All at once, the ghosts inside started whispering among themselves. As I looked around, I realized none of them had that usual cold, chilling aura. Especially in the left corner—a cluster of figures in ancient official robes, each with a number from one to ten stitched onto their chest.
Suddenly, I spotted a familiar numbered figure—it was Frank Wu. That time, Lan Ruoxi and I had gone to a cemetery to collect corpse oil for breaking the Ghost Burial Squad's Great Celestial Annihilation Formation, and we encountered the leader of the fire ghosts. He was here too, smiling at me. I quickly nodded and returned the smile.
"Ah, don't take offense, sir. I can't help myself when it comes to women. If I go even a few moments without one, I get restless all over. A whole day without a woman? That's practically torture for me!"
What really caught my attention was Lord Wraith. I never expected him to be so cultured and refined. At first glance, I thought he must be some creepy old degenerate, but now, seeing this elegant ghost, I couldn't reconcile the two—how could someone so polished be a pervert?
"Damn it, let me say this one more time—it's my birthday today and I'm in a great mood. You run your mouth again, I'll end you right here."
Redmond flared up instantly, covering Rufina Howard's eyes with one hand.
"What are you doing, Redmond? Why are you covering my eyes?"
"Kids shouldn't look." Redmond's voice softened as he gently spoke to Rufina Howard. She just replied with a quiet 'oh' and stopped moving.
Lord Wraith stood up and stretched. Suddenly, I saw the two female ghosts show expressions of fear.
"Please, sir, don't be angry. I know today is your birthday, and I really was out of line."
Suddenly, Lord Wraith's eyes flashed with green light. The female ghost with rabbit ears whimpered, then instantly turned to ash and gradually vanished.
"No, please, my lord, don't..." The remaining female ghost immediately pleaded.
"It's not like I want to do this, but today is the lord's birthday. He doesn't want to see me with women, but whenever a woman is around, I just can't help myself. What am I supposed to do? So..."
"Stop it, damn it! You old pervert!"
I stepped forward and shouted angrily. Instantly, the green light in Lord Wraith's eyes disappeared, and he turned to me with a smile.
"Oh my, isn't this Ethan Zhang? Haha, you made quite a stir recently—my idiot subordinates were running in circles, three factions got into a fight, with deaths and injuries all around, thousands of ghosts involved, and you even snatched hundreds of female ghosts. Haha. If you like women, just say the word and I'll send some your way."
As Lord Wraith spoke, he grabbed the black-stockinged female ghost and tossed her over to me.
He moved so fast—just as I saw him make a move, the female ghost was already in front of me, whimpering and suspended in midair, crying out.
"Lord Wraith, what? Are you trying to start trouble? Want to step outside? I'll play with you."
"Noah Grimm, I'm no match for you. I was only giving this woman to Ethan Zhang because he wanted her. You've got me wrong."
I glared fiercely at Lord Wraith. Standing in front of him was a ghost in a black suit, over six feet tall, with a handsome profile and tousled hair. I hadn't even noticed when he appeared.
Lord Wraith forced a smile and sat down.
"Damn it, Noah Grimm, what the hell are you doing in here? Go keep an eye on those guys Basil Bertram brought—if they start anything, you need to let me know right away!"
"Boss, it's not like that. It's your birthday, so they won't mess around. I just sensed a ghost's soul disappear inside and thought you were about to lose it again, so I came in."
Noah Grimm turned his head, scratching it. His sunny, handsome face and stubbly chin made him look much older than Redmond. But as he turned, the cold, cool image I had of him shattered.
"So, boss, what about this female ghost?"
The female ghost was still hovering in front of me, tears streaming down her face, her eyes full of pleading as she looked at me.
"Ethan, they're giving her to you. You might as well accept."
Redmond said this. I turned to look at him, giving him a resentful glance. Then Noah Grimm disappeared, and the black-stockinged female ghost suspended in the air dropped to the ground, whimpering but not daring to make a sound, covering her mouth and staring at me.
"Brother, I'll keep her safe for you. When we're back, you can decide what you want to do."
As John Chou spoke, he raised his hand. Above the female ghost's head, a faint blood-red vortex twisted into existence, glowing eerily. Suddenly, the female ghost was sucked inside.
"Bloodbane Shadow Realm..."
Among the ghosts, someone whispered. Suddenly, there was a loud bang—I turned to see that some ghosts on the left had been startled and knocked things off the table. Looking around, I saw quite a few ghosts trembling.
