Chapter 140: Dissipation

I could not tell from which direction the voice was coming.

Although there had been quite a few changes in this house, Chanshu’s corpse was nowhere to be seen.

Could it be that she was still trapped somewhere here, and only her corpse had been taken away?

My heart hammered wildly against my ribs for a moment.

I could not put that feeling into words; forced into a choice, I had no option but to accept it. Yet if Chanshu had not been taken away, then I had to rescue her!

Even if I could never be with her, I would absolutely not let her return to that man who never spoke the truth.

Or perhaps, all of this should be for Chanshu herself to choose.

A heavy weight suddenly lifted from my heart at this thought.

Previously, I had shouldered the entire burden of choice upon myself.

Because I believed that once Chanshu learned the truth, she would inevitably choose that man.

Now, with so many twists and turns having occurred, I did not dare to dream of being chosen, but I did not want her to be deceived.

At the very least, she was someone who had been willing to sacrifice herself for me.

"Xie Yuan, what is wrong with you?"

Zhang Chang suddenly asked me.

I snapped out of my daze. They had not heard Chanshu's voice.

"It's nothing. Let's find the second soul of the Ghost Hag."

Walls have ears; perhaps Chanshu had sensed something as well? Otherwise, why would her soul remain behind even after her corpse had been taken?

Wang Erjun was holding a lit stick of incense in his hand. He walked directly to the spot right in front of the doorway of the Ghost Hag's house, planted one stick of incense into the ground, and gripped the rest in his fist.

A breeze blew in from outside, scattering the curling smoke into wisps that drifted away.

Wang Erjun, however, frowned deeply, and Li Yue’s expression was unnatural as well.

"This ghost won't eat the incense. Knowing that accepting the incense will expose her, how could she possibly reveal herself?"

Zhang Chang said suddenly.

A troubled look crossed Wang Erjun’s face.

Li Yue bit her lower lip slightly; clearly, she had run out of other options.

Zhang Chang looked at me and asked, "Will you do it, or shall I?"

I closed my eyes and said in a low voice, "I will."

Having calmed and organized my emotions, I needed to find the Ghost Hag's second soul. At the same time, taking advantage of this opportunity, I could also attempt to search for the whereabouts of Chanshu's soul within the house.

Letting the instinct of my spiritual will flood my consciousness and body, I sensed a certain location where a very powerful soul resided.

I instantly judged that it was the position of the Ghost Hag’s corpse and the Three-Cor尸的神 (Three Corpses God) of my mother.

There was another place where the soul presence was noticeably much weaker.

I opened my eyes, and sure enough, the location of the formidable soul was exactly where I had guessed.

The other spot was a pitch-black wooden table against the wall.

Other than that, I felt nothing else.

If the Ghost Hag's second soul was over there, then where was Chanshu?

I could no longer sense a third cluster of soul presence.

"Grand-ancestor, are you certain the Ghost Hag will not enter the room?" I looked at Zhang Chang.

Zhang Chang gave a soft grunt of assent and said, "She isn't as fast as I am. Haven't you already found her?"

My pupils constricted slightly. Zhang Chang had clearly noticed my reaction and my gaze.

However, he had no way of knowing that I was also trying to find Chanshu.

Yet his words only deepened the confusion and suspicion in my heart.

If that was the case, where on earth was Chanshu?

I definitely could not have been suffering from auditory hallucinations just now. It was clearly Chanshu crying out for help.

Clenching my fists tightly, I walked toward the table.

Walls had ears; many things could not be spoken aloud or discussed.

I could only rely on my own discoveries.

Besides, apart from Zhang Chang, who already knew about Chanshu's situation, none of the others had the slightest inkling.

Granny Li knew a great deal as well, except that she was already inside the room.

It was obvious that Granny Li was aware of some things happening here, yet she hadn't said a single extra word.

As I walked forward, Wang Erjun and Li Yue flanked my sides, and the three of us surrounded the wooden table.

Li Yue suddenly stepped to the very front, drawing a slender, pitch-black nail from her sleeve.

She struck it directly down toward the table!

The next instant, the nail pierced deeply into the wood.

A miserable shriek rang out abruptly.

On top of the wooden table, the second soul of the Ghost Hag instantly manifested. One of her palms was pinned to the table by the nail, her face contorted in utter terror. Her shriek made the hair on one's arms stand on end.

Wang Erjun cursed angrily, "You old hag, let's see how you run now!"

