Chapter 145: The Jade-Faced She-Devil

"What?! You are the Lucky Dragon?"

Not only the few gamblers, but even Xiaobao and Dachun were utterly astounded. "Senior Brother Zilong, you are the son of the Dice God, the Blade-Wielder of the Chang Le Fang, the Lucky Dragon?"

"Uh-huh," Zilong smiled faintly, "truly yours."

"I never imagined you were hiding your true identity so deeply!" Xiaobao frowned, his face full of shock and skepticism. "Legend has it that more than a decade ago, at a Macau casino, you threw down tens of thousands with a single wave and donated all your winnings. Is that true?"

"Mhm, it's true." Zilong nodded in assent, concealing his profound achievements and fame.

"That was two hundred million!" Dachun grabbed the edge of the table tightly and asked in a low voice, "Tell me, didn't Master force you to donate it?"

"Dachun!" Chen Yao behind them dry-counteled twice, his gaze as sharp as a blade, piercing straight through Dachun.

"Hehe," Dachun hurriedly laughed apologetically, "Master, I was just trying to fish for words out of him. Don't take it seriously."

Too late. Chen Yao had already made a tick mark next to Dachun's name in his little book of grudges.

At the gaming table, Zilong flourished the gold blocks in his hand toward the remaining two gamblers. "Right now, the gold characters in my hands total 240, while the two of you combined only have 180. This gambling match—you've already lost, haven't you?"

"You're ruthless. I never expected you to be able to tell the size by listening to the dice!" Gambler Number One sneered. "The Lucky Dragon lives up to his legendary name. I yield!"

"Up ahead, our leader, the Casino Viper, is waiting to welcome your esteemed arrival!" Gambler Number One quickly wiped away his frustrated expression, replacing it with a proud yet disdainful smile. "Our boss is notoriously formidable in the gambling underworld!"

Thus, the scene earlier of Xiaobao shaking the dice and shouting had transpired.

While Xiaobao and the others were having a blast over there, Ye Dong was so terrified his jaw nearly dropped. The encounters of the two parties were as different as heaven and earth.

"Are they actually human?"

Seeing that the ghostly entity a hundred meters away cast a shadow, Ye Dong couldn't help but take two steps back. The moment he retreated, Huang Wuchang instantly noticed something amiss with him.

"He Wentian, you aren't afraid of the strong light?!" Huang Wuchang's face was full of astonishment as he stared straight at Ye Dong's direction!

"Crap!"

Ye Dong was startled, only then realizing he had lost his composure just now and let the sharp-eyed Huang Wuchang detect his mutation.

"Yeah, I... I don't know why I'm suddenly not afraid of these harsh lights either!" Ye Dong replied submissively. "Master, could this be because I've been soaked in the water for too long?"

"It seems this stroke of good fortune of yours is quite useful!" Huang Wuchang chuckled. "Since you can see things under the harsh light, you'll have to make good use of this skill!"

With that, he handed a spiritual talisman to Ye Dong and instructed, "Stuff this kind of talisman into the mouths of He Wei and the others to help clear their vision!"

Ye Dong looked into Huang Wuchang's eyes and discovered that a layer of film had actually grown over his eyeballs, much like the eyes of a fish; he too possessed a faint membrane over them!

"So this is why he isn't afraid of the light?!"

"Huh?" Ye Dong thought back. "Does that mean my eyes have grown a layer of film too right now?!"

Before he could check his eyes, however, the human-shaped, ghost-like female spirit sneered at Ye Dong and the others once again. "To think so many people have actually come. Heh-heh-heh-heh..."

Her laughter sounded exceedingly joyful, akin to the excitement and anticipation of someone who hasn't eaten in ages realizing a grand feast is about to be served. Foodies would understand.

*Clank, clank, clank*—the sound of iron chains kept echoing, growing increasingly louder and closer.

"This is no time to panic!"

Just as Ye Dong stuffed the spiritual talisman into Master Wei's mouth, the sound of heavy iron chains dragging across the ground rang out once more beside the monster!

"Damn it, it looks like there isn't just one monster. I need to hurry up and clear their vision, or we'll suffer a crushing defeat when the fight starts!"

A chill crept into Ye Dong's heart, and he frantically shoved talismans into the mouths of his comrades!

As soon as Ye Dong cleared the vision of the very last person, those "chain monsters" hiding in the shadows finally revealed their figures!

Under the harsh light, the monsters were dense and numerous. Thick iron chains were bound around their necks and ankles; their hair was disheveled, their bodies withered down to mere skeletons, and their gazes were hollow and evil. Without exception, they let out snickers of malicious glee!

As they laughed, some of them even began to crawl forward on all fours, dragging whatever heavy burden lay behind them with their entire bodies.

"My god, what is going on here?! What kind of thing requires so many people to pull it?"

Seeing such bizarre monsters before him, Lixing asked repeatedly, "Master, are these humans or ghosts?"

Huang Wuchang replied in a low voice, "They are neither human nor ghost; they are vicious wraiths!"

"What? Vicious wraiths?" Master Wei was also greatly startled. "Even if they are vicious wraiths, where on earth did such a massive number of them come from?"

"Have you forgotten that the King of Thieves captured a massive horde of vicious ghosts from the underworld?" Huang Wuchang smiled bitterly. "That was a generous gift bestowed by our ancestors!"

From Qiqi's memories, Ye Dong knew that so-called "vicious wraiths" were non-human, non-ghost monsters created when sorcerers forcibly bound a single soul to a corpse.

