Evil Ghost Mask

When the Weird Object activated, Tao Yuan and the others all pulled their mouths into stiff smiles. Bai Yang did not know what they were smiling about, and it looked rather eerie.

Before he could ask, however, Sheng Qingqiao shouldered his saber and took a step forward. In an instant, all the motionless Weirds around them looked over.

Sheng Qingqiao took a step forward, and the Toddler Weirds took a step as well. But the sizes of their steps were very different.

The Toddler Weirds had been more than ten meters away, but a single step closed half the distance between them. Every Weird stared fixedly at the group with its featureless head.

"Three steps to kill. That really is the Toddler Weird's shameless rule," Bai Yang said. "Will he be all right?"

"At least he won't have trouble escaping with his life," Tao Yuan said.

Sheng Qingqiao took another step. The instant he set his foot down, all the Toddler Weirds crossed most of the corridor, surging forward in layers to crowd in front of him.

The closest was less than half a meter from his face, close enough for him to see the Weird's unnaturally twisted features and hollow eyes. Icy energy ate away at his body heat, steadily draining the yang energy of the living.

The densely packed Weirds blocked out all the surrounding light. Only the lanterns in the group's hands separated them from the Weirds with a faint band of light.

By that faint light, Bai Yang could see that the moment the Weirds closed in, strands of black thread wound around Sheng Qingqiao's body like greedy, bloodsucking vessels. One end burrowed into his flesh, and bright red blood flowed along the threads toward all the Toddler Weirds.

The flames pouring from Sheng Qingqiao's saber grew hotter still. His fingers tightened abruptly, and he exerted his strength.

"Rip—" The flaming blade traced a glaring red line through the air.

The flames sizzled as they burned the black threads. Sheng Qingqiao's body twitched, and then the threads attached to his arm were forcibly snapped apart. The sound of flesh tearing made the listeners' skin crawl.

Flames licked ceaselessly at the densely packed black threads, causing them to wither and break. The next second, a chestnut eye suddenly opened, its usual laughter replaced by icy severity. He raised his great saber at the Toddler Weirds right in front of him.

"Crack, crack!"

The instant the great saber rose, it swelled dramatically. Its blade shot out to three or four meters long, sweeping clockwise through the waists of all the Weirds with a blaze of fire!

A scorching wind brushed Bai Yang's cheeks, and he instinctively narrowed his eyes. But they soon widened slightly as every Toddler Weird caught fire beneath the strike. Black smoke rose in waves as their energy burned, and they struggled in agony amid the flames.

The black threads wrapped around Sheng Qingqiao also curled up and charred rapidly in the fire. After a few crisp snaps, they vanished, revealing his pale face.

He had not taken another step since drawing the Weirds over, perfectly avoiding the Toddler Weirds' killing rule.

Its task complete, the great saber rapidly shrank after that strike. Sheng Qingqiao gripped it again and braced it against the ground, steadying his slightly trembling body.

The surrounding Toddler Weirds stood frozen in place, forced to endure the flames without moving. When they used their rule to kill, they were also bound by it themselves. As long as Sheng Qingqiao remained still, they could not take a single extra step. Unable to attack or flee, they could only melt away bit by bit in the fire.

The flames gradually weakened. When the last spark on the Weirds faded, the many dark figures dispersed into vast clouds of energy and vanished before the group's eyes.

Once the flames disappeared, the surrounding light seemed to dim as well.

"That easy?" Sheng Qingqiao stared at the empty floor in a daze. He put away his great saber and tentatively moved his feet. Sure enough, no more Toddler Weirds appeared.

Bai Yang and the others also moved their feet. Although the Toddler Weirds were gone, the chill lingering around them had never dissipated.

"No Weird Object dropped. This Weird isn't dead yet."

"It'd be normal for it not to be dead," Sheng Qingqiao said.

Sheng Qingqiao had never seen a Weird that was so easy to kill. Even though his saber could harm Weirds, he still had to burn them over and over several times.

The moment they finished speaking, a light suddenly flashed in the corridor ahead, and the Toddler Weirds that had just vanished in the flames appeared again.

This time, he noticed that once the Toddler Weirds appeared, the surrounding lanterns seemed to shine much brighter.

Sheng Qingqiao stepped back twice and slashed again with his enlarged saber. But this time, for some reason, a flame landed on the hem of Bai Yang's clothes as it passed him.

"Hey!" Bai Yang was startled. This time, the flame that landed on him actually had heat!

"Smile, quickly!" Tao Yuan called out at once.

Bai Yang was bewildered, but he still instinctively pulled up the corners of his mouth. Once he smiled, the warm flame drifted lightly off him and vanished.

Seeing the strange smiles on Tao Yuan's and An Ying's faces again, Bai Yang's mouth twitched.

"...Is that this Weird Object's rule? No wonder you're all pulling up the corners of your mouths. Does this Weird only kill enemies who aren't smiling?"

"Clearly, that's right," Tao Yuan said. "But its combat power isn't weak. After all, there aren't many Weirds that can smile."

That was true.

While they spoke, Sheng Qingqiao killed another wave of Toddler Weirds, and another wave of them spawned.

"They're really hard to kill." Sheng Qingqiao shook out his hand. The two attacks had consumed a considerable amount of his energy as well. "Sister Tao, did you figure anything out?"

Tao Yuan nodded. "I did. These are the Toddler Weirds' shadows, not their real bodies. What you're dealing with should be a new Weird, a shadow Weird capable of copying the Toddler Weirds' abilities."

"Whenever these Weirds appeared, the lights grew much brighter, making those shadows more distinct. When they were attacked, their bodies also looked like shadows being cut apart. And every time they revived, they had the same strength and appearance. They're definitely shadows."

"To deal with a shadow-type Weird, wouldn't it be enough to just put out the lights?" Sheng Qingqiao said.

"If the lights go out, we're very likely to encounter another Weird," Bai Yang said immediately. "The rule of the Weird on the stairs is connected to the lights going out."

"It's fine. I'll do it."

With that, Qin Rang slowly brought the mask in his hand, which gleamed with a cold light, toward his face. His palm rubbed over its sinister patterns, and a spark seemed to appear in its hollow eye sockets as it eerily gave off powerful energy.

"An Ying, put out all the lanterns." The smile faded from his eyes as he spoke evenly.

"All right."

The moment he answered, the bamboo umbrella shot into the air. An Ying tapped one of its ribs lightly, and a crisp sound rang through the corridor.

He held a rope made of energy between his fingers. With a sudden exertion of his wrist, he sent the bamboo umbrella flying out in an instant!

"Swish!"

A piercing sound tore through the air as the umbrella flew out with perfect accuracy. Spinning at high speed, it traced a precise circle around the walls, covering every lantern with a layer of opaque black energy.

The light throughout the space dimmed in an instant. Only a faint glimmer showed through the gaps around the lanterns wrapped in black. The Toddler Weirds that had yet to be illuminated struggled in the darkness, their forms flickering in and out. When the last ray of light dimmed, the Toddler Weirds also grew pale, like faded old photographs.

Qin Rang covered his face completely with the Evil Ghost Mask. A flash of red suddenly burned in its hollow eye sockets, and the aura around him turned cold and sharp, carrying an inhuman eeriness.

At that moment, he was no longer the human Qin Rang, but the leader of the protagonist group, possessing a Weird's rule and standing between good and evil.