After Marrying the Evil God - Chapter 22

“One down!” Shen Hanwu said, stowing away the Ghost-Suppressing Jar.

Drip— A drop of black liquid fell from the ceiling, landing on the tip of Shen Hanwu’s nose, dangling precariously.

“What is this?” Shen Hanwu wiped it off, gave it a sniff, and immediately gagged. “Ugh, it reeks!”

“What is that?” Xie Chouzhuan asked, equally confused.

“The wall… is rotting?” The two exchanged a glance and looked up at the same time in shock.

They saw a woman dressed in red clinging to the ceiling like a specter! Her black hair cascaded down like a waterfall, veiling most of her face and leaving only a pair of blood-red eyes staring straight down at them. From the corners of her split mouth, dark blood was slowly dripping, drop by drop, as a foul stench permeated the room.

“Holy crap!” Shen Hanwu, who happened to be directly underneath, was nearly nose-to-nose with the female ghost.

He instinctively raised his peach-wood sword and slashed upward. The sword struck the ghost’s body with force! In an instant, a brilliant spark erupted, accompanied by a hair-raising sizzle. The female ghost was wounded.

Suffering the heavy blow, she let out a shrill, piercing shriek. Her already terrifying face twisted into a hideous, distorted mask of agony.

Having landed a successful hit, Shen Hanwu retreated hastily. The ghost scrambled across the ceiling like a spider, lunging toward him.

Xie Chouzhuan pulled out his talismans and began throwing them in rapid succession. Several talismans exploded, leaving the ghost dazed and disoriented; the black energy surrounding her dissipated significantly, and her entire form began to blur.

“Capture!” Xie Chouzhuan reminded Shen Hanwu, who was staring in a daze.

“Oh, right! On it!” Shen Hanwu hurriedly used the jar to suck the female ghost inside.

“Wait a minute… is this really a Rank D mission? How did we handle two of them so easily? This doesn’t make sense.”

“Something feels a bit off,” Xie Chouzhuan agreed.

“The Yuan family massacre didn’t happen that long ago, so the resulting evil spirits might be relatively weak. After all, this is just an assessment. We’ve caught two ghosts in ten minutes; it looks like we can definitely try for the bonus objective.”

Xie Chouzhuan didn’t know much about the system, so he asked, “Are there special privileges for getting a high score?”

Shen Hanwu looked at him in amazement. “Of course! Didn’t you do any homework before coming here?”

“I only started learning recently and then signed up. I don’t know much about the metaphysical world.”

“When did you start learning?”

“About a week ago.”

“Holy—! What?! You’ve only been learning for a week and you’re already a Level 3 practitioner? Mother of God, where is the justice in this world?” Shen Hanwu went into a frenzy. “Ahhh! I’ve been studying for so long just to reach Level 3! Life is unfair!”

“So, what are the benefits?”

“With a high score, you can accept more missions, and you can even unlock partial Level 4 practitioner permissions ahead of time.”

“I see. In that case, let’s look for clues while we hunt the ghosts.”

“Wait, wait. Who is your Master, anyway? I might have heard of him,” Shen Hanwu asked, his face full of curiosity.

Xie Chouzhuan furrowed his brows slightly, hesitating for a moment before saying, “His honorable Master has long since distanced himself from the world’s troubles and no longer concerns himself with mundane affairs. It is inconvenient to reveal his name casually. It’s a rule.”

Since Shen Hanwu was only a temporary partner, Xie Chouzhuan naturally couldn’t reveal Ji Sixian’s existence. He simply fabricated a “hidden grandmaster” as a teacher.

To his surprise, Shen Hanwu took his words as gospel, nodding solemnly. “Oh, I see! I understand, I understand! That’s just the rule followed by the older generation of metaphysical grandmasters. They usually live in seclusion deep in the mountains, only occasionally taking a few disciples to pass on their arts. Unless the world is in chaos, they never descend; but once the world changes and demons run rampant, they will surely emerge to strike down evil with thunderous methods and save all living beings!”

Hearing this, Xie Chouzhuan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Have you been reading too many novels? Where do you find so many hidden grandmasters?”

“To tell you the truth, I love reading. My tastes are broad, but ‘The Celestial Master Descends the Mountain’ is my absolute favorite. I study it every day when I’m bored.”

Xie Chouzhuan: “…”

Ignoring the suddenly frantic Shen Hanwu, Xie Chouzhuan casually swept his flashlight around. As the light passed, the outlines of the dark environment gradually became clear.

Suddenly, he noticed a faint, hard-to-detect trace of white beneath a pillow. Feeling suspicious, he reached out and gently pulled the pillow away. In an instant, a chill shot from his spine straight to his head under the pillow lay a neatly folded stack of human skins!

Under the light, these skins emitted a nauseating, waxy yellow luster. One could faintly see fine traces of blood remaining in the pores. The edges were jagged, showing marks from a crude cutting tool, with bits of muscle and sinew still attached in some places. The scent of decay permeated the stagnant space.

The playful expression on Shen Hanwu’s face vanished instantly, replaced by unprecedented gravity. He stared at the skins, muttering, “How can there be so many? Was this the Yuan family’s doing? If so, after killing so many people, these ghosts must be overflowing with malevolence.”

Facing such a horrific sight for the first time, Xie Chouzhuan nearly vomited. He forced down the discomfort and tried to stay calm.

Shen Hanwu cautiously used a twig he found on the floor to lift one of the skins, revealing a rather old-looking notebook underneath. The book was clearly aged; the cover was tattered and covered in mold spots of varying sizes and colors.

“Wait!” Seeing Shen Hanwu reach for it, Xie Chouzhuan stopped him and pulled out a pair of rubber gloves. “We don’t know if this thing is toxic. It’s best not to touch it directly with your hands.”

Once Xie Chouzhuan had his gloves on, he reached out to retrieve the notebook. He flipped through the pages gently; every page emitted a faint, putrid smell. He discovered it was a diary. The handwriting was crooked and shaky, looking like the work of an elementary school student.

“It should have belonged to the Yuan family’s youngest son. Let me set up some protections before we read,” Shen Hanwu said. He pulled out two copper coins strung with red thread and hung them on the door and window, respectively. “There are still four ghosts we haven’t caught. It’ll be trouble if they ambush us while we’re reading. It’s safer with these up.”

Xie Chouzhuan nodded and, still feeling uneasy, pasted Evil-Suppressing Talismans on the door and window as well. With double the insurance, the two huddle together to begin reading the diary.