The Curse Ghost had been using its own cursed power to monitor everything outside in a way that was completely undetectable. Several hours had passed, and the commotion outside had died down. Just as Yin Choujian said, the Seeking Blue Ghost that came looking for us only stayed briefly to check before leaving. They really didn’t have the time to bother with us—they were all busy harvesting food.
Yin Choujian told me that in the past, they would spend the entire day harvesting today, and most of the fields would be finished. But now, because of the red bugs he cultivated, these ghosts are stretched too thin—they can only rush to collect food, trying to salvage as much of the month’s yield as possible.
However, the bugs’ rate of devouring was astonishing—not only food, but even some nearby trees had already suffered devastating damage.
Now all we need to do is wait—wait for the Crossing Seal to be opened, and then we can smoothly enter the Animal Realm.
At this moment, Yin Choujian stood up, smiling as he took out two greenish beads from his pocket. They were crystal clear, almost like jade. I stared at them, feeling as if I’d seen them somewhere before. Soon, a foul smell began to emanate from the beads.
“Are these Phantom Ghost Beads?”
I looked at Yin Choujian in confusion. He smiled and nodded.
“Alright, brother, hold onto these. When we go in later, at the very least, your appearance has to change completely—even your internal structure. To be precise, just like before, when we met that guy who escaped from the Animal Realm in the Crossing, remember? He ended up turning into a talking dog.”
“Old Ren?”
I looked at Yin Choujian in surprise. He nodded. Old Ren had once saved me in the Forest of Desire, and later, when I entered the Corpse Realm in Gourd Village, he left. I haven’t seen him since.
"Those who fall into the Animal Realm will reincarnate as animals in their next life. But this kind of reincarnation takes a long time—even for animals, the birth rate isn't enough to meet the demand of all the souls waiting to be reborn. So many ghosts trapped in the Animal Realm are just waiting. You must have seen the Reincarnation Pit across from Lady Meng's place, right?"
I hummed in response, and John Chou continued speaking.
"All lost souls, after their punishment in the Hell Realm, are assigned to the Six Realms. The Asura Realm and Celestial Realm are almost impossible to enter, so the other four realms carry all the souls in existence. Both the Human Realm and Animal Realm require a chance to reincarnate. The Hungry Ghost Realm and Hell Realm are one-way; souls that enter are tortured endlessly, never to rise again. Since I disrupted the normal flow of the Sanzu Force, some souls from the Animal Realm have managed to escape—just like that talking dog you know. That's why we need to become animals. Once inside the Animal Realm, everything is unknown. The Specter Pearl can easily change our internal structure, so we don't have to rely on ghost aura to transform—it makes us animals by nature."
I understood part of it. At that moment, John Chou opened his mouth, swallowed the Specter Pearl with a gulp, and gradually, his appearance began to change. His body stretched, his upper half started to swell, and red fur sprouted all over. Soon, John Chou had transformed into a wolf covered in blood-red fur, more than two meters long, his upper body powerfully built, with a mane around his neck that made him look imposing.
"What the..."
I stared at John Chou in shock, pinched my nose, and was about to swallow the Specter Pearl when he stopped me.
"Even as animals, remember this, brother: appearance matters. Many animals rely on their looks to intimidate opponents. Just make yourself look fierce. Keep a clear image in your mind."
I hummed, swallowed the Specter Pearl with a gulp, and thought hard. Suddenly, I remembered how 001 once turned me into a panda. Instantly, my appearance changed—my body shrank, black and white fur grew out. I stared at my own hands in shock, while John Chou laughed with his mouth wide open.
"You do look fierce, brother."
"No, it's that little girl—ah, why am I thinking of that now?"
I started checking my body, but then realized I couldn't change anymore. I blinked at John Chou, and he just shrugged helplessly.
"The effect is single-use. This big Specter Pearl should last us a month, as long as we don't use any powers."
"Do you have any more Specter Pearls?"
I asked. This was something Old Nine had. John Chou shook his head.