Without missing a beat, Wang Erjun pulled out a string of immobilization talismans and hurled them straight at the Ghost Hag's second soul.

The Ghost Hag’s figure suddenly vanished into thin air.

Left behind on the table was only a pool of blood tinged with green and red.

During that split second, I had also seen clearly that the Ghost Hag had forcefully dragged her hand away, breaking free from the nail, slicing her entire palm into two halves in the process.

Otherwise, she would have already been frozen in place by the immobilization talismans.

Right at that moment, a venomous curse echoed from inside the room: "Do you think you're so mighty just because you're strutting about in my domain? My true body has been trapped for twenty years, and you think I'm easy to kill? You are completely mistaken!"

"You came here alive! But once you die, none of you are leaving!"

Immediately afterward, a large expanse of green-tinted red blood was showered down from the roof beams.

There was no way for us to dodge it, and we were splattered all over.

Zhang Chang’s expression shifted slightly, and he spat out a single word: "Bad."

Another pitch-black dagger materialized in his hand, which he hurled directly toward the ceiling.

With a faint, resonant hum,

the dagger embedded itself deep into the roof beam.

Another large spray of blood cascaded down.

However, Zhang Chang's face had already grown intensely dark and gloomy.

"She has hidden herself away again. It won't be easy to find her this time."

My expression was equally grim. Because of these ghostly blood splatters, the aura of souls throughout the entire house had become completely uniform.

It felt as though the Ghost Hag was everywhere—which was utterly impossible; it was merely a tactic she was using to buy time and prevent us from locating her.

At this thought, my heart skipped a beat.

"The Ghost Hag is buying time!"

My voice sounded harsh and strained.

If, as Zhang Chang and Granny Li had said, the Ghost Hag was doomed to die today, then since her second soul had escaped and hidden away for so long without emerging, why didn't she just flee?

Why bother spilling her ghostly blood here unsparingly and pulling off such an extensive ghost-wall illusion?

She couldn't possibly drag us down with her to perish together.

Then the only explanation was that she was buying time!

Moreover, how could the setup of this wedding hall be outside her field of vision?

Could this Ghost Hag be connected to that man?

Chanshu had once died because of the Ghost Hag—had that man reached a partnership with her?

A heavy, suffocating gloom filled my heart. At this moment, all of us were trapped inside this house.

It was highly likely that the man was currently on his way here!

Raising my head, I stared at Zhang Chang, my tone exceptionally grave. "Grand-ancestor, we cannot waste any more time. If we can't find her, we'll have to forcefully break this illusion barrier. Make your move."

Zhang Chang's expression turned pensive. He nodded and said, "So that's how it is."

He sneered as well, saying, "No matter how well you hide, it's useless. No matter how much time you buy, you cannot enter that room, and you can only watch as your true body is destroyed by us. By then, only this pathetic soul of yours will remain."

With that, Zhang Chang walked straight toward the room.

"If you have the ability, follow me right in. But you won't be able to break through my dagger's seal."

Only then did I understand why Zhang Chang was so confident.

His dagger had completely sealed off the Ghost Hag's second soul from entering the illusion barrier—the ghost-blinding room.

Thus, once we stepped inside, she would no longer be able to enter and control it.

As long as we destroyed things inside and found the Ghost Hag's corpse, we would be able to break the Three-Corpses Soul-Sealing Formation!

Soon enough, we stepped directly into the room.

Everything around us plunged into pitch darkness.

Yet I felt as though I had suddenly been left entirely on my own.

Zhang Chang, Wang Erjun, and Li Yue, who had been right beside me just moments ago, were now separated by an unknown distance.

There was nothing around me except swirling black mist.

Zhang Chang's deep, steady voice suddenly sounded in my ear: "Don't act rashly. Keep moving forward, and don't be afraid no matter what happens. Wait until I break this illusion barrier."

Though I couldn't see him, Zhang Chang was right beside me!

After all, the room was only that large; the ghost-blinding illusion was limited to this exact space.

The answering voices of Wang Erjun and Li Yue also rang out close by.

I let out a breath of relief.

Yet at that very moment, I heard another voice.

It was Chanshu's voice again...

This time, however, it was no longer a cry for help, but a sorrowful sigh.

"It's too late, it's already too late... Xie Yuan, I know everything now. You must never trust me..."

The voice slowly grew fainter and fainter, until it finally dissipated into nothingness altogether...