"Stinky baby, I can't get on the altar!" Lu Changxue panicked, her voice sharp with anxiety.
Her earlier arrogance stemmed from thinking these people were powerless; she could materialize and deal with any problem.
Now it was different. Something far stronger than her was present here!
Lu Changxue's gaze locked onto the Twin Gods emanating their murky black energy. A powerful intuition screamed at her.
That overwhelming presence came from these two black pieces of wood.
After depositing Yun Jianyue on the chair, the two women scrambled off the altar with frantic haste, as if terrified of being trapped there a moment longer.
Hearing Lu Changxue, Yun Jianyue opened her eyes and yanked off the red veil. She saw Lu Changxue truly seemed blocked by an invisible barrier.
From her perspective, the entire altar was encased in rippling darkness, like water.
Strangely, only she could see this barrier-like energy; even Lu Changxue, a ghost, was blind to it.
"She's awake!" Someone in the crowd screamed, clearly afraid she might run.
"What's to fear? She can't escape all of us!" Another voice scoffed.
Old Fifth Zhou snapped the order: "Begin the sacrifice!"
Once the rite started, escape would be impossible.
Over a dozen villagers, draped in bizarre ritual attire, surged forward. They linked hands, forming a circle around the altar, chanting unintelligible incantations.
Someone brought forward a squealing piglet. Another villager stepped forward and cleanly slit its throat.
The piglet thrashed wildly, its pained cries weakening, then fading.
Blood poured out, drenching the earth. In the eerie mix of torchlight and moonlight, the spreading crimson puddles began to seep unnaturally down into the soil until no trace remained, as if the gore had been an illusion.
Lu Changxue, outside the barrier, felt a phantom sensation, icy dread crawling over non-existent skin. As the blood vanished beneath the ground, she sensed, powerfully and clearly, something beneath the surface absorbing it. But not just the blood – also the vital essence, the very life-force, of every kneeling villager.
The villagers prostrated themselves low, praying fervently, silently, to the Twin Gods.
What they wished for remained unknown, but each prayer whispered was another step down their own path to destruction.
"Stinky baby, can you run?" Lu Changxue could only watch helplessly. She launched a blast of resentment at the altar's edge, only to see it instantly swallowed whole. Disappeared.
Even worse, she couldn't see what absorbed her ghostly energy and resentment.
Yun Jianyue had loosened the ropes binding her wrists. Rubbing her chafed skin, she started to rise. Old Fifth Zhou's booming voice cut through the chants.
"O Gods! We offer you this bride! Accept our sacrifice! Bless us all!"
As his words echoed, Yun Jianyue felt a terrifying suction erupt from the chair beneath her.
Before she could react, she was violently pulled into a swirling vortex of pure, devouring blackness... and vanished.
"STINKY BABY!!!" Lu Changxue's cry tore through the night, shifting into a guttural shriek of pure agony. Her eyes blazed crimson. Her black hair whipped wildly around her. Her fingernails lengthened into razor-sharp claws.
What had they done to her Yun Jianyue?! She would slaughter them all!
An observer versed in the supernatural would have recoiled in horror. Resentment coiled around Lu Changxue in tangible, suffocating waves of pure shadow, so deep and thick it almost obscured her form.
A ghost drowning in its own uncontrollable resentment ceases to be a ghost—it becomes a vessel for madness and destruction.
Lu Changxue radiated pure killing intent. She flashed across the space, phasing directly in front of Old Fifth Zhou.
The old man remained oblivious, eyes glazed with rapturous devotion. He moved with unnatural speed for his age, dropping heavily to his knees, kowtowing frantically towards the altar where Yun Jianyue had been mere moments ago.
"Manifested! The Twin Gods manifested themselves! They have taken the bride…!"
Lu Changxue's spectral hand shot out, claw-like fingers closing viciously around the old man's throat. But the instant her concentrated resentment touched his skin, it siphoned away, absorbed by that same unseen force.