"But the Blue Wraith is really interesting. These Specter Pearls are usually created by channeling the Blue Wraith's power, sometimes with added abilities—like easily transforming into insects, fish, birds, or beasts. Most Blue Wraiths aren't good at shapeshifting, so they rely on those who are to produce these Specter Pearls, making it easier for some Blue Wraiths to disguise themselves."
I sat down helplessly, staring at my chubby self in panda form, while John Chou looked every bit the alpha wolf. We were worlds apart.
Curse Ghost sat nearby with its eyes closed. Every so often, images from outside would flash in my mind. There were no ghosts near this warehouse on the edge.
I finally breathed a temporary sigh of relief.
"Brother, when we enter the Animal Realm, try not to speak, alright?"
I hummed in response. All we could do was keep waiting.
Another scene appeared in my mind, clear as day. I closed my eyes to see better: at the fortress gate, crowds of ghosts moved in and out. Some were so exhausted they couldn't fly, dragging food inside as fast as their legs could carry them.
My vision stretched toward the fields. Much of the woodland around the city had been destroyed, but the ghosts had no time to care. In the fields, those red bugs were still frantically gnawing at the roots. When the roots snapped, the fruit instantly blackened and cracked, dissolving into drifting ghost aura.
It was like a raging fire—the southern fields were all infested. Then I noticed green streaks flying toward us from the south: Blue Wraiths, and they were humans turned into Blue Wraiths. Suddenly, I felt a pair of cold eyes staring straight at me.
"Who are you, really?"
A fiery voice rang out. I saw a hand reaching for me, glowing with green light. Suddenly, someone slapped my back and the vision vanished from my mind.
"We almost got caught. Looks like there are Blue Wraiths using curse power—we'd better be careful."
I swallowed hard. Curse Ghost got up, and a Shade Ghost rose from the ground, giggling.
"See? In the end, you still have to rely on me."
As it spoke, the Shade Ghost turned into a gust of black wind and vanished.
Soon, another vision appeared in my mind. Over a dozen Blue Wraiths had entered the fortress. I saw a massive, four-meter-tall wild boar with huge tusks standing at the gate, clad in brown leather armor, glaring angrily at the group of Blue Wraiths before him.
"Hmph, Wild Boar King, what's going on here? Why hasn't food been delivered for three months?"
One of the Blue Wraiths, long-haired and clearly the leader, scowled with fierce brows and a fiery temper.
"Remember, we're partners, not subordinates."
The Wild Boar King snapped back viciously.
"Things are tight at the front. The army needs supplies. No matter what happened, the food must be handed over."
Suddenly, several Blue Wraiths flew toward us, only to be blocked by a group of Boarhead Soldiers.
"There’s plenty of food in that warehouse—hand it over."
The leader of the Blue Wraiths glowed with green light, but the Wild Boar King suddenly burst into laughter, spewing green breath from his mouth. The Blue Wraiths quickly scattered.
"Threats don’t work on me. Go tell your master we’re just partners—the agreements are just scraps of paper. Giving you food is already generous enough. This is my turf. If you don’t like it, try me. Now that you’re here, do you think you’ll leave alive?"
Wild Boar King's commanding presence easily intimidated the Blue Wraiths. Then, one Blue Wraith, with a wicked smile and a deathly pale face—an old man by the look of him—spoke up.
"You've got rats in your midst. You'd better watch out. This bug infestation isn't natural—it's man-made. I've seen these bugs before. Back in the Jialan Mountains, Bug Wraith used them to slowly devour ghost aura condensates. Heh."
Wild Boar King's face changed instantly.
"Find them."
The vision cut off completely, and Shade Ghost stood before us.
"Not good, Qingyuan. They'll probably find your Ghost Domain soon."
I looked back at John Chou and then smiled. He pulled a little bug out of his pocket.
"If that's the case, there's nothing we can do."
I stared in surprise at the tiny bug in John Chou's hand—its body striped red, black, and green.
"Bug Wraith gave me this. Once it's set loose here, the food in the warehouse will be devoured in no time."
As he spoke, Doom Ghost emerged from the ground, snatched the tricolored bug from John Chou, and burrowed back beneath the earth.