Sharp fingernails pierced deep into flesh and bone crevices, blood flowing down pale fingers, soaking through the inner garments of the wedding attire.

Liang Ye looked up in shock, not knowing whether it was from anger or pain, his eye sockets instantly filled with tears and turned bright red. He gasped urgently and helplessly several times before having the strength to raise his hand and grip the fierce ghost’s wrist that was still trying to push forward.

“Why are you crying?” The fierce ghost used his other hand to lift his chin, his ice-cold fingertip wiping away the tears at the corner of his eyes, grinning as he said, “The pain will pass in a moment, Your Highness.”

Liang Ye was already in too much pain to speak a single word. His other hand desperately clutched the fire-red wedding attire on the ghost creature, his pale fingertips using so much force that they tore the embroidered begonia flowers into a blurry mess.

He staggered forward unsteadily, and the fierce ghost reached out to embrace him, gently and intimately kissing the corner of his eyes, whispering softly to bewitch him, “Let go.”

Countless talismans spread along Liang Ye’s arm that was gripping the ghost’s wrist, tightly wrapping around the ghostly hand that had pierced through his neck, already grinding the originally smooth pale palm until it was bloody and mangled.

“…No.” Liang Ye buried himself in the ghost’s cold neck hollow, saying with difficulty, “Tonight… the wedding, consummation.”

The ghost creature twitched the corner of his mouth, ignoring the obstruction of those talismans and directly grasping the bone he had been obsessing over, his cheek gently rubbing against Liang Ye’s ear, “Let go, I only want a small half.”

“Will… I die?” Liang Ye’s hand clutching the ghost’s front garment was in such pain that veins bulged, his pale knuckles seeming as if they would pierce through flesh in the next instant.

The ghost creature’s pitch-black deep pupils rigidly turned twice in places Liang Ye couldn’t see, the corners of his mouth curving into an excited, twisted smile, yet his voice remained gentle and seemingly fearful, “No, of course you won’t die. How could I bear to let you die? Give me just a small half, and you can still become an immortal.”

Liang Ye burst into laughter, his whole body trembling as he laughed, “Then have you ever loved me?”

“Of course.” The other’s palm covered his heart, restlessly touching his beating heart through the air, murmuring, “No one in this world loves you more than I do.”

“…Nothing but lies.” Before Liang Ye finished speaking, the palm covering his heart suddenly turned into claws.

Hiss——

The wedding attire was torn apart by more than half, golden talismans directly shredded the pale white palm bones, the sharp dagger completely pierced into the chest cavity, and the wedding garments on both the person and ghost turned into countless flame-like fragments, fluttering down before the two of them.

Liang Ye tightly covered his neck, the soft sword inscribed with talismans held horizontally in front of him.

The ghost creature looked down at the dagger inserted into his heart, the ghost-binding command on it coiling around his soul. He gritted his teeth and forcibly pulled the dagger out, black blood dripping all over the ground.

“I underestimated you.” The fierce ghost tilted his neck, staring at Liang Ye, crushing the cold blade in his hand.

Tears in Liang Ye’s eye sockets were about to fall but didn’t, staring at him intently, “You want to kill me.”

The fierce ghost looked at him in surprise, then raised his hands and clapped, “Looking at it this way, you do have some brains. I thought you would be stupid enough to die.”

“Why?” Liang Ye looked at him in disbelief, “Haven’t I… treated you well enough?”

“Well, so well that I almost couldn’t bear it.” The begonia flowers behind the fierce ghost suddenly bloomed, his bright red inner garment leaning diagonally among the stamens, spreading root systems eagerly wrapping around the bloody hole in his chest, thin root systems threading like needles, densely stitching the wound closed.

He twisted off those wriggling root systems, his gaze gloomy as he stared at Liang Ye, “You can blame this bone of yours for making me feel bad whenever I see it… Ah, it’s not entirely the bone’s fault. Seeing you live comfortably makes me so jealous I’m about to go mad.”

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly approached Liang Ye, the soft sword covered with talismans shattered into countless iron fragments before him, then his palm passed through the broken sword, caressing Liang Ye’s red eye sockets, “Why should you, Liang Ye?”

