Chapter 111: Must Seize the Initiative

The cheerful sound of gong and drum was struck, paired with the double-reed wind instrument melody of a bridal sedan chair, sounding quite festive to the ears.

Chen Mo looked at the scene before him; many people had smiles on their faces, crowding and jostling him, fawning over him and offering congratulations, though he could not hear exactly what they were saying.

Blood Qi circulated within Chen Mo's body as he looked at the scene before him; the scene was as usual, without any changes.

There were still many people of varying ages and appearances offering him congratulations.

It seemed this place was not an Illusion Array, otherwise his eyes of Blood Qi would have been enough to see through the falsehood.

If his guess was correct, he was currently in a Ghost Domain.

A so-called Ghost Domain is the manifestation of a Ghost Spirit's power.

By releasing a Ghost Domain, a Ghost Spirit can disperse the Mirage Sea.

A Ghost Spirit can master a Ghost Domain and evolve many things within it.

Therefore, what he saw before him was not an illusion; in a certain sense, these things were like the Mirage Sea, considered to exist in reality.

Chen Mo casually grabbed the arm of a person beside him and pulled hard; that person's arm was instantly torn off by him, yet not a drop of blood flowed out.

Although things in a Ghost Domain are not illusory, they are false.

These evolved living beings possess no intelligence; each one is actually like a marionette.

However, from the fact that this person's arm was torn off without blood flowing out, it was enough to see that the Ghost Spirit possessing this Ghost Domain was not strong.

Otherwise, even if they were mindless marionettes, they should have had some more realistic reactions.

Chen Mo discarded the arm on the ground; the arm that had been torn off from the person quickly evolved again, and the person continued to smile and offer him congratulations, repeating the words they had said before.

Chen Mo looked around; the houses were neither new nor old, but very clean. At a glance, one could tell they had been cleaned in advance, with no signs of decay at all.

Although the details were different, through the layout of this residence, one could clearly see it was the same as the house he had been staying in before.

Chen Mo was not in a hurry to leave this place; with his strength, as long as he triggered a vibration of Qi and Blood, it would be enough to instantly shatter this Ghost Domain.

But he had come this time wanting to find the Ghost Spirit that possessed this Ghost Domain; since it had been so difficult to be pulled into the Ghost Domain, it was naturally impossible to just leave like this.

A Ghost Spirit is formed because there is an extremely heavy obsession or resentment before death; after death, they turn into a Ghost Spirit, and this obsession becomes even deeper.

To master a Ghost Spirit for one's own use, one can only guide their obsession or help them fulfill it.

Since this Ghost Spirit was willing to pull him into the Ghost Domain, it proved that his incense had not been burned in vain.

Regardless of the reason, at least it was willing to make contact with him instead of continuing to hide.

However, he had to find its true form within this Ghost Domain and then try to communicate further with it.

If the other party was relatively friendly, then he could try to establish a deeper relationship with it.

Conversely, if there were problems, then he would have to hurry and resolve it to avoid any other trouble.

Everything before his eyes proceeded like a fleeting glance; Chen Mo had only taken two steps when the sun quickly sank low and a full moon hung in the sky.

And he was also seated at a table, with others frequently toasting him.

The table was filled with various foods; Chen Mo picked up a cup of wine and sniffed it lightly.

The wine did have the fragrance of alcohol, and furthermore, there was no poison.

With Chen Mo's current physical perception, if this wine were poisonous, he wouldn't even need to taste it; a light sniff would be enough to know.

He took a light sip of the wine; it only had the scent of alcohol but not the slightest flavor.

But after drinking it, Chen Mo only felt his spirit invigorated and ethereal; a faint, elusive power flowed into his body along with the wine, and then surged into his Shenhai.

Looking at it this way, this wine was quite extraordinary; it seemed to be quite helpful for cultivation.

The next step in the cultivation of the Postnatal Realm is to condense Divine Sense and open the Mud Pill Palace, or the Sea of Consciousness Point.

