The night was deep and silent.
Rong Zhi waited in the darkness, eyes fixed on the road in front of the blacksmith's shop.
The moonlight was like water, not very bright, but enough to cast some shadows.
Gradually, Rong Zhi heard a heavy, dragging footsteps.
A rustling sound, the crunching of stones.
The footsteps grew closer. From the sound, Rong Zhi judged the person approaching was a cripple.
Inside the blacksmith's shop, Qiu Shan gestured to Rong Zhi. Rong Zhi waved him back.
Based on the time, it should be the female ghost. It would be bad if she were alerted.
Rong Zhi's eyes widened, focusing all her attention.
The next moment, she almost vomited.
The figure walking towards her was raggedly dressed, revealing decaying flesh and bones beneath. One of her legs was severed, and the stark white bone dragged on the ground, producing the unique sound of a cripple.
Her face was unrecognizable, a blurry mess of rotten flesh.
Rong Zhi heard a commotion from inside the blacksmith's shop.
Probably Qiu Shan was scared.
Rong Zhi felt terrified after just one glimpse. How could Qiu Shan bear to see her every night?
It was quite brave of him not to have moved.
The maiden walked closer and closer. Rong Zhi guessed she followed the same path every night.
In her previous life, she had heard people talk about a type of ghoul that acted without consciousness, merely repeating their habitual actions from life.
For instance, a person who hanged themselves, if they became a ghoul, would repeat the act of hanging every day.
Rong Zhi decided to follow the maiden and see where she was going.
At this moment, the maiden suddenly turned her head. Her dark, hollow eye sockets faced Rong Zhi. Though she had no eyes, Rong Zhi felt an intense sensation of being stared at.
Did she see her?
Rong Zhi quietly took a step back.
A gust of wind swept through, and the maiden suddenly leaped up, lunging at Rong Zhi.
Rong Zhi was prepared, stepping back a large pace to dodge the attack.
"Miss Lin!" Qiu Shan came out of the room, brandishing a large cleaver, and charged towards the female ghost.
However, before the blade could strike the ghost, she twisted her arm and, with a crack, the cleaver snapped into two.
Qiu Shan stumbled back several steps, his hands feeling numb.
"Brother Qiu, don't fight her. You can't win!"
Seeing this, Rong Zhi immediately recalled how Dong Mei and the others, under the corpse control technique, had exhibited hundreds of times their usual strength. Even the secret guards of the General's mansion had struggled to capture them.
With only two people now, there was no chance of winning.
Qiu Shan clutched his wrist. Hearing Rong Zhi's words, he turned and ran, shouting, "Miss Lin, let's run in the opposite direction!"
Rong Zhi nodded and leaped onto a tree.
The female ghost suddenly stopped. Just as Rong Zhi thought she had lost track of her, the ghost looked up abruptly, crouched down, and also jumped up.
Rong Zhi's heart leaped. She quickly scrambled down and fled using her lightness skill.
All the way, she was followed by a rustling sound. The female ghost pursued relentlessly. Rong Zhi went left, she went left. Rong Zhi went right, she went right.
It seemed she was fixated on Rong Zhi. Rong Zhi cursed her bad luck internally. Could someone be controlling her from behind again?
She couldn't always be lucky enough to have Xiao Jianli to save her.
As they ran, a wide street appeared before them.
If they ran further, they would reach the main road of the imperial city, where there were many civilians with no martial arts skills. If they encountered this thing, they wouldn't be able to escape.
Rong Zhi gritted her teeth, turned, and faced the female ghost. She concentrated all her inner energy into her right foot and leaped forward, kicking towards the ghost's chest.
This strike used all her strength, yet the ghost only staggered back a few steps.
As Rong Zhi landed, she couldn't help but curse, "Freak."
Even as a ghost, she was this powerful. Did she want anyone to live?
This move bought her a chance to escape. Rong Zhi leaped over the ghost and fled towards the city outskirts.
The female ghost stumbled a few steps, seemingly enraged, her speed increasing even more than before.
Rong Zhi felt a chill down her spine. Her shoulder was suddenly grabbed, and when she turned, the female ghost was embracing her, her mouth opened in an incredible arc.
She really wanted to eat people!
Rong Zhi struggled with all her might, but to no avail. The ghost lunged towards Rong Zhi's head.
It seemed if she couldn't break free, Rong Zhi would become a headless corpse.
She was in despair, not knowing what to do, when suddenly the ghost stopped. The pressure on her shoulder released, and the ghost fell straight down.
Rong Zhi then noticed a yellow talisman on her head, which hadn't been there before.
Xiao Jianli?
Rong Zhi was both surprised and delighted. Turning around, she saw a flippant figure fanning himself.
"So, how was it? This young master saved you again. Now you can promise yourself to me, right?"
Chen An smiled brightly, but without his usual lecherous demeanor.
Rong Zhi hid the storm brewing in her eyes.
Chen An also knew mystic arts? He had easily dealt with the female ghost.
He was indeed pretending to be a dandy.
She clasped her fists. "Thank you. But if others see that you saved me, it might cause trouble."
"Does this young master fear trouble?" Chen An said, starting to undress.
"What are you doing?" Rong Zhi took a step back. At a time like this, he was still in the mood for hooliganism.
"Helping you find your friend." Chen An winked, looking innocent. "You don't think I'm trying to do anything improper to you, do you?"
"Haven't you done enough?" Rong Zhi had overheard his conversation with Chen Yanyan during the day.
Chen An's mouth twitched. He spread his clothes on the ground, bit his middle finger, and used it as a brush to draw illegible runes on the fabric. Then, he placed the clothes on the female ghost's head.
"What is this for?"
"This female ghost has the scent of a living person. Following her will lead you to your friend."
After speaking, Chen An formed a strange hand seal and touched the ghost's head. The ghost slowly stood up.
Rong Zhi felt wary, but the ghost did not come towards her. Instead, she turned and walked towards the city outskirts.
"Follow her." Chen An led the way, fanning himself leisurely.
Rong Zhi couldn't quite figure this person out. Was he trying to help her?
She quickly followed.
Along the way, the ghost walked slowly. With her severed leg and the cloth covering her head, she still looked somewhat terrifying.
A scene flashed in Rong Zhi's mind.
A little girl covered in blood, a half-open door, the little girl struggling to crawl out, only to be dragged back.
The little girl's face was full of despair.
Rong Zhi was certain this was not her imagination, but a real memory.
Perhaps a memory lost in this life.
The female ghost did not use the city gate but approached a wall and leaped over it.
Rong Zhi was amazed by how high she could jump. Chen An looked back at her, "Do you need me to carry you over?"
Rong Zhi didn't reply. She flipped over and jumped across as well.
As the female ghost moved further away, Rong Zhi felt a chill all over her body. Despite wearing thick clothing, the cold seemed to pierce to her bones.
"This is not cold, it's Yin energy. If you were in my arms, it might alleviate some of it." Chen An spread his arms in an embracing gesture.
Rong Zhi pretended not to hear, focusing all her attention on the path ahead.
Chen An awkwardly retracted his arms.
The surroundings became more desolate, and the ground turned soft.
Rong Zhi suddenly realized this was the place where a large number of bodies had been dug up before.
The female ghost walked into a thicket of trees and stopped beneath a tree that required two people to embrace.
"This is the place." Chen An walked to the base of the tree, picking up two sticks along the way.
"Dig."
Dig what? Soil?
Could Chu Qingze and Zhang Yajing have been buried underground?
Chen An had already started digging. Rong Zhi did not delay and began digging as well.
After a short while, the branches struck something hard.
"This is it." Chen An knelt down and used his hands to push the soil aside. Rong Zhi did the same.
The soil was very hard and full of stones. Soon, Rong Zhi's hands were bloody, but she did not stop. If people were buried here, after so long, wouldn't they have suffocated?
As the soil was gradually removed, the exposed object below took on a clear shape.
It was a coffin!
"Move aside." Chen An asked Rong Zhi to step aside and kicked the coffin with force. With a bang, the coffin lid flew far away.
Inside lay a couple embracing each other. They were none other than Chu Qingze and Zhang Yajing.
"Chu Qingze!" Rong Zhi rushed forward, wanting to check if they were still alive.
She checked their breathing. No breath.
Rong Zhi's mind buzzed.
"Dead?"
"Not dead, just contaminated by corpse energy." Chen An calmly took out a vibrant green, round fruit from his pocket and placed one in each of their mouths.
Rong Zhi stared at the fruit, lost in thought.
If she remembered correctly, this looked like a Heavenly Fragrance Fruit, rumored to be a purely Yang item cultivated by the mystic arts sect.
Soon, the people in the coffin let out a faint sound and slowly woke up.
"Where is this?" Zhang Yajing looked around in confusion. Upon realizing she was lying in a coffin, she screamed in fear and jumped out.
Chu Qingze was a step slower. He realized how close he had been to Zhang Yajing, his face turned pale, and he started retching.
"Ugh!"
Chen An was displeased.
"You man, holding a beautiful woman in your arms, not only do you not enjoy it, but you're so uncivilized!"
He walked up to Zhang Yajing, striking a pose like a handsome young man.
"Beauty, I saved you just now. You don't need to be too grateful. Just promise yourself to me."
Zhang Yajing glanced at him and, leaning against the tree, also started to vomit.
Chen An's mouth twitched.
Did he smell bad?
"Why does it smell so bad here?" Zhang Yajing looked around and her gaze fell on Rong Zhi, her eyes lighting up.
Just as she was about to call out, Rong Zhi silently made a gesture to stop her.
"She... why is she here?" Chu Qingze saw the female ghost standing quietly under the tree and his face changed drastically.
"I wanted to ask you the same thing. How did you get here? Did you come to the mass grave again looking for corpses?"
Rong Zhi looked at Chu Qingze with a hint of reproach.
Chu Qingze rubbed his forehead and nodded slightly.
"I don't know about her..." He didn't know it was a female ghost.
"I didn't expect my friend to have such a peculiar hobby," Chen An said to Chu Qingze with a strange look.
Chu Qingze looked at Chen An, then at Rong Zhi, a look of bewilderment in his eyes.
"This is Young Master Chen from the Grand Tutor's mansion. He saved you just now."
Rong Zhi did not explain further.
"Thank you, Young Master Chen."
"Thank you, Young Master Chen."
Chu Qingze and Zhang Yajing thanked him simultaneously. Chen An waved his hand and casually touched the female ghost's head. A flame erupted from her body, burning brighter and brighter.
Watching his skillful movements, Rong Zhi thought he was perhaps even more skilled than Xiao Jianli. There were no legends of such abilities in the imperial city. He had hidden his talents very well.