Chapter 23 Part 1: Solidifying Spirit Grass (VII)

He smirked sinisterly, and the blood-red color in his eyes grew even deeper.

Almost the instant he made his move, Sui Ning quickly summoned Ba Tian in front of her.

The ferocious black aura howled and came towards her, but Sui Ning condensed her spiritual energy into a barrier with her fingers and shattered the demon energy with Ba Tian’s sword intent, determinedly charging towards him.

A sword light cleaved through the black mist, and Xie Changzhou’s robe fluttered as he held Du Wang and charged towards Sui Ning.

The pale fingers of the man in red held a flute, and as soon as the sharp notes sounded, even more Three-Soul Corpses pounced out from the woods, screeching and attacking Xie Changzhou.

He was momentarily trapped in place, and Du Wang’s sword light flashed around, constantly cutting through the Three-Soul Corpses and saving the people who had been knocked down by them.

As the man in red’s flute grew more intense, the eerie energy attacking Sui Ning became increasingly fierce, and her barrier was on the verge of shattering.

The system anxiously shouted at her: “[Host, hold on for a little longer, Xie Changzhou will be rushing out soon!]”

The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com. If you are currently on the site and and you are seeing this, please clear your cache.

Fbl takvvle bla vllvb yde tzydnle yv Dkl Ubydtgbsw kd vbl xkepv sq vbl nsarplp.

Tkp ale nzsvblp olal qzwvvlakdt okvb prkakvwyz ldlatu, yde bkp ldvkal cseu oyp nshlale kd vbl ekavu czynj czsse sq vbl Mball-Fswz Usarplp. Tkp casop yde lulp olal knu yde pbyar, yde bkp sdnl tldvzl elxlydsa oyp nsxrzlvlzu tsdl, alrzynle cu y qynl qwzz sq blyhu jkzzkdt kdvldv.

Pw Eydt, kd bkp byde, qsaxle posae pjkzz yqvla posae pjkzz, pbwvvzkdt vbaswtb vbl pnyvvlale nasoe sq rlsrzl obs olal lpnyrkdt qasx vbl nsarplp.

Dkl Ubydtgbsw oyp pvkzz alpnwkdt rlsrzl, cwv pbl oyp y nwzvkhyvsa yde nswzed’v alzu pszlzu sd bkx vs pyhl bla!

Fbl bye vs pyhl blaplzq yde dsv ekpvaynv bkx qasx pyhkdt bla yv pwnb y nakvknyz xsxldv!

Fwk Lkdt qwaasole bla casop vktbvzu, bla qynl qkzzle okvb pszlxdkvu yde elvlaxkdyvksd, yp pbl rswale yzz bla prkakvwyz ldlatu kdvs bla posae yde pzypble vsoyaep vbl czynj-nzsvble qktwal okvb lhld talyvla qlasnkvu, calyjkdt vbaswtb vbl czynj xkpv.

Mbl vbknj yde llakl yvxsprblal ekppkryvle kdpvydvzu, yde vbl srralppkhl qllzkdt hydkpble. Fwk Lkdt iwknjzu fwxrle swv sq vbl ldnkanzlxldv, cwv vs bla pwarakpl, bla posae rldlvayvle pvayktbv vbaswtb vbl ale-nzsvble qktwal.

Mbl pupvlx lmnzykxle, “[Fswz Frzkvvkdt Mlnbdkiwl]!”

“What’s the Soul Splitting Technique?” Sui Ning asked.

The system explained, “It’s an evil technique that can extract a person’s soul strand and use it as a substitute for their body. What you see now is not his real body. But this evil technique comes at the cost of burning one’s own essence and blood. Each soul split consumes almost the essence and blood of ten adult men! How many people has he killed?”

“Heh.”

A light sneer came, filled with indifference and eeriness, like it was pouring into Sui Ning’s ears and making her scalp tingle.

“Sui Ning!”

“[Host!]”

“Miss Sui Ning!”

Sui Ning barely had time to see the man’s movements when black qi suddenly surged around her, filling her nose with a foul smell.

The last thing she saw was Xie Changzhou leaping towards her, with Liao Wu behind him. In her final moments, she thought to herself that with Liao Wu’s arrival, Xie Changzhou would have an easier time.