"Such a cruel sorcery! Aren't they afraid of committing atrocities against heaven and earth by doing this?"

Anger flared in Ye Dong's heart, and he repeatedly asked Huang Wuchang, "Is the King of Thieves not afraid of tarnishing his reputation by doing this?"

"No, because these souls were originally wicked people destined for hell to suffer punishment after death. The King of Thieves merely intercepted them at the gates of hell to serve as tomb guards. They suffer endless torment here anyway. If ordinary mortals were to find out, they would cheer instead!"

Huang Wuchang's answer failed to convince Ye Dong, because such sorcery defied the heavenly dao and was bound to incur divine retribution.

"Now is not the time to be entertaining such distracting thoughts."

Ye Dong quickly reined in his focus. The range of the harsh light continued to expand, and before long, the entire clearing revealed its true appearance.

It was a wide, flat expanse. At the dark extremity of the plain lay the source of the iron chains binding these vicious wraiths.

"There are at least two hundred chains here!"

*Clatter, clatter...*

Ye Dong wiped away a cold sweat. Under the watchful eyes of everyone, the object hidden in the darkness at the source of the chains was slowly revealing its mysterious silhouette!

"Long live! Long live!"

Tracing the dense web of iron chains, to everyone's absolute shock, what the vicious wraiths were dragging out turned out to be a red curtained sedan chair the size of a house!

"Hey, hey, hey, this is getting serious!"

Ye Dong drew a sharp breath. "Is there a human or a demon inside that sedan chair?!"

Witnessing such a bizarre spectacle, everyone turned pale with fright, fixing their pleading gazes upon Huang Wuchang and the five-ghost retainers before him.

"Oh my, so many living mortals have arrived all at once. Which one should I eat first?"

A delicate, coquettish female voice drifted out from behind the crimson curtains, catching Ye Dong slightly off-guard!

"A young female ghost?!"

Ye Dong strained his eyes, trying to catch a glimpse through the gaps of the curtains fluttering in the wind, but the slits were far too narrow; he could only make out the viciously scarlet lips of the female ghost.

"Stop playing god and playing the ghost!"

Huang Wuchang barked angrily, "I am Huang Wuchang, the 44th-generation successor of the Soul-Stealing Sect, known to all as the Soul Thief!"

"Oh? A disciple of the King of Thieves?"

Hearing Huang Wuchang's imposing aura, the female ghost let out a cold snort, asking with a bizarre, mocking inflection, "Since you are the master of the Soul-Stealing Sect, where is your passage jade pendant?"

"Hmph," seeing the female ghost refuse to show respect, Huang Wuchang sneered, "The jade pendant was lost by my master; you can't blame me for that!"

"Oh my, I only recognize the jade pendant, not the person. Besides, the King of Thieves has imprisoned me here for nearly two hundred years, and I despise him to the core. Now that a disciple of his sect has barged in without the jade pendant, I must exact a heavy vengeance!"

The female ghost's laughter was laden with murderous intent. Then, her soft voice whispered, "Little ones, whether you can break free from the bondage of these chains depends entirely on how ruthless you are today!"

"Ah-wah-wah, ah-wah-wah!"

At her words, the vicious wraiths at the other end of the chains jumped and bounded about, looking exceptionally excited. The clashing of the iron chains back and forth produced a jarring, nerve-wracking noise that made everyone's hearts race!

"Huang Wuchang said that the vicious ghosts of the Ghost Pass are unlike ordinary spirits; they must be subdued using talismans!"

Ye Dong felt deeply troubled. "Though these talismans possess potent magical power, they rely on Huang Wuchang's borrowed magic. By comparison, they are nowhere near as effective as the talismans I normally use!"

"Wait, no! Don't I have Qiqi's memories?"

A sudden flash of inspiration struck Ye Dong. "When using these talismans, can't I simply chant the incantations Huang Wuchang taught Qiqi in secret?"

"That's right, do this to save your life!" Ye Dong nodded inwardly, standing on guard alongside Master Wei and the others!

"Jade-Faced Demon, do you truly wish to make an enemy of this old man, aided as he is by the five ghosts?" Huang Wuchang demanded, his heart filled with indignation. "If only this old man had the jade pendant, things would be much easier to handle!"

"To think an old man like you recognizes my name; you at least possess some discernment."

"Tsch, we saw it loud and clear that day when you were strung up and beaten by the King of Thieves at the Gates of Hell!"

The black-faced figure at the side chuckled, "He subdued you using the Great Demon-Sealing Seal technique, didn't he?!"

"Hmph, so what if he did? I've been diligently cultivating my skills all these years; my abilities are far greater than they were back then!"

The Jade-Faced Demon smiled with pursed lips. "If we are not to be enemies, there are only two solutions."

Huang Wuchang frowned and shouted, "What solutions?"

"The first solution is for you to remove the magical array the King of Thieves set up for me." The Jade-Faced Demon pointed toward a golden talisman pasted high above.

"As for the second method, it's to lend me your physical body for a while so I can escape this wretched place. Having stayed here for two hundred years, I am utterly bored to death."

Huang Wuchang glanced at that golden talisman, sighing inwardly, *"This golden demon-sealing talisman must borrow divine or demonic power; otherwise, it could never have locked down this Jade-Faced Demon for over two hundred years. If I rashly attempt to undo the seal, I'll likely get trapped inside myself! The risk is too high, it's a gamble I can't take! As for the second method—borrowing my body? She can forget about it!"*

His mind made up, he gripped his flute in his left hand and slowly raised the ancient copper coin sword in his right, when suddenly, a cunning trick popped right into his head!