Chapter 46: Tacit Understanding

My wife in her crimson phoenix coronet and bridal veil stood right before me. Apart from her skin, which was as smooth and white as white jade, everything about her was drenched in the color of blood—her blood-red phoenix coronet, her blood-red bridal cloak, and her blood-red footwear.

Though I only saw her from behind, I could never forget her appearance. Every movement, every gesture, was absolute perfection without a single flaw.

With a flick of her blood-red sleeve, the ghost-beasts that had just been chasing us wildly in every direction were instantly reduced to fine dust, vanishing into a wisp of smoke in the blink of an eye. Her luxurious bearing and overwhelming, tyrannical aura radiated powerfully into the air!

Xijun had still been stunned by the sudden disappearance of the ghost-beasts, but the moment she turned her head and saw my wife, she immediately prostrated herself flat on the ground, trembling violently while muttering things in a language I could not understand.

Oh, Your Ninth Highness, Your Ninth Highness, you always make such a grand entrance; aren't you showing off just a bit too much?

Seeing Xijun's total submission, the mountain ghost was completely dumbfounded. Just moments ago, she had been trying to hook my soul, but after barely a few blinks, how did such a terrifying entity suddenly appear before her?

"Silence! You failed to protect your master! You deserve death!" With a sweep of my wife's sleeve, Xijun was sent spinning and tumbling across the ground, nearly scaring her soul right out of her body. When she finally regained her senses, she terrifiedly continued to prostrate herself on the earth.

Seeing that she was just a little girl and rather pitiful, I wanted to go over and help her up, but my wife slowly started to turn her head toward me. Realizing I shouldn't go against my wife, I obediently stayed right where I was. *Sigh, she's just an ignorant child. Since you haven't come out in ages, it's only right that you help discipline her. I suppose I'm giving you quite a bit of face this time, aren't I?*

Seeing that I remained silent, my wife finally turned her head to face 'Zhao Qian': "A mere mountain sprite and minor ghost! You still dare to hide and dodge right in front of me—you certainly have some nerve! Reveal your true form!"

Standing slightly behind and to the side, I couldn't see her expression, but in a fraction of a second, centered entirely around my wife, an invisible wave of air resembling a sonic ripple blasted outward!

Zhao Qian instantly went limp all over, collapsing heavily to the ground, while the mountain ghost was blasted straight out of her physical body, her spiritual form shaking so violently she could barely maintain her original shape!

I knew Zhao Qian would definitely be all right. Although my wife was proud and rather disliked Zhao Qian, Zhao Qian was still half an acquaintance, so she was just saving her along the way.

As for the mountain ghost, her spiritual form fluttered like willow catkins in a gale, swaying unpredictably. The look in her eyes went far beyond mere terror; it was as if she were a mortal seeing a ghost for the very first time.

The mountain ghost plopped to her knees, frantically kowtowing. Deprived of the living energy from Zhao Qian's body, I could no longer understand the sounds she made, but her expressions clearly conveyed that she was begging for mercy.

Uncle Hai and Lin Feiyu stared with eyes as wide as ox bells, their faces drained of all color, unable to utter a single word. How had the tables turned so drastically in an instant?

"Chattering endlessly! When you were trying to hook his soul, did you ever consider today?" My wife asked with a gloomy face. Though her eyes remained closed, her furrowed brow made it clear to anyone that she was currently extremely displeased.

The mountain ghost couldn't even stand steadily under the invisible wave of air, and now she was trembling as she prostrated herself even more obediently than Xijun. Soon enough, against her will, an invisible giant hand grabbed her and dragged her straight up into the air.

The female mountain ghost was filled with an inexplicable terror, but she was completely unable to break free. The next moment, she let out a miserable shriek as her spiritual form was squeezed and distorted in all directions, looking as though it could be popped like a balloon at any second!

I immediately ran over to my wife's side and cautiously asked, "Um, my dear wife, she's the mountain deity of this place. Won't it be rather bad if you just kill her like this?"

"Call me the Ninth Highness!" My wife said haughtily.

