Chapter 260: Chapter 228: The Scholar’s Wraith

On the collapsed outer square of the Evil Suppression Bureau, Xuan Yu brought another yin object to He Buning, panting heavily while laying on the ground.

He Buning finally cast a curse on Xiao Liu, then checked on Cui Cheng and Sang Que’s condition, seeing that their pulse and breathing were stable, he felt relieved.

This time, what Xuan Yu brought was not a Curse Object, just an ordinary yin object, indicating that the situation beneath the secret vault might not be well, and Xuan Yu had searched hard.

He Buning gently rubbed Xuan Yu’s head and warmly said, “You’ve worked hard. I always thought you were just Little Chan’s playmate and never expected that in critical moments you could help save so many people. When this is over, I will surely credit you within the Evil Suppression Bureau.”

Meow!

Xuan Yu arrogantly pushed away He Buning’s hand, stood up and shook his fur, then returned to the ruins to search for yin objects.

After a short while, hurried footsteps approached. He Buning turned his head and saw Xia Chan running over, out of breath and pointing toward Cui Liu Lane in terror.

“There… there’s a bad person! A bad person over by Granny Zhuang’s, and Little Chan can’t get in!”

He Buning’s heart tightened, as he had expected, this group of people chose Granny Zhuang.

Glancing at the unconscious people on the ground, He Buning scanned his surroundings. The aftershocks were getting weaker and a major earthquake was unlikely to happen again. The situation outside the city was still unknown, and before any Evil Spirits or Evil Ghosts entered the city, he needed to quickly awaken everyone.

If there’s an external influence, they will likely experience some interference in the dream realm.

“Let’s have a look!”

He Buning and Xia Chan together returned to Cui Liu Lane.

The entire Wangshan City had collapsed, but apart from the cracked walls, Cui Liu Lane was almost intact.

The lane was very dark, as if it devoured all light. Xia Chan fearfully leaned closer to He Buning.

He Buning straightened his body, trying to shield Xia Chan upfront. He lit the torch he brought and slowly walked into the lane.

After a few steps, a clattering sound emerged from the darkness, as if some mechanism was activated. He Buning raised the torch high, and the flickering yellow light illuminated two puppet figures ahead.

A man and a woman, the size of ordinary people, with Yellow Paper stuck on their foreheads and the word ’seal’ written on it. Below the Yellow Paper, the puppet faces’ paint was ferociously vivid, their arms full of sharp blades stained with dark red blood.

He Buning’s heart tensed; this was the puppet performance from the Ghost Opera Troupe.

An eerie wind blew, extinguishing the torch, and the sealing paper was lifted. The puppets suddenly opened their eyes and charged at He Buning.

*

Meanwhile, in the underground Evil Ghost Bureau.

Wan Xiangtou guarded inside the Evil Ghost Bureau, the Ghost Opera Troupe wanted Qinzhou to start chaos from Wangshan City, but they didn’t want it to become uncontrollable.

If the Corpse Nest is handled properly, it could be directed towards Jinzhou and help them fend off the Jinzhou soldiers.

The Evil Ghosts within the Evil Ghost Bureau should be contained and not released unless necessary.

“Not sure what’s happening outside now. By the calculation, the Corpse Nest should have arrived.”

Wan Xiangtou contemplated, pacing around the Evil Ghost Bureau, then returned to the cell where the Gambling Ghost was held, suddenly noticing the coffin lid was missing and the coffin was filled with black ink, bubbling.

A disheveled head slowly emerged from the ink, the ink flowing down, revealing two scarlet eyes amidst the drenched hair, grinning malevolently at Wan Xiangtou.

Wan Xiangtou’s heart shivered. Just as he was about to react, an oppressive force accompanied by the stench of ink overwhelmed him, and the surrounding scene abruptly changed.

Starting from Wan Xiangtou’s feet, a watercolor painting spread out rapidly.

It was still the scene of the Evil Ghost Bureau prison, but everything was reduced to black and white, appearing in an extremely abstract, twisted, eerie, and grotesque watercolor painting form.

The watercolors flowed, for a moment resembling gods and buddhas, the next moment transforming into ghosts, and in the thick ink a myriad of eyes surfaced, focusing on Wan Xiangtou, making him feel like a thorn in the back.