After everything had calmed down, the black mist in the forest dissipated, and the eerie atmosphere that had filled the air disappeared.

Aside from the three-soul corpses that were slain and the people who were sent for marriage, Sui Ning, the person in the red dress, and the other three-soul corpses all disappeared without a trace.

Xie Changzhou stood tall and straight, his lips tightly pursed, his blue eyes filled with coldness, and the veins on his hand holding the sword were bulging. His aura was low and menacing, and the pure and gentle spiritual energy he had shown in the past now appeared particularly murderous. The sword intent of Du Wang coalesced into patches of frost.

He bent down and picked up the paper doll on the ground. The doll no longer had the lively appearance it had before, and the soul fragments hidden within it had disappeared.

Liao Wu approached and said, “Master Xie, I’m sorry for being late.”

He had hurried over when he noticed the eerie atmosphere in the area, but the three-soul corpses outside had stopped him in his tracks.

By the time he arrived, Sui Ning had already been surrounded by the red-dressed person’s formation, and the demonic energy had trapped them one by one on the outside.

Xie Changzhou shook his head. “It’s not your fault, Liao Wu.”

The red-dressed person had the ability to split their souls, and he had a top-grade artifact to help him escape. The three-soul corpses were intentionally placed here as an ambush, which means the red-dressed person knew about the plan to substitute Sui Ning for marriage a long time ago, and their goal was Sui Ning.

The red-dressed person was the Ghost Groom, the mysterious figure who controlled the three-soul corpses.

Liao Wu suddenly spoke: “The Liu family intentionally designed the ambush for us under the guidance of the Ghost Groom.”

Xie Changzhou nodded with a clear voice: “Yes, Liu Yu has probably already married by now.”

The Ghost Groom pretended to be a wise man and intentionally instructed the Liu family to come find Xie Changzhou and his team, knowing they would send Sui Ning as a substitute bride.

Afterwards, the Ghost Groom attached his own soul to this paper puppet, which was handed to Sui Ning by Liu Yu. In this forest, the Ghost Groom would jump out and control the Three-Soul Corpse to stop them while taking away Sui Ning.

The Liu family believed that as long as Sui Ning was the substitute bride, the Ghost Groom would definitely go after her, and they could use this opportunity to secretly marry off their daughter.

So the Liu family’s true intention was to marry off Liu Yu, and Sui Ning’s substitute marriage was just an excuse to protect their own daughter.

However, they did not know that the one guiding them was the Ghost Groom.

And now, the Liu family…

Liao Wu and Xie Changzhou both thought of a place, their eyes met, and both had a cold look in their eyes.

Xie Changzhou looked around and saw that the surviving wedding escorts had already fled, leaving only corpses on the ground.

They were no longer needed here.

Xie Changzhou summoned his sword and left, and Liao Wu quickly followed suit.

When they arrived at the Liu mansion, a strong demonic aura hit them, and the bloody scent made their faces change.

Xie Changzhou used his spiritual energy to open the door with a loud bang.

Dead bodies were everywhere, lying in the courtyard and the mansion, all in a pitiful state of death. Their eyes widened as if they had seen something terrifying.

Liao Wu took a look around and sighed softly, clasping his hands together: “How sinful.”

Xie Changzhou had a cold and stern expression as he grabbed his sword and hurried towards the backyard. Underneath a pear tree in the backyard, a woman dressed in a wedding gown was lying on the ground, vomiting blood and with a deep wound on her slender neck. She was Liu Yu.

Xie Changzhou quickly went to help her and injected his powerful spiritual energy into her body, but it had no effect. Liu Yu was already on the verge of death. With her beautiful eyes wide open and her forehead covered in golden foil, she struggled to say something as she saw Xie Changzhou approach.

She whispered broken words into his ear: “The Yin Clan… seven new brides… sacrifice…”

Liu Yu then took her last breath and died with her eyes wide open. Meanwhile, Xie Changzhou sensed a strange energy coming towards him, but before he could react, the Wugang Pearl had already turned into a golden tower, trapping two demonic women inside.

Xie Changzhou put down Liu Yu and looked at the two women, who were dressed as maids but were actually already dead. They had red eyes, sharp nails covered in blood, and were snarling and howling at Xie Changzhou and his companion, Liao Wu. They wanted to escape from the Wugang Pearl.