"Right, the... Ninth Highness... What I meant to say is, if we just kill this mountain deity like this, won't it bring down some kind of disaster upon us?" I was forced to ask in a humble, ingratiating tone. *Alas, my dear wife is far too overbearing. At the very least, since Uncle Hai and Old Lin are right here, you could spare a bit of face for a grown man like me, couldn't you?*

"Hmph, a mere minor ghost, what kind of disaster could she possibly bring? Killing her means killing her. If you have anything else to say, spit it out quickly!" My wife showed not the slightest bit of pressure as she continued to torture the mountain ghost.

"Ahem, ahem." I gave two dry coughs, swallowed my pride, and said, "Then could you help me subdue her instead? As you know, my strength is too poor; I can't rely solely on Xijun for protection. I see this mountain ghost is actually quite capable. Why don't you have a word with her and let her be my assistant for now? If she performs any great deeds in the future, I'll release her back into the mountains."

The mountain ghost had thought she was a dead duck, but hearing that I wanted to keep and raise her, she hurriedly put on a pleading expression and started muttering incoherently. It seemed the saying 'better a miserable life than a glorious death' held true after all.

"This little ghost has been playing the tyrant in the mountains for hundreds of years. She already possesses spiritual intelligence and is extremely cunning. I can tell at a glance she's no good, and you still want to take her in for your own use?" My wife stated the mountain ghost's background.

"My dear wife, a hero doesn't ask where he came from, and a scoundrel doesn't look at his age. As long as she can catch mice, she's a good cat, wouldn't you say? Once subdued, she might just turn over a new leaf in the future, right?" I immediately seized the opportunity to push my luck. If my wife hadn't wanted to keep this mountain ghost, she would have crushed her to death the moment they met. Now, seeing clearly that my strength was inadequate, she was deliberately backing me up to subdue a ghost for my use.

A mountain ghost with spiritual intelligence was not something one could just stumble upon casually. Most fierce ghosts encountered out in the world lacked even basic intelligence; upon encountering someone with heavy yin energy, they would simply pounce blindly if they thought they saw an opening, making them utterly useless to subdue.

The Ninth Highness must have had her eye on this mountain ghost as well, and to me, she would be a capable assistant. Didn't I know her by now? She was aloof and proud, but deeply cared about me.

Besides, the mountain ghost had previously claimed that Wu Zhenghua had to flee whenever he encountered her, so she probably had considerable strength. Perhaps in the future, if I unexpectedly unleashed this mountain ghost when meeting an enemy, I wouldn't be at a disadvantage in a spiritual duel.

My wife didn't say anything, but the mountain ghost grew anxious instead, struggling as she continued to plead. By the end, she was weeping tears and howling in ghost-cries—sniffling and wailing in a rather terrifying manner.

It seemed my wife considered the matter for a long time before finally letting her down: "Hmph, since you've given me your personal guarantee to this extent, tell him the exact location of your remains. Afterward, you shall be confined within a soul urn, subject entirely to his will. Whether he wants you to live, you live; whether he wants you to die, you die. Do you agree?"

The mountain ghost once again prostrated herself on the ground, kowtowing fiercely toward me.

I didn't dare to go over and help her up. Although this mountain ghost looked to be about seventeen or eighteen years old with delicate and pretty features, she had been very arrogant earlier, and her laughter had been quite terrifying. I estimated she was probably even stronger than Xijun.

"Best that you do." Having said that, without paying me any more attention, my wife transformed into a ball of blood-red mist and vanished right before my eyes.

I still wanted to say a few intimate words to her, but alas, she was as elusive as a dragon, seeing its head but never its tail, and I had no way to make her stay. Moreover, the method of summoning her required far too much of my heart's blood. Looking at the blood-mangled flesh on my ten fingers, I suddenly began to feel the pain.

Seeing my wife disappear, the mountain ghost still looked around nervously, lingering fear gripping her heart.

"What? Are you thinking of running away now?" I put on a confident front, acting as though I had powerful backing.

The female mountain ghost hurriedly shook her head, then began muttering and babbling to me again. Having no idea what she meant—since I couldn't understand ghost language—I could only say, "Lead me and Xijun to the place where your bones are buried."

