Tied to the bed, Lu Liangting had already been sinking into a small pit of despair. His plan was to use his mouth to grip the pillow, toss it to knock over the candle, and then, once the fire started, either burn to death or burn the ropes and escape.
The moment he picked the pillow up in his mouth, he saw a pair of scissors hidden beneath it.
Perhaps some kind soul left them for his escape, or maybe they held some special symbolic meaning. Either way, Lu Liangting saw hope.
After painstakingly maneuvering the scissors into his hands, he raced against time, cutting at the ropes while the sounds of battle raged outside.
He had no idea who was out there fighting. In this hellish environment, he defaulted to assuming everyone outside was an enemy. The only ally in the entire village was Zhao Mingyue, and the one fighting Wax Corpses couldn’t possibly be her. A defenseless girl like her couldn’t be a match for those things.
With that mindset, Lu Liangting kept speeding up his movements. Finally, just as the door was violently kicked open, he snipped the last rope around his ankles.
He was certain someone was outside, and the room had only one exit.
Desperate, Lu Liangting found his clothes stashed in the corner. He used the three Fierce Ghost Items inside to summon three Fierce Ghosts. Enduring the throbbing pain in the back of his head, he hefted a chair, ready to burst out and fight whoever it was.
And then, he witnessed this scene.
Inside the Main Hall, two figures stood in a standoff. The one near the entrance was a graceful silhouette: leather jacket, long boots, a long saber in hand, a Silver Mask upon her face. The mask had only eyeholes and intricate patterns, no other features. She was pointing her blade at the thing leaning against the inner wall—a Wax Corpse with its face slashed open and a hole punched clean through its chest.
The atmosphere became slightly awkward.
Bai Yu glanced sideways at Lu Liangting. She had no desire to fight an Evil God to the death right now; it wasn’t necessary. Her goal was to smash the statue behind it to complete the quest. She didn’t even need to save Lu Liangting; he could do whatever he wanted.
The Divine Mother of the Tongue, however, had other plans. It opened its mouth, the gash extending all the way to the back of its head, and again spat out a string of guttural syllables.
It was at that instant Bai Yu hurled her long saber.
The blade disintegrated rapidly in the air, the blood threads dissolving like snow under a raging fire, vanishing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
It wasn’t just the blade. Bai Yu’s body would have dissolved the same way if she were in her own body instead of possessing Zhao Mingyue.
This was just the Evil God’s Malicious Intent descending, and only in the Front Village.
Before the saber completely dissolved, the remaining fragment stabbed into the Evil God’s mouth and exploded. Already cleaved open, half the skull was now blown away.
A new long saber condensed in Bai Yu’s hand. She slashed diagonally. Perhaps the Evil God’s will was weakening, but this time, Bai Yu clearly felt its physical resistance plummet. The blade lodged in the Evil God’s skull. She planted a foot on its chest and forced the blade down.
Once the entire head was split open, she beheaded it with one clean stroke. As she forcefully pushed off with her foot, the collapsing corpse knocked over the Altar Table. The instant the God Statue toppled, Bai Yu kicked the half-skull on the floor, sending it flying. It struck the statue squarely and smashed it to pieces.
Without the statue, the corpse that had been struggling to rise finally fell completely still. A foul stench slowly permeated the small room.
“Get back inside. It’s dangerous out here. Someone will come to rescue you soon.”
Bai Yu couldn’t be bothered to deal with Lu Liangting. She threw out this line and turned to leave, but Lu Liangting called out to her.
“Wait!” Lu Liangting sounded anxious. “Are you Mingyue?!”
It was definitely Zhao Mingyue’s voice—he was absolutely certain of that!
He just couldn’t fathom when Mingyue had become this powerful. That Wax Corpse was clearly a Boss—on a completely different level from the ones outside, far stronger than any Boss they had encountered before. Yet, in Zhao Mingyue’s hands, it had been utterly dominated. Mingyue handled it with ease, not even using her full power. It was insane.
And he had to admit, he owed Mingyue his life again. Otherwise, he would have definitely died here.
A heavy weight settled in Lu Liangting’s heart. He was always being saved. Ultimately, it was because he was too weak. If he were stronger, he wouldn’t have been trapped at the entrance back at Thirteenth High School, wouldn’t have needed Bai Yu to save him. The same here. If he were strong enough to subdue his attacker, he wouldn’t be in this mess.
“You’ve mistaken me for someone else.”
Bai Yu adjusted her mask, gave Lu Liangting one last look, and walked out.
Behind her, Lu Liangting’s voice rang out again.
“Anyway… thank you for saving me!”
Her steps faltered, but she didn’t stop. Bai Yu cut down two Wax Corpses at the door with two slashes and disappeared into the chaotic courtyard in a few strides. In Lu Liangting’s vision, watching Zhao Mingyue’s movements, he felt a nagging sense of familiarity. Every move, every stance… he felt like he’d seen it all somewhere before. That aura, that tone of voice—it was all so familiar. He just couldn’t place it right now.
Another point: he’d already suspected the decapitated corpse inside was a Boss. Seeing ‘Zhao Mingyue’ chopping down the Wax Corpses at the door as easily as cutting vegetables just confirmed it for him.
At his side, the young male ghost named Zhang Lin appeared. Pointing in the direction Bai Yu had vanished, he placed a hand on Lu Liangting’s shoulder.
A moment later.
“It really is Mingyue. But how is she possessed by a ghost? Who is this ghost?”
Lu Liangting could only judge by voice and build, but his ghost was different. Zhang Lin knew Zhao Mingyue’s aura, so he could confirm it was her. As for who the ghost possessing her was, he had no idea. All he could tell Lu Liangting was that the ghost was terrifying, utterly horrifying—do not make contact!
Though he didn’t explicitly name the ghost on Zhao Mingyue, a suspicion had already formed in Lu Liangting’s mind.
Overwhelming strength, razor-sharp saber techniques, an icy tone, and that character—sharp-tongued yet secretly kind-hearted. How many ghosts fit all those criteria? It hardly required deep deduction…
Lu Liangting felt his mind go blank. The wound on the back of his head seemed to throb even harder.
He didn’t understand how this had happened, couldn’t figure out if this was a good thing or a bad thing.
He stood in the doorway for a long moment in silence, watching those girls who had appeared from nowhere fighting a horde of Wax Corpses in the courtyard. His mind’s eye was fixed on only one image: that silhouette walking away, blade in hand.
And in that moment, only a single thought seemed to echo in his heart.
“I owe her another life.”
“If I can get out of here alive… I’ll ask Mingyue for the truth.”
Unaware that her identity had been exposed—not that it mattered much even if it had—Bai Yu was pondering the location of the other God Statue.
“The wedding had a groom but no bride. The bride probably comes from the Back Village. I might have to return here later.”
“First, attend Mingyue’s family banquet.”
