Chapter 1 The Beginning

Wei Yuan held a black cloth umbrella and moved forward, following the old man's guiding voice.

It was about to rain, and there weren't many people on the road. It was empty, and the bluestone slabs exuded a faint coldness. The buildings on both sides were filled with ancient charm.

It was like the Great Ming Dynasty more than a hundred years ago.

After several twists and turns, he arrived at the old city that had not yet been developed, stopped, and looked up.

In front was a garden. Facing the gate was a three-story wooden building. It was easy to see that this used to be a very elegant place, but now, all the romantic stories had been blown away by wind and rain. Coupled with the lack of management and maintenance, it looked somewhat dilapidated.

"We're here, this is it."

The old voice sighed softly.

Under the black umbrella, Wei Yuan looked down at the old man, then looked at the garden. It wasn't easy to get close. He plucked a willow leaf and opened his eyes again, clearly seeing that there was a thick, rich black qi inside the garden, and a layer of light blue glow on the outside.

It wasn't hard to guess that the special operations team members from the Wei Ming Sect had found this place.

But somehow, they had attracted the vengeful ghost transformed from Qi Niang.

Wei Yuan reached out and touched the outer layer of blue light, clearly feeling an instinct to avoid this place. It was obvious that the Wei Ming Sect disciples had made preparations to prevent ordinary people from accidentally breaking in.

If he forced his way in, he would be forcibly bounced back.

Wei Yuan pondered slightly.

The old man took two steps forward, slightly out of the range of the black cloth umbrella, and sighed, "I'm back."

"I lived here for so many years, left for too long, and finally came back."

He reached out, and for some reason, neither the blue light barrier nor the black resentment qi of this place itself could stop him. The dusty door creaked open slowly, faintly revealing a path directly facing the gate, and red lanterns on both sides of the road.

The old man stood sideways at the door, slightly bent over, with one hand guiding the way into the courtyard, and said to Wei Yuan:

"Young man Wei, come in."

Wei Yuan touched the qin case, nodded, and stepped inside.

The moment he stepped through the wooden door, the two doors behind him slammed shut, blocking out every ray of light. The original red lanterns turned pale, emitting a bluish-green light, illuminating the surroundings with a ghostly atmosphere.

Faintly, the sound of suona horns and singing could be heard.

A gloomy atmosphere.

Not something people would enjoy.

More like something for ghosts to listen to.

Finally facing the main figure, Wei Yuan calmed down instead.

Carrying the qin case on his back and holding the black umbrella, he calmly walked along the path, with ghost lanterns on both sides.

Footsteps echoed.

Tap, tap, tap.

………………

Talismans floated in the air, forming a formation.

Then they burned to ashes at an even faster rate.

Zhou Yi knelt on the ground, blood flowing uncontrollably from her shoulder, staining her white shirt red. Beside her, Zhao Yi lay motionless on the ground. Xuan Yi's face was as pale as paper, completely devoid of color. He barely moved to Zhao Yi's side, turned him over, pressed on his neck, and the expressionless look on his face softened a little. Then he nodded to Zhou Yi.

This meant Zhao Yi was still alive.

He no longer had the strength to say much.

Zhou Yi breathed a sigh of relief, then looked at the dark, lightless ghost domain around her, and the red-clothed woman hidden in the darkness, shrouded in wisps of night mist. A bitter look appeared on her face.

The opponent wasn't a vengeful ghost.

This was a ghost that could already be called a calamity.

They had underestimated the opponent's strength.

As soon as they entered, they were drawn into the ghost domain. The talismans and magical artifacts they had prepared in advance were of no use to this woman. They couldn't cause substantial damage, nor could they interfere with the vengeful ghost's emotions through words to expose its weaknesses. They had tried their best, even at the cost of their lives, but had only managed to injure a divided soul.

They had failed.

Dying here wasn't scary, but if such a fierce ghost were to escape...

The look in Zhou Yi's eyes became firm again. She raised her hand to wipe the blood from the corner of her mouth and glanced at Xuan Yi.

Xuan Yi nodded silently.

He bit his finger, smeared the blood on a peach wood sword, and quickly wrote a talisman on it.

Xuan Yi's face became even paler.

And the peach wood sword had gained a red-gold light.

The youth exhaled, then held the peach wood sword and rushed towards Zhou Yi, stepping quickly and changing direction rapidly. Zhou Yi took out a golden talisman, clamped it between her fingers, and silently whispered in her heart, 'Heavenly Dao is clear, Earthly Dao is peaceful, Human Dao is empty and still. Now I use the Ancestor's Decree to quickly go to Penglai Realm.'

The talisman spontaneously ignited, and Zhou Yi flung her hand towards the door, the talisman flying out.

Then she also held a lightning-struck peach wood sword and attacked the female ghost from two directions with Xuan Yi.

This Two Forms Sword technique was already considered excellent among their peers.

But it still couldn't harm the resentful ghost.

Xuan Yi was defeated first. Then, without his companion, Zhou Yi, who had a slightly higher cultivation, coughed up blood and was also forced back. The lightning-struck peach wood sword shattered into several pieces with a crack.

Death was certain today, but she didn't have much regret in her heart.

In any case, the news of the ghost disaster here had been sent out.

No matter how fierce this evil ghost was, it would be difficult to further expand the damage.

But at this moment, Zhou Yi suddenly saw a golden ray of light flying over from the front, and then flying out from above her head. Her expression slowly solidified, and then she thought of the records in the classics, understood what kind of situation she had encountered, and a look of despair and unwillingness appeared on her face.

Within the ghost domain, eight directions were reversed.

In this special environment, communication talismans, like modern means of communication, couldn't function.

"No... Impossible!"

The thought of such a ghost still being able to go out and harm people filled Zhou Yi with shock and anger, and also with great fear.

She gripped half of the peach wood sword, staggered to her feet, and still intended to continue attacking.

The female ghost opposite her lowered her head, and her constantly dripping long hair suddenly grew, with one strand gathering together like an iron cone, fiercely piercing towards Zhou Yi. Zhou Yi had just exhausted her mana and physical strength, and could only watch helplessly as the long hair pierced her heart. Xuan Yi was equally powerless, and could only watch with his eyes wide open.

Clang!!!

A crisp sound.

The black hair, like a weapon, was blocked at a precise angle, then deflected, and slid away.

The black hair failed to pierce Zhou Yi's chest, but instead heavily struck the ground beside her, splashing mud.

Zhou Yi was stunned, and turned her head to look.

What blocked the black hair wasn't a weapon, but an ancient qin case made of redwood. Although that strand of black hair didn't have much strength, being able to block the vengeful ghost's attack with such a simple object clearly showed that the newcomer's swordsmanship far exceeded Zhou Yi's understanding.

The qin case turned in the direction of the force, propped up against the ground. The newcomer held an umbrella in one hand and supported the qin case with the other, not looking at Zhou Yi, whose expression had changed drastically upon seeing his face. He simply calmly looked at the female ghost who had repeatedly appeared in his dreams, nodded, and slowly said:

"Wei Yuan from Quanzhou, invited by Qi Niang, has come to listen to a song."