Among these people, the bride's mother's behavior was the most peculiar.
First, her eyes widened in horror as she looked behind me, her hands clamped tightly over her mouth, as if a slight release of pressure would cause her to scream.
But soon, she released her hands and grabbed her golden hair with immense force. As she continued to pull, strands of hair drifted down through her fingers.
Why was everyone behaving so strangely?
What anomaly had occurred in the coffin behind me?
Although I was new to the field and slightly lacking in combat experience, my master had drilled me on various potential accidents during my apprenticeship.
Therefore, despite my panic, as I instinctively retreated, another bag of rooster blood was thrown out.
Turning back, I witnessed a scene that deeply shocked me.
The female corpse had sat up in the coffin.
Her shoulder-length black hair swayed without wind, her eyelids wide open, revealing eyeballs that were entirely white with no pupils.
Her upper lip curled back, exposing two fangs that gleamed sharply.
But this was not the most terrifying part.
What was truly horrifying was her face!
Under everyone's gaze, that face began to blur, and then, at an incredibly rapid pace, it outlined another human face!
Sui Wan'er.
I never would have dreamed that the female corpse would transform into Sui Wan'er's likeness.
"You damnable scoundrel, you walk the path to heaven and barge into hell's gate.
Today you ruined my good deed, and I will hunt you down to the ends of the earth to kill you."
Thump...
Sui Wan'er sprang from the coffin as if she had springs in her feet, terrifying everyone around her. They scrambled for the door and fled outside.
The bride's mother, overwhelmed by fear, felt her legs go weak, and she collapsed onto the ground, paralyzed by terror.
With mugwort in my left hand and glutinous rice in my right, I retreated a few more steps, adopting a defensive stance. Su Dan Novel Network.
Something unfathomably bizarre must have happened to Sui Wan'er since last night.
The overwhelming, immense obsession that had clung to her was gone, replaced by a potent killing intent directed at me.
Evil spirits thrive on obsession to harm others.
Without obsession, she was like a tiger with its teeth pulled.
What use was mere killing intent? I had never heard of anyone killing another solely through killing intent.
Moreover, the divination I had performed based on the female corpse's birthdate indicated that while she would be formidable in the future, she was not so now.
This was her weakest moment.
If it weren't for this, I wouldn't have dared to open the coffin for examination, intending to nip the disaster in the bud.
Sui Wan'er lunged towards me, but as her hand, covered in pale, sharp fingernails, extended halfway, she quickly retracted it. Her face showed fear, and she attempted to escape through the window.
I was taken aback.
What was this woman up to?
Was it all a show, a mere bluff to create an opportunity to escape?
Although she was weak, she was not entirely without the strength to fight. Did she have so little confidence in herself? Or perhaps, she feared me that much?
Just as I was contemplating this, the main door banged open, and another unfamiliar figure burst in.
His attire was peculiar; at this early autumn season, he wore a padded cotton coat made of fox fur.
His coat was open, revealing two rows of twenty-four bone-piercing nails at his waist.
Upon entering, he let out a loud shout: "You fiends and demons, cease your rampages in the human realm. Behold as I, Zhang Dabiao, exorcise evil, subdue spirits, and purify the world."
Zhang Dabiao was burly and powerful. With a gentle wave of his palm, his clothes parted, and two bone-piercing nails leaped into his grasp.
Without any visible effort, the two nails flew like obedient children, swiftly striking towards Sui Wan'er.
With two soft thuds.
One struck her between the eyebrows, and the other pierced her chest.
Having struck successfully, Zhang Dabiao, as if performing a magic trick, drew a cleaving mountain saber from his person and advanced menacingly towards Sui Wan'er, intending to execute her on the spot and leave no trace.
Sui Wan'er's long hair scattered, making her appear ferocious, but no matter how she twisted, her head was pinned to the wall by the bone-piercing nails, rendering her unable to escape. She was on the verge of being killed by Zhang Dabiao's saber.
At the critical moment, Sui Wan'er let out a sharp cry.
She slashed her hands across the corpse's skin, creating a two-foot-two-inch gash.
Whoosh—
A dark shadow shot out from the gash with incredible speed.
In the blink of an eye, it vanished without a trace.
Looking at the female corpse again, it finally slumped like a normal cadaver, pinned to the wall, devoid of any resistance or struggle.
This series of events was dizzying.
Though my heart was filled with shock, my outward demeanor remained calm. I cupped my hands towards Zhang Dabiao and said, "Thank you, Brother Zhang, for your help. This monster..."
Although Zhang Dabiao had intervened to help me, I couldn't quite discern whether he was friend or foe, so I spoke with a degree of caution.
Unexpectedly, upon hearing me address him as "Brother," Zhang Dabiao seemed quite pleased.
He turned his head, a friendly smile creasing his stubbled face. "You must be Song Qingyun! Ha, good lad, just by looking at your clear eyes, I know you're no ordinary person."
"Speaking of which, you've called me brother correctly. I knew you were coming to Molu Village, so I specifically traveled from a thousand miles away. If we didn't have a life-or-death bond, I wouldn't bother with such a long journey!"
Zhang Dabiao's words left me utterly confused.
I was certain this was the first time I had met him today. How could he claim we had a life-or-death bond?
I observed that his thoughts were clear and his speech was natural, suggesting he wasn't deliberately trying to trick me.
After a brief exchange, Zhang Dabiao, rough in appearance but meticulous in his actions, approached the female corpse to confirm it was no longer exhibiting any unusual activity, and then led me outside.
As for the parents and Sun Chuang, they had long since fled after the terrifying corpse transformation. I gnashed my teeth in anger, thinking, "You good-for-nothing Sun Chuang, you promised to protect me! At the crucial moment, you ran faster than a rabbit."
Seeing that no one else was around, which suited Zhang Dabiao's intentions perfectly, he pulled me a few steps aside to a more secluded spot and began to explain the whole story.
It was true that Sui Wan'er was a thousand-year-old malevolent spirit. However, when she was first unearthed by the grave robbers, she was not in a state to harm me.
She needed to concentrate all her obsession on finding a new vessel and possessing it.
As fate would have it, the buyer the grave robbers found for Sui Wan'er was the bride's mother, Fang Huixin.
She made her fortune by dealing in ancient corpses and artifacts. Despite her daughter's tragic death, her inherent merchant's instinct for profit remained.
As soon as Fang Huixin brought Sui Wan'er home, Sui Wan'er, unbeknownst to anyone, slipped into her daughter's corpse.
Then, through obsessive manipulation, she convinced Fang Huixin to agree to a ghost marriage. This would allow Sui Wan'er to absorb the Yin essence of the male corpse and undergo another transformation.
Unfortunately, at the critical juncture of Sui Wan'er's impending transformation, my interference ruined her plans. Coupled with Zhang Dabiao's intervention, her obsession suffered a loss of at least a hundred years.
This situation aligned with my divination: Sui Wan'er would be active in the vicinity, and if I encountered her, I would face an immeasurable crisis.
And now, hadn't all of this come to pass?
After some thought, I asked a seemingly unrelated question, "Brother Zhang, why did you help me just now?"
"You said we have a life-or-death bond. What exactly does that mean?"