"The passage to the past can't be opened right now. We have to wait until midnight."
John Chou spoke, and Lucas Dao let out a sigh of relief. I glanced around, and then the three of us revealed our forms, changed our clothes, and blended into the crowd, planning to find a place to drink and wait for nightfall.
"Aren't you taking any protective measures?"
As we walked down the street, John Chou asked. Lucas Dao, dressed in a jacket and jeans, shook his head. His outfit was odd, like someone from the last century, and he drew a lot of attention on the street.
John Chou wore a black suit with a red plaid tie, while I was dressed casually in sportswear. The three of us stood out on the street, looking completely out of place.
"If too many ghost soldiers show up, it'll have a negative impact on the people here. This operation is about to begin, so it shouldn't have leaked yet."
At that moment, I noticed some commotion on a distant street. My eyes widened suddenly—it was people from Universal Temple. A group of monks walked in a line, with a young monk in the middle, the reincarnation of Brother Owen. Master Richard Ming led the monks toward us.
"Not bad, they're moving fast."
Lucas Dao said, strolling over slowly.
"May I have a word with the three of you?"
Then all of us gathered in a large courtyard, the residence of the Underworld Denizens.
"By coming out like this, you've left Universal Temple completely unguarded."
"That's nothing you need to worry about. John Chou, when we left, we already broke the seal on the Golden Howler. Anyone who tries to approach Universal Temple now is courting death."
John Chou snorted coldly and looked at Brother Owen. My gaze was icy as I stared at Brother Owen—no matter how I looked at him, I just couldn't stand the guy.
"Are the preparations complete, Masters?"
Lucas Dao asked, and Master Jianyun stepped forward.
"Amitabha. After receiving contact from the King of Hell, we made all necessary preparations. Everything is guaranteed to go smoothly."
John Chou turned and started walking away. Several eyes looked at him in surprise.
"Guaranteed to go smoothly, huh."
I quickly followed John Chou out of the courtyard and back onto the street.
"Is there something wrong?"
"Better safe than sorry."
A chorus of chirping erupted, and John Chou looked up at a group of birds perched on the power lines. I glanced over in confusion.
Suddenly, a dog began barking madly and charged at us. John Chou sneered and abruptly pressed his hand down on the head of the large dog.
"What are you doing?"
I grabbed John Chou's hand. The dog whimpered under his grip, and its owner rushed over with the leash, repeatedly apologizing. When John let go, the dog tucked its tail and ran whimpering into the courtyard behind us.
"What exactly were you doing just now?"
I was completely puzzled. John Chou shook his head.
"I just thought the dog's eyes were odd, like it wanted to see what was in the courtyard. Even though it was barking, its gaze was fixed behind us."
I let out a sound of surprise, then burst out laughing.
"You're way too paranoid, John Chou. Come on, let's go get a drink."
John Chou turned around and looked at me.
"Do you have any money?"
I blinked.
"Nope. We'll just dine and dash. Who needs money?"
A little after two in the afternoon, John Chou and I found an elegant restaurant, went straight to the second floor, got a private room, ordered some dishes and a few bottles of wine, and started eating and drinking.
John Chou still looked preoccupied, staring at the birds on the power lines outside the window.
"They're following us."
With a flurry of wings, the row of birds on the wire suddenly took off and quickly flew away. I glanced over.
"What do you mean?"
These birds were exactly the same as the ones we saw when we left the courtyard. Along the way, they kept flying and stopping, tracking us.
The pig's trotter I was holding slipped from my chopsticks. I blinked.
"You seem a little off lately, John Chou. You're overthinking things."
"Let's hope so."
By now, the county was already filled with a large number of Buddhists and Taoists, and their numbers kept increasing. Local officials quickly announced to the public that the Buddhists and Taoists were joining forces for a big event in the mountains, to prevent any public suspicion.
"The family really moves fast."
