Chapter 122: Summoning Ghosts at Ghost Lake, a Blood‑Red Comb

At this moment, Zhang Hao also arrived at the area where the one‑eyed old man He Liansheng had been.

The three were isolated, and now as long as He Liansheng, who possesses the Soul Summoner inheritance, is killed, the inheritance of Taiping Ancient Town will be severed.

However.

When Zhang Hao appeared in a village near a lake in the Painting World, he found that He Liansheng was not there.

"What's going on?"

Zhang Hao surveyed the village, while the pallid Ghost Eye continuously scanned everything inside the village.

Yet no matter how he looked, He Liansheng's trace could not be found.

"Did that guy escape?"

Zhang Hao stared at the calm Lake Surface; the lake beside the village, though it housed a very terrifying Fierce Ghost.

But Zhang Hao did not think He Liansheng would die in this place.

Leaving other matters aside, He Liansheng's Soul Summoning ability alone could easily take care of this place.

Not to mention, He Liansheng also possessed the ability to swim up from the bottom of Ghost Lake.

The lake in this village was strong as well, but compared to Ghost Lake it was like a minor sorcerer before a great one.

"Not dead, so perhaps escaped?"

Zhang Hao looked beyond the seal, inspected the area but found no trace of the other, and could only think so.

Meanwhile, in the Reality World.

At this moment, He Liansheng indeed succeeded in breaking free from the ghost painting.

When he realized that he and the others had been separated by the Fierce Ghost, he knew things were out of control and used an old relic treasured by Taiping Ancient Town as a Medium to ignite the Soul Summoning Incense.

With the help of the summoned spirits, he successfully left the ghost painting world.

He Liansheng stood on the shore, gazing at Ghost Lake as it was now invading Reality.

He knew that Ghost Lake's loss of control was now unavoidable.

A portion of Ghost Lake's spiritual anomaly had been stolen by that young man; to retrieve the lost spiritual anomaly, Ghost Lake would inevitably invade Reality.

Not to mention, the red and white pair of ghosts were still eyeing Ghost Lake; once the Faceless Man and Liu Laoban were dealt with, they would return to Reality.

"Alas, I don't have many days left; I'll leave the hope to you."

He Liansheng sighed and returned to Taiping Ancient Town.

While passing through the ancient town, he halted, entered the ancestral hall, and looked up at the Spirit Tablets before the hall.

At this time, Taiping Ancient Town, due to Ghost Lake's loss of control, had eerie water stains spreading along the streets.

Even the floor of the ancestral hall had a pool of standing water.

Fortunately, the Spirit Tablets were placed high, so they were not submerged.

Moreover, each Spirit Tablet was clean and tidy, not a speck of dust, and the surrounding areas were unaffected by the underground water.

Each one represented the lifelong dedication of this old man.

He had guarded this place for decades, expecting to hold it until his dying breath, but the hall was flooded before that moment arrived.

After pausing and watching for a short while.

The one‑eyed old man approached the rows of Spirit Tablets; without much inspection, he already understood their arrangement, and casually grabbed one.

He then took out a Golden Box and placed the Spirit Tablets inside one by one.

When only the last Spirit Tablet remained, He Liansheng finally took it, cradling it, and left.

He boarded a black small boat and proceeded along the eerie lake waters of Taiping Ancient Town.

Soon, He Liansheng, aboard the ancient boat, returned to the location of Ghost Lake.

He found the corpse of the middle‑aged woman, took out a paper boat, lit it, and threw the woman's corpse onto it to burn.

Placed on the paper boat, the corpse, which had become cold and damp from lake water, ignited instantly, erupting into a raging fire.

The laundry woman's corpse gradually blackened in the flames, her clothes swiftly turned to ash, and a mournful scream echoed from the fire.

Each piece of clothing seemed to house a Fierce Ghost, sending chills down the spine.

Yet this fire was peculiar; it could burn spiritual anomalies, even more terrifying than the Ghost Fire wielded by Li Jun, though it seemed to require igniting these paper boats as a Medium to appear.

After the laundry woman's corpse and its eerie clothes were burned, the flames gradually faded and the thick smoke quickly vanished.

Among the ashes, the one‑eyed old man reached out and touched.

Only the last piece of clothing remained.

This garment could no longer be burned; it bore strange human faces, twisted bodies, charred torso imprints, as if multiple Fierce Ghosts were lodged within, extremely dangerous.