It seemed that they were responsible for the massacre in the entire Liu Mansion. However, Xie Changzhou was surprised that even after controlling the three-soul corpses, the ghostly groom was still so ruthless and cruel as to use these two corpses to kill everyone in the Liu Mansion.

Liao Wu shook his head and looked at Xie Changzhou with compassion in his gentle eyes. Xie Changzhou nodded and said, “Let the dead rest in peace.”

As Liao Wu’s spiritual energy circulated, the Wugang pearl suddenly emitted a bright golden light. After two sharp screams, only two female corpses were left on the ground.

Xie Changzhou walked up to Liao Wu and repeated what Liu Yu had just said to him.

“Liu Yu said, ‘Born in a yin year,yin month,and yin day… seven new brides.. sacrifice.'”

Liao Wu was taken aback, seeming not to understand Xie Changzhou’s words.

Xie Changzhou stared at him tightly, his expression serious: “I once heard of a formation that can revive the dead, requiring seven women to be sacrificed, with six born in yin years, months, and days as the formation perimeter and one born in a yang year, month, and day as the formation eye. When the formation is activated, it can consume all the spiritual energy and blood of the seven women to revive the dead.”

Liao Wu was shocked. “Isn’t this exchanging seven lives for one?”

Xie Changzhou nodded and continued, “When a new bride gets married, her luck is at its peak, and whether it is yin or yang, it can be stimulated to its peak.”

“So the ghost groom selects newlywed brides?”

“Yes, he has already abducted five brides. Ningning is the sixth, and she was born on the first day of the first lunar month, when the Yang energy is the strongest, so she is the formation eye.”

Xie Changzhou paused here and looked at Liao Wu with a serious expression.

“He still needs the last bride, born in a Yin year, month, and day.”

Liao Wu was stunned, suddenly remembering what happened not long ago at the inn.

He was meditating when he sensed an extremely strong demonic energy near the inn, and then he discovered the Three-Soul Corpse.

What was the Three-Soul Corpse doing near the inn?

Maybe there’s someone it’s looking for in the inn…

He suddenly remembered a person born on the Ghost Festival, on the 15th of the seventh lunar month, when the yin energy is at its heaviest in the year.

Even if it’s not when getting married, the yin energy in the body is enough for sacrifice.

His heart of enlightenment suddenly quickened, he turned around quickly, and his hand holding the Wugang pearl was trembling slightly.

***

Sui Ning was awakened by the cold.

The piercing cold made her tremble all over, and she opened her eyes in confusion.

What came into view were oddly-shaped icicles, cold ice blocks underneath her, and faint crying around her.

The system shouted to her in her mind: [Host, you finally woke up!]

Sui Ning struggled to sit up and asked, “Where is this?”

“This is the ghost groom’s lair.”

Sui Ning looked around. She was in an ice chamber surrounded by thick ice; no wonder she was frozen awake.

Several women sat huddled together in a corner not far away, crying softly.

Except for one person wearing a pink dress, all the others were in wedding dresses.

Sui Ning stared carefully at the woman in the pink dress and felt that her figure was familiar the more she looked at her.

She approached the woman, and as soon as she saw her profile, her expression suddenly changed.

“Su Kou?”

Sui Ning quickly rushed forward and called out to her, “Su Kou, Su Kou, wake up!”

“Su Kou, wake up!”

Sui Ning called her several times, and Su Kou finally let out a groan, then slowly opened her eyes with fluttering eyelashes.

When Su Kou saw Sui Ning, she looked surprised and then keenly sensed the coldness.

She rubbed her arms and trembled as she asked Sui Ning, “What’s going on, Ningning? Where are we?”

She only remembered waiting for Sui Ning and the others to come back in the room, then a black aura rushed towards her, and she lost consciousness in an instant.

When she opened her eyes again, she was here, and Sui Ning was by her side.

Sui Ning looked at her and said heavily, “We’re in the ghost groom’s lair.”

Su Kou was stunned, and her hair stood on end. A chill rose up her spine, and her heart began to beat faster.

“You mean, we’ve been captured by the ghost groom?”

Sui Ning nodded, “Yes.”