John Chou raised his wine glass, his gaze still fixed on everything outside. Just then, a tabby cat jumped in, meowing as if asking for food. I crouched down, grabbed some meat from the table, tossed it to the cat, and stroked its fur. This cat seemed used to doing this, very friendly with people, and quite plump.
"You're pretty smart. Maybe you'll be a person in your next life. With your personality, you'd do well."
"Didn't know you liked cats so much."
John Chou muttered. I stood up right away and gave an awkward laugh.
"During those years on the run, drifting through the city, the thing I saw most was probably cats. Back then I was weak, sunlight would burn me, so I could only find corners like a cat."
John Chou walked over, crouched in front of the cat, and pressed his hand on its head. Suddenly, the tabby cat turned fierce, swiping at John Chou before grabbing the meat and leaping out the window.
"You really are..."
Suddenly, I saw John Chou's expression change, turning ice-cold, with anger in his eyes.
"Hey, hey, you're not seriously picking a fight with a cat, are you?"
John Chou raised his left hand, showing several obvious claw marks on the back, blood seeping out.
"What's wrong? Got scratched by the cat..."
In an instant, I stared wide-eyed at the back of John Chou's hand in disbelief. He gave a wicked grin.
"Brother, I'm a ghost, remember? I may have a physical body, but this cat still managed to scratch me. What do you think is inside it?"
I suddenly floated out, releasing a large amount of Specter Web to search the area, but couldn't sense anything.
When we got back, the wounds on John Chou's hand had healed. He sat at the table, quietly drinking and smiling.
"What do we do now? This can't be a coincidence—someone is watching us."
John Chou nodded.
"Maybe the Immortality Society uses methods like this to instantly gather all kinds of intel. From birds and beasts to insects—it's an interesting technique."
"Should we go tell them?"
John Chou shook his head.
"If it's just surveillance, that's fine. Let's hope nothing else happens. Maybe the situation here has already reached Emperor God and the others. If Ethan Zhang were here, things would be much easier."
"Yeah, that guy's instincts are really handy."
By dusk, John Chou and I had wandered all over the county but sensed nothing unusual. There was still plenty of time before midnight, so we planned to find another place to drink and wait for nightfall.
"John Chou, what exactly are you guys doing?"
Lucas Dao found us and asked as soon as he walked in.
"Go notify those monks and Taoists, tell them to set out together."
"They've already left. It's a hundred kilometers, and cars can only reach the village twenty kilometers from Mount Immeasurable. They're probably halfway there by now!"
John Chou stared grimly into the distance as a gentle breeze brushed past.
Suddenly, Lucas Dao's eyes widened. He held out a finger and flicked it, and I saw a speck of black appear in his hand.
"It's death energy. Something's wrong."
With a whoosh, Lucas Dao darted away as a streak of red light. I was about to leave, but John Chou stopped me.
"Don't go. If they can watch us so easily, they can trap us just as easily. Their goal is to create chaos. If we rush in and get trapped, they'll be free to attack Mount Immeasurable."
I swallowed, glaring angrily into the distance. Even I could feel the surge of magical energy coming from far away.
"Looks like the fight's already started. The Immortality Society really won't let this chance slip by. So when do we move?"
I asked, and John Chou shook his head.
"No matter when, they're always targeting me. I'm counting on you, brother."
I looked out the window. Birds of all kinds were perched everywhere around us, and I could see insects, cats, and dogs wandering outside.
"Should we deal with them?"
"Don't bother with pointless things. Let's just keep drinking and wait for them to make their move."
I was a bit confused. John Chou was powerless right now. If a few Goldmask men attacked, I couldn't protect him. At best, I could handle two at once—that was my limit.
Time ticked by, and the sky grew completely dark. I looked around anxiously.
Just then, the owner came in, looking dazed, hugging a laptop. On the pitch-black screen, a face suddenly appeared, very close to the camera.
"Hello, John Chou. Can you hear me, can you see me?"