Chapter One Hundred and Nine

Chapter One Hundred and Nine

As Azi spoke of this, there was no sadness in her demeanor. She arched her eyebrows, somewhat smug, as if proud of having killed a few beasts — even though she lost her own life and has been trapped in this haunted house for nearly a century, unable to move on.

Even the more introverted A Zhi was biting her lip, her eyes slightly shining, admiringly looking at Azi.

Shen Wang and the others breathed heavily for a moment, Panghe biting her teeth, her eyes faintly brimming with tears.

Noticing their gazes, the usually confident Azi showed a hint of shyness. She held A Zhi's hand, her voice losing its flirtatiousness for the first time, speaking softly, "Those beasts came to our land, committed atrocities, burned, killed, and looted. Although we are just inconspicuous, lower-class women..."

"...we still know what national integrity and dignity mean."

Just like what Panghe encountered in the illusion, when those Japanese soldiers came to the Tulip Ballroom, they fancied a dancer and wanted her to accompany them. However, she refused, having lost family members to these soldiers.

Despite the other dancers' desperate pleas and efforts to appease them, the humiliated soldiers refused to let her go and forcefully took away several dancers that night.

Two days later, only their cold bodies were returned, stripped of everything, with unbearable wounds exposed to the sunlight, and their eyes wide open in pain and horror.

Sharing the same fate, the other dancers felt a chilling void in their hearts, overwhelmed with boundless anger.

Why should they be allowed to do as they please on our soil!

Why should their foreign status allow them to disregard the law and trample on lives!

Even as lowly as insects, women of the night huddle together for warmth and rely on each other.

How could they accept the cruel deaths of their sisters, who were laughing and cursing just a few days ago!

Later, the most beautiful Azi voluntarily approached those soldiers, seductively smiling and speaking coyly, leading them back to the ballroom.

That night, after the soldiers drank the drugged wine, the seemingly fragile dancers used hairpins to stab, kitchen knives to slash, and teeth to bite... torturing the immobile soldiers to death.

At dawn, the dancers calmly put on their best clothes that they rarely wore, washed every inch of their skin, their faces bare without makeup.

Clean and pristine, they stepped into a new life.

"Alas," Azi sighed lightly, still a bit forlorn, "Back then, we thought we might have a decent next life."

At least not to be born in a time of chaos, maybe to have an ordinary and happy family, living a normal woman's life in plain simplicity.

Such a dream was so far out of their reach.

But all of them were trapped in this haunted house, the place of their death, unable to leave, only waiting lonely for the day they would finally cease to exist.

Panghe, being a woman, empathized deeply with Azi and the others. She was the most immersed in the illusion.

After hearing Azi's calm narration, she was in tears, angrily cursing through her sobs: "It's so unfair that those beasts got off easy! Why are they not the ones suffering instead of you..."

How can this be! How can this be allowed!

Azi, who had been somewhat lost in thought, suddenly burst into laughter upon seeing Panghe's distressed state: "Miss, you are truly kind-hearted."

Ma Zhiwen also felt chills as he listened. Looking at Azi, he suddenly spoke: "I think I've heard about this incident before."

The Tulip Ballroom was only open for a short time and didn’t leave much of an impression, vanishing from people's memories after it closed.

But among the older generation in the capital, a story was passed down.

A tale of heroic women who bravely killed several Japanese soldiers.

When the older generation spoke of this, their tone was full of admiration and respect. They praised these women as the most intelligent, brave, and virtuous – true heroes of China.

Ma Zhiwen paused for a few seconds before continuing: "My great-uncle often told me this story... he later joined the army and became a soldier."

That teenage boy later became a hero on the battlefield, narrowly escaping death and eventually driving all foreign enemies out of his country.

In his old age, his favorite pastime was to sit in his chair, boasting of his battle exploits to the younger generation, telling his stories so often they could recite them by heart.

But no one knew that the cheerful old man kept a diary hidden in his bedside drawer, secretly reading it on sleepless nights.

Whether he ever thought of that quiet and timid girl, Ma Zhiwen couldn't say, but despite his fondness for children, he never married or had kids.

Everyone fell into a long silence.

A Zhi held the diary in her arms, her eyes filled with deep sorrow, but as a ghost, she couldn't shed even a single tear for that boy.

Azi patted her shoulder, a reminder of the world's unpredictable turns.

Suddenly, Shen Wang spoke: "His great-uncle passed away not long ago. If you go after him now, maybe you can continue your bond in the next life."

A Zhi looked up sharply, meeting Shen Wang's eyes for the first time, her voice trembling: "Really? Can that really happen?"

