"Master Ethan, watch closely. That whole scene with John Chou—he's putting on a show just for you!"
I let out a startled sound and looked at Samantha Simons.
I saw John Chou gripping a sword brimming with murderous energy, lunging toward Mona Ouyang. Suddenly, he stopped in midair and leisurely drifted to the right. With a bang, an explosion erupted where he'd just been.
"Cheap tricks like that won't work on me, you freak."
Suddenly, I realized John Chou wasn't charging at Mona Ouyang at all. He was heading in a similar direction, his entire body aglow with a blood-red light. He flew forward, raised his murderous sword, and slashed at a spot where nothing seemed to be.
A metallic clang rang out—Mona Ouyang glared at John Chou with hate in her eyes, gripping her own murderous sword. In an instant, the sounds of battle echoed. John Chou pressed his attack, sword in hand, forcing Mona Ouyang to retreat step by step, completely overpowering her.
It looked like Mona Ouyang had no way to fight back. John Chou was enjoying himself, swinging his sword again—but this time, he missed. He smiled, his murderous aura surging, sending several streaks of deadly energy snaking toward an empty spot nearby.
Mona Ouyang appeared in that spot, immediately ensnared by the deadly energy.
"Hmph, maybe it's time we drop these little tricks and get serious, John Chou."
Suddenly, the deadly energy around Mona Ouyang vanished—without even a trace of dispersing light, it was simply gone, as if it had never existed.
"Oh, oh, freak—did you notice that?"
"Hmph. I know your tricks well. You always want to toy with people in the palm of your hand. I bet this place is already crawling with your Specter Web. Wherever I go, you can sense me."
Specter Web? Suddenly I remembered—just now, I could sense danger and spot those two at the Ghost Burial. Mona Ouyang had mentioned the term Specter Web before.
"Master Ethan, this so-called Specter Web is a detection method only Blue Wraiths can use. It's usually created by Ghost Souls. The more powerful the Blue Wraith, the harder they are to defeat—because of this Specter Web. It's like spider silk, letting them sense all sorts of dangers around them."
Samantha Simons explained, and then John Chou turned his head and smiled.
"Brother, never seen one before, have you? Specter Web... heh."
Suddenly, at the Ghost Burial Squad Headquarters, a network of red and gray lines—thin as spider silk—spread everywhere, covering the whole building. Even near me, fine red and gray threads drifted slowly in the air.
"That's their Specter Web—it's massive. Master Ethan, look over there."
Following Samantha Simons' voice, I looked over. The red and gray threads stretched as far as I could see, extending past the Ghost Burial Squad's main gate in a huge web.
And among them, I gradually saw some blue threads—coming from Samantha Simons herself, and from that long-haired Blue Wraith.
Samantha Simons gently grabbed one of her own Specter Web threads and held it out in front of me.
"Master Ethan, this is a Blue Wraith's Specter Web. Mine can only cover this courtyard, but those two—their web probably spans dozens of miles."
I stared in amazement as Sophie Su reached out, happily touching the gently drifting threads of the Specter Web.
"So beautiful, such colors."
Looking closely, the Specter Web sparkled with crystalline lights—truly beautiful. Such a vast network, woven together, looked like a painting.
"Had enough, brother?" John Chou said, and the huge swathes of Specter Web in the air began to vanish.
"You can't really fight like this. Why not wake up from your sweet dream?"
As John Chou spoke, a mist-like crimson aura slowly flowed out from his entire body.
"Hmph. So you really mean to fight for real now, Blood Lord John Chou."
With a bang, Mona Ouyang fell to the ground, lying flat as if asleep. Wisps of gray aura flowed from his forehead.
The gray aura gradually began to take on a humanoid shape, flickering in and out of view—like a person made of water, yet somehow burning at the same time.
"Finally showing yourself, freak?"
"Hmph. Enough talk. Come on, John Chou—Dream Devour!"
Mona Ouyang shouted fiercely, and then a tremendous howl erupted. Around John Chou, clusters of gray aura suddenly appeared, transforming into huge, gaping mouths that lunged at him.
A flash of red light—John Chou instantly appeared before Mona Ouyang, wielding the Deathbane Aura Blade. In a split second, he thrust the sword multiple times. Mona Ouyang seemed wounded, screamed, and turned into a mass of gray aura, scattering before re-forming into a humanoid shape some distance away.