I pulled out the soul urn and noticed that an extra layer of reddish light had appeared around the cracks on the urn. It seemed to be my wife's handiwork; while she had openly scolded Xijun, she had secretly lent a hand, ensuring the soul urn wouldn't shatter immediately.

The spell talisman I had drawn on Xijun's forehead had vanished, and she had now returned to the appearance of an innocent little girl. The moment I got close, she proactively climbed up and sat on my shoulder.

My wife truly thought of everything; every time she appeared, she resolved all my problems for me. It was just that she was a bit too fierce toward me; if she were only a bit gentler, it would be even better.

I walked over to check on Zhao Qian and found that she had merely fainted. Her body was still somewhat cold, but at least she hadn't lost her little life.

It took a great deal of effort for me to hoist Zhao Qian onto my back, and I followed the mountain ghost into the overgrown jungle where her bones were buried.

I must say, Zhao Qian weighed at least eighty or ninety catties and was quite heavy. After walking half a mile of mountain trails, I was so exhausted I genuinely felt like dropping her in the mountains and leaving her be.

However, just as I was about to give in and drop her, the burial site finally came into view.

This was a patch of barren wasteland within the mountain forest, located very close to the path leading down the mountain. It was overgrown with weeds and dotted with numerous shrubs.

The female mountain ghost obediently pointed to a specific spot, then stood there sniffling and wailing all over again.

"It's not like you're being sold into slavery as a slave, what are you crying so hard for!" I spat out, lowering Zhao Qian to the ground.

The mountain ghost cried even harder. I chose to ignore her; women loved to cry anyway, and female ghosts even more so. Xijun was much more well-behaved by comparison.

I casually gathered a few sturdy pieces of wood and prepared to start digging, but Lin Feiyu opened his briefcase, pulled out a miniature shovel, and helped me dig instead: "Young Brother Xia, you were injured earlier, so I'll handle this."

Neither Lin Feiyu nor Uncle Hai dared to ask who the blood-clothed woman from earlier was, but judging by my form of address, they had already guessed she was my ghostly wife. The two old men must have discussed something privately behind my back earlier, seemingly concluding that she was related to the senior immortal Zhou Xian, and since she was a trump card released only at such a critical moment, how could they not understand? This was hardly something they could ask about casually, so they wisely decided to pretend they had seen nothing.

After digging for a while, we unearthed a pile of jars covered in layers of aging spell talismans. Uncle Hai frowned at the sight of them and stared blankly for a long time without saying a word, presumably because he couldn't decipher them anymore.

The spell talismans were reduced to mere scraps of paper, pretty much rotted away after all, considering they were things from several hundred years ago.

The mountain ghost pointed to one of the jars and burst into tears.

I knew the mountain ghost must have suffered a great injustice, but since my wife had already communicated with her on my behalf, I didn't pry any further. Matters from hundreds of years ago should have been resolved long ago, and those that couldn't be resolved had simply vanished along with the passage of time; asking too many questions would only breed unnecessary sorrow.

Therefore, I had Lin Feiyu help carry the soul urn, and the four of us made our way down the mountain together.

With a massive depletion of my vital energy and blood, I was out of breath, my face frightfully pale. Several times, I was tempted to just collapse and sleep right by the roadside. However, Uncle Hai was in an even worse state than I was; as he walked, his tongue nearly lolled out, giving me such a fright that cold sweat broke out all over my forehead.

Lin Feiyu had to carry the soul urn with one hand while supporting Uncle Hai with the other. The miserable sight of the two old men tugged at my heartstrings.

Walking and stopping intermittently, the descent down the mountain took a full twice the usual time. By the time we reached the village at the foot of the mountain, it was already broad daylight.

After the roosters crowed, the mountain ghost entered the soul urn, and Xijun climbed into my pocket.

Because the mountain ghost had not been truly sealed within the soul urn I had crafted, we temporarily placed her in the trunk of the car. With Grandpa Zhao's funeral imminent, I didn't immediately return to Zhao Qian's residential complex.