As he spoke, the ghost before me gestured politely, showing no hint of suspicion toward my words.
With a single thought, my Deathbane Aura surged even more fiercely. The ghost glanced at me, then quickly forced a smile.
"Brother, pick anyone you like. If you see one you fancy, just say the word—I'll give you ten or twenty, no problem. Just put in a good word for me with Boss Ma and Lord Wraith, will you?"
"What's wrong, brother? Not satisfied with the selection?" The ghost reached into his coat and pulled out a thick stack of Spirit Notes, pressing them into my hand.
I raised my hand and took the Spirit Notes, forcing a smile.
The ghost burst out laughing and shot a look at the guards. They carried batons, jabbing them inside the cages and barking orders at the female ghosts, forcing them to lift their heads. Those who disobeyed were struck without mercy.
The whimpering of the female ghosts echoed across the wasteland. I felt a pang of guilt.
"Easy, don't hurt them. If anything happens, I won't be able to explain myself."
The ghosts quickly eased up. As I passed cage after cage, I caught Louis Lee's grinning face staring at me. I shot him a glare, and he immediately ducked his head, silent.
I let out a shaky breath. After checking more than ten cages, I still hadn't seen Snowy. The ghost beside me kept grinning.
"Brother, none of them suit your taste? Pick a few, go ahead. We'll be relying on you in the future, after all!"
The ghost beamed at me. I shook my head, my gaze flickering to Louis Lee.
"My wife is a real tiger. If she finds out, she'll skin me alive."
I stammered, remembering how Brother Luo always complained about his own 'tiger' at home. The words slipped out before I could stop myself.
The ghost laughed, shaking his head.
But after checking more than ten cages and still not seeing Snowy, my nerves were fraying. I forced myself to stay calm, though the prolonged release of Deathbane Aura left me feeling utterly drained.
Gritting my teeth, I kept pushing through the exhaustion of my leaking Deathbane Aura. Three cages left, but still no sign of Snowy.
My heart raced with anxiety. At the final cage, Snowy was still nowhere to be seen. My eyes widened in disbelief.
"Is this... all of them?" I asked in a low voice.
"That's all we've got here, brother. But Boss Ma is still out there, hunting for more beautiful female ghosts. Heh."
I nodded. All the ghosts watched me, waiting for my decision.
"So? Brother, are there any you don't like?"
I looked over each cage—every one held high-quality female ghosts, all stunningly beautiful. Their pleading eyes shattered my heart, but there was no way I could save them all.
"Not bad, not bad. You've shown real sincerity. Any of them will do."
My mind raced. I hadn't found Snowy's whereabouts, but suddenly, a flash of insight hit me—Louis Lee had come along. He must know where Snowy is, since he was the one who tipped off Boss Ma that I'd snuck in.
Just to be sure, I asked a question.
"That ghost who smiled at me earlier—is he one of yours?" All the guards here were fierce ghosts, but the leader gave me a bad feeling. The moment I got close, an overwhelming chill hit me—he wasn't like the others.
"Oh, that kid? Something happened in our territory. Listen, brother, have you heard? A living person snuck into our place, no idea what he's up to. Boss Ma is hunting him down right now. Heh."
"Oh!" I replied, drawing out the word with a deliberate smile.
"No problem, no problem," I said with a smile, stepping forward to the front of the convoy.
"I'll go ahead. You all come slowly—I'll set things up for you." The ghost bowed, and I hurried ahead, waving toward the woods on my left.
Sure enough, as I started up the mountain path, Monk Zhou Tian jumped out from the woods. I quickly explained the situation. Zhou Tian burst out laughing.
"Zhang, clever move. But now, you need to make them stop the convoy and create a distraction so I can get at Louis Lee and grab him."
I nodded. The noise behind me grew louder. Zhou Tian called me smart, but I'd seen plenty of tricks like this before—at work, at school, with my cousin, even from Yin Chou. I'd learned a lot about scheming and deception.
I sighed. This time, it was that blue-faced ghost desperate to please Lord Wraith and rushing things, which gave me an opening. From what I'd heard, the fierce ghosts at Starvation Ridge weren't any better.
I let the Deathbane Aura fade and kept running, nearly spent. Through the mist, I finally saw what looked like a city gate, with a long line and several ghosts collecting tolls from those who passed.
I immediately let my Deathbane Aura flare and rushed over.
"Hey, kid! Stop right there—what do you think you're doing? You got a death wish?" Louis Lee shouted, his voice booming. He looked pale, dressed in armor, standing out from the other fierce ghosts.
I quickly forced a smile and bowed.
"I'm one of Boss Ma's men. Our convoy is coming up soon, but we ran into a small problem."
"What?" Louis Lee's eyes widened as he stomped over.
"Here's the thing. We had a bit of trouble on our end—the female ghosts were unruly and broke a few cages. So we're planning to stop here for a while. This is just a little something for you—please accept it."
Hurriedly, I handed over the Spirit Notes the ghost had given me. He glanced around, then carefully tucked them away, grinning as he patted my shoulder.
By now, the convoy had arrived. The lead ghost smiled at us. I raised my hand and they stopped.
I kept running through plans in my mind—what should I do next?
"By the way, brother, I need to talk to you about something." I pulled the ghost aside.
"Go on."
"Here's the thing—me and that guy Ma don't get along. Boss Ma always favors him, never me. Look at those female ghosts—most of them were caught by me, but he gets all the credit."
"It's infuriating, really."
My heart was pounding in my throat.
"How about this, brother—when you collect the toll, charge us half price and let us through."
The armored ghost's eyes widened, staring at me.
"Here's the deal, brother—I'll make up the other half of the toll out of my own pocket. In a few days, when I come back with more female ghosts, I'll pay you all at once. I just want to look good in front of our boss."
As I spoke, I dug into my pocket and pulled out all my Spirit Notes, handing them over. The ghost burst out laughing.
"Alright, I can see you're sincere. That's a lot of money—more than enough. Heh."
"Still, brother, you'll have to be patient. We need to wait for the rest of the convoy."
I hurried over to the blue-faced ghost's side.
"Don't worry, I've already dealt with that guy. This time, you'll only pay half the toll."
Immediately, the ghost who'd been sitting jumped down, looking grateful.
"But the convoy is pretty big, so we'll have to wait for the ghosts ahead to clear out first."
After calming both sides, I felt close to collapse. Sitting by the roadside, my heart pounded wildly. I kept watching Louis Lee, thinking about how to create a distraction so Zhou Tian could grab him.
My limbs felt weak, but I forced myself to hold on. My Deathbane Aura was nearly depleted, but suddenly, I noticed something.