John Chou landed on the ground. The gray, mouth-like monsters chased after him. Visible streams of blood spread out from John Chou, forming lines on the ground. In an instant, the bloodlines rose up like whips, lashing at the gray monsters.
With a thunderous crash, Mona Ouyang stretched out his hands, and the ground shook violently.
"Nightmare."
Beneath John Chou, a huge gray, mouth-like monster suddenly burst from the ground, its jaws slamming shut with a boom.
"Flame of the Dream..."
With a roar, the gray, mouth-like monster suddenly burst into flames. Fire blazed fiercely. I saw John Chou writhing in agony, trapped in the inferno, unable to escape.
"Ha! John Chou, look at you now—how pathetic," Yuna Ji giggled from the side.
"Vast ocean, Dream Blue."
In an instant, the flames engulfing John Chou gradually turned blue. All around him, pale blue water appeared, wrapping him tightly.
John Chou looked like he was suffocating, struggling in the water, his face twisted in pain.
"How is it? Not so pleasant, is it, John Chou? Such a low-grade dream, and you can't handle it. Sure, you can use Bloodbane Power, but now, you're barely a tenth as strong as you once were."
John Chou burst out laughing. His body swelled in the water, then exploded with a bang, leaving behind a pool of blood that instantly dyed the blue water red.
Droplets of blood splattered from the water like rain, flying toward Mona Ouyang with a sizzling sound. Mona Ouyang shrieked, desperate to escape.
"Towering cliff, Dream Yellow."
A creaking sound echoed as layers of rock-like light glimmered across Mona Ouyang's body. Then, in an instant, he transformed into a stone giant, blocking the relentless blood droplets outside.
"Lava, Dream Red..."
With a crack, the ground split open—a wave of heat surged forth as scalding magma bubbled up. With a hiss, the falling blood droplets were instantly vaporized.
"Heh, John Chou, trying to evaporate me?"
The blood droplets began to gather in midair, gradually forming a figure of blood, slowly reshaping into John Chou.
"So hot," John Chou muttered, glaring unhappily at Mona Ouyang.
I blinked, and everything vanished—no magma, no blue water, no stone skin on Mona Ouyang. Everything returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.
Everyone—human and ghost alike—stood frozen in shock. No one could tell if what they'd just seen was real or a dream, except for Yuna Ji, who looked as if she knew exactly what was happening.
"Sigh, how boring. Freak, what's happened to you? I was looking forward to seeing your Dream Realm. What, after all these years, you haven't dreamed at all?"
Yuna Ji said mockingly, giggling to herself.
"Tch! Yuna Ji, you damn bitch! If you hadn't betrayed me back then, I wouldn't be like this. You have the nerve to talk? Now you're mixed up with John Chou—disgusting."
"So what if I betrayed you? Who's the idiot here? Heh..."
"Damn it, Yuna Ji, you bitch!" Mona Ouyang suddenly shouted. A massive cloud of gray aura appeared around us, gradually morphing into a giant serpent, its jaws wide, ready to swallow us whole.
I gasped. Samantha Simons immediately tried to lead us away, but Yuna Ji just smiled slightly. A surge of green light erupted from her, and a giant bony claw grew larger and larger, grabbing the serpent in one swift motion.
"Child's play."
With a snap, the claw crushed the serpent, which vanished instantly.
A raindrop landed on my cheek. I wiped it away and stared—red. Suddenly, crimson rain poured down from the sky.
"Damn it, John Chou, what are you doing? Trying to kill us all?"
Yuna Ji shouted, her face grave. Suddenly, she shot into the air. A creaking sound rang out as a huge bony tail extended from her back, circling above our heads to form a dome, then coiling on the ground to make a platform for us to sit on.
Violent coughing erupted. Lan Ruoxi and Samantha Simons, along with the other ghosts, all began to cough. Yuna Ji covered her mouth, fuming.
"If you're going to use that move, at least give us a warning! If I'd been a second slower, those three little ghosts behind me would've been done for."
"What the hell is going on?" I saw tiny beads of blood seeping out of Rachel Lan's skin.
"Ah..." Mona Ouyang screamed in agony as the raindrops hit him, his cries echoing over and over.
Wild laughter echoed from the sky, mingling with thunder and streaks of crimson lightning as fierce winds howled.