You made all the streamers on the internet kneel before you when you were asked to make a game.

The scene on the second floor was completely different from the empty altar on the first floor.

This room has been decorated in a classic style for a wedding.

The walls are covered with faded and blackened paper-cut "囍" characters, and several red lanterns covered with cobwebs hang from the roof beams.

In the corner of the room, there was a complete set of mahogany dowry items, including a dressing table, wardrobe, and canopy bed.

However, everything was covered with a thick layer of dust, as if it had been sealed here for a hundred years.

The only thing in the entire room that wasn't dusty was a set of clothes enshrined in the very center.

It was an incomparably magnificent phoenix coronet and embroidered robe.

The phoenix crown was inlaid with pearls and gemstones, and although its luster was dim, its former luxury was still evident.

The xiapei (a type of shawl) was made of the finest silk and embroidered with auspicious dragon and phoenix patterns in gold thread.

But this wedding dress, which should have been a joyous occasion, now exuded a chilling resentment.

It wasn't hung on a clothes hanger; it just floated in mid-air.

The sleeves and hem of the dress fluttered slightly, as if an unseen "person" was wearing it.

[This...this clothing is alive?]

[A ghost top? What kind of new item is this?]

[What a beautiful wedding dress, but it feels so eerie...]

The viewers in the live stream were buzzing with discussion.

Lu Zhixing and Professor Chen exchanged a glance, both seeing seriousness in each other's eyes.

They all thought of the information that other players had obtained from exploring the Village of the Dead and the Town of Sea Mist.

A hundred years ago, the Chen family sacrificed more than one young girl in an attempt to quell the sea's fury.

Xiaodie became the material for making the paper wedding dress.

The other one, the real eldest daughter of the Chen family, was enshrined in this Zhenhai Tower along with her wedding dress.

Just then.

The ghost bride, who had been quietly following Brother Long, suddenly became extremely agitated.

The red wedding dress she wore moved without wind, and the surging evil aura almost materialized.

She raised her head, her eyes, hidden beneath the red veil, fixed intently on the phoenix coronet and wedding gown floating in the air.

"Ho—"

A sharp, piercing roar, filled with endless anger and jealousy, burst from her throat.

The voice was no longer the indistinct ghostly language of before, but a clear woman's voice.

She suddenly broke free from Brother Long, transforming into a red shadow as she lunged at the phoenix coronet and wedding gown, her sharp, black fingernails aimed straight for the gown's heart.

She's going to tear it apart!

"Wife!"

Brother Long was shocked and tried to stop him, but it was too late.

But that phoenix coronet and embroidered robe were no ordinary item.

The moment the ghost bride pounced, a bright red light shone from the wedding robes, and a powerful resentment, no less intense than that of the ghost bride, erupted.

"Bang!"

The two forces collided in mid-air.

The ghost bride was blasted back by the red light and crashed hard into Brother Long's arms, her malevolent aura dissipating considerably.

The wedding robe swayed slightly, and the gold threads on it seemed to become even more crimson.

A blurry female phantom, dressed in the same wedding gown, appeared and disappeared above the bridal veil, letting out a silent roar at the ghost bride.

"Don't touch my things..."

A plaintive female voice came from within the embroidered robe.

The ghost bride struggled, wanting to go on top of her again.

"That's enough!"

Just then, Brother Long suddenly used all his strength to hug the agitated ghost bride tightly in his arms.

Then, facing that phoenix coronet and wedding gown that exuded terrifying pressure, he forcefully pushed against it!

"ah--"

The spiritual impact emanating from the wedding robes made Brother Long feel as if his soul was about to be torn apart.

[System Notification: You are currently suffering a severe mental attack from the "Garment of Resentful Marriage," with your health decreasing by 5%, 5%, 5%...]

[System Notification: Your professional trait "Forced Marriage" has been passively triggered. Your partner, the "Ghost Bride," is absorbing your overflowing yang energy and spiritual power...]

Brother Long's health bar, which was already at 30% in a weakened state, was now dropping rapidly at a visible rate.

But he did not let go.

He gritted his teeth, blood seeping from his seven orifices, yet he still clung tightly to the ghost bride.

"Don't be afraid... I'm here..."

These simple words gradually calmed the ghost bride's violent killing intent.

She sensed the pain that Brother Long was enduring, and she also felt his unwavering protection.

The malevolent aura emanating from her body receded inward, enveloping Brother Long and herself in a blood-red cocoon to resist the spiritual impact of the wedding robes.

Meanwhile, Long Ge's yang energy, which was being constantly drained, was continuously injected into her body through their close contact.

This is a long time.

The remnant soul within that phoenix coronet and embroidered robe, having lost its support, began to rapidly diminish its resentment.

However, the ghost bride's aura was rapidly increasing.

"No...no...that's mine! It's mine!"

A woman in a wedding robe let out a scream of resentment.

But it was all too late.

The ghost bride suddenly opened her mouth and inhaled forcefully at the phantom of the wedding robe.

The blurry female phantom, along with the sky full of resentful red light, was swallowed whole by the ghost bride.

After devouring the remnant souls of the same origin, the aura emanating from the Ghost Bride reached an unprecedented peak.

The colors of her wedding dress became even more vibrant, as if they were dyed with blood.

She slowly lifted the red veil over her head, revealing a breathtakingly beautiful face, yet pale and bloodless.

Looking at Brother Long, who had fainted from exhaustion in her arms, she felt a pang of heartache and pity in her eyes.

She gently kissed Brother Long's forehead, then stood up and glanced around the room.

Finally, they landed at the closed stairwell leading to the third floor.

She waved her hand.

"boom!"

The door, crafted from dark wood and indestructible by mortals, shattered with a loud crash.

The staircase leading to the top floor was dark and narrow.

Lu Zhixing supported himself against the wall and struggled to climb up.

His sanity had dropped below 50, and the world before him was half real and half a blood-red illusion.

Professor Chen followed closely behind, his face as solemn as water.

The ghost bride, holding the unconscious Brother Long, floated at the very back.

The top floor of Zhenhai Tower was equally eerily empty.

There are no lights, no windows, not even a ray of light here.

But in the absolute darkness, there was something that emitted a faint light.

It was a person suspended in mid-air by enormous chains as thick as nine arms.

To be precise, it was a withered body.

He sat cross-legged in a standard meditation posture, wearing a tattered Taoist robe. His face was gaunt, like a dried orange peel, and his original appearance was no longer recognizable.

The aura emanating from him was neither resentment nor ghostly, but rather an ancient, weathered sandalwood scent, as if it had been steeped in the sedimentation of a thousand years.

But strangely, the body's stomach had been cut open from the middle.

There are no internal organs inside.

Instead, it was filled with gold, silver, jewels, jade, and agate, all kinds of treasures gleaming in the darkness.

At the very center of all the treasures was a bead the size of a longan, entirely azure blue, radiating a soft yet eerie light.

The light was like a deep ocean, so bright that if you looked at it for too long, your soul would be drawn in.

Holy crap... this is the "Treasure of the Sea"?!

[Wait a minute, how did this bead end up inside a dead person's stomach?]

[This...this physical body, could it be that of the "Taoist priest from out of town" from back then?]