Countless thin root tendrils wrapped around Liang Ye’s neck, the fierce ghost in red robes leaning against the gorgeous large begonia flower floating in mid-air, cupping his face and bending down to kiss him.

“What’s interesting about becoming an immortal? Wouldn’t it be better to accompany me as a fierce ghost?” He whispered intimately like a lover, bewitching his fortunate self, “You’ve already done so much for me, just a little bit more, okay?”

Liang Ye stared at him with wide eyes, even clearly feeling those flower roots wrapping around his neck bone.

He opened his trembling lips, and under the other’s excited, trembling gaze, slowly uttered one word. “…No.”

Bang!

The entire bedroom suddenly exploded.

A white figure suddenly flashed past and grasped the fierce ghost’s neck, slamming both ghost and flower hard into the cold, hard floor of the bedroom, immediately creating a deep crater.

“Evil creature!” Yue Jingming’s plain white robe sleeves fluttered in the shrieking ghostly energy, the whisk he struck down transformed into thousands of silk threads that pierced through every meridian of the fierce ghost, immediately causing him to emit sharp howls.

The ghost-binding commands that the ghost creature had voluntarily wrapped around himself to deceive Liang Ye now finally served their true purpose, transforming into countless iron chains that bound the fierce ghost securely in the formation.

“Liang Ye——” The fierce ghost coldly shouted, his face contorted as he looked toward Liang Ye, “You schemed against me!”

“You wanted me dead, but I want to live. I don’t like others coveting my things. If you had been well-behaved, I could have indulged you, but… you made the first move.” Liang Ye’s neck was quickly wrapped and bound with talisman paper by Xiao Chunhe. He slowly raised his head to look toward the fierce ghost, expressionlessly saying, “Humans and ghosts walk different paths. If you don’t want to be reduced to ashes, then get lost.”

The ghost creature’s expression was gloomy, looking as if he was truly enraged.

“Not good! Go!” Xiao Chunhe made a quick decision, grabbing Liang Ye and flying away from the battlefield.

The ghost creature raised his hand to grab the chains on his body. His originally intact pale skin fell off piece by piece, revealing black corpse chunks sewn together by flower roots. His red robes were also burned away by ghost fire, revealing the tattered black dragon robe beneath. His black fingernails grasped the chains, which broke section by section as he stood up. His waterfall-like black hair flew in the wind, his eyes with only black pupils left accurately fixed on Liang Ye, his mouth corners forming a terrifying arc. “Liang Ye! Come back!”

Yue Jingming suddenly tightened the whisk nailed into his flesh and bone, sternly shouting, “You are not of this world! Liang Ye has no grievances with you! Return to where you should go!”

The ghost creature rigidly turned his head to look at him, as if feeling no pain, “Master?”

Yue Jingming’s expression froze, blood slowly seeping from the tiger’s mouth gripping the whisk, saying coldly, “I… am not your master. Liang Ye, go back.”

“Why!” The ghost creature’s expression was vicious, “Why does he live better than me! I want to devour him——“

“You have already ruined his marriage prospects and disturbed his Dao heart! Know when to stop!” Yue Jingming gripped his whisk warningly, “Liang Ye, return to where you came from!”

“Zhen refuses! Zhen wants him to be buried with me!” The fierce ghost suddenly broke free from the whisk threads on his arms, flower roots suddenly spreading to wrap around Liang Ye’s waist and drag him back.

Xiao Chunhe cut through those flower roots with one sword strike, shouting loudly, “Yue Jingming, what are you dawdling for! He’s not your disciple!”

Snap!

A flower root lashed toward him viciously.

The fierce ghost looked at the sword that Yue Jingming had kept sheathed behind his back, suddenly curving his mouth corners, calling out pitifully, “Master, you can’t be partial. Look, how miserably I’m doing now. I just want a little bit of his immortal bone, but he’s so stingy he won’t give me even half a bit.”

Liang Ye covered his neck and angrily said, “Nonsense! You clearly wanted to dig out the whole piece just now!”

“What are you doing back here!” Yue Jingming sternly shouted, raising his hand to push Liang Ye away. However, the fierce ghost’s movements were faster than his, directly transforming into a gust of sinister wind that completely enveloped Liang Ye within that enormous begonia flower.