Su Kou’s slender fingers curled tightly, her voice trembling, “Then what should we do?”

She was just a sheltered young lady who had never seen such a scene before.

Not to mention she had no cultivation, not even the ability to protect herself.

At this moment, her only dependency was Sui Ning.

Sui Ning held her hand and comforted her, saying, “Don’t worry, my senior brother and Liao Wu will definitely come to save us.”

Su Kou’s wildly beating heart calmed down slightly.

Yes, there’s also Yan Zhang; he’ll definitely come to save her.

She comforted herself, and Sui Ning squeezed her hand.

“Huh, you’re still waiting for someone to come save you at a time like this?”

A cold voice came from behind, and several girls sitting against the wall screamed and shrank back, tears filling their pretty faces.

Su Kou cried out in fear, and Sui Ning quickly held Su Kou in her arms.

She looked up.

The ghost groom changed into a new suit, wearing an exquisitely made groom’s outfit. His originally loose hair was now tied up high, and the black markings on his face faded a bit, revealing his originally handsome face.

In his arms, he held a woman dressed in a wedding gown.

When Sui Ning saw the woman’s face clearly, his eyes widened in shock and horror.

That was not a living person, but clearly a woman with a greenish-purple complexion, covered in corpse spots.

The ghost groom looked at the woman in his arms; his brows and eyes instantly softened, and he said lovingly, “Xiuxiu, we’ll be together soon.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he looked up at Sui Ning and the others, his eyes already filled with murderous intent and madness.

“He already has bloodshot eyes!”

Sui Ning quickly stood up and blocked several women in front of her. 

***

Xie Changzhou and Liao Wu arrived at the inn. Qi Niang was lazily counting the accounts at the counter.

Upon seeing Xie Changzhou and Liao Wu come in, she looked up and was momentarily stunned. She randomly joked, “Why is Master Xie wearing a groom’s outfit?”

Xie Changzhou wore a red robe; his black hair was tied high, and his gentle face looked even more enchanting under the contrast of the red clothing.

He walked up to the counter and asked softly, “Shopkeeper, has Miss Su Kou come downstairs today?”

Qi Niang was startled and shook her head dully, saying, “No, I haven’t seen her today.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Liao Wu rushed upstairs in a panic, with Xie Changzhou following closely behind.

Liao Wu pushed the door open directly and saw an empty room with a strange atmosphere lingering. Su Kuo was nowhere to be found.

Liao Wu’s hand trembled lightly as he held the door handle. His former calm face was shattered, and rare traces of panic could be seen.

Xie Changzhou spoke: “The ghost groom came here.”

The Ghost Groom placed a strand of soul into a paper doll and used the formation of a high-quality artifact to take Sui Ning away.

Meanwhile, his actual body came to the inn and took Su Kuo away.

Qi Niang had also come forward and was shocked to hear their words. “The Ghost Groom? Miss Su was taken by the ghost groom?”

As someone who had been running a shop in Nanjing City, she naturally knew about the ghost groom.

Xie Changzhou nodded slightly and looked at Qi Niang, asking, “Have you heard of any tragic incidents happening in this area in recent years? Especially on the day of a wedding, within the past 20 years?”

The ghost groom, dressed in a red wedding gown that looked outdated and about a decade old, exuded a sinister aura and appeared to be deeply resentful. Xie Changzhou couldn’t help but think about the person he intended to resurrect and began to form an answer in his mind.

Qi Niang frowned in thought and looked towards Liao Wu’s back, but ultimately shook her head and said she didn’t know. However, Liao Wu suddenly spoke up and said, “I know.”

Turning to Xie Changzhou, he explained that he was familiar with the area and that there had been a tragic incident that occurred 20 years ago. A Taoist priest and a woman were in love, but the woman was sold by her family to a wealthy merchant to be his concubine. The woman refused, and the Taoist priest eloped with her. However, the merchant found them, and in the ensuing altercation, the woman was killed while protecting the Taoist priest. The priest then went mad and captured over 120 people who were present at the scene and disappeared along with them.

Xie Changzhou suddenly understood, and all the clues became clear.

There were about a hundred or so Three-Souls corpses, which conveniently matched the number of missing people.

