The two grinned as they pushed him inside, then slammed the door shut with a bang.
The faint click of the lock turning sounded especially piercing in the deathly silent room.
Yang Yong shuddered, every hair on his body standing on end.
Damn it, they locked me in!
This place.
From the moment he stepped inside, it had sent a chill seeping out from deep within his bones.
He instinctively focused, trying to summon the Little Golden Flood Dragon Scissors.
The last few times he had tried to activate them.
The scissors had been like scrap iron, completely unresponsive.
But this time-
A sudden warmth spread through his palm. The Little Golden Flood Dragon Scissors trembled slightly, actually responding!
They work now!
Joy surged in Yang Yong's heart, and some of his anxiety eased.
Whatever their power, at least he had another means of protecting himself.
In this hellish place teeming with Eerie.
Having an artifact that could dispel evil was like having an extra life.
Even if this little power was no different from serving himself up on a platter before a truly powerful Eerie, it was better than nothing.
He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressed his surging palpitations, and looked around the room.
Red candles burned high, yet their flames gave little light.
Dim yellow halos flickered across the walls, casting twisted, elongated shadows.
A wedding table stood in the center of the room.
Lotus seeds, lily bulbs, red dates, and peanuts were neatly arranged on it.
All were folk symbols of "having children soon" and "a harmonious marriage lasting a hundred years."
Yet in this gloomy setting.
Those festive things instead carried an indescribably eerie air.
Yang Yong shifted his gaze, and his breath abruptly caught.
A woman in a bright red wedding dress sat upright on the bed.
A red veil embroidered with phoenixes covered her head. Her figure was slender and graceful, and she sat motionless, as still as a painstakingly carved puppet.
There was no rise and fall of breathing, no flutter of clothing. Even the breeze stirring the candle flames seemed to skirt around her.
This scene...
Yang Yong's heart clenched violently, as though gripped by an icy hand.
Exactly the same!
It was exactly the same as the illusion he had fallen into when he broke into the Coffin Temple that day!
He remembered it perfectly.
In the illusion, the woman in the red wedding dress had finally lifted her veil slowly and softly uttered a single word to him-
"Husband."
At the mere thought of that cloyingly soft yet bone-chilling call, Yang Yong's blood almost froze.
A chill shot from his soles to the crown of his head. He instinctively backed away, slowly, until his back struck the cold door with a thud.
Don't panic. Stay calm.
Gritting his teeth, he stealthily reached for the lock with his right hand and twisted hard with his fingertips.
Click.
The lock actually opened.
The door wasn't locked at all!
Overjoyed, Yang Yong had no time to think it through. He yanked the door open and lifted his foot to dash outside.
As long as I escape this room.
As long as I get back to the main hall.
However dangerous it is, it'll be better than facing this ghost bride alone!
But the instant his toes crossed the threshold-
An icy voice drifted from behind him, like a wraith breathing into his ear.
"Husband... are you leaving?"
Yang Yong went rigid, his blood freezing instantly.
The voice was neither loud nor shrill nor harsh, yet it carried a coldness that seeped into the marrow.
It burrowed straight into his soul.
Stiffly, he turned his head, little by little.
At some point, the bride on the bed had risen to her feet.
The red veil still covered her head.
Yet her exposed eyes were terrifyingly hollow, without the slightest spark, like two bottomless black wells.
She simply stood there in silence.
Her gaze remained fixed on Yang Yong as the corners of her mouth slowly stretched upward.
Forming an exceedingly stiff, exceedingly eerie smile.
No!
A thunderclap seemed to explode in Yang Yong's mind as he suddenly remembered the crucial difference.
The illusory bride in the Coffin Temple that day had been heavenly in her beauty, with an otherworldly bearing and an ethereal air.
Eerie though she had been, she had possessed none of this vicious, ghostly aura.
Hers had been an ethereal quality, upright yet cold.
But the thing before him exuded decay, bitter cold, and malevolence from head to toe-
This was a fake, an impostor!
"You damn thing, trying to scare me!"
Horrified, Yang Yong hesitated no longer. He roared, and golden light blazed from his palm.
The Little Golden Flood Dragon Scissors flew out in response, golden and yellow spiritual light intertwining around them with a piercing whistle that dispelled evil.
Like a streak of light, they shot straight at the eerie bride!
He was betting on one thing-a fake could never withstand a real magical artifact!
The ghost bride had clearly grown somewhat overconfident.
Facing the golden scissors hurtling toward her, she merely raised a hand carelessly and gave them a light slap with her delicate white fingertips.
She thought nothing of those tiny scissors.
But the next instant, her expression changed drastically.
Riiip-!
With peerless sharpness, the Little Golden Flood Dragon Scissors shredded her sleeve, sending scraps of cloth flying.
The bride's deathly pale arm was exposed beneath the candlelight, its cold white skin almost translucent.
Without losing momentum, the golden scissors struck her arm hard.
A muffled impact sounded.
