Chapter 113: It Had No Choice

Tongguan’s face was still relatively clean, but his body was a grisly sight. His clothes were soaked through with blood, and he looked as if he had crawled out of a pool of it.

Before him, the cocooned figure was even more intimidating.

The human-shaped cocoon was still writhing, meaning the person inside was alive, still breathing, still desperate to survive. If Tongguan were alone, death would be inevitable.

Fortunately, he had managed to free himself in time, and Yu Guo had shouted for help before being attacked—otherwise, he would have died without a doubt.

Shaking the blood from his face, Tongguan regained some clarity and scanned his surroundings.

Aside from the half-dead Yu Guo, nothing else seemed abnormal. Chang Nian—the one said to have turned into a ghost—was nowhere in sight.

It was reasonable to assume Yu Guo’s predicament was the result of her actions.

Tongguan’s expression was grim. Suppressing the unease rising in his chest, he pulled out a lighter and began burning the black hair that had ensnared Yu Guo.

It was clear the ghost’s attack lacked lethal intent—this was a low-level assault, less dangerous than the previous encounter Tongguan had faced.

With outside help, Yu Guo was freed without much effort.

His face was completely pale, gasping heavily. He wanted to make a teasing remark at Tongguan but lacked the strength.

Tongguan closed the lighter and watched as the mass of hair recoiled in one direction.

His own body swayed slightly—a lingering effect of severe injury combined with high mental tension. His mind grew foggy, leaving little room for conscious thought.

What sustained him now was the thought of finding his wife, Chang Nian.

After rescuing Yu Guo, Tongguan stepped forward with determination, following the snake-like hair deeper into the courtyard.

Yu Guo lay on the ground, attempting to rise but too weak to do so. He could only watch Tongguan disappear into the distance, whispering a silent prayer for safety as he gazed upward.

Suddenly, he felt the ground tremble and tilted his head toward the source.

Someone was rushing in without pause.

Save Chang Nian,
buy time for Ji Li…

These two thoughts were all that remained in Tongguan’s consciousness. Despite staggering through obstacles and nearly collapsing multiple times, he kept moving forward.

Chang Nian could not become a ghost, could not die. If he could choose, he would sacrifice everything.

He could become a ghost. He could die.

By now, the final stage of the mission seemed within reach.

Ji Li must have already prepared a contingency, a method that, upon his arrival, would successfully capture the ghost.

The ghost had possessed Chang Nian to prevent the staff from acting recklessly.

Tongguan understood that Chang Nian’s life alone could not stop Ji Li from completing the task, which meant his time was short.

Before Ji Li arrived, he had to force the ghost out of Chang Nian.

But how?

The moment had come.

Clutching his wounds, Tongguan staggered into the long corridor.

This was a Republic-era Jiangnan-style corridor, with carved beams and painted rafters, leaves rustling in the wind.

When he saw Chang Nian, he felt as if the rest of the world no longer mattered. He looked at her back, and all he felt was affection.

Chang Nian was no longer herself.

Her hair covered the corridor floor. Though she merely leaned against the railing, never turning around, one could sense her beauty.

Tongguan watched her. She had lost her previous pride and volatility; under the ghost’s influence, she appeared calm and gentle.

For a moment, he recalled the days when they first met.

A small smile appeared on his face as Chang Nian slowly turned.

Her face was no longer her own, replaced by a stunning yet malevolent visage. But to Tongguan, she was still Chang Nian—his wife.

He walked forward without fear, eyes full of gentleness, murmuring:

“I won’t let anything happen to you. You won’t become like this. Ji Li is coming. Before he arrives, I’ll drive that thing out of you… and bring you back to me.”

The hair writhed on the floor. With each step he took, it climbed upward, gradually forming a humanoid shell.

The ghost itself was not present—it feared Ji Li and had divided itself into several parts.

The wedding dress was one part, Chang Nian herself another, and another hidden elsewhere. Tongguan’s approach was deliberate.

What he had to do mirrored the ending of the previous mission: use himself to exchange for Chang Nian.

Nearby, wind and hooves thundered. Fang Shenyen guided the ghost’s path, and Yu Guo reported the final location.

Ji Li rode at full gallop, carrying the sacrificial portrait.

Tongguan’s vision was rapidly fading. The black hair had formed a circle, seemingly intent on sealing him and Chang Nian together.

But that would take time.

In his eyes, there was only Chang Nian. Slowly, he put on the wedding dress he had kept in his bag.

Agony struck again. Half of his bones and flesh were instantly devoured, leaving him unable to stand.

It wasn’t over. With the last of his strength, he poured the water he had prepared the day before over his head.

In the Li Mansion, water was a method to manipulate the ghost’s killing pattern. Tongguan was forcing the ghost to reveal itself and attack him.

At the same time, Chang Nian’s hair began to recede rapidly, rushing straight toward Tongguan.

Using every possible means, he drew all three parts of the ghost to himself.

Chang Nian’s face gradually changed—from the ghost bride to the elderly woman, and finally back to her original appearance.

She had lost all consciousness, collapsing to the ground. Before slipping into unconsciousness, she murmured her husband’s name: “Tongguan…”

“Ah!”

Tongguan was inches from death. Only a fraction of a step separated him from it.

At that moment, the long-absent man finally arrived, cracking his whip.

Ji Li’s long hair blew in the wind, revealing his resolute face. His eyes were cold and fixed firmly on Tongguan’s position.

There lay the ghost’s true form.

The sacrificial ritual was only one step from completion. His non-lethal approach left only one option.

And this was the most perfect path to survival: when the sacrifice lacked only the final soul, that soul had to be a female soul.

The female soul would become the killer ghost—the ghost bride, a being nearly equal in power to the ghosts of Tiannan Academy.

Who said the sacrifice could only be a living person?

Ji Li should have appeared earlier, but he deliberately delayed, waiting for the ghost to reveal a flaw.

When he saw the middle-aged man die and the wedding dress vanish, he understood that this ghost would kill via projection.

Clearly, all the ghost’s actions were under its control.

Coming so early, Ji Li knew the ghost would be prepared.

Its preparation was to possess Chang Nian. When Ji Li cast the portrait to complete the sacrifice, it could very well target her soul.

That might complete the ritual, but who could guarantee that the unsealed ghost bride would help the staff finish the task?

In other words, Ji Li’s delayed arrival was to wait for Tongguan to break the ghost’s plan, drawing it entirely into himself.

Tongguan was at the brink of death. All of the ghost’s projections were converging on him. In the blink of an eye, he would die.

Ji Li, riding at full speed, leapt from his horse. In midair, his right hand reached for the rope behind him.

His eyes fixed on a single point—the last gap in the black hair circle.

The portrait flew from his hand, darting toward the breach.

Ji Li fell heavily from the momentum, sustaining bruises and scratches on his face, but immediately raised his gaze to the spot covered in black hair.

The ghost bride within the portrait would choose between Tongguan and the killer ghost to devour a soul.

If it chose the killer ghost, all was over.

If it devoured Tongguan, the situation would become irreversible—two ghosts with no escape would manifest, and everyone would die.

Yet in Ji Li’s eyes, there was not a trace of urgency. He knew—even the ghost bride had no choice.