And any spiritual object or pill capable of nourishing Divine Sense is a rare treasure, and the price is naturally quite precious.

Chen Mo did not indulge in the wine; while it did indeed have the ability to nourish Divine Sense, it was hard to guarantee there wouldn't be other problems.

Moreover, he was currently in a Ghost Domain, so it was better to be cautious and careful.

Even if his strength was sufficient, he still had to avoid capsizing in the gutter.

Chen Mo put down the wine cup in his hand and casually picked up a dish; this dish was very strange.

It looked indeed like roast duck, but like the wine, it only had the corresponding scent.

Yet the texture and taste were both similar to vinegar-braised cabbage, making it feel quite bizarre to eat.

Chen Mo only chewed it and spat it out without even swallowing.

Before long, the banquet ended, and he was once again crowded by people and walked into a room.

The room was decorated with red everywhere, set up as a bridal chamber.

On the bright red wedding bed, a woman with a slightly slender figure was sitting quietly on the bed waiting.

Hearing the room door open, her body tightened, and her hands resting on her skirt could not stop rubbing.

Chen Mo gently closed the room door; along the way, he had already tested many people, but these people were all purely derivative creations, possessing no intelligence.

Combined with the Ghost Spirit that died here before, it was possible that it was the girl who had been forced into a ghost marriage by Wang Dahu, so there was an eighty percent chance that the person before him was that Ghost Spirit.

"Wei Xia." Chen Mo sat down on a chair about a zhang away from her and called out softly.

Since Chen Mo had come here to burn incense, he had already inquired about many things beforehand.

The girl who was forced to her death was seventeen years old when she died; her name was Wei Xia, and she had been bought from Shuangshi Village, eighty miles away.

The reason she sold herself was mainly because her father had met with an accident and died suddenly; she sold herself to reduce the burden on her family and at the same time used the money from the sale to let her mother support her younger brothers and sisters.

For these matters, if others went to investigate, they might not necessarily get the truly detailed information.

But with Chen Mo's status, wanting to find out clearly was just a matter of a single word; he could even verify the household registration information from the government offices for confirmation.

Not just Wei Xia, he had also investigated several other places in the city rumored to be haunted and obtained quite a bit of information.

He investigated these things mainly to be prepared; perhaps he would never use them, but if he did, they would be of great help.

"You know me?" The young girl covered by the red bridal veil spoke with surprise, as if she had not expected Chen Mo to actually know her.

This was also normal; she had been dead for fifteen years, and even when she was alive, not many people knew her name, let alone now.

"Of course I know." Chen Mo nodded lightly, then immediately asked in return, "Do you know me?"

The young girl shook her head, her tone somewhat dazed, "I'm not sure. I slept for a very, very long time. I only woke up when you burned incense for me earlier."

"Later, you suddenly disappeared and stopped burning incense for me, until today when I saw you again."

Perhaps because she hadn't spoken to anyone in a long time, Chen Mo only asked one question, and she chattered on at length.

"Then do you know how your family is doing now?" Chen Mo wore a smile and spoke softly.

Ghost Spirits remain in the world due to obsessions. Their obsessions are very strong, and often they cannot be judged by common sense.

Therefore, Chen Mo did not intend to act according to the other party's thoughts; he wanted to make the other party act according to his own, and he had to grasp the initiative between the two.

Wei Xia suddenly fell silent, the lively smile on her face vanishing instantly. After a long while, she spoke, "I don't know."

Her tone was very low; clearly, even though she had become a Ghost Spirit, she still cared for her family.

This was truly normal; back then, it was for her family to survive that she was willing to sell herself into a ghost marriage.

"I know," Chen Mo said softly.

"Then how are they!" Wei Xia's tone was urgent as she pressed for an answer.

"Your third sister married five years ago and now has two children. Her husband is steady and hardworking; although life is bitter, they are getting by."

