Chapter 98: The Water-Avoiding Coffin

The scene had descended into chaos. Only a few of the men in white had scrambled to the trees, barely managing to evade the relentless spirit rain.

Most, however, were trapped by Chen Fu’s reckless actions, unable to escape, completely exposed to the deadly downpour.

Tongguan finally realized the first major twist of this mission: there were two ghosts!

He could hardly believe it, yet all the phenomena before him confirmed it.

No wonder so many clues hadn’t matched up.

After experiencing the red-and-white clash, they had been split into two groups.

Ji Li had completely disappeared, later revealed to have been chosen by the ghost bride.

The key to the incident, however, lay in Xiao Lan’s testimony.

Her words had been jumbled and illogical, but one critical point stood out: water.

According to Xiao Lan, water was the trigger for the ghost’s killings.

But the long-haired bride ghost that Fang Shenyan encountered hadn’t come into contact with water.

This meant the attacker of Fang Shenyan must have been the ghost bride.

Meanwhile, the ghost Xiao Lan referred to was present here, manipulating a deadly opportunity: the spirit rain.

Although many inconsistencies remained, the most important fact was clear: the ghost bride advocated the sacrifice, while the spirit-rain ghost was actively preventing it.

It was obvious—two ghosts were in direct opposition.

Other inconsistencies could be verified later; they were no longer immediately critical.

But even this realization sent shivers down Tongguan’s spine. His earlier two-star mission involved only one ghost.

Two ghosts meant the mission’s difficulty had geometrically increased, reaching unprecedented levels.

Tongguan knew that Fang Shenyan, the initial victim, had likely realized this as well.

Now, faced with the facts, the possibility of two ghosts was undeniable.

Fang Shenyan’s condition was dire. Blood seeped again from his neck, slowly dripping down his clothes.

Yu Guo hadn’t dared to hypothesize about this, as Chen Fu had disrupted them all.

The piercing pain left him no chance to focus. He clutched his chest, gritted his teeth, and shouted:

“Stop shaking! If you keep shaking, everyone will die!”

During this time, five or six more men in white were completely soaked and melted to death.

Chen Fu froze at first but, seeing Yu Guo’s shout and the successive deaths, immediately understood.

He quickly tucked the bells back into his pouch.

Chen Fu’s survival up to this point could only be called lucky.

One horse had died first, collapsing beside him, and he had been using the corpse as a shield; otherwise, he too would have fallen victim.

“We must get the coffin to the northern slope, or no one will leave South Mountain alive!”

The northern slope was where the master of the Li family was buried.

At last, the staff understood their mission’s destination.

But the relentless spirit rain had completely halted any advance.

Although the five staff were not at the brink of death, they were all injured to varying degrees.

Chen Fu and the remaining ten or so men in white fared far worse.

At this point, all were effectively in a single group, united in the hope of completing the sacrifice.

Chen Fu had his own motives, while the staff, drawing from previous missions, concluded:

Trapped between two ghosts, they had to survive in the gap. The sacrifice must proceed to counterbalance the spirit-rain ghost, but the ghost bride must not complete her goal, or she would dominate entirely.

The optimal outcome: sacrifice only a portion of the living.

This would restrain the spirit-rain ghost while delaying the ghost bride’s plan.

Yet Tongguan still couldn’t answer one lingering question:

What would happen if the ghost bride completed the sacrifice?

For now, there was no time to ponder. The immediate priority was how to reach the northern slope.

His skin had begun large-scale necrosis. His once spirited face was now covered in blisters and open sores.

Some had begun to fester, a burning, itching, and painful agony surpassing even the torment of Chen Fu’s ringing bells.

Shaking his dizzying thoughts clear, Tongguan scanned the surroundings, preparing for the next move.

Chen Fu, along with the remaining men in white, had taken position under the ancient tree, each clutching their heads, faces streaked with blood.

Everyone present appeared severely damaged, their skin rotting like that of demons.

The rain continued to pour, showing no sign of stopping.

Even if they moved through the forest, it wouldn’t solve the immediate danger. The trees couldn’t fully shield them from the downpour, and eventually, they would die from exposure.

Tongguan looked ahead and realized that once they crossed the slope, there would be no more tall trees.

In other words, moving forward meant inevitable exposure to the spirit rain.

At this rate, the ghost could eliminate all the staff except Ji Li without even appearing.

As he observed, his gaze fell on the coffin still being battered in the storm.

The coffin had been discarded by the pallbearers onto the muddy road as the rain began.

Despite resting on the waterlogged ground, it remained completely intact. Not a single mark on its surface. More strangely, the raindrops around it seemed to part slightly, as if avoiding it.

This caught Tongguan’s attention. He rummaged in his bag and pulled out an umbrella.

Holding it under the leaves, he exposed it to the rain. In roughly five seconds, the umbrella was severely corroded.

Tongguan’s heart skipped a beat. The spirit rain’s power grew over time and was corrosive to ordinary objects.

Yet the coffin remained unharmed.

“That coffin contains something. The coffin itself might not be special, but whatever’s inside is acting to protect it,” Yu Guo observed as he approached, noting the same phenomenon.

Tongguan nodded. If his theory of two ghosts was correct, the coffin’s contents likely had a significant connection to the ghost bride.

This explained why it could resist the corrosive rain so effectively.

Realizing time was critical, Tongguan immediately shouted to the staff beside him:

“Carry the coffin to the northern slope! The spirit rain won’t affect the area around it!”