Chapter 1754: Return to the Beginning

Mi Li burst out laughing. "Tsk, tsk, tsk, I never expected you'd actually find yourself a true 'life-and-death' partner. You certainly have a peculiar taste."

The thought of his inexplicable intimate encounter with the female ghost made Zu An feel like he was about to explode. What in the world was this?! He knew perfectly well it was most likely the female ghost's illusion, but the sensations felt far too real.

Just now, to control the female ghost in the room, he had rushed in too quickly, and who would have thought he'd burst into the wrong place. The bride, her face drenched in tears, glared at him with eyes full of hatred.

"This female ghost is quite beautiful, isn't she?" Mi Li's surprised voice remarked.

Zu An thought to himself that Zhang Yong had previously introduced their young mistress as a renowned beauty for miles around... Uh, that wasn't the point!

He glanced back at the groom tied to the table, whose eyeballs looked as if they were about to bleed, glaring as if he wished to devour Zu An whole. Zu An quietly checked the system backend. He hadn't received any Rage points. Sure enough, it was all fake.

The moment this thought arose, a string of Rage points appeared in his backend: "Rage points from Jing Teng: 444444444..."

He was stunned. Why was Jing Teng angry at him? Could it be that he had promised to escort her, but today they got separated, leading her into danger?

Just as he was wondering, a thought suddenly struck him. "Wait," he thought. "Why does this scene before me feel somewhat familiar?" He recalled the play he had watched earlier, the scenes performed on stage. Could it be that those were the female ghost's real-life experiences? But this female ghost was going too far, even appearing in person? Could she be lusting after my body?

He looked into the mirror in the room and found that his appearance hadn't changed into that of the tyrannical young master.

Just then, a commotion broke out outside. Soon, the door was burst open. Leading the group were the Master and Madam of Zhang Manor, along with the guard captain Zhang Yong, who led a group of household servants and guards, all holding weapons and glaring furiously at him.

"You beast!" After clearly seeing the scene in the room, the Master and Madam immediately rushed at him, biting and scratching. Zu An quickly dodged. This situation was truly frustrating; it wasn't like that at all, but in this scene, he couldn't explain himself no matter how reasonable his arguments were.

Zhang Yong cursed as he led the household servants and guards to attack him. Judging by their stance, they intended to beat him to death. Zu An dodged, pondering what to do about the current situation.

Just then, another group of people rushed in. Their equipment was clearly much more sophisticated, and their cultivation level surpassed that of the household servants and guards. They quickly stopped the others. One of them stood in front of Zu An and, while staying alert, quickly made a gesture to silence witnesses. "Young Master," he said, "things have come to this. It's better to strike first. Otherwise, if they report to the officials, your life may be in danger."

Zu An understood instantly. No wonder the tyrannical young master had acted that way back then; it was to silence witnesses. He knew that if he followed the plot development, he could get through this immediate crisis and be safe for many years. But in that plot, the tyrannical young master was ultimately executed by a thousand cuts. But if he didn't follow the young master's actions, and instead continued with this plot's development, he might be tied up and executed by the authorities tomorrow.

Was it to take a temporary solution with dire consequences or to die immediately? That female ghost truly had a cunning scheme.

Zu An said calmly, "But why do I have to choose?" He activated the Primordial Chaos Scripture, chanting, "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, let nothing that shouldn't remain stay..."

A series of terrified screams erupted. Whether it was the tyrannical young master's guards or the Master and Madam of Zhang Manor, along with their household servants and guards, all turned into dust and vanished with the wind. But he was soon taken aback, because even the groom had disappeared, but the bride hadn't.

This female ghost wasn't afraid of the Primordial Chaos Scripture?

Zu An's heart tightened. Remembering Jing Teng had mentioned that ghosts in this world possessed many special abilities, he didn't dare to be negligent in the slightest. He charged directly at her, intending to subdue her immediately. The opponent seemed to break free from some restraint, abandoning her previous frail appearance. She instantly flashed backward, then all her hair grew wildly in the wind, covering the sky and enveloping him. If he were entangled by this dense mass of hair, he would probably be like prey caught by a spider, only able to let it drain his vital essence.

Zu An immediately used Phoenix Flame, burning those strands of hair to ashes. Then he took out the Tai'a Sword. This female ghost was truly too bizarre; he couldn't give her another chance. At this moment, the female ghost was clearly startled. She flew into the air and quickly formed a series of hand seals, chanting, "Lin, Bing, Dou, Zhe, Jie, Zhen, Lie..."

Zu An was taken aback, and suddenly had a realization. "What are you looking at?"

"So what if I am?"

The female ghost, having responded, was also taken aback. She was in the critical moment of casting the Nine-Character Mantra. Why had she suddenly responded to the other person? The spell she was about to manifest was directly disrupted.

At this moment, an ancient sword was placed against her neck. The terrifying pressure emanating from it made it clear to her that if she made any move, she would instantly turn to ashes.

Zu An, however, didn't strike. Instead, he probed, "Jing Teng?"

The female ghost was startled and responded with some hesitation, "Zu An?"

