Slaughter?
Something seemed to click in my mind. I stood up and looked at Slaughter.
So, no matter what kind of opponent I face, as long as there is still power within me and I can use the instinct called Slaughter, my strength will always surpass theirs, allowing me to remain undefeated. Is that it?
Slaughter nodded.
Thinking back carefully, there were many times when John Chou's power was clearly weaker than his opponent's, yet he still managed to defeat them.
Using instinct requires a tremendous amount of power, and we are all born from illusion. The reason John Chou could obtain the instinct of Slaughter is that, along his journey, he repeatedly defeated stronger enemies with his own weakness. That is why I exist within John Chou's body; it has always been this way from the beginning.
I smiled, reaching out a hand. Slaughter placed his hand over mine and gripped it firmly.
Keep moving forward, Ethan Zhang. Against an opponent you can never truly defeat, keep honing yourself and refining your skills. My power will always be greater than yours. As long as you remain in this space of instinct, you still possess coexistence.
Back when it was the Desire Ghost, you helped me, didn't you?
I smiled as I spoke. Slaughter nodded.
Right now, if you want to defeat that guy, it'll take some effort. The situation was urgent back then, so I helped you.
Ethan Zhang, something feels off. You'd better come out quickly.
I let go of his hand, glanced at Slaughter, then looked at him.
John Chou, is he really dead?
I don't know. This world is full of wonders. Even if he no longer exists in the world we know, maybe in other spaces or times, he still does.
Dazed, I opened my eyes and looked over, then immediately stood up.
What is this?
I swallowed hard. Above Exile Town, seven clusters of silvery light appeared, and a tremendous force swept over me. It was already night, and the fog on Evil Shade Mountain had vanished.
I hurried down the mountain and ran toward Exile Town. I couldn't use my powers, afraid Redmond would notice.
The closer I got to Exile Town, the stronger the force became. For ghosts, this power was terrifying. Gradually, I realized the seven silvery lights looked like a spoon.
Is that the Big Dipper?
At that moment, I saw a crowd of ghosts flooding toward me. They all looked panicked, and even some high-level fierce ghosts were running over with dejected faces.
What's going on?
I grabbed a ghost who was about to flee toward Evil Shade Mountain and asked.
It's bad. That little girl messed with something, and the thing in the sky appeared out of nowhere. Some ghosts have already turned to dust. You should run too.
It's really bad. The silvery clusters above are pressing down on Exile Town with overwhelming force.
I couldn't just rush in recklessly. While hesitating, I thought of a plan. I followed the ghosts back toward Evil Shade Mountain, found a deserted spot, placed one hand on the ground, and slowly summoned the Spirit Snake.
I'm counting on you, Spirit Snake.
The only way is to let Spirit Snake enter the earth's energy and return to Exile Town. That way, I'll know what's really happening. Looking over, I saw the seven silvery clusters seemed to be getting bigger.
My heart pounded with anxiety. During the day, nothing seemed wrong. It looks like Rufina Howard did something.
What exactly did you do?
Redmond glared angrily at Rufina Howard with his hands in his pockets. At the same time, clusters of green ghostly energy floated in the air—Redmond's subordinates using their own ghost aura to resist the overwhelming force from above.
In stark contrast to the ghost aura, this force existed solely to expel ghosts.
Rufina Howard was sprawled on the ground, a blueprint laid out on her large backpack.
Don't yell. I just tampered with the formation's core a bit. I never expected things to turn out like this.
Redmond looked frantic, while Noah Grimm wore an expression of helplessness.
Boss, I don't know much about formations, but the one Quentin Kue set up might have activated and is probably trying to drive all the ghosts out of here.
You three, if you know anything, spit it out now.
Standing nearby were the three former ghost kings of Exile Town. They exchanged glances, and then Logan Lau slapped his forehead, as if he just remembered something.
I'm not sure if it's useful, but little girl, the only thing I know about this formation is that it's connected to a story Samantha Simons once told me. This town and the array are definitely linked.