“I was dragged here by him!” Before being completely submerged by those petals, Liang Ye still desperately clung to the petals, exposing his half-bound leg to prove his innocence.

Bang!

Liang Ye was grabbed by the neck and slammed onto the petals, immediately contorting his features in pain and coughing up blood.

“Truly beyond my expectations, Liang Ye.” The fierce ghost looked at him with a sinister gaze, “Saying you carved ghost-binding commands on your body for me, you had already conspired with Yue Jingming, hadn’t you?”

“…No.” Liang Ye grasped his ice-cold wrist, staring at him intently, “I had long… made up my mind to marry you… but you always coveted my… immortal bone… so I went to beg Master. Once I completely subdued you… you would never be able to escape.”

The fierce ghost was stunned for a moment, narrowing his eyes and saying, “You even deceive your master, you dog.”

Liang Ye grinned, “What I set my sights on… belongs to me… If I die, you must also be reduced to ashes and be buried with me!”

“Dream on.” The fierce ghost sneered, grasping his chin and kissing him, taking away the blood in his mouth, tilting his head to kiss his ear, “Then let’s wait and see.”

Before he finished speaking, the entire ghost suddenly transformed into countless petals. In the next instant, a divine sword carrying pure righteous energy struck down fiercely, the fierce ghost’s shriek shooting straight to the clouds.

Yue Jingming sheathed his sword, looking toward Liang Ye, “Are you seriously injured?”

“It’s nothing, thank you Master for coming to my rescue.” Liang Ye raised his hand to cover his neck, pausing before saying, “That ghost creature…”

“Escaped.” Yue Jingming said, “But he was severely injured. He won’t be able to cause trouble for decades, enough time for you to cultivate and attain the Dao. Since you’ve broken off your marriage prospects, focus on cultivation and don’t be bewitched by that evil creature.”

Liang Ye hung his head and nodded obediently, hiding the regretful look in his eyes, “Yes.”

Yue Jingming looked coldly at his little disciple who was covered in ghostly energy and nearly drained, “Go kneel before the incense.”

Xiao Chunhe glanced at Liang Ye walking away, standing beside Yue Jingming, covering his arm and frowning in pain, “You didn’t use your full strength?”

“The other party didn’t use full strength either.” Yue Jingming said, “If he had killing intent toward Liang Ye, I definitely wouldn’t spare him.”

Xiao Chunhe was stunned, “This evil creature…”

“Very strong.” Yue Jingming frowned, “Even with all my strength, I only severely injured him. If not for Liang Ye wrapping the ghost-binding command around him beforehand, even if you and I joined forces, we might not have been able to harm him.”

Xiao Chunhe said with a toothache, “I think Xiao Ye still hasn’t given up. Does he have brain problems?”

“Yes.” Yue Jingming said flatly.

Xiao Chunhe was choked by his response, reaching out to embrace his neck but being avoided without a trace.

“There’s no one here!” Xiao Chunhe’s thin fox-like eyes narrowed.

“There’s blood.” Yue Jingming turned and walked away.

Xiao Chunhe was stunned, quickly catching up, “Are you injured? Where are you hurt, let me see.”

“It’s nothing.”

*****

Liang Ye knelt on the prayer mat watching the incense burn out before lifting his robes and standing up.

“Your Majesty, Eastern Chen has sued for peace.” A secret guard landed silently on the ground, presenting a secret letter, “A letter sent by Shen Yueli through someone.”

Liang Ye opened the letter and glanced at it twice before casually throwing it into the charcoal basin, watching the flames dance, “Tell Jiao Yan to continue fighting.”

“Yes.”

Liang Ye pinched a bit of incense ash from the desk, putting it to his nose to smell.

His master was right. That ghost creature had vanished without a trace since then, and seven years had already passed.

But now… Liang Ye looked at the ghost-binding command extending to his hand, emitting a faint light, a flash of excitement in his eyes.

That ghost creature would soon come looking for him.

Twenty-seven-year-old Liang Ye had been on the throne for six years. When he was crown prince, he was steady and diligent. After taking over the imperial position from Liang Hua, he hadn’t been negligent at all. The only difference was that his father had a benevolent and kind nature, but Liang Ye had restlessness in his bones. He couldn’t find anything more exciting than battling wits and courage with a fierce ghost, so he put all his thoughts into expanding territory.

