After a long moment, everything calmed down. With Master Jianyun's help, Victor Chen's bleeding hand finally stopped. Two of Master Jianyun's disciples were bandaging Victor's wound.
Victor Chen's face was bound, his eyes burning with anger as he glared at Mr. Blackmask, who stood by the pavilion, his hand gripping Ethan Zhang's cousin's neck with undiminished force. Lord Shenyan watched intently from the side, eyes predatory.
"No matter what, none of you are leaving today. You dared to ambush me!"
"Hmph, I didn't expect a master from the Immortality Society to be here. Heh, Ethan Zhang, this place of yours truly is crawling with tigers and dragons."
The skull creaked loudly, and a sinister voice drifted over.
Mr. Blackmask could only wave his hand helplessly.
"Hmph, Ghost Insect Monk, even in death, you can't escape your ties to the Renegade Monks."
Just then, Rachel Lan spoke softly. Suddenly, Old Eccentric seemed to remember something.
"So that's who it was. No wonder this centipede could paralyze all our ghosts for a while. Heh."
"Oh, so the centipede that came out of my disciple Chong Sheng was the work of the Ghost Insect Master. Amitabha, I didn't expect that master to have fully fallen into the Ghost Path. Alas, alas."
I shot Master Jianyun a fierce glare. If he hadn’t stopped me earlier, my cousin would never have fallen into Victor Chen’s hands, nor ended up in this miserable state.
"Ethan Zhang, just now, I sensed a powerful killing intent in you. Alas, I hope you won't blame this old monk. I only wished to prevent you from falling into the path of killing. Amitabha."
I had no time to bother with Master Jianyun now. All I could think about was how to save my cousin.
"That Ghost Insect guy—is he your master?"
Old Eccentric asked, and Master Cloud replied.
"Hmph, that's right. The Ghost Insect Monk is indeed my master."
I gradually understood. That centipede must have been planted on my cousin by the Ghost Insect Monk near Lord Wraith’s domain. When he saw things couldn’t be salvaged, he left that thing behind, laying the groundwork for his disciples to take my cousin away. If not for Mr. Blackmask just now, my cousin would’ve been gone already.
"Ethan Zhang, your cousin is already dead. If you don't believe me, ask Lord Shenyan. What use do you have for a corpse?"
Master Cloud had just finished speaking when I roared in response.
"Bullshit! Screw you!"
From the very beginning, I never liked the Renegade Monks. Though Brother Owen had helped me before and I was grateful, I just couldn’t bring myself to feel any goodwill toward this group of monks.
"You over there, you'd better not move. I know how fast you are. If I sense you're gone, then we'll have no choice but to go down together."
Master Cloud spoke as I watched Oddball Moe inching forward, clearly trying to use his speed to rescue my cousin. But Master Cloud saw through it all, and Oddball Moe just smiled.
"Oh? How did you know?"
"Heh, I may not be able to keep up with your speed, but just now it was you, right? In an instant, you got those low-level ghosts to safety."
As Master Cloud spoke, I looked up at the apartment building. Sure enough, all the low-level ghosts from the courtyard had been moved inside, watching us from above—Susan Li and my nephew among them.
"Ah, Ethan, still too young. You only care about your little wife and ignore everyone else."
Old Eccentric muttered, and I stared at the apartment building, filled with guilt. But then Old Eccentric came over and grabbed my hand.
"Don’t listen to him, Ethan. Everyone’s here."
Old Eccentric burst out laughing. Only then did I remember—in that split second when I acted, I’d seen the Blue Wraiths in the courtyard shielding Sandra Yu and the others. That’s why I’d attacked without hesitation.
"Just joking, trying to lighten the mood, Ethan."
Old Eccentric immediately burst out laughing. I shot him a resentful look.
"Damn, you’re still joking at a time like this?"
"Elder, I hope you’ll grant this old monk a little face. Killing Master Victor Chen won’t do you any good. I only ask that you show mercy and let me avert this bloody disaster."
Suddenly, I saw Master Jianyun move to Old Eccentric’s side, hands in a Buddhist gesture, speaking respectfully.
"Be careful, disciple!"
Master Cloud suddenly shouted. We all looked over and saw a black 'death' character faintly appear on Victor Chen's chest, then slowly fade away.
"Heh, little monk, you’re quite clever. Since you caught on, I guess I can’t make a move. Sorry, Ethan—I didn’t want to kill that monk for no reason."
The 'death' character on Victor Chen’s chest vanished.
"Wordcraft—hmph, I can't believe we still see it in this day and age. Impressive. Brilliant."