After the ghost-hunting master descended the mountain, his fame spread throughout the capital.

"A cultivator?" He spoke extremely slowly, as if he hadn't spoken in a long time. "Unfortunately... I no longer need sacrifices."

"Sacrifice?" Jiang Dusheng's lips curled into a cold smile as his gaze swept over the nine soul shadows struggling in agony on the ground.

"With the lives and souls of nine innocent women, you have orchestrated this vain and bloody ghost marriage. You wretched creature, you are even more superfluous as a ghost."

With a flick of her finger, three exorcism talismans flew out in a triangular formation, striking three relatively crucial connecting nodes in the formation.

She wanted to first try to shake the evil formation and save the souls that still had a glimmer of hope, while also testing the reaction of the vengeful ghost.

"Insolence!" The ghost's stiff face remained unchanged, but a flash of bloodlust appeared in its lifeless eyes.

Without him making any move, the woman in his arms suddenly raised one hand, and several scarlet tentacles formed from resentment emerged from her sleeve, lashing out at the three talismans that were flying towards her.

"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!"

The golden light on the talisman collided with the scarlet tentacles, producing a dull thud.

The golden light flashed violently a few times, but was corroded and neutralized by the blood-red light filled with resentment, and the three talismans turned to ashes at the same time.

At the same time, the crimson array on the ground shone brightly, and the nine soul shadows let out even more painful howls.

The soul power extracted from them seemed to intensify instantly, flowing continuously into the array diagram, and then, through some strange connection, into the bodies of the vengeful ghost and the bride in his arms.

The aura surrounding the vengeful ghost visibly expanded slightly, and a hint of mockery seemed to appear in its deathly eyes.

"Do you see? They are my power..." the vengeful groom said slowly. "Your soul is special; perhaps it can make my Wan Niang more complete..."

"Enough with the nonsense!" Jiang Dusheng snorted coldly, and his spiritual power surged into the flute.

The bone flute emitted a deep hum, and a vast aura of exorcising evil and suppressing malevolent forces suddenly arose.

Jiang Dusheng moved swiftly and charged towards the vengeful ghost.

Golden light emanated from the Buddhist prayer beads on his left wrist, while his right hand held a bone flute like a sword, pointing directly at the opponent's brow.

The ghostly groom seemed to sense the threat posed by the bone flute, and his previously stiff body began to react.

The ghost raised its pale hands, its nails instantly turning jet black and long, carrying a dense aura of bloodlust, as it reached for the bone flute that was thrusting towards it.

The blood-red array on the ground, under the urging of the vengeful ghost, suddenly shot out several viscous blood lines, which wrapped around Jiang Dusheng's legs like living things.

At the same time, the light of the nine soul shadows flickered rapidly, and a larger amount of soul power was forcibly extracted, causing the aura of the vengeful ghost to rise again.

Upon seeing this, Jiang Dusheng cut his fingertip with the bone flute and dripped the blood onto the flute, using his own blood essence as a catalyst to dispel all evil spirits.

With a flick of the bone flute—

"what!"

The vengeful ghost revealed a pained expression, its lifeless eyes filled with chaotic bloodlust, and its pale face began to crack.

The ghostly figure that had been binding Jiang Dusheng's legs vanished instantly.

Taking this opportunity, Jiang Dusheng quickly formed hand seals, and several pale golden chain phantoms appeared out of thin air.

As if possessing a spirit, the chains instantly wrapped around the vengeful ghost's limbs and neck, golden-red light spreading from the chains, scorching his soul and emitting a hissing sound.

The vengeful ghost struggled frantically, and the afterimage of the bride burst into a sharp wail, its blood-red tentacles lashing wildly, but all of this was blocked by the Buddhist light surrounding Jiang Dusheng.

"Kneel down!" Jiang Dusheng shouted, his right hand drawing a line in the air with his bone flute, striking the ghost's brow with a heavy blow.

"Bang!"

The vengeful ghost's knees buckled, and it actually knelt down on the ground.

The chains tightened, binding him firmly to the blood-red array on the ground.

The wedding hall fell into a deathly silence.

The paper guests stopped shaking, the blood-red array on the ground dimmed, and the wails of the nine soul shadows lessened considerably.

The female ghost bride also vanished.

Jiang Dusheng looked at the vengeful ghost kneeling on the ground, bound by chains, without a trace of pity in his eyes.

"Speak," her voice was icy. "What is your name? Who were you in life? Why did you set up such a vicious and evil formation here, harming innocent women?"