Another form of killing and struggle barely satisfied him somewhat.

Shen Yueli’s letter was unnecessary.

He had Qi Ming executed when he said he would. He demoted Baili Cheng’an to Hexi. Even with Jiao Yan, he had all the other party’s children detained in the capital as hostages, forcing Jiao Wenbai to relinquish military power. As the princess of Eastern Chen, Shen Yueli had long been classified into the enemy camp by him. Though their youthful friendship was good, in Liang Ye’s view, it was insignificant.

Liang Ye looked at the map of the four kingdoms hanging in the great hall. In three more years, he could unify the four kingdoms and become the ruler of all under heaven.

Everything was proceeding steadily according to his plan. Only after unifying the world would things become interesting. He still had many things to do. Great Liang would become a more glorious existence than the Great An and Great Li dynasties.

“Your Majesty, Imperial Preceptor Wen requests an audience.”

“Tell him Zhen has retired.” Liang Ye frowned.

Only one thing remained – he had never taken an empress or had children. Recently, the court had been in uproar over this matter. If he hadn’t already adopted several children from the clan, there would be no peace.

As the ruler of a nation without heirs, this was indeed a fatal weakness.

Liang Ye looked gloomily at the spreading patterns on the back of his hand, thinking of that culprit.

He wondered where that ghost creature was now barely surviving. When he cultivated with his master for a few more years, he would definitely subdue him and make him into a slave puppet, keeping him bedridden.

Liang Ye patted the dust off his sleeves and pushed open the door to his sleeping chamber.

As soon as he entered, he sensed something amiss. The long-absent sinister energy coiled from his ankles up his spine to the back of his neck, mixed with some fierce killing intent.

“Liang Ye.” Liang Ye slowly raised his eyes, “Come out, I know it’s you.”

He restrained his trembling nerves, clenching his hands that were violently shaking from excitement, knowing that his shameful methods had taken effect.

Light laughter echoed in the silent palace, “Your Highness, no, Your Majesty, long time no see. Did you miss me?”

“Miss.” Liang Ye stood with hands behind his back, letting that cold sinister chill wrinkle his dragon robes into chaos, intimately covering his lower back and tailbone, saying coldly, “These seven years, Zhen has thought of you every moment.”

Ice-cold arms wrapped around his neck, that face identical to his slowly appeared before his eyes. The fierce ghost pressed very close to him, almost nose to nose, breathing cold air at Liang Ye, “After not seeing each other for years, you’ve learned to speak a few human words.”

“You still dare to appear.” Liang Ye’s Adam’s apple moved unnaturally.

“If I don’t appear now, it’ll be too late.” The ghost creature tilted his head, using his sharp canine teeth to teasingly bite his Adam’s apple, saying in a low voice, “I’m about to dissipate. Save me.”

Liang Ye looked as if he was about to be amused by him, “How dare you?”

But he was already so impatient he could barely hear what the other was saying.

The fierce ghost waved his nearly transparent palm, his fingertip directly passing through Liang Ye’s neck. He lay against Liang Ye, weakly saying, “Give me some vital energy.”

“Dream on.” A gleam of schadenfreude flashed in Liang Ye’s eyes, “Weren’t you very powerful? Even my master couldn’t disperse you.”

“Wasn’t it because of the ghost-binding command you planted in my body?” The fierce ghost raised his head, his brows gloomy as he stared at him, “I fought with others and was nearly killed by that thing. This is the first time I’ve suffered such a loss in all these years. Liang Ye, you should compensate me.”

Liang Ye’s palm hidden behind his back slowly rubbed, raising an eyebrow with a smile: “Since you’re so weak, wouldn’t it be easy for me to——“

Before finishing his words, the hand seal he was forming behind his back was only half completed when it was forcibly separated by the ghost creature’s ice-cold fingers, his entire body pressed against the door panel.

“Liang Ye, I’m suffering.” The ghost creature pressed down on him, his entire head buried in his neck hollow, coaxing in gentle tones, “I did have ulterior motives back then, but you also took half my life. We’re even.”

