"This time, you got lucky, John Chou."
As soon as John Chou woke up, Soren Black spoke.
But John Chou simply shook his head.
"Do you want to know?"
John Chou looked at Soren Black with a half-smile. Soren Black seemed interested, but John Chou sat down beneath a tree.
"If you want to know, give me your Hell's Sentinel."
Soren Black burst out laughing again.
"Aren't you afraid I'll force you to talk? You dare speak to me like that?"
In an instant, Soren Black's body radiated a sickly green light. Waves of chilling killing intent swept toward John Chou, but he remained completely unfazed.
"There's a reason I was able to get so much food and money—enough to last me half a year without starving. Don't you really want to know why?"
Soren Black suddenly clutched his stomach and burst out laughing. With a swift motion, he tossed the Hell's Sentinel in front of John Chou.
"Kid, do you even know how powerful this Hell's Sentinel is? But since you seem able to handle it, I'll let you have it. Just remember, luck like this doesn't come every time."
John Chou gripped the Hell's Sentinel, visibly excited.
"Can I speak now?"
John Chou slowly caressed the simple, unmarked sword. After a long silence, he smiled.
"Doesn't even have a name yet?"
Soren Black looked shocked again and pressed his forehead.
"My god, what kind of creature am I dealing with—ghost or something else?"
John Chou began to speak. On his journey here, he had been dodging a persistent pursuer, sneaking into people's homes along the way and stealing offerings to eat. By the time he arrived, he hadn't eaten in days. He'd heard from local ghosts that the festival was coming soon, and Derek White would host a grand feast so everyone could eat their fill.
John Chou learned the festival lasted three days, with daily offerings to the local wandering spirits. In the past, ghosts would often fight over the food, but ever since Derek White and his faction arrived, such chaos had been eliminated.
Derek White led the ghosts here, trading with spirits from other places and carving out his own territory. The agents of the Underworld Court vanished, and life for the ghosts improved. Every festival, Derek White carefully managed the money collected from the living world, distributing it based on each ghost's contributions.
Any ghost caught stealing food faced severe punishment. After learning all this, John Chou decided to take the money and leave.
"So why are you so sure you can escape from Derek White? Aren't you afraid?"
"Of course I'm afraid. I'm no match for that Blue Wraith. But his nature is strictly by the book. What I offered him was something outside the rules. Like you, he gets curious about things beyond the rules. Whether ghost or human, once curiosity takes hold, they just want to know more. Killing isn't their first instinct."
As John Chou spoke, Soren Black clapped his hands.
"Aren't you afraid I'll kill you now for saying all this?"
"I'm scared, but since I've already gotten something so valuable, I might as well lay all my cards on the table, right?"
Soren Black laughed heartily, then smiled at John Chou.
"You're lying."
"I'm not lying. I've said everything I needed to say. It's time for me to go."
With a rush of wind, Soren Black appeared right in front of John Chou.
"One last question—what are you chasing after?"
Soren Black's gaze was icy and merciless, locking onto John Chou. In a flash, John Chou raised the Hell's Sentinel and pointed it at the sky.
"Peerless under heaven."
Soren Black stared blankly at John Chou, then burst out laughing. John Chou quickly gathered up the money and strode away.
Soren Black watched John Chou walk farther and farther away, his face darkening.
"Look at that scheming face—ha! Trying to fool me? 'Peerless under heaven'? That's not all you're after, John Chou."
In a low voice, Soren Black muttered the last words, then threw his head back and laughed. With a rush of green light, he vanished into the air.
Gradually, Soren Black caught up with John Chou. At that moment, Derek White blocked John Chou's path. John Chou looked at Derek White with a half-smile.
"I've already given you a way out, haven't I?"
In an instant, Derek White's face turned green, then red. He was furious, glaring at John Chou.
Now I understood why John Chou, despite winning, still took Derek White's near-fatal attack. It was to save Derek White's dignity and let him save face.
"Want to ask anything? I need to get going."
Suddenly, Derek White raised his right hand. The wound on it was still bleeding.
"It's nothing to worry about. I could never beat you. I only struck because your ghost aura was weak, and I happened to have the Hell's Sentinel. That's how I broke through and cut your hand—just a scratch."
"I'll remember this scar, John Chou."
Derek White said angrily, then lowered his hand.
"Just one question: You knew stepping in could mean instant death, so why did you strike?"
John Chou gazed at the sky.
"The night looks pretty good, doesn't it?"
Derek White lifted his head. In that instant, John Chou raised the Hell's Sentinel and thrust it at Derek White's face. Derek White seemed to anticipate this, and a surge of powerful ghost aura burst from his body, but John Chou's sword still drove straight at him.
I stared, realizing that everything about John Chou could be shredded by this overwhelming force.
With a sharp motion, John Chou's Hell's Sentinel grazed Derek White's cheek and stopped at his neck.
"I'll answer only once. When you see an opening but hesitate because of your opponent's overwhelming power—when you feel fear at the storm of attacks ahead—the only way forward is to cast aside that useless fear and strike. That's all there is to it."
Then John Chou withdrew the Hell's Sentinel and walked past the motionless Derek White.
"I will get stronger, John Chou. I've remembered your name. When we're evenly matched, I'll come for you."
John Chou smiled, nodded, and glanced at Derek White.
"Maybe I'll be dead by then. Who knows?"
John Chou laughed and strode away. Soren Black landed beside Derek White, patted his shoulder, and the stone-like Derek White fell into deep thought.
"That guy John Chou is something special—he's completely broken the so-called rules of ghosts. Brother White, I'm leaving too. Funny, I feel like we really hit it off. Maybe we'll work together someday."
Derek White nodded.
"It's true, we're both Blue Wraiths, and at the same time, we met a weak but rule-defying Shade Ghost. If you're going after him, tell that kid that beyond here is Spider Wraith's territory. That one isn't nearly as reasonable as I am."
Soren Black slowly floated up, then smiled.
"Seems like we really do get along, Brother White. Neither of us wants that kid to die. Strange, for a Shade Ghost, he's awfully bold."
Soren Black laughed and followed after, quickly catching up to John Chou.
"So, you're heading this way too?"
"Yeah."
John Chou smiled.
"Judging by your look, you're headed for Ghost City Fengdu, aren't you?"