I fabricated myths to guide the revival of spiritual energy.

[Inside a temporary command vehicle on the outskirts of Xiangxi]

The torrential rain pounded against the car roof, making a crackling sound.

The atmosphere inside the car was incredibly tense. Three communications technicians were sweating profusely as they frantically adjusted the equipment, their fingers flying across the keyboard.

"Calling Falcon One! Please respond!"

"Falcon One! This is the nest! Report your location!"

The radio channel was silent except for the sickening buzzing of electricity.

Li Sen, the deputy commander in charge of perimeter security, stared at the twelve vital signs monitoring points on the screen, which had turned gray, with a livid face.

"When was the last communication?" Li Sen's voice trembled.

"Three minutes ago," the communications officer said, taking off his headset, his eyes filled with terror, "the captain ordered the Molotov cocktails to be thrown, and then... then the signal was cut off like it was cut off by a knife."

"It's been cut off?"

"It's not due to terrain shielding, nor is it equipment malfunction." The communications officer pointed to the strange straight line on the spectrum analyzer. "All frequency bands, from civilian walkie-talkies to military encrypted channels, all went to zero in the same second. It's as if... as if the physical rules of that area suddenly stopped 'sound' from propagating."

Li Sen slammed his fist on the table.

That was Zhao Feng's elite squad! Even if they encountered dozens of armed drug traffickers, they couldn't possibly be wiped out in three minutes without even being able to send out a distress signal!

"Retrieve the last audio recording!" Li Sen roared.

With trembling hands, the reporter pressed the replay button.

First, a loud explosion (incendiary bomb) came from the speaker, followed by the whooshing sound of flames.

Then came a crisp "click".

Those were footsteps.

Then came a woman's whisper that instantly lowered the temperature inside the command vehicle to freezing:

"My lord...you burned down my house..."

Then came an extremely piercing high-frequency shriek, and the recording abruptly stopped.

"What...what is this?" Li Sen felt a chill run down his spine.

"Deputy Commander!" another monitor suddenly exclaimed, "Look at the thermal imager!"

On the screen, the huge black area representing "Fallen Flower Cave" was originally a desolate, low-temperature zone.

But at that moment, in the center of that darkness, countless dense red lights suddenly appeared.

These points of light were not the warm, gentle color of the human body, but rather a strange, cold light with a purplish hue. They were arranged neatly, like an army in formation, or like a... grand banquet.

……

[The Ruins of Luohua Village, Above the Ashes]

Zhao Feng wanted to roar, to draw his sword, to pull the trigger.

But he couldn't do it.

The pale, ghostly hand resting on his shoulder felt incredibly heavy, pressing down on him so much that he couldn't move a single finger. His blood seemed to freeze, and the bone-chilling cold made it hard to breathe.

And around him, a horrific scene was unfolding.

With Gu Qing's snap of his fingers, countless pairs of red embroidered shoes emerged from the ashes.

They don't just have shoes.

As the shoes appeared, the black paper ash automatically adhered to them, swirling and condensing in the air, eventually transforming into gray figures with only outlines and no facial features.

These figures were dressed in long robes and mandarin jackets made of ash paper, or cheongsams and short jackets.

They all wore bright red shoes.

"whee……"

"hey-hey……"

Whispers arose from all directions.

There were countless paper-ash figures whispering amongst themselves. Although they had no faces, Zhao Feng could feel hundreds and thousands of greedy and mocking gazes focused on him and his teammates.

"Is it really... a parade of a hundred demons?"

One of the team members next to him had a mental breakdown, and his legs were trembling.

The "ghost bride" standing in front of Zhao Feng slowly raised her other hand.

Her fingertips held an exquisite wine glass. The glass didn't contain wine, but a thick, inky black liquid that emitted a nauseating, sweet-smelling odor.

"The auspicious time has arrived."

The bride's voice was soft and melodious, yet carried an undeniable authority.

"Please, my lord...drink the nuptial wine."

She brought the wine glass to Zhao Feng's lips.

Zhao Feng kept his mouth tightly shut, his eyes fixed on that pale, exquisitely beautiful face.

He knew that once he drank that glass of wine, he would truly be finished. Not just dead, but his soul would be forever imprisoned in this absurd "ghost wedding," becoming this monster's puppet.

"Not drinking?"

The bride tilted her head slightly, looking somewhat aggrieved.

"Does my lord find me unworthy?"

As her emotions shifted, the hundreds and thousands of paper-ash figures around her suddenly stopped whispering.

They all turned around and surrounded Zhao Feng.

