Chapter 162: Return to the Ancient Mansion

This side of Dachang City.

Beside the highway, that red Blood Pool has already vanished.

After two days of confrontation, the Ghost Bride has finally fully mastered the Ghost Blood.

Having mastered the Ghost Blood, the Ghost Bride's terror level has increased a notch.

Seeing the Ghost Bride emerge from the deep pit left by the Ghost Blood, Zhang Hao stepped forward.

After mastering the Ghost Blood, the Ghost Bride's terror level has fully entered the Seven Elders tier.

If before she could only hold her ground against Zhang Youhong by relying on the Fierce Ghost's immortality and various abilities.

If she meets other more aggressive Seven Elders, the Ghost Bride is likely to be suppressed outright before she can stack any supernatural enhancement.

Now that the Ghost Bride has mastered the Ghost Blood, even when facing Seven Elders like Luo Qian and Luo Wensong, who are strong in offensive tactics, she will no longer be suppressed before stacking the supernatural enhancements.

Ghost Blood possesses the ability to cleanse curses and isolate the supernatural.

With this, even the most terrifying attacks on the Ghost Bride are reduced significantly.

The Ghost Bride, just after stepping out of the deep pit, immediately took Zhang Hao's hand.

After mastering the Ghost Blood, for some reason Zhang Hao feels the Bride's mobility has become much more agile.

The previous Ghost Bride was more like a Fierce Ghost mimicking human behavior; even with He Yuelian as a model, her movements were still somewhat stiff.

But after mastering the Ghost Blood, perhaps its presence has made her body more agile.

At this moment, as Zhang Hao watches the Ghost Bride's motions, he briefly feels as if he is facing a person rather than a ghost.

"The Ghost Bride successfully mastered the Ghost Blood? I feel my strength has increased considerably."

He Yuelian, excited, ran over as well; she could sense that as the Ghost Bride regains mobility, the supernatural within her body has risen significantly.

An incomprehensible terrifying supernatural has arisen within her.

He Yuelian thinks that if she were to fight her two‑days‑ago self now, she could swiftly eliminate the former self.

"Not bad, indeed mastered the Ghost Blood."

"Now only the final task remains."

Zhang Hao pulls the Ghost Bride, looking toward the distant direction of Dazhou City.

That man, even though already dead, cannot be foreseen in any of his past in precognition.

Even though Zhang Hao has tried several times in these days to precognitively experience going to the Ghostly Mansion, each vision disappears completely once it enters the mansion.

It seems some extremely special and incomprehensible supernatural has cut off Zhang Hao's precognition.

This situation also occurred back in Baishui Town.

Human Skin Paper's precognition about the Seven Elders is rather vague, and about Zhang Dong it can only foretell danger.

But at that time, Zhang Hao could at least sense danger through the Human Skin Paper.

Now, facing the real‑world Zhang Dong, Zhang Hao cannot perceive what will happen after entering the Ghostly Mansion; he cannot even sense what dangers lie inside.

The real‑world Zhang Dong seems far more outrageous than the Baishui Town Zhang Dong.

Lacking four layers of supernatural, the Baishui Town Zhang Dong cannot reach the terror level of the real Zhang Dong when displaying his abilities.

"Looks like for this final round, there's no shortcut."

Zhang Hao sighs; among all these precognitions, he did foresee some other matters.

Yang Jian and others will intervene to block him when Zhang Hao enters Baishui Town.

But those are merely obstacles; the real trouble lies with Zhang Dong.

Without prior precognition, Zhang Hao cannot determine the combat power levels of himself and Zhang Dong.

In this case, if he loses, he will be sealed forever in the ancient mansion.

"Let's keep waiting."

Zhang Hao leads the Ghost Bride toward the Ghostly Mansion, but does not rush to enter and fight the revived Zhang Dong.

His clone is still in the supernatural realm devouring Fierce Ghosts; spending more time boosting his own terror level will ultimately give Zhang Hao a better grip.

Outside the Ghostly Mansion, there is an Old Forest.

Although Yang Jian and his group's grave‑digging has caused the Old Forest to go out of control.

Nevertheless, being in the supernatural realm, there are still many Fierce Ghosts here.

