Chapter 496

As the procession holding white bone lanterns slowly emerged from the ghost village, the nearby ghosts all backed away, none daring to provoke them, seemingly greatly wary.

Hua Changxi saw this and quickly retreated deep into the ghost crowd by the roadside, concealing herself among them.

Ghost A (shrinking his neck): “Hiss… Lady Crimson Nightmare hasn’t set foot out of Ghost Nightmare Village for years. Today, making such a grand show of heading to Ghost Realm Fortress—I wonder what for?”

Ghost B (trembling, voice weak): “What else could it be? In my opinion, it must be that Lord Yellow Spring’s appearance earlier alarmed Lady Crimson Nightmare.”

“Lady Spider Lily’s clone was destroyed; Lord Yellow Spring will absolutely not let the matter rest. And Ghost Nightmare Village borders the Ancient Yellow Spring Path—if Lord Yellow Spring really wants to trouble the ghost race, Ghost Nightmare Village will bear the brunt.”

“Lady Crimson Nightmare is most likely entering the city to investigate.”

Ghost C (fear flickering in his eyes): “The oppressive pressure Lord Yellow Spring just unleashed was truly terrifying. If our village hadn’t been protected by a formation, many low-level ghosts in the village would have been utterly destroyed.”

Ghost D (voice extremely low): “I hope the Ghost King can find the murderer quickly and give Lord Yellow Spring an explanation. Otherwise, I’m afraid we’ll never set foot on the Yellow Spring Path again!”

“Once Lord Yellow Spring gets angry and seals off the river, we won’t even have a chance to escape.”

Ghost A (shivering, the ghost fire in his eyes flickering dimly, as if recalling some extremely terrifying scene): “Isn’t that the truth.”

“Do you still remember, a hundred years ago, when Ghost Realm Fortress fell out with Lord Yellow Spring? During that time, any ghost who set foot on the Yellow Spring Path was devoured by Lord Yellow Spring without even a chance to resist.”

Ghost B (shrinking his neck, speaking with lingering fear): “How could I forget? During that period, it wasn’t just the ghosts of the ghost domain who suffered. Lord Yellow Spring went completely mad—he even devoured the living souls of those who had just died in the mortal world and newly entered the Nine Netherworlds.”

“During that time, the ghost domain had no replenishment of new souls, and many villages and towns simply dissipated due to the lack of fresh soul force.”

“In the end, if not for the joint pressure from Nether Capital City and the Cycle Hall, who knows how many ghosts and living souls Lord Yellow Spring would have devoured.”

Ghost C (indignant but not daring to speak loudly): “Sigh, Lord Yellow Spring is simply too tyrannical!”

Ghost A (glancing gloomily at the distant surging waters of the Yellow Spring River): “Who can blame anyone when his foundation is so deep? Every territory the Yellow Spring River flows through is his domain. As long as the river doesn’t dry up, he is omnipresent.”

“We small ghosts had better pray this disturbance passes quickly…”

Hua Changxi, mingling among the ghosts, listened to them chattering away in a ghost language she couldn’t understand, her expression wooden and stiff.

She hadn’t expected that deep in the Nine Netherworlds, the hardest hurdle she would encounter would be—the language barrier!

Watching the ghosts “whispering among themselves,” she could at most perceive the emotions they revealed. Through their body language, she could roughly guess that the ghosts were discussing the aftermath of Lord Yellow Spring’s appearance.

Unobtrusively concealing her aura, Hua Changxi used the cover of the gray mist to quietly slip away from the crowd of whispering ghosts.

She dared not stay long.

Even though she had used ghost fire to mimic the coldness of ghostkind, if any ghost approached to start a conversation, even staying silent might arouse suspicion; if she spoke, she would be instantly exposed.

“I have to find a way to overcome the language barrier…”

Otherwise, once she entered Ghost Realm Fortress and encountered an emergency requiring her to speak, not knowing the ghost language would leave her with only one option: flee.

Learning the ghost language wasn’t just for disguise; there was another reason—since she had gone to great trouble to enter Ghost Realm Fortress, it would be too much of a loss if she couldn’t “understand” anything and failed to gather any information.

But how was she to learn it?

Hua Changxi recalled that among the “Twelve Forms of Soul Manipulation” she had traded with Wei Zhenjie for “Nine Revolutions Mystic Art,” there happened to be a “Soul Manipulation Technique” that could control and command souls.

Perhaps she could control a few ghosts to teach her the ghost language. Her divine sense was not weak; she should learn quickly.

Just as she began to look for suitable “teachers”…

The procession of white bone lanterns, originally heading straight for Ghost Realm Fortress in full force, came to a halt without any warning.

