Chapter 50: The Ghostly Marriage (2)

"I don’t really feel anything… Hmm, actually, my mood is much better than before. I’m still a bit angry, but didn’t we come here to deal with the vengeful spirits? Why waste time arguing with them? Wouldn’t it be more effective to just use our time to resolve the spirits? Why did I think like that a moment ago?" As Xiao Keyai spoke, she herself was surprised.

"It seems those two vengeful spirits haven’t trapped us in a forbidden space, but are using another method—affecting people’s minds, making their emotions unstable. When you’re emotional, you can’t think rationally, so you won’t understand the importance of leaving here immediately," Wu Zui analyzed, stroking his chin as he watched Xiao Keyai’s change.

"So that’s what it is!" After hearing Wu Zui’s explanation, the last bit of resentment in Xiao Keyai’s heart vanished.

The young man beside them hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but stopped.

"Let’s check that family’s house first. Only after dealing with the spirits can everything be resolved," Wu Zui said to the young man, who looked like a student—probably just returned to the village and not deeply affected by the vengeful energy. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have come looking for spirit investigators; those affected by the spirits would only think of inviting some so-called master. Wu Zui guessed those two spirits wouldn’t easily let the villagers leave—and wondered why.

And what about that awakened one? Was he also affected by the vengeful energy? Even Xiao Keyai, a three-star awakened, had fallen under their influence. If he hadn’t been reminded by the Heart-Seeking Sword back in Haishan, Wu Zui might never have realized this.

After hearing Wu Zui’s words, the young man led them all the way to the courtyard none of them dared enter.

"This is the place. After the ghost marriage, people in the village wanted to ask if something had gone wrong. But as soon as we got here, we felt a chill, as if something terrifying had its eyes on us. No one dared go in, and the family never came out," the young man said, pointing at the already rusty iron gate. Even standing here, he felt an urge to run away, as if a ferocious tiger was about to leap out from the other side.

Wu Zui and Xiao Keyai exchanged a glance. The vengeful energy here was much denser than elsewhere, but less than a meter from the gate, it was the same as anywhere else.

When Xiao Keyai first investigated, she hadn’t even noticed anything unusual. Clearly, things inside weren’t simple.

The Cat Commander leapt from Xiao Keyai’s shoulder, its form slipping through the iron gate into the yard. Inside, two black coffins stood side by side. The Cat Commander avoided the coffins and slipped into the house, but found it empty.

As the Cat Commander jumped about, the magnetic energy stirred up thick dust on the table—proof that no one had cleaned here in a long time.

Where did the people in this house go? Xiao Keyai wondered.

After scouting, the Cat Commander found nothing unusual except for the coffins. Hesitating, Xiao Keyai ordered it to look inside the coffins.

The first coffin, belonging to the girl from the neighboring village, held only an urn and some burial clothes. But as soon as the Cat Commander entered the other coffin, it instantly shifted into its incorporeal form and shot out, landing at Xiao Keyai’s feet.

Xiao Keyai’s face went pale, and she doubled over, retching.

"What’s wrong?" Wu Zui asked with concern.

"Master… inside… it’s disgusting…" Xiao Keyai clutched her chest, speaking in broken phrases. After calming herself, she explained.

Inside the other coffin was a swollen boy’s corpse, but everything below the head had turned to putrid muck. When the Cat Commander entered, it dove straight into the mess. Beneath the sludge were human remains, mixed with yellow-black fluid of unknown origin. Even without sharing the Cat Commander’s sense of smell, Xiao Keyai felt nauseated.

The Cat Commander sensed a dangerous force inside the coffin, as if something was trying to devour its physical form, so it escaped at once.

After hearing this, Wu Zui fell into thought.

Nowadays, all human remains must be cremated, not buried. There are special spirit investigators assigned to this task, and missing persons cases take precedence even over homicides. Once a body disappears, if devoured by something paranormal, it grows much faster than a ghost spirit. Yet here was a corpse, confirmed cremated in the mission details, now appearing in this coffin—truly puzzling.