Liang Ye was nearly amused by him, “Do you have no shame?”

“No more, anyway you’re the same as me.” The fierce ghost lay weakly against him calling his name, “Liang Ye, I’m really about to disappear. If I disappear, you’ll never find me again.”

Liang Ye’s arm around his waist suddenly tightened at some unknown moment.

The fierce ghost hidden in the shadows curved his mouth corners.

“You’ve been the one haunting my dreams these past days?” Liang Ye leaned his head back, avoiding his kiss.

“Nightmares have minimal effect, too slow.” The ghost creature’s palm pressed against the door frame beside his ear, leaning close to brush against his warm lips with seeming casualness, “I heard you’ve never taken an empress in all these years on the throne. So can I, this crown prince consort, become the empress?”

“And then dig out my cervical vertebrae.” Liang Ye expressionlessly tugged at the corner of his mouth.

“Mm.” The other narrowed his eyes, his greedy gaze sweeping over his neck, “I’m reluctant to.”

Liang Ye gave a cold laugh, dodging his kiss again, but in the moment he turned his head, he was firmly pressed against the back of his neck and kissed.

He was probably resistant at first.

But he couldn’t withstand the fierce ghost’s persistence, or perhaps he wasn’t actually that disgusted and resistant, or maybe he really had gone mad, obsessing over a fierce ghost who wanted his life.

If Master were here, he would definitely be angry enough to strike dead this evil disciple.

Strike him dead then.

Liang Ye pressed the other down, tearing apart the heavy curtains as they both tumbled in. The gorgeous, elaborate curtains were extremely like blooming begonias, falling down layer upon layer.

Light rain began pattering outside the window.

A clap of thunder sounded, and Liang Ye suddenly awoke, gasping heavily.

The ghost creature lying on him with a satisfied expression stared at him coldly, “You still dare to place a ghost puppet contract on me, taking advantage of my distraction?”

Liang Ye stared at the bright red root systems extending from his fingertips, “What is this?”

“Half-dissolved ghost puppet threads.” The fierce ghost’s face contorted, “Vicious things.”

Liang Ye’s eyebrow twitched slightly, “The rest can’t be dissolved?”

The fierce ghost said lazily, “The rest will be dissolved slowly, anyway——“

“Anyway?” Liang Ye’s talisman-flashing hand imperceptibly caressed his back, yet he couldn’t control himself, obsessively raising his head to kiss him.

The fierce ghost lowered his head to respond to his kiss, bright red root systems tightly wrapping into the flesh of Liang Ye’s neck, feeling the immortal bone gradually being eroded and shattered by sinister black mist, forcibly separating from flesh.

Golden talismans coiled around the fierce ghost’s soul, corroding his consciousness to refine him into a ghost puppet through blood and flesh.

They were destined to fight to the death, entangled without resolution.

The blooming begonia slowly closed within the falling curtains, completely devouring the two people.

“Anyway, you’ve already been ruined by me.” 

The rain outside the window continued falling, the gray sky seeming as if it would never wait for clear weather.

In the misty, damp rain fog, the soul-calming bells on the bedroom eaves shattered into pieces, falling to the ground. Towering ghostly energy domineeringly enveloped the entire imperial palace, then was forcibly gathered back by imperial purple energy, meticulously covering every inch of space, concealing everything perfectly.

It was said that later, Northern Liang finally welcomed their empress, only the empress was jealous, appeared and disappeared mysteriously, and had an extremely bad temper.

But the one with an even worse temper was their emperor.

Since having an empress, His Majesty’s temperament became very changeable. Though he had been steady and diligent just days before, he would turn violent and bloodthirsty in an instant. This became especially severe after unifying the world. The already anxious court officials and common people became even more fearful, but His Majesty was quite reliable in handling affairs, conscientious and decisive. Occasionally he would be passive and slack in his work. When his mood was bad, the entire discussion hall would be as cold as if haunted by ghosts, quite terrifying.

But regardless, the common people who had suffered through years of war finally lived peaceful lives. Perhaps because the process of unification was too brutal, one thing was deeply ingrained and indelible——

That Emperor Liang Ye of the Liang Kingdom was actually a madman with unpredictable moods and eccentric behavior.