Chapter 173: Opera Stage
Those eerie big-headed dried corpse infants seemed to have no intention of letting him go at all.
All of them surged toward that courtyard.
Densely packed, countless in number.
On the wall, a figure moved slightly.
A pair of eerie eyes opened, appearing extremely abrupt on the pitch-black shadow.
Now the entire courtyard’s walls were enveloped by supernatural forces.
Anyone touching them would definitely be attacked.
But those big-headed dried corpse infants didn’t care at all, charging straight toward the walls.
Suddenly, eerie events occurred.
Every big-headed dried corpse infant that touched the wall was instantly struck by terrifying supernatural attacks, directly twisted into a meatball by the supernatural.
The meatball hadn’t even hit the ground before it was grabbed by a pitch-black shadow arm and pulled straight into the wall.
“Not turning into green smoke makes this easier.”
Lin Qian walked out from the wall, his pitch-black body rapidly shedding its blackness.
He held a meatball in his hand.
For now, first control that vendor ghost.
Give this ghost a direct suppression.
Lin Qian reached out with one hand and directly probed into a certain place, disappearing.
At the same time, a black mist rapidly appeared, merging into his body.
Crack, crack, crack~!
Lin Qian narrowed his eyes slightly and looked up at the sky.
The supernatural still lingered, with the ghost infants blocked outside.
Countless meatballs piled up at the doorway and corner of the wall.
The ghost infants seemed endless, constantly appearing.
S-grade fierce ghosts were indeed a bit exaggerated.
But Lin Qian didn’t care. Although he knew it wouldn’t be long before the ghost infants stepped on those meatballs to climb over the wall.
But no problem, it would end soon.
The moment he controlled this ghost, the source would inevitably be suppressed.
“Curse.”
Lin Qian looked at the meatball in his hand. The next moment, terrifying supernatural forces suddenly erupted.
Using this meatball as the medium, it reached straight to the source.
Bang~!
The meatball in his hand instantly exploded into mist.
Outside the door, continuous banging sounds rang out one after another.
Strands of mist rose, like water poured on a raging fire.
The ghost infants disappeared, no longer appearing.
At this moment, somewhere in the town, an old woman with gray hair slowly straightened her bent body.
Plop~!
A child with a withered body but normal-sized head and ferocious appearance fell from the old woman’s body.
The child hit the ground, its eyes closed, and the supernatural on its body immediately went dormant.
The dormancy of one fierce ghost wasn’t enough to make this town safe.
Lin Qian walked out of the courtyard.
The supernatural on the walls disappeared.
Lin Qian clenched his fist. He was very strong now.
He could launch curse attacks that reached straight to the source, and they were guaranteed fatal.
Restart, plunder, evade supernatural, supernatural overlay, and that terrifying ghost eye.
But it still seemed a bit insufficient.
There were unusually many ghosts in the town.
Moreover, they all seemed to be S-grade, or even more terrifying.
Were there no A-grade fierce ghosts or even weaker fierce ghosts?
The answer was yes.
But they were instantly treated as puzzle pieces and killed by other fierce ghosts as soon as they reached the town entrance.
Lin Qian was starting to worry now; there were too many ghosts.
Dealing with them was a bit troublesome.
Moreover, he didn’t know what was going on with Fang Shiming and Ye Zhen.
He could only wait.
At this moment, in the town center, on the square.
The grand play began.
A pitch-black opera stage stood tall.
Below it, several hundred stools were arranged in rows.
One fierce ghost after another arrived, each taking their seat.
At this moment, already half of the stools were occupied.
Lanterns hung high, red light enveloping the area.
The audience had numb, lifeless expressions.
They sat ramrod straight.
Fang Shiming saw this scene and looked at the ghost candle in his hand that had burst into flames and then directly extinguished.
He simply tossed the ghost candle away and stared fixedly at the opera stage.
“This situation probably needs Lin Qian to handle.”
A play for ghosts was about to begin soon.
He had followed the ghosts all the way here.
And witnessed this scene.
Fang Shiming counted; there were a total of three hundred and sixty stools here.
At this moment, half were already filled.
The other half were still empty.
But ghosts kept coming.
This play, unless unexpected, would start only after all seats were filled.
But with so many ghosts, what would happen to those without seats?
Fang Shiming pondered.
He was also thinking if he should grab a seat.
At this moment.
A eerie wedding reception team was slowly leaving the town, heading toward the mountain.
Meanwhile, on the mountain, a young man covered in mud carried a female corpse dressed in a eerie wedding dress, walking down step by step.
From afar, the two sides would meet.
He didn’t know how much time had passed.