All eyes were on John Chou now, even Lord Wraith, who had been calm moments ago, was now frowning and staring intently at him.
Redmond was also left dumbstruck, staring at John Chou.
"John Chou, when did you open your Shadow Realm?"
Redmond stared at John Chou in shock. Meanwhile, Yuna Ji was beside him, covering her mouth and giggling, while Vivian Ouyang kept her wicked smile as she looked at John Chou.
Suddenly, the whole hall fell into a deathly silence. I saw many ghosts slowly edging backward, looking ready to flee at any moment.
"Everyone, please don't panic. Hear me out," an elderly voice called out. Near the end of the hall, Damian Chen of the Nether Syndicate stood up and walked forward.
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"That was just Uncle Yin's Bloodbane power, not the Bloodbane Shadow Realm. So everyone, don't panic. Haha, right, Uncle Yin? You really startled everyone as soon as you arrived—it's someone's birthday today, after all."
John Chou said nothing, just walked on with a half-smile, taking Redmond by the hand, who in turn took Rufina Howard's hand. The three of them sat down at a table near the end of the hall.
Yuna Ji let out a giggle, then doubled over, laughing heartily.
"Come on, you guys are all Blue Wraiths—what are you afraid of? John Chou is under Sanzu Force's pressure; there's no way he could unleash the Bloodbane Shadow Realm now. Let's eat, let's eat."
"Ah, Madam Ji, it's been years—you’re still as beautiful as ever. And that's Brother Ouyang beside you, right?"
Lord Wraith stood up again and spoke politely.
Vivian Ouyang let out a sly laugh and replied with a wicked smile.
"I'm not Mona Ouyang, kid."
Then Yuna Ji, Vivian Ouyang, and Basil Bertram walked over together, side by side.
"By the way, Lord Wraith, don't you like women? Next time, I'll send you a few to play with."
"Madam Ji, you must be joking. If you send me women, I wouldn't dare touch them."
I was the only one still standing there, while many Blue Wraiths around me stared with predatory eyes. Especially Lord Wraith, his cold gaze fixed on me as if he wanted to devour me.
"What are you waiting for? Ethan, come eat!"
Rufina Howard called out. I responded with an 'oh,' hurried over, but stumbled and fell to the ground. Instantly, the ghosts around and those seated above burst into laughter.
Blushing, I got up and walked over. Although John Chou and the other five Ghost Sovereigns were laughing, their eyes held suspicion.
I sat down next to Rufina Howard. There were exactly seven seats, but looking at the dishes on the table, I noticed one thing different: the dishes in front of Rufina Howard and me were surrounded by a red string.
"Eat, Ethan. This is for us humans. Don't touch anything outside the red string—that's for the ghosts."
Watching Rufina Howard begin to eat, I picked up my chopsticks and started eating right away.
"Thank you, everyone, for honoring me by attending my Feast of Ten Thousand Ghosts. I offer you all a toast."
Redmond stood up and shouted loudly. All the ghosts below, along with the only two humans—me and Damian Chen—raised our cups and finished the wine in one go.
"Brother, you've tangled with some dangerous folks. Be careful from now on."
John Chou said this. Suddenly, I looked up—sure enough, Lord Wraith was still staring at me, gnawing on a lamb leg, crunching through bone and meat, glaring fiercely.
"Yuna Ji, you're really not playing fair. I went to Exile Town to help you, but you set me up and left me stuck there for months."
Redmond said this, pointing his chopsticks at Yuna Ji, who just smiled.
"Aren't you the one who loves being the mountain king? The food there is great, and you're invincible—what's so bad about it?"
And you really are unfair—not even a single thing left for me. All the good stuff in Evilshade Mountain, you took it all. You're way too sneaky! Isn't that right, Basil Bertram?
But Basil Bertram just kept drinking, not wanting to say a word to Redmond.
"Hey, what's wrong, Basil Bertram? It's my birthday—why the long face?"
"Hmph, Redmond, my subordinates are all well-educated, cultured ghosts. How could you say they'd cause trouble? Hmph."
"Alright, alright, I apologize. Here, let's drink."
After Basil Bertram and Redmond downed a drink together, Vivian Ouyang suddenly spoke up.
"John Chou, even though that old cat tried to smooth things over, I'm not blind—you really did open your Bloodbane Shadow Realm, didn't you? When did that happen?"