"I wouldn't deceive you," Shen Wang's voice softened, as if to not frighten the timid spirit, "This diary has been with him for decades, imbued with his essence. If I bind this essence with you, you'll have a chance to meet again in your next life."

Azi pulled A Zhi behind her, dissatisfied: "If reincarnation was that easy, would we have been trapped here for decades?"

Talking about reincarnation now gives A Zhi false hope. What if it doesn't work? What would she do then?

Shen Wang, unfazed: "How do you know it won't work if you've never tried?"

Before Azi could respond, A Zhi poked her from behind, whispering: "Sister Azi, I want to try."

Trapped here for decades, unable to leave, their only respite was glimpsing the living through illusions, without any form of entertainment. Eventually, even the living visitors dwindled.

They were all weary of such a life.

Azi paused, then sighed: "If you want to try, then go ahead."

Shen Wang did not refuse. He smiled gently at the sisters, Azi and A Zhi.

When he was in the illusion earlier, Shen Wang felt something was amiss. After inspecting the layout of the haunted house under Azi's guidance, his expression subtly changed.

Azi, always observant of his expressions, anxiously asked: "What's wrong? Is it still not possible?"

Shen Wang's eyes were deep: "Do you remember when this illusion suddenly appeared?"

His question startled Bai Fuchun and Chouyin: "Isn't this a naturally formed illusion?"

Illusions can indeed form naturally, especially in places with heavy Yin energy which can easily induce illusions in the living.

Previously, no one suspected any human interference in this illusion; they naturally assumed it was due to the multitude of ghosts and the dense Yin energy here.

But now, with Shen Wang's questioning, they all realized that the matter wasn't so simple.

After some reflection, Azi tilted her head and ventured, "Perhaps a few years after our deaths?"

But the specific timing was blurry to her; she couldn’t recall clearly due to her disoriented state back then.

Shen Wang frowned, looking at the ground and slowly said, "Below us, there's a large illusionary formation."

Ordinary formations use spiritual energy as a guide, but this formation absorbs Yin energy instead.

With the Yin energy of the many female ghosts in the haunted house, even Shen Wang initially failed to see through the formation, mistaking it for the mischievous acts of Azi and the other ghosts.

He only realized the truth after sensing something amiss and investigating carefully.

Azi, A Zhi, and the other ghosts gathered around, no longer afraid of Shen Wang, bombarding him with questions: "Master, what's happening?"

"Is there a problem? Can we still reincarnate?"

"Can it be quicker, Master? A Zhi might not catch up with her lover."

Shen Wang's expression softened slightly, and he gestured for all the ghosts to step back: "Rest assured, if I said I can help you reincarnate, then I will."

As he spoke, he began calculating with his fingers while swiftly moving in strange patterns across the ground.

The others and the minor ghosts were completely baffled by his actions. Soon, a gust of wind stirred up the thick dust at his feet.

"Ptooey!" Bai Fuchun squinted, spitting out the dust that had accidentally gotten into his mouth. He wanted to bury his face in Chou Yin's embrace yet also wanted to watch Shen Wang's maneuver, torn between the two.

In the midst of his dilemma, Shen Wang uttered lightly, "Break for me!"

The next second, a wilder wind, seemingly from nowhere, raged through the room, whipping up waves of dust, forcing Bai Fuchun and the others to tightly shut their eyes and mouths to avoid the dust.

With their eyes closed, their hearing became more acute. They heard Shen Wang asking Azi, "Has any Taoist priest come to you before?"

Azi nodded without hesitation, "Yes!"

After that, there was silence except for the howling wind.

When the wind finally ceased, Bai Fuchun and the others waited a moment before cautiously opening their eyes.

The floor looked as if it had been scrubbed clean, shining like new and oddly contrasting with the decaying furniture around. But the most eerie thing was the formation in the center of the room.

A massive, deep red formation, covering almost half of the room.

Wushu was dumbstruck, never having imagined a formation hidden underground: "This red color is so strange, it's like..."

"Human blood," Shen Wang interjected calmly. "But this isn't the blood of the living, rather that of corpses."

This was a formation that nourished itself on yin energy, drawing from the minor ghosts, sustaining its master... Azi and the others, being ordinary people, faced death with resignation, preferring the afterlife over clinging to this one.

Yet they became earthbound spirits, trapped here for decades, becoming nourishment for others.

Shen Wang's expression was icy; he had never witnessed such a malevolent formation, but he knew of a similar one.

In a long-forgotten text, he was drained of blood by the Tang family, and after death, his soul was suppressed under their old family home. His endless resentment, transformed by the formation, ironically became the Tang family's fortune, protecting them.

His resentment too turned into nourishment for the Tang family.