I slowly drifted downward—this was my final strike. I could feel the burning sensation in my body gradually cooling, as if everything around me had melted away, turning into a sticky, glass-like mass that smoked but was slowly solidifying.
With a thud, I landed on the ground. Then I saw Victor Duan, sprawled like a pile of sludge. His body had almost completely dissolved—only half his upper torso remained. He lay on the ground, one hand propping himself up, glaring at me with vicious eyes.
“Hmph, Ethan Zhang, you actually managed to wipe out more than ten of my ghost fragments in one blow. Impressive. Heh, but unfortunately, this is where it ends.”
“Is that so?”
I chuckled softly. Gradually, Victor Duan recovered, and then, in a sudden flash, appeared right in front of me, raising a glass-like blade of a hand and stabbing toward me. I couldn’t move at all, but I still smiled—because I could already feel it.
“Brother, you’ve really had a tough time. Heh.”
“Damn, what took you so long? You’re slow as hell, John Chou.”
I shouted. A red glow lit up on my chest, and then I saw a hand reach out—grabbing the descending blade in an instant.
As the red light grew brighter, John Chou gradually emerged from within my body.
“Oh, Victor Duan, long time no see. Just as you wished, I was forced to come in here.”
Bang! A burst of blood-red light flared up. Victor Duan was sent flying, and with a crack, the glass at his chest shattered and fell away.
John Chou stood before me in a black suit, smiled at me, then suddenly kicked me aside.
“You’re in the way. Move.”
“Damn.” I cursed. Then I felt someone catch me. When I turned around, I was completely stunned.
“You’re...?…” My eyes widened, mouth agape. Behind me, the one who caught me was the youth created by the overlapping domains of the Four Wraith Lords in Exile Town. He looked at me with a mischievous grin.
“Ethan Zhang, not even a thank you?”
Bang! The youth let go and I crashed to the ground.
“Kid, keep an eye on Ethan Zhang—and that other guy.”
“Alright, alright, I get it. I’ll do it.” A flash of green light, and then Ken Wang drifted over to my side.
“Remember this, Ethan Zhang. My name is Quinn Ji—not bad, huh? Yuna Ji gave me that name. Hmph, if she hadn’t asked me to help you, I wouldn’t bother with you at all.”
“Weren’t you killed by Red Hair?”
Thinking back, I hadn’t actually seen Red Hair kill him with my own eyes, but I did witness Red Hair’s subordinate—Zifeng, the Spirit-Seizing Ghost—finish him off in a single blow.
“The hell I was! Listen, John Chou was only able to get in here thanks to me—and that old Taoist outside. I was created just like these horror stories. So you’d better thank me, Ethan Zhang.”
I mumbled an awkward thank you.
“Why so insincere, Ethan Zhang? If I hadn’t brought John Chou in, you’d have died a hundred times over by now!”
Quinn Ji folded his arms, looking smug, and stomped on my chest, grinning slyly.
“By the way, last time you really screwed me over. Since you can’t move now, let me kick you a few more times. Heh heh.”
I yelped.
“Enough messing around, kid.” John Chou said coldly, his back to us.
“Alright, alright, you’re the boss, whatever you say.”
“Boss John, how cruel—right as you arrived, you destroyed one of my ghost fragments. After all these years, you’re still so ruthless, always ready to kill.”
The shattered glass on Victor Duan’s body regenerated. He looked at John Chou with a bright, mocking smile.
“I’m getting pretty pissed now. Heh, have you forgotten, Victor Duan…?”
John Chou spoke coldly. Victor Duan’s eyes flashed with fear, but then he laughed and clutched his head.
“It’s true, Boss John, your terror—any ghost who’s witnessed it will have fear carved deep in their hearts. But times have changed.”
“What are you getting at?” John Chou sneered, and Victor Duan suddenly burst out laughing.
Bang! I saw surprise flash across John Chou’s face. The multicolored glass all around turned into mirrors, and John Chou was struck and sent flying.
