Players: All NPCs in the Sect Are Moles

[Lin Qingfeng: Everyone, listen up! Change all your skins to solid black! Musicians, switch the BGM to "Astronomia"!]

[Lin Qingfeng: Hurry!]

[Lin Qingfeng: Let’s give those spooks across the way a little show!]

[Everyone: Right away, right away!]

...

From a peephole in her coffin, Su Ling’er watched as her Eldest Senior Brother and the others—at some point—had all changed their skin to a solid, bizarre black.

The Guixi Sect disciples carrying her coffin had also turned "black-skinned"!

Then, under Su Ling’er’s horrified gaze, this group of "black-skinned" senior brothers hefted her coffin from the ground onto their shoulders.

Su Ling’er couldn’t comprehend what she was seeing, but she was utterly stunned!

’What is this?!’

’What in the world is going on?!’

’Why has everyone’s skin turned black?’

’This is nothing like the ’Clash of Red and White Omens’ I imagined... not at all!’

Then, as a bizarre electronic beat kicked in, they began to sway from side to side, breaking into an exceptionally exuberant dance!

They twisted and swayed with the coffin on their shoulders, then dropped into deep squats, kicking their legs in and out. They even...

They even started using her coffin like workout equipment, repeatedly pressing it overhead before dropping it abruptly!

And so, the vibe of the once-somber funeral procession took a sudden turn.

Aside from the pristine white jade coffin, the scene was bizarrely festive and joyous.

Only one named Ji seemed unhappy, complaining in the party channel.

[Ji: Dude... Eldest Senior Brother, can’t we at least show some respect for the funeral vibe? I worked my ass off to create this tragic atmosphere, and you’ve completely destroyed it!]

[Lin Qingfeng: Come on, come on. That was all just to get into the Yin Spirit Institute, wasn’t it? Now that we’re here, we can do whatever’s the most fun!]

Meanwhile, Su Ling’er was being bounced around inside the jade coffin, tossed high into the air one moment and dropped hard the next, all in time with the insidious beat.

Several times, her head nearly slammed into the lid. She had to quickly brace her arms against the coffin’s upper rim just to keep from cracking her skull.

’Are funerals supposed to be this festive?!’

’Why don’t you trade places with the ’Red Calamity’ over there?!’

’And another thing! Please! The ’Red Calamity’ is about to run right into us!’

’Do you really think this is a good idea?!’

On one side was a wedding procession, decked out with lanterns and streamers, yet glowing a bizarre, scarlet red.

On the other was the "funeral party," all pristine white and absurdly dancing to a thumping beat.

Red and white, life and death, joy and mourning...

No, wait. Is it joy and joy now?

On this desolate path, the two processions that should never have crossed paths were about to collide!

Lying in her coffin, Su Ling’er had no idea what would happen when these two "joyous occasions"—one red, one white—met on this narrow path.

By all rights, this should be an omen of terrible disaster, but her own party... was having a little too much fun.

Her heart hammered in her chest, and she could barely breathe.

She felt afraid, yet also... faintly expectant? A tangled knot of emotions brewed within her.

The very instant the "Red Calamity" procession was about to collide with them—

The opposing procession came to a sudden halt.

The piercing music screeched to a halt.

The wind died. The fog fell still. It was as if time itself had frozen.

However, the Guixi Sect contingent paid them no mind, continuing their "coffin dance" as the insidious music played on without pause.

Through the peephole, Su Ling’er stared intently at the crimson bridal sedan.

A hand slowly drew back the sedan’s curtain.

’That was no living hand!’

Its skin was waxy, yellow, and dry, stretched taut over the bone. The fingernails were long and black. It was unmistakably the hand of a skeleton!

As the curtain was pulled aside, the figure seated within came into view.

It was a "bride" dressed in a magnificent phoenix coronet and wedding gown.

A red veil covered her head, obscuring her face.

But judging by her slender, skeletal frame and her exposed, withered hands, the "bride" in the sedan was by no means among the living!

A wave of malevolent energy, thick with venomous resentment and bitterness, erupted from the red sedan!

The oppressive aura was so heavy it nearly suffocated Su Ling’er.

The players, however, seemed completely oblivious.

Eldest Senior Brother even picked his nose, casually flicking a booger in the ghost’s direction as he and the others started chatting.

"Hey, you guys think Wang Xiedi would try to make a move on a ghost like this?"

"I’d say it’s more than likely! Definitely possible!"

"No way, right? This... this thing doesn’t even look human anymore!"

"First of all, she’s a ghost! Second, what’s to stop Wang Xiedi from channeling his inner Ning Caichen and seeing her as his Nie Xiaoqian?"

"Good point, good point. She’s even got the red veil on! Wang Xiedi will take one look, think, ’Hey, not a bad figure,’ and I wouldn’t put it past him to start roleplaying some *A Chinese Ghost Story* gag!"

"Yeah, yeah, that could totally happen!"

Just as Su Ling’er was on the verge of suffocating from the malevolent aura, she overheard the discussion among her seniors and nearly fainted from sheer exasperation.

’Seriously!’

’The ghost is right there!’

’You guys are literally running a funeral, can’t you show a little respect for the dead?!’

’Eldest Senior Brother!’

’What... what are you doing?!’

’Why are you flicking boogers at it?!’

’This is supposed to be a terrifying situation! Can’t we be a little more serious?!’

With their antics, the suffocatingly tense atmosphere was broken, and strangely, Su Ling’er’s fear began to subside.

The red and white processions stood in stark opposition, a clear line drawn between them.

The skeletal bride in her phoenix coronet sat in the sedan. Though she had no eyes, it felt as if a thousand venomous stares pierced through her red veil, locking onto Su Ling’er in the coffin!

A chill shot up Su Ling’er’s spine. It was as if the ghost bride was right in front of her, inches away!

She instinctively tried to shrink back in terror, but while the coffin was spacious, it didn’t allow for much movement.

Just then, a ghostly wind swirled up from the ground, sending the funeral money fluttering wildly through the air!

’It’s starting!’ Lin Qingfeng thought.

As for Su Ling’er in the coffin, the moment the ghostly wind kicked up, she felt an irresistible pulling force materialize from thin air, as if trying to rip her from the comforting warmth of the jade coffin!

But at that very moment, the jade coffin began to show its worth.

The ten-thousand-year-old Warm Jade and the intricate inscriptions covering it glowed with an intense light, forming an invisible barrier that held the pulling force at bay.

Though the force was blocked, the ghost bride’s figure began to teleport, flashing in and out of existence as it rapidly closed in on the coffin!

’Could this be... the ’soul exchange’ the storyteller talked about?!’

’A vicious ghost finds a substitute, forcibly seizing a living body to return to the mortal realm.’

’And the soul of the possessed is trapped in some sunless, hellish place, never to be reborn for all eternity!’

Terror flooded Su Ling’er’s heart.

But she found that the ten-thousand-year-old Warm Jade and its intricate inscriptions seemed to have a nourishing effect on her spirit, anchoring her soul firmly in place.

’I have to admit... Eldest Senior Brother really came through with something good this time.’

’It’s just... could he not have waited until *after* I died to give it to me?!’

She watched as the countless, complex inscriptions on the coffin lid seemed to come alive, squirming and writhing.

The ferocious Senluo Ghost Masks on it seemed to open their eyes. The Mourning Sticks and Soul Hooks held by the carved Black and White Impermanence figures shifted and flowed, as if making room for their impending guest.

Come into my parlor!