Liu Mingguang turned sideways, avoiding the ghost hand's surprise attack. But the next second, countless ghost hands surged in from all directions, surrounding him in an instant.
He didn't panic. He swiftly readied himself for battle, and a rich fragrance continuously twisted and spread around him, like a defensive barrier isolating him from everything nearby.
The ghost hands flying through the air were suppressed by the Ghost Perfume, falling to the floor and turning into chunks of rotting flesh. They seemed to have been torn from corpses, derivative supernatural manifestations controlled by the true source ghost.
Liu Mingguang hadn't found the source of the ghost hands. He turned to the stranger at the door. "Who are you?"
The stranger remained expressionless and silent. Instead, a flood of ghost hands poured into the room again, concentrating their attacks on Liu Mingguang.
Fragrance rose around Liu Mingguang, tinged faintly with blood red. It enveloped him like a thin mist, giving him a firm upper hand. But his expression was grim. "Using a ghost's power speeds up the Fierce Ghost's revival. It won't do either of us any good to keep this up. Why don't we sit down and talk?"
The stranger acted as though he hadn't heard the reasonable suggestion. Not only did he refuse to stop, he pressed the attack even harder. His hair grew and spread as though it had come alive, slowly writhing toward Liu Mingguang.
"A second ghost!"
The sudden development shocked Liu Mingguang.
How could this be? Why would a Ghost Tamer who had mastered two ghosts attack him?
At this point in time, Ghost Tamers with two ghosts were still few and far between, and they were all unquestionably powerful. Liu Mingguang racked his brains, but he couldn't remember ever crossing such