A rustling echoed from the wall. The smell of food hit me, and my mouth instantly flooded with saliva.
The Serpent King finally returned, drifting over with a huge bucket of rice. He set it down; I lunged at it, stuffing fistfuls into my mouth, devouring it in greedy gulps. I’d never felt hunger like this before.
After gorging on most of the rice and guzzling water, I collapsed on the ground, patting my swollen belly. Life surged back into me. My ghost energy crept upward—slowly, but surely. Strength returned to my limbs.
"What exactly happened just now? Why did the passage to the Hungry Ghost Realm open?"
The Serpent King nodded, and I quickly got up.
"Once you’ve rested for a bit, I’ll take you there. That guy is heading toward Fulong City, right at the center of the Animal Realm. It looks like he plans to go between Yin Chou and Fulong City."
The Tabby Cat King gazed thoughtfully at the Serpent King.
"So his Specter Domain is moving. That means he’s there too. If we go and start a fight, things could get messy. Since he’s already on the road, that means he’s reached the boundary of Hare City. If a fight breaks out, won’t that rabbit come over? And a bit further west is Rooster City. If those two show up, unless you help, I’ll have some trouble handling it all myself."
The Serpent King shook his head.
"I told you, I'll only show you the way. I'm not getting involved."
I stared at the Serpent King in confusion. From the look in his eyes, things didn’t seem so simple.
"Oscar's Specter Domain will send us directly, but Oscar Knox himself is still in Bull City. He won't leave Bull City easily; after all, it's the closest place to the Underworld Court. And right now, during this particular season, he's even less likely to leave."
I turned to the Serpent King and asked a question.
The Serpent King hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded.
"That's right. Those Starving Wraiths have gone mad with hunger—they eat anything, even everything in the Hungry Ghost Realm itself. If they keep starving, they'll devour everything, and the collapse of the Hungry Ghost Realm would bring down all Six Realms."
"So you throw the ones from here into the Hungry Ghost Realm?"
The Serpent King didn’t dodge the question and answered bluntly.
"That's how it used to be. But now there's food, and this month's supply won't be enough—you’ve ruined too much. The reason I let you in was because if you keep causing trouble in Purelands, it’ll seriously affect the food supply for the Animal Realm."
"Enough with the nonsense."
The Tabby Cat King stood up, a fierce look on his face. The Serpent King slowly rose, his limbs disappearing as he transformed into a massive python, mouth wide open.
"Get inside. While I move outside, they won’t notice you. I’ll take you to the spot—you’ll have at most half an hour to enter Oscar’s Specter Domain and bring John Chou out. I’ll be nearby, and once you rescue John Chou, I’ll let you into my belly and take you back to Serpent City."
I floated up to the Serpent King’s mouth. Inside, it was pitch black, damp, and reeked of a foul stench. The Tabby Cat King came up beside me, pinching his nose.
"The smell really is unbearable."
As he spoke, a vivid red serpent tongue lashed out, coiling around me and the Tabby Cat King. Darkness swallowed us, then a heavy thud—we slid downwards. I choked back nausea. Soon, a massive brown stone surfaced in thick, sticky liquid. We landed on it, surrounded by suffocating stench. I retched. The Tabby Cat King yanked out some fur and stuffed it in his nose. I copied him, tearing fur from my backside and plugging my nostrils. It helped a little.
All around us, the space churned violently—we were already moving, and at a frightening speed.
"Why can a Specter Domain move on its own, separate from its ghost?"
I asked this, and the Tabby Cat King looked at me, speaking through his pinched nose.
"Manifestation of a Specter Domain—that’s a bit advanced for you. It can take many forms, even mobile beasts. If you reach a certain level, you can create a Specter Domain with thought and intelligence. But most Blue Wraiths can’t do it; it’s too hard. As for why—I’m too lazy to explain. Maybe later. I don’t want to talk, it’s too filthy in here."
I grunted in response. The Tabby Cat King and I could only endure it. The stomach around us churned faster and faster as the Serpent King sped along.
"We’ll be there soon. Remember, you only have half an hour. Oscar’s pace isn’t fast—it’ll take him at least half an hour to get here. Get ready."
The Tabby Cat King and I prepared to exit the Serpent King’s belly. Suddenly, the spirit serpent stopped. I felt a rush of heat, then the stomach churned again. With a loud splat, the Tabby Cat King and I, along with the huge stone beneath us, shot out of the Serpent King’s mouth, hurtling toward a vast, endless wasteland.
I glanced back—the Serpent King had shrunk to the thickness of a thumb and slipped into the grass. Ahead, a jet-black bull with two horns flickering with flame was charging wildly. Unlike the Bullhorn King, its body was disproportionate: upper half thick and muscular, lower half thin. Its eyes were white, as if blind, but it turned to look at us and suddenly stopped.
With a thunderous crash, the boulder landed in front of Oscar Knox. The Tabby Cat King suddenly wrapped his tail around my neck and yanked me upward.
Another crash—a blazing red ripple flashed, and the huge stone was reduced to dust among the crisscrossing red waves in the air. Oscar Knox stamped his hooves, snorting red vapor from his nostrils. In an instant, he was beneath us, his flaming horns lunging upward.
"This Specter Domain isn’t bad. No wonder he’s one of the top attackers among the Zodiac Twelve."
The Tabby Cat King whipped me away with his tail, stretching out his claws. With a crackle, sparks flew, and a trail of flame streaked across the sky. The Tabby Cat King blew on his burning paw, grimacing and meowing in pain.
"I’m not going to fight you head-on, you silly ox."
The moment Oscar Knox paused in midair, flames gathered instantly on his horns. With a thunderous roar, Oscar Knox charged down at us like a mad beast.
Just as he was about to hit the Tabby Cat King, the Tabby Cat King split into nine—nine cats of different colors and sizes appeared in the air, meowing loudly. Oscar Knox stopped, twisting his head, seemingly unable to tell which was real.
I had already landed on the ground. From the sky came a series of angry lowing. Oscar Knox snorted furiously, pawing the air, his black fur standing on end. Suddenly, each hair shot out like thousands of tiny needles. As they touched the cats circling him, they instantly ignited.
Fireballs burst overhead. I swallowed hard; so much ghost energy unleashed at once. Would the Tabby Cat King survive this?
While I was worrying, the Tabby Cat King was already beside me, blowing on his still-smoking paws. The pads were completely scorched, reeking of burnt flesh.
"I didn’t expect him to be so strong. Heh, I came here just to have some fun, but it looks like if we don’t get serious, we’ll run out of time. Ethan Zhang, listen to my instructions. I’ll try to pierce Oscar Knox’s body from the other side. If you get even a tiny chance, enter the Specter Domain and find a way to bring John Chou out."
I grunted, not really understanding what the Tabby Cat King meant. Suddenly, the Tabby Cat King opened his mouth wide, grabbed a fang with one paw, and snapped it off with a crack. He placed the tooth in my palm and stuck a whisker to the tip of my nose.
"My whisker will lead you to the entrance of the Specter Domain, and this tooth—it’s a formidable blade."
"Are you sure you’re not some kind of robot?"
No sooner had I finished speaking than the flames in the sky faded. Oscar Knox spotted where the Tabby Cat King and I were, charging at us again. This time, the attack was even fiercer—only his flaming horns were visible, but the ground was already smoking. All the plants instantly turned black, and even my fur began to turn to ash.
"You really don’t give me any respect. At least I was the thirteenth Zodiac once."
The Tabby Cat King’s mouth stretched wide in a fierce, twisted grin. His body arched, tail bristling like a club.
"Get back! Do you want to die, Ethan Zhang?"
I shot upward, desperate to escape. A wave of searing heat blasted my back, setting it ablaze. I soared faster, but when I looked back, my eyes widened in horror.
The Tabby Cat King slapped Oscar Knox across the mouth, distorting his face and sending him crashing to the ground like a comet.
With a thunderous crash, I felt dizzy. When I came to, I was lying on the ground, and in the distance, a huge cloud of dust rose—a massive crater had appeared.