Chapter 61: Lord of Shadow Ghosts (2)

However, if one could find their attachments—for instance, the mirror that was the true body of the Mirror Wraith, or the cinema ghost’s… projector?—then it would be possible to destroy them, for those objects were the source of their power!

As for the people who ought to be inside the cinema? They had, of course, vanished into the screen’s dimension, becoming the protagonists of some ghostly tale. Within each private screening room, shadows writhed ceaselessly across the screen—a projection of those who had come to watch movies here, now trapped in an illusion. Those caught in the screen’s world were nothing like the fortunate movie heroes; they died again and again, their fates sealed within a cycle of torment.

Yet the cinema ghost differed from the Mirror Wraith. In the mirror’s domain, everything was real. But within the ghostly cinema’s screen, all was half-illusion. Only deaths sanctioned by the cinema ghost became reality. Otherwise, the victims were forced to endure endless cycles, forever trapped, tormented and resurrected, never to escape. The negative energy released in this agony became the very fuel for the cinema ghost’s ascendance.

...

Dragon Soar One stopped at the entrance to the Tiansheng Cinema. Xiao Keyan put down the manual and got out of the car with Wu Zui. Wu Zui’s expression was grave; under his gaze, the resentment energy here was far stronger than that of the Mirror Wraith or the Ghostly Mist.

“Did you bring the bottle?” Wu Zui asked, observing the cinema.

“I did! Is it that dangerous, Master?” Xiao Keyan checked the inner pocket of her coat, her tone suddenly serious.

“Yes. The resentment energy here is more intense than the Mirror Wraith and the Ghostly Mist. Here, take this.” As he spoke, Wu Zui handed Xiao Keyan a high-powered magnetic explosive he’d been charging for half a month. Once unleashed, its crimson flames should be enough to kill a two-star ghost outright, and seriously injure even a three-star entity.

Xiao Keyan took the explosive and said, “Master, let me send the Cat Commander in to scout first!”

Wu Zui nodded. Xiao Keyan controlled the Cat Commander, which transformed into a blue shadow and darted into Tiansheng Cinema. This allowed her to share its vision and observe the interior.

Meanwhile, Wu Zui called the informant. The entrance to the cinema was deserted, even the neighboring shops had shut their doors, as if that feeble barrier could keep out the supernatural.

“Hello? Is this the person who reported the strange events at Tiansheng Cinema? Where are you now?”

“What! You’ve gone home? I—hello?” Wu Zui stared at the phone in disbelief. The informant had already returned home, bypassing any inspection by an Awakened or spirit investigator.

Didn’t the patrolling investigators stop them? Wu Zui glanced around, realizing that the investigators who should have been present were nowhere to be seen. Normally, when a supernatural incident occurred in the city, local investigators would immediately detain relevant individuals until they passed a magnetic energy scan. The absence of such protocols was deeply troubling.

He called the informant again, but the person still refused to return or disclose their address, deepening Wu Zui’s suspicions.

Evading the magnetic scan, and the absence of all patrol investigators nearby—could the ghost have already escaped?

By now, Cat Commander had returned to Xiao Keyan’s side. Xiao Keyan’s expression was grave. “Master, there’s no one inside. But even with the projector off, there are shadows flickering across the screens, and heavy resentment energy on every one!”

“Let’s go in and see for ourselves. Be careful—the ghost here is powerful!” Wu Zui warned, leading Xiao Keyan into the closed realm of Tiansheng Cinema.

The moment they crossed the threshold, the sight before them was utterly transformed. The doors were rotten, the sign askew, the floors stained with rust-colored blotches and the walls mottled—all exuding a black aura of resentment.

Weapons in hand, the pair advanced cautiously, one to the left, one to the right. Cat Commander, perched on Xiao Keyan’s shoulder, guarded their rear. Led by her directions, they arrived at the nearest private screening room.

On the battered couch, there was no trace of recent human presence—the place seemed abandoned for ages. Wu Zui examined the projector mounted on the wall; its lens was shattered, clearly inoperable.

Yet shadows still twisted across the screen, weaving a sinister tableau. Wu Zui gripped his golden sword, now flickering with flame, and slashed at the screen.

A tearing sound rang out, like fabric being ripped.

