Chu Qingjiu held out his hand to Qi Wu, who obediently took it and rose from the ground.
Even a slight movement of his shoulder left him drenched in cold sweat. He grimaced and sucked in a sharp breath, asking in confusion, "Brother, why did she suddenly attack me?"
Chu Qingjiu withdrew his hand without looking at Qi Wu and said flatly, "I'm controlling her with a paper effigy. But my skills aren't good enough. She protects her master on her own, and there's only so much I can control."
Qi Wu knew something about the uses of paper effigies. An effigy capable of controlling a ghost required a drop of blood from a Paper Effigy Master's heart, dripped onto the effigy's chest, followed by a strand of the ghost's soul housed within it.
The Paper Effigy Master could then use the effigy to control the ghost. But that was only in theory. Qi Wu had merely heard about it and had no idea whether it could actually work.
Judging by the current situation, however, controlling ghosts with paper effigies seemed reliable enough. The ghost was just a little vicious.
"Brother, are we going to find Wang Peiling now?"
They had only been delayed for a short while, but Wang Peiling had already vanished without a trace. She certainly wouldn't be so careless this time and would do everything she could to keep them from finding her.
Chu Qingjiu's expression was cold as he said casually, "The Underworld Walker has already taken care of that for us. We just need to go out and take her back from them."
He had known all along that the Underworld Walker was nearby. After all, he had ordered the Red-Robed Vengeful Ghost to hold Wang Peiling captive, and Qi Wu couldn't draw away every obstacle at once.
So he had simply made a little use of the Underworld Walker.
By now, the Underworld Walker should have caught Wang Peiling. They needed to take her back from him, complete the mission, and leave this dungeon as soon as possible.
He didn't like dragging things out.
Chu Qingjiu led Qi Wu and the Red-Robed Vengeful Ghost through the city gates. The instant they stepped outside, they left the Ghost Capital and appeared in the brightly lit Ancestral Hall.
The black-clad Underworld Walker had sealed Wang Peiling's ghost inside a bottle. They could only see her pounding painfully against its walls, unable to escape.
Chu Qingjiu hadn't expected to see a Soul-Locking Bottle here. His right fingertips twitched, and the Red-Robed Vengeful Ghost, her head lowered, lunged forward to snatch it from the Underworld Walker.
"Don't just watch. Go help."
He gave Qi Wu the order in a flat voice.
The Underworld Walker was no pushover. Naturally, he had his own methods for dealing with the Red-Robed Vengeful Ghost, and the two traded blows evenly.
The other five people in Daoist robes seemed to serve as support. They stood in neat formation behind the Underworld Walker, joining forces with him against the Red-Robed Vengeful Ghost.
Tsk.
Chu Qingjiu frowned. This couldn't go on. He needed more help.
"Go get the others. Make sure you find Xu Zhijie for me."
He spoke coldly to Qi Wu.
Qi Wu left a protective ring of talismans around Chu Qingjiu, then earnestly set about carrying out his instructions.
Chu Qingjiu was quite pleased with Qi Wu's good sense. He didn't want to witness an awkward scene of "Go!" and "No, I'm staying to protect you!"
When everyone could simply work together to solve the problem, putting on a show of profound devotion would only waste time. Chu Qingjiu had always thought that sort of thing was stupid.
With a cold expression, he calmly controlled the Red-Robed Vengeful Ghost as she attacked them. She was still a Red-Robed Vengeful Ghost, after all. Even if they had ways to restrain her briefly, they couldn't avoid being injured by her yin energy.
But they naturally noticed Chu Qingjiu, who hadn't moved at all and looked perfectly at ease, as though none of this concerned him. Realizing he was the one truly controlling the Red-Robed Vengeful Ghost, some of them approached to attack him.
Whenever someone tried to get close, the talismans Qi Wu had left behind burst into flames, cutting off their path and preventing them from approaching Chu Qingjiu.
Chu Qingjiu thought these talismans suited him rather well. If he could learn to use them, he ought to learn as many as possible.
After some time, almost all the talismans had burned away, and Qi Wu arrived at the Ancestral Hall with the remaining players and Xu Zhijie.
Chu Qingjiu glanced at them and found that only four players remained. Liu Peng and Wang Hao were both dead. He had no idea what else they had been through.
But to him, Xu Zhijie was the most important one-or rather, what mattered was Lin Xueru, who was possessing him.
Qi Wu approached Chu Qingjiu with an eager look, still panting slightly. It seemed he had run the whole way.
"Do you have any talismans that can obscure vision?"
"Yes, but I can't control them very well. They might block everyone's sight indiscriminately."
Qi Wu looked at Chu Qingjiu with some embarrassment.
Chu Qingjiu said flatly, "That's fine."
What he needed was to control Lin Xueru, who was possessing Xu Zhijie, while nobody was paying attention.
Two female ghosts, combined with the chaos, should be enough for him to take Wang Peiling back from the Underworld Walker.
Qi Wu obediently took out a talisman, closed his eyes, and murmured an incantation. Then, with a flick of his wrist, he flung it toward the Underworld Walker.
The talisman abruptly exploded, wisps of white mist spilling from it. The brightly lit Ancestral Hall immediately filled with fog, leaving only vague outlines visible.
Chu Qingjiu took control of Lin Xueru, who was possessing Xu Zhijie. She emerged from his body and attacked the Underworld Walker under Chu Qingjiu's control.
The Underworld Walker had never encountered anything like this. He cried out in terror, "Who are you? How can you control ghosts?!"
Chu Qingjiu had no intention of answering. To prevent the Underworld Walker from saying anything that might work against him, he had the two female ghosts attack from both sides, and the Red-Robed Vengeful Ghost pierced his heart.
"Urgh-"
The Underworld Walker let out a short, breathy sound. His eyes widened, and within an instant, he stopped breathing.
The Red-Robed Vengeful Ghost seized the Soul-Locking Bottle from the Underworld Walker's hand and, under Chu Qingjiu's control, handed it to him.
Chu Qingjiu pulled out the bottle's stopper, and Wang Peiling's ghost escaped. She still tried to flee the Ancestral Hall, but he naturally wasn't about to let his catch slip away. He controlled Lin Xueru to block her path.
"Xueru? How could you..."
Wang Peiling was shocked to see Lin Xueru. She hadn't expected Lin Xueru to stop her; she clearly hadn't been like this before.
Chu Qingjiu had no time to explore the dungeon's plot. He only wanted to finish it quickly. With a cold expression, he controlled the two ghosts, forcing Wang Peiling toward the dazed Xu Zhijie.
When Xu Zhijie saw Wang Peiling, his vacant, lifeless eyes suddenly lit up. The instant he touched her, the system voice, silent until now, abruptly sounded.
[Mission: Bring back the soul of the Eldest Young Master Xu's beloved. Completed.] [Dungeon "Hundred Ghosts Night Parade" cleared. Exiting dungeon in thirty seconds.]
The other players, still trapped in the fog, looked utterly bewildered. How had the mission suddenly completed itself?
The mechanical voice began its countdown. Chu Qingjiu withdrew the Puppet Threads controlling the two female ghosts, returning them to normal.
The Red-Robed Vengeful Ghost successfully claimed Wang Peiling's soul, devouring her right before Chu Qingjiu's eyes. He remained completely unmoved.
After all, this wasn't the first time he had witnessed such a scene. Could anyone really expect him to sympathize with Wang Peiling?
"Brother, you're not hurt, are you?"
Upon hearing that the dungeon had been cleared, Qi Wu immediately realized it was Chu Qingjiu's doing. He pushed through the fog toward him.
Chu Qingjiu remained silent, unwilling to acknowledge him.
Once they left the dungeon, they probably wouldn't see each other again, because the players would return to wherever they had been before entering.
But he, a Dungeon Boss with no entry route, could choose any familiar location as his exit point.
So he was going back to two years ago, to the room where he had killed himself.
Before you continue