I screamed.
“John Chou, your ghost network is impressive, but even if you can sense my attack’s direction, you can’t keep up with my speed.”
Mirrors reflected John Chou all around, but Victor Duan was nowhere to be seen. Bang—just as John Chou steadied himself, he was struck again. I watched in astonishment.
“Oh, reflection, huh? Back then, you escaped using this trick, didn’t you?”
As soon as John Chou finished speaking, Victor Duan appeared before him, stabbing a blade into his body. The next moment, he was behind John Chou, landing a punch that sent him flying.
Blood sprayed through the air. All around John Chou, multiple Victor Duans appeared, attacking from different angles, with different techniques.
“Ha, John Chou, you used to be strong, but now you’re suppressed by Santu. I doubt your power is anything to fear anymore.”
Wounds kept appearing on John Chou’s body, blood splattering everywhere. With a crack, he exploded into a shower of blood, the droplets starting to merge together.
“It’s useless. I’ve seen your tricks countless times, John Chou.”
Smack! The blood that was just about to coalesce was scattered again, and every time it tried to gather, Victor Duan broke it apart.
I started to worry. Quinn Ji, standing off to the side, just smiled, looking relaxed.
“This Spirit-Seizing Ghost is impressively fast. Heh, is this why Yuna Ji sent me here? As expected, there’s a lot I’m starting to understand.”
“Victor Duan, I just asked you—have you forgotten?”
Suddenly, John Chou’s voice rang out.
“Hmph, John Chou, maybe I can’t hurt you, but you’ll run out of energy eventually. When you can’t hold your form, that’s when your power weakens. Then…”
“And then what?”
John Chou asked coldly, then burst out laughing.
“Seems like a lot of you have forgotten. It’s time for a reminder—my true instinct…”
As soon as John Chou finished speaking, the blood scattered in the air began to disperse into mist—a thick, red fog filled my vision.
“What is this…?”
Victor Duan’s voice was full of astonishment.
Then, cracks began to appear in the mirrors all around.
In the air, blood-red strands appeared, crisscrossing like ropes—standing out starkly against the mist.
“Impossible. You shouldn’t be able to open the Blood Fiend Domain. This…”
“True, I can’t open my domain. But my instincts won’t let me keep holding back. You brought me in here—did you think it through? What happens next? I’m furious now, and you know how I get when I’m angry… I just can’t help myself…”
John Chou paused, then burst into wild laughter. The mirrors around us kept cracking.
A chill crept up from deep inside me. Quinn Ji and Ken Wang seemed to feel it too—the kind of cold that could kill you with a single touch.
Whoosh—Quinn Ji grabbed me and Ken Wang and dashed through the cracked opening.
“That was close,” Quinn Ji muttered. We were back outside, watching the scene inside. Through the tangle of blood-red lines, I glimpsed something…
“Slaughter—once I get angry, I can’t control it. After all these years, my instinct for killing can’t be suppressed anymore. The instinct called slaughter—hahahaha…”
My eyes widened. Inside the Glass Ghost Domain, the blood-red mist vanished, and in the air, I couldn’t tell what I was seeing.
A monstrous thing floated in the air, hunched over, with a long, sharp head. Behind it, wild tufts of hair bristled; its mouth bared white fangs, and around its head, crimson lines drifted like threads.
Its hands were thin and bony, tipped with sharp claws. Barely over a meter tall, it had thick, beast-like legs, its hands hanging down.
“That thing is dangerous,” Quinn Ji murmured. Ken Wang trembled, and deep down, I felt it too—an evil spirit, one that devours everything it sees.
“It’s been a long time since I looked like this. Have you forgotten, Victor Duan, what I become?”
John Chou spoke in a chilling tone, then suddenly twisted his head with a creak.
“See it, Victor Duan?”
Bang! I saw Victor Duan try to stab John Chou with a glass blade, but he was frozen in place.
“Trash. Heh—shatter.”