Chapter 171: Roads Connecting Worlds Everywhere

Ancient residence.

When Zhang Hao returned, the grand wedding procession had already toured all the Spiritual Realms and come back.

From a distance, Zhang Hao estimated that there were probably no fewer than a thousand Fierce Ghosts here, and that was only the ones that had followed the wedding procession.

Countless other Fierce Ghosts, sluggish or staying for other reasons, had not left.

"Zhang Hao, banquet!"

The Ghost Bride saw the returning Zhang Hao and walked to his side.

At some point, the sky had become covered by a hazy layer of ash like burnt paper.

The Ghost Bride used the Ghost Painting's Ghost Domain to invade this ancient residence, creating a massive square that could hold ten thousand people.

Around the square, winding and rugged roads stretched, each leading to an unnamed Spiritual Realm.

At this moment, a single Fierce Ghost was walking along those rugged roads toward the ancient residence.

The red paper the Ghost Bride left in those Spiritual Realms became, at this time, special mediums, allowing her to invade the corresponding places through the Ghost Painting.

The Ghost Painting already possessed the ability to invade Reality, and the painter likewise could invade Reality; given the Ghost Bride's current Terror Level, invading these Spiritual Realms was naturally effortless.

After all, even Luo Wensong had once contemplated entering Yin Yang Lu and ringing the gate deep within it.

Those Spiritual Realms were established on the broken roads of Yin Yang Lu, at the gaps connecting to Reality.

Many people of the Republic Era had successfully created Spiritual Realms, so it was not difficult for the Ghost Bride of the Red Room to soon complete her invasion of these realms.

"That Alcoholic Ghost?"

A Wine Jar appeared in Zhang Hao's hand, and he handed it to the Ghost Bride.

After receiving the Wine Jar, the Ghost Bride did not act herself; instead, a duplicate appeared beside her, took the jar, and walked away.

On the other side, inside the old ancient residence, red Ghost Stools began to float out of the rooms on their own.

Among those red Ghost Stools were also many red tables.

These tables and chairs floated to the square, found open space, and arranged themselves.

After the seats were set, cups resembling white jade materialized on them, filled with red blood-like liquid, emitting a scent of blood and a hint of wine.

In the middle of the table, a white jade porcelain plate piled with red rice grains was placed.

At this moment, the Fierce Ghosts that had followed Zhang Hao and the Ghost Bride into the ancient residence also seemed, as if affected by some Spiritual influence, to start moving toward the benches beside the tables.

When they reached the Ghost Stools, the stools, as if possessing a special Spiritual power, exerted a massive force that pressed them down the instant they turned their backs.

Meanwhile, in the Reality World.

Dachang City.

Due to Yang Jian's death, Feng Quan assumed the role of Dachang City Director.

However, without Yang Jian's overall coordination, even with Feng Quan's own abilities, handling the increasingly terrifying Spiritual Realm incidents in Dachang City remained overly difficult.

To this end, Feng Quan used Headquarters' resources to trade with some Ghost Tamers for red paper to suppress the resurgence of his own Fierce Ghosts.

Now Feng Quan intended to go to Guan Jiang Xiao Qu to see if Yang Jian had left anything useful.

But at that moment, his complexion suddenly changed.

The surrounding sky had darkened at an unknown time, as if shrouded in a layer of gloom.

"Is this the Ghost Painting's Ghost Domain?"

Feng Quan is one of the few living Ghost Tamers of this era who participated in the Daji City Ghost Painting incident.

Looking at the sky cloaked in gloom, he quickly realized something was wrong; it wasn't mere gloom, but the sky was covered by a thick layer of paper ash.

"Indeed, we shouldn't have taken the things left by the Red and White Double Evil."

Feng Quan widened his eyes and took a Golden Box from his bosom.

Inside the box was a Red Letter Paper.

Perhaps having been accustomed to Yang Jian, Feng Quan generally isolates such supernatural items by placing them in a Golden Box.

In theory, as long as he does this, even the Red and White Double Evil shouldn't affect him.

But what's happening now? Why is the Ghost Bride's Ghost Domain appearing in Dachang City?

Yet, the instant Feng Quan lifted the red paper, it instantly burned into a puff of paper ash that drifted down.

Simultaneously, a winding, rugged road appeared ahead of Feng Quan.

The road twisted and turned, its end unseen, yet faintly Feng Quan could see silhouettes of people moving along its depths.

"Is this some kind of curse?" Feng Quan immediately turned back, intending to find a place to hide.

But at that moment, he realized that, unknowingly, everything around him had already been invaded.

Now, only that road lay before him, while behind and on both sides, darkness had already enveloped everything long ago.

Feng Quan tried to release the Ghost Domain; a white, hazy fog rose around him, and he attempted to return to Reality through the Ghost Domain.

Unfortunately, the gap between the two Ghost Domains was too great.

Facing this gray Ghost Domain, he could barely even expand his own Ghost Domain, let alone break through the Ghost Bride's.

"Fine, let's just go for a ride."

Feng Quan frowned; he wasn't a coward.

Earlier, when confronting the Ghostly Servant's coffin in Huanggang Village, Feng Quan had once considered using the Ghost Coffin to become a ghost-like being.

Having the nerve for such an attempt already indicated his extraordinary nature.

However, fate is fickle; in later days, because of the Newspaper Ghost, Feng Quan became Yang Jian's subordinate.

Similar cases to Feng Quan's are not uncommon in the Reality World.

At this time, in various cities, many people who had encountered Red Letter Paper now found such a road appearing beside them.

Facing this eerie road, whether they were in a Spiritual Realm or using a Ghost Domain, they could not be isolated at all.

