Chapter 327
Chapter 327
The ghosts were easy enough to deal with, but Miss Xie was clearly another matter.
As soon as she finished speaking, Miss Xie formed a hand seal. Bloody light immediately spread before her, and when the light settled and dispersed around her, a group of ghosts materialized out of thin air.
There were thirty-seven in all, both men and women.
Qin Nan and the others were very familiar with two of them.
Were they not Shi Chen and Fang Kang?
“Holy shit, did we get careless?” Yellow Hair’s heart filled with panic at the sight.
Jian Fan, however, was much calmer.
He continued to watch everything unfold with perfect composure.
At first, the ghostly figures were extremely faint. Then a web of blood spread from Miss Xie’s hands and began extending outward. The farther it expanded, the more solid the ghosts became.
Once the ghosts had fully taken shape, Miss Xie’s lips curved. “Go. Kill them.”
At her command, the ghosts immediately charged at Qin Nan and the others.
A thread of blood seemed to trail from each of their backs, linking them to the web. Everything about them was controlled by it.
As the ghosts rushed toward the group, Lu Jing and Yang Zhen stepped forward to shield everyone, their whips dancing through the air.
These thirty-seven ghosts, however, seemed different from the ones before.
The whips could injure them, but they felt no fear.
Even when total annihilation awaited them, they charged forward without hesitation.
The ghosts at the front dispersed completely beneath the whips, but those behind seized the opportunity to break through the defensive line Yang Zhen and Lu Jing had formed.
With the ghosts about to reach them, Yellow Hair, Qin Nan, and Qin Weiyi all had whips in hand. Whether or not they knew how to use them, they began flinging them outward.
It did little good.
Were they really going to die here?
Unlike the others, whose hearts had grown heavy, Jian Fan was far too calm.
A web of blood?
Blood.
The corner of Jian Fan’s lips lifted slightly. He promptly exchanged Points for a dagger in the Points Mall, then drew the blade across his palm. Blood instantly began flowing from the cut.
“What are you doing?” Qin Nan asked, bewildered.
At the same moment Qin Nan spoke, the web of blood actually drew Jian Fan’s blood toward itself. The sight stunned everyone, but what they witnessed next was even more shocking.
The web that had been advancing toward them collapsed into nothing the instant Jian Fan’s blood entered it. As the web vanished, the ghosts seemed bewildered for a moment, then could only watch helplessly as their bodies dispersed once more.
“Damn, Jian Fan, since when was your blood this powerful?” Qin Nan cried out.
Miss Xie clearly had not expected Jian Fan to break her attack so easily. But what did it matter?
“Today, every one of you will die.” As soon as the words left her mouth, Miss Xie’s figure shot toward Jian Fan like an apparition.
Lu Jing and Yang Zhen reacted quickly, lashing out at the same time. Miss Xie caught one whip in each hand and gave them a light tug. Lu Jing and Yang Zhen stumbled together and tumbled to the ground, while Miss Xie had already reached Jian Fan.
She opened her mouth. The delicate beauty’s mouth became a gaping, bloody maw, torrents of blood spilling from it. Miss Xie lowered her head, about to bite down on Jian Fan, when–
Jian Fan flipped his palm, and an object covered in bells and yellow talismans appeared in his hand out of thin air.
None of them knew what it was. It simply looked rather… mystical?
Before they could work out what the object was, Miss Xie suddenly let out a scream. Her entire figure was sucked inside the unknown object, and the moment she disappeared, the thing in Jian Fan’s hand abruptly dissolved into nothingness as well.
Then everything returned to calm.
It had all happened so suddenly that everyone stood there stunned.
“What was that?” Qin Nan asked.
The corner of Jian Fan’s lips curved at the question. “A Soul-Binding Banner.”
Everyone was baffled.
What was that supposed to be?
Why had none of them seen it in the Points Mall?
Jian Fan explained, “It came from the Brocade Pouch.”
When the blaze in the scholar tree grove began, Jian Fan had opened the Brocade Pouch and obtained an item called the Soul-Binding Banner. According to its description, it could absorb and purify one ghost, but the banner could only be used once, on a single ghost.
“So Miss Xie is just… gone?” Yellow Hair still found it hard to believe. He blinked slightly, feeling that the whole thing was rather fantastical.
“And the blood?” Qin Nan asked.
Jian Fan gave a simple answer. “It was nourished with a ghost’s blood. Mine was human blood.”
Everyone was baffled again.
What did that even mean?
Jian Fan had no intention of explaining further. “It isn’t over yet. Go to the rear courtyard.”
At his words, everyone immediately refocused and followed Jian Fan straight to the bridal chamber in the rear courtyard.
The story’s rhythm had been disrupted, and the plot unfolding before them had changed accordingly.
When they arrived at the bridal chamber, the Zhao girl was sitting on the bed, swinging her feet.
Jian Fan barely glanced at her. Instead, he looked up first at the names carved into the bed.
The spirit-tablet shapes were all still there, but every name on them had vanished.
Just as expected.
Jian Fan ignored the Zhao girl, but she had already turned to look at him.
“You’re being naughty,” the Zhao girl said. Tilting her head, she smiled. “If I can’t grow up, how am I supposed to marry you?”
Qin Nan fell silent.
Once again, he lamented Jian Fan’s endless unwanted admirers.
“Your plan failed,” Jian Fan said calmly, stating a fact.
The Zhao girl did not appear angry. She even nodded. “It did. But I can start over. You are about to become my new beginning. Do you feel honored?”
As she spoke, the Zhao girl suddenly extended a hand. She slowly rotated her palm to face them, then merely lifted her fingertips. Everyone rose uncontrollably from the floor. More terrifying still, it felt as though someone had seized them by the throat. Before long, all of them began to suffocate.
Damn it!
After dealing with Miss Xie, were they still going to die here in the end?
There was, of course, one exception among them.
The Zhao girl had not attacked Jian Fan.
The scene now had the Zhao girl sitting on the bed and Jian Fan standing before her, while everyone else floated in midair, their faces twisted in pain as they struggled.
“Your companions will die one by one before your eyes. But I won’t kill you. I want a groom with a fresh new flavor,” the Zhao girl said.
Jian Fan’s hand tightened slightly, but his expression remained calm. “You won’t succeed.”
“Is that so?” The Zhao girl laughed, then crooked a finger.
Everyone found it even harder to breathe. They could already feel death approaching.
At that moment, Mu Xin’s thoughts wandered to an item she had not yet used.
The beautiful ladies’ hat.
She had no idea what it did, but in a desperate situation like this, she might as well try anything.
Mu Xin took out the beautiful ladies’ hat.