On the day of the wedding, the bride died tragically, and the groom became possessed. This can also explain the outdated groom’s outfit on the ghostly groom and who exactly he wants to resurrect.

In other words, the Taoist priest is the ghostly groom, and the person he wants to resurrect is his lover.

Xie Changzhou’s eyebrows furrowed. “Daoist Liao, do you have an idea of where he might be?”

Liao Wu had not yet spoken when Qi Niang suddenly spoke up: “I have a vague memory; he seems to live in the south of Nanjing City.”

Xie Changzhou and Liao Wu both looked at Qi Niang; her beautiful eyes were full of sincerity, and her expression under the veil was hard to discern.

Liao Wu stared at her deeply, his eyes deep and mysterious. After a long while, he said, “Good, thank you, Madam.”

Qi Niang immediately relaxed, breathed a sigh of relief, and smiled at Liao Wu and Xie Changzhou, saying, “You two hurry and chase after them.”

Xie Changzhou and Liao Wu nodded and were about to leave when she stopped them and said, “Be careful, you two.”

Her phoenix eyes were full of laughter; different from her usual charming and seductive demeanor, now they were sincere.

Xie Changzhou and Liao Wu stared at her for a long time, nodding their heads to thank her, “Thank you for your reminder; we will.”

As soon as they left the inn, Liao Wu suddenly spoke softly, “She’s lying.”

Xie Changzhou was not surprised. “Hmm.”

Liao Wu continued, “I was already ten years old at that time and naturally remembered. The place where the Taoist priest had a massacre was in a deserted temple in the north of Nanjing City.”

Qi Niang was lying, not wanting them to find the ghostly groom’s lair.

Or perhaps she didn’t want them to find the ghostly groom at all.

Why was she like this?

“If she’s worried about their safety but they don’t know her well, they only have a buyer-seller relationship. So what is she really after?”

Liao Wu spoke up: “I sent the message three days ago, but the elders have yet to come to our aid.”

Xie Changzhou’s face darkened. If the elders had received the message, they would have come to support them. But it’s been days with no response… Perhaps Liao Wu’s message never even made it out? 

But right now, saving lives is more important. They didn’t have time to dwell on it and hurried to the ghost groom’s real residence.

***

In the ice room, the ghost groom gently placed the woman in his arms on the ice bed at the center of the room. He then sat by her side, looking at the woman lying quietly. 

Sui Ning found this scene incredibly eerie. The woman’s skin was purple and covered in small and large marks of decay, emitting a strong odor even from a distance. 

But the ghost groom had a face full of tenderness, looking at the woman with eyes full of love, as if she were a beautiful woman beyond compare. 

He reached out his pale hand and caressed her cheek, his voice gentle and full of compassion. “Xiuxiu, it’s been twenty years, and I finally get to see you again.” 

Sui Ning was startled. This woman had been dead for twenty years?

After twenty years, the corpse still had not decomposed into white bones and only had some corpse spots.

The ghost groom continued to speak to himself: “Those people from back then, I turned them into three-soul corpses. Xiuxiu, I tortured them for ten years and scattered their souls. I used fire to refine them for ten years.”

His voice had already become a bit insane, and his gentle expression had also become eerie. He gently tidied up the woman’s hair and said something that made Sui Ning’s whole body numb.

“Xiuxiu, once I sacrifice all of these people’s blood to you, you’ll be able to live again.”

As soon as he finished speaking, his blood-red eyes turned to Sui Ning, and his slender figure rushed towards her. Sui Ning quickly summoned Ba Tian to block the ghost groom’s nails that were attacking her.

They were too close—so close that Sui Ning could already smell the corpse odor on the ghost groom. His eyes were bloodshot, and black veins began to crawl all over his pale face.

He stared at Sui Ning with a cruel and bloodthirsty expression, and the force in his hands kept increasing. Sui Ning gritted her teeth and used her spiritual energy to form a barrier, blocking the few people behind her.

“Ningning!”

[Host!]

Su Kou and the system both shouted at her, and the women began to cry loudly. Sui Ning increased the flow of spiritual energy and shouted to Su Kou, “Don’t come out; stay in the barrier!”

She remembered what Xie Changzhou had said to her, “You are a cultivator, not a brute. Try to use your cultivation to resist it.”

