Chapter 8: Kneeling Death

Li Chun's corpse was quickly devoured to nothing by that group of bandits.

As they swallowed Li Chun's corpse, Zhang Hao could feel that the aura on those bandits grew considerably.

Though the increase wasn't huge, if those bandits were to eat all the women of this Village, the Terror Level would at least double.

Not to mention, with so many bandits, the combined Terror Level would reach unimaginable heights.

Zhang Hao did not act rashly; after confirming the bandits were no longer smashing doors, he simply watched from upstairs.

The facts showed that opening a window does not violate the Village's rules.

However, opening a window would let the bandits see the Village's women, which would breach some Village rule.

Zhang Hao guessed that the Village's women must not meet those bandits.

Otherwise, this puzzle-like mutual attraction would shatter the Balance set up by the Old Master.

Rules such as needing to return home at night, not going out, not opening windows, all seem intended to prevent the two from meeting.

Though it's unknown how these women possess human-like intelligence, it is certain that the Old Master's power is far from simple.

At that moment, the bandits below stirred again.

After devouring Li Chun's corpse, they began moving toward other structures.

Soon, the sound of doors being smashed came again from afar.

"Hm? It appeared again; this isn't what Li Chun described," Zhang Hao thought, puzzled.

According to Li Chun's account, the bandits shouldn't be breaking doors to get in.

The door here was smashed because the bandits saw Li Chun's form.

What caused the earlier smash and this one? "In any case, we can't let this Village continue to spiral out of control, or it'll be troublesome."

Zhang Hao glanced at the Dried Corpse Bride behind him, thought briefly, then headed downstairs.

Leaving Li Chun's house, Zhang Hao arrived at the Village's earthen edge.

It seemed some bandits noticed Zhang Hao, yet they did not attack him.

He didn't know whether it was because Zhang Hao hadn't triggered the Killing Rule yet, or some other reason.

But at that moment, on the second floor, the Dried Corpse Bride seemed to sense something, stood, and walked down.

"Why is the Dried Corpse Bride coming down?"

Zhang Hao had originally, upon seeing the bandits not attack him, planned to follow them to see where they were smashing doors.

But when he sensed the Dried Corpse Bride descending, he abandoned that idea.

As a Ghost Slave, his primary concern was to ensure the Dried Corpse Bride's interests.

Now that the Dried Corpse Bride is acting, he will postpone his own objective.

Zhang Hao hurried to the Dried Corpse Bride's side.

Unfortunately, the Dried Corpse Bride seemed able to share Zhang Hao's perspective, yet Zhang Hao could not communicate with her.

Watching the Dried Corpse Bride descend, Zhang Hao didn't know her purpose, let alone help her achieve it.

The Dried Corpse Bride's arrival seemed to trigger some anomaly.

Suddenly, Zhang Hao felt his body lose control; the Dried Corpse Bride had forcibly seized his bodily command.

His expression turned numb; he walked to her side and reached out to grasp her.

Then, some Ghost Power streamed from the Dried Corpse Bride into Zhang Hao's body, forcing his left hand to rise.

As Zhang Hao lifted and waved his hand, the door‑smashing sounds in the Village gradually ceased.

Immediately after, while Zhang Hao was still puzzled, a dense crowd surged forward.

Their steps were stiff, faces pallid, eyes vacant, and they surged toward Zhang Hao and the Dried Corpse Bride. "Is this using the Summon Ghost Technique on those bandits?"

Zhang Hao recovered his composure, but his mind still held doubts.

Yet the Dried Corpse Bride gave him no answer; as the crowd drew nearer, Zhang Hao felt his perspective narrowing.

No, his body, under the Dried Corpse Bride's control, was kneeling.

The Ghost Mourning Clothes on Zhang Hao bear the Kneeling Death, a certain death ghostly effect.

The Dried Corpse Bride lacks a large‑scale lethal ghostly power, so after summoning those bandits, she is borrowing the Ghost Mourning Clothes' ghostly attack.

Not only Zhang Hao, even the Dried Corpse Bride beside him knelt together.

Ignoring Zhang Hao's funeral clothes and the bandits' bizarre appearance, it now oddly resembled a pre‑dawn wedding ceremony.

Unfortunately, there is no if.

Zhang Hao is wearing funeral clothes; their kneeling is not a worship of heaven and earth.

As Zhang Hao and the Dried Corpse Bride fully kneel, the dense bandits ahead fall one after another.

Zhang Hao roughly surveyed; there were nearly a hundred bandits, all eliminated in this single assault.

By Zhang Hao's understanding, the Ghost Mourning Clothes shouldn't possess such Terror Level.

Unless, under the Dried Corpse Bride's hand, the Ghost Mourning Clothes' ghostly power was amplified.

Just as a Crying Tomb Ghost bound by a ghost rope would begin to break free after the Dried Corpse Bride beckons.

Yet Zhang Hao couldn't fathom the purpose of this.

The Dried Corpse Bride's main Puzzle pieces are ghost paintings and embroidered shoes; suspected pieces include Ghost Blood, Ghost Kitchen, and the like.

The bandits here, whatever they think, can't be linked to the Dried Corpse Bride, right? After all, they're all men and wear nothing related to a groom.

After successfully dealing with the bandits, Zhang Hao felt his hand released and the bodily control returned to him.

"Is it over?"

Zhang Hao was somewhat puzzled; the Dried Corpse Bride bringing him to this Village couldn't be solely to eliminate these bandits.

"Step! Step! Step!"

Before Zhang Hao could think further, new Footsteps sounded from afar.

This time the steps are no longer so dull; they sound like they aren't male steps.

Male footsteps are usually heavier because of greater body weight.

"Is it those Village women?"

"But didn't we say before that these women aren't allowed to go out at night?"

Zhang Hao walked forward a short distance and reached the Road corner.

From afar, he could see the women who had appeared during the day, now each of them with strange expressions moving toward this side with Ghost's Walking.

"Is it because the bandits have all been suppressed, causing the Village Balance to go out of control?"

Zhang Hao was puzzled and could only offer this explanation.

Zhang Hao glanced at the Dried Corpse Bride behind him; after dealing with those bandits, the Dried Corpse Bride walked to the middle of the bandits' corpses and stood still.

Now those Village women who have become Fierce Ghosts come attacking, and she does not budge at all.

It seems those Village women do not conform to her Killing Rule.

(End of Chapter)