Lu Qin furrowed her brow. "But your wife..."
"I know what you're wondering. You must have seen my wife's tomb and wondered why it was laid out just like General Guo and his men's, right?" Zhennan Hou slowly let out a breath, his eyes gradually reddening. "Lightning-struck wood, an overturned tombstone, a death warrant, and the Chihun Ling—these... these are the cruelest curses in the world. How could I use them against the woman I loved most?"
Zhennan Hou's question sounded less like an explanation and more like he was talking to himself. Jiang Cheng and the others instinctively held their breath, sensing that the real story was about to begin.
"Because my wife and I had agreed on all of it! She knew she wouldn't survive that journey."
Zhennan Hou's expression grew more pained. "She knew how strange the Ascension Platform was. She didn't want... didn't want to be controlled by those gods and ghosts after she died. So she specifically told me never to try to recover her body, and to suppress her tomb with the cruelest methods. The arrangements in the tomb... she taught them to me before she left."
No one had expected Zhennan Hou's wife to be such a formidable woman. Li Bai couldn't help asking, "These methods of suppression aren't something an ordinary person would know. Where did your wife learn them?"
After apparently getting his emotions off his chest, Zhennan Hou gradually calmed down and returned to the demeanor he'd had earlier. "My wife was exceptionally clever. When she was young, she studied under a master. I imagine that's where she learned these skills."
After a moment of silence, Jiang Cheng asked a crucial question. "Houye, as you said, General Guo and his men were monsters possessed by gods and ghosts. Your wife