The smoke dissipates.
In the deathly silent hall.
Pale joss paper is scattered all over the ground.
On the black square table, dishes and bowls are arranged haphazardly.
A chilling coffin rests quietly in the parlor, with the red double-happiness character on it seeming to come alive, growing even more vivid and glaring.
Life and death, joy and sorrow, interwoven together.
Is this a wedding banquet or a funeral feast?
Lu Fei and the others stand among the tables and chairs, cold sweat breaking out on their backs.
"Find the exit, quickly!"
Lu Fei takes a deep breath, trying his best to steady his nerves.
The Red and White Evil is so bizarre; if they can't find the exit, they're probably done for.
Reminded by Lu Fei, everyone immediately came to their senses, suppressing the fear in their hearts and looked around.
The sides were pitch black.
In front was the wedding banquet at the spirit hall, and behind were large, hanging red lanterns.
The light from the guidance talisman had vanished.
"Everyone, don't panic. This must be a ghostly illusion!" Zhang Molin bit his middle finger and smeared the blood on his eyelids. When he opened his eyes again, he was stunned.
The scene before him hadn't changed at all.
"How could this be..." His heart chilled as he tried to use his magical power once more.
"It's no use, Brother Molin! This isn't an ordinary ghostly illusion. We should conserve our strength and look for the exit," Lu Fei said, placing a hand on his shoulder.
He turned his head and saw the calm eyes of Lu Fei, which somehow made him feel much calmer.
"Alright!"
Everyone took a deep breath, tentatively stepping out from among the black tables and benches, heading towards the direction of the red lanterns.
A dark red glow spilled across the ground.
As they cautiously moved forward, they discovered that white cloth was hung everywhere in the darkness.
These pieces of cloth fluttered slightly in the eerie breeze, resembling restless spirits.
Tie Shenglan swung her maces, tearing through a piece of white cloth, only to find more cloth emerging from the darkness.
Layer upon layer, it seemed endless.
"Miss Tie, save your strength," Lu Fei shook his head.
"What should we do then? We can't just be trapped here until we die!" Tie Shenglan gritted her teeth in frustration.
"Let me give it a try." Ku Deng pulled out an old oil lamp shaped like a lotus flower from his bag, fiddled with the wick, and lit it.
A dim light flickered on, out of place in this world of white and red.
"This is the spirit lamp from our temple, placed before the Buddha, imbued with a considerable amount of buddha power. It might guide us to a way out."
He carefully raised the oil lamp, casting its light around.
Unexpectedly, wherever the light touched, the white cloths actually moved away.
"Great, it works!"
Kudeng's plump face broke into a delighted smile under the light, and he hurriedly shielded the flame with his hand.
"Everyone, follow me quickly!"
The group followed Kudeng, moving cautiously through the white cloths, and soon they saw the entrance to the building.
The guiding talisman at the door glowed faintly.
"We found it!"
"Hurry up! Hurry up!"
Everyone was both surprised and delighted, rushing excitedly toward the gate.
But just at that moment.
A person emerged from the darkness and slammed the gate shut with a bang!
The hope that had just been kindled was instantly extinguished.
Everyone's faces turned pale, their angry gazes almost drowning out the person.
"Who is it?"
The person, dressed in mourning clothes, slowly turned around, revealing a deathly pale face.
It was Tianyuan!
Tianyuan's face was expressionless, his pitch-black eyes without pupils staring straight at everyone.
"The banquet hasn't even started, where are you going?"
"Is he truly Tian Yuan, or a ghost?" The crowd was filled with doubt and fear.
Lu Fei narrowed his eyes, carefully examining the figure of Tian Yuan in front of him. He noticed that there was a shadow beneath his feet, but his shoes were covered with joss paper.
"He is Tian Yuan, but a possessed one!"
"Possessed?" Jing Jian also saw the joss paper and quickly understood, "No wonder he's been acting so suspiciously and even trying to harm us! This place is so sinister that even cultivators can be possessed!"
