Chapter 123: Baishui Town, the Peculiar Noodles

Accompanying the Ghost Bride as she continuously combs her long hair with the Wooden Comb.

A bizarre scene unfolds.

The hair that had been tangled, looking messy and already slightly split, suddenly begins to become smooth.

The Wooden Comb seems to possess a magical power that can restore vitality to whatever it combs.

Not long after, the Ghost Bride's long hair becomes airy and supple, exuding a vigorous vitality, unlike the hair of a corpse.

This is a Wooden Comb that can restore vitality!

If a Ghost Tamer uses it, it might have unexpected effects, perhaps even partially preventing the erosion of Fierce Ghost revival.

Perhaps this was the item used by the person who once controlled the Ghost Bride during the Republic Era to comb her hair, helping her alleviate Fierce Ghost revival.

But now for the Ghost Bride, aside from restoring her body's vitality and making her look more attractive, it only serves to increase her Terror Level.

Zhang Hao looks toward the Ghost Lake and sees that the other side also has airy, supple long hair, appearing very strange.

"Let's set those aside for now and, taking this chance, control the Ghost Lake again."

Zhang Hao does not continue pondering the Wooden Comb, noting that a Supernatural Artifact that belongs to a whole set of Puzzle types cannot exert its true effect in a single situation.

Perhaps when more of the Puzzle is completed later, other effects of this thing will be discovered.

This is a Supernatural Artifact that may need to be paired with Ghost Scissors, a Ghost Mirror, and the like.

Come to think of it, the Ghost Mirror can revive the living, the Wooden Comb can restore vitality, and they might indeed complement each other significantly.

Zhang Hao looks at the Ghost Lake and directly activates the Ghostly Servant's ability to seize the Fierce Ghost.

Under the control of Ghost Summoning, the Ghost Lake does not resist this seizure and is smoothly controlled.

If it were the original intact Ghost Lake, it might still resist, even fleeing back into the lake.

In that case, Zhang Hao would not dare to wade in lightly, fearing his abilities would be learned by the Ghost Lake.

But the current Ghost Lake cannot resist; soon Zhang Hao fully completes the Ghost Lake into a slot for the Ghostly Servant.

After seizing the Ghost Lake, Zhang Hao does not feel satisfied.

Although the Ghost Lake's Terror Level is high, the increase in Terror Level to Zhang Hao's body is not as great as when he completed the Black and White Portrait.

"It seems this is a flaw of the unlimited growth ability,"

Zhang Hao thinks briefly and quickly understands.

Unlimited growth is a one-sided control of the Fierce Ghost, not a completion of the Fierce Ghost.

The Puzzle requires mutual interaction, able to fill the missing ability parts of each other.

And this one-sided control merely needs the supernatural of another ghost unilaterally, and does not achieve complementary abilities.

Although this growth has no limit, seizing a ghost only adds one.

But the Puzzle's mutual compensation yields an improvement far beyond the simple one‑plus‑one equals two effect.

"Even so, it is already sufficiently unsolvable,"

Zhang Hao does not dwell long on the reason that the growth effect is inferior to the Puzzle.

After all, unlimited growth alone makes the ability already powerful enough.

"By the way, madam, these are the hairs on the Ghost Lake's head,"

Zhang Hao takes out a strand of long hair; this is the one he deliberately did not take when seizing the Ghost Lake, keeping it for the Ghost Bride.

The Bride gazes at the bundle of long hair for a while, then finally reaches out and takes this strand.

Although she has hair, it is not the Fierce Ghost's hair.

The long hair contacts the Ghost Bride's palm, and the next moment it begins to writhe, coiling around her scalp.

After a long time, the Ghost Bride's hair on her head is replaced by this strange hair.

"The Ghost Lake is also resolved; now it's time to find a place to develop peacefully, and let the madam grow here,"

After gaining a rough estimate of his own strength, Zhang Hao no longer has any intention to do anything further.

He glances around; Yang Jian and the others have long since left this lake.

