"Are you really going out alone?"
Yuki Nightshade's emerald eyes stared at Kane, who kept his head lowered.
"Ah, yes, Yuki. From now on, I'll make sure everyone here has food. Yesterday, I hunted a Razorbeak—there should be enough for everyone for three days. I'll try to hunt bigger beasts, so when the time comes, you all just need to come and get the meat."
There was unease in Yuki's eyes, but she didn't voice it. Instead, she replied with a mocking remark.
"Your strength isn't even one percent of what it used to be. How do you expect to hunt anything?"
Kane raised his hand and pointed at me. I could only smile helplessly.
"Boss, you really don't need to help outsiders."
Black Moon was clearly displeased. Yuki's actions and tone had angered him, and none of these guys liked Yuki—they all despised her.
Kane said nothing, just stared at me. Then Victor Duan came over as well.
"Who knows what this guy is really thinking? Maybe only he does. Be careful, Fang—he's followed us all the way here. I suspect he's remembered something. So even if he's lost, even if you risk your life to lead the way, he can stay silent, because he knows he'll always find his way back."
"Let's go, Kane."
I didn't say anything and just started walking.
"He's the boss of Blackfang, after all. Aren't you all being a bit..."
"Miss Yi, everyone is just worried about Fang, that's all. Heh, don't worry, Kane. Let me ask you—are you one of the Wraith Enforcers, or are you with Blackfang now?"
Kane was stunned. Yuki Nightshade watched him silently from the side. After a long pause, Kane finally spoke, with everyone watching.
"I'm with Blackfang."
"Keep an eye on Felix Zhou. Don't let him cause trouble."
I said this, and the others all started laughing.
Beneath the fortress, a massive gate slowly lifted upward. Two Wraith Enforcers flew above, pulling the black ropes. Kane and I walked out together. My ghost soul was in much better shape now.
Walking through the forest, I kept a constant watch on my surroundings. The trees here were tall, mostly needle-leaved. I saw some that looked like pines, but their needles were a strange blue and slightly different.
Once outside, the fortress was nearly out of sight. Kane stopped walking.
"You can sense it too, can't you? Yuki and the others' malice, Ethan Zhang."
I let out a sound of surprise and nodded.
"With how quickly they've learned, if they'd managed to use the Deathbane Gun from the start, we'd all be dead."
I spoke each word carefully. The malice was obvious—even behind the smiling faces of those Wraith Enforcers, it was there. Not just me, everyone felt it.
"If it really came to a fight, you wouldn't stand a chance."
I nodded. Even though most of the Wraith Enforcers were female and seemed weaker, they were still far stronger than us, who couldn't use ghost energy smoothly. I could still use my Deathbane Aura, but my ghost soul was unstable—a big problem.
"After all, we're born as evil ghosts, Fang. I'm not leaving because I'm drawn to the outside world—I'm very clear on that. Please believe me."
I didn't reply, because I could already hear movement in the woods. Suddenly, with a roar, something that looked like both a wolf and a tiger appeared. It had four legs covered in sharp teeth, and two whip-like arms swayed at its sides.
With a bang, Kane's thick arm blocked the creature's wolf-tiger head, gripping its jaw tightly. Then he roared, and with a tearing sound, I immediately jumped aside.
Black blood splattered everywhere as Kane tore the nearly two-meter-long beast apart with his bare hands. Then he pressed his mouth to it and started drinking. The leftover black blood, the whole scene—was gruesome. He even devoured the beast's organs and meat in one go.
"Let's go, Fang."
Blood kept dripping. All that was left of the beast was a mottled green hide; Kane had quickly devoured all the meat and bones. The ghost energy radiating from his body surged instantly.
"In places like this, the density of ghost energy is high, so our consumption is huge. That's why we need to feed on ghost energy. Nowhere in the Underworld or the living world has this much ghost energy restraining us—so we're strong here."
Kane said this, and I stared at him in shock.
"So you really can't remember why you left in the first place?"
