Chapter 132: Attending a Funeral—This Tune Is Truly Unpleasant to Hear.-He Became the Devoted Second Male Lead in a Female-Centric Cultivation Novel(Tubilalu)

The night hung low, a sliver of silver moon suspended in the firmament like the corner of a fairy’s smiling lip. Yet, beneath this tranquil veil, undercurrents surged; a storm was brewing.

*Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—*

Suddenly, the sound of breaking air shattered the silence of the night. Ghost and Phantom descended upon the entrance of Longevity Village as silently as the wind.

Two male villagers guarding the gate witnessed the arrival of the strangers, their throats emitting hoarse, guttural cries of "Ah, ah, ah." Ghost raised an eyebrow; from the simple, guttural sounds of these strange creatures, he sensed an indescribable agitation. It was an excitement akin to that of a starving wolf in the wilderness finally catching the scent of fresh blood.

Interesting. Truly interesting.

"Since when have the ants of the lower realm become such an eyesore?" Phantom’s alluring eyes swept over the two villagers, whose skin was a bruised purple and whose faces were twisted into grotesque expressions, a flicker of disdain crossing her gaze. "What are you looking at? Never seen a beauty before? Keep staring, and I’ll gouge your eyeballs out."

Before her words had even faded, her hand tightened around the hilt of her blade, ready to strike at any moment.

"Phantom, let's head straight in." Ghost’s voice was as calm as a frozen lake, his gaze beneath his mask unfathomable. After his instruction, he flickered, passing the two men at the gate and entering the village.

"Ah, ah, ah..."
"Ah, ah..."

Seeing this, the two villagers scrambled to chase after him.

"Do these ants have malfunctioning brains?" Phantom leapt lightly, her toes landing on the heads of the two villagers as they pursued Ghost. With a swift movement, she brought her feet together, forcing the two men to collide head-on.

*Thud—*

The sound of skulls clashing violently echoed through the air.

"Ah... ah..."
"Ah... ah?"

The two villagers looked at one another, dazed, yet they refused to fall. Observing this, Ghost merely turned and said coolly, "Hurry and find the puppet."

Phantom offered him a faint smile. "Understood, Brother Ghost."

"Brother, sister, what brings you to our Longevity Village?" A young boy, appearing to be about five years old and possessing the same bruised, purple skin, rubbed his sleepy eyes and walked toward them. Indeed, this young boy was Shi Nuo.

A cold glint flashed in the eyes of Ghost that were not obscured by his mask, his voice dropping to a low register: "Naturally... to find you!"

Shi Nuo put on an expression of disbelief, asking curiously, "Oh? Big brother, you are looking for me? Do you even know my name?"

Ghost offered only two words in reply: "The puppet."

These two words, delivered with absolute certainty, caused Shi Nuo to instantly shed the innocent expression that did not belong to a child. His eyes shimmered with a violet light. "Who on earth are you?"

Before waiting for an answer, Shi Nuo conjured a flute reeking of deathly energy. He pressed it to his lips, and a strange, haunting melody began to drift through the air.

Rustling sounds emerged from all directions. The once-quiet village saw villagers appearing one after another. These villagers, too, had eyes glowing with that same violet hue. Soon, they had surrounded Ghost and Phantom.

Phantom acted as if she were blind to the encirclement, taking a moment to critique Shi Nuo’s performance: "A funeral march? This tune is truly hideous."

Before the words had even left her lips, she surged toward the strange villagers like a gale, her blade dancing like a ribbon of light, as effortless as slicing through fruit.

*Swish, swish, swish...*

Blade light flashed, and those villagers were throat-slit in an instant, collapsing to the ground. Ghost remained standing where he was, motionless, as if none of this concerned him.

"How is this possible? Who exactly are you people?" Shi Nuo lowered his flute, his eyes filled with disbelief. He could not comprehend how these two could remain unscathed by the influence of the Yin Flute. Should they not have been shackled by now?

Phantom wiped the green liquid from her blade, a mocking smile curling her lips. "We are not the refuse of the lower realm. Finishing you off is a trivial matter."

"Woman, it is best not to be so arrogant." Seemingly provoked, Shi Nuo raised his flute and played another frantic melody. The tempo became unnaturally fast and increasingly shrill. As the music climbed in pitch, green phantoms began to drift slowly from the corpses of the fallen villagers.

These green spirits possessed cultivation levels equivalent to the Golden Core stage, and they were numerous. If swarmed by them, even a powerful cultivator would find it difficult to escape unscathed.

Phantom chuckled with contempt. "Ha! The common ants have given up on the path of immortality and turned to the path of ghosts instead."

She was not wrong. For the ordinary mortals without spiritual roots or destiny, the path to immortality was out of reach, leaving only alternative paths. The path of ghosts was one such shortcut. In a sense, one could achieve a form of longevity, but they could no longer be called human.

The male ghosts, upon seeing the alluring Phantom, felt their green eyes flare with desire. Like men who had not seen a woman in eight hundred years, they swarmed toward her, eager and impatient.

"You there, stop shoving! I saw this woman first!"
"Ha! We are ghosts now, what use is there for order? Get out of the way, let me go first!"
"Hey, didn't you say you liked the woman in the big vat? This woman is mine!"
"This woman is full of charm—I've changed my mind, is that a problem?"

The male ghosts jostled and shoved, fighting to get to the front, while the female ghosts could only shake their heads. They glared at Phantom with jealousy, their fingernails sharpening into blades, and lunged toward her beautiful face without mercy.