At this moment, Zhang Hao no longer intends to hunt Yang Jian, unsure whether it's an illusion, but as he continuously controls the Fierce Ghost, he feels himself becoming more like a real person.

"Madam, seal the Ghost Lake into the painting,"

Although he has controlled the Ghost Lake, the lake itself does not disappear; it still remains there.

Zhang Hao has taken control of the source of the Ghost Lake, but only gains the ability to use the Ghost Lake, and can appear within it at any time thereafter.

He does not absorb all that lake water into his own body.

"Next step, let's go to that place,"

Zhang Hao returns to the world of the ghost painting; regarding his own changes, he thinks of a special place—Baishui Town.

There, an elderly man of terrifying strength resides, a veteran of the Ghost Controlling Human path.

His prolonged Ghost Controlling Human state has even made his behavior hardly distinguishable from that of a living person.

Zhang Hao does not wish to regain humanity, but that does not mean he does not yearn to resolve the mental flaw of being a Fierce Ghost.

He certainly does not want, when his strength rivals the Seven Elders, a special Supernatural Artifact to affect his actions and cause him to be imprisoned.

Baishui Town lies near Dachang City; with Zhang Hao's current Ghost Domain, he reaches here without spending much time.

Although it is daytime, the town's sky is dim and oppressive, thick clouds shrouding it like an airtight lid covering the whole town.

Outside the town the sun shines brightly, yet inside it is continuous drizzle.

Even the temperature differs greatly.

The rain‑shrouded Baishui Town is pervaded everywhere by a damp cold that carries an inexplicable chill.

If an ordinary person lived in such a climate, even wearing a thick cotton coat would make them shiver.

Zhang Hao walks along the town's Road, reaching out to lightly touch the drizzle within the town.

The rain that lands on his hand feels unusually cold and unreal, as it quickly dissipates.

It wasn't evaporation or loss, but rather it vanished into thin air.

"The influence isn't strong; it seems to be just an ordinary Ghost, making the situation appear a bit strange."

Zhang Hao paid no mind to this rain; although he didn't fully absorb the Ghost Lake water into his body, all the blood inside him was replaced by the lake water.

Zhang Hao led the Ghost Bride forward, and along the way they occasionally came across houses with half‑open doors, their interiors shrouded in darkness.

Zhang Hao looked toward one of the houses; through a narrow crack he could see a huge painting hanging on the hall wall.

At that moment the portrait was covered with mold spots, which overlaid the painting and added a touch of eeriness.

As they went deeper into Baishui Town, a moldy odor lingered in the air; prolonged rain saturation had caused many houses to develop mildew.

Moreover, unconsciously, pedestrians began to appear on the road, with one or two people passing by now and then.

Those passing pedestrians had abnormal complexions, some pallid, their bodies soaked with spiritual rain water, making it unclear whether they were living or dead.

Clearly, with Zhang Hao and the Ghost Bride in this appearance, they should attract attention wherever they appear.

Yet at this moment, as Zhang Hao and the Ghost Bride walked the streets here, there were absolutely no people in sight.

Zhang Hao reached out and stopped a middle‑aged man walking toward them.

The man wore a raincoat and rain boots, his body drenched as if he had just been caught in the rain; his complexion was somewhat pale, his expression a little dazed.

Zhang Hao extended his hand to block him, but the man seemed completely unaware.

He kept walking on his own, the slightly gaunt face showing no change at all; even when he brushed against Zhang Hao's hand, he merely rose numbly and tried to continue forward.

"It seems these are the so‑called Wraiths of Baishui Town,"

Zhang Hao looked at these people pensively, but soon moved past them.

He didn't care whether these people could be revived, because that held no meaning for him.

He kept moving forward, but the city didn't seem as terrifying as the original text described; Zhang Hao had already toured the whole city.

He also didn't encounter that strange old man, let alone the Ghost that could spawn an entire world.

While Zhang Hao was pondering and looking around,

suddenly,

"Chii! Chii!"

A sound like electricity rang out.

A neon sign on a shop among the surrounding buildings flickered to life, casting light in the pitch‑black surroundings.

