Double happiness (end)

The female corpse, which had been motionless, actually knelt again, her head beneath the red veil once more slamming toward the ground.

But Yang Jian showed little surprise. This had been part of his plan all along.

A second before the bride could kowtow, an eerie, sinister path wound its way over from the distance, as though invading from some unknown supernatural place. At its far end, a neon sign could faintly be seen flashing.

Yang Jian narrowed his eyes at the sign flashing with multicolored light: "Ghost Post Office." It was exactly as Liu Qingqing had described. The post office's rules had taken effect. Yang Jian knew his second step had succeeded.

The instant the Ghost Post Office appeared, the female corpse stopped halfway through her kowtow, slowly straightened up, and stiffly walked toward the doorway. Just as one foot crossed the threshold and landed on that twisted path-

Suddenly, a torrent of blood poured out of the Marriage Certificate, surging madly toward the female corpse.

The female corpse, who had been about to leave the room, immediately froze, stiffly turned back, and knelt once again, seemingly preparing to carry out a predetermined killing rule.

But the Ghost Post Office's lights seemed to grow even more dazzling. The winding path actually advanced a little farther, and the female corpse once again moved to step onto the path to the post office.

Soon, however, the blood spilling from the Marriage Certificate forced the path back some distance. It seemed neither of these two top-tier supernatural powers could overcome the other.

The constant collisions between the supernatural powers of the Marriage Certificate and the Ghost Post Office left the female corpse seemingly stuck.

Within that dark room, there was only the female corpse's endlessly repeated motion: rising, kneeling, preparing to kowtow, rising again, kneeling, kowtowing... over and over, as though it would never stop.

"Yang Jian, what did you do? The state this female corpse is in..."

There was a hint of surprise in Ye Zhen's eyes as he watched the female corpse repeatedly rise, stand motionless, and kneel again. Clearly, this was not a state that could be achieved simply by having two ghosts restrain each other.

"Every ghost obeys its killing rules. That's an iron law they cannot change."

Yang Jian shook the water off his billhook.

"That applies to the Marriage Certificate, the Ghost Messenger we encountered before, and this corpse alike. All I did was make their rules conflict."

Yang Jian knew he had succeeded.

Under the supernatural clashes between the Marriage Certificate, the Ghost Post Office, and the female corpse herself, the female corpse had fallen into a loop.

"Only the one who enters the coffin after the third wedding kowtow is the 'bride.'" That was what Yang Jian had written in the Marriage Certificate.

The identity of the "bride" had now come into being. However, Liu Qingqing had already returned to the post office, leaving that coffin empty.

As the supernatural powers of the post office and the Marriage Certificate clashed, the post office blocked some of the Marriage Certificate's rules. But at the same time, the post office was also affected by the Marriage Certificate, identifying both the female corpse bearing the identity of the "bride" and Liu Qingqing as residents. Yet this female corpse did not have the most crucial thing a post office resident carried: a letter.

And now, this female corpse was merely moving toward the bridal chamber in rigid accordance with her own killing rules.

At this moment, this female corpse was an incomplete "bride."

The Marriage Certificate was now restricting this female corpse. Only after completing the third wedding kowtow could she re-anchor the identity of the "bride" that Yang Jian had written last, but the final wedding kowtow had already been completed.

Under the clash between her own killing rules and the supernatural powers of the Marriage Certificate and the post office, this horrifying corpse had fallen into some strange supernatural loop.

Ye Zhen gave the corpse a long look and said:

"Although its manifestations don't remotely compare to the Ghost Painting, the Hungry Ghost, or the Ghost Messenger, its supernatural strength is clearly on the same level as those three ghosts."

Yang Jian nodded.

"Let's go. Watching any longer won't change anything. As long as no more supernatural powers intervene, this corpse will remain in this state forever."

With that, Yang Jian strode out of the courtyard with Ye Zhen, billhook in hand.

A five-story building in the style of the Republican era.

A sign hung directly above the main entrance, bearing three large characters in traditional Chinese: "Ghost Post Office." Multicolored neon lights decorated its edges, making it especially conspicuous in the gloom.

At this moment, the post office's lobby was packed with people. Everyone stared beyond the main entrance, their expressions grave and their eyes filled with disbelief.

At the end of the winding, twisted path, a horrifying, eerie dark-red figure stood motionless one moment and knelt stiffly on the ground the next, like a looping film that could never reach a certain moment of reality.

A man dressed in Republican-era clothing stood on the post office's top floor, a large saber in his hand.

The gloom obscured his face, while a pair of cold eyes watched that horrifying red figure.

Only after a long time did the man slowly turn and disappear into the darkness...

"Brother Leg! Brother Ye! Are you there? I really need to take a shit!"

Inside a gold body bag, Zhang Wei was wriggling with difficulty.

"Ziiip..." The sound of a zipper opening came from beside his ears. Dazzling sunlight streamed in, blinding Zhang Wei so badly he could not open his eyes.

"Holy shit, who threw a flashbang?!"

"A Wei, time to go back."

Yang Jian's voice rang out. Zhang Wei opened his eyes to find Yang Jian standing before him.

But Yang Jian was in very good condition now.

Back in that village, after the fourth layer of the Ghost Lake revived, it had begun attacking Yang Jian. But Ye Zhen had used the Substitute Ghost and the bracelet to transfer it onto the female corpse.

In its supernatural clash with the female corpse, the fourth layer of the Ghost Lake had been thoroughly suppressed by her, allowing Yang Jian to control the Ghost Lake more perfectly now.

Ye Zhen stood beside Yang Jian without saying a word, merely gazing silently at this city that had once belonged to him.

Yang Jian said, "You've changed a lot."

"When facing the supernatural, everyone has their own experiences. Everyone is miserable. In this age when the human world is a prison, I'm merely one among countless others."

"I'm off."

Ye Zhen turned and left.

Yang Jian silently watched Ye Zhen's retreating figure.

He knew that the Ye Zhen of today was no longer the same chuuni he had been before.

"Brother Ye, where are you going? Why not come back to Dachang City with us? The three of us can form the Zhen Yang Wei Group! We'll absolutely be unmatched!"

Ye Zhen slowly turned his head, a trace of envy showing in his eyes.

"A Wei, thanks. But there are still things I need to do waiting for me."

"What things?"

Ye Zhen's figure had already vanished, leaving only his voice echoing in their ears.

"I will sweep every last vicious ghost from this world, whatever the cost."