Thinking this through, Wu Zui said, "Let’s go in and take a look. First, we need to confirm if that corpse is the drowned boy. And figure out why it wasn’t cremated!"

He channeled magnetic energy to his feet and kicked the iron gate open. Though never locked, the gate had been held tightly shut by vengeful energy, binding the doors to the walls.

With a loud crash, the iron gate flew open and a wave of stench burst out—the unmistakable odor of rotting flesh. All three covered their noses, with Xiao Keyai and the young man nearly gagging.

In the courtyard, two coffins greeted them. Wu Zui examined their surfaces; no nails fastened the lids, but vengeful energy kept them tightly sealed—far more effective than coffin nails.

"Which one?" Wu Zui turned to Xiao Keyai.

Pinching her nose and frowning, Xiao Keyai pointed at the left coffin with a delicate hand.

Wu Zui’s hands glowed with magnetic energy as he pushed the lid aside. Inside appeared a bloated, pallid boy’s face, as Xiao Keyai had described. Below, a mass of greasy, black and yellow muck. Wu Zui compared the face with the photo from the mission file—despite the swelling, it indeed seemed to be the drowned boy.

Within the coffin was also a layer of magnetic energy, sealing the vengeful energy inside and preventing it from leaking out for the Cat Commander to detect.

Could there be a problem with the spirit investigator who appeared here? The vengeful energy inside was so dense—the boy had already become a three-star anomaly. Though it seemed to be sleeping, not attacking, Wu Zui was more concerned about the magnetic energy preventing the vengeful aura's escape.

Regardless, Wu Zui decided to deal with it first.

"Step back!"

As Wu Zui spoke, a ball of red flame ignited in his left hand. Once Xiao Keyai and the young man retreated, he flicked the flame into the coffin.

The red fire burst like gasoline, roaring high as it ignited, flames shooting skyward. Wu Zui quickly stepped back. Though the red fire couldn’t harm people, safety came first.

A shrill, agonized scream rose from the coffin, mixed with other voices, as if several people were howling together. After a series of crackling sounds, only black ash remained inside the disgusting coffin.

This three-star anomaly is awfully weak, Wu Zui thought. He was a three-star awakened, but for an anomaly of the same rank to be so feeble—especially given how the spirits had manipulated the villagers’ emotions—was odd.

He tipped the coffin over for a closer look. Amid the black ash were clean human bones—enough for two or three people, at least.

"These must be the missing family members," Wu Zui deduced, surveying the bones.

Though he hadn’t found the reason for the anomaly’s weakness, the vengeful energy over the village thinned with its destruction. Yet with another spirit or two still present, ordinary people remained heavily affected. And with those puppet villagers controlled by spirits, the situation was bleak.

Sifting through the ashes, Wu Zui found a black bead, faintly pulsing with vengeful energy—the anomaly’s spirit core.

"Now that the anomaly’s dealt with, where’s the ghost bride? Master, how do we find her? The Cat Commander already checked the other coffin—nothing there but clothes and ashes," Xiao Keyai said, setting down the Cat Commander from her shoulder.

Though the Cat Commander could shift between corporeal and incorporeal forms, it had been solid when entering the anomaly’s coffin, only dissolving when it encountered the filth.

But who could guarantee it hadn’t gotten dirty? The Cat Commander was heartbroken.

"Among the villagers earlier, aside from those whose emotions were manipulated by vengeful energy, some had already been possessed and killed—now puppets of the spirits. Let’s deal with them first, then see if we can get the other villagers out," Wu Zui said as he took out his phone. He’d secretly photographed a few of the spirit puppets earlier, intending to check their addresses in the investigator system, but seeing the young man beside him, he realized it wasn’t necessary.

Handing the phone to the dazed young man, Wu Zui patted him. When the youth roused, Wu Zui pointed at six people in the photos. "Where do these people live? Can you find them?"

"Uncle Wang… Aunt Li… the village chief? Why are you looking for them?" The young man, still not fully alert, instinctively named the people as Wu Zui pointed, then suddenly came to his senses.