Thunderous rumbling echoed, mingling with the Spider Wraith's furious roar. Its ghost domain was collapsing, and all the wraiths surged westward. Yet Lucas Lan refused to leave, kneeling silently beside the fading Violet Swallow.
"Hey, hurry up and go! What are you waiting for?"
A wraith grabbed Lucas Lan by the collar, hauled him up, and flew westward.
Meanwhile, the wraiths who reached the west first froze in confusion. There was no exit—only a towering city wall and webs of elastic spider silk.
Gradually, more and more wraiths arrived, all equally bewildered. Their gazes turned toward the gasping John Chou.
"John Chou, where’s the exit?"
John Chou slowly raised his hand, pointing ahead, then slumped to the ground. He looked utterly exhausted.
The ghost domain kept collapsing—the ground split with cracks, buildings toppled, and shards of ghostly energy drifted down from the sky.
Then John Chou began counting. All the wraiths watched him in silence.
"Good, there are still seventy-nine left."
A look of excitement flickered across John Chou’s face. Yet many wraiths glared at him with resentment—some with relief.
"You can feel it, can’t you? This is the weakest spot in the ghost domain right now. Gather your ghost energy—break through this nest that’s devoured countless wraiths."
In an instant, all the remaining wraiths converged, black mist pouring from their bodies and swirling together, coalescing into a massive surge of ghost energy.
"Hurry up—the Spider Wraith is losing control."
As John Chou spoke, a thunderous crash erupted behind him. The Spider Wraith—eight eyes, eight legs, its red belly streaked with black—burst from the ground, shrieking wildly.
"None of you are getting out!"
The Spider Wraith’s fury peaked. John Chou glanced at the wraiths—cracks split the wall before them, opening a rift in space.
As the wraiths unleashed more and more ghost energy, a thunderous boom tore open an exit in the ghost domain. Starlight poured in.
John Chou struggled to his feet.
"Let’s go."
With a rush of wind, the wraiths streamed out through the gaping rift.
"We’re out."
Cheers erupted. The wraiths shouted in delight, staring in awe at the moonlit burial ground beyond.
The rift behind them sealed shut almost instantly. John Chou collapsed to the ground.
"You can hardly call this a miracle, John Chou."
With a rustle, Soren Black drifted over, fixing his gaze on John Chou.
"Just as I said before—fulfill your promise. Then you’ll see what a real miracle is."
John Chou replied confidently, rising to his feet. Suddenly, a furious shriek rang out—the Spider Wraith, now a massive red-bellied, black-striped spider, appeared before them, howling in rage.
"Hmph, John Chou, you made me wait outside the ghost domain—so this was your plan? You really are a devious bastard."
Soren Black spoke, transforming into a streak of green light. Smiling, he stood before the Spider Wraith, raising a hand.
"A beaten dog shouldn’t bark."
A thunderous crash—Spider Wraith shrieked in agony. Its eight legs and eyes exploded all at once. I stared at Soren Black in shock. He seemed to do nothing, yet the Spider Wraith collapsed, green blood spraying everywhere.
"End it, John Chou. Don’t tell me you…"
With a rush, John Chou flashed to Soren Black’s side. His pale ghost blade gleamed coldly in the moonlight. Reversing his grip, he plunged it into the Spider Wraith’s head.
"That’s how it has to be. Heh."
Soren Black watched eagerly as John Chou’s ghost blade pierced the Spider Wraith’s head.
Spider Wraith wailed in agony, then a thunderous boom erupted—a burst of green light exploded and scattered everywhere.
A rustling followed. Under the moonlight, swarms of spiders—splintered from the Spider Wraith’s massive form—scattered in panic, fleeing in all directions.
"I won’t forget you, John Chou. No matter how many years pass, I’ll hate you. Mark my words—I’ll come for you…"
The Spider Wraith’s voice echoed through the woods. Soren Black raised his hand, and John Chou pressed his own hand over Soren’s.
"Forget it. No matter how many years pass, I'm still the victor."