And on the other side.

Dajing City.

After dealing with a batch of Ghost Tamers sent by Headquarters to confront him, Zhang Hao did not hurry to leave.

After a short period of research, Zhang Hao now controls the supernatural of the Ghost Camera.

Previously, Zhang Hao needed the subject to see his own back in order to turn a person into a photo.

But now, Zhang Hao's pale Ghost Eye can serve as the Ghost Camera's lens.

As long as Zhang Hao sees them and intends to, these Ghost Tamers will be compressed into a Black and White Photo within moments.

With this method, Zhang Hao can split his own Ghost Domain, just like the Ghost Bride's, into separate sections.

It's just a pity that within Zhang Hao's Ghost Domain,

although it contains the background world of the photo, the food produced there cannot be consumed by living people, unlike the Ghost Bride's Ghost Domain.

"There's still one final plan now."

Zhang Hao shatters the Ghost Camera, extracts the ghost inside to master it, then turns his gaze to the central area of Dajing City.

There, a crucial figure remains—Qin Lao.

Although Qin Lao has self‑appointed and is completely isolated by the Gold Statue.

But to prevent Headquarters from being cornered, they chose to release Qin Lao to converse with his past self; Zhang Hao must retrieve this item in advance.

"Deputy Minister Cao, our dispatched Ghost Tamers have been wiped out; what shall we do next?"

In a conference room of the Headquarters, a staff member hurried over.

"Everyone's dead?" Cao Yanhua's face showed disbelief.

"Yes. Based on the victims' last words, the invader of Dajing City appears to be the White Evil of the Red and White Double Evil."

"We investigated the initial damage site in the underground warehouse; the first compartment that was broken should have been a Safety Room used to imprison the Ghost Camera and Xiong Wenwen's Photo."

"A Ghost Camera? This ghost wants Xiong Wenwen's Fierce Ghost?" Cao Yanhua murmured.

As the Deputy Minister of the Ghost Tamer Headquarters, even though he is merely an ordinary person, he knows exactly how much Xiong Wenwen's ability can contribute.

For a brat like Xiong Wenwen, even with little supernatural power, the Headquarters can still treat him as a treasured asset.

If a Fierce Ghost were to use this kind of precognition ability, one can imagine how terrifying it would be.

The news that the White Evil controls the Ghost Difference and Hungry Ghost has long been known to the Headquarters; at this moment he is fully aware of Zhang Hao's purpose.

"Based on the Hungry Ghost's digestion speed when devouring a Fierce Ghost, the ghost inside Xiong Wenwen's body has likely already been digested and controlled by the White Evil."

"A White Evil with precognition!"

Cao Yanhua was already hesitant to continue pondering at this point.

The Ghost's Unsolvable Level Fierce Ghost, combined with the Ghost's Infinite Precognition ability and the Ghost's Growth from devouring other ghosts.

When these three factors combine, how despairing it is. The Fierce Ghost itself is already sufficiently unsolvable, yet even in this situation Cao Yanhua has not yet recovered from the despair, and a staff member immediately brought new bad news.

"Deputy Minister Cao, the Ghost Tamer Training Base has been attacked!"

The Ghost Tamer Training Base is the place the Headquarters uses to train new Ghost Tamers.

However, in the Ghost Tamer Training Base, besides the new Ghost Tamers, there is something even more important: Qin Lao's statue.

Qin Lao is, for the Headquarters, a stabilizing anchor.

Even though Qin Lao has now self-appointed himself, as long as it can be confirmed that this old man has not completely died, there is still hope.

"Quick, send someone to the Ghost Tamer Training Base and bring Qin Lao's statue out."

Cao Yanhua's face turned urgent as he shouted hastily.

However, at that moment he seemed to recall something, and his expression suddenly changed.

"Never mind, better not go."

Cao Yanhua, now showing despair, stopped several staff members who were about to act after the order. "Why?" someone asked, puzzled.

"There's no chance; if we go out now it would only add needless casualties," Cao Yanhua said with a wry smile, his eyes full of despair.

"All our actions are under that ghost's control."

"That ghost controls Xiong Wenwen's Fierce Ghost; for Xiong Wenwen, it may only be short-term precognition."