The multicolored glow spread outward, gently dispersing some darkness, preventing Baishui Town from becoming completely blind.

The rain in the sky kept falling.

Yet on the rain‑soaked street, silhouettes shifted from illusion to reality, materializing before his eyes in an instant. One, two, three… countless figures appeared.

Before long, the rain‑drenched street was filled with people, each spaced apart, heads slightly bowed, walking in the rain.

In the quiet, dim environment, a somewhat noisy footstep sound echoed.

"So that's it; we have to wait for a certain moment before Baishui Town's horror truly manifests,"

The memory belonging to Zhang Hao didn't focus much on Baishui Town.

He only knew that Baishui Town harbored Wraiths, a Ghost Controlling Human old man, and a fearsome Fierce Ghost capable of spawning Zhang Dong.

"Creak."

While Zhang Hao was thinking,

The front door of a street‑side shop beside him slowly opened; the interior was pitch‑black, yet faint strange noises could be heard from within.

It wasn't just a single shop.

Across the whole street, more than half of the street‑side shops had opened their doors, and some building windows glowed with yellow light.

The previously quiet Baishui Town suddenly became bustling after night fell.

"The entire county town seems to be a Spiritual construct; nowhere is normal, and only at night does it invade the Reality World,"

Zhang Hao made a simple judgment about Baishui Town: his current location might not be in the Reality World, but within a Spiritual Realm.

Night is merely the opportunity for that Spiritual county town to invade Baishui Town.

"Hm?"

Just as Zhang Hao was about to move forward, he suddenly paused, sensing a watching gaze.

After restoring that Ghost Eye, Zhang Hao's perception of gazes improved greatly, so he immediately detected the anomaly.

He lowered his head and saw, through a crack in a sewer manhole cover, a pair of eyes streaked with blood, pupils nearly split, staring at him intently.

"Even this manhole cover is a Ghost?"

Zhang Hao stared at the cover, reached out, and lifted it.

As the cover rose, the sewer emitted a series of sounds, as if something was moving inside.

Soon, an arm riddled with scratches, bruised and rotting wounds, emerged from beneath the cover, reaching toward Zhang Hao.

But just as the arm was about to touch Zhang Hao, it stopped in a bizarre manner.

It was suppressed.

Although Zhang Hao, after realizing the place was a Spiritual Realm, had reduced the Mindless Suppression radius to avoid triggering changes, this Ghost was too close.

After suppressing the Ghost, Zhang Hao didn't think further; he immediately harnessed it, treating it as a Puzzle.

His caution stemmed from the fact that it was still weak, a seedling that could not endure abuse.

Now, having harnessed the Ghostly Servant and a portion of the Ghost Lake, together with his original Spiritual abilities, he needed little concern.

Ghost Bride Restart, Ghost Painting Restart, Ghost Domain Restart, Memory Restart, Portrait Restart, Lake Water Restart—he now possessed six layers of Restart ability.

With himself now transformed into a Ghost Domain, even the Ghost Domain's time could be Restarted; he could say he had virtually no constraints.

The only possible enemies now were probably Zhang Dong and that Zhang Baihua.

Walking the streets of this Strange County Town, he was not unfamiliar with such circumstances.

Compared with the number of Fierce Ghosts encountered last time in that Ghostly City, the Ghosts in this Strange County Town are not that many.

However, compared with the Ghosts in the Ghostly City that are bound by taboo rules, the Fierce Ghosts here appear even more chaotic.

Just as Zhang Hao looked toward the shops on both sides of the street.

A neon‑lit Signboard, displaying four characters, opened the inn's door, and at the inn's entrance there was a bar counter.

Behind that bar counter stood a person, a woman.

The woman's hair was damp, as if she had just been caught in rain; her complexion was ashen, like a corpse, standing there motionless.

It seemed that Zhang Hao outside had caught the woman's attention; she turned her head oddly toward Zhang Hao.

At this moment one could see clearly that the other half of the woman's face seemed to be melting.