"Hurry up and tell me, what kind of story is it?"
Rufina Howard called out anxiously, while Redmond coughed a few times and then stepped forward.
"Long ago, this place was nothing but an abandoned village..."
One summer, a disheveled man arrived here. His appearance was odd—he carried a tree root on his back and, though it was pouring rain, he held a large black umbrella.
It seemed the man hadn't eaten a proper meal in days, and his body was thin and weak. When he reached the deserted village, he was relieved to find it empty for years. He managed to find some fruit and even caught a wild chicken.
After a hearty meal, the man fell asleep from exhaustion. But in the middle of the night, a mournful cry echoed through the darkness. From the tree root on his back drifted a wisp of white smoke, and a beautiful female ghost appeared.
The man was once the son of a wealthy family. By chance, during a business trip, he heard a curious story about a tree root inhabited by a female ghost who wailed in sorrow every night.
The man didn't believe such tales, but he found the legendary tree root said to harbor the ghost and brought it home.
That very night, something strange happened. The man dreamed of a beautiful woman who warned him not to go to the eastern street the next day, or he'd get into trouble with the authorities.
He thought it was just a dream and ignored it, but the next day, he went to the eastern street for business and really did run into trouble with officials. It took a lot of effort to resolve it.
One night, when the man returned home, he saw a woman making his bed. At first, he was frightened because she had no shadow, but he was captivated by her beauty.
Perhaps it was fate. The man and the female ghost grew close, talking and laughing every night. He soon realized she was extraordinary—her knowledge surpassed even his own.
The man once aspired to official rank, but after witnessing the corruption in the bureaucracy, he gave up and decided to follow his father's advice and focus on business. Life was good.
But humans and ghosts are doomed to be apart. No matter how much the man loved the ghost, misfortune arrived. Her presence gradually weakened his body, leaving him thin and frail.
His family sought many doctors, but none could help. Over time, the female ghost appeared less and less at night, until she stopped coming altogether.
After a long time, the man, heartbroken, finally broke down in tears. The ghost explained that she was harming him, that her ghostly nature was draining his life.
From then on, they agreed to meet only on the fifteenth of each month, when the yin energy was weakest.
But the happiness didn't last. One day, the man came home and found the tree root missing. When he asked the servants, they stammered and avoided his gaze.
The man searched desperately for the missing tree root, but it was as if it had vanished into thin air. Devastated, he drank himself into a stupor, and dreamed the ghost was calling for help from within a Taoist temple, surrounded by flames.
Upon waking, the man rushed to the temple from his dream, just outside the city. There, he saw his parents and watched as a Taoist priest placed the tree root into a brazier. Though flames licked at it, the root remained intact.
In a frenzy, the man kicked over the brazier, grabbed the tree root, and ran. Because the servants had overheard him talking to himself at night and his illness was mysterious, his parents sought out a famous local exorcist.
After arriving in Exile Town, the man made a pact with the female ghost—they would remain together and never part. At her request, he lived in the east of the village, and she in the west.
Gradually, the man only visited the ghost occasionally, and his health improved.
Alone, the man began to cultivate the abandoned village, day after day, year after year. Eventually, he thought of his parents—he was their only son. He explained the situation to the ghost and decided to return home, at least to marry and have children to continue the family line.
He returned home five years later. His parents were overjoyed. To reassure them, he said he'd been bewitched by the ghost, but was saved by a wise master.
For the sake of his family, the man married and soon had twins—a boy and a girl. His family was delighted. After some time, he returned to Exile Town, only to find the ghost gone and the tree root missing.
He searched everywhere, turning the village upside down, but found nothing.
But what the man didn't know was that the ghost still lingered in the village, hiding because she didn't want to harm him.
Back home, the man tried everything to find her, but to no avail.
He thought he'd moved on, but one day, on the street, he saw a huge cherry tree being transplanted. When he glimpsed its roots, his longing for the ghost reignited.
He left everything behind and returned to the abandoned village, determined to wait there for the ghost, no matter how long it took.