As soon as I stepped outside, my eyes widened in shock. I felt a warm current rush through my body, and everything before me became even more surreal: the Soulbound Inn was actually floating atop the water, its entrance adorned with a string of large red lanterns, glowing eerily.
With a creak, the door swung open. I saw the ghost sovereign, Yvonne May, waiting at the entrance, accompanied by the shrewish Miranda Bertram.
"Yvonne May, please, I beg you—heal my daughter's hand, and my husband too. He seems gravely wounded."
"Come in, Jasmine." I watched, unsettled, as Miranda Bertram clutched Jing Le and entered the Soulbound Inn. Then Jasmine turned, calling out to Basil Bertram.
"Come inside! Why are you hesitating—waiting for death? You just reclaimed the Wooden Contract Stone, but the ghostly spirits are extremely unstable and could dissipate at any moment. Do you want to wait here, turn into a tree, and endure a few hundred years of torment?"
Basil Bertram let out a nervous sound and hurried inside. The door of the Soulbound Inn closed behind him.
"Boss, what should we do about those two?"
It was Lifeless who asked, standing behind Red Fur. Red Fur turned to look at the space inside, where the One-Eyed Old Man and Fierce Shaxing were nailed to the ground. At this moment, Fierce Shaxing, who had transformed into a water eel, had regained human form—a green-glowing arrow was pinned in his chest.
"The Cage of Malediction." Red Fur raised a hand and shouted. With a whoosh, flames erupted, forming two black cages that locked the One-Eyed Old Man and Fierce Shaxing inside.
"Wait, Lord Naro, these two are the cruelest enemies who injured our master. Let us take them back with us."