As the two called out each other's names, the air around them distorted and rippled, and their true appearances appeared in each other's eyes. This was no female ghost; it was clearly Jing Teng.

"It really is you," Zu An breathed a sigh of relief. He had been suspicious when he inexplicably received her Rage points earlier, and then, during their exchange, he kept feeling that her moves were familiar. Jing Teng had also wondered why the ghost opposite her could use Phoenix Flame, but she had been too caught up in the heat of the moment from what had just happened to think deeply at the time.

As the two reviewed the situation, they immediately understood that the female ghost had deliberately used an illusion to provoke them into fighting each other. They couldn't help but marvel at the female ghost's insidious cunning.

Suddenly, Zu An couldn't help but ask, "So, about what just happened..."

Before he could finish, Jing Teng quickly interrupted him. "It was just an illusion," she said. "Don't worry about it." For some reason, a blush flashed across her face, along with a hint of shame and annoyance.

"Rage points from Jing Teng: 110110110..."

Zu An thought to himself that the female ghost was truly incredible, to be able to create such realistic illusions. The Tai'a Sword trembled slightly, and in his mind, he heard Mi Li's "tsk, tsk, tsk," as if she were watching a play.

Zu An was about to ask her when a thought suddenly struck him. Oh no, what about Honglei? He quickly went to search for Qiu Honglei, wondering what danger she might have encountered. He had just taken a few steps when he suddenly remembered something and reached out to pull Jing Teng. Jing Teng instantly pulled her hand back as if shocked. "Don't touch me!" she exclaimed.

Zu An was taken aback and explained, "It's mainly because I'm afraid we'll accidentally be separated by an illusion again, just like before." Just moments ago, he had only stepped onto the stage and gotten separated from these people. He certainly didn't want that to happen again.

Jing Teng frowned slightly. The strangeness of this place had caused her great trouble, and she also didn't want it to happen again. So, a vine directly wrapped around his hand. "Just hold on like this," she said.

Zu An didn't mind. He quickly led her to search throughout the manor. Perhaps the purification spell he had just performed had taken effect, as the grayish-green mist throughout the manor had noticeably thinned. Before long, they found Qiu Honglei. She was trapped in a room, surrounded by dense Yin energy. He sensed that a hidden formation seemed to be set up in this room, which amplified the Yin energy so greatly. She glowed, resisting the Yin energy. It was clear that neither side could overcome the other.

Zu An quickly activated the Primordial Chaos Scripture to disperse the Yin energy. Seeing Zu An arrive, Qiu Honglei instantly beamed. "Ah Zu!" she exclaimed. "Just now, you all suddenly disappeared," she explained. "I searched everywhere for you, but ended up getting trapped here..."

Halfway through her explanation, her gaze suddenly fell upon the vine connecting them. Her expression instantly became a knowing, half-smile. "How did you two end up together?" she asked.

"We just..." Zu An was about to explain when Jing Teng suddenly cleared her throat, interrupting him. "Let's go look for Wei," she said. "His cultivation level is the lowest; he might be in danger."

Zu An nodded, no longer bothering to chat. He quickly began searching around the garden. Finally, they found him in the small river that flowed through the courtyard. He was trapped inside a long, narrow cage, his body entangled with waterweeds, his stomach bloated, and his eyes wide open, a look of unwillingness on his face.

Zu An's heart sank, because Wei Suo had no breath at all. He was dead. He never expected their long-awaited reunion would end like this. Zu An fell silent. After a long moment, he crouched down in front of Wei Suo and gently closed his eyes.

"I will definitely avenge you!" Although the female ghost's past was pitiful, she had harmed the innocent and would ultimately have to pay the price.

Just then, a violent cough rang out. To their astonished gazes, Wei Suo sat up again. "Avenge what?" he asked.

"Are you human or ghost?" Qiu Honglei asked cautiously.

"Of course I'm human," Wei Suo gurgled as he spat out the water he had swallowed. "Luckily, I know the Turtle Breathing Technique and fooled that female ghost, otherwise I'd truly be dead."

"What exactly happened?" Zu An asked curiously.

Wei Suo recounted his experiences during this time. It turned out he had played the role of the tragic groom in the plot. Everything then unfolded according to the original plot, and he was eventually drowned in a pig cage. Luckily, the Turtle Breathing Technique saved his life. He couldn't help but complain, "What sin have I committed? To watch my own wife being violated by another man in the room... Ahh, it left an indelible psychological trauma on me."

As he pounded his chest and stomped his feet, Zu An and Jing Teng couldn't help but exchange glances, then pulled away as if shocked. Although they knew they had experienced different scenarios, and he wasn't the groom from their room, they still felt somewhat uneasy.

Zu An cleared his throat. "Since the four of us have reunited, let's not get separated again this time. Let's strike directly and capture that female ghost!"

"Alright, she made me suffer so much," Jing Teng gritted her teeth. "I'll make her pay a devastating price!"

Seeing the hatred on her face, Wei Suo was startled, thinking, 'How could you possibly be more miserable than me?'

As the group was steeling themselves, the surrounding light suddenly distorted. When they regained their senses, they found themselves sitting in front of the stage again, and the play was just about to begin.