The hellish confinement gradually faded away, and the members of the Immortality Society led by Luke Ling emerged one by one. They showed no signs of injury, except for the blue-faced men who were devoured by the confinement at the very beginning. More than a hundred Immortality Society members slowly gathered and respectfully stood behind Luke Ling.
The red barrier before us was slowly dissipating. At that moment, Luke Ling glanced in our direction, but his gaze seemed to pass right through us—as if he couldn’t see us at all.
Just then, with a whoosh, the red barrier vanished. Instantly, I felt a whirlwind of chaos sweep through the air. Lan Yin was the first to step forward, followed closely by six Blue Wraiths, drifting in the sky behind him.
A trace of surprise flashed in Luke Ling’s eyes, and he began to smile.
“How did you find so many helpers in such a short time? Lan Yin, do you think adding seven Blue Wraiths will change anything?”
Lan Ruoxi, the other Ghost Burial Squad members, and I all stepped forward. Earlier, Hugh Thompson had already devised a quick strategy—he and Old Stone would take all the trainees to the prison to avoid the crisis, while those who could fight, led by Lan Ruoxi and me, would help us deal with the Blue-Faced Men, Masked Men, and Red Mask Agents.
Lan Yin, together with six Blue Wraiths, formed a barrier, blocking any Blue-Faced Man from approaching. Their primary task was to stop Luke Ling.
"Banish all doubt. The ones before us—they are no longer human. I want every single person here to understand: don’t think about restraining them. You must be ready to kill."
Hugh Thompson looked at us and spoke slowly. Now, except for Lan Ruoxi and me, the rest—Justin Huang, Yu Mingxuan, Li Guohao, Mao Xiaoyu, and the other Ghost Burial Squad members—began to evacuate toward the prison.
At that moment, Ken Wang stepped forward.
"Brother Thompson, let me stay. At least... let me fight alongside you."
Hugh Thompson still seemed to be considering the personnel arrangement. I knew all too well that for those here, just holding off The Masked Man would be our limit. I might not even be a match for the Red Mask Agent—trying to stop them was nearly impossible.
"Preserve our strength. Ethan Zhang, Justin Huang, you two stay. Everyone else, head to the prison."
Just then, Hugh Thompson suddenly spoke. Everyone looked at him in surprise.
"Brother Thompson, with only Ethan Zhang and Justin Huang left, how can we possibly hold off so many Immortality Society members?"
At that moment, Hugh Thompson took off his glasses, and everyone fell silent.
"This is the only way we survive this crisis. I hope every one of you... understands what’s at stake."
"We trust you, Brother Thompson. Whatever happens, we’ll follow your lead."
Li Guohao spoke up immediately, and the rest of us nodded, looking earnestly at Hugh Thompson.
“Miss Chen, could you come over for a moment?”
At this moment, Luke Ling still didn’t intend to come over; he simply watched in silence.
Helen Chen floated over, her face full of anger. Her gaze never left those Immortality Society members.
"Miss Chen, please, help Ethan Zhang and Justin Huang. Don’t go after the Blue-Faced Men."
Helen Chen nodded. She knew very well that she wasn’t even a match for the Red Mask Agent.
Right now, there were 34 Red Mask Agents and 13 Blue-Faced Men—a truly troublesome number for us.
“Don’t worry, Ethan, I won’t let them get out of hand. With Old Nine here, I may have spent years in the ghost realm, but I’ve fought plenty of humans. After all, we’re ghosts, and they’re humans.”
Old Nine turned around, speaking with great confidence. Meanwhile, Mia Lin looked on helplessly from the side.
“Stop bragging,” Mia Lin said, covering her chin with one hand and giggling.
“Hey, little girl, I did save your life, you know. I’m not just bragging.”
As Old Nine spoke, he gently moved his hands through the air. Suddenly, I saw droplets of water softly swirling around him.
“Oh, what a peculiar collection of wraiths. There’s truly nothing the world doesn’t have. Among these Blue Wraiths, the strongest is the one who controls water; the taxi driver comes next. The two female Blue Wraiths are about equal, just slightly weaker. The scorpion Blue Wraith is a bit weaker still, then the one who grows flowers, and the last female Blue Wraith can be ignored.”
In an instant, Luke Ling laid out the strengths and weaknesses. I saw the 13 Blue-Faced Men step forward, while the Red Mask Agents and The Masked Man behind them spread out.
