Liu Shinian looked outside the door. The area was empty. He then asked Lin'er.
"Elder, where is Muye? Why haven't I seen her?"
"I don't know. She's been in her small building the whole time and hasn't come out."
Liu Shinian was very puzzled and wondered if Muye was sick.
"Could she be sick? Should we go check on her?"
Lin'er shook his head, his expression solemn, and explained.
"It doesn't seem like it. She's been very strange lately, always talking to herself."
Hearing him say this, everyone couldn't help but recall Muye's recent odd behavior.
Tian Long lowered his head slightly, remembering that night in the courtyard under the soft and bright moonlight, in the quiet corner of the pavilion, she was alone, talking and laughing to herself.
Thirteen Niang recalled that in the Blackwood Forest, Li Xingye's face was expressionless, his killing intent surging, and a disturbing black mist flew out from within her.
And that aura was like the Myriad Ghost King she had seen a thousand years ago.
Yue Yao couldn't help but recall that day in the small valley, her fierce eyes and terrifying face, as if she were another person entirely.
All of this was truly baffling and full of questions. Or perhaps, the current her was not the true her at all.
Lin'er and Liu Shinian exchanged a glance, both guessing each other's thoughts. Xue Gucheng spoke first.
"No matter what, take me with you."
Lin'er nodded, as if he already had a plan.
"You all rest. I'll go find a few elders."
"Alright."
With that, he got up and left the room, walking outside.
He arrived in the garden and met a maidservant who was about to deliver food to the Ghost King.
His eyes darted, and a plan formed in his mind. He stopped her and asked.
"Is this food for the Ghost King?"
"Yes, Elder."
Lin'er pondered for a moment and said to her.
"I'll go. Please notify a few elders to come to the main hall. Tell them there's an important matter to discuss."
"Yes."
Lin'er took the tray and walked towards the small building in the garden.
The Myriad Ghost King had become surprisingly talkative these past few days.
Although his appearance could never be seen, his frequent words made it easy to guess his agitation.
"Why aren't you going to see them?"
The Myriad Ghost King asked leisurely, circling around me.
I sighed, feeling a bit dejected.
"Alas! They have others to look after them. I don't need to worry. I just haven't felt like going out these past few days."
"You acting like this will make others suspicious of us," he suddenly thought.
I turned my head, looking at his disfigured black energy, and mocked.
"Hahaha, I didn't expect you to be so timid."
"That's not it."
He floated to the window, exhaled, and blew the window open. A ray of blinding sunlight drifted in, landing on a flowerpot by the window.
He hovered over the flowerpot and then lunged at it. In an instant, the petals withered, and all life vanished.
I wasn't surprised by his actions, as if I had long grown accustomed to his strange behavior. Still, I asked casually.
"What happened to these flowers?"
"Nothing. I just need some new life to maintain my form."
"This way..."
Before I could finish, he suddenly interrupted.
"Someone's coming!"
Then, the sound of footsteps ascending the stairs could be heard from outside.
I signaled the Myriad Ghost King to hide.
However, this time, instead of returning to my body as before, he dove into the quilt.
Lin'er walked upstairs and heard voices from inside the room. He deliberately made his footsteps louder.
Arriving at the door, he knocked and called out.
"Ghost King, I've brought you food."
Opening the door, I was a bit confused to see him.
"Why did you bring it yourself? Didn't I ask Xiao Mei to bring it?"
Lin'er explained.
"I met her on the way, so I took the initiative to take it."
"Oh, just put it on the table."
After Lin'er placed the food on the table, his gaze quickly swept around the room. He smelled a strange meaty aroma and a damp, musty scent.
He followed the meaty fragrance to my side, sniffed forward, as if smelling meat that had been smeared with honey, sweet and delicious.
Unable to help himself, he swallowed and said.
"Ghost King, you smell so good?"
I instinctively raised my hand and sniffed, then laughed.
"I don't smell that good."
Immediately after, he smelled that strong and rich damp odor, seemingly emanating from the bed behind me.
He frowned and moved towards the bed. My eyes focused, and I flashed in front of him first, pulling him over.
"There shouldn't be anything else today, right? You should rest well too, after all, the great battle is imminent."
Then, I hurriedly escorted him to the door.
"Ghost... Ghost King."
He wanted to say something more, but I shut the door on him. It seemed his guess was correct.
Having found the answer he sought, he turned and headed straight for the main hall without looking back.
