I leaned against the wall, hugging my knees, completely lost about what to do. With my build, unless I use Ghost Aura, I can't jump very high. I thought I could make it, but when I tried, I ended up falling into the river—thirty centimeters at best. Forget about jumping across a five-meter-wide river.
Back when John Chou was still a fierce ghost, he’d often fight other ghosts without using any Ghost Aura, relying solely on his ghostly body. Not a shred of Ghost Aura, yet he still defeated many fierce ghosts—even some who’d just become dread-green ghosts. It’s obvious why: he’s a genius among geniuses. By the age of six, he could already do things most of us couldn’t even dream of. I’m nowhere close to his level.
"Fat Cat, there’s nothing else we can do. Maybe you should stay here for a while. I’ve taught you all the survival tricks I know—you should be able to make it on your own now."
Old Iron suddenly spoke up, and the Tabby Cat King glared at him out of the corner of his eye.
"See? Your true colors are showing—burning bridges, chasing profit, forgetting loyalty and gratitude, double-crossing everyone..."
"Shut up, Stupid Cat. Wait until you’ve been stuck here for so many years you lose track—then you’ll know what despair really means. Right now..."
Just then, John Chou came over, smiling as he spoke.
"There’s one more way."
I immediately lifted my head and looked at him.
The reason we keep taking back our Ghost Aura over and over is because, through this repeated process, a part of the Hellstream will eventually reveal its true form.
"What do you mean?"
asked the Tabby Cat King.
"Let me put it another way: if you throw a big rock into the water, what happens?"
"Of course, it takes up the space where the water used to be."
Old Iron replied.
The Hellstream works just like water—it wraps around the rock and flows wherever it’s supposed to go. Ghost Aura acts the same way. If your Ghost Aura gets stripped away and you take it back in an instant, doesn’t that spot become empty? So what we need to do is use the Specter Web, and keep releasing it in the same spot as much as possible. Let the Hellstream strip away the Ghost Aura, then release the Specter Web again, keeping that space in the Hellstream frozen, never moving forward.
We stared wide-eyed at John Chou.
"If this spot gets as wide as the river, what do you think will happen?"
"Wouldn’t the flow get cut off?"
John Chou burst out laughing, clapping his hands as he spoke.
"Once the flow is cut off, the Ghost Aura upstream will keep accumulating. The moment we stop using Ghost Aura, the Hellstream will unleash all that built-up power at once. Ghost Aura always seeks to return to its source—no matter which Ghost Soul it comes from, it will gather together and draw close to its origin."
Rusty and the Tabby Cat King grabbed each other's hands and spun in circles, laughing with excitement. I smiled, watching John Chou—he was just as astonishing as ever.
"That's why you must never underestimate anything in this world. It's the accumulation of these tiny forces that shapes everything—whether in the Living World or the Ghostrealm. Remember, even the smallest power, once gathered, can break any chain. Impressive, isn't it?"
I stood up, eyes wide, as if I were seeing a whole new world.
"That's why we need four people—not one less. If the four of us stand on both banks of the river and block off a section, we can form a vacuum barrier. The Hellstream will be cut off, Ghost Aura from upstream will gather, and when it explodes, that's our chance to break out."
I nodded, but the problem remained—I still couldn't jump.
"We need to practice—start by releasing a small amount of Ghost Aura, then more, and finally devour it all at once. This will take time, but if we succeed, we'll blast open a hole big enough to escape."
John Chou led us to search for a spot to cut off the flow. We picked a section of the river littered with animal and insect remains. If we blast open a hole, we should be able to return to the Animal Realm.
"Here is good."
John Chou stopped, then Tabby Cat King and Rusty jumped across the river and started measuring with a rope. The process is gradual—from releasing a small amount of Ghost Aura to a large amount, until the Hellstream is cut off. According to John Chou's calculations, we need to keep this up for several hours before triggering a Ghost Aura explosion.
"What do we do if Tabby Cat King can't jump?"
Rusty asked. John Chou was still thinking. After measuring the river, John Chou started marking spots on the bank with animal bones.
"Let's finish marking the spots first, then solve that problem."
John Chou explained, and we followed his instructions to mark the spots. After a while, he set up eight return markers. We had to keep jumping back and forth across the river, using the Specter Web to let the Hellstream devour Ghost Aura, then swallow it back ourselves. Each time we reached the bank, we had to run to the next marker and repeat the process in a clockwise loop.
No step can go wrong. Once I figure out how to get across the river, we'll start practicing until we're used to the rhythm, then begin the blast plan.
"So what should we do?"
I asked, looking at my short legs—it was almost impossible to jump across a five-meter-wide river.
John Chou came over to check things out. Then he looked at Tabby Cat King and Rusty, signaling them to come over from the other side.
"Do you two have any ideas?"