“I’ll take half of them.”
Old Eccentric said, flying forward a bit. The water droplets swirling around his body followed him, trailing off at an angle like wind-blown rain.
“That makes things easier for the rest of us. I’ll take two or three.”
Ray Lin smiled, then raised his hand. Instantly, a strange-looking Wraith Armament appeared in his grasp.
“If you want to get past, you’ll have to defeat me. Ten Directions Annihilation.”
In a flash, I saw a cross-shaped, blue-glowing field spread out around us, like a crossroads.
"Don’t choose the wrong path. If you do, it will be your death."
“Hellfire Barrier—Jiaolong Flame Whip!”
With a careless flick of Mia Lin’s delicate hand, she whipped a streak of fire through the air. Gradually, I saw a purple-black whip, over a meter long, covered in ridges that looked like scales.
"Wind passes without a trace, endless cherry blossoms, drifting snow blades..."
Sima Ying shouted loudly, and instantly, countless cherry blossoms swirled around her. As they spun, I noticed their color changing to pure white. Only then did I realize they were conical blades, each about the length of a pinky finger, sharp on both sides and glinting with a chilling light.
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"Sister Sima, this is my first time seeing your Wraith Armament. It’s beautiful."
Zhao Yuyang watched with excitement. We all looked over. Indeed, if you didn’t look closely, it seemed as if snowflakes were drifting around Sima Ying, but beneath that beauty lurked deadly intent.
With a crack, a black scorpion tail shot out from Zhao Yuyang’s back, his whole body radiating a sinister green glow.
"Ao Mountain Wild Ravine, Venomous Scorpion Claw..."
As Zhao Yuyang shouted, the black scorpion tail slowly pressed into his body. Then, with fists clenched, two black-green scorpion stingers extended from his hands like blade-like claws. His skin changed, covered in a black-green shell, making him look truly like a human scorpion.
"Damn, Ethan, looks like we won’t need to lift a finger."
Justin Huang muttered, and I saw cherry blossoms begin to appear before us, swirling in the air. Behind the blossoms, a trail of flames burned across the ground. Four Wraith Armaments had already appeared—only Old Nine hadn’t revealed his yet.
"Hey, Old Nine, right? The other four have already shown their cards. Isn’t it your turn to show off?"
Lan Yin smiled and spoke. At that moment, a bud sprouted from the ground beside us and slowly bloomed, releasing a cloud of green dust. Zhu Zigui mumbled as he emerged from the flower bud.
"I’m too weak. I’d rather not join the chaos. I’ll just stay here."
As Zhu Zigui spoke, I suddenly heard a series of cracking sounds. Behind us, buds of all colors—red, blue, purple, pink—sprouted one after another, stretching all the way to the prison gates.
"This is all I can do. If they come, at least the four of us will have a fighting chance. Let me finish planting these flowers first." As he spoke, Zhu Zigui took out two red pills and one black pill.
"The red ones are for humans, the black one’s for ghosts. You three, take them now, or you’ll be knocked out by my flower poison and that’ll be trouble."
I let out a sound of surprise. Justin Huang and I took the pills and swallowed them, while Helen Chen took the black one.
"Hey, man, this trick’s a double-edged sword. Even your own people could get hurt. Why not improve it?"
Justin Huang said, and Zhu Zigui shot him a glare.
"I’ve only been a Blue Wraith for twenty or thirty years—don’t expect too much. Besides, I just work for Boss Yin, I’m just a flower grower, don’t ask for miracles, you jerk."
Justin Huang and I burst out laughing.
"So, friend, with such a unique wraith, aren’t you going to show me your Wraith Armament? I’m quite interested in you ghosts, you know."
Luke Ling smiled, and by now the water droplets around Old Nine had completely vanished. But when I looked closely, I realized they had split into even finer droplets, surrounding Old Nine, whose form now rippled like the surface of water.
Old Nine stretched out his hands, stepping forward with his right leg, tracing a circle in the air. Instantly, two streams of water, glowing faint blue, trailed behind his palms. He crouched low, and the air vibrated softly.
Suddenly, the droplets around Old Nine began to bounce, moving up and down in erratic patterns.
"No need to ask, I’ll show you a move. But ladies first—watch closely, and see just how powerful my Wraith Armament really is."