The Dead

"By the way, Old Gu, what are you in such a hurry to do?"

Gu Sheng was puzzled. Usually, Gu Xuanwu was extremely particular about putting on a grand show whenever he traveled through his own territory. Every time, a large group of soldiers cleared the way for him. But what was going on today? He had brought only three or five men and simply ridden out on horseback.

"Hey! Don’t ask. It’s bad luck!"

Gu Xuanwu said irritably, "Didn’t I just buy a residence in Wen County?"

When he reached this point, Gu Xuanwu lowered his voice. "Something happened—the residence has a dead person inside!"

"A dead person! How did he die?"

Gu Sheng’s expression shifted slightly. If he remembered correctly, the haunted residence where Gu Xuanwu’s dead person had appeared was the place where Yue Qiluo was sealed.

Yue Qiluo had refined a Ghost Fiend there that was similar to a Bound Spirit. Its name was Xiao Cui. Although it could only run rampant near the well at Gu Residence, it was truly extremely dangerous. In the original story, before Wu Xin arrived, it had already claimed three lives.

None of that was particularly important. What mattered was that Zhang Xianzong had previously recommended this residence to Gu Xuanwu. Zhang Xianzong had learned through certain channels that something was wrong with the residence, yet he had deliberately introduced it to Gu Xuanwu. His intention was obvious: he hoped Gu Xuanwu would be harmed.

Although Gu Sheng was not completely Zhang Xianzong, since he had replaced him, he would inherit his karma. In other words, everything Zhang Xianzong had done, whether good causes or bad consequences, would fall upon Gu Sheng’s head.

Zhang Xianzong had started the matter at Gu Residence. The more people died, the more sin he would bear. Gu Sheng did not care about sin or anything like that, but the matter had begun because of him. It would have been one thing if he had not known. Now that he did, he had to handle it.

"How did he die? Forget it. Let’s go over and take a look together!"

Jiang Shaofeng said urgently. At the end of his sentence, he immediately vaulted onto Gu Xuanwu’s horse. He urged it forward, reached Liu Daimei’s side, and gave her a slight tug by the hand. The beauty flew into his arms. He shook the reins and rode the fine horse toward the street where Gu Residence stood.

"Hey! Old Zhang, that’s my horse!"

Gu Xuanwu was dumbfounded. He was the dignified commander of Wen County, yet one of his subordinates had stolen his horse to inspect his own residence. He had even stood right there and watched it happen. What kind of situation was this?

"Didn’t you see that your sister-in-law is frail? Were you expecting Xiao Chunzi to walk there?"

Gu Sheng’s voice drifted over on the wind. Gu Xuanwu was helpless. He might have been angry if it were some other woman, but that woman was Xiao Chunzi—the body Yue Qiluo had descended into—so all he felt was a faint, inexplicable heartache.

"Damn it!"

Gu Xuanwu stamped his foot hard and cursed several times in frustration. Then he shouted at the few soldiers still standing there in a daze, "What are you waiting for? After them!" As he spoke, the highest-ranking official in Wen County actually took the lead and ran after them.

"Giddy-up~~"

Gu Sheng rode at full speed with Liu Daimei and followed the route in his memory until they reached Gu Residence. At that moment, a group of soldiers stood guard outside the gate. Some of them kept looking into the distance, as if waiting for Gu Xuanwu to arrive.

"Chief of Staff!"

When they saw Gu Sheng arrive, someone immediately came over and saluted. Zhang Xianzong—Gu Sheng’s incarnation—held a special position in Wen County. He was not only the commander of Gu Xuanwu’s elite independent regiment but also the chief of staff of the entire Wen County Command Headquarters. He held a high position and real authority, ranking just below Gu Xuanwu in both power and status.

"What happened? Who died? When did it happen?"

Gu Sheng dismounted, then reached out and helped Liu Daimei down. He walked up to the squad leader and asked.

"Chief of Staff, it was Little Six. Yesterday was your wedding, and everyone went to your residence. We left Little Six alone to stand night watch, but who would have thought something like this would happen?"

The squad leader hurriedly replied, "Little Six was the only one keeping watch last night, so no one knew when he died. When we came over this morning, we discovered that he had already been dead for quite some time!"

"Where’s the body? Take me to see it!"

Gu Sheng asked, though he felt rather uncomfortable inside. Someone had died on the night of his wedding, and the victim was even a subordinate from his own unit. Although the man had not died at his residence, it was still a very unlucky affair.

"Over here!"

The squad leader led Gu Sheng and Liu Daimei to the side. A body covered in white cloth lay on a stretcher. The squad leader pulled back the cloth, revealing a young, pallid face.

It was a very young boy, barely grown. His body had been torn to pieces by something, leaving only his head intact.

"Is anyone still inside?"

Gu Sheng suddenly poked his head forward and asked. The squad leader instinctively replied, "Ah! N-no, no one is. Someone has already died, and in that state, too. Who would dare stay inside alone?"

"Good. Stay outside and keep watch. No matter what you hear, don’t come in!"

Gu Sheng instructed the soldiers. Then he took Liu Daimei’s hand and entered Gu Residence. As he crossed the threshold, he felt as though he had stepped into an entirely different world.

Outside, the sun was shining brightly. Inside, however, it seemed as though a layer of darkness had settled over everything. Though flowers bloomed in vivid colors, perhaps because no one lived there, the lonely scenery was so garishly bright that it hurt the eyes.

They passed through two courtyards. The gate to the third courtyard stood wide open. The moment Gu Sheng approached it, a chill ran down his spine, and a layer of cold seeped out from the depths of his heart. Beside him, Liu Daimei, whose body was feeling unwell, reacted even more strongly. Her brows creased into a deep frown.

"Be careful!"

Gu Sheng held Liu Daimei’s hand and sent a stream of gentle Inner Force into her. After arriving in the mission world, his cultivation was no longer suppressed, and Inner Force filled his entire body.

Although its terrifying destructive power from The Nine Cauldrons World was gone because Spiritual Qi here was too inactive and difficult to draw upon, its might was still not to be underestimated when circulated through the body.

Gu Sheng walked to one corner of the courtyard. Someone had scrubbed the ground, but black blood still clung to the cracks between the bricks. A well stood in the southeast corner. Short railings surrounded the well platform on all four sides, and a fairly new little iron bucket had been tossed beside it.

"Was this done by a ghost? How did it manage that? Didn’t they say ghosts couldn’t act with their own hands? Could that ghost have controlled Little Six and made him kill himself? But that still doesn’t make sense. His flesh and skin were torn apart like that. He should have died long before he could endure it!"

Liu Daimei walked over to Gu Sheng’s side. The two worlds she had experienced had both followed a modern science-fiction style, so she did not know much about things from the Eastern supernatural side.

After Gu Sheng selected this world, he had chosen Wu Xin: The Monster Killer. Sorcerers in China were always inseparable from demons and ghosts, so she had deliberately crammed in some knowledge about this area. She was still only an amateur, however.

Gu Sheng suddenly said, "At the moment of death, he suffered unimaginable torment, yet he could not move his body or speak a word. First his skin was peeled away, then his bones were dismantled. His eyes were gouged out and his heart torn out. Nothing was spared.

"This isn’t the work of a ghost. It’s a fiend—more powerful than a ghost. Ghosts are formless, while fiends have form. Ghosts can’t directly attack people, but fiends can. They also possess the traits of ghosts, able to shift freely between illusion and reality. Without a specialized method of dealing with one, it’s extremely difficult to destroy a fiend."