I watched in silence. The young man below, with his head full of white hair, was far from ordinary. The vengeful ghost he had just released from within himself—though merely a vengeful ghost—was powerful enough that even some newly ascended Specter-class ghosts would not be his match.
With a simple ghostly trick, he quickly routed the bandit horsemen. The way he manipulated his ghost energy—neither excessive nor lacking, and never truly endangering anyone—was more precise than I could have imagined.
My long-held impression of the Ghost Burial Squad as weaklings was instantly shattered. The middle-aged man, though only using martial arts, infused every strike with a strange energy—a mix of soul force and yang energy. It was as if a raging fire burned within him, yet he was not a member of the Underworld.
There were two others: an older woman with glasses, her face expressionless and hands idle, yet clearly extraordinary; and a young woman, about twenty, with a gentle, pretty face, always wearing a faint smile.
The village brightened. The bandit horsemen were completely subdued. The villagers, overjoyed, busied themselves—after all, it was New Year's Day. The five members of the Ghost Burial Squad were hailed as saviors, with villagers crowding around them, showering them with thanks.
"Damn it, what kind of godforsaken place is this? That bastard Old Stone, when I get back, I'm going to beat him senseless."
David Wu sat on a wooden fence, cursing fiercely. Though wounded, he seemed mostly unharmed. Just then, the middle-aged man walked up and patted him on the shoulder.
"First, let's figure out where we are."
The middle-aged man went to ask the villagers, and soon the village chief stepped forward, looking delighted. Though puzzled by the Ghost Burial Squad's questions, he told them the current year was the nineteenth of the Guangxu era.
At once, the faces of everyone in the Ghost Burial Squad changed.
"Hahaha, if only we could go back in time—hahaha—just imagine! Let's head to the Forbidden City right now, rob all the gold and treasures in the palace, bury them in a secret spot, and when we return to our own time, the five of us could live without ever needing to work again, right?"
The white-haired youth—Quentin Yuan—laughed loudly as he spoke, and the other four's faces lit up with excitement, their joy impossible to hide.
"You idiot, aside from your foul mouth, you might actually be useful for something."
It was the smiling twenty-year-old woman who said this. At that moment, Quentin Yuan glared at her.
"What did you just say, Freak?"
Just as an argument was about to erupt, the middle-aged man and the villager took some food and five horses with patched saddles, said they had urgent business, and left.
I watched the five of them, speechless. They had just left the village and were already discussing how to split up the treasure once things were settled.
"They really do act like bandits."
Unable to hold back, I muttered under my breath. Through their conversation, I learned their names.
The middle-aged man was Calvin Wang, captain of Ghost Burial Squad Team 2. The white-haired youth was Quentin Yuan, only fifteen years old.
The beautiful woman with glasses and a ponytail was Mu Qian, while the petite, smiling twenty-year-old girl was Luo Shuiyun. Along with Wu Dawei from Team 1, the five members of the Ghost Burial Squad, their minds filled with dreams of the Forbidden City's gold and silver treasures, set off north after confirming their direction.
It seemed the five of them were dead set on getting their hands on those riches. All along the way, they complained about their low wages and the dangers of the job. Plus, with Calvin Wang out recruiting new trainees, they'd soon have to patiently mentor those hopeful newcomers—a task none of the five wanted.
They walked slowly, their spirits high, not at all like people on a mission—instead, they looked more like tourists out for a stroll.
"When we get back, nobody breathes a word about this, got it? If Brother Tianshu finds out, I’m not taking the blame."
At the mention of Calvin Wang, I saw all five shiver like children—they were clearly terrified of him finding out. But I was puzzled. From what I remembered, Calvin Wang hadn’t wanted to get involved at first. It was only after he saw something in me that he started talking to us and helping out. He was kind, and everything he said made sense to me—it resonated, deep down.
It was Calvin Wang who came up with the idea of building a pistol out of baleful energy.
But then, something strange happened. They had just started north, barely a second had passed, when they reached the bend in the path—and in an instant, they were right back at the village entrance.
"Hey, hey, something’s not right here. The directions aren’t messed up, and there’s no sign of any spellwork."
Quentin Yuan spoke up, and the other four immediately sensed something was off. The four members of Team 2 all turned to Wu Dawei, who jumped off his horse and pulled out a book.
I saw that the book was filled with strange, hand-drawn diagrams—arrays, most likely. Looking closer, it was clearly a notebook. Wu Dawei flipped through it quickly, then looked around, gathering some stones, leaves, and branches before arranging them.
"Four directions, center fixed, then comes the spirit—human path, exit..."
After Wu Dawei chanted for a while, the array he’d made with the stones began to glow white. Then a stream of white light, like a pointer, shot out and aimed east.
"The directions are fine."
Quentin Yuan then waved his hand, and the ghost inside him flew out—no lower half, trailing a long ribbon of black mist. It circled the area, but found nothing.
"No ghostly aura at all. Something’s definitely off."
"Looks like we’re in trouble. All five of us are fighters—without a support specialist, we’re in a bind. And who knows where the others went."
Mu Qian said coldly. Wu Dawei climbed back onto his horse.
"If that punk Li Hu or Zhao Mancheng were here, maybe we’d have a shot. Damn it."
Wu Dawei cursed, and the five of them tried again to walk out of the village. But the result was the same—no matter how many times they tried, they couldn’t leave. They tried other directions, but it made no difference.
"Shit, old man, this is all your fault. When Tianshu split us into teams, you said we didn’t need any weaklings. Look at us now."