"This Dragon Team is amazing! I heard they're made up of soldiers from various worlds, and they're the smallest but strongest guild among the top ten, the Shining Sun Guild." The people around Xu Anran whispered to her.

Although the sound was soft, the person on the other end seemed to have heard it and kept glancing in this direction.

The Xuanwu squad knew the members of this squad; they must have interacted frequently, and they greeted each other familiarly.

Ao Zipeng walked over to Wang Zheng, the captain of the Dragon Team, and saw that his team was injured and in a sorry state, which was much worse than his team's.

So, he asked Wang Zheng in a cheeky tone, "What are you guys doing here? And why do you look so disheveled?"

Wang Zheng sighed first, then slapped Ao Zipeng's arm hard, right where Ao Zipeng's wound was. The pain made Ao Zipeng gasp. Seeing his discomfiture, Wang Zheng finally spoke: "Tell me why we came here? Why did your union send you here? We came here for the same reason. Don't ask questions you already know the answer to!"

After saying that, she rolled her eyes at Ao Zipeng.

He then added, "Our team has been constantly attacked by strange attacks since we arrived here. If we hadn't been well prepared, some of us might have been left here."

After observing the Xuanwu team and Liu Yong and Xu Anran discussing them, he asked curiously, "However, you all seem to be in good condition. Did you encounter any strange attacks?"

"We were just lucky!" Ao Zipeng didn't plan to reveal Xu Anran's situation; he still wanted to recruit her into the Xuanwu Squad.

But what about the ghost bride who's been following them all along?

Before setting off, the ghost bride knew they were going to a Taoist temple and that they should be able to get there today. So she said to Xu Anran, "Miss, if you are going to the Taoist temple, it is inconvenient for me to show myself and follow you. But I am injured right now, so I would like to discuss something with you."

Xu Anran nodded: "What do you want to do?"

"Does the young lady possess any jewelry or similar items? I may enter the room, so I can follow you while remaining hidden." The ghost bride stood opposite her, her red veil still unrepaired, a cautious expression on her beautiful face.

Xu Anran thought for a moment, then looked at the ghost bride with some suspicion: "Why do you insist on following me? If you're afraid of being devoured by other monsters, you could easily hide yourself."

The ghost bride explained somewhat awkwardly, "Actually, since I came here, I've been sometimes lucid and sometimes confused. It wasn't until two years ago that I completely emerged from the chaos and regained my own consciousness. I also want to see the outside world."

"Then why are you still going around looking for grooms?" Xu Anran was still a little puzzled.

The ghost bride said with some helplessness, "I used to grab the grooms because I was too resentful, but it's different now. Now I naturally like his appearance and want to get married. We'll be husband and wife, and I can follow him wherever he goes. But who knew those grooms would be so useless? They died after just one bow, unable to bear my resentment!" She was also angry at their lack of self-control.

"So, you arrested Su Shuzhi just to hold the wedding ceremony and then leave with him?"

The ghost bride nodded obediently: "That's right. There's nothing but eeriness here. And very few of the eerinesses have regained consciousness. Most of them are still in a daze like I used to be, which is not interesting at all."

Xu Anran thought about what she had said and asked again, "Then why didn't you go through the wedding ceremony with me, but instead hid yourself in the jewelry?"

"How can two women have a wedding ceremony? Besides, the young lady has a lot of yin energy on her body, which I cannot bear. Moreover, there is no need for a wedding ceremony. I will benefit immensely from being by your side. Don't worry, young lady, I will follow you in the jewelry and will naturally listen to your words."

"But how do I know you won't hurt me? Maybe we should just forget about it and you should find someone else."

Thinking that someone as capable as Xu Anran was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, the ghost bride hesitated for a moment before making up her mind and saying, "Miss, there's another way!"

"What method?"

"I can sign a contract with you, young lady. Once the contract is established, I will not be able to harm you, and you will not be able to harm me either; moreover, I will obey your orders, and the death of either of us will not affect the other. What do you think of this, young lady?"

Xu Anran thought this was a good idea, but still asked, "Are you telling the truth?"

“Of course it’s true. Once the contract is signed, the girl will have this information in her mind. It can’t be faked.” Seeing Xu Anran’s interest, the ghost bride quickly replied.

Seeing her say that, Xu Anran said, "Okay, let's try it." She took out various pieces of jewelry she had previously stockpiled from her space, all of them gold, and let the ghost bride choose them herself, but she wanted to choose something small and easy to carry.

The ghost bride picked and chose, finally making her selection. She handed the items to Xu Anran, her legs gracefully bent in a curtsy.

Xu Anran took it and saw that it was a gold earring. The gold earring was not too big, with a round brocade ball hanging on it. It was carved with exquisite floral patterns and had some gold tassels at the bottom. It looked exquisite but not fussy.

Xu Anran put it on her right ear, tried it on, and felt it was okay. Then she took it off and said, "It's alright. What's next?"

Afterwards, the ghost bride taught her how to sign the contract. The ghost bride first dripped a drop of her own heart-shaped ghost essence onto the earring, and Xu Anran also dripped a drop of her heart blood onto it. Then the two chanted a spell, signifying a voluntary contract. The ghost bride then entered the earring, and the ritual was completed.

Although simple, the contract is very strong. Just as the ghost bride said, the contract is safe and fair to both parties.

After the Dragon Team arrived, they naturally joined forces with the Xuanwu Team. With the team's numbers increased, they walked along the dark streets. Oddity groups of eerie beings peered at them from the shops along the roadside. Because the Ghost Bride was hiding, she still released some of her resentment, so the little eerie beings didn't dare to come closer.

Along the way, Wang Zheng noticed something unusual, but he didn't ask any more questions. After all, they had joined later, and if the other party didn't want to talk about it, they probably didn't want to tell them. There was no need to make trouble for themselves.

Soon, the group arrived at the Taoist temple without any problems. They knocked on the door, and the people inside cautiously peeked through the crack and told them to wait outside while they went to call someone from inside.

Hearing footsteps approaching, the door opened, and a middle-aged man with his hair tied in a bun appeared. He smiled at the group of people in front of him, took out a compass, and confirmed that there was nothing strange hidden inside. Then he led them inside.

The scene inside the Taoist temple was completely different from the eerie and terrifying outside. There was no black fog or any smell of decay. Although it couldn't be said to be the same as before the apocalypse, it was still a rare clean and bright place.