Chapter 77: Conclusion
A strange, indescribable wave of confusion swept over the Spirit Realm Walkers in the room as they watched Yuanshi Tianzun lower a bridal veil over his own head accompanied by the mournful tunes of the suona. On the one hand, they couldn't tell whether the core of his technique was the red veil itself, or whatever item was playing music from his waist pouch. On the other hand, the sight of a boy in a red bridal veil accompanied by wedding music was all just too bizarre.
This stupid speaker, playing its own songs again without reading the room. It completely stole my thunder, Zhang Yuanqing grumbled inwardly as the Red Veil settled over his head.
"Trying out what it feels like to be a groom?" Rampaging Recklessly repeated, a flash of vivid crimson reflected in his amber slit pupils. His expression twisted into a mocking sneer. "So, you want to be my bride? Sorry, but I have zero interest in men."
Zhang Yuanqing ignored him entirely, steadying his mind and silently reaching out with his senses, waiting for the Ghost Bride to appear.
Rampaging Recklessly's gaze flickered when his taunt drew no response. The floor tiles beneath his feet suddenly cracked as he lunged forward in a shameless ambush. He didn't know what this kid's technique was, but any danger had to be snuffed out early. Giving an enemy time meant opening yourself to risk.
Bzzzt...
Without warning, the piercing sound of the suona was interrupted by a crackle of static, as though the signal had been disrupted.
She's here.
Zhang Yuanqing sensed the disturbance behind him: a vast, overwhelming tide of ghostly energy surging from the void. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end, yet he didn't dare turn around. The feeling was all too familiar. He had felt the same thing back in Jinshui Amusement Park, when the Ghost Bride had made her entrance.
The overwhelming ghostly energy engulfed the villa, and every official Walker present felt a tremble run through their very souls. What on earth had he summoned?
From Rampaging Recklessly's vantage point, he could see a massive wall of dark, heavy fog rolling in behind the Nocturnal Specter, bringing with it bone-deep cold, sinister malevolence, and unspeakable terror. A ghostly silhouette in a vivid red wedding gown materialized inside the murk behind the Nocturnal Specter.
There was a loud screech as Rampaging Recklessly forced himself to a sudden halt, his feet scraping against the floor and emitting a sharp grinding sound as he killed his forward momentum. Indescribable terror detonated in the pit of his stomach.
It was a terrible vengeful spirit. A powerful vengeful spirit. An unstoppable vengeful spirit. He could sense the crushing pressure of a high-level entity. Giving into pure instinct, Rampaging Recklessly spun on his heel and ran without a shred of hesitation. He was a Hex Master, not an Illusionist. He lacked the means to deal with spirit entities, let alone one of this caliber.
He charged toward the front door, but the moment he took his first stride, he froze. The door had vanished, replaced by a wall of ghostly fog, dark and impenetrable. Within it, the eerie silhouette in the red wedding gown flickered in and out of sight.
What in the world? His scalp went numb.
He wheeled around and sprinted for the staircase instead, but thick ghostly fog was already rolling down the stairs, and within the churning mist, a pair of dainty feet in red embroidered shoes was descending the steps, one deliberate footfall at a time.
Despair flooded Rampaging Recklessly's eyes.
In the eyes of the official Walkers, Rampaging Recklessly looked as though he'd been possessed. He dashed toward the front door, then the windows, then the staircase, but each time he recoiled in terror. His grotesque, insectoid face contorted with fear, and his amber eyes with their slit-like pupils darted about in wild panic.
Tang Guoqiang shivered violently. His limbs were useless, but he dragged himself desperately away from Zhang Yuanqing, scrambling as though fleeing for his life.
Zhang Yuanqing tilted his head slightly, using his extremely limited field of vision beneath the veil to observe Rampaging Recklessly's frenzied state. He immediately deduced that the Ghost Bride had cast an illusion. A ghost-wall illusion?
He was about to seize the chance to finish the job and bleed the Hex Master dry when he suddenly realized he couldn't move.
Alarm and confusion flooded his mind. What's going on? The item notes never said the Red Veil would restrict my movement!
Then, he felt something pressing against his back. It was cold as ice, yet possessed an unnatural softness. A torrent of ghostly energy surged into his body and merged with the Power of the Dark Moon already flowing through him. Deep within, Little Goofball jolted awake from sleep, curling into a ball and trembling violently. The infant spirit had no idea what was happening. One moment it had been asleep, and the next, it felt itself engulfed in overwhelming danger.
At last, Zhang Yuanqing found himself moving again. His legs carried him forward, step by slow step, toward Rampaging Recklessly. However, his movements were not under his control. The Ghost Bride was moving his body like a puppet.
Guan Ya, Green Vine, White Dragon, Li Dongze... One by one, the gazes of the official Walkers shifted from Rampaging Recklessly to the slowly advancing Zhang Yuanqing.
Whether by a trick of the light or something else, for just an instant, they glimpsed a sinister ghostly figure in a red wedding gown pressed flush against Yuanshi's back. The sight of that specter filled every one of them with a primal, bone-deep fear.
Zhang Yuanqing reached Rampaging Recklessly, and he peered under the lower edge of the Red Veil. A pair of pale, delicate hands extended from behind him and seized his hand.
Piercing ghostly energy gathered in his palm. He watched, helpless, as his skin turned a mottled dark blue, the muscles of his arm swelling grotesquely as pitch black veins wound their way across the surface. Sharp, jet-black claws extended from all five of his fingertips.
Those pale, delicate hands guided the ghastly claw forward, closing it around Rampaging Recklessly's throat.
***
Dark fog closed in from every direction. Ghostly figures in red wedding gowns surrounded him on all sides. Rampaging Recklessly whipped his head left and right in a panic, desperate to flee, but there was no escape. Every direction was blocked by a specter.