John Chou spoke, and everything fell quiet. The chaos subsided, but many wraiths still looked grim—he hadn’t kept his promise to bring everyone out of the ghost domain.
"All right, John Chou, let me see this miracle. There were 104 of them—now more than twenty are missing. Still, you did pretty well."
John Chou smiled and shakily walked up to the wraiths, grinning.
"Why the long faces?"
None of the wraiths spoke. They’d survived, but the memories of the past few days weighed heavily on them.
Under the moonlight, John Chou produced a bisected green-bellied, red-striped spider, showing it to the wraiths.
"This thing latched onto the controlled wraiths’ souls. All I did was cut away the part of the soul it was attached to."
John Chou continued, but the wraiths remained listless. Then, one of them seemed to understand—suddenly stood up, eyes blazing with excitement.
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"Those twenty-some didn’t die—they’re alive, thanks to John Chou!"
Soren Black looked puzzled. Lucas Lan jumped up, visibly excited. John Chou smiled, and more wraiths seemed to understand, breaking into cheers as if celebrating.
"So that’s how it is? Heh, John Chou, was this all part of your plan?"
Soren Black laughed, watching John Chou.
Then, one of the wraiths explained: Everyone who came left their ash urns where they could reach them. As long as their souls weren’t completely destroyed, any wounded wraith would naturally return to their urn.
And as John Chou said, by cutting the spiders out along with the souls they controlled, those wraiths might not recover quickly, but if they stayed somewhere cold and dark, they’d be fully restored in three to five years.
"So I’ve seen it—a man-made miracle, a so-called miracle."
The wraiths cheered, bringing out food and wine they’d dropped in the wilderness, and began to celebrate.
John Chou leaned against a tree, smiling. He was exhausted, barely moving, sipping wine. Soren Black sat beside him.
"When did you start talking to that ghost blade? No wonder you made me wait outside the ghost domain."
Soren Black spoke. John Chou let out a small "ah" and replied:
"Who knows, maybe from the very start. It was Rage Blood that told me your location and movements."
"So that’s it? This thing is called Rage Blood? Heh, I’ve tried many times, but could never communicate with such a violent thing."
John Chou smiled.
"So you gave me this violent thing? Looks like you weren’t being generous after all."
Soren Black gave a cold, sinister smile.
"Whether it was generosity or not, you’re the one who benefited, John Chou. Don’t act like you’re hard done by."
"Where did this Rage Blood come from?"
John Chou asked. Soren Black smiled.
"It was forged in the living world by the famous swordsmith couple, Gan Jiang and Mo Ye. I happened to know them and asked for a ghost blade that looked promising. But I couldn’t control it."
John Chou smiled, glancing at the ghost blade lying nearby.
Meanwhile, the wraiths seemed to be discussing something, gradually moving closer to John Chou.
"What’s wrong? Not going to check on those who returned to their urns?" John Chou asked.
The noisy crowd fell silent. One wraith stepped forward awkwardly.
"John Chou, let us follow you. We’ll call you Boss—we all feel that if we stick with you, we can make something of ourselves in the ghost world. We talked it over…"
In a flash, John Chou stood up and shook his head.
"What’s the point of following a mere Shade Ghost like me? This whole thing happened because the Spider Wraith blocked my way, so I dealt with it. That’s all. I’m heading to Fengdu—that’s Underworld Court territory. If you want a patron, try Bai Changde’s domain. It’s a good place to start."
With that, John Chou floated up, ready to head toward Fengdu.
Many wraiths kept pleading, hoping John Chou would lead them.
"John Chou—no, Boss Chou—please take us with you. We may be weak, but if we help, Boss Chou, you’ll break through the wraith limits in no time."
Soon, shouts of "Boss Chou!" echoed all around.
"Is relying on a Shade Ghost like me really wise? In this world, depending on others isn’t as good as depending on yourself. If you only look for patrons, you’ll always live under someone’s shadow. You saw what happened tonight—is the ghost world really as rigid as you think?"
John Chou smiled and began to float away.
"Don’t live under someone else’s shadow. That’s how I am—what about you? That’s all I have to say. No need to follow—I was just passing by."