Then, guided by the piercing sound of suonas, the scarlet sedan chair slowly turned. Not forward, not sideways, but directly toward the direction where Hua Changxi was!

“Hm?”

Hua Changxi’s heart leaped violently. She immediately sensed something was wrong.

Her location was completely opposite to the direction of Ghost Realm Fortress. Why would the red sedan procession suddenly change course and approach her side for no reason?

Especially when she saw that the surrounding ghosts also showed surprised and confused expressions. Disguised as a ghost, Hua Changxi grew even more vigilant, carefully retreating toward a more remote area.

To verify whether the red sedan procession was aimed at her, Hua Changxi deliberately changed direction several times as she retreated.

Yet no matter how she changed direction, the scarlet sedan clung to her like a bone-attached maggot, following her shadow, and getting closer and closer…

Hua Changxi was certain—she had been discovered!

Taking a deep breath, she stopped all futile probing and retreated deeper into the darker, more desolate maze of boulders.

The terrain there was complex, with thick gray fog; if the other party truly intended to make a move, at least it would buy a little more time to maneuver.

After entering the chaotic stone forest, Hua Changxi completely merged her figure into that impenetrable darkness, then, like a hunter, silently awaited the arrival of the scarlet sedan chair.

A quarter of an hour later, that suffocating procession of bone-white lanterns finally halted outside the chaotic stone forest.

The wind seemed to freeze at that moment.

The curtain of the scarlet sedan chair rippled without wind, slowly lifting a corner. A pair of eyes, exuding a bone-chilling coldness, like two ghostly lanterns, pierced straight through the layers of chaotic rocks and gray fog, locking precisely onto the corner where Hua Changxi was hiding.

"Heh... what a fragrant living soul."

A lazy yet bitingly cold voice exploded in the void, tinged with mockery and greed.

As the words fell, a crimson light flashed within the sedan chair!

The Red Fiend Lady herself had transformed into a streak of blood-red light, tearing through the gray fog and flying straight into the chaotic stone forest.

Hua Changxi's expression turned grave; the aura emanating from the red-clad female ghost was even more formidable than that of the previous incarnation of Lady Bianhua.

She did not want to use the black broken blade, but she really did not want to cause a major disturbance outside the Ghost Realm Fortress. So, when the red-clad female ghost's figure attacked, she did not dodge, but instead put on an expression of being terrified, waiting for her to approach.

She stood frozen in place like a lamb to the slaughter, calmly waiting for the prey to draw near.

A hundred meters...

Ten meters...

The red-clad female ghost's beautiful yet ferocious face was now clearly visible before her eyes; her outstretched claws exuded a bone-chilling coldness, aimed directly at Hua Changxi's face, her eyes brimming with the wild joy of about to enjoy a feast.

One meter!

Now!

In Hua Changxi's empty right palm, the black broken blade suddenly materialized.

She raised the blade and slashed.

There were no flashy movements, only extreme speed and ferocity.

"Youhu..." The Red Fiend Lady could have dodged, but upon seeing the black broken blade, she was stunned.

In a duel between masters, life and death are decided in an instant.

Thwack!

A black light, like a bolt of lightning, streaked across the sky, carrying an unmatched sharpness, and struck down fiercely!

A crisp sound like tearing silk exploded, and the red-clad female ghost, not even having time to scream, was cleaved in two!

However, the expected destruction of her soul did not occur.

The cultivation of this red-clad female ghost far surpassed that of the Bianhua incarnation slain earlier. The two halves of her split body did not collapse and dissipate; instead, the moment they touched the ground, they erupted with a thick, glaring blood-red light!

"Roar~"

A piercing shriek rose from both halves of the remnant body simultaneously.

The surging ghostly aura writhed wildly like a living thing; in the blink of an eye, the severed body began to visibly attempt to reattach itself.

Seeing this, Hua Changxi's expression changed, and she swung the blade again.

Outside the chaotic stone forest, that bone-white lantern procession still stood silently in place.

Half an hour later.

A somewhat wavering red light shot out from the chaotic stone forest, tore through the night sky, and flew straight into the scarlet sedan chair.

The sedan curtain fell, concealing everything inside.

"Milady~"

The attendant on the left side of the scarlet sedan chair had just begun to step forward, but before her words ended, a crisp ringing of a bell suddenly pierced the silence. The sound waves, like ripples on water, instantly swept through the entire procession.

As the bell sound entered their ears, the eyes of all the ghost clans instantly became vacant and hollow.

The bell sound ceased, the hollow look faded, and a gleam of light was rekindled in the eyes of the ghost clan—a gleam of absolute submission to the red-clad woman in the scarlet sedan chair.

Then, the long-silent sound of the suona rang out again, the procession slowly set off, heading straight toward the towering and gloomy Ghost Realm Fort.