Scarlet District.
In the main courtyard, the umbrella girl sat quietly beside the old stone well, watching the faint ripples disturb her reflection. She had been there for a long time.
For days now, she had returned to this same spot, waiting—hoping—for the District Mistress to come back. She understood how foolish that hope was, yet still she waited.
“Wu… wu…”
From the chambers encircling the courtyard, the wandering ghosts had begun their wails once more. Only a dozen red lanterns still hung throughout the manor, most burning with the last traces of a dim, dying glow.
A few lanterns remained bright, but their masters had yet to return.
Now, the umbrella girl was the only one left in the Scarlet District who could still speak. The rest had long lost the ability to communicate.
“Wuu wuu… wuu wuu…”
The cries of the ghosts echoed ceaselessly.
Soon, however, soft footsteps stirred beneath the wailing.
Pa… pa… pa…
The dull thuds of leather soles pressing into thick, damp soil.
The umbrella girl trembled. She slowly turned toward the manor entrance.
“Little… Bing?” she called, her voice barely above a whisper.
Creak…
The manor doors pushed open.
A tall figure stepped inside—shrouded in black robes, a wide-brimmed hat hiding his features. He walked with unhurried steps.
“So this is the Scarlet District? Rather hard to find, I must say…” A deep male voice, low and powerful, flowed into the courtyard.
“A living human? How dare… how dare you trespass?!” The umbrella girl shot to her feet, fury rising in her eyes. “Little Bing!!” she cried, summoning the Anomaly meant to guard the manor. Even without true intelligence, Little Bing was formidable.
“Little Bing? Is this who you’re looking for?”
The black-robed man stepped into the center of the courtyard and tossed something onto the ground—a long, pale woman’s leg.
“YOU!!”
The umbrella girl staggered back a step, frozen in shock and rage. She knew Little Bing’s strength well. Though weaker than herself, the difference was not large—and as the manor’s resident Anomaly, Little Bing should never have been silenced so easily, without even a sound.
But the sight before her left no room for denial—Little Bing had been defeated in an instant, without even the chance to make a sound.
“I’ve long since wanted to visit the Scarlet District, but never had the chance until now,” the black-robed man said calmly. “At last, I can tour this place.”
“YOU COURT DEATH!!” Unable to restrain her fury any longer, the umbrella girl screamed.
BUZZ!!
Her shriek rippled across the manor like a wave striking still water.
Boom boom boom boom…!
One after another, the chamber doors burst open. Pale streaks of translucent white surged out, ghostly figures shooting forth like schools of fish toward the intruder.
Their faces were those of women—some bitter, some vicious, some twisted by pain. These were the wandering spirits and forsaken souls the Scarlet District had gathered over countless years.
Red streaks erupted from the lanterns hanging beneath the eaves. Each streak unfurled into the contorted, sorrowful visage of a woman.
“AHHHHHH!!!”
Screams filled the courtyard as an overwhelming tide of female ghosts poured out. The full might of the Scarlet District was unleashed in a single breath.
White phantoms spiraled around the man, encircling him until sky and ground alike were lost behind a wall of writhing spirits. Dense, layered, and unending, they moved like a living storm.
The red lights from the lanterns threaded themselves between the pale shadows, sealing every gap. In a heartbeat, all paths of escape vanished—an unbreakable siege taking shape around him.
Standing at the formation’s edge, the umbrella girl clutched her red parasol. It spun rapidly in her hand, humming with power.
“No matter… who you are… you must die…!!”
Even she could not withstand the Hundred Ghosts Great Formation; once awakened, it would not stop until the intruder perished. Trespassing into the Scarlet District—and killing Little Bing—was an unforgivable sin.
A torrent of ghostly shadows lunged at the man, tearing and clawing, while streaks of crimson light darted in from every angle, striking without warning.
Soon, the entire manor drowned beneath a sea of wails and mournful cries.