Ye Zhen suddenly stopped.
He gazed through the mist at the faintly visible team below.
After seeing that familiar red and white color scheme, he looked down at the red and white bride he was carrying.
“Looks like another fierce battle.”
Ye Zhen exhaled, somewhat worried. He couldn’t let go of this ghost.
Once released, it would instantly revive.
This was the first time he encountered such a ghost that he couldn’t make dormant or lifeless.
Perhaps Lin Qian could do it.
But Lin Qian wasn’t here.
Ye Zhen thought for a moment, then his ghost domain instantly activated.
In the blink of an eye, he vanished from the spot, heading straight for the town.
Why fight?
Just leave directly.
And just as Ye Zhen passed over that team.
The eerie team instantly stopped.
Immediately after, the leading groom turned his horse around, and the team directly returned the way it came.
In the ghost domain, Ye Zhen saw this scene, his gaze flickering.
But he didn’t pay it any mind and continued rushing toward the town.
“Where are these ghosts going?”
There were many fierce ghosts on the streets. Before, outside, the ghosts would attack each other.
But after entering the town, they seemed to become very docile.
Of course, excluding that death ghost that chased from outside the town into it.
“Seems like they’re heading to the town center.”
Lin Qian narrowed his eyes slightly. Was there something in the town center attracting these fierce ghosts?
Could it be Ye Zhen lighting a white ghost candle?
Thinking of taking them all out at once?
If so, Ye Zhen was really reckless.
Though he said that, Lin Qian quickened his pace, his figure turning into a shadow that rapidly shuttled along the walls.
Afraid that if he was slow, Ye Zhen would provoke something terrifying or get taken out by the source ghost.
There were really so many ghosts.
Lin Qian, shuttling through the walls, looked at the ghosts on the streets.
These ghosts were just like living people in the city.
Coming and going.
Bang~!
Suddenly, a muffled bang sounded outside the town.
The sound was loud, as if something had smashed down from the sky.
Lin Qian paused but didn’t pay it much mind.
Fang Shiming narrowed his eyes slightly. Standing on the rooftop, he gazed toward the town entrance.
“What was that noise?”
But soon he stopped caring.
More and more ghosts were arriving; now fewer than a hundred benches remained.
Moreover, at this rate, they would be filled soon.
Fang Shiming had a feeling that once the benches were full, something extremely terrifying would happen.
This was a premonition from the impending crisis.
Suddenly, Fang Shiming turned his head toward the street.
At the wall, a black shadow was moving rapidly.
Fang Shiming narrowed his eyes slightly. This ghost felt a bit familiar.
It seemed similar to the one he encountered in the Li Family courtyard before.
Fang Shiming didn’t pay much attention to this ghost, after all, the ghosts weren’t attacking them right now.
But suddenly, Fang Shiming noticed that the shadow was heading straight toward him.
Instantly, he became alert.
But soon, Fang Shiming was stunned.
A familiar voice rang out.
“Why is there a ghost opera stage here?”
“No, this isn’t a real opera stage.”
The black shadow slid along the wall onto the rooftop, then the black shadow actually stood upright.
Afterward, the black shadow faded, revealing a young man.
“Lin Qian, it’s you.”
Fang Shiming breathed a sigh of relief. Lin Qian had indeed controlled that ghost before.
Lin Qian stared at the opera stage, quickly taking in the situation at the scene.
“There’s actually a ghost performer here. I don’t know what this ghost performer’s ability is.”
Lin Qian’s eyes were deep.
The source wasn’t important anymore at this moment.
What mattered was whether the ghost here was a ghost performer, whether it was his puzzle piece.
After all, right now, the ghost inside him hadn’t stirred.
“Have you encountered the source ghost?”
Lin Qian turned back and asked.
Fang Shiming shook his head. “No, along the way, I encountered quite a few fierce ghosts, so I lit the ghost candle.”
“But after entering the town, the ghost candle burst into flames and then extinguished.”
Hearing this, Lin Qian immediately realized that Fang Shiming had encountered the same situation as him.
“Pretty much. I also encountered a few ghosts. Later I saw this town and thought the source ghost might be here.”
“So I came straight over.”
“I originally came using the ghost domain, but it was directly suppressed, and I fell from the sky.”
“Then I encountered a fierce ghost that could derive its own supernatural, and it chased me for several streets.”
“Finally, it took some effort to deal with it.”
“I also experienced the ghost candle bursting.”
“If nothing unexpected, there should be a ghost similar to ghost blowing lamp here.”
“We lit ghost candles. If they were ordinary candles, we might have been attacked already.”
After hearing Lin Qian’s situation, Fang Shiming nodded.
At first, he thought Lin Qian and Ye Zhen had lit ghost candles inside the town.
That’s why these ghosts gathered.
But upon arriving, he realized it wasn’t the case.
“Only Ye Zhen is left.”
Fang Shiming said.
“Right, that Liu Ping is already facing the source.”
Lin Qian was stunned. “He’s facing the source? Suicidal?”
Fang Shiming shook his head and handed the ghost scissors to Lin Qian. “He’s very strong. He seemed to have been hiding it before.”
“But maybe not.”
Lin Qian looked at the ghost scissors Fang Shiming handed over. At first he didn’t realize, but soon he understood what Fang Shiming meant.
“I have a curse medium on me?”
Fang Shiming nodded.
Seeing Fang Shiming confirm it, Lin Qian took the ghost scissors.
The moment he took the ghost scissors, the surroundings suddenly became incomparably dark.
At the same time, extremely eerie sounds rang out around him.
Dripping water, footsteps, murmurs…
All sorts of spine-chilling sounds.
But the most important weren’t these sounds, but the threads he saw.
Five blood-red threads clung to his limbs, head, and body.
“Cut them directly.”
Fang Shiming reminded him.
Lin Qian didn’t hesitate at all. He took the ghost scissors, wrapped the five threads around them, and snipped them off directly.
The scissors, already covered in threads, now had five more blood-red threads.
The moment the threads were cut, Lin Qian suddenly felt an inexplicable lightness in his body.
“When did you discover this?”
He handed the ghost scissors back to Fang Shiming.
Fang Shiming took them and looked at the curse remnants on them.
Looked like he’d need to clean the ghost scissors sometime, or having so many curses on them would be a hidden danger.
“The moment I was inexplicably attacked.”
Lin Qian was stunned. “You were attacked too?”
Fang Shiming nodded. “It was then that I discovered we already had curse mediums on us.”
“And the source of this medium is the ghost we’ve been searching for.”
Lin Qian’s curse was lifted.
Next was Ye Zhen’s.
But Ye Zhen probably didn’t need it either.
Lin Qian thought thoughtfully. “So the source ghost is in this town?”
“If nothing unexpected, yes.”
“Then what’s the deal with Liu Ping?”
Fang Shiming shook his head. “Not clear, but he’s very strong.”
Lin Qian carefully recalled.
He realized that before parting, Liu Ping had asked them a question.
Perhaps it wasn’t like that.
Lin Qian stroked his chin. “No matter what, Liu Ping isn’t weak, which is good for us.”
Fang Shiming nodded.
Both their gazes fell on the opera stage and those benches.
“I feel that once the benches are full, something very terrifying will happen.”
“Your feeling is right. Once the benches are full, the ghost play begins.”
“This ghost will probably be hard to handle, but I should be able to deal with it.”
Lin Qian said confidently.
“No, I’m not worried about what happens after the ghost play starts.”
“I’m worried about what will happen to the ghosts without benches if they’re all filled.”
Fang Shiming was somewhat worried.
Lin Qian’s gaze sharpened. “Your worry makes sense.”
“I’ll go try sitting on a bench to see if it’s dangerous.”
Fang Shiming thought for a moment and nodded. “Be careful.”
“Mm.”
Lin Qian agreed, then directly turned into a shadow and merged into the building.
Then, the shadow instantly stretched and appeared on an empty seat.
Lin Qian stepped out of the shadow, looked around, and plopped down on the empty seat.
In less than a few seconds, Lin Qian waved at Fang Shiming.
Fang Shiming immediately understood that the benches weren’t dangerous, or at least not right now.
Soon, Fang Shiming came down from the rooftop.
“For now, there doesn’t seem to be any danger.”
“Moreover, sitting now would actually be very safe.”
“Of course, provided no ghost comes to grab the seat.”
Fang Shiming sat down next to Lin Qian.
“The ghost performer hasn’t appeared yet. If I want this ghost performer, I might have to wait until the ghost play starts.”
“No problem, we can wait. Right now, confronting the source ghost isn’t wise.”
To confront the source ghost, at least Ye Zhen’s curse needed to be removed first.
Otherwise, their attacks might all land on Ye Zhen.
Even worse, Ye Zhen’s substitute death might redirect back to himself.
And there was also Ghost Yang Jian, who knows what he was doing.
Mm, and Liu Ping.
Now, speaking of Yang Jian at this time.
Yang Jian squatted roadside, looking at a red mirror in front of him that was slowly healing.
He revealed an eerie smile. “Let’s give it a try. It’s not like there’s no opportunity.”
