Accompanied by a burst of crying, I was surprised to see Yvonne May holding the shoulder of a pale-faced young man, leading him inside. Yuna Ji shoved him in, making him fall hard to the ground, still cursing. Then Basil Bertram stepped out, the red-haired one spat contemptuously to the side.
The Seven Ghost Sovereigns were all standing at the city gate. At that moment, I saw four clusters of red light. The gate was closing bit by bit, and the Hell's Registrars of red, blue, green, and purple hues had already approached, grinning coldly.
"Well, you all look pretty lively."
The Red Warden spoke, stepping up to John Chou, grabbing his head and patting it. Nearby, Lord Shenyan glared angrily at the warden. Suddenly, the Green Warden came over, twisted Lord Shenyan’s neck, and slammed him onto the scorching ground.
"What are you staring at, kid? Not happy? Listen up, you lot. We run things here. You can call us by our colors. Today, we’ll give you a taste of what Abyssal Hell is like."
As he spoke, Yuna Ji floated up first. The Blue Warden yanked her hair, slamming her face into the ground. Yuna Ji screamed, and soon all Seven Ghost Sovereigns were dragged over one by one.
But for some reason, looking at John Chou, he was still smiling, seemingly without a trace of fear. They could only recover after being tortured to death, and then the torment would start again.
At this time, the Seven Ghost Sovereigns weren’t as powerful as I’d seen before—probably only at the Wraith level. Soon, the torture began. The Hell's Registrars dragged the seven of them away and used different punishments on each.
The one screaming the loudest was the pale-faced youth. From his voice, I could guess who he was—Mona Ouyang.
Mona Ouyang kept crying and shouting. One Hell's Registrar shoved a red-hot rod into his mouth, stabbing down his throat. Mona Ouyang stopped screaming, sobbing as tears streamed down.
On the contrary, John Chou, Lord Shenyan, Basil Bertram, and the red-haired one didn’t make a sound, only grimacing in pain, while Yvonne May and Yuna Ji occasionally let out howls.
These tortures were utterly inhumane for any ghost. The torment lasted nearly ten hours. The bodies of the Seven Ghost Sovereigns were already battered and dead. Then the Hell's Registrars dragged them to the edge, threw them into a small pit, and left laughing.
The Wraithlord and I quietly watched from the side. Gradually, the Seven Ghost Sovereigns regained consciousness. After more than ten hours of torture, they would briefly recover physically, only for the torment to resume. The Ghost Sovereigns recovered faster than expected.
"Those bastards! How dare they treat me like this? Once my power returns, I’ll make them wish they were dead!"
Yuna Ji snarled as soon as she woke up. The Seven Ghost Sovereigns’ bodies had recovered. There were no other ghosts in the pit. John Chou exchanged glances with Basil Bertram, who smiled and suddenly released a faint silver glow from his eyes.
"Phantom Moon."
Suddenly, I stared in shock at the Seven Ghost Sovereigns in the pit—their bodies had reverted to their previous ruined state. But I knew it was just an illusion. Could such a trick really fool the Hell's Registrars?
Sure enough, as the Wraithlord beside me made a move, the illusion dissipated like mist. I swallowed hard. Mona Ouyang hugged his knees, still sobbing, while Yvonne May comforted him. The red-haired one spat again.
"You wretch! You actually colluded with the Underworld and got us all caught in one sweep while we were gathered. Hmph."
The red-haired one said, and the other Ghost Sovereigns glanced sidelong at Yuna Ji. She playfully stuck out her tongue.
"I was thinking of you all! How was I supposed to know that what looked like surrender was actually being thrown into Abyssal Hell? I didn't want this either—I'm just a weak girl, you guys..."
With a sharp slap, the red-haired one finally lost his patience and struck her. Yuna Ji clutched her cheek, looking aggrieved at him, but at that moment everyone turned to John Chou, and even Mona Ouyang stopped crying.
"John Chou, you tell us: What did you mean when we were captured? You've already thought of a way out, haven't you?"
The red-haired one snorted and leaned closer to John Chou, gripping his shoulder tightly.
"Listen up, John Chou. If you haven't thought of a plan, I won't be gentle with you later—you..."
Suddenly, John Chou grabbed the red-haired one's arm and threw him aside. The red-haired one crashed into the edge of the pit, and as he got up, furious, he tried to rush at John Chou, but Basil Bertram held him back.