The originally gray sky was suddenly adorned with a pale green moon.

[System notification: The fear level in the current scene has reached a critical point.]

[Special event triggered: Forced wedding ceremony.]

A tremendous force forcibly pried open Zhao Feng's jawbone.

The cold liquid trickled down the corner of his mouth.

Just as the liquid was about to slide down his throat—

Om-! ! !

A resounding sword cry suddenly erupted from Zhao Feng's backpack!

That was the broken sword that Zhao Feng risked his life to bring out from the Sword Tomb in the desert—[Tiger Warrior].

This weapon, which once slew three thousand demons, is broken and rusted, but its indomitable spirit remains!

It sensed the insult this sinister aura was directed at its "master".

A fierce, murderous aura, like that of a golden spear and iron horse, suddenly burst out from Zhao Feng's waist, instantly piercing through the "ghost domain force field" pressing down on him.

"puff!"

Using this force, Zhao Feng suddenly bit his tongue.

Zhiyang's blood sprayed onto the cup of "nuptial wine".

"Sizzle!"

The black liquor, as if it had encountered boiling oil, emitted puffs of white smoke.

"Get out of here!!"

Zhao Feng regained his mobility, roared, drew the broken sword from his waist, and slashed fiercely at the bride in front of him!

There was no sound of a sharp blade piercing flesh as I had imagined.

The bride's figure dissipated like a wisp of smoke, and her red embroidered shoe was blown away by the sword energy, tracing an arc in the air.

"Everyone! Wake up!!"

Zhao Feng brandished his broken sword, and the golden baleful aura he unleashed ripped a gash through the gloomy ghost realm like a beacon.

"This isn't a wedding! This is a battlefield!!"

Those team members who had been bewitched were jolted awake by this murderous aura, and their eyes regained their clarity.

"Fire! Fire whatever it is! Free fire!!"

Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat—!

A barrage of gunfire finally erupted in the valley.

The bullets pierced through the paper-ash figures, and although they couldn't kill them completely, the powerful kinetic energy shattered them, turning them into black ash flying everywhere.

……

Deep within the cave

Gu Qing looked at the broken sword radiating golden light on the screen, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

"That broken sword... it actually has this protective function?"

"It seems this sword is of better quality than I expected."

He wasn't angry at Zhao Feng's resistance; on the contrary, he was even more excited.

If it's just a one-sided massacre, then the play would be too boring.

Only in a contest of equal strength, only in the will to survive that erupts in despair, can the highest quality "faith" be extracted.

"However, there should be a limit to resistance."

Gu Qing watched as the "Scene Stability" on the system panel rapidly decreased.

"Since you don't want to be the groom, then change your role."

Gu Qing's finger traced a strange rune in the air.

"Turn them into...sacrifices."

……

[Outer perimeter command vehicle]

"We have a signal!!"

The communications officer suddenly shouted, his face beaming with joy, "The interference is gone! The frequency is back to normal!"

Li Sen grabbed the walkie-talkie and shouted:

"Falcon One! Falcon One! Respond! This is Li Sen! Report the situation immediately!"

one second.

two seconds.

three seconds.

A response came from the other end of the radio.

But that wasn't Zhao Feng's voice.

It wasn't the sound of gunfire.

Instead, it was an extremely noisy and chaotic background sound, as if countless people were screaming, crying, and roaring at the same time.

Against that background noise, a cold, mechanical, yet somewhat mocking female voice slowly rose to the occasion:

"This is... Fallen Flower Cave..."

"We are... waiting for someone..."

Li Sen was stunned: "Waiting for whom? Let Zhao Feng answer the phone! Who are you?!"

A woman's voice chuckled on the other end of the radio, a laugh that froze the blood of everyone in the command vehicle.

"Young Master Zhao... is busy escaping for his life."

"As for who to wait for..."

"We are waiting for... the real 'master' of Bureau 749."

"Tell your superior."

"This pair of shoes... is missing one."

"If no one delivers it before dawn... then the peach blossoms covering this mountain will have to be dyed red with the blood of these twelve people."

Click.

Communication was interrupted again.

Only the busy signal echoed in the deathly silent carriage.

The walkie-talkie slipped from Li Sen's hand and crashed heavily to the ground.

He looked up at the dark, rainy night outside the window.

He knew things were serious.

This is no longer a simple "abnormal event cleanup".

This is a declaration of war.

A challenge from "ghosts and gods" was a direct slap in the face to the state's violent apparatus.

But in Beijing, which is even further away.

At that moment, the red alarm lights at Bureau 749 headquarters began to spin wildly...