Chapter 1753: What Exactly Is Happening

Wei Su’s neck stiffened as he turned to look at what was in his hand. Instead of peanuts, there was a plump, white maggot, wriggling with obvious vitality. The thought of how much he had just eaten made him unable to hold it in any longer. He let out a loud "wah" and began to vomit beside them, an eruption far more violent than his earlier carsickness.

The others secretly rejoiced, grateful that his earlier nausea had kept them from touching the food on the table, not even a sip of water.

Zu'an didn't bother to comfort him. He leaped onto the stage and grabbed the executioners. To his surprise, as soon as he seized them, they shattered into pieces. His vision distorted, and the actors were gone, replaced by paper figures. Each had lifelike eyes and brows, their faces adorned with thick stage makeup, making them eerily unsettling.

A chill ran down his spine. He quickly returned to the table and warned, "Everyone, be careful!"

Just then, he noticed that all the other guests watching the performance had also turned into paper figures. As if sensing his actions, they stopped looking at the stage. Instead, their heads twisted at unnatural angles to stare at their table, their hollow eye sockets fixed intensely on everyone.

The surrounding candlelight glowed with an eerie green light. Gusts of cold wind swept through, making the flames and shadows flicker erratically, adding to the terrifying atmosphere.

Qiu Honglei gasped instinctively and moved closer to Zu'an. Although she was a cultivator with considerable power, she was still a woman. One moment she was enjoying the play, the next she witnessed this horrifying scene, leaving her utterly terrified.

Not only her, but Jing Teng's face also turned pale. However, being a native of this world, she quickly said, "Be careful, it seems we've stumbled into a haunted house!"

Zu'an's heart jolted. A haunted house? They had been extremely cautious just moments ago, even checking their surroundings, and everything had felt like living human energy. He glanced at the distant horizon, where night had fully fallen. He mused, "It seems everything was normal during the day, and these ghostly entities only reveal themselves after dark."

The surroundings were utterly silent, making Wei Su's retching sounds stand out starkly. The paper figures all turned to look at Wei Su, and their paper faces actually showed expressions of disgust, as if draining his essence would defile their mouths.

Zu'an roared in anger, "Playing tricks!" As he spoke, he instantly unleashed his Flame Blade, summoning the Phoenix Flame and slashing it outwards. Soon, a brilliant wave of fire erupted from him, spreading rapidly in all directions. Fire was the bane of paper, and the paper figures ignited almost instantly.

A series of strange, piercing noises filled the air, and Zu'an's vision blurred. The paper figures had vanished. The stage was gone, the seated guests were gone, everything around him had vanished, and even Qiu Honglei and the others were nowhere to be found.

Zu'an was startled. He frantically searched around, even using his divine sense, only to find that the surrounding greyish-blue mist obscured it, limiting its reach to only about one *zhang* (approx. 3.3 meters).

"An illusion, or..." Zu'an recalled Jing Teng's earlier explanations about ghosts, and his heart calmed slightly. With Honglei's cultivation, she should be able to protect herself for a short while. Even Wei Su wasn't weak, and considering the paper figures' disgust towards him earlier, he should be safe for now. As for Jing Teng, she was a demon herself and commanded ghosts, so there was even less to worry about.

If only he could break this situation quickly...

He looked around and found himself inside a large mansion. It was still decorated with lanterns and festive banners, but the light from the large red lanterns was a dim, eerie green, and everything was shrouded in a thick mist, giving it a truly ghostly feel. From the looks of it, he was still within the Zhang Family Estate.

He pondered for a moment, then began to search, deciding to directly seek out the ghostly entity behind this. Once it was dealt with, everything would naturally resolve itself. Recalling everything since they entered the estate, it had all revolved around a wedding. The identity of the ghost was almost self-evident. He did not try to flee the estate; instead, he headed deeper into the grounds. The bride, as a female member of the household, would naturally be in the inner quarters.

Over the years, he had visited countless human and demon imperial palaces and residences of high-ranking officials, becoming quite familiar with their architectural layouts. The building style in this secret realm was largely similar, so he quickly set off in a chosen direction. As he ventured deeper, the surrounding mist grew denser. Zu'an, however, remained calm. His current physique was immune to all poisons, and the Primordial Chaos Scripture he cultivated inherently possessed the effect of purifying malevolent spirits. Naturally, he feared no ghost.