"John, earlier you told us not to resist, but to let ourselves be captured by the Underworld. True, we're no match for them, but if we fought to the death, those Marshals and Ghost Generals wouldn't have it easy either. You must have a strategy, right?"
"Say something, John Chou! Are you dead or mute?"
The red-haired one glared furiously at John Chou.
"Mountain King, could you please shut up? Are you trying to let the wardens outside overhear us?"
John Chou replied coldly, forcing the red-haired one to swallow his anger and sit down obediently.
"First, none of us can take on those Marshals alone. Even if we go all out and take a few down, we'll be obliterated. The forces we've gathered in the living world will fall with us. That's why I told you not to fight back—it wasn't fear, it was strategy. After all, none of you want to die, do you?"
As John Chou spoke, Mona Ouyang sat up, visibly agitated.
"We’re about to be tortured again—what do we do?"
"Let’s not keep secrets from each other anymore. At this point, this place might be a nightmare for us, but maybe it’s also the perfect place to grow stronger."
All eyes stared intently at John Chou. Yuna Ji suddenly giggled.
"Indeed, the ghostly energy here is so dense, like solid ground. In this environment, not only can we not die, our bodies will gradually grow tougher, because this place’s power won’t let us die—it wants us to suffer endlessly."
"But if we die, it’s pointless. We’ll just revert to our previous state."
Basil Bertram spoke, and John Chou nodded.
"So now we have to rely on Basil Bertram and the corpse demon."
Basil Bertram’s eyes widened, while Mona Ouyang looked at John Chou in confusion.
"Lord Shenyan, try to find four male and three female souls, about our size."
The red-haired one looked at John Chou with annoyance.
"What’s the point?"
"If you’re useless, just sit quietly and watch."
John Chou snapped, and though the red-haired one clenched his teeth, he didn’t dare lash out. Basil Bertram seemed to have figured something out.
"My power is one of confusion—not ghostly energy, not anything else. Unless you know about it, you can hardly sense it at all."
Lord Shenyan stood up, Mona Ouyang watched in puzzlement. I saw Basil Bertram approach Lord Shenyan, raising a hand as black tendrils extended. I immediately understood: the Seven Ghost Sovereigns should be stronger than low-level Specter Ghosts, with special powers, but here they might be weaker than Wraiths. The wardens in Abyssal Hell are strong, so naturally we weren’t chained.
Because the wardens never imagined these Ghost Sovereigns would have special powers. I realized why John Chou told them not to fight—they lulled the Underworld into carelessness.
From their conversation, I learned they were captured while gathered together—apparently, they didn’t have their followers with them.
Soon, Lord Shenyan’s surface was covered with something—he turned into a red-skinned warden, looking just like the ones outside.
"I’ll be right back."
Lord Shenyan said, quickly jumping out of the pit and patrolling around. Sure enough, when he passed other wardens, no one noticed him. Many wardens took the chance between soul deaths to drink, chat, and play chess.
In less than half an hour, Lord Shenyan dragged back seven shivering souls, who had no idea what was happening.
"Now it’s up to you, corpse demon. Pull their consciousness into your dream and keep them lost in bliss forever. Then, with Basil Bertram’s power, make their bodies look like ours. Next, we’ll disguise ourselves as wardens and hide in the woods, waiting for our chance."
Yuna Ji immediately giggled, and the red-haired one looked enlightened.
"What if we’re discovered?"
"Lure them into the woods and kill them, one by one. Once we’ve dealt with all the wardens, this place will be ours. We can even dress other souls as wardens to blend in. No one would expect it. The power hidden inside us—they think we’re just a bunch of rogue ghosts. Isn’t that perfect?"
John Chou spoke, a ruthless glint in his eyes. All the Ghost Sovereigns grinned wickedly. Soon, with Basil Bertram’s power, the seven souls took on the appearance of the Ghost Sovereigns, while John Chou and the rest disguised themselves as wardens.
"Listen carefully—we need to be quick and precise. You know my power; all I need is an opening, and I can instantly strip these wardens of their strength. Then..."
John Chou paused, his eyes flashing with a savage gleam as he licked his lips.
"The seven of us will split them and devour them. Only when it’s in our bellies is it truly safe. When those four realize the wardens are gone, we’ll deal with them next. As for how—I’ve already thought of a hundred ways."