As Sui Ning’s eyebrows and eyes turned cold, she silently recited a spell in her heart. The sword intent from her Ba Tian Sword became heavier and heavier in her hands, and a sword light with a resolute momentum swiftly shot towards the ghost groom.

The sword’s intent broke through his tricks and hit him directly, sending him flying into the wall of the ice chamber. He coughed twice and suddenly spewed out a large amount of black blood, which stained his pale face and looked particularly strange.

“Hehe.”

The ghost groom stood up, his blood-red eyes fixed on Sui Ning, his lips slightly curved.

Sui Ning stood with her sword, her beautiful face filled with determination.

The next moment, a red light almost flickered out of thin air and rushed towards Sui Ning. She flew up with her Ba Tian sword to meet it.

The two of them fought fiercely, causing waves of spiritual energy to hit the surrounding walls, and the falling ice cubes made the women scream.

Sui Ning and  the ghost groom moved too fast, and Su Kou could only see two red figures constantly changing positions and fighting fiercely.

Suddenly, a red figure was directly smashed out and fell heavily on the wall.

Su Kou panicked and shouted, “Ningning!”

She wanted to go and help Sui Ning, but was trapped in the enchantment and unable to escape, so she could only beat the enchantment with all her might.

Sui Ning struggled to stand up, using the Ba Tian Sword to prop up her shaky body. The ghost groom stood in the void, looking at her playfully, his mouth still hanging with a cold smile.

“You are not my opponent, so sacrifice yourself obediently. As long as you die, my Xiuxiu can live.”

His voice was sinister and carried a hint of anticipation, but when it fell into Sui Ning’s ears, it made her want to laugh.

She also laughed out loud, saying, “You’re really funny. A person who has been dead for twenty years, and you want to bring her back to life?”

Sui Ning paused, then the smile on her lips grew bigger and bigger, as if she were mocking him.

“It’s just like a dream.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the laughter on the groom’s face disappeared, and the black lines on his face became more prominent.

His cold voice came: “Whether I am dreaming or not, you will know after you make the sacrifice.”

The groom’s pale hand trembled, and a huge array suddenly appeared on the ground. The complicated pattern instantly emitted a bright red light, and the entire ice room was bathed in a dark red color.

Sui Ning felt a force pulling her towards the center of the formation. She tried to resist the force, but neither she nor Su Kou had any cultivation, and they were directly entangled and flew in six directions.

“Sui Ning!”

“Help!”

There was a sudden cry of alarm. Su Kou stared at Sui Ning with wide eyes, filled with fear and despair.

Sui Ning struggled to save them, but she couldn’t even move.

After a long stalemate, she finally exhausted all her strength and was rolled up and flown towards the center of the formation, falling to the ground.

As soon as Sui Ning fell into the array, she felt as if all her vital energy was being sucked out of her body. Countless red lines penetrated her body, and she was covered in blood, almost trembling with pain.

The system shouted in her mind, “[Host! Hold on a little longer; wait for Xie Changzhou to come!]”

Sui Ning’s consciousness was unclear, and her whole body’s essence and blood were continuously transported into the formation. Her mind was already a blur, and she could barely hear the system’s voice. 

She only heard Xie Changzhou. 

Yes, Xie Changzhou would come to save her. Just hold on a bit longer. 

Countless red threads pierced through Sui Ning’s body, drawing out her essence and blood. The six women at the edge of the formation had their vital energy drained by the formation, and an eerie red light flashed. 

Seeing this scene, the ghost groom’s pale and delicate face became even more frenzied. 

Yes, this was the resurrection formation. 

The essence and blood of the person at the formation’s eye were supplemented by the vital energy of the people at the formation’s periphery, which flowed into the formation. When the person at the formation’s eye died, the people at the formation’s periphery would also be drained of their vital energy and turned into dried corpses, completing the resurrection formation. 

His Xiuxiu would be able to come back to life. 

He had already waited for too long. 

The smile on the ghost groom’s lips gradually deepened, and the formation was about to be completed. 

But the next second, a bright white sword light slashed over, directly cutting off the red thread that had pierced Sui Ning’s body. 

Sui Ning’s body fell like a butterfly with broken wings, falling into the arms of a person wearing a red groom’s attire. 

