I am the Ruler of the Kingdom of Mysterious-Chapter 109 - 90: Night Parade of a Hundred Demons

Chapter 109: Chapter 90: Night Parade of a Hundred Demons

Ming Mansion, northeast corner courtyard.

"Cough! Cough cough!"

In the house overgrown with wild grass, violent coughing continued to sound. The brush fell to the ground, and a young man with white clothes and white hair removed a pure white mask, turned his head, and coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood, splattering it on the ground.

He took out a handkerchief and used his withered fingers to press it tightly against his mouth, suppressing the burning pain in his lungs.

"Cough... cough..."

After a bout of wheezing, the man removed the handkerchief. The flickering candlelight revealed a gaunt face, devoid of any trace of a living person’s complexion aside from the blood-stained lips.

Picking up the brush that had fallen to the ground, the man’s indifferent, lifeless eyes turned to the manuscript he had just finished writing on the table.

Turning his head, lightning flashed across the sky, revealing a field of red flowers outside the courtyard, all serving as gravestone markers. Not a single name adorned the stones.

"An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth; that is the way of the world. Kindness only invites malice and harm. Now, it’s your turn for revenge."

Inhaling deeply, the man took out another sheet of paper, preparing to pen the final Chapter of the story.

At this moment, he discovered that the manuscript he had just written had inexplicably gained vigorous, powerful words. A few strokes had overturned and rewritten his original conclusion, creating new developments.

Even amid such a reversal, the protagonist had shifted from Huilan to the Returning Guest, seamlessly and naturally, with every word perfectly crafted.

Impossible!

The man glanced at the storyteller mask right beside his hand; it was inconceivable for there to be a second storyteller in this world. Yet the glaring evidence before him indicated the emergence of another storyteller.

Suddenly realizing something, his heart trembled, and a complex expression appeared on his face.

After hesitating for a moment, he fixed his gaze, put on the mask, picked up the pen, dipped it in ink, and continued writing on the original page.

Let’s see whether this Returning Guest lives or dies!

Cough... cough cough cough...

The wind and rain wavered, and the coughing persisted.

*

Ming Mansion, in the servant’s quarters.

Xuan Yu leapt onto the rafters, watching as the gray haze below gradually transformed into blood fog. Su Liangyuan’s expression turned grave as he fled the room.

Bit by bit, the blood-colored fog converged towards the dressing table, engulfing the black-clad girl.

Meow?

Xuan Yu attempted to call out, and the girl suddenly looked up. Xuan Yu’s fur stood on end as it turned and bolted.

The girl’s eyes were blood-red, veins bulging, her face twisted and terrifying, having been replaced by Huilan.

The blood fog rippled, and Huilan disappeared from the spot, Su Liangyuan was nowhere to be found.

Meow...

Xuan Yu slipped back inside through the hole in the roof, gazing at the copper mirror on the dressing table. An unusual glint flickered in its emerald green eyes, before it dashed across the Ming Mansion.

Just as it left the servant’s quarters, Xuan Yu spotted Mrs. Zhao from Shihe Village, drenched and trembling as she clutched her mouth, cowering at the corner of the main courtyard wall.

A figure with indistinct features, dressed like a household servant, was slowly approaching the spot where Mrs. Zhao was hiding, with a human head held aloft as a lantern.

That head was shockingly her husband, Shi Yong.

Meow!!

Xuan Yu screeched, and the servant’s head spun directly backward, turning its eyeless gaze to Xuan Yu. Letting out a whimper, Xuan Yu immediately leaped off the rafters, darting through a hole beneath the wall.

Everything was wet, and Xuan Yu had nowhere to place its raised paw, hanging in midair as it scanned the surroundings through the rain.

Ahead was the Ming Mansion’s kitchen. Outside were a stone mill and a water vat. The sound of clinking glasses came from within; someone was in the kitchen.

Meow ~ Meow ~

Xuan Yu cried twice, echoes resonating without a reply.

Xuan Yu flicked its tail irritably, taking two steps back, arching its back, before darting out like a flash.

The cat paws splashed through shallow puddles, sending water flying as it charged directly toward the kitchen’s main entrance.

Suddenly, bang!

Someone rushed in front of Xuan Yu, crashing dead onto the millstone.

