.
The entire chamber was adorned in festive red. Double happiness characters were pasted on the walls, and a round table stood in the center, bearing two candleholders. Red candles as long as a forearm flickered, beneath which sat several celadon plates filled with dried longans, peanuts, and other auspicious offerings.
To the east sat a large bed. Its canopy and sheets were a celebratory bright red, but there was no quilt or bedding.
The bedside was completely empty—there was no bride in a wedding gown and red veil, as he had imagined.
*The Ghost Bride isn't here...* Zhang Yuanqing's tight nerves slowly eased, and he let out a long breath. He turned around to speak to his teammates, only to find himself completely alone in the bridal chamber.
His three companions had vanished once again.
"Only I entered this bridal chamber?" Zhang Yuanqing stiffened, then quickly caught on, muttering, "The Ghost Bride really knows how to play... She arranged a separate chamber for each of us."
Judging by the current situation, it matched his second hypothesis: four betrothal gifts corresponded to four grooms, and the rest died.
"Next, all that's left is to wait for the bride to grace me with her presence! I just wonder who she'll pick..."
Zhang Yuanqing turned and shut the doors, silently summoning Little Doubi to perch atop his head, standing on high alert.
He patted the infant spirit's head and looked around at the festive decor. For some reason, an internet joke popped into his head: *Just got married, and she already has a husband and a son. The Ghost Bride has truly reached the pinnacle of life!*
*And the son isn't even dark-skinned.*
The candlelight burned brilliantly, illuminating the room. Zhang Yuanqing had initially hoped to track the passage of time by the candles' melting wax, but strangely, no matter how long they burned, they showed no signs of diminishing.
After an unknown amount of time, the doors were blown open with a violent *slam* by a blast of ghostly wind. The candles snuffed out in an instant, and a freezing chill howled through every corner of the bridal chamber.
The room plunged into pitch darkness. Zhang Yuanqing's heart seized. The infant spirit on his head began trembling violently, gripped by overwhelming terror as if facing doomsday.
He turned his neck stiffly toward the wide-open doorway. Outside was as black as ink, but with his night vision, he faintly saw a figure clad in a bridal gown, her head covered by a red veil, walking along the red carpet toward the bridal chamber.
Chapter 58