With the destruction of the formation’s eye, the entire formation was instantly destroyed. 

The change happened too suddenly, and the ghost groom was momentarily stunned. After reacting, he immediately went mad and rushed towards Xie Changzhou in the formation, shouting in despair, “No! Don’t! My resurrection formation!” 

A strange red light flashed in the black lines on the ghost groom’s face, and his eerie aura surged as he roared towards Xie Changzhou in the formation.

“Go to hell! You deserve to die!”

Xie Changzhou placed Sui Ning in his arms and softly instructed Liao Wu, who was behind him, “Take good care of Ningning.”

Liao Wu nodded and set up a barrier to protect Sui Ning and the others.

Xie Changzhou wielded his sword and flew towards the enemy, with sword intent shining everywhere. Two red figures moved through the eerie atmosphere of the room, occasionally accompanied by sparkling white sword light.

In just a few moments, the resolute sword intent broke through the heavy atmosphere and directly struck down one of the red figures in the void.

The ghost groom struggled to stand up, but Liao Wu’s Wugang pearl instantly transformed into a golden tower engraved with scripture to firmly suppress him inside.

Xie Changzhou gracefully landed from the sky with a calm gaze and a hint of reluctance in his eyes as he looked at the woman lying on the ice bed beside him.

The ghost groom quickly yelled, “No! Don’t hurt her! I’m the one responsible for everything!”

His pale face was covered in black blood, and his pupils suddenly shrank as he looked at Xie Changzhou with pleading eyes.

Restricted by Liao Wu’s Wugang pearl, he could only continuously beat against the barrier while shouting at Xie Changzhou, “Don’t hurt her! Don’t hurt Xiuxiu!”

Xie Changzhou sighed and looked at the ghost groom with compassion in his eyes. He spoke in a low voice, saying, “You are only deceiving yourself. Her soul has long left her body. Even if she wakes up, she will only be a mindless monster who knows only how to suck blood.”

The ghost groom became angry and said, “You don’t understand anything! I love her, and I don’t care what she looks like. I just want her!”

Xie Changzhou’s clear, glass-like eyes gazed at the now insane ghost groom and said, “But Xiuxiu cares; would she be willing to become like this? A mindless monster who only knows how to kill and survive by sucking blood.”

As Xie Changzhou finished his words, the ghost groom’s expression suddenly froze, and half of the crimson in his eyes dissipated. His crazy expression solidified on his face, and he looked somewhat innocent.

The gaze of the ghost groom turned to Xiuxiu, lying beside him. Her beautiful face was already covered in corpse spots, and even though he had carefully protected and nourished her with secret techniques for the past twenty years, she was still gradually withering like a flower that had passed its season.

But even so, she, who had already begun to rot, was still the beautiful, tenacious, gentle, and kind woman in his heart.

Would Xiuxiu, who couldn’t even bear to kill a chicken, really be willing to become such a bloodthirsty monster?

Xie Changzhou’s words echoed softly: “Let it go; she’s already gone.”

The warm voice rang in the ghost groom’s ears like a heavy hammer, hitting him completely dumbfounded.

Xiuxiu was already dead.

She was gone.

He would never see Xiuxiu again.

He, who had been pretending to be stupid for twenty years, was suddenly awakened. The beautiful memories of him and Xiuxiu flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern.

Would he really never see her again?

No, he wouldn’t accept it!

He didn’t want to live a life without Xiuxiu. Even if she had to become a monster, he wanted her to wake up!

The eerie aura around the ghost groom suddenly surged, and the red groom’s clothes fluttered, his pale face filled with a sinister smile.

He let out a low and terrifying laugh from his throat, his voice hoarse and strange: “So what? Xiuxiu needs essence blood, and I’ll give it to her. I just want her, and as for all of you, you’ll all die today!”

His power suddenly surged, and the barrier of the Wugang Pearl was shattered. The ghost groom lunged forward, his sharp nails attacking Xie Changzhou, who stood with his hands behind his back.

Xie Changzhou’s eyes were calm and serene, and Du Wang was shining brightly, carrying a resolute momentum as it broke through all the dark energy and slashed towards the ghost groom.

Even if he only used five points of his formidable sword intent, Xie Changzhou’s power was enough to defeat an evil spirit like the ghost groom.

