Chapter 51: Ghost Marriage (3)

“These people are no longer human. Their bodies have already been taken over by wraiths. The longer we delay, the more danger those around them will be in.” Wu Zui looked at the man before him, whose wariness was still evident, and decided to frighten him a little, though it was not far from the truth.

“What? Then let’s go right away!”

The young man was taken aback. Having seen Wu Zui conjure fire from thin air to burn that bizarre creature, he now fully believed this spirit detective possessed real power. He hurriedly led Wu Zui and his companion straight to the homes of the people in the photographs.

“Master, master—are these wraith puppets powerful?” Xiao Ke’ai’s eyes sparkled. After being gravely injured by the Mirror Wraith and then breaking through in the magnetic enhancement chamber, her hammer had not tasted battle for quite some time. Having only recently advanced, she longed for a fight to test her newfound strength.

“Except for the village chief, the others shouldn’t have reached the level of two-star wraiths.” Ever since reaching three-star level, Wu Zui’s eyes seemed to have undergone some subtle transformation, as if they’d been upgraded. Not only could he distinguish between wraiths below three-star level, but with the aid of magnetic energy, he could vaguely sense the amount of resentment energy within them and thereby judge their approximate rank.

“Master, can you leave them to me?” Xiao Ke’ai touched the golden hammer strapped to her back, itching for action once more.

“Fine, just remember to strike to kill.” Wu Zui nodded in agreement. With only a few wraiths below three-star level and himself nearby for protection, nothing unexpected should happen. Letting Xiao Ke’ai handle more wraiths would also help her gain valuable experience.

“Is this young lady also a spirit detective?” The young man had initially thought Xiao Ke’ai was a novice brought along by Wu Zui—little did he expect she was also a spirit detective. Despite her heroic bearing, Xiao Ke’ai still looked much like her mother, exuding the gentle and refined air of a southern woman; she looked for all the world like an office clerk!

“Who do you think you’re looking down on? I’m a three-star spirit detective!” Xiao Ke’ai glared at the young man, her brows arched in indignation. Commander Cat, beside her, crouched low, preparing to pounce, emitting a low growl.

If you look down on Xiao Ke’ai, doesn’t that mean you think I’m just a pet cat? Unforgivable!

“Enough, no more fooling around. Night is falling; once it’s dark, our vision will be hindered in battle. Let’s quickly deal with these wraith puppets, and then go after the Ghost Bride!” Wu Zui pressed his hand atop Xiao Ke’ai’s head, a gentle pat to diffuse her bristling agitation.

“Alright~” Xiao Ke’ai replied softly, then bent over to scoop up the still-angry Commander Cat, stroking his fur with her hand.

The young informant glanced at the two of them, feeling their relationship was anything but ordinary. He hurriedly led the way, eager for them to deal with the wraiths so he could see them off as soon as possible.

Soon, under the young man’s guidance, the three arrived before an old courtyard.

Seeing Wu Zui and Xiao Ke’ai standing behind him, left and right, hands already resting on their golden weapons, the young man took Wu Zui’s cue and knocked on the door.

Dong dong—

“Sister Li, open up! It’s Li Zhi—I need to talk to you!” As Li Zhi called out and knocked, footsteps echoed inside the courtyard. A woman around forty opened the main gate. She glanced first at Wu Zui and Xiao Ke’ai, then spoke in a flat tone: “Zhi, what brings you to see your big sister?”

Before Li Zhi could reply, Commander Cat, following Xiao Ke’ai’s signal, launched his attack. His magnetic-energy-charged claws swiped at “Sister Li,” obliterating her head with a burst of blue magnetic energy; a plume of black smoke surged skyward from the severed neck.

Xiao Ke’ai, her hammer crackling with magnetic energy, followed up, smashing into “Sister Li” as she tried to counterattack, shattering her body and dispersing it into a cloud of black smoke.

“Uh…”

Thud—

Li Zhi, never having witnessed such a terrifying scene, rolled his eyes and promptly fainted. By the time he hit the ground, Xiao Ke’ai had already finished off the wraith puppet and returned to Wu Zui’s side.

“He fainted already? Useless! And to think he looked down on me—hmph!” Xiao Ke’ai declared haughtily as she looked at Li Zhi’s prone form.

Wu Zui glanced at Li Zhi and shot a beam of magnetic energy from his hand. Enveloping Li Zhi’s head, the magnetic field swiftly calmed his terrified mind, and he soon regained consciousness.

This was a new technique developed by the Detective Bureau, using magnetic energy to stabilize brainwaves and revive people who’d been scared unconscious.

Li Zhi scrambled to his feet, his face flushed with embarrassment at having passed out from fright. Determined to redeem himself, he led the way even more diligently.