"This is the last garment sewn in Taiping Town, also the finest work, surpassing that longevity robe."

The old man flicked the ash off it, gazed at this relic, and his eyes seemed tinged with reminiscence.

After a while, he lifted the garment, remained silent, and looked toward the not‑quite‑calm, chilling Lake Surface.

"We can't keep waiting; now is the best chance."

The old man muttered, and the next moment, after placing the Spirit Tablet properly, he astonishingly put on the garment and leapt from the small boat into the Lake Surface.

Ghost Lake, having had its spiritual anomaly stolen, now focused all its attention on Yang Jian.

The old man entering Ghost Lake would have to face the lake water's erosion, but would not have to confront the female corpses within, reducing the danger considerably.

On the other side.

After Zhang Hao failed to find He Liansheng, he went to support the Dry Corpse Bride and ended the battle.

Come to think of it, that Liu Laoban, though not looking strong, was indeed hard to deal with.

Even Zhang Hao, in front of him, spent a long time before successfully suppressing him.

That ability to enlarge spatial distance was too unsolvable for self‑preservation.

Even though Zhang Hao could employ Mindless Suppression, he could never get close to Liu Laoban; in the end, it only ended when Liu himself could no longer hold on.

After leaving the Ghost Painting Aftermath, Zhang Hao was walking along the riverbank searching for He Liansheng's figure.

Unfortunately, he did not find him.

He Liansheng left the Ghost Painting world long ago and is now untraceable; the only thing visible on the Lake Surface is that small boat.

However, Zhang Hao saw no sign of any living person on it, and even the corpse of that middle‑aged woman was gone.

"Fine, we should go find the Ghost Lake."

In fact, even though Zhang Hao thinks he knows the Ghost Bride well, the methods the Ghost Bride has displayed in the original work are still too few.

The memory he inherited from Zhang Hao, when watching the mysterious revival, had heard many so‑called original outline settings.

Some said the Ghost Bride's true body is in the Graveyard, others said it is the Ghost Lake.

Back then, during the deal with the Red Room, he forgot to have the Red Room recite all the puzzles; now, to help the Ghost Bride complete them, he has to try them one by one.

Zhang Hao himself completed the Ghostly Servant, which is almost at its final state; next he only needs to gradually seize the Fierce Ghost's growth, and sooner or later will reach the step of the Seven Elders.

However, the Ghost Bride side has become a problem.

Now the only puzzles Zhang Hao knows from the Red Room are the Red Bed, Ghost Makeup, and Ghost Blood.

There is also a piece of clothing on a hanger, but he does not know whether it is a Groom's Robe or a Red Cheongsam.

He cannot be sure whether other puzzles exist.

"Let's check the source of the Ghost Lake."

Zhang Hao does not have much hope about this; if the Ghost Lake truly is a puzzle of the Bride, then the Ghost Bride should have shown signs of losing control when entering the Ghost Lake's area.

Even though Zhang Hao's assessment of the Ghost Bride now places greater importance than before, when encountering a puzzle, some loss‑of‑control signs will still appear.

Using the Ghost Domain to begin invading everything around, Zhang Hao's gaze, together with the spreading Ghost Domain, allows him to see more things.

Accompanying Yang Jian's theft of the Ghost Lake, a few captains in that line seem to have been entangled by the Ghost Lake.

On the lakeside shore, countless female corpses appeared.

Zhang Hao looked at those female corpses; each exuded a terrifying and bizarre aura, like a real Fierce Ghost, incomparable to the earlier corpses that floated on the water surface.

"Did you learn Liu San's method of splitting one's own ghostly power to create a clone?"

Zhang Hao watched this scene and couldn't help thinking the ability was truly bizarre.

The Ghost Lake learned Liu San's ability to create Paper Person clones, and because it itself is a body of lake water, the clones it splits are formed from lake water; standing on the Lake Surface they can continuously draw Ghost Power from the Ghost Lake, not far behind the source of the Fierce Ghost.

Flames rose on the coast; that was Li Jun's Ghost Fire, which he used to ignite those Ghost Lake clones.

Because this time it was not on the Lake Surface, after the Ghost Fire burned, no sinking to the lake bottom occurred.