Meow!

Xuan Yu jumped in fright, as blood splattered into puddles, spreading in a large circle of red, yet there was no one beneath the millstone.

The scent of blood attracted pale arms, densely packed, blocking the path, clawing in midair.

Meow—

Sopping wet, Xuan Yu whimpered, leaping again with nimble agility, stepping on those pale arms, landing safely inside the kitchen doors.

Clang!

Around the square table, cups and plates fell, as if someone had just dined here and was scared away by Xuan Yu.

Xuan Yu jumped onto the table, arching its back, hissing in terror as a severed head with wide-open eyes lay in a dish, staring directly at it.

It was Song Quancai.

Chop! Chop! Chop!

Xuan Yu cautiously raised its head; on a distant workbench, a kitchen knife hung in midair, chopping repeatedly at a body already unrecognizable.

Sounds came from outside; Xuan Yu quickly climbed onto the rafters, lowering its body to peek through a brick gap, seeing a pair of stilts passing alternately outside the kitchen doors.

The stilts were extremely tall, their wearer hidden in darkness, audible with tearing flesh and chewing noises. Thick, viscous blood streamed down the stilts, causing hands in the water puddles to extend in clusters.

Bam!

A headless corpse was thrown down; Xuan Yu barely recognized it before pale arms grabbed it away from the puddle.

Boom!

Lightning split the sky, and a paper child appeared beside Xuan Yu, shocking it to bristle.

Meow—

The cat paw struck, tearing through the paper child’s face completely. Xuan Yu hastily escaped through the brick gap.

Just as Xuan Yu left, a burly man with a bushy beard wearing a bamboo hat rushed out of the kitchen’s small door, panting heavily.

Lightning illuminated the shadows of tree branches clinging to him, clawing and grasping, with shriveled corpses of unknown origin hanging from the branches.

The burly man continually swung his blade, the dark red Evil Qi on it resembling smoke or fire, repeatedly severing those shadow branches, forcing them back.

He took a deep breath, continuing his escape to deeper parts of the Ming Mansion, constantly pursued by a pale, decayed woman covered in pitch-black branches.

...

"Shou’an, where are you?"

In a certain house, He Shou’an hid under the table.

Upon hearing He Shouhui’s voice, he was about to come out when the door suddenly swung open. A pair of green and black bare feet, dragging tattered hems, approached the table, lifting their feet, climbing atop.

The table sank as He Shou’an tightly clamped his mouth shut, not daring to utter a sound.

...

In a separate room at Ming Mansion, dilapidated wreaths lay askew, six coffins displayed along both walls.

Bang! Bang bang!

"Let me out!"

Skinny was trapped inside one of the empty coffins, shouting and pounding on the coffin lid, Xia Chan’s face was solemn as she sat cross-legged atop the lid.

At the doorway, Kou Yushan cautiously peeped through the gap, scanning the well outside the courtyard. This place was remote, indicating little previous habitation.

But the courtyard was spacious, if it were sunny, the whole courtyard would bask in the sun, which is why the Ming Family had dug a well here to minimize the gathering of yin energy.

The Water Ghost had suddenly appeared earlier; everyone scrambled to flee, but collided with various Evil Spirits, leading to their eventual separation.

As the Guard Captain of Black Mountain Village, Kou Yushan was respected, protected by a Heart Lamp of considerable strength, so he encountered few Evil Spirits.

He and Xia Chan both remembered Sang Que’s warnings to take care of Skinny, preventing stories from manipulating him, indirectly causing harm to others.

Thus they followed Skinny, discovering that Skinny seemed a different person upon entering the backyard, and surprisingly was not attacked by Water Ghosts in the rain.

He kept singing a child’s rhyme, walking to the outside well, intending to throw himself in.

Fortunately, Xia Chan promptly tied him up with her hair, saving his life.

Meow~ Meow~

The sound of a cat came, and Xia Chan’s eyes widened suddenly. She looked up to see a shadow leaping down from the rafters.

Xia Chan caught the soaked Xuan Yu, who cried plaintively, meowing incessantly.

Staring at Xuan Yu, Xia Chan astonishingly understood its meaning.

She sprang upright from the coffin, saying to Kou Yushan, "Something has happened to my sister, I need to save her!"