Under Li Zhi’s guidance, all the wraith puppets except for the village chief were quickly dispatched by the combined efforts of Xiao Ke’ai and Commander Cat.

On the way to the village chief’s house, Xiao Ke’ai strode along with her chin held high, exuding an air of invincibility. This even inspired Li Zhi to consider becoming a spirit detective himself.

“Even if I have to face these terrifying things, at least I’d have the power to protect myself!”

At the entrance to the village chief’s house, dusk had already deepened; the old mountain village’s streetlamps were few and far between. Under the dim glow, the chief’s courtyard gate loomed ahead. Li Zhi grew anxious—after all, tradition held that ghosts were most active at night.

Xiao Ke’ai, on the other hand, was even more excited. Her record of “one hammer per wraith puppet” had filled her with confidence.

“This one’s a two-star wraith puppet—you need to be careful. Have Commander Cat feint and distract it while you look for a chance to strike a killing blow. Commander Cat may not be able to do much damage to this level,” Wu Zui cautioned, concerned by Xiao Ke’ai’s swagger.

“Don’t worry, Master!” Xiao Ke’ai nodded.

As Li Zhi lured the chief out to open the door, Xiao Ke’ai had already grabbed Commander Cat in her right hand, his claws itching for action. Determined to prove himself, he was no mere pet cat!

The village chief was a lean, middle-aged man in his forties, hair streaked with gray, wearing a blue shirt. Once mild-mannered, he now appeared sinister, possessed by a wraith.

The moment the door creaked open, Xiao Ke’ai hurled Commander Cat at the chief’s chest.

“Go, Commander Cat!”

The chief had no time to react before a ball of blue fluff struck his chest. Commander Cat’s hind legs latched onto the shirt while his front claws simultaneously tore open the chief’s chest, releasing a flood of black energy from the wound.

As she threw Commander Cat, Xiao Ke’ai dashed forward and smashed the chief’s skull with her twin hammers. A wave of black resentment energy surged from the mutilated body, and just as the chief prepared to fight back…

“Take my spinning hammers! Hyaa~!”

Xiao Ke’ai raised her hammers at her sides and spun like a sideways gyroscope. The twin hammers, crackling with magnetic energy, rained down on the chief like a storm.

The resentment energy that had just welled up was brutally suppressed by the relentless hammer blows…

With a muffled bang, the collision of resentment and magnetic energy triggered a small explosion, the shockwave flinging Xiao Ke’ai away. As for the chief, now just another wraith puppet, he collapsed to the ground.

Wu Zui rushed forward and caught Xiao Ke’ai before she hit the ground.

At that moment, Xiao Ke’ai’s eyes swirled as if caught in a vortex, looking thoroughly dizzy.

“One… two… three—why are there four of you, Master? When did you learn the duplication technique? And you never taught me—so mean!” Xiao Ke’ai stared wide-eyed at Wu Zui, poking at the air beside his face with her finger.

“…,” Wu Zui sighed inwardly.

This silly disciple… Did she spin herself stupid?

Seeing Xiao Ke’ai unconscious, Wu Zui had no choice but to stay. Night had almost fallen, and thanks to the human fear of darkness, the Ghost Bride would be even harder to deal with than during the day—though only slightly.

With Xiao Ke’ai in a faint, Wu Zui couldn’t just leave her here to take on the Ghost Bride alone. Following the principle of convenience, he settled Xiao Ke’ai inside the chief’s house, deciding to stay and guard her until she woke before seeking out the Ghost Bride. Incidentally, this sort of “brain crash” couldn’t be remedied with a magnetic energy awakening.

While Wu Zui tended to the unconscious Xiao Ke’ai, at the sites where the wraith puppets had been destroyed, streams of residual resentment energy drifted toward the neighboring Nanshan Village.

In a basement in Nanshan Village, a man clad in magnetic protective gear, his face marked by a scar, was enveloped in a blue glow. Magnetic energy encased the two wraiths—a man and a woman—before him.

Surprisingly, the wraiths were neither harmed nor discomforted; in fact, the resentment energy within them seemed to intensify. The streams of residual resentment from the destroyed puppets flowed into the basement, merging with the wraiths.

The two wraiths, once resembling a young man and woman in their twenties, twisted and contorted as they absorbed the energy, their silent screams echoing in the gloom.

Countless faces began to appear within their bodies, each twisted into the most horrifying expressions, fifteen or sixteen in all, swirling and colliding inside them.

With each movement of those ghastly faces, the wraiths’ forms began to fluctuate and writhe. The faces unleashed silent howls, and the resentment energy surged ever higher.

But with the scarred man’s magnetic power containing them, not a single face could escape the wraiths’ bodies. He forced them all to remain imprisoned within, and not a single spirit detective could sense what was transpiring in that hidden place.