"Continuing like this is impossible; the Ghost Lake's Lake Water flows endlessly, allowing it to keep creating clones. We need a way to stop its Ghost Power from spreading."

Liu San was followed by a group of female corpses and could only counter passively.

Facing these female corpses that had learned his own ghostly techniques, Liu San dared not use more methods, fearing the opponent would copy them and make the Ghost Lake even more terrifyingly bizarre.

"There's nothing we can do; this ghost has latched onto me." On the Lake Surface, Yang Jian was continuously battling those female corpses.

He has siphoned 40% of the Ghost Lake's Ghost Power, so when confronting those female corpses, he is not yet in crisis.

However, if this continues, he will eventually be unable to hold on.

Cao Yang said, "I actually have a new observation; when I was fighting those female corpses earlier, I noticed a detail."

"That is, whether it's the Fierce Ghost inside the Ghost Lake or those repeatedly appearing female corpses, they have never left the lake water from start to finish."

"That's obvious; the ghost is inside the Ghost Lake, the Ghost Lake is the ghost, of course it wouldn't leave the lake water."

Cao Yang said, "No, what I mean is those ghosts have continuously maintained contact with the lake water."

"In other words, they appear only where there is water; without water, those ghosts cannot get ashore."

"That doesn't explain anything; ghosts can't get ashore, but the Ghost Lake can continuously erode everything around," Yang Jian said.

Cao Yang continued, "If there is something that prevents the Ghost Lake from eroding, and since the ghosts in the Ghost Lake can't get ashore, could we trap the Ghost Lake here?"

"The only thing that can resist the Ghost Lake's erosion are other ghosts; you mean using Ghost Power to seal the Ghost Lake?" Yang Jian nodded thoughtfully.

"If it can temporarily prevent my immediate death, I am willing to pay the price of reviving the Fierce Ghost."

Feng Quan, who discovered the Ghost Lake's loss of control and successfully rejoined the group, said at this moment.

"Then I can use Grave Soil to encircle the entire Ghost Lake, blocking its erosion and also preventing the Fierce Ghost from getting ashore."

Although Feng Quan did not finish speaking, his meaning was clear at that moment.

Use the Eight‑Tone Box Curse on him, hanging his life.

"That's impossible; even if your Ghost Dead Machine tried to encircle the Ghost Lake with Grave Soil, you'd be consumed alive."

Yang Jian immediately rejected the idea.

Feng Quan and the Ghost Lake differ vastly in scale; the contact between Ghost Grave Soil and the Ghost Lake's lake water would cause a confrontation.

Although Feng Quan's Ghost Grave Soil has great potential, its scale is too small; even a true Fierce Ghost using it could not encircle the Ghost Lake.

The group discussed and debated, trying to find a reasonable way to deal with the Ghost Lake.

"Perhaps there is another way," Liu San, who was being chased by female corpses, suddenly said.

"From what I heard, you seem to want to use something to seal the Ghost Lake, right."

"Now the Red and White Double Evil are here; if we provoke the Red Evil to use Ghost Domain on a large scale, letting her Ghost Domain envelop the Ghost Lake…"

"Are you saying we should use the Ghost Painting's Ghost Domain to imprison the Ghost Lake?" Li Jun took out a Human Skin Bag and trapped the female corpses pursuing Liu San.

This Human Skin Bag was crafted as a Supernatural Artifact together with the Ghost Fire.

It was a Human Skin Lantern; Li Jun wielded the Ghost Fire, and the back of the lantern's human skin was turned into this Human Skin Bag by Wang Xiaoming.

"Exactly, that's the idea," Liu San, no longer threatening, stopped and nodded.

"The Ghost Painting's Ghost Domain exists, but it has actually spawned a world; as long as the Ghost Painting's Ghost Domain can cover the Ghost Lake, we can lock the Ghost Lake inside the Ghost Painting."

Hearing this plan, Li Jun immediately shook his head.

"This method won't work; the Ghostly Servant and the Ghost Painting together formed the Red and White Double Evil, which is already a huge trouble."

"Add another Ghost Lake; who knows what terrifying ghost thing would arise from the supernatural collision."

Upon hearing this, Li Jun's expression grew somewhat solemn.

"The current White Evil has mastered the supernatural of the Ghostly Servant; the news we just received suggests that Wei Jing has also been taken by the White Evil, and the defect that prevented the Ghostly Servant from growing should now have been completed."