"Your younger brother is still at home serving your elderly mother. Your mother suffers from a chronic illness and cannot be left alone."

"Your younger brother cannot go out to work and can only do odd jobs near the village. Between that and paying for your mother's medicine, life is very poor, and sometimes they don't even have enough to eat."

"Your sister would like to help him, but her own life is not well-off either."

Chen Mo spoke slowly, recounting the situation he had learned of.

Wei Xia did not speak; bean-sized teardrops rolled down her face, landing directly on that bright red dress.

"I can help you send them some silver so that their lives can be a bit more comfortable."

Chen Mo continued, a gentle smile on his face.

Asking someone for a favor is always embarrassing; waiting for her to ask would be worse than taking the initiative yourself and letting her owe you a favor.

"But I don't have any silver." Wei Xia shook her head lightly; she no longer had the heart to think about why she had pulled Chen Mo into the Ghost Domain.

She only wanted her family to live better now, at least not to go hungry.

But she had been sold into the Wang family, and after being matched in a ghost marriage, she didn't have much to spare; it could only be said she didn't starve.

"You don't need to worry about that. I once found one hundred taels of silver in the Wang family residence; I can help you gift it to them."

Chen Mo did not hide the fact that he had previously found silver in this residence; he told her everything.

"But that isn't my silver either, and one hundred taels is too much; it wouldn't be good to give it to them." Wei Xia shook her head lightly.

If it wasn't her silver, it wasn't; she did not wish to claim that money as her own.

Moreover, although she did not know the saying, "An innocent man is guilty of his treasure."

She still understood that one hundred taels of silver was not a small sum; giving it directly to her family would only make people harbor improper thoughts about this money.

"Then I can lend you a sum of money. I am the Salt Transport Chief of the local Salt Transport Department, a Right Seventh Rank Official of the Imperial Court. No one would dare harbor improper thoughts about money I give out."

Chen Mo did not entangle himself with her over the ownership of that silver and spoke directly.

Furthermore, he made her understand that with the money given out under his status, her family would be able to hold onto it.

"Ah!" Wei Xia was stunned. She was just a farm girl; let alone a Seventh Rank Official, even an ordinary head constable was an incredible figure in her eyes.

As for real officials, according to her father, those were figures who could only be the reincarnation of the literary and martial stars, not people they could casually come into contact with.

"This commoner pays respects to the Salt Transport Chief!" She hurriedly stood up to bow.

After finishing the bow, she did not dare to sit back down, just standing there blankly.

"Then, do you know what the wine I drank earlier actually was?" Chen Mo asked again.

"This commoner does not know. I only know that the substance gradually appeared by my side, and I do not know what its specific use is."

After learning of Chen Mo's status, Wei Xia's tone became instantly reserved.

In her hand, she condensed a tea bowl, inside of which was a full bowl of liquid that had only the fragrance of wine but no taste of it.

"This item is of great use to me; it shall settle the silver I lent you." Chen Mo took the wine bowl, a smile appearing on his face.

This was a good thing, a rare spiritual treasure of heaven and earth, which was of immense help to him.

Compared to it, what he had to pay was merely some silver; this could simply be called a massive profit.

Using a porcelain bottle from his Storage Bag to store the wine, Chen Mo stood up and said, "I will personally make a trip to your home later to look after your relatives for you."

Seeing this, Wei Xia did not dare to be negligent and bowed again, "Safe travels, my lord."

Chen Mo took two steps outward, and the Ghost Domain vanished completely. Before his eyes was still the dilapidated Wang family residence, and the incense lit in the burner had long since extinguished.

Only the four porcelain bottles of Nourishing Spirit Water in his Storage Bag proved that everything he had just experienced was real.

Recommending a book to everyone that an author from another site started here at Qidian. It's a period piece; those interested can go take a look!!

"Come back to the city with me, or stay here?"

Sun Xiangyang never imagined that the first multiple-choice question he would face after his rebirth would be a soul-searching interrogation from his wife.

(End of chapter)