Chapter 63: Encounter Once More

Hu Xiaoyu’s wrist trembled as she tried to wrench herself free with a sudden shake. Yet my hand held firm like a steel clamp—motionless. To think I’d underestimated this woman; I had analyzed her behavior several times, convinced she was above suspicion. And yet, it was her.

“Who are you, really?” Hu Xiaoyu suddenly leaned into me, whispering in my ear.

My gaze flickered as I bit her ear and replied, “And who are you?”

Across the room, the old man puffing away at his dry pipe was watching us; when he saw us embrace, he turned his eyes elsewhere.

It struck me then—Hu Xiaoyu seemed to have no real connection to this haunted house, yet she was the one who led us here.

“A white lotus blooms amid chaos,” she whispered.

“You’re sick, reciting poetry at a time like this. I’m asking who you are.” My heart stirred; this was the White Lotus Sect’s code. Still, I feigned ignorance.

“Enough, it doesn’t matter who I am, nor who you are. They’ve all been ensnared; we don’t have much time. Let’s join forces and clear out this ghost house,” Hu Xiaoyu breathed into my ear, her warm breath both ticklish and tingling.

“I’m quick on my feet—why risk myself here with you? But you’re the one who brought everyone here. What’s your angle?” I murmured.

Hu Xiaoyu pressed even closer, so near I felt the softness of her body against my chest, her subtle fragrance filling my senses.

“If we’re both in the know, let’s be candid. You can see that girl on Moon-Face’s back, can’t you?” she said.

“What girl? It’s a ghost, plain and simple,” I replied.

“So you can see her. Listen, she’s the reincarnated soul of the Saintess... Never mind, you wouldn’t understand. All you need to know is there’s something here I need,” Hu Xiaoyu said.

“Not my concern—there’s nothing here I need.” As I spoke, my hand slid to her slender waist.

She rested her head on my shoulder. “How can you say that? When the car broke down and stopped on the roadside, didn’t you wonder why not a single vehicle passed by? Even a fierce ghost couldn’t create an illusion so vast and seamless that neither of us sensed anything amiss.”

“So you’re saying there’s treasure hidden in this ghost nest?” I caught on. She wasn’t wrong.

Suddenly, Hu Xiaoyu pressed my descending hand against her waist and bit my shoulder.

“Don’t push your luck... Did you notice the two lanterns at the entrance? If I’m right, they’re ghost artifacts—lanterns made from human skin. All the illusions we saw were conjured by those lanterns. What’s more, they can turn people into ghosts without the ghosts even realizing it,” she said, shooting me a glance.

My heart stirred; the thought was unnerving, but such artifacts were indeed rare treasures.

“Deal,” I whispered.

“Good. That old ghost must have sensed something’s wrong and will be here any moment. I’ll take him down; you grab the human-skin lanterns. The mastermind behind this will show itself,” Hu Xiaoyu said.

No sooner had she spoken than the old ghost tapped his pipe and strode toward us.

Hu Xiaoyu and I exchanged a glance. In a flash, I seized her waist and flung her toward the old ghost.

At the same moment, I launched myself toward the entrance using the Ghost Step technique from the Grand Netherworld Yin-Yang Method. My body burst forward at full strength, leaving only a faint afterimage.

I heard Hu Xiaoyu’s cry, followed by the old ghost’s agonized wail.

By then, I had leapt high, reaching out to seize the two lanterns made from human skin.

But suddenly, the lanterns split open like giant mouths, threatening to swallow my hands.

“Knew it wouldn’t be so simple!” I muttered, flipping my wrist and slapping two talismans onto them.

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Immediately, the two lanterns froze.

I seized the chance to take them down; as soon as I did, their light extinguished and they quickly shriveled, turning into two thin sheets of skin.

At that instant, the entire mansion dissolved into ruins and broken tiles; a wave of fetid air struck me, and not far off, I saw a patch of weed-choked graves.

Everyone in the hall had collapsed, unconscious.

I stepped inside just in time to see Hu Xiaoyu focus her power at her fingertips, conjuring a white lotus bud that shot towards the old ghost. It bloomed rapidly within his spectral body.

In a flash, the old ghost’s body was torn apart, ripped into pieces.

The night wind was cold and biting, the leaves rustling like countless wailing souls.

Hu Xiaoyu and I stood at opposite ends, she now holding a jade ring glowing with eerie light, while I gripped a Blood Fiend Blade, both body and mind taut to the extreme.

Suddenly, a chill swept over the back of my neck, making every hair stand on end.

I ducked and spun, my blade trailing a ring of blood-red energy as I slashed behind me.

A ghostly shadow recoiled swiftly, revealing itself as a green-faced, tusked specter. Where my blade had cut its spectral body, it could not heal, its ghostly aura leaking incessantly.

