Next, they found the Fire Fiend near the opera stage on the western side of the inner courtyard.
The stage had been abandoned for years, its curtains hanging in tatters, and both the stage and the ground beneath it were thick with dust.
He sat motionless on a bench, staring blankly at the stage as if a grand opera were being performed on the empty platform.
Zhang Yuanqing's expression darkened. In his vision, the Fire Fiend's body was choked with yin energy, his soul teetering on the brink of separation, already nearing death.
He hurried over, placed a hand on the Fire Fiend's shoulder, and his eyes swirled with black energy as he relentlessly drew the yin energy into his palm, devouring and digesting it.
The Fire Fiend shuddered, a flicker of life returning to his hollow eyes. He instinctively cried out, "So cold... so cold..."
The Fire Master trembled, glancing wildly around. Spotting Zhang Yuanqing beside him and Xie Lingxi nearby, he shouted, "Fuck! Where did you guys go? You vanished the moment we left the main hall!"
"Everyone got separated," Zhang Yuanqing said, waving his hand to cut off the man's tirade. "How did you end up here?"
"After we split up, I wandered over here and heard someone singing opera," the Fire Fiend said, his voice strained as he tried to recall the events.
"I followed the sound and saw a stage here. There was a woman singing on it, so I watched for a few moments. Then... then I don't remember anything else."
As he spoke, Fire Fiend shuddered violently. He glanced at the dilapidated stage in the distance. Where did the singing woman come from? He looked at Nightwalker beside him with gratitude. "Did you save me?"
"It's quite obvious," Zhang Yuanqing replied with a smile.
Fire Fiend exhaled in relief, his mind racing back to his recent ordeal. "My skills and items were completely useless against that Vengeful Spirit," he said, his voice trembling. "Brother Wang Tai, thank you so much."
While each profession had its unique strengths, the Vengeful Spirit's ability to silently control Fire Fiend likely stemmed from a significant level advantage.
Supernatural "monsters" were unpredictable and difficult to handle without specialized expertise. However, their methods of harming people lacked directness.
A knife to the throat was far more efficient.
Inside the spiderweb-draped dressing room beside the stage, the trio discovered a golden hairpin.
With the betrothal gift secured, Fire Fiend's heart finally settled back into his chest. Only then did he ask, "What about Xishi and the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal?"
Xie Lingxi shook her head. "We haven't found them yet. Let's hope they're as fortunate as you were."
The Fire Fiend glanced at her. "Do you want them dead?"
Xie Lingxi looked pitiful, her face full of grievance. "How could you say such a thing, Brother? We're comrades!"
The Fire Fiend lost interest in her. They had argued earlier, and he was thoroughly irritated by her two-faced behavior. He didn't particularly like her.
Of course, it also helped that she wasn't his type. Otherwise, things might have been different.
The trio left and moved to another courtyard. The mansion was larger than they had imagined, with the rear courtyard divided into smaller courtyards, some used as gardens and others as stages for performances.
After walking for a while, Zhang Yuanqing, who had night vision, spotted a figure stumbling toward them in the distance.
The person was dressed in bean shoes and tight pants, sporting the trendy look of a "spiritual young man"—it was the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, approaching them with surprise and delight.
Zhang Yuanqing's eyes flickered with dark energy as he scrutinized the figure, confirming it was indeed the real Great Sage.
The four gathered and recounted their experiences. After getting separated, the Great Sage had mistakenly entered a courtyard with a candlelit room. He pushed the door open to find the room empty, with a neatly folded red wedding quilt on the bed.
The Great Sage guessed it was part of the dowry, but following his instincts, he quietly retreated.
Soon after, he encountered Zhang Yuanqing and the others.
The Fire Fiend listened in stunned silence. "So the biggest coward is actually the safest?"
"What kind of talk is that? I'm cautious, not a coward," the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal retorted, trying to salvage his dignity.