His heart hammered wildly and adrenaline surged through him, yet it did not bring courage, but an absolute, all-consuming terror. His ferocity, rage, ruthlessness, and decisive nature had all vanished without a trace. The only emotion that remained was fear. Pure, quaking terror.
He knew he was under some kind of influence, yet he despaired. Even knowing something was wrong, he was powerless to change it.
Suddenly, every ghostly figure raised their hands in unison. Under the gorgeous crimson wedding gowns, each one had the same ghastly clawed hand, blue-black and wrapped in bulging veins.
With nowhere left to retreat, Rampaging Recklessly could only watch as those claws closed around his throat. In the next instant, freezing ghostly energy invaded his body, spreading rapidly, and draining his life force away.
***
Zhang Yuanqing stared down at Rampaging Recklessly, held in his ghastly, clawed hand. The light in those amber eyes dimmed, bit by bit, until it finally went out. He could feel the soul within that tall, grotesque body shatter and dissolve.
He's dead, Zhang Yuanqing realized, exhaling with immense relief. At last, the battle was over. There would be no more surprises. No, wait. There's still the Serpentine creature.
The thought had barely crossed his mind before the Ghost Bride was already turning him around and marching him toward the great snake.
Almost immediately, the snake's feral eyes glazed over and refocused themselves, over and over in a cycle of confusion and fury. Its massive body writhed weakly and restlessly. It, too, had fallen under the influence of the illusion. Zhang Yuanqing clamped his ghastly claw around the snake's neck in the same manner and snuffed out its life.
Still, his body didn't stop. The Ghost Bride hadn't left him. Instead, she turned him around to face the official Walkers. The joy that had just begun to bloom among them turned instantly to ice-cold dread.
Zhang Yuanqing noticed the pale, delicate hands guiding his arms sway back and forth slightly, wavering between White Dragon, Green Vine, and Guan Ya in apparent indecision.
A few seconds later, the Ghost Bride seemed to make up her mind. She steered Zhang Yuanqing forward, step by step, toward Guan Ya.
The open-minded lady's face went white as a sheet, and she scrambled backward in terror. "Y-Yuanshi?"
She's going to kill Guan Ya? No, stop! Zhang Yuanqing's mind raced in frantic alarm, but his body refused to obey.
There had to be a time limit to how long the Ghost Bride could exist, but the item description had not given him any indication of it. If he waited for the effect to expire on its own, Guan Ya would already be dead.
As he drew closer and closer to Guan Ya, his thoughts spun desperately until a solution struck him. He transferred the "spirit manipulation" to Little Goofball. The tiny infant spirit within him finally buckled under the pressure and burst into wailing sobs.
That brief disruption was all Zhang Yuanqing needed. He seized his momentary window of control, raised his left hand, and tore the Red Veil from his head. The overwhelming ghostly energy retreated into the void, and the Ghost Bride reluctantly returned to the Spirit Realm.
He was only five or six paces from Guan Ya.
Zhang Yuanqing dropped to the ground, legs splayed, gasping for air in great heaving breaths as the crushing exhaustion rolled back in. Guan Ya's white blouse was soaked through with sweat, stray hair plastered wetly against her cheeks, her chest rising and falling rapidly.
As the terrifying ghostly energy dissipated, the official Walkers released a collective breath of relief, equal parts in gratitude and admiration. As expected of a Nocturnal Specter who had cleared two S-rank dungeons in a row! Even as a newcomer, he was already extraordinary.
One of the Wood Demons pulled an antidote pill from his tactical pack with trembling hands. "Quick, take these antidote pills. They can't purge the toxin completely, but they'll ease the symptoms."
"Can you bring them over here?"
"I... I can't move..."
Captain Green Vine's elegant brows knitted together. "Can anyone still move? Someone needs to go upstairs and secure whatever item is causing this. Right now, the symptoms are limited to coughing and paralysis, but there's no telling if we might drop dead any moment."
Big Muscle staggered to his feet, intent on heading upstairs, but after a few steps he crumpled to the floor, unconscious from blood loss.
Seeing this, Zhang Yuanqing forced his exhausted body upright. "I'll go."
White Dragon let out a sigh of relief and smiled weakly. "You really are a dependable boy—no, man."
If you'd said that ten seconds earlier, the Ghost Bride wouldn't have spared you, Zhang Yuanqing muttered inwardly.
From behind the scenes, Squad Leader Li Dongze called out a reminder. "It should be on the second floor, on the side facing the front door. Try the second or third room. Rampaging Recklessly was fighting in that area earlier. He was probably guarding the items."
Zhang Yuanqing nodded and stumbled his way up the staircase.
***
Everyone watched him disappear around the bend in the stairs. Li Dongze glanced at his wristwatch, and a look of delight crossed his face. "The thirty minutes are up. The Barrier has dissipated. We can call for backup now."
Among the official Walkers present, he was the only one who bothered with the elegance of wearing a watch. Everyone else relied on their phones for the time, and all phones had been set to airplane mode before the commencement of the operation.
At that moment, the front door of the living room was kicked open with a thunderous crash, and over a dozen fully armed official Walkers filed inside. Behind them strode Fu Qingyang in his white suit, dark hair pulled back in a short ponytail. Beside him, dressed in his usual loose and casual style, was Ling Jun.
Li Dongze and the others were pleasantly stunned. The reinforcements are here!
Ling Jun's gaze swept over the fallen Venomous beasts, and he grinned. "Looks like you didn't need us after all. Rich Young Master, your captains pack quite a punch."
Fu Qingyang glanced at Guan Ya, who was uninjured, then surveyed the other captains. The stern lines of his cold face softened, just slightly.