Kane shook his head.
"Whenever I try to remember, it hurts right here."
Kane pointed to his chest. His memories were inaccessible; we'd tried before.
"Wait a second, Kane. When we get back, if they can't get the secret of using the Deathbane Gun from me, I'm afraid..."
"Ah, they'll probably use other methods—cruel ones too. After all, we're born ghosts. We know that to survive, we might have to kill others, even our own kind."
I swallowed hard. Yesterday's battle—some Wraith Enforcers used their own kind as bait. Only after the others had bitten down did they rush in and drive the Razorbeak toward the spikes. If I hadn't intervened, maybe only half of yesterday's hunters would've made it back.
"So hypocritical. They're nothing like the steel-clad Wraith Enforcer army I heard about."
"Maybe. I can't remember the details, but I'm sure it's related. Let's keep going. We have to hunt at least one large beast today, or they'll start doubting your abilities."
[Irrelevant system message: Skip translation.]
I nodded. I was starting to understand why Kane brought me hunting. Just then, there was a rustling in the woods. Kane immediately spread his wings, grabbed me, and in a rush, flew us up to a tree dozens of meters above the ground.
A chorus of pig-like grunts echoed nearby. In the distance, a horde of reddish-yellow creatures with round bodies and short limbs dashed swiftly. They had pig snouts but weren't pigs—their bodies were round, their heads long and pointed, but at the tip was a pig-like nose. The snorting sounds came from right beneath us.
"Snortlings. Their sense of smell is sharp—they've already detected us."
Kane spoke as more and more of these round, pointed-headed, pig-nosed creatures gathered below, their odd shapes crowding under our tree, snorting incessantly.
"Nowadays, without the men, the Wraith Enforcers are the weakest they've ever been. On Ethereal Isle, they're not the strongest—Yuki lied to you."
I was startled, looking up at the floating islands overhead. There were nine in total—I knew that much.
"We Wraith Enforcers only live on the fifth island. The four above—except for my brother, who returned badly wounded—no one else has ever been there."
I was shocked, looking at Kane. If even the Wraith King who fought the Ten Judges couldn't reach those places, how could we possibly get up there?
"Let's not talk about that. The only one to reach the ninth island was Mr. Wraithshade. After he came back, I led him away from here."
"Do they not have eyes?"
I muttered. The Wraith Enforcer laughed and explained: most beasts here have no eyes and rely on smell and ghost energy to find food and survive. Though weak, they can take down even large beasts when they swarm.
Gradually, the Snortlings below gave up searching for Kane and me and moved on. Loud noises came from the forest behind us—the trees there were even taller, some disappearing into the sky.
Most of the trees on the right were like that; only those on the left were shorter.
"Where are we going?"
"That way—to Black Marsh. There are lots of tentacled monsters there, all huge. Most of the time, they hide in the mud, waiting for creatures hunting small insects. Then they eat the Bog Serpents that come by, swallowing them whole."
I made a sound of acknowledgment, looking to the left where there was a large, treeless patch. Kane brought me down from the tree, and I felt a bit puzzled.
"Why not just fly over? Wouldn't that be faster?"
"Beyond that forest, there aren't just Razorbeaks roosting up there—there are also smaller predatory flying beasts. If they spot us, it'll be trouble. We're not their match anymore, but our ghost energy is high—makes us a delicacy for them."
I made a sound of understanding and followed Kane. As for hunting the monsters in the marsh, I had no idea how to even start.
Seeing Kane's worried expression, I couldn't help but smile.
"What's wrong, Fang?"
"At first, I didn't really trust you."
"And now?"
"Halfway, I guess. But maybe I know why you left—because you don't have any malice in you. I can feel it. Instead, what I sense is guilt toward them."
We arrived at a bubbling marsh. All over the surface, black, wriggling worms crawled.
"These are Bog Serpents—the ones you ate last night."
I made a sound, feeling a bit queasy. The area was silent, but I could see small things moving on the marsh, hunting the Bog Serpents.