So, when William Carter sat down, he said to George, “Remember to pay for the pillar.”

George: “……”

William Carter said, “Before that, let’s take care of business. Can someone lend me a bit of spiritual power? I need to enter the Spirit Communication Array to verify some information.”

George raised his hand. The two of them clapped hands as an oath, which counted as forming a very simple contract. With that, William Carter was finally able to enter the Spirit Communication Array again.

As soon as he entered, he heard Edward say, “Your Highness finally managed to borrow some spiritual power? How’s it going up north? How are those two junior martial officers who volunteered to help?”

William Carter looked up, glanced at the pillar that George had split in half with a palm, and at Emma, who was sitting with a cold expression and eyes closed, resting. He said, “Both junior martial officers have their own strengths; they’re both promising talents.”

Edward laughed and said, “Then congratulations to General Nanyang and General Xuanzhen. According to Your Highness, these two junior martial officers surely have a bright future ahead of them—ascension is just around the corner.”

After a while, Alice’s cold voice floated in, saying, “He didn’t inform me about this trip. Let him go, I know nothing about it anyway.”

William Carter thought, “You really do stay in the Spirit Communication Array all day long…”

Edward said, “Your Highness, where have you landed now? The north is General Pei’s territory, incense offerings are plentiful. If you need, you can stay temporarily at his Mingguang Hall.”

William Carter said, “No need to trouble him. We couldn’t find Mingguang Hall nearby, so we’re staying at a Nanyang Hall. Let me ask, Edward, do you have any more information about this ghost groom?”

Edward said, “Yes. The rating just came out from our hall—it’s ‘Fierce’.”

“Fierce”!

For the monsters and demons that wreak havoc in the mortal world, Lingwen Hall classifies them into four levels according to their abilities: “Evil,” “Malicious,” “Fierce,” and “Catastrophic.”

“Evil” can kill one person, “Malicious” can wipe out a whole family, “Fierce” can slaughter a city. As for the most terrifying “Catastrophic,” whenever one appears, it brings disaster to the nation and chaos to the world.

This ghost groom hiding in Jun Mountain turned out to be rated as “Fierce,” just below “Catastrophic.” That means, those who have seen him probably have little chance of escaping unscathed.

So, after exiting the Spirit Communication Array and informing the other two, George said, “Those rumors about ugly bandaged men are probably just gossip. Otherwise, they must have seen something else.”

William Carter said, “There’s another possibility. For example, under certain circumstances, this ghost groom might not, or cannot, harm people.”

Emma said with some criticism, “Lingwen Hall is really inefficient—took so long just to come up with a rating, what’s the point!”

William Carter said, “At least now we know something about the enemy’s strength. But since he’s ‘Fierce,’ this ghost groom must be extremely powerful. There’s no way a decoy could fool him. If we want to lure him out, the wedding procession can’t use illusions or puppets, nor can they carry weapons. Most importantly, the bride must be a living person.”

Emma said, “Just go out to the street and find a woman to act as bait.”

But George rejected that: “No.”

Emma said, “Why not? If you pay her, she’ll agree.”

William Carter said, “Emma, even if there’s a woman willing, this method is best avoided. This ghost groom is rated ‘Fierce.’ If something goes wrong, nothing will happen to us, but if the bride is taken, a weak woman wouldn’t be able to escape or resist—she’d have no way out but death.”

Emma said, “If we can’t use a woman, then we’ll have to use a man.”

George said, “Where are we going to find a man willing to dress up as…”

Before he finished, both of their gazes shifted over.

William Carter was still smiling to himself: “???”

Night, Nanyang Temple.

William Carter came out from behind the hall, hair loose and disheveled.

The two guarding the temple gate took one look, and George immediately cursed, “Fuck!!!” and rushed out.

William Carter was speechless for a moment, then said, “Is that really necessary?”

Anyone could tell at a glance—this was a gentle-featured, handsome young man.

But precisely because of that, a fine, handsome man wearing a woman’s wedding dress—this scene, many people probably couldn’t bear to look at directly. For example, George probably just couldn’t accept it personally, hence his strong reaction.

William Carter looked at Emma, who was standing in place, his gaze sweeping up and down with a complicated expression. He said, “Do you have something to say?”

Emma nodded and said, “If I were the ghost groom, and someone sent me a woman like this…”

William Carter said, “You’d destroy the whole town?”

Emma said coldly, “No, I’d just kill this woman.”

William Carter laughed, “Then I can only say, good thing I’m not a woman.”

Emma said, “I think you’d better go ask in the Spirit Communication Array now, see if any of the officials are willing to teach you a transformation spell. That’d be more practical.”