I eased my guard slightly. An incompletely evolved fierce ghost—any fourth-level Yin-Yang Master could handle it.

Though I was only a third-level Yin-Yang Master, I could still fight it to the death if needed. With the formidable Hu Xiaoyu, we should manage.

But just then, the fierce ghost lunged toward the little ghost clinging to Ai Jun’s back, intent on devouring it.

Hu Xiaoyu tensed immediately. With a shout, she flung her jade ring, which expanded midair to trap the fierce ghost within.

I leapt forward, slamming my palm onto the ghost’s head.

“Zzzzt!”

Lightning burst from my palm, twisting the ghost’s body, nearly dispersing it altogether.

Palm Lightning!

Hu Xiaoyu glanced at me in surprise; lightning arts were rare and difficult to master among Yin-Yang techniques.

Palm Lightning, the ultimate bane of evil, was the secret art of Maoshan Daoism. But after the warlord chaos decades ago, Maoshan Daoism had collapsed, and Palm Lightning was nearly lost to history.

“Hiss...” The fierce ghost suddenly threw back its head and began emitting a high-frequency cry, inaudible to ordinary people.

“It’s calling for help,” Hu Xiaoyu’s face changed as she rushed forward, drawing a wooden sword from her sleeve and stabbing it into the ghost.

Instantly, the fierce ghost dissipated into a cloud of shadow.

Hu Xiaoyu then moved to a corner of the ruined mansion and extracted a box made of white bone.

Upon opening it, I saw a flash of blue light; the little ghost that had clung to Ai Jun’s back darted over and dove into the bone box.

That blue aura—my heart skipped a beat. Its properties were similar to those of the blue runes, originating from the Netherworld.

Old Fox Zhou had said the White Lotus Sect wanted to open a portal in Hundred Caves Miao Village; it seemed that was true.

“We have to go—who knows what the fierce ghost was calling for, but whatever it is, it must be stronger than it was,” Hu Xiaoyu said.

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I glanced at the collapsed medical team members scattered around. If left here, by morning they’d surely be nothing but corpses.

“Leave them—we have to go,” Hu Xiaoyu urged, reaching out to pull my hand.

“No,” I shook my head.

“Are you a saint?” Hu Xiaoyu snapped, shaking off my hand in anger.

“I’m not a saint—I’m human.” I replied.

When life hangs by a thread, self-preservation is instinct—a primal drive. But when given a choice, I believe most people would show their better side.

I’d hesitated earlier—not because I was a saint, but because I carried a sixth-level talisman. Even a peak fierce ghost would be within my power to resist.

Would I let these dozen people die just because I couldn’t bear to use the talisman? If so, I’d be no different from a ghost myself.

Just then, a dense wave of corpse energy surged toward us like a tidal flood.

Hu Xiaoyu’s face turned pale; this level of corpse energy meant at least an armored corpse.

When corpse energy becomes solid armor, it forms an armored corpse—the lowest, iron-armored zombies weren’t opponents for novice Yin-Yang Masters. If it was a bronze-armored zombie, it could slaughter us instantly.

“You’re going to get me killed,” Hu Xiaoyu shouted, turning to flee.

“Run—I'll draw it away,” I told Hu Xiaoyu, heading directly toward the incoming tide of corpse energy.

Hu Xiaoyu paused, shaken. Was there really a man in this world who would think of others like this? Was he in love with me?

If he survived, maybe I’d give him a chance.

So she thought, unleashing her power and vanishing into the woods in the blink of an eye.

“Boom... boom...” Trees crashed down one after another.

Then came the furious roars of zombies and the explosive aura.

Beside the wild graves, a woman dressed in silvery silk was blasting at the empty trees, her roars echoing from her throat.

I sat atop a weathered gravestone, unreadable inscription, a cigarette in my mouth, watching... the spectacle.

“Are you done?” The woman stopped, turned, and pouted at me.

“All done. Come here,” I beckoned with my finger.

She approached, her corpse energy gradually dissipating.

We gazed at each other for a long moment, then burst into laughter together.

I laughed until tears welled up.

“I held Gulijinsha’s hand and drove the blade into your heart with my own hands. I buried you myself. Tell me, why are you here?” I wiped away my tears, looking at Zhang Ruyue. Because of her, a shadow lingered in my heart—never expecting to meet her again. When her corpse energy swept over me, I felt that familiar sensation.

“I don’t know. I woke up that day, found myself buried in the earth, and clawed my way out. With all this corpse energy, I could only hide where there were no people. When I arrived here, I sensed a familiar energy fluctuation—it strengthened me, so I stayed,” Zhang Ruyue replied.

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