"He has a point," Zhang Yuanqing interrupted their pointless argument. "Sometimes, the ones who survive aren't the smartest or most capable, but the most cowardly." He turned to the Great Sage and asked, "Where's the wedding quilt?"
The Great Sage gestured behind him.
Under his guidance, the group arrived at the courtyard and indeed found a room illuminated by candlelight.
Seeing the fear on his teammates' faces, Zhang Yuanqing sighed helplessly. "I'll go get it for you."
This was the Nightwalker's domain.
He immediately entered the room, and the lattice door slammed shut behind him.
Outside, Xie Lingxi and the others watched as Wang Tai's figure vanished the instant the door closed. The dim candlelight inside cast no shadow of him.
After several tense minutes, the lattice door burst open with a crash. Wang Tai stumbled out, clutching the wedding quilt.
He looked disheveled, his clothes torn in several places and stained with blood.
"Great Sage, catch!"
Zhang Yuanqing tossed the wedding quilt to the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal, who caught it with delight, hugging it tightly. Just as he was about to ask about what had happened inside the room, Zhang Yuanqing cut him off:
"Let's go find Xishi."
The Great Sage, Heaven's Equal, refrained from asking further questions and continued exploring the inner courtyard with his teammates.
The night was pitch-black, devoid of stars or moon. The only light came from the red lanterns hanging under the eaves, bathing the deathly silent world in a crimson glow.
Occasionally, a cold gust of wind would shake the lanterns, intensifying the eerie atmosphere.
"Come here, I'm over here."
Suddenly, a soft, seductive voice drifted from ahead.
Zhang Yuanqing and the others looked up to see Xishi standing beneath a lantern at the corner of the eaves, waving at them.
She stood motionless, like a clay statue, her stiff wave and frozen smile radiating an unnatural, unsettling aura.
"Xishi!"
Relieved to see her unharmed, the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal, let out a sigh of relief and moved to approach her, but the Fire Fiend's hand clamped down on his shoulder.
Simultaneously, Zhang Yuanqing's voice whispered in his ear: "Look at her shoes."
Shoes? The Great Sage, Heaven's Equal, narrowed his eyes, his pupils contracting slightly as he focused on her feet.
She was wearing a pair of red embroidered shoes.
She's not Xishi!
"Come here, come here," Xishi continued to beckon, her smile frozen and unsettling.
"Ignore her. Just walk past her," Zhang Yuanqing murmured.
Seeing the Nightwalker's grave expression, the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal, quickly averted his gaze, his heart pounding with unease. He dared not look again.
The group continued walking for a while. Zhang Yuanqing, his eyes fixed ahead, said, "Do you remember when Xishi first entered the mansion? She mentioned seeing a woman standing under the red lantern."
Hearing this, the Fire Fiend couldn't resist glancing back. He faintly saw the woman still standing there, no longer waving, but silently watching them.
"Fucking creepy," the Fire Master spat.
Xie Lingxi asked, puzzled, "Why would she take on Sister Xishi's appearance?"
Zhang Yuanqing gazed into the distance and sighed. "You'll understand when you see for yourselves."
What did he mean? The trio didn't understand at first. After walking a short distance further, they faintly saw a figure hanging under the eaves of a building ahead.
"Sister Xishi?!" Xie Lingxi cried out in shock.
It was indeed Xishi, hanging lifelessly from the eaves. Her once-delicate face was twisted in suffocation, her eyes wide and bloodshot, her complexion pale and bluish, her lips slightly parted.
A gruesome sight.
The Great Sage, Heaven's Equal, and the Fire Fiend were both horrified and frightened, never imagining she would die here so silently.
Zhang Yuanqing, with his night vision, had seen it long ago. Having already processed his initial shock, he led the three, their expressions complex, closer to the corpse.
Xishi hung motionless. Zhang Yuanqing touched her hand—it was ice-cold, indicating she had been dead for at least half an hour.