Strangely, the black-robed man did not so much as sway. Surrounded by the frenzied tide of ghosts, he remained rooted in place—as though none of their attacks had touched him at all.
A transparent layer of Qi shimmered around his body, scorching every ghostly shadow that drew near and forcing them back with shrill, pitiful cries.
“Is this Scarlet District’s level of strength today?” the man’s voice echoed through the wall of spirits. “That’s really disappointing…”
“You…!!” Alarm and fury twisted through the umbrella girl’s expression. She spun her red umbrella even faster; with a sharp, piercing shriek, her body dissolved into liquid light and was drawn into the umbrella’s canopy.
SWISH!
A flash of crimson streaked through the air. The umbrella launched forward like a spinning spear, slicing toward the black-robed man with murderous intent.
It reached him in an instant. Guided by the will within, the pointed tip trembled—and three streaks of sharp red light shot out, aimed precisely at his head, chest, and abdomen.
This time, the black-robed man could not remain indifferent. Resisting the umbrella girl’s focused assault while maintaining defense against the ghostly barrage was beyond even his current state.
He raised a hand, intercepting the strikes with lightning speed.
Ding ding ding ding ding!!!
A chain of metallic clangs rang out. His palm, hard as forged steel, clashed repeatedly with the umbrella’s razor edge.
With a single hand, he dismantled her rapid assault. Blow after blow was exchanged between them, fierce and tight, as though the sea of ghosts swirling around them were nothing but background noise.
“FOG!”
Without warning, the umbrella burst open. A dense cloud of pink mist billowed forth, engulfing the man completely.
Within the fog, the umbrella girl’s true form materialized. Concealed in the haze, she lunged and struck for the man’s face, her speed doubled by the concealment of the mist.
Boom!
Caught off guard, he felt her hand clamp around his face.
At that same moment, he slammed his palm against the umbrella’s surface.
BOOM!!
The explosion of force sent the umbrella girl staggering backward. She skidded several steps before regaining her footing—clutching in her hand a torn strip of black cloth that had been masking the man’s face.
Wisps of white smoke curled from the man’s right palm. A clear palm print had been burned deep into the surface of the umbrella.
“Oh…” The man seemed to realize only then that his mask had been torn off. He touched his face, completely unscathed beneath the lifted cloth.
He raised his head and fixed his gaze on the umbrella girl.
“Interesting…” His lips split into a grin, revealing dagger-sharp, gleaming white teeth.
Still clutching the black cloth mask in her hand, the umbrella girl stared back in shock. The red umbrella trembled violently in her grip.
“You… it’s you…!!??”
“Yeah… it’s me,” Lu Sheng replied with a grin. “I didn’t get to see you in Twin Eagle City, so I came to pay you a visit today…”
Swish!
Suddenly, the umbrella girl spun her parasol and shot backward, fleeing at the fastest speed she could muster.
Bam.
She didn’t get far. A massive green-gray hand clamped around her right leg like an iron vice.
“Hey, come on, don’t go. It took me a long time to find this place…”
Her body flickered between black and red, vibrating violently as she struggled to break free. But the grip held firm—utterly unshakable.
Then she saw him.
The elegance, the handsome features—all of it warped and stretching grotesquely. Lu Sheng’s body ballooned and twisted with sickening speed. Limbs swelled to monstrous proportions; not even the vilest specter could match the savagery in his transformation.
“AHHHHHHH!!!”
Her scream tore through the air.
Countless ghostly shadows erupted behind her, shrieking as they hurled themselves at Lu Sheng.
By then, he had fully transformed into a towering monstrosity nearly five meters tall. Bull-like horns jutted from his temples, his upper body grotesquely overdeveloped while his legs remained short and thick. Muscles bulged from his back like twin tumors. Nothing about him resembled a human anymore.
BOOM!!!
The charging ghosts slammed into a transparent barrier before reaching him—only to be blasted away by the scorching force of highly compressed Ultimate Crimson Nine Furies inner Qi.