With a crackle, flames instantly burned a large hole through the screen, and two figures tumbled out—one man, one woman, their clothes little more than tatters and their bodies covered in bruises, as if they had survived unspeakable ordeals.

Wu Zui uncorked a vial of his own blood and dabbed a drop on each of their foreheads. No red flames flared—the two were indeed human.

It was surprisingly easy to rescue them, which puzzled Wu Zui. The resentment energy here was even denser than in the Mirror Wraith’s domain. Why had it been so simple?

He did not hurry to lead them out; destroying the ghost was the key. Otherwise, if the ghost attacked while he escorted the survivors, it would be a disaster.

Wu Zui and Xiao Keyan searched the entire first floor, slashing through screens and rescuing over twenty people. Yet all of them were listless, collapsing the moment they emerged. Even magnetic energy could not stabilize their brainwaves—their minds had shut down from terror, leaving them unresponsive.

The pair hurried to the second floor, whose layout was similar. In short order, they had cleared it as well.

Had the ghost truly left? Wu Zui wondered, glancing at the tormented audience and the absence of any supernatural entity.

But the top floor, the third, dashed his hopes. A room emanated an overwhelming aura of resentment—signaling the presence of at least a three-star ghost. Why had it not attacked them yet? That remained unknown.

“Master, let Cat Commander take a look. It missed this room during the first sweep,” Xiao Keyan whispered, pointing to an old wooden door that clearly didn’t belong to this era.

Much of the white paint had peeled away, exposing cheap wood beneath. Warped with age, the door’s gaps revealed utter darkness within.

Wu Zui nodded, and Cat Commander slipped inside.

No sooner had Cat Commander entered than Xiao Keyan’s face went pale, blue light flickering briefly about her. “Master… Cat Commander’s gone dark! It’s trapped!” she cried in alarm.

Sharing its vision, she had seen nothing but blackness before the link was severed. She sensed no destruction of Cat Commander—she could not recreate it with magnetic energy, suggesting the ghost had cut off their connection with resentment energy. It was her first time encountering such a phenomenon.

Wu Zui glanced at the lingering haze above Xiao Keyan’s head.

“We’ll have to break through by force then.” Wu Zui’s golden sword flared with fire as he struck the decayed door.

With a crack, the blade stuck in the split it had made, and red flames began to burn into the wood.

“…” Wu Zui.

“…” Xiao Keyan.

Xiao Keyan wordlessly handed Wu Zui her hammer. He accepted it with faint embarrassment, let the flames spread over the hammer, and smashed the door to splinters. A cloud of black gas burst forth, forcing the pair to retreat.

The doorway, now gaping like a monstrous maw, spewed black mist, but the flames on the hammer tore through it, little by little.

Just as the fire opened a breach in the darkness, the mist retaliated, surging out and engulfing Wu Zui and Xiao Keyan before they could react.

The black mist vanished, and the ruined door faded as if it had never existed—where it had stood, there was now only a gray wall.

Wu Zui, now shrouded in the mist, was wreathed in red flames that shielded him from its corrosive touch. But as he looked around, he realized he was no longer in Tiansheng Cinema.

He stood on a desolate road, its surface uneven and cracked. The sky was overcast, heavy with the threat of rain. Just as he thought this, a downpour began—icy, needle-sharp drops pelted his face.

“This place seems familiar… Disciple, do you recognize it?” Wu Zui turned to look for Xiao Keyan.

As expected, she was nowhere to be seen. Before he could search for her, the blare of a horn sounded.

Honk—honk honk—

Wu Zui turned. A gray freight truck, headlights blazing, came barreling toward him. Before he could dodge, a pair of pale, spectral hands shot up from the ground, clutching his ankle and holding him fast.

The gray truck roared through Wu Zui’s body. Though it did not kill him, it drained a vast quantity of magnetic energy from him—devoured by a vehicle formed of pure resentment.

Wu Zui tucked Xiao Keyan’s hammer into his belt, swung his golden sword, and severed the ghostly hand gripping his ankle, then darted aside.

It was then that he remembered why this place felt so familiar—it was the very road upon which, when he first returned to Binhai City, he had encountered the phantom of endless car accidents—the domain of the Vengeful Spirit of the Wreck.