The flesh on her face was falling off in a rustling cascade; her eyes were hollow and lifeless, yet the corners of her mouth showed a faint smile.

The expression of the whole face seemed as if it had been preset, appearing both strange and terrifying.

"This seems to be an inn."

Zhang Hao frowned and looked at a Signboard at the inn's entrance that read "Accommodation Three Yuan".

Those four characters reminded him of some unpleasant memories.

"Still knows how to make money; could it be another thing similar to the Ghost Newspaper Agency?"

"But lodging holds no meaning for me; the wandering things in this city have not yet produced ghosts dangerous enough for me."

Zhang Hao turned his head and had no intention of entering the inn.

It's not that he lacks money; the Liu boss who was killed in Taiping Ancient Town seemed to be a very wealthy Ghost Tamer.

Zhang Hao obtained a handful of Gui Qian from him, a full twenty pieces of money.

Continue walking forward.

Another neon light flickered.

The neon Signboard read two characters: Noodle House.

The Noodle House was small; inside there were only seven tables, each bearing a set of bowls and chopsticks, the dishes somewhat faded, as if placed on a grave after wind and sun, appearing a grim pallor.

In front of the tables stood an old long bench, painted with black lacquer, a paint that inevitably reminded one of the black lacquer on a coffin.

The back kitchen of the Noodle House was obscured by a shroud of darkness, yet faintly the sound of a kitchen knife chopping on a cutting board could be heard.

The sound was dull yet rhythmic; compared with the previous inn, this Noodle House caught Zhang Hao's attention.

A Noodle House should have food, right? In a place like this, the clientele are evidently Fierce Ghosts, so what is the food? Ghosts? Humans? Or perhaps some special Supernatural Artifact?

With a hint of curiosity, Zhang Hao slowly walked toward the Noodle House.

"Small bowl noodles Three Yuan, large bowl noodles Four Yuan."

Near the cash register inside the shop, a price list was posted.

At the cash register stood a middle‑aged‑looking Fierce Ghost, skin gaunt, ashen, eyes lifeless and numb.

Zhang Hao looked toward the kitchen inside the Noodle House; though dim, he could barely make out a single figure.

It seemed that the ghost behind the bar might be the owner of this Noodle House.

It's hard to imagine that such an extremely strange Noodle House's owner would not appear to possess any intelligence.

Zhang Hao glanced, took out two Three Yuan notes, approached, and handed the two bills to the suspected Noodle House owner, the Fierce Ghost.

The other party took the two bills and stored them in the bar counter's cabinet.

At the same time, the kitchen door suddenly closed.

The chopping sounds that had been coming from the kitchen grew more rapid and louder at this moment.

It seemed that after receiving the money, the chef inside began to work.

"I wonder what effect these foods will have; could it be some kind of Puzzle?"

Zhang Hao stared at the tightly shut kitchen door; the chopping sounds from within became especially mysterious at this moment, inevitably arousing curiosity about what the chef was actually chopping.

About ten minutes later, a movement came from the cash register.

The middle‑aged Fierce Ghost stood up and reached toward the serving hatch behind it.

Clearly there was nothing, yet when that ghost placed its hand at the serving hatch, a bowl filled with noodles appeared in its hand.

It carried the bowl over, placed the noodles on the table before Zhang Hao and the Ghost Bride, then went to fetch a second bowl.

The noodles in the bowl looked odd, actually black, and the broth appeared bright Hong Bai Shuang Sha.

Black noodles with Hong Bai Shuang Sha broth, and beyond that, the bowl contained nothing else.

Yet this bowl emitted a strangely hunger‑inducing fragrance.

Even though Zhang Hao, being a Ghost, had long lost appetite and hunger, at this moment he still couldn't help feeling a hunger to eat.

"Madam, you eat first."

Zhang Hao handed the noodles to the Ghost Bride; the hunger was strong, yet not enough to make Zhang Hao completely lose his resistance.

The Ghost Bride took the noodles, picked up her chopsticks, and began to eat.

Obviously, these noodles also made the Ghost Bride feel hunger.

(End of Chapter)