Some of the weaker ghosts were incinerated midair, vanishing into curls of smoke. The stronger ones lunged again, only to burst apart as Lu Sheng swept a massive palm through them—over a dozen ghostly forms exploding into fragments with a single strike.
Against his towering frame, the spirits looked no more threatening than insects buzzing around a beast—utterly insignificant.
“Weak! Too weak!” Still clutching the umbrella girl’s right leg, he hoisted her upside down before him. “Tell me—what did you see in Twin Eagle City?”
The umbrella girl thrashed desperately, her form flickering as she struggled to create a clone. But she was trapped within the heart of Scarlet District, the one place she believed inviolable. She had never imagined anyone would dare intrude, much less overpower her so swiftly. In her complacency, she had not prepared a clone beforehand.
Now, escape was nearly impossible.
“Let go of… Yingying!!” she screamed, fighting with all her strength. But her efforts were futile. Lu Sheng, having reached Yin Yang Qi liquefaction, was far beyond what she could contend with. The sharp blades of her red umbrella slashed at his skin again and again—each strike only throwing off a shower of sparks.
“Oh, so you’re called Yingying? That’s a nice name.” Lu Sheng shook her lightly, as though she weighed nothing. “Where’s your clone? Why don’t I see her today?” He twisted his head, scanning the courtyard to confirm her clone had not appeared.
The ghostly swarm hurled itself at him in a wild frenzy. Like moths diving into a blazing furnace, they were swallowed by the flames of the Ultimate Crimson Nine Furies inner Qi, reduced to drifting ash.
Red streaks shot from the lanterns as well, but each was blocked by the dense, shimmering blood web of his defensive Qi.
“I beg you… let… Yingying… Yingying… go…” Her struggles weakened; her voice broke into sobs.
“Your name sounds like the sound you make when you cry.” Lu Sheng lifted her closer, studying her as though she were a strange little creature in his grasp.
He shook her lightly. Her sobbing halted for a brief moment—almost as if her stammering forced her to pause before crying again. Amused, Lu Sheng gave her another small shake. Once more, her cry broke into silence.
So he continued onward, strolling leisurely through the Scarlet District with the umbrella girl dangling upside down from his grasp. From time to time, he gave her another gentle shake.
Each step of his five-meter-tall body sent tremors shuddering through the entire manor.
This opponent—who had once stood as his equal—now swung helplessly like a tiny bell in his hand, utterly unable to resist.
“Are there any treasures here that’ll be useful to me?” Lu Sheng approached the manor’s largest chamber, the central bedroom. Standing before the door, he reached forward and tore it off as effortlessly as peeling a loose scrap of paper.
Hanging upside down, her dress falling toward her head, the umbrella girl hid her lower body with her parasol. She dared not utter a single word in answer.
Only then did Lu Sheng truly see her face—no longer hidden beneath the umbrella for the first time.
It was delicate and pale, soft to the point of fragility. She looked scarcely twenty, with an almond-shaped face, small gentle lips, and eyes so watery they seemed ready to spill into tears at any moment.
“D-don’t… eat Yingying… wuuu…” she whimpered, stammering in terror.
“Why would I eat you?” Lu Sheng asked, genuinely puzzled.
“District Mistress… Sis District Mistress…” the umbrella girl sobbed on, voice breaking unevenly.
Lu Sheng shook her again, and the cries cut off.
“I didn’t plan to visit Scarlet District so soon. But who can help it that you saw what you shouldn’t have?”
He had spared her, not out of mercy, but to extract information. At the same time, he wished to verify a suspicion he had formed during his solitary confinement. His Ultimate Crimson Nine Furies Skill, overflowing with terrifying Yang energy, could reduce her to ashes at any moment. And now that he had achieved Yin Yang equilibrium, his speed had soared; he was no longer clumsy, nor worried about her escaping his grasp.
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