Chapter 55: Huang Yuhang

Yang Xuan quickly rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the girl's attack.

"Hey! Ghost King of the Underworld, come out quickly!"

Things had reached this point; relying on himself alone was certainly not going to work, so Yang Xuan hurriedly summoned the Ghost King of the Underworld.

The Ghost King of the Underworld had descended.

A plume of grayish mist emerged from the back of Yang Xuan's neck.

It stood on Yang Xuan's shoulder, its eyes glaring gloomily at the female ghost ahead.

The appearance of the Ghost King instantly caught the female ghost's attention. She licked the corner of her mouth with her scarlet tongue, revealing a greedy expression, "Hehe, I didn't expect you weren't an orthodox Taoist priest either, actually raising a ghostly entity."

"Tsk tsk, your ghostly entity is quite plump. If I consume you, perhaps I can recover a lot of my vitality!"

The Ghost King of the Underworld let out a cold snort, "Humph, if you dare to harm my master even in the slightest, I will make you scatter into smoke and dust!"

"Hahahaha, your master?" The female ghost laughed loudly, her eyes turning even more scarlet, filled with a frantic thirst for blood.

"A mere trifling ghost dares to utter such bold words," the female ghost mocked.

She didn't take the ghostly entity before her seriously at all, as she was a red-clothed fierce ghost.

Unless it was a ghost of the Ghost King tier, nothing could possibly pose a threat to her.

Yang Xuan cursed inwardly; this damned village chief had truly harmed him to the core.

However, in this critical moment of crisis, he had no choice but to brace himself and push through.

"Ghost King, help me get rid of her," Yang Xuan urged. "Remember, make sure you don't kill her outright."

The Ghost King of the Underworld cast a contemptuous glance at the female ghost and sneered, "Rest assured, dealing with such a weak red-clothed fierce ghost is as easy as turning my hand over for me."

"You are courting death!"

The female ghost was thoroughly enraged. Her figure flickered, transforming into a gust of wind as she charged straight toward the Ghost King of the Underworld in the blink of an eye.

The Ghost King showed no fear, throwing a punch directly at the female ghost. With a loud "bang," the female ghost was sent stumbling back several steps, nearly falling to the ground.

The female ghost was utterly astonished, "You are actually a Ghost King!"

She widened her eyes in terror, looking extremely wary and intimidated.

The punch the Ghost King had just delivered had dealt a massive sense of oppression, leaving her barely able to catch her breath.

A Ghost King was the most feared entity among all fierce ghosts because they possessed the power to crush other fierce ghosts effortlessly.

Let alone a Ghost Emperor.

The Taoist priest in front of her was actually capable of commanding a Ghost King; just who on earth was he?

The Ghost King of the Underworld paid her no mind, instead continuing his onslaught toward the female ghost with the momentum of wiping her out completely.

Seeing this, the female ghost hurriedly retreated a few steps, staring vigilantly at the Ghost King.

The Ghost King of the Underworld let out a roar, and his entire ghostly form instantly turned into a blurred phantom as he lunged at the female ghost.

Horrified, the female ghost immediately dodged to the left, narrowly evading the Ghost King's attack.

Having missed his strike, the Ghost King re-coiled his form, preparing to launch another offensive.

However, the female ghost seemed to have seen through the Ghost King's intent and directly turned tail to run.

"You think you can escape?"

The Ghost King sneered and gave chase immediately.

Yang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed that dealing with this was still quite effortless for the Ghost King.

Just as he was about to leave this place and go find the village chief to settle accounts, he suddenly heard a burst of footsteps.

Shortly after, a burly, tall man came running hurriedly from afar.

Observing closely, Yang Xuan noticed that this man looked somewhat similar to the village chief.

A thought stirred in his mind—could this man be the village chief's son, and by extension, Huang Erya's fiancé?

Could this person have something to do with Huang Erya's death?

By this time, the man had already rushed up to Yang Xuan. He looked Yang Xuan up and down and questioned, "Who are you?"

"I... I'm here to perform rituals."

Yang Xuan gave a dry cough and said, "I'm here to ward off evil spirits. Didn't someone die here? The village chief specially invited me to perform a yin opera to appease the deceased soul."

The man frowned, looking at Yang Xuan suspiciously, "Really or fake?"

Yang Xuan nodded, assuring him with absolute certainty, "It's definitely true."

Hesitating for a moment, the man asked, "Alright then, I'll trust you for now. What is this yin opera you mentioned all about?"

Yang Xuan felt somewhat helpless.

It turned out this man understood nothing at all, meaning Village Chief Huang hadn't told him a single thing.

Since the man was clueless anyway, Yang Xuan couldn't be bothered to waste energy explaining further. "When the village chief arrives, he should tell you. For now, take me to the ancestral hall."

The man cast a skeptical glance at Yang Xuan. Despite his lingering doubts, he still led Yang Xuan outside the village chief's house.

Parked at the courtyard entrance were three oxcarts.

The village chief was sitting on an oxcart smoking a dry tobacco pipe. The moment he saw Yang Xuan, his expression noticeably darkened.

He had deliberately arranged for the fierce ghost to deal with Yang Xuan, all to prevent Yang Xuan from digging deeper into their village's secrets, but it hadn't stopped him.

And now the man had even been brought back by his own son.

Little Fatty was already trembling out of his wits. Seeing the village chief appear felt like seeing his savior reborn.

With an "嗷" sound, he lunged behind the village chief.

"Village chief, you have no idea how we got here; there are ghosts in your village!" Little Fatty wailed incessantly, wiping his tears while pouring out his grievances.

The village chief forcefully suppressed the disgust in his eyes and barked, "Shut up! Where would there be ghosts in our village? Stop spouting nonsense."

He spat out a glob of phlegm viciously, then turned his head to look at Yang Xuan, "Master Lin, I invited you here specifically to appease Huang Erya, perform a play for her, and send her off. Are the two of you implying suspicion toward us by saying things like this?"

Yang Xuan's expression stiffened.

This Little Fatty was truly a professional at dragging people down.

If the village chief were to figure out their intentions, wouldn't that alert the enemy prematurely?

"Village chief, that's not what I meant," Yang Xuan forced out an awkward chuckle. "I just felt that Huang Erya died a wrongful death, which is why I suggested letting her rest in peace."

"As for how Huang Erya died, I'm sure you all will investigate that matter clearly in due time."

Hearing this, a look of sudden realization immediately dawned on the village chief's face.

So that was how it was.

The village chief's furrowed brows instantly smoothed out, and he laughed heartily, "I was overthinking it. Huang Erya's body has already been cremated, and she is now laid to rest in peace."

"Oh, is that so?" Yang Xuan raised an eyebrow.

This old bastard sure knew how to put on an act.

However, he didn't expose him. "Since that's the case, I'll be leaving first."

Yang Xuan had no desire to stay any longer in this eerie village, as everything here was far too abnormal.

This included Huang Erya's corpse as well.

Although the performance was already finished, the mysteries hidden within had yet to be resolved.

Answers would likely have to be sought from that red-clothed fierce ghost and Huang Daya.

Not to mention the three men from earlier as well.

"Wait a moment."

At that very moment, the village chief's son, Huang Yuhang, suddenly called out to stop Yang Xuan.

"Something else?" Yang Xuan looked at Huang Yuhang with perplexity.

The village chief's expression darkened once more as he glared at his son with a scowl.