The Myriad Ghost King flew out from the quilt and floated out the window. Watching Lin'er's receding back, he let out a seemingly appreciative sigh.
"This young man looks quite delicious..."
Then, he flew back into the room and inhaled all the food on the table. In an instant, all the delicious and appetizing food turned rotten.
"You're right. You shouldn't appear too often these few days, lest you cause unnecessary misunderstandings," I said.
He, however, was dismissive.
"Don't worry, it's fine."
With that, he floated back into my body.
...
After leaving the small building, Lin'er quickly arrived at the main hall and saw that the elders had been waiting for a long time.
Elder Wangu, unable to fathom why he had urgently summoned them, asked with confusion.
"Elder, why have you called us here?"
Lin'er smiled slightly but said unhurriedly.
"There are indeed some matters I wish to ask the elders about. Please follow me to the secret chamber."
The elders exchanged confused glances and then followed him into the secret chamber.
Lin'er let out a breath and then recounted his observations and experiences of the past few days.
"The Ghost King has been particularly strange these past few days, always talking to herself and preferring to hide alone in her room."
The elders, however, were unfazed and remained calm.
Elder Hei Yi had also noticed something amiss and cut to the chase.
"Perhaps it has something to do with the original Ghost King."
"I heard my uncle talk about the former Ghost King. He was a being feared by all.
But now, Muye is a brand new Ghost King, not the Myriad Ghost King of the past."
Elder Wangu nodded in agreement.
"Indeed. It is said that if a deceased Ghost King possesses someone, he will quietly wait for the opportune moment and then control the host."
"Control the host?"
This made Lin'er worried. As an elder of the Ghost Clan, he had to carefully analyze the pros and cons.
"Although the current Muye is merely possessed by the Myriad Ghost King, the emotions she displays are genuine.
Every step she has planned is her own talent, from nothing to where she is today.
Besides relying on the Myriad Ghost King's abilities for self-preservation, everything she has done is a cohesive force created by ordinary means.
She is a true, rare leader. If we lose her, who knows what state the Ghost Clan will fall into."
Thinking of this, Lin'er's heart was filled with worry.
If he had to choose between the Myriad Ghost King and Muye, it was not difficult to guess that even at the cost of losing the Myriad Ghost King, he would choose Muye.
The current trend was that only Muye could lead the Ghost Clan towards a brighter future.
The four elders had also taken note of Muye's actions. If they had to give up the Myriad Ghost King, then so be it.
Elder Mo Xuefu asked for Lin'er's opinion.
"What is the Elder's intention?"
Lin'er said.
"The great battle is imminent. I do not want the outcome of Black Mountain's defeat due to the Myriad Ghost King's influence."
"Alright, we understand. If that's the case, then there's only one way."
"What way?"
Elder Zhu Liuyun asked.
"Then we can only force him out."
"Force him out?"
"Precisely. Currently, only Muye can communicate with the Ghost King. If she knows the Ghost King is acting recklessly outside, she will definitely force the Ghost King to leave her body."
"You mean spreading rumors?"
The elders nodded.
"Good, let's proceed with that."
After leaving the secret chamber, Lin'er immediately began spreading rumors.
The next morning, rumors were rampant throughout the Bright Moon Palace, saying that an evil person had invaded the Bright Moon Palace, and then that there was a man-eating demon.
Everyone was in a frenzy, but they all claimed to have seen a dark shadow moving faster than the wind, always searching for prey in the night.
Today, I rarely went out. As I walked downstairs, I saw a group of maids carrying pots of withered flowers past me.
"What's going on?"
I stopped them, feeling a bit puzzled.
The maidservant at the front replied.
"Reporting to the Ghost King, these flowers were fine yesterday. For some reason, they all withered overnight. We have to take them away for disposal now."
"Withered overnight..."
I mused, waved my hand, and let them continue their work.
Since returning to Black Mountain, I hadn't visited Liu Shinian and the others much. It was time to go see them.
Arriving at the courtyard of this separate residence, I stepped into the yard and heard Hei Feng complaining.
"Why has all the medicine I sent become rotten? How can I use it like this?"
Hearing him say this, I quickly walked into the courtyard and came before him. Indeed, I saw that all the herbs in the brocade box had turned black and dry.
"Eh, Ghost King, why are you here?"
Hei Feng looked up and saw me, asking in confusion.
I gave an awkward smile, said nothing, and turned to leave.