The vengeful ghost raised its head, and the blood-red light in its lifeless eyes dimmed considerably.

He remained silent, seemingly resisting.

Jiang Dusheng was not in a hurry. He took out a jade bottle from his bosom and uncorked it.

The fragrance of the soul-guiding incense spread out.

Soul-guiding incense can stir up memories and obsessions deep within the soul, and it is equally effective against vengeful ghosts.

The moment the fragrance touched the vengeful ghost, his whole body trembled violently, and thicker black yin energy seeped from the cracks, causing the entire ghost to shake.

"I... my name is... Lin Muxuan..." he finally spoke, his voice still hoarse, but with a hint of dazedness, "The third-ranked scholar of the twelfth year of Changji..."

The twelfth year of Changji?

Jiang Dusheng's heart stirred slightly; that was the reign title of the previous dynasty.

"Continue." She flicked her finger, and another golden light shot into the ghost's body, forcing him to recall more deeply.

Lin Muxuan's face began to contort, and a trace of longing gradually appeared in his lifeless eyes.

"Wan Niang and I have known each other since childhood, we were childhood sweethearts..." His voice was halting, but smoother than before, "She was the daughter of an embroidery workshop in the city, and I was a poor scholar. We secretly pledged our lives to each other..."

"In the spring of the twelfth year of Changji, I became the third-ranked scholar in the imperial examination. I thought... I could marry her in a grand and glorious way..." Lin Muxuan's voice began to tremble.

"But my mentor... wants me to marry his daughter, saying that Wan Niang's status is too low and she is not good enough for a top scholar like me..."

"I refused, I refused three times..." He suddenly laughed, a chilling laugh, "and then Wan Niang died... They said it was an accidental fall into the water, but I know, I know they did it!"

"It's those who look down on her background! It's those who want me to curry favor with the powerful!"

His voice suddenly rose, and the yin energy around him surged once more.

Jiang Dusheng immediately reinforced the seal while continuing to activate the Soul-Guiding Incense.

"I sat before her coffin for three days and three nights, holding her body in my arms..." Lin Muxuan's voice lowered again, almost a murmur.

"Hahahaha..." He laughed again, and as he laughed, two lines of bloody tears streamed down his cracked face.

"I swear before her spirit that if I cannot marry her while I am alive, I will definitely give her the grandest wedding banquet after I die..." Lin Muxuan's eyes gradually turned crazy.

"I searched through ancient books and found the Nine Yin Soul-Locking Sacrifice Array..."

"If I can offer sacrifices to nine virgins whose birth dates and times are the same as Wan Niang's within a hundred years, I can gather yin energy and reshape her soul..."

"I killed myself," he said casually. "I pierced my heart with a dagger. Then I used a secret technique to imprison my soul here and began searching for a sacrifice..."

"Ten years for the first one... twenty years for the second one..." he counted, his tone eerily calm, "until I collect nine, then I can bring Wan Niang back to marry me..."

"Then we can be a ghost couple, forever free from the suffering of reincarnation!"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Dusheng felt a surge of anger rising within him.

She stared at the nine agonizing, struggling souls in the pattern, her voice as cold as ice:

"So, you used this so-called deep affection as an excuse to harm nine women who had no grudge against you, but just happened to fit the requirements of your evil magic?"

Lin Muxuan was taken aback, and subconsciously retorted, "What do you know!"

Jiang Dusheng pointed his bone flute directly at his brow, each word ringing out with conviction:

"You should hate the person who killed Wan Niang. Why didn't you seek revenge on him while you were alive? Instead, you've chosen to prey on innocent and vulnerable women after you're dead?"

"What 'unwavering affection'? It's nothing but an excuse for your cowardice and cruelty! You dare not confront true power, so you turn your sword against the weaker!"

"Using nine precious human lives, the scattered souls of nine women, to fulfill your self-indulgent, delusional dream!"

"No! It's not an illusion!"

Lin Muxuan suddenly looked up, struggling frantically, "I can feel it! Wan Niang will be back tonight! Tonight is the ninth day of the fourth month, the formation will be complete!"

"I'm about to succeed! Why...why did you have to show up?! Why did you have to ruin everything?!"

He roared, his voice filled with rage.

With his roar, the blood-red array on the ground, which had already dimmed, lit up again, its light even more dazzling and crimson than before.

The entire wedding hall shook violently, and the paper guests all turned to Jiang Dusheng, their exaggerated smiles turning into vicious glares.