"Who cares? Let's just open the door first!" Tie Shenglan gritted her teeth and charged forward, brandishing her twin clubs.
"Help out! Best to finish this quickly!"
With the chance of the Red and White Calamity appearing at any moment, Lu Fei waved his hand, and everyone launched an attack together.
"The banquet hasn't even started, where are you going?"
Tian Yuan mechanically repeated the line, raising his hand and scattering a handful of joss paper.
The paper money fluttered to the ground, transforming into pale paper figures. These paper figures were also dressed in mourning clothes, with each face identical to Tianyuan's.
Only their complexions were unusually pale, with two large rouge patches on both cheeks.
"Hehehe!"
"The banquet hasn't started yet, where are you going?"
The paper figures revealed eerie smiles and drifted towards Lu Fei and the others.
Bang!
Tie Shenglan was the first to respond, swinging his twin maces and smashing a grinning paper figure to pieces.
But immediately, he was surrounded by more paper figures.
"Brother Molin, you go and control Tianyuan, we will go and open the door with Brother Jing! Master Kudeng, watch over the oil lamp!" Lu Fei shouted as he ran, working with Jing Jian to eliminate the paper figures and rush toward the gate.
"Okay!"
Zhang Molin responded, and the golden light from his money sword faintly glowed as it pierced towards Tian Yuan's glabella.
"Pardon!"
Tian Yuan's steps were诡异,身形一闪,便幽灵般地从张墨麟眼前消失了,下一刻在其身后浮现.诡谲,我将其翻译为"bizarre"以保持文风一致.
重新翻译第2句:
"Tian Yuan's steps were bizarre, his figure flashed, and he disappeared like a ghost before Zhang Molin's eyes, reappearing behind him in the next moment.
With a paper money in his hand, he quickly slapped it towards Zhang Molin's back.
"Little Brother Molin, be careful behind you!"
Ku Deng, seeing that he was about to be hit, hastily shouted a warning.
Zhang Molin reacted swiftly, blocking with a reverse swing of his money sword.
The paper money turned to ashes.
But after he turned around, Tian Yuan had disappeared again.
At that moment, Lu Fei and Jing Jian had already rushed to the gate.
Jing Jian brandished the Seven Stars Magic Sword to fend off the paper figures, while Lu Fei grabbed the door frame and pulled the door with all his might.
The heavy and tall door panel slightly swayed, revealing a small crack.
Kudeng's hand also unconsciously exerted more force.
At that moment, a paper figure drifted to his side with a sinister presence and reached out to grab his oil lamp.
"Get away!"
He quickly struck out with a Vajra Palm, and the paper figure instantly dissipated, but another one appeared beside him, reaching for the flickering flame.
Boom!
The paper figure burst into flames and turned to ashes in an instant.
But the oil lamp went out as well!
"Oh no, this oil lamp can only light up once!" Kudeng's heart sank, filled with regret.
The white cloth fluttered around, the gate disappeared, and the darkness returned.
Everyone was caught off guard.
In a blink of an eye, Lu Fei found that they were back at the banquet.
Paper money littered the ground, and black tables surrounded them.
Different now, the benches were filled with paper figures dressed in mourning clothes, making it look rather lively.
All the paper figures looked exactly like Tian Yuan, making it hard to tell which one was the real him.
In front of Lu Fei and his four companions, there was an empty table, and the bench slowly moved away, as if waiting for them to sit down.
"Don't sit."
Lu Fei wanted to step back, but he found that his legs seemed to be rooted in place, unable to move.
"Ying ying ying..."
Mournful weeping came from the memorial hall.
On top of that pitch-black coffin, there was a bride in a bright red wedding dress, sitting there at some unknown time.
The bride hung her head low, her black hair disheveled, crying sorrowfully.
"Sniffle, sniffle, the banquet is about to begin, but I can't find my groom... Have any of you seen my groom..."
The bride slowly raised her head.
Her face was a character for 'double happiness'.