As he walked, he passed winding corridors and elegantly designed courtyards. A small river flowed around the various courtyards, and along its banks were many exquisite rockeries and flowerbeds. Unfortunately, there were no flowers, only bare, gnarled branches. The rockeries were covered in dust and cobwebs, indicating long-standing decay. Observing the intricate stone and wood carvings on the archways and doorframes, it was clear that the Zhang Family Estate had been very wealthy in its time.

After walking for a while, Zu'an stopped, his brow furrowing slightly. He felt that the scenery before him was somewhat familiar. With his current memory, he could naturally tell that this was a place he had just passed.

"A ghost wall?" Zu'an recalled what Jing Teng had said: some ghostly entities possessed special abilities, and with the aid of specific surrounding illusions, they could trap people in an eternal labyrinth, from which they could never escape. To break free from this, one would either need to be skilled in the art of *Qimen Dunjia* (mystical divination) or possess a magical artifact that could show the way. Of course, there was also the slowest method: wait until dawn, when the sun's appearance would naturally dissipate these phenomena. However, inside a ghost wall, the flow of time could be different, and those trapped, consumed by panic and fear, would expend more energy, easily collapsing before the sun rose.

Zu'an remembered that it was just getting dark when they entered the estate. With Qiu Honglei and the others' fates unknown, he certainly had no time to wait for the sun to rise. He drew out the Tai'e Sword and said, "Empress Master, I'm not good with formations. Can you help me figure out how to get out of this ghost wall?"

Mi Li didn't appear, but her voice came as if from a yawn: "Do you have to ask me for such a trivial matter? Doesn't your Primordial Chaos Qi specifically counter evil spirits?"

Zu'an rubbed his temples. "Unfortunately, the ghostly entity is hiding now. I have power, but nowhere to use it."

"Why do you follow the path they've given you, letting them lead you by the nose?" Mi Li retorted impatiently. "Can't you just break through with force?"

Zu'an's heart stirred. He looked at the paths in the mansion. Following them before had unknowingly led him into a labyrinth... "Thank you, Empress Master." He walked directly to a wall, channeled his Primordial Chaos Qi, and punched through it, passing straight through. Since he wasn't skilled in formations, he would simply brute force it.

"Teachable!" Mi Li mumbled, and then her voice fell silent again.

Following the theoretical direction of the inner quarters, Zu'an no longer walked along the existing paths. Instead, he violently tore down obstacles along the way, creating a straight route directly into the heart of the mansion. His Primordial Chaos Qi naturally countered evil forces, preventing the ghostly entities from restoring the walls he shattered. In this manner, he finally succeeded in reaching the inner quarters.

He had originally wondered if any ghostly entities would ambush him, but for some reason, there were none along the way, not even the paper figures from before. The bride's room was not difficult to find. It was bound to be the most elaborately and beautifully decorated—though now, shrouded by the sickly green lanterns, it had become the most sinister.

He walked straight towards it. As he reached the door, his heart suddenly stirred; he detected a figure inside. The bridal chamber door was ajar, not fully closed, allowing him to peek through the gap. Inside, a woman in a large red wedding gown was sitting before a dressing mirror, combing her hair. From her back, she was clearly slender, and her graceful, elegant way of combing suggested she must have been a well-educated and refined young lady in life.

Zu'an suddenly recalled the ghost bride he had encountered in Yunzhong Commandery, thinking that if she were here, she would surely have much in common with this woman.

As Zu'an was musing, the woman seemed to find a spot behind her head difficult to comb. She then simply took off her head and placed it on the table, meticulously combing it.

Zu'an: "..."

Although he had been transmigrated for many years, he had, after all, spent a longer time as an ordinary person in his previous life. Witnessing this scene, he couldn't help but feel his hairs stand on end in terror. However, almost instantly, he adjusted his mindset, burst through the door, and reached out to grab the female ghost. He didn't want to give her any chance, intending to control her first.

To his surprise, just as he reached the bride, a ripple-like distortion appeared before his eyes, and everything vanished. In its place was a boudoir filled with a delicate fragrance and celebratory ambiance. Zu'an noticed he was on a large bed, and the double-happiness characters pasted around, along with the red silk comforter, all proclaimed it to be a newlywed's bridal chamber.

A sound of sobbing reached his ears. Zu'an stiffly lowered his gaze and found a bride, tear-streaked like a pear blossom in the rain, lying beneath him. Not far away, a groom was tied to a table, glaring at him with wide, furious eyes, struggling and making muffled sounds.

Zu'an: "???"

What the hell was going on?!