Chapter 56 O Soul, Return

Chen Mu frowned deeply, his gaze sweeping across the surroundings.

These decorations were not left over from the previous wedding; they were clearly kept intentionally. When he entered the manor with Zhao Qinghe during the day, he remembered that the place was not decorated like this.

The courtyard was decked with lanterns and colorful streamers, and red lanterns swayed in the wind. The tables and chairs were vaguely visible, but not a single living Soul could be seen.

"Let's get closer and take a look."

The two of them used the rockery and trees in the courtyard for cover and carefully crept closer. The closer they got, the more bizarre and inexplicable the scene became.

"It's a wedding, but it's not for the living."

Chen Mu looked toward the side courtyard where the bodies had been kept during the day, and Liu Ziming looked over as well.

The courtyard had already been transformed into a wedding hall. Large red lanterns hung high inside, red silk dangled from the eaves, and the hall doors were wide open. At a glance, one could see the three sandalwood couches placed in the center of the hall—the very same ones where the bodies had been kept during the day!

The bodies were no longer on the couches; in their place sat three figures dressed in bright red wedding attire, sitting upright as if they were still alive.

The Xianggu dressed as the groom had the gash on his neck concealed by a high-standing collar. His face was painted with thick white powder and rouge, and his lips were painted a dripping, vibrant red.

The two women dressed as brides had the holes in their abdomens covered by intricate embroidery, and their severed arms had been fitted with prosthetics, hidden by wide sleeves.

The three corpses, dressed in their finery, sat rigidly on the wooden couches with their heads bowed, as if waiting for an auspicious time.

"A ghost wedding… This is clearly a ghost wedding! Has this Zhao Qinghe gone mad?"

Liu Ziming's teeth were chattering, and he retreated several steps.

Chen Mu frowned. Suddenly, he heard footsteps coming from the main hall and hurriedly pulled Liu Ziming aside to hide.

Zhao Qinghe, dressed in a bright red wedding outfit and wearing a squire's cap, walked out with a smile plastered on his face, as if he were truly officiating a grand wedding. He walked to the main seat in the courtyard, stood still, then slowly raised his hands and looked up at the sky, seemingly chanting something.

The voice was low and hoarse, carrying a strange rhythm and accent that sounded completely unlike human speech.

"What is he saying?"

Liu Ziming asked in a whisper. Chen Mu merely frowned and shook his head; the situation was becoming increasingly bizarre.

He had never heard those sounds before. The syllables were distorted, sometimes sharp and sometimes low. Hearing them not only lacked the harmony of ordinary music but instead filled one with disgust and made one's Qi roil.

Just then, a hand suddenly reached out from behind and tapped Chen Mu on the shoulder.

Chen Mu was startled and spun around, his long sword instantly unsheathed by half an inch, but he stopped abruptly when he saw who it was.

Qi Huan.

This expert leader from the Prefecture was wearing night-traveling clothes. He looked at the two of them, made a gesture for silence, and lowered his voice.

"Don't be nervous, it's me."

Liu Ziming only then realized someone was behind them and was so scared he almost cried out. Chen Mu covered his mouth tightly, signaling him not to panic.

Liu Ziming swallowed his exclamation, and it took a while for him to catch his breath.

"Chief Qi? Why are you here too?"

Qi Huan's expression was grave. He swept his gaze over the bizarre scene in the courtyard and said softly.

"During the day at the gate, I sensed something wrong with the Zhao manor, but I couldn't put my finger on it. After returning and hearing the brothers describe the scene inside, I felt it was even more inexplicable."

"Moreover, Squad Leader Wang's explanation was too far-fetched. But as I am new here, it was inconvenient to clash with him directly, so I had to come and investigate quietly at night. I didn't expect to run into you two."

Chen Mu looked deeply at Qi Huan without exposing him, but in his heart, he understood that Qi Huan's words were half-truth and half-lie.

As a Banner Officer of the Prefecture, if he wanted to investigate the Zhao manor at night, why didn't he bring his subordinates?

Coming to take such a risk alone, he must have ulterior motives.

But now was not the time to worry about such things. Chen Mu nodded slightly and stopped looking at him.

The three of them had different thoughts; from then on, they said nothing more and continued to observe.

In the courtyard, Zhao Qinghe's chanting grew louder and louder, the strange syllables echoing in the night sky.

"This Squire Zhao is not simple. He can actually speak the language of ghosts."

Qi Huan suddenly spoke in a low voice, his tone filled with astonishment.

"The language of ghosts?" Liu Ziming was clearly intrigued by this new term and quietly turned to look at him.

"Yes, it is said to be a special language used to communicate with the Souls of the dead. Only those who Cultivate evil arts or have long-term contact with Ghostly Creatures can learn it. Squire Zhao is just a wealthy gentleman; I don't know how he came to understand such things," Qi Huan explained simply.

Just as Chen Mu was deep in thought, a sudden change occurred.

A gust of wind suddenly blew through the courtyard—not an ordinary night breeze, but a bone-chilling, ghostly wind that came from all directions, swirling up dust and fallen leaves on the ground and spinning them around the courtyard.

The lanterns below the hall swung wildly, the red light dancing chaotically, flickering on and off as if countless shadows were twisting and swaying.

Even though the courtyard was clearly empty, in an instant, it gave one the illusion of being abnormally crowded, as if countless invisible things were pouring in, packing the entire courtyard to the brim.

While Chen Mu was wondering about this, Liu Ziming beside him suddenly trembled violently, his face turning as pale as gold paper. His eyes were wide open, his pupils flashing with a faint golden light, and he grabbed Chen Mu's arm as if he had seen something extremely terrifying.

"Chen… Chen Mu…"

Seeing this abnormality, Chen Mu immediately asked, "What do you see?"

"People… so many people…"

"With severed limbs… bleeding from their seven orifices… they are all crowding into the courtyard… it's almost full…"

Liu Ziming's voice was shaking uncontrollably as he pointed into the courtyard, speaking incoherently.

Chen Mu remembered that Liu Ziming had said he possessed a pair of Yin and Yang eyes capable of peering into the netherworld, but most of them had been Sealed by an expert. It seemed that after the incident at Sangye Village, the Seal had loosened. He didn't know if this was a blessing or a curse for Liu Ziming.

"They… and them! Also the villagers of Sangye Village, those villagers killed by the cat demon!"

Chen Mu's pupils constricted. The Souls of the dead from Sangye Village were actually appearing here too?

The scene in the courtyard became increasingly bizarre. Although Chen Mu and Qi Huan could not see those Souls, they could clearly feel the air becoming thicker and more oppressive. In a trance, they seemed to see something as well.

Amidst the dark red light and shadows in the courtyard, vague figures seemed to be moving, flickering and dense.

Just at this moment, Zhao Qinghe suddenly stopped chanting, raised his hands high, and spat out a clear and eerie incantation.

"Soul, return—"

As the four words fell, the ghostly wind surged violently!

The lanterns in the courtyard swayed even more violently, and the red silk was almost torn away, snapping loudly in the wind.

Meanwhile, the ghostly shadows in the courtyard simultaneously let out a silent shriek. That resentment and pain, which struck directly at the Soul, made the three of them feel suddenly dizzy and disoriented!

Paper scraps flew everywhere, and a paper sedan chair suddenly appeared out of thin air in the courtyard.

The paper sedan chair was entirely ghastly white, made of rough white paper, with twisted talismans drawn on the curtains.

The sedan was carried by four Paper Persons, their faces equally ghastly white, with features dotted in cinnabar. Their expressions were stiff, and their smiles were eerie.

The paper sedan floated in mid-air, and one could vaguely see a tall figure sitting inside.

The paper sedan slowly descended to the ground, and a pale hand lifted the sedan curtain.

Immediately after, a figure walked out of the sedan.