After the collision of the mysterious energy and Xie Changzhou’s sword intent, the resolute sword intent decisively headed towards the ghost groom. Just as the sword intent was about to hit his body, a red shadow, faster than it, rushed straight towards the ghost groom.

Dark red blood splattered everywhere as the ghost groom stared blankly at the person in front of him, looking incredulous.

Xie Changzhou, usually calm and peaceful, also showed a look of confusion and surprise.

Standing in front of the ghost groom…was Xiuxiu?

Xiuxiu’s pupils were pitch-black without any whites, and her expression was blank. The dark red blood gradually flowed out of her frail body as she fell down, caught by the bewildered ghost groom.

The ghost groom’s eyes widened as he looked helplessly at Xiuxiu, trembling as he covered the wound on her back that continued to bleed.

But the blood that flowed out was dark red and cold, without the warmth of a living person.

He stared at her in confusion, his voice hoarse and panicked: “Xiuxiu, you’re okay. You’re okay.”

But Xiuxiu’s pitch-black eyes just stared blankly at the void, unresponsive to his calls.

The ghost groom hugged her tightly, his red eyes almost bleeding out as he trembled: “Xiuxiu, don’t scare me, Xiuxiu—-.”

He didn’t finish his words before Xiuxiu’s head tilted and her deep black eyes closed completely.

The ghost groom looked dazed, staring at her.

After a while, he suddenly spoke: “Xiuxiu, are you tired?”

No one answered him, and he continued to say to himself, “Then sleep, Xiuxiu; remember to wake up when you’re awake.”

While he was talking to Xiuxiu, Xie Changzhou had already used his sword to deal with three-soul corpses.

At this moment, only Liao Wu, Xie Changzhou, and the ghost groom were conscious in the entire icehouse.

Liao Wu sighed softly and clasped his hands together, bowing to Xiuxiu and saying, “Amitabha.”

Xie Changzhou shook his head, withdrew his sword, and said calmly, “She was already dead. Why deceive yourself? Turn back now. You’ve made too many mistakes. Will your Xiuxiu be happy?”

Xiuxiu was already dead, but the resurrection formation was halfway complete. The power she had drawn from the formation was enough to make her briefly conscious.

Even though she had no consciousness, she still sacrificed herself to save the ghost groom. Without Xie Changzhou’s attack, the formation would have been completed, and Xiuxiu would not have only woken up briefly.

The ghost groom knew this well.

Tears burst from his eyes, dropping onto Xiuxiu’s face, and his lips couldn’t help but tremble.

He leaned against Xiuxiu’s forehead, hugged her tightly, as if he wanted to blend her into his own bones and blood.

His Xiuxiu was so beautiful. They were supposed to get married, have two children, and raise them together. Although life may have been tough, being together as a family was already satisfying.

But that tyrant came with his men to seize Xiuxiu. His delicate lover even managed to break free from two strong men’s restraints and rush forward to block that knife for him.

Xiuxiu died in his arms.

Before Xiuxiu died, she said, “Live well and forget about me.”

But how could he forget?

So he became possessed and took away everyone present.

The ghost groom’s master was one of the earliest researchers of the three-soul corpses a thousand years ago. Before he was besieged and killed, he gave the ghost groom a set of secret books, which included how to refine the three-soul corpses and the already lost evil formations.

He searched for three days and finally found a way to save Xiuxiu: the resurrection formation.

But now everything is destroyed.

Xiuxiu will never wake up again, and everything he did was in vain.

She is gone, so what should he do?

After sobbing and crying, everything became quiet. The ghost groom looked down at Xiuxiu in his arms with a soft gaze. Even with her face covered in dead spots, she was still beautiful to him. His pale hand reached out to touch her cold face.

Xie Changzhou and Liao Wu watched him silently.

After a while, the ghost groom spoke: “I have killed so many people, and my sins are heavy.”

He looked at Xie Changzhou and Liao Wu; the black lines on his face had faded away, revealing his once handsome face.

The ghost groom said, “I don’t ask for your forgiveness, but only ask that you bury Xiuxiu. I can be left to rot in the wilderness, but not Xiuxiu.”

“She was really good.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a deep and eerie energy suddenly exploded.