The road was like one that could extend to any place; unless they could use a Golden Box to completely isolate themselves, they could not evade it.

West, a peculiar sea area under dim skies.

An old steamer drifts on the sea; on its deck, a cold‑faced hulking man stands by the helm.

Suddenly, on the ship, a strange rugged Road appears.

As the Road emerges, eerie figures crawl out of the ship's hold, marching along the Road toward some destination.

"Tap tap tap!"

The hulking man steps to the deck's center, staring fixedly at the Road extending from the deck. A bizarre gloom spreads from him, trailing along the Road outward; he tries to seal the Road with this gloom.

Strangely, no matter how the gloom invades, the Road persists, as if it cannot be Erase‑d.

Seeing this, the hulking man moves to the ship's bow and grabs the helm.

At that moment the old steamer speeds forward in a weird pace, attempting to shake off the Road, but all to no avail.

If a king were here now, he would be so shocked his jaw could not close.

One must know this vessel is the famed Ghost Ship.

In the original work, the Ghost Ship collides with the Spiritual Bus.

The Spiritual Bus is completely wrecked by the crash, while the Ghost Ship is merely damaged and can still move.

From this we can see the Ghost Ship's Terror Level far exceeds that of the bus.

Yet this Ghost Ship, likely already at Seven Elders Level, cannot even shed a Road that sprouted from an unknown realm.

It is hard to imagine what terrifying thing lies at the Road's end.

When the captain discovers the Ghost Ship cannot escape the Road, he does not stop; he keeps steering, only now the ship's spiritual energy is fully unleashed.

Nevertheless, no matter what the captain does, the Road clings to the Ghost Ship like glue, never disappearing, still attached to the deck.

"Bang!"

The captain, looking angry, walks to the Road's edge and reaches out to dismember it.

But his action does not break the Road; instead it triggers an even more terrifying scene.

Unnoticed, the sky suddenly fills with grayish ash.

The ash falls, and the sea ahead is replaced—at some unknown moment—by a lake.

The lake connects to that strange Road of unknown origin.

The sea around the Ghost Ship inexplicably vanishes; before anyone knows, the Ghost Ship is now atop the lake, sailing toward the Road's far end.

Seeing the change, the captain halts his motion.

His emotionless eyes stop moving at that instant, reflecting his deep astonishment.

This Ghost Ship, capable of breaking all spiritual barriers, is now shrouded by an unknown spirit within the Ghost Domain?

The wood has become a boat; this time the captain does not resist.

He walks to the Ghost Ship's bow, gazes far toward the Road's end, eager to see what lies there that could even contain the Ghost Ship.

On the other side, a Highway contains an old bus that keeps rolling.

When the bus passes a Village, its passengers notice the route has changed.

This change does not mean they have deciphered the bus's forward pattern.

Instead, the bus, while traveling on a Highway, unknowingly steps onto a winding, rugged Road.

Both sides of this Road are pitch‑black and empty.

One wonders if anyone who walks into that darkness would become lost.

"Could the bus have reached its own terminus?" Zhou Deng widened his eyes, astonishment flooding them.

Regarding this bus that traverses various Spiritual Realms, both Headquarters and the passengers have many theories.

No one knows the bus's final destination; all that is known is it continuously flies between Spiritual Realms.

The roads the Spiritual Bus travels suddenly change, prompting the riders to imagine all possibilities.

"The bus's route end won't be some extremely terrifying Spiritual Realm, will it?" someone shouted in panic inside the carriage.

"Perhaps, there is a chance," someone agreed with the speculation.

Yet as the bus moves onward, Zhou Deng's gaze grows ever more terrified.

Because the building at the Road's far end that the bus travels toward seems familiar to Zhou Deng.

It was a Spiritual Realm he once visited with Headquarters' commander Yang Jian.

However, compared with the first sight, the old mansion now appears to have undergone a massive change.

Beyond the old mansion, the Old Forest seems farther away due to some spiritual displacement, and a huge Square has appeared at an unknown time.

Within the Square, countless indistinct, eerie silhouettes crowd together.

"Could we be getting off at that old mansion?"

Zhou Deng widened his eyes, recalling the terrifying elder who could Erase everything with a wave.

That elder should now be fully revived; if he revives there, they will likely be killed quickly.

Meanwhile, in a western country.

On an abandoned railway, a train that looks like a relic of the last century is moving.

Even though the tracks ahead have long been removed, when the train arrives, the broken rails mysteriously rise again.

Inside the train, eerie silhouettes fill the cars.

Among those silhouettes, a few people occasionally glance around, observing the outside.

Suddenly, a pitch‑black tunnel appears ahead of the train; after passing through, everything around seems to change in unknown ways.

The roads beside the rails vanish unnoticed, and the tunnel‑built track seems endless, keeping everything in darkness.

"What's happening? I recall there shouldn't be such a long tunnel here."

In one carriage, a fashionably dressed man stands, leaning against the window, his face pressed to the glass, looking forward.

However, no matter how he looked, there was never a single ray of light ahead.

Ghost Train seemed to, without anyone noticing, have entered an unknown Spiritual Realm.

"Hopefully the Ghost Train won't break down here, or the trouble will be huge."

The man's face grew grim; he sat back down, but the corner of his eye kept scanning the scene outside the carriage window.

Inside the carriage, as the Ghost Train entered this Road, the Fierce Ghosts here seemed to sense something.

The Fierce Ghosts all rose together at that moment, looking forward.

The man was very familiar with this scene; it was a sign that the Fierce Ghosts were about to disembark.

However, so many Fierce Ghosts standing up to get off at the same Platform seemed rather odd, didn't it?

(End of chapter.)