Impossible! How can a mere human absorb my resentment? Forcing her rage-shattered mind to focus, Lu Changxue realized descending into true madness wouldn't help her friend. Calm. Focus!
Are Fifth Gong... all these villagers... mere vessels? Containers for that power?
To test it, she blasted a sharp tendril of resentment towards the floral-shirted woman. Again, the energy vanished on contact.
"Useless! I need help! Real help!" Realization struck like ice water. She threw one last desperate glance at the terrifying empty chair in the center of the cursed altar. Hold on, Yun Jianyue. Clenching her spectral jaw, Lu Changxue turned and fled the scene at blinding speed.
***
Right at this moment…
Zhou Benxin walked back towards his house, thoroughly perplexed. "That thing wasn't heavy at all. Why drag me out to help lift it? What was that about?" He muttered to himself.
Reaching home, he found the water in the pot nearly boiled dry. He rushed to douse the flames.
Just then, an unnatural icy wind swept through the kitchen. Whumpf. Every single flame in the stove snuffed out instantly, leaving not even an ember.
A violent shiver wracked Zhou Benxin. He clasped his hands together nervously. "Granny, I'm your own flesh and blood! Please, don't scare me like this."
Still muttering prayers, he edged cautiously towards the main living area, intending to find Yun Jianyue.
He turned—
—and came face-to-face with a hideous, contorted ghostly visage suspended inches from his nose.
"HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!!"
The piercing scream ripped from Zhou Benxin's lungs. His body exploded into action. The 6-foot, 180-pound powerhouse shot nearly two meters straight into the air. Adrenaline slammed through him.
He tore out of the house like a gust of wind, roaring as he ran: "SENIOR YUN! RUN! GHOST! GHOST!!"
As Zhou Benxin charged down the dark path in sheer, primal terror, a figure flickered into existence directly ahead.
The grotesque female ghostly face materialized again!
Zhou Benxin's legs gave out. He crashed to his knees, hands clasped in pleading desperation. "Noble Ghost! I beg you! I've never done a bad thing in my life! Spare me! Please!"
Lu Changxue pulsed with palpable, uncontrolled resentment. It wasn't just those with Yin-Yang vision who could see her now. Anyone, mortal or otherwise, could perceive her terrifying form.
A piercing, maddening shriek tore through her spectral consciousness, shredding at her reason, urging her to tear, to rend, to kill indiscriminately.
But a sliver of clarity remained. Yun Jianyue. Yun Jianyue needs me.
Lu Changxue snarled in frustration, smacking her own ghostly head hard with a spectral hand. "Shut up! Let me save Stinky Baby! Or I swear, I'll turn the blade on myself!!"
The sharp smack seemed to clear the intrusive scream slightly. She lunged forward, grabbing Zhou Benxin by the collar and bodily hauling him to his feet. Her crimson eyes burned into his. "Listen to me! Zhou Benxin! Yun Jianyue is in terrible danger! Right now! We must save her!"
Hearing coherent words and Yun Jianyue's name cut through Zhou Benxin's terror. He took a shaky breath, forcing himself to focus. As his panic subsided, recognition dawned. "You… you're Senior Yun's friend? Lu… Lu something…?"
No time for introductions. Lu Changxue seized Zhou Benxin's arm and propelled him towards the village entrance, words tumbling out in a frantic rush, summarizing the kidnapping and sacrifice.
By the time Lu Changxue finished her succinct, horrifying explanation, Zhou Benxin's fear was utterly consumed by a towering, volcanic rage. His eyes blazed. His hand clamped around Lu Changxue's spectral wrist like a vice. He wasn't being pulled anymore; he became the engine. His powerful legs churned like pistons, charging forward so fast he surged past the ghost dragging him.
His voice boomed, vibrating with raw fury: "They dared lay a finger on my Senior Yun?! I'll make them taste the terror of youthful vigor!!"