CG Chapter 170: False Bell, Real Ghost
Black Cloud City, a place that by all means should have been nothing but mundane. A twist of fate, and the paths of stars crossed each other in this common city.
The soundless, flickering footsteps of an uninvited guest stepped into the Moonlit Barrel during the after-hours. His sharp gaze scanned the surroundings, ostensibly attempting to discern traces of something or someone.
Not sensing that presence, a strange mix of relief and unspeakable hollowness washed over him. He felt as if he was grasping at thin air.
Time flowed like water. The shining dawn sun took its rightful throne in place of the moon, and vitality seemed to fill the lifeless city.
The stout figure of Manager Li stepped into the store to take care of his daily tasks. He was in a state of blissful ignorance, unaware of the presence of that guest.
He touched the wooden store clerk's table; his mind seemed lost for a long breath before returning to his usual self, a grotesque smile on his face as if it had been sewn there.
He descended the stone-cold stairs to the hidden basement, preparing for another day's shipment.
Opening the solemn gate, he picked up his tools as he began moving from one living corpse to another.
He made sure that the stone mortars were filled with the correct amount; if any of these mortars lacked even a single drop, then the whole chain would come to a halt.
Suddenly, in the middle of his tasks, the already scattered lanterns blew out. Manager Li's pupils constricted, and his hands quietly reached for one of the stone pestles used to move the corpse oil from behind him.
Outwardly, the lanterns seemed to have blown out on their own.
However, Manager Li's deep experience made him understand that people like them didn't have the luxury of assuming anything but the worst if they wanted to survive in this profession.
Unfortunately, his worries proved true soon after as one lantern lit up after another; this time, however, with a blindingly bright azure light.
His pupils darted around slowly as he attempted to hide his nervousness, yet under that fear, Aretius sensed a peculiar relief.
He shouted at the darkness in a final bid for life, "Show yourself! You coward! Do you truly dare go against the wrath of the Withered Shadow Hall? All those who were foolish enough to dare to go against the hand of death have sealed their fate. Tall grass has grown on their graves already."
Clap! Clap! Clap!
Manager Li attempted to locate the source of the continuous, reverberating claps. Before long, he heard a familiar voice, accompanied by a loud laugh.
"I wouldn't dare. I wouldn't dare go against the great Li Clan, let alone the renowned Withered Shadow Hall."
Hearing the chuckle, Manager Li wasn't sure if he should feel relieved or just how close to King Yama he was.
His right hand kept hovering over the stone pestle, while his left slowly reached for a worn-out copper bell hanging from his waist.
The moment he grasped that bell, he grinned as the resounding clanks echoed through the cavern.
His luck didn't last for long. As the resounding clangs echoed through the cavern, Manger Li waited for the maggots to dig out of Aretius's corpse. Yet, only cold silence followed.
Aretius stood there indifferently, as if the bell's effect and the Wedding Wine Manger Li witnessed being drunk in front of his own eyes were all but illusions.
In the blink of an eye, Manager Li's demeanor changed as he lowered his back, dropping the bell from his hand.
He didn't waste time wondering why or how Aretius was spared the effects of the Wedding Wine; he knew that he must lower himself as much as Aretius wanted.
In the next instant, he held his fleshy hands closely together, as cold sweat drenched his back. "Lord... Lord White Ghost. The Heavens might have responded to my prayers. I have been praying for you to return without a scratch. I swear upon my Ghost Bride, no one knew about the true rank of that mission..."
He was about to continue, but he was stopped halfway by Aretius's loud shout.
"Enough! I am well aware that people like you wouldn't dare to do such a thing. Otherwise, you would have been a lifeless husk joining the bodybags behind you."
Silence filled the cavern for a moment as Manager Li felt that he had retrieved his life from the gates of the underworld. That was before Aretius continued in a freezing, deathly tone.
"I like to think of myself as a considerate person. That is why I will give you a chance to decide your own fate. Do you wish to become a body bag of the Withered Shadow Hall, just like the puppet you have been living as until now? Or do you wish to change your fate?"
Manager Li was by no means a fool; in fact, he was quite shrewd. For an outcast to make a name for himself in the Jianghu was a lot harder than most people imagined.
For such people, their minds would work at a much faster rate compared to everyone else, because if they didn't, they would already be dead.
In front of him, he had two paths: either to backstab the Withered Shadow Hall, who gave him his current forces, and struggle to survive against their fury, or to give up to his fate and let the reaper take what it seeks.
To him, the right choice was as clear as day. In less than a breath, he replied in a deferent tone, "This lowly one greets his master."
Once these words came out of his mouth, he felt as if he had stepped into an ancient dragon's den, but it was too late to change his mind by then.
Some might wonder how Aretius would ensure the complete submission of such a person. Fear might work for a while, but once the control of the situation shifts, a sly person, such as Manager Li, wouldn't hesitate to switch back his allegiance.
From the moment he killed the Xiao Xian Butcher and received his techniques, he decided that he would continue with what he did in the last world.
He would act as the hidden hand that controls the world in the shadows.
To do so, he planned to create a new path of power, one where people would willingly throw themselves in, even when they knew they would become but puppets.
This was his own Ghost Wedding Wine, only more intoxicating to drink.
This was the path of The Ghost Orchid; the path of the Celestial Fiend Canon.