All the colored things on him began to fade, transforming into watercolor, attempting to trap him within the painting, to become a wandering ghost within it.

This was the domain of the Zhuangyuan Ghost controlled by General Cao, a poor scholar famous in the Xuan Dynasty for his watercolor painting skills, and now the surrounding scene was the Ghost Realm of this Zhuangyuan Ghost.

It’s said that this Zhuangyuan Ghost died suddenly and inexplicably. Before his death, no one knew what he saw, but he bit open his own wrist and covered the walls and floor of an empty room with countless bizarre, twisted paintings using his blood and ink, dying with all his limbs twisted into eerie positions, with a smile.

A vivid red figure appeared next to Wan Xiangtou, barefoot, wearing a wedding dress, with a Veil on her head; as she appeared, the ink underfoot was dispelled outward by some strange force.

Wan Xiangtou sneered, “Cao Huiyuan, let’s see today whose skills are superior!”

*

In the dream realm, Cui Liu Lane.

After Sang Que and Yu Da found Granny Zhuang’s residence, Sang Que took the lead, quickly approaching the door, but no sound could be heard from outside.

Yu Da inspected around and confirmed there was no setup at the entrance before nodding at Sang Que.

Sang Que lifted her foot and kicked the wooden door open.

Inside the wooden door seemed like another world, the sunlight warm, with Granny Zhuang and Wei Ziyan sitting under a tree of newly bloomed peach blossoms, chatting and laughing as they picked vegetables.

Wei Ziyan’s hair was tied up, depicting a married woman’s appearance. The courtyard was cleaned spotless, everything neatly arranged, and clusters of flowers were planted under the eaves.

The wooden window with white paper was propped open a bit, and the sound of reading came from behind the window.

The door was kicked open, both Granny Zhuang and Wei Ziyan looked towards the entrance. Upon recognizing Sang Que and Yu Da, Granny Zhuang smiled lovingly and attempted to stand, while Wei Ziyan quickly put down the vegetables in her hand, wiping her hands on her apron and supporting Granny Zhuang up.

“Why are you here? Is there something going on at the Evil Suppression Bureau?” Granny Zhuang asked.

Hearing this, Wei Ziyan chided, “Mother, you’ve retired already, why still worry about the Evil Suppression Bureau.”

Sang Que and Yu Da exchanged glances, since when did Wei Ziyan become Granny Zhuang’s daughter, or should they say…daughter-in-law?

The reading voice inside was male, could it be Granny Zhuang’s son?

Yu Da shrugged with an expression of uncertainty.

Since the beginning of the year, Wei Ziyan often stayed by Granny Zhuang’s side to get familiar with the archives. Yu Da remembered a time when he overheard Granny Zhuang telling Wei Ziyan that it would be great if Wei Ziyan was her daughter.

Perhaps in Granny Zhuang’s heart, this was the life she most desired, having her son nearby and a good daughter-in-law, the three living happily together.

Sang Que remained fully alert as she stepped into the courtyard, with Yu Da walking ahead to intentionally protect Sang Que.

Yu Da smiled broadly, not directly shattering Granny Zhuang’s dream, but instead following along with it, “Yes, Granny, there’s an urgent matter at the Evil Suppression Bureau, both Colonels wish to consult you on an old case. If you’re available, let’s hurry over now, if we’re quick, you might make it back in time to have dinner…”

Yu Da was about to say dinner, but upon looking up in the courtyard, it was daytime, almost noon.

“…have lunch.”

Granny Zhuang, being a responsible person, did not refuse upon hearing this, but nodded, “Alright, let’s go then.”

Granny Zhuang signaled Wei Ziyan to help fetch her coat and cane. Sang Que noticed the reading sound inside stop, making her suddenly tense.

As expected, before Wei Ziyan could fetch the cane, a tall man rushed out from inside the house.

“Ziyan, quickly pull mother back, they are Evil Spirits in disguise!”

As soon as the words fell, in the eyes of Wei Ziyan and Granny Zhuang, Sang Que and Yu Da suddenly transformed into horrifying figures with blue skin and bleeding from the seven orifices.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep