Bai Family

The woman before him had snow-white skin, almond-shaped eyes, and a rounded chin. She was not especially beautiful, but she was passable.

What sent a chill through Zhao Ke's heart was how this woman had appeared behind him.

When he saw that the clothes she wore were identical to those of the female paper effigy from before, Zhao Ke's heartbeat rapidly accelerated. He quickly swept his gaze behind him from the corner of his eye. Sure enough, the female paper effigy he had used as a clothes rack had vanished.

A savage glint flashed through Zhao Ke's eyes. One hand rested beneath his abdomen as he summoned the dark dagger from the Post Album. He calculated whether, if he struck now, he had any chance of killing her without alerting the two flower children outside.

Yet the woman's next words left Zhao Ke stunned. She gently wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief and carefully asked, "Master, why are you crawling?"

"Master!"

Zhao Ke froze for a moment, then immediately understood. The master she was referring to was probably some male paper effigy. His eyes rolled as he tested her, asking, "You're calling me Master?"

"Master, have you lost your mind? Other than you and me, is there a third person aboard this boat? Hurry and get up. We'll be there soon."

After hearing her words, Zhao Ke relaxed slightly, though he did not lower his guard. He nodded and said, "Maybe I didn't sit properly earlier and fell over."

As Zhao Ke spoke, he climbed to his feet. At the same time, he casually brushed his hand against hers. Her hand was icy cold, and it felt like a stone—cold and hard.

Just as Zhao Ke sat up, he heard a burst of commotion outside. He pulled aside the bamboo curtain and saw that the boats outside were gradually stirring as well.

Zhao Ke paid close attention. Noisy voices came from those boats, but they soon quieted down. Without turning his head, he asked, "You said we're almost there. Where are we going?"

This horror space was completely different from the last one. And just now, the two postmen like him had so easily become corpses. Zhao Ke could not shake his terrible sense of foreboding.

"Of course we're going home. How can you not remember?"

"Home?"

Zhao Ke's face remained calm, but he was even more confused inside.

"Mm, I think I injured my head when I fell. There are some things I can't remember clearly." Zhao Ke rubbed his head and pretended to be in pain.

"Master, are you all right? It's fine if you can't remember. I'll tell you."

The moment the woman heard that Zhao Ke had injured his head, she immediately stepped forward in concern and quietly explained their identities to him.

It turned out they were all part of the dowry for this ghost marriage. Her name was Cui Lan, while Zhao Ke had acquired another identity: Wang Gouzi, the steward among this batch of paper effigies.

They had originally all been paper effigies, but now that they had crossed the Yellow Springs River, they had passed Yang Pass and arrived in the underworld. They could no longer be considered ghosts or humans, only spirit mediums at others' disposal.

"Past Yang Pass? Into the underworld!"

Zhao Ke's heart skipped a beat. He had not expected the setting of this horror space to jump straight to the underworld.

At that moment, Zhao Ke noticed that a spark flickered within the pile of paper ash beneath his feet, the ash that had been used to roast bear meat. It actually began burning again, and a line of writing gradually emerged from the sparks.

Mission: Stop the ghost marriage

Mission prompt: The host family of the ghost marriage is the Bai Family of the underworld. Find a way to stop this ghost marriage and leave the underworld. However, be careful. You carry the living's yang energy, which can be concealed with the ash of spirit mediums.

(Note: Consuming the paper ash of spirit mediums can conceal the yang energy on one's body for three hours.)

When Zhao Ke saw the mission prompt, his eyes lit up. While Cui Lan was not paying attention, he grabbed a handful of paper ash and secretly transferred it into the Post Album.

"Master, look! The Bai Family is up ahead. What an impressive estate. As expected of a wealthy household."

Cui Lan lifted the bamboo curtain, walked to the bow, and pointed ahead. Joy appeared on her snow-white face.

Zhao Ke looked over and saw that, sure enough, an old residence stood on the riverbank ahead. Its walls were pure white and its gates vermilion red. It truly looked grand and imposing.

But what caught Zhao Ke's attention even more was that figures were gradually emerging from several small boats beside them. Judging by their clothing, they were clearly not spirit mediums.

Zhao Ke's eyelids twitched. "Postmen!"

He did not know how many postmen were involved in this mission, but one thing was certain: they had surely received the mission prompt as well.

Otherwise, they would not have emerged so openly. As for the spirit mediums in their cabins, Zhao Ke had not seen them, but the faint smell of burning in the air had already given him the answer.

Zhao Ke noticed them, and naturally, the others noticed him as well. One gaze after another fixed on him.

Some were puzzled, some disdainful. Zhao Ke could even sense hostile eyes inspecting him up and down.

What puzzled them, however, was why a spirit medium stood beside Zhao Ke.

"Ring, ring, ring..."

At that moment, the ringing of bells tightened Zhao Ke's heart. He followed the sound and saw the Bai Family's vermilion gates slowly open. The sound of gongs and drums rose, and the pitch-black sedan chair was slowly carried into the Bai Family estate.

Though it was obvious that their mission was to stop this ghost marriage, no one dared make a move as they watched the sedan chair carried through the Bai Family gates.

The fate of those two postmen earlier was still fresh in their minds. If they tried to fight head-on, then with only a few postmen like them, they would simply be courting death.

"Cui Lan, do you know how to return to the human world?"

"Return? We can't return. Our true bodies have already been burned. How could we possibly go back? Master, why are you so confused?"

Hearing Cui Lan's words, Zhao Ke frowned tightly and cursed inwardly, Damn it!

The true difficulty of this mission was not merely destroying the ghost marriage. Its real challenge was finding a way back to the human world first.

At the very least, before they found a way to leave, they could not take any action. Otherwise... what awaited them would be endless pursuit and being trapped here for all eternity, until they became wandering ghosts.

One small boat after another gradually docked at the pier near the Bai Family estate. Zhao Ke first swallowed a mouthful of paper ash, then followed behind Cui Lan as they disembarked.

The moment they stepped off the boat, Zhao Ke looked back and saw that the small boat behind them had begun to sink. In the blink of an eye, it disappeared beneath the river.

Clearly, the idea of using the small boats to return was impossible.

"Hey, you lot, come with me."

At that moment, someone dressed in white mourning clothes walked up to Zhao Ke. His face was expressionless as he waved them over and told them to follow.

"Master, that's the Bai Family's steward. Hurry and follow him."

Afraid that Zhao Ke would not understand, Cui Lan hurriedly urged him to follow.

As spirit mediums accompanying the dowry, Zhao Ke and the others naturally had no right to enter through the main gate. Instead, they were led through a side entrance.

When they arrived at a small courtyard, the Bai Family steward pointed and said, "This is where you'll stay from now on."

Cui Lan looked around the courtyard, then walked over to the steward. Without drawing attention, she took out a stack of paper money and slipped it into his hand, smiling ingratiatingly. "Esteemed Steward, our master..."

"Your master doesn't need servants like you. From now on, your task is to serve the masters and madams of every branch of the Bai Family here. If anyone dares to slack off or neglect their duties, be careful, or I'll throw them into the Yellow Springs River."

Cui Lan froze. This seemed different from what she had expected. She hurriedly said, "No, Esteemed Steward, this... isn't in accordance with the rules, is it?"

"Rules?"

The steward gave a cold laugh. His eyes swept over Zhao Ke and the other spirit mediums, and he said with a false smile, "In the Bai Family, I am the rule."

"Yes, yes, yes!"

Though Cui Lan looked troubled, she nodded repeatedly in agreement.

"You'll stay here tonight. Tomorrow morning, I'll arrange work for you. Let me tell you this: don't wander around. If you end up somewhere you shouldn't be, not even King Yama can save you."

With that, the steward turned and left.

After the steward left, Cui Lan began assigning rooms. Zhao Ke turned and saw that the other postmen had no intention of gathering together to act either.

Zhao Ke was not surprised by this. He had already confirmed it from Qi Liang.

The more people participated in a mission together, the smaller the reward. A reward that one person could have claimed alone would only be divided up if others joined in, leaving everyone with less and less.

Rather than that, it was better to split up for now and decide whether to join forces after the situation became clearer.

"Master!"

At that moment, Cui Lan pulled Zhao Ke into a room. The room was small, but quite clean.

Cui Lan shut the door, turned to Zhao Ke, and said, "Master, it's time for us to rest." As she spoke, she slowly undid the buttons at her chest and walked toward Zhao Ke with a seductive expression.

Luckily, I made it in time. Starting tomorrow, I have to get up early and write. I can't stay up this late anymore.