"But before this ghost, he can even foresee the situation a month later, a year later."

"Facing such a Fierce Ghost that is inherently unsolvable, unsealable, can continuously devour ghosts for growth and possesses Precognition Ability, our struggle is ultimately futile."

Cao Yanhua pondered, and his eyes seemed to finally settle on a certain resolve.

"Activate the Seed Plan."

"From now on, we no longer need to handle Supernatural Incidents, because everything is futile."

The Seed Plan is a scheme conceived early by the Headquarters' senior leadership for the worst-case scenario.

All national resources will be poured into building a Large Safety House with Ghost's Self-Sufficiency, to guarantee the group's last ember of lineage.

"Has it already become this serious?" Upon hearing this, everyone's faces turned grim.

Although they are not authorized to know the plan's specifics, just from the name they can infer its general meaning.

"No time to waste." Cao Yanhua waved his hand.

"Gather gold at full speed, expedite the deployment of Construction Workers, and send Designers to Dajing City."

"Additionally, begin converting the Gold Storage Rooms used to imprison Fierce Ghosts into Safety Rooms where people can live, as quickly as possible."

Cao Yanhua was decisive.

In fact, after the Headquarters discovered Supernatural Incidents spiraling out of control, it had already begun implementing the Seed Plan.

However, at that time, because the situation was still controllable, the Headquarters' pace of building Safety Rooms was not fast; it proceeded covertly.

But now, evidently there is no time for them to build slowly.

"According to Professor Wang's posthumous speculation, the Ghost Difference and Hungry Ghost's action logic is to control Fierce Ghosts before killing."

"Even if the Red and White Double Evil seem human, since it has harnessed these two ghosts, its action logic will certainly be affected by them."

"We only need to hold out in the Safety Room for a certain time; I thought that in the end, this ghost might, after controlling all Fierce Ghosts and killing everyone, perhaps leave this world."

Zhang Hao did not expect that his invasion of the Basement imprisoning the Fierce Ghost would give the Headquarters such a strong sense of crisis.

Even knowing this, Zhang Hao would not care much.

At this point he arrived at the Ghost Tamer Training Base, but it was already deserted.

The moment Zhang Hao invaded the Headquarters, the Ghost Tamers in the Ghost Tamer Training Base had already received the news.

When Zhang Hao arrived here, those Ghost Tamers had long since left the Training Base.

With no Ghost Tamers present, Zhang Hao had no interest in ordinary people; he walked to where Qin Lao's statue stood, lifted the Gold Statue, and left Dajing City.

Time drifts.

Facing the situation where the Red and White Double Evil no longer stirs trouble, none of the Headquarters' commanders dare to fully relax.

Somehow, everyone seemed to sense a special atmosphere; life and death hang in the upcoming period.

Dazhou City, a place that connects to the Spiritual Realm.

Two red and one white figures abruptly appeared in the city.

With the three's appearance, everything around began to lose color at that moment.

At the same time, some unknown Spiritual Realm manifested at this moment.

It is an ancient mansion standing deep within an Old Forest.

The entire Ghost's Zhang Dong's Ghost Residence was utterly dark, and only the Heavenly Well area let in a faint light. It was like a Prison Cage; anyone who entered, human or Ghost, could not leave.

But this Prison Cage was not prepared for living people, it was prepared for an old man.

Now, Zhang Hao forced a Ghost's Invasion with his own Ghost Domain and entered this terrifying Ghost's Zhang Dong's Ghost Residence.

"What is that?" He Yuelian looked toward the main hall of the Ghost's Zhang Dong's Ghost Residence with curiosity.

In the very center of the hall was a faintly placed Ghost's Black Taishi Chair, and on that chair seemed to sit a gaunt and terrifying figure… it was a man who had died long ago.

Even without any movement, just by looking, He Yuelian felt her body instinctively trembling with fear.

It seemed that as soon as she got close, the old man in the hall could at any moment suppress and kill her.

Even the Ghost Bride, upon seeing that old man, instinctively stepped back a few paces.

Ghosts do not feel fear, but the Ghost Bride's action seemed to tell He Yuelian that, facing this old man, even she was instinctively afraid.

