Her meaning was clear: she wanted me to give her the sachet.
I struggled to sit up, which caused my wound to reopen, and blood flowed down the stone.
I picked up the bulging, cold human skin sachet, its surface veins seemingly pulsating slightly.
“The resentment has been fully collected…” My voice was broken due to the pain and tension. “You said that collecting yin energy and resentment would be useful to you.”
I stared intently at the blood-stained red veil, trying to discern a trace of the ghost bride's emotions.
But nothing could be seen, only a hideous crimson red.
"Old Dao, Old Dao is dying. The corpse seed in the Dragon Palace, plus the Yin energy of the Ghost Taoist, can you save him?"
I paused, then mustered all my strength to shout out those words, which lacked any real conviction:
"If you can save him, the resentment within this sachet should satisfy you, right...?"
As soon as the words left my mouth, I knew I had been too naive.
Bargaining with a ghost is a joke, especially since this is something she rightfully deserves.
After all, she was the one who rescued me, Luo Tianhe, Lao Dao, and the others from the Dragon Palace. To put it bluntly, we owe her three lives.
As expected, the ghost bride did not react at all; her outstretched hand did not even move a fingertip.
The accompanying suona suddenly became sharp for a moment, like a mocking laugh.
Silence is spreading, but the pressure is mounting.
When Li Huai first faced the ghost bride, he was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground.
Luo Tianhe's forehead was also covered with a dense layer of cold sweat.
The purple light of the lightning sword in Zhang Qingxiao's hand grew stronger and stronger, but he still did not strike.
He knew that we owed this female ghost a debt, and more importantly, we didn't know her strength or weaknesses. If we acted rashly, we might provoke an opponent who was no less powerful than the Taoist priest.
If it were just Zhang Qingxiao alone, he wouldn't have any reservations; he could fight if he wanted, and even if things went wrong, he could always escape unscathed.
But with several of us as burdens and needing the ghost bride's help, he naturally couldn't act according to his own wishes.
After a moment of silence, just when I thought she would snatch the sachet away or simply ignore us, she suddenly moved.
They didn't walk towards me, but towards Lao Dao.
A red-clad paper figure carrying a bridal sedan chair, surrounded by green-clad maids carrying lanterns, floated to Old Dao's side.
Luo Tianhe instinctively tried to stop him, but was pushed away by an invisible, cold force that could not be resisted, and staggered several steps.
Master Zhang Qingxiao stopped him, silently shaking his head to signal him not to act impulsively.
After all, Lao Dao had been in this graveyard for so long; if the female ghost wanted to harm him, she would have done so long ago.
It's probably because of what I just said that they're trying to see if they can save Lao Dao.
Thinking of this, Master Zhang Qingxiao couldn't help but look at me.
I stared intently at the ghost bride, who was now leaning down, her blood-red veil almost touching Old Knife's rotting, pus-filled face.
She stared at it for a long time, so long that even the wriggling of the maggots on Old Knife's body seemed to slow down.
Then, the ghost bride stretched out her hand with bright red fingernails and hovered above Old Knife's heart.
There was no contact, but the area around Lao Xin's chest, where the rot was most severe and the skin and flesh of his white ribs were faintly visible, suddenly began to heave violently, as if something was raging wildly beneath him!
Immediately afterwards, a wisp of extremely viscous, pitch-black liquid, exuding a strong stench of corpses and resentment, was forcibly pulled from Old Knife's heart.
The moment the thing was pulled out, Old Knife clutched his chest and gasped for breath.
Then his whole body trembled uncontrollably, and he collapsed completely to the ground.
However, the deathly bluish-black color on his face visibly faded somewhat.
Although the lividity and decay on his body were still there, no new yellow pus and blood flowed out.
Finally, Old Knife made a few hoarse sounds in his throat, his eyelids twitched, and he seemed to regain some of his senses.
We all held our breath.
The ghost bride straightened up, her blood-red veil turned towards me, and she reached out her hand to me.
This time I didn't hesitate and tossed the sachet over. She caught it and her pale fingers stroked the surface of the sachet.
Then, the sachet disappeared into her red sleeve.
"Where's the skin?"
Suddenly, a voice rang in my mind.
I was taken aback, not understanding what it meant. I turned to look at Li Huai, Luo Tianhe, and the others, but they acted as if they hadn't heard the voice at all.
"The piece of skin on your back."
That cold voice rang in my mind again, but Luo Tianhe and the others still did not react.
It was then that I realized it was the ghost bride speaking to me, but for some reason, she didn't want anyone else to hear.
“It’s burned,” I said bitterly. “I used the Soul Yin Skin Technique, and it’s already burned to ashes.”
The red veil moved slightly.
“Foolish!” she commented, her tone still devoid of emotion. “The skin of the second cobbler, especially the kind with a soul mark, is a great tonic for that thing. If he swallows your skin clone, his cultivation will increase significantly.”
My heart sank immediately; this meant that the Taoist priest would be even more difficult to deal with.
But I had no other choice at the time; I couldn't just hand over the sachet.
This ghost bride, don't be fooled by how easy she seems to talk to me now. If I had really handed over the sachet back then, she definitely wouldn't be like this.
"However, you are better than your grandfather; at least you know how to keep your word."
She suddenly changed the subject and mentioned my grandfather, and I immediately stared at her intently.
Luo Tianhe, Li Huai, and the others looked at me with surprise, not understanding why I suddenly spoke.
Only Master Zhang Qingxiao looked thoughtful, as if he had seen through something.
“The skin is gone, but the soul imprint remains.” She continued in a statement of fact. “You deceived the skinner with this method, but within seven days, he will find you at the ends of the earth with that remaining soul imprint and personally take your soul and the rest of your skin.”
Instantly, a chill ran from the soles of my feet straight to the top of my head, and my face turned extremely pale.
"What do you want me to do?"
All I heard was my own dry voice asking.
She couldn't have been just joking when she told me all this.
The ghost bride did not answer directly, but slowly raised her hands.
Her ten fingers were slender and pale, her nails as red as blood, and she began to draw lines in the air.
As she moved her fingers, the surrounding air began to cool down, and a cold wind howled, spinning around her. The paper maids and the bridal sedan chair fluttered in the air, as if they might fall apart at any moment.
She pressed down lightly with both hands.
A look of surprise flashed in my eyes. She wasn't pressing on anyone, but on the earth's veins in this depression.
How could a ghost like her understand this method?
But Daoist Zhang Qingxiao whispered:
"This is the Yin Realm; she's drawing a line on the ground to define her domain!"
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