"The Red Evil has mastered the ghost painting, becoming a terrifying Ghost Bride."

"If we give it another Ghost Lake."

Completed the Ghostly Servant's White Evil? Yang Jian heard this and his face turned sour.

He said that this time the White Evil's style of setting traps and scheming was different from before.

In the past, the Red and White Double Evil were hidden in the dark, and even the theft of the Ghost Cabinet occurred after Yang Jian left Dachang City.

But this time, as soon as they appeared, they directly began Ghost Summoning the Source Ghost, completely unconcerned about Taiping Ancient Town and their captains joining forces.

It turns out they completed the Ghostly Servant's defect; no wonder they are so confident and no longer hide in the shadows.

"The Ghost Lake cannot be sealed inside the ghost painting; the Ghost Lake contains countless Fierce Ghosts, plus the ghosts from the ghost painting."

"That ghost will probably fall into an unsolvable state," Yang Jian said with a composed face.

If we really send the Ghost Lake into the ghost painting, perhaps even those few elders wouldn't be its opponents?

Yang Jian didn't know that while they were discussing how to handle the Ghost Lake, Zhang Hao had already entered the air above the Ghost Lake with the Ghost Bride.

At this moment, the Ghost Lake had had about forty percent of its supernatural stolen, making it at its weakest.

Zhang Hao naturally would not overlook this chance to master the Ghost Lake.

As Zhang Hao and the Ghost Bride stood above the Ghost Lake summoning ghosts, the Ghost Lake source that had lost forty percent of its supernatural quickly emerged.

Having reduced nearly half of her supernatural, her Terror Level dropped by more than half; now she can no longer withstand the supernatural of Ghost Summoning and is directly controlled by Zhang Hao and the Ghost Bride.

At this moment, a sobbing, choking cry floated eerily over the dead, cold Lake Surface.

The sound was very much like the crying Zhang Hao emitted, except it sounded sharper, like a woman's cry.

Zhang Hao looked toward the source of the sound; it was the black small boat from before.

At some unknown time, a strange woman was standing on the small boat; she wore white clothing, and her coat was old-fashioned.

It was the same as the attire on the female corpses that had previously attacked Yang Jian and others.

A head of jet‑black hair hung down onto the black boat, and the hair was wet, constantly dripping as if just washed.

The woman now held a vividly blood‑red wooden comb, slowly combing the wet long hair.

Although its actions were controlled, the Ghost Lake did not completely lose its instinct.

"That wooden comb!"

Zhang Hao stared at the woman formed from the Ghost Lake source, but his attention was not on her; it was on the wooden comb.

That style, with a blood‑like color, was just too similar.

As Zhang Hao stared at the wooden comb, the Ghost Bride beside him became restless.

The ghost painting's Ghost Domain had unknowingly opened, and gray ash continuously falling shrouded the entire Lake Surface above.

This time, the Ghost Bride instinctively used the Ghost Domain to blanket the entire Ghost Lake.

Although she did not forcibly control Zhang Hao's actions as before, the most terrifying supernatural on her had already been employed.

If the Ghost Lake source before us had not already been controlled by Ghost Summoning, the Ghost Bride probably would have launched an attack directly.

Within this Ghost Domain, a derivative portrait appeared.

A woman in a Wedding Dress stepped out of the portrait and walked straight to the side of the Ghost Lake.

Facing this derivative Ghost Bride, the Ghost Lake showed no sign of attacking.

If previously Zhang Hao and the Ghost Bride had entered the Lake Surface, the Ghost Lake might have attacked them immediately, even Ghost Summoning would be useless.

But now it's different; the Ghost Lake has been fully controlled and can only maintain its own instinct.

The derivative Ghost Bride reached out and snatched the wooden comb from the Ghost Lake's hand.

Having lost the wooden comb, it had little effect on the Ghost Lake's aura.

Clearly, this item was merely something a Ghost Tamer or Fierce Ghost accidentally brought into the Ghost Lake and was obtained by the Ghost Lake; it is not truly a puzzle for her, merely a versatile Supernatural Artifact.

The Ghost Bride took the wooden comb, and the water stains on it automatically dripped, flowing into the Lake Water.

Then the Ghost Bride unexpectedly lifted the Red Cap, took the wooden comb, and began combing her hair.

(End of Chapter)