Sss—!

A strange sound suddenly rang out, the creaking of the old Taishi Chair scraping the Ground. The Ghost's Black Taishi Chair placed in the center of the Ghost's Zhang Dong's Ghost Residence actually moved.

A terrifying scene unfolded: the corpse of the old man, who sat on the chair and did not decay, slowly stood up at that moment, and it was this movement that caused the chair to shift.

Because within this Ghost's Zhang Dong's Ghost Residence, no supernatural phenomena are allowed to appear.

Zhang Hao and his companions are not living people, but Fierce Ghosts, so their arrival undoubtedly triggered a terrible taboo.

A muffled Footsteps sounded, and the terrifying old man's figure in the hall slowly walked toward the direction where Zhang Hao and the others stood.

"Ghost's Retreat!"

Zhang Hao said in a deep voice, his Ghost Domain activated, and immediately took the Ghost Bride and He Yuelian away from the location of the Ghostly Mansion.

Zhang Hao wasn't sure whether he could withstand Zhang Dong himself.

But what he could confirm was that the Ghost Bride and He Yuelian could never withstand Zhang Dong's Erase.

Even though the Ghost Bride, as a ghost, would not die, it took such a long time to cultivate a certain consciousness in her.

If, because of Zhang Dong's Erase, the hard-won consciousness of the Ghost Bride were to vanish, Zhang Hao would have nowhere to argue.

Zhang Hao's timely departure allowed the old man inside the Ghost's Zhang Dong's Ghost Residence to regain his composure, sitting back on the chair in the hall.

"First, let's test the waters!"

Zhang Hao attempted Precognition, but as before, he could clearly foresee everything outside the Ghost's Zhang Dong's Ghost Residence.

However, inside the Ghost's Zhang Dong's Ghost Residence, as soon as Zhang Hao stepped in, the Ghost's Precognition Picture would vanish completely.

Zhang Hao was not surprised; he had merely entered near the Ghost's Zhang Dong's Ghost Residence and wanted to try Precognition again, without expecting to actually succeed.

"Take the Ghost Bride with you here, and watch my rear situation for me."

Zhang Hao turned his head toward He Yuelian; "Later some people will come to cause trouble; don't let them enter the Ghost's Zhang Dong's Ghost Residence."

After speaking to He Yuelian, Zhang Hao looked at the Ghost Bride again.

"Madam, keep watch, and later you must not enter the Ghost's Zhang Dong's Ghost Residence."

The Ghost Bride, though she had gained some wisdom, clearly still possessed a relatively low level of intelligence.

Therefore Zhang Hao deliberately assigned tasks to the Ghost Bride for after, fearing that if later he fought Zhang Dong and the Ghost Bride was forced into the Ghost's Zhang Dong's Ghost Residence by the attack, it would be troublesome.

"Hao~ good!" the Ghost Bride looked at Zhang Hao, and from beneath the bright red veil came a cold, emotionless voice.

"Good, once I, your husband, suppress the old Bi who occupies the Ghost's Zhang Dong's Ghost Residence, I will apply beautiful makeup for you; then we will marry here, becoming the best pair of Ghost's Ghost Bride's Death-Defying Lovers."

Zhang Hao brushed the Ghost Bride's head, which was covered by the Red Cap, and said softly.

"Wait, there's also me," He Yuelian hurriedly said at that moment.

"Even if I cannot become the primary wife, in ancient times a wealthy miss taking a Maidservant as a wedding attendant was never a problem, right?"

He Yuelian's tone seemed urgent, but the words she finally uttered carried no harmful intent.

Originally Zhang Hao thought He Yuelian would act like those foolish human women, playing jealous games, but unexpectedly she used the most urgent tone to say the most harmless words.

"Alright, when the bride becomes the primary wife, I'll give you a Concubine position."

Zhang Hao said, and intended to walk toward the Ghost's Zhang Dong's Ghost Residence.

But at that moment, He Yuelian grabbed him.

"I also want to rub my head," He Yuelian looked up and said.

Hearing that, Zhang Hao could only helplessly rub He Yuelian's head, and then entered the Ghost's Zhang Dong's Ghost Residence.

(End of Chapter)