Facing the Ghost-Faced King

Lin Qiye looked out the window at the pouring rain. A bat was sheltering outside.

Little Black Scabby had been staring out the window at the night, prompting him to look outside. He hadn't expected to see a bat.

[Starlight Dancer] could enhance his abilities at night and also allow him to communicate with certain nocturnal animals.

Lin Qiye walked to the window and tried to communicate with the bat.

But as he spoke with it, his expression grew increasingly grave.

"Auntie! I'm going out!"

Ignoring Yang Jin and his aunt's attempts to stop him, Lin Qiye rushed into the downpour without so much as an umbrella, never once looking back.

He had just learned from the bat that, in another neighborhood some distance away, a human had been confronting a monster nearly three meters tall, then suddenly vanished.

That must have been Zhao Kongcheng, who just left here!

Zhao Kongcheng was a human of flesh and blood, without even Forbidden Ruins. How could he possibly be a match for such a huge monster?

Even if he had no intention of joining the Nightwatchers or accepting Zhao Kongcheng's money, Zhao Kongcheng absolutely could not fall here because of him.

I, Lin Qiye, am thin-skinned. I may be afraid of death, but I can't stand owing others a favor!

There was still some distance between him and the place the bat had described, but it was nighttime, so Lin Qiye didn't need to worry about distance at all.

Zhou Meng had given him an entry called [Dark Night Flash], after all!

This was the perfect chance to try it out!

At that moment, inside the psychiatric hospital, Zhou Meng was looking through Lin Qiye's eyes, sensing him flashing forward at great speed.

He arrived at another intersection in an instant, then immediately reached the next.

He continued darting rapidly between streets like that, soon arriving at the spot the bat had indicated.

As he watched Lin Qiye use Dark Night Flash to travel through the night, Zhou Meng also looked up at the text displayed on the wall.

His psychiatric index was indeed declining, albeit at an extremely slow rate.

99.98%, 99.97%, 99.96%.

It was slow, but it was working.

"Zhao Kongcheng, I know you're here! Get out here!" Lin Qiye shouted into the rain.

But apart from the sound of rain, Lin Qiye couldn't sense anything else.

That was until he looked at three strange signs standing more than ten meters away.

"Road closed ahead"

Lin Qiye remembered: this was the Boundless Airspace Zhao Kongcheng had deployed to conceal the battlefield.

Inside the psychiatric hospital, Zhou Meng withdrew his consciousness and did a quick calculation. Since Lin Qiye had arrived in time, he should be able to save Zhao Kongcheng before he exhausted his life using Ghost-God Guidance to activate Forbidden Ruin No. 83, [Life-Slaying Flashing Moon].

Absurd as Ghost-God Guidance seemed, it was essentially a drug. All that was needed was to stop it from working before it took full effect and caused the user to completely exhaust their life. For Zhou Meng, that meant stealing the drug before it took full effect.

Combining those four abilities—Michael's divine might, Starry Night Dancer, Dark Night Flash and the Star-Splitting Art—with Zhao Kongcheng's combat strength, they might suffer minor injuries dealing with the Ghost-Faced King, but it shouldn't be a problem overall.

In the world of Slay the Gods, whether for monsters or humans, Forbidden Ruins—or spiritual power—could be divided into six realms: Cup Realm, Pool Realm, River Realm, Sea Realm, Boundless Realm and Klein Realm.

Although Lin Qiye was only in the Cup Realm now, these cheat abilities had long since put him beyond a simple Cup Realm cultivator. Even if the Ghost-Faced King was a River Realm monster, Lin Qiye's abilities were more than enough to deal with him.

The Star-Splitting Art could replace Zhao Kongcheng's "very cool" slash after activating Life-Extinguishing Flashing Moon, while Michael's divine might could suppress the Ghost-Faced King in every respect. Starry Night Dancer and Dark Night Flash gave Lin Qiye room to maneuver.

So, with Lin Qiye and Zhao Kongcheng facing the Ghost-Faced King together, success was practically guaranteed.

Zhou Meng had already made a rough calculation when he gave Lin Qiye those two abilities, so he didn't think there was any need to keep watching him with his mind.

After a moment, however, Zhou Meng suddenly felt that something wasn't quite right.

Wait. By rights, Lin Qiye should have defeated the Ghost-Faced King long ago, and the guy's soul should have been locked up in the cell beneath the Dean's Office. Whenever something was locked up here, the entire psychiatric hospital should have sensed it.

But he couldn't sense any new member arriving at the psychiatric hospital at all.

Could Lin Qiye have run into some kind of trouble?

Zhou Meng decided to check on his situation again. He closed his eyes, and the scene gradually appeared before him.

Gasping for breath, Lin Qiye knelt on one knee and struggled to look up at the man and monster before him.

Damn it! I'd clearly severed the Ghost-Faced King's head with the Star-Splitting Art, but I didn't expect his true body not to be the head at all, but to have moved to the pale ghost face on his chest!

But I overused my abilities just now, and my spiritual power is completely exhausted. Forget the Star-Splitting Art—I can't even muster the strength to use Starry Night Dancer and go help.

"Kid, I'll admit, that slash of yours was damn cool! But did you miss? How the hell is this thing still moving?!" Zhao Kongcheng stood in front of Lin Qiye, fighting to fend off the Ghost-Faced King's even fiercer attacks, which came like a raging storm.

Large patches of his body were stained red with blood. He had been clawed, battered and thrown to the ground.

But Zhao Kongcheng knew he couldn't retreat.

Otherwise, the slash the young man behind him had just unleashed, one that defied everything he knew, would have been wasted.

When that slash had come from the young man's hand, Zhao Kongcheng had felt for an instant that, never mind the Ghost-Faced King, it could have split even a huge planet in front of them!

Wasn't he Michael's agent? He'd only just entered the Cup Realm, and he already had such a heaven-defying ability?

It looks like this kid can't move for the moment because he overused his spiritual power. That's all the more reason I have to protect him! For his family, and for my own beliefs! I absolutely can't let such a promising talent be killed here by this monster!

He took out his Nightwatcher Emblem. It bore two crossed straight sabers and concealed the Nightwatchers' trump card, Ghost-God Guidance.

For someone with Forbidden Ruins, it could bring those Forbidden Ruins to their full potential.

For someone without Forbidden Ruins, it could draw out their potential, granting them Forbidden Ruins for the duration of the drug's effects!

"Thank you for giving me a chance to use this thing, after all." Zhao Kongcheng smiled self-mockingly.

With that, he inserted the small needle that sprang out of the emblem's side into his palm without hesitation.

Even Lin Qiye could sense the change in Zhao Kongcheng's body. His aura surged, and he swung the steel saber in his hand.

But the Ghost-Faced King, that beast, had clearly gotten smarter. Lin Qiye's immensely powerful slash had severed its head, making it even warier of the two humans before it.

Thus, although Zhao Kongcheng's slash was aimed at the ghost face on the Ghost-Faced King's chest, the monster narrowly dodged it, losing only half an arm.

A trace of despair welled up in Lin Qiye's heart. He didn't know what Zhao Kongcheng had used, but making someone without Forbidden Ruins unleash such tremendous power in an instant was bound to come at a price.

Zhao Kongcheng was sacrificing his life to protect him and the countless families in the area behind him!

No, I absolutely can't let him fall here!

What else can I do? What else can I do to save him?!

Just then, a familiar voice suddenly rang out in his mind.

"Qiye, it looks like you could use some help right now?"