Chapter 21: Volume 1 Chapter 21: How to Capture the Proud Ghost King? (2)

Are there any ghosts? Jiang Zhi asked, trembling.

777 paused, then said: ". No."

It's not a ghost, it's something else.

Upon hearing its words, Jiang Zhi relaxed a little and began to wash attentively.

While she was washing her hair with her eyes closed, a tall, slender figure faintly emerged in the misty water vapor.

It stood right behind her.

Jiang Zhi didn't notice, bending over to wash her hair.

After she finished washing, she felt a piercing chill come from her back.

Jiang Zhi suddenly turned her head and looked back; her dark eyes were shrouded in steam, and in the dim light she saw nothing.

Was it an illusion?

Jiang Zhi didn't dare linger, hastily finished her shower and quickly left the washroom.

Lan Mannan, coming out of the room, saw her hurried expression and asked puzzledly: "What's wrong?"

Jiang Zhi forced an ugly smile, shook her head and said: "Nothing."

After saying that, she went to her room, wishing she could just fall asleep right there.

Lan Mannan finished her shower and returned to see her lying down asleep.

The girl gave her the impression of being quiet, focused on filming, dressed plainly, not caring about appearance, wearing black-rimmed glasses with a high prescription that covered half her face, obscuring her features.

She is the youngest in the team, 19 years old; Lan Mannan is six years older than her.

Looking closely, Lan Mannan noticed her skin was as white as snow, delicate and tender, full of collagen.

Lan Mannan envied her greatly and quickly applied a face mask.

One night passed.

Nobody slept well; it was hot at night with mosquitoes, and they drifted in and out of sleep until dawn, when the sky outside grew slightly light.

Jiang Zhi also didn't sleep well last night, alternating between hot and cold; when she woke early, her nose felt a bit stuffed.

After eating the breakfast the villagers brought—steamed buns with congee—they set off for the mountain.

The mountain path was steep and long, overgrown with weeds everywhere that scraped the skin, causing pain.

Jiang Zhi walked while holding her camera, snapping pictures here and there; the horror writer Fu Yan, walking behind her, came over to take a look.

"I heard trees are easily possessed by ghosts."

Jiang Zhi tilted her head and replied: "There are many rumors online about ghost-possessed trees that speak human words; I've checked them all, and they're false."

Fu Yan, hearing this, showed a hint of surprise on his handsome face: "How did you verify the rumors are false?"

Jiang Zhi spoke solemnly: "I've seen many trees and visited the places mentioned in those rumors, but I couldn't find a single tree that could speak human words."

"So they're false."

Fu Yan nodded, his gaze toward her gaining a bit more admiration.

"Persistently debunking rumors like that isn't easy either."

They had walked for nearly two hours but still hadn't seen the legendary sealed site.

The two streamers had readied their phones to go live, but got nothing in return.

"Let's rest for a while," Xie Mingming called out, telling everyone to pause and sit on the ground to rest.

Yang Shun complained: "We've searched so long and seen nothing; it was a wasted trip."

Su Xiaozi glanced at him and said: "What's the big deal? Many legends are mostly fake."

Yang Shun retorted: "There are also real ones!"

Su Xiaozi, unwilling to argue, turned to look at Lan Mannan nearby; seeing her staring straight ahead at Fu Yan, her face darkened, she suddenly stood up and said coldly: "I'm going to use the restroom nearby."

Having said that, she left on her own.

Hearing the sound, Xie Mingming quickly got up and followed: "Wait for me, I need to go too."

After the two left, the remaining few chatted idly.

Just then.

The ground suddenly shook, making their bodies unsteady as if they were about to fall.

"Is it an earthquake?" Yang Shun asked anxiously.

Fu Yan, seeing the shaking grow larger, his pupils contracted, and he hurriedly said: "Don't panic."

Before he could finish saying "run," the ground beneath their feet cracked open, fissures spreading and swallowing several of them.

Jiang Zhi's vision went black, a violent weightlessness making her nauseous, and she fainted outright.

When she came to, her sight was pitch black, with no light at all.

She pulled a flashlight from the pack on her back, Jiang Zhi rubbed her dizzy head, checked her body, and was amazed to find not a single injury.

Before losing consciousness, she clearly felt she had fallen from a great height, yet her body bore no injury—it was utterly unbelievable.

Holding the flashlight, Jiang Zhi looked around; it was a sealed underground space surrounded by stone walls, entwined with withered yellow vines, the temperature somewhat low, the air not thin, as if there were a vent.

Her steps stopped before a towering stone; its surface was tangled with countless vines, and faintly one could see ancient characters carved upon it.

It was complex and hard to understand.

Jiang Zhi pushed aside the vines entwining it and saw that the stone also bore carved murals.

She crouched down and examined it carefully.

It seemed to depict a story from an ancient dynasty.

A tyrant succeeded, and before the assembled civil and military officials, he beheaded the previous emperor with a single stroke.

The blood spread across the imperial throne in the court hall.

Jiang Zhi looked and looked, only to feel a shock to her sight.

"Destroy it, destroy it."

A sudden ethereal, lingering voice sounded beside her ear, as if coming from hell, exuding a chilling viciousness.

Jiang Zhi raised her flashlight and shone it around; there was nothing unusual.

That voice seemed like an illusion of hers.

Jiang Zhi's lips turned pale, she stepped back, accidentally tripping on the vines behind her; she quickly grabbed the vines wrapped around the boulder, but her body still lurched forward unstably.

Her forehead struck the edge of the boulder, blood staining it and emitting a faint light.

Soon the light was swallowed by darkness, the boulder trembled, and the entire Deep Kun Mountain shook along with it.

Thick black mist seeped into the boulder; the glow of the inscriptions carved on it faded bit by bit. As the boulder split in two, a crack split the stone wall above, and golden sunlight poured through the gap into the cramped space.

Jiang Zhi fell backward, the thick black mist before her eyes enveloping her, gradually forming a silhouette.

Her neck tightened; she was forced to lift her head, and the black shadow pressing on her body clenched tightly around her throat.

The near-death suffocation flushed her whole face red, her eyes gradually blurred, and the raised fingers went limp and slipped down.

Just as she thought she was going to die, the pressure on her neck suddenly loosened.

Jiang Zhi closed her eyes, lost all consciousness, and fainted.

The black shadow before her transformed into a man: his ink-black hair fell over his shoulders to his waist, he wore a dark cloud-pattern embroidered dragon robe that made his slender figure resemble a pine, his godlike handsome face hidden in the darkness, his snake‑pupil‑like cold eyes exuding a dangerous, wanton air as he leisurely gazed at the unconscious girl on the ground.

She was quite lucky; using her own blood she broke his seal, consequently his soul was forced to be bound to her.

He still cannot kill her; he must wait until their blood contract is undone.