"It's Sister Xishi's marriage invitation," Xie Lingxi pointed out, noticing a red invitation lying at the corpse's feet.
Zhang Yuanqing glanced at the Marriage Invitation and ignored it. His eyes swirled with inky darkness as he connected with the spectral entity lingering within Xishi's body.
He needed to verify whether Xishi had died at the hands of a Vengeful Spirit or due to other factors.
His brow suddenly swelled with foreign memories flooding his mind.
He saw fragments of Xishi's past: this "sister" was a Level 2 Water Ghost, a Spirit Realm Walker from Nanhang City in Tong Province. She was an unofficial member of a civilian Spirit Realm Walker organization.
In the real world, she worked as a nurse while maintaining relationships with several men, including the department head, a wealthy businessman, and the manager of her Spirit Realm organization.
A staunch advocate of non-marriage, she didn't believe in love. To her, men were merely resources.
She was a highly successful socialite.
In the final memory fragment, Zhang Yuanqing saw a ghostly figure in a wedding dress appear, and the vision abruptly cut off.
Was she killed by the Ghost Bride?! Zhang Yuanqing opened his eyes, his face stunned, a chill running down his spine.
That's impossible, he thought. Why would the Ghost Bride strike early? Isn't she supposed to be waiting to choose a groom?
If the Ghost Bride can strike at any time, what's the point of the game?
Moreover, if the Ghost Bride personally killed Xishi, why only her? Why not attack us too? Or is she just waiting for the right moment?
Just then, he overheard Xie Lingxi and the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal discussing:
"Why is her gender crossed out?"
"I don't know. Maybe it's crossed out for everyone after they die?"
Zhang Yuanqing froze, then immediately said, "Let me see that."
Xie Lingxi handed him the Marriage Invitation.
Zhang Yuanqing's gaze sharpened as he examined it. Xishi's "gender" had been crossed out with a thick stroke of ink.
Xie Lingxi's bright eyes widened. "Brother Wang Tai, what did you see in Sister Xishi's Spectral Entity?"
The Great Sage, Heaven's Equal, and the Fire Fiend immediately turned their attention to him.
"She was killed by the Ghost Bride!"
"What?!"
The trio's faces paled with horror as they scanned their surroundings warily.
If the Ghost Bride were to strike, none of them would likely survive. This seemed impossible; even S-Rank Missions, though notoriously difficult, always offered a sliver of hope.
"I have a theory, but it doesn't quite add up," Zhang Yuanqing murmured, glancing at the deer-like Xie Lingxi. "Could I see your Marriage Invitation too?"
"Oh!"
She readily complied, pulling the invitation from her waistband.
Zhang Yuanqing took it and unfolded it, his expression turning peculiar. "Gender: Male?"
The Fire Fiend and the Great Sage leaned in to see the form. The "Gender" field clearly stated "Male."
The Great Sage, Heaven's Equal, clutched his chest in anguish. "This young lady looks so delicate and refined... I never imagined she'd be packing heat down there?!"
"What's wrong~?" Xie Lingxi asked, her face flushing crimson. "I figured the Ghost Bride was looking for a husband, so it had to be a man. If I put 'female,' it wouldn't fit the rules, and I'd be eliminated immediately, right?"
The Fire Fiend and Great Sage, Heaven's Equal fell into deep thought.
Xie Lingxi had written "male" for her gender, confirming Zhang Yuanqing's theory. In the old version, women could pass directly, but in the new version, they were instantly eliminated. This was an S-rank spirit realm; there were no easy passes. Zhang Yuanqing's deduction had been proven correct.
Xishi had been directly killed by the Ghost Bride for failing to meet the groom's requirements.
He explained his reasoning aloud. After listening, Xie Lingxi looked distressed and said, "I only suspected it, but I wasn't sure, so I didn't say anything. If I'd known, I would have warned Sister Xishi sooner."
Whatever you say! The three men silently thought in unison.
With only four team members remaining, the Ghost Bride could kill at most one more person. Fortunately, out of respect for their shared experience, Zhang Yuanqing untied Xishi's body, gently laid her on the ground, and surveyed his three remaining companions.
"Time is running out. We need to find the bridal chamber."
Though they hadn't been counting the minutes, Zhang Yuanqing estimated they'd been in the mansion for nearly an hour.
Xie Lingxi, Fire Fiend, and the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal quickly put Xishi's fate behind them, secretly steeling their resolve.
Each carrying their betrothal gifts, the four continued deeper into the mansion, silently traversing the various gardens, accompanied only by the glow of red lanterns.
After searching for what felt like an eternity without finding the bridal chamber, they suddenly spotted a courtyard ahead. Its eaves curved upward, windows and doors were adorned with auspicious characters, and a warm candlelight spilled through the paper panes.
A crimson carpet stretched along the path leading from the courtyard to the main hall.
"The bridal chamber appears when the time is right," Zhang Yuanqing murmured, noticing his teammates' tense expressions. "Let's go."
He'd almost cracked a joke about the Ghost Bride being a busty, curvy milf, but seeing the solemn faces of his companions—as if they were marching to their execution—he wisely abandoned the attempt to lighten the mood.
As of now, they still didn't know how the Ghost Bride would choose her groom: a four-way competition, or would she take them all?
Similarly, they had no idea if they would survive.
Entering the courtyard and walking down the red carpet, Zhang Yuanqing stopped before the lattice door, took a deep breath, and pushed it open forcefully.
Clang! The two lattice doors swung inward. Zhang Yuanqing stepped over the threshold, his muscles tensed as he scanned the room's layout.
The entire room was decorated in festive red, with double happiness characters pasted on the walls. A round table stood in the center of the hall, adorned with two candlesticks holding half-arm-length red candles that flickered gently. Beneath the candles were several porcelain dishes filled with longan, peanuts, and other snacks.
To the east stood a large bed, its curtains and sheets all a vibrant red, but without any bedding.
The bed was empty. There was no bride in a wedding gown, her face hidden beneath a red veil, as he had imagined.
The Ghost Bride was nowhere to be seen. Zhang Yuanqing's tense nerves slowly relaxed as he exhaled forcefully. He turned to speak to his teammates behind him, but found he was the only one left in the bridal chamber.
His three teammates had vanished again.
"Am I the only one who entered the bridal chamber?" Zhang Yuanqing stiffened, then realized what was happening and muttered, "The Ghost Bride sure knows how to play games. She's even arranged separate bridal chambers for each of us."
The current situation aligned with his second hypothesis: four wedding gifts corresponded to four grooms, while the rest were dead.
"Now we just wait for the bride to grace us with her presence! I wonder who she'll choose..."
Zhang Yuanqing turned to close the door, silently summoning Little Goofball to perch on his head, ready for anything.
He patted the Infant Spirit's head, gazing at the festive scene in the room. For some reason, a joke he'd seen online popped into his head: Married with a husband and child right after the wedding? The Ghost Bride's already reached the pinnacle of life!
And at least the son isn't black-skinned.
The candlelight blazed brightly, illuminating the room. Zhang Yuanqing had intended to use the candles' burning rate to gauge the passage of time, but these candles were strangely magical—they burned endlessly without diminishing.
After an indeterminate amount of time, the door slammed open with a clang as a frigid wind swept through. The candles instantly extinguished, and an icy gale howled through every corner of the bridal chamber.
The room plunged into darkness. Zhang Yuanqing's heart jolted, and the Infant Spirit on his head began to tremble violently, gripped by primal terror as if facing the end of the world.
He stiffly twisted his neck, gazing at the wide-open door. Outside, the darkness was as thick as ink, but with his night vision, he could faintly discern a figure clad in a wedding gown, her head covered by a red veil, walking down the red carpet toward the bridal chamber.