Lin'er walked out from the room and smiled faintly as he watched my retreating back. Hei Feng also said.
"Should be enough now, right?"
"No, it's not enough. We need to put on a big show tomorrow."
The people nearby asked curiously.
"What big show?"
Lin'er hastily signaled them to be quiet and said.
"You'll know tomorrow."
Returning to the room, I quickly called out the Myriad Ghost King.
"Those flowers and herbs, you did that, didn't you?"
The Myriad Ghost King yawned lazily and emerged from my body, asking.
"What flowers?"
"Don't pretend you don't know. The flowers in the courtyard, the herbs for the injured, you did all that, right?"
The Myriad Ghost King was confused, not understanding what I was saying, and laughed heartily.
"They must be trying to trick you."
I calmed myself and asked him again.
"You didn't do it?"
"No."
The Myriad Ghost King probably wouldn't lie. Those must have just been coincidences. I breathed a sigh of relief and lay down on the bed, resting my head and looking at the Myriad Ghost King.
"Alright, I believe you. But you are not allowed to harm anyone in Black Mountain, nor any life."
"Alright."
My body had been quite tired these past few days. After instructing the Myriad Ghost King, I closed my eyes and fell asleep.
The Myriad Ghost King knew someone was trying to frame him. He didn't feel scared, but rather amused. He wanted to see who dared to do such a thing.
At night, a gentle breeze blew, and the crescent moon began to appear. Outside, rows of kites were being flown.
The Myriad Ghost King came to the window and was captivated. He decided to fly out and see.
He arrived in the front courtyard and saw a group of people happily flying kites in the breeze.
Suddenly, he saw Wu Dao approaching from a distance, holding a bamboo pole with a black, paper-made object hanging from it, and attacking the kite flyers.
As soon as the black object touched anyone, he would perform exaggerated and self-indulgent expressions and lines, acting as if he had been injured.
"Ah, I'm dead!"
"Ah, I've been poisoned!"
"Ah, I can't go on!"
Then, like a con artist, he would slowly fall to the ground, sometimes sticking out his tongue, sometimes sprawled out, and some even died with their eyes wide open.
Then, someone would take a basin of black powder and smear it on their faces and hands.
The Myriad Ghost King immediately recognized that this was a staged scene to frame him. He decided to teach them a lesson.
However, he had promised me that he wouldn't harm anyone.
So, he could only target their kites. He flew up, like a black cloud weaving through the kites, and set them ablaze one by one.
Then, he swooped down to the ground, like the wind, knocking the black object from Wu Dao's hand to the ground and overturning the basin of powder held by the guard Xiao Cong.
Lin'er, seeing this scene from the side, turned and walked quickly towards the garden. Arriving upstairs, he urgently knocked on the door.
The noisy commotion woke me up. I opened my eyes, groggily got up, and opened the door.
Lin'er said.
"Ghost King, tonight is the Moon Appreciation and Wine Gathering hosted by the Black Mountain group. Everyone is waiting for you to preside over the assembly."
I waved my hand, indicating tiredly.
"Let everyone enjoy themselves. I'm a bit sleepy."
Lin'er continued.
"Liu Shinian and the others are also waiting for the Ghost King."
"They're better?"
My sleepiness vanished instantly.
"They're almost better."
"Good, take me to see them."
Lin'er led me through the flower garden to the front courtyard. The guard Xiao Jiu, standing outside, saw the elder bringing the Ghost King over and quickly whispered inside.
"They're here, they're here."
Then, the prepared group walked onto the open space and pretended to faint, even the Four Great Evils were persuaded to act as extras.
The Myriad Ghost King was still playing in mid-air. Suddenly, he saw so many people gathered, which was suspicious.
Before he could think further, he saw the figures approaching in the distance and inwardly exclaimed.
"Not good!"
Then, he quickly flew back to the small building.
Before even entering the front courtyard, Xiao Jiu ran over in panic and fear, shouting.
"Assassin, assassin!"
He ran to our side, and Lin'er quickly pulled him aside, asking urgently.
"What happened? What's wrong?"
Xiao Jiu stammered.
"A ball of black, black energy attacked the lords at the wine gathering in the front courtyard."
"What! Quickly take us there!"
"Yes."
The two of us followed him to the front courtyard and saw the open space in disarray. Everyone was either lying on the ground or on the steps.
The wine cups used for serving wine rolled all over the ground, and the ground was covered with fragments of wine pots.