Yang Yong's pupils contracted.
They were sharp enough, but their power was ultimately lacking.
When the golden scissors landed on that arm, they failed to cut even the skin.
They left only a faint red mark, which vanished in an instant.
Damn it!
Yang Yong's heart sank.
I'm no match for her head-on!
He made an immediate decision. Flipping his left hand over, he set the One-Yang God-Sealing Banner spinning rapidly in his palm.
Red light flashed across the banner, and a shrill ghostly howl rang through the room.
"Go!"
A red figure shot out-the Red-Clothed Female Ghost he had subdued.
Recognizing the newcomer, the eerie bride shrieked, "Knocking Ghost? You dare stand in my way!"
Her voice was piercing, like fingernails scraping frantically over glass, making the scalp crawl and stabbing at the soul.
The Red-Clothed Female Ghost looked up and violently shuddered.
It was the suppression of rank, striking deep into her soul!
Terrifying pressure bore down like a mountain.
She nearly dispersed on the spot, instinct driving her to turn and flee.
"Stay put!"
Yang Yong bellowed, driving his spiritual will fiercely into the God-Sealing Banner.
Strands of restrictive power bound the Red-Clothed Female Ghost, forcibly pinning her in place.
Unable to escape, she could only fight!
Driven into a corner, the Red-Clothed Female Ghost shrieked and raised her ghostly claws, their pitch-black talons gleaming coldly.
She hurled herself at the eerie bride like a madwoman.
Yang Yong did not spare them another glance.
He knew perfectly well-the Red-Clothed Female Ghost would not last more than a few exchanges.
If he stayed, they would only become cannon fodder together.
"Go!"
With a low shout, he instantly recalled the Little Golden Flood Dragon Scissors, turned, and slashed them fiercely at the heavy wooden door!
Crack-!
Golden light flared, and the wooden door shattered, sending splinters flying.
Without another word, Yang Yong took off, sprinting away without looking back.
Corridors twisted, and rooms stretched on and on.
He desperately fled in the direction he remembered coming from, twisting and turning, but the farther he ran, the more unfamiliar the path beneath his feet became.
"Something's wrong..."
Yang Yong stopped abruptly and looked around.
Every room was identical, with doors and windows in precisely the same positions.
As though they had all been cast from the same mold.
Damp black vapor seeped from the walls, and the gray bricks beneath his feet were slimy and foul-smelling.
A thick stench of rotting coffins filled the air, choking him and bringing waves of nausea.
He was lost.
This damned place was a ghostly formation that looped endlessly!
"I can't beat the Eerie, but you think I can't tear down this lousy house?"
Yang Yong's eyes turned bloodshot, his killing intent surging.
Since he could not escape, he would force a bloody path out!
Gripping the Little Golden Flood Dragon Scissors tightly, he stopped taking detours, chose a direction, and swung them without hesitation.
Azure and golden spiritual light blazed. He cut through every wall and severed every beam in his way, showing no mercy.
Crash! Crash! Crash-!
Deafening crashes rang out one after another as great holes were forcibly cut through the sturdy gray-brick walls, rubble and dust cascading down.
Like a rampaging beast, Yang Yong used brute force to carve a straight passage through.
Strangely, this time nothing else obstructed him.
Just then, the One-Yang God-Sealing Banner in his left palm suddenly began to tremble violently.
A bedraggled figure in red fled back into the banner in a wretched state.
The red thread on the banner representing the Red-Clothed Female Ghost instantly lost most of its brightness, nearly going out altogether.
She was gravely wounded and near death!
Yang Yong's heart jolted, and the description of the One-Yang God-Sealing Banner suddenly flashed through his mind-
This banner could absorb the remnant souls of Eerie and sinister ghostly energy to strengthen itself and nourish the ghosts within.
"Fuck, I should've thought of that sooner!"
Realization dawned. He abruptly raised the One-Yang God-Sealing Banner high, silently reciting the incantation to activate it.
In an instant, the dense black ghostly energy permeating the surroundings surged toward it as though drawn by an invisible force, greedily devoured by the banner.
The sinister energy of the entire Coffin Temple was being frantically drained by this little banner!
Yang Yong was deeply shaken.
The One-Yang God-Sealing Banner's potential was far more terrifying than he had imagined.
If it fell into the hands of someone good at lying low and quietly building strength.
In this Eerie apocalypse, they could absolutely use it to devour their way forward and turn the tables against the odds!
Unfortunately, now was not the time to study it.
If he did not run, that ghost bride would capture him, force him through the wedding ceremony, and make him a ghost groom for life!
Yang Yong dared not linger and continued cutting his way forward.
He had no idea how many walls he had charged through.
He abruptly burst into a room, and the sight before him froze him in place.
Beside the bed, two figures were furtively giggling and fooling around, their behavior frivolous.
One of them was none other than the still-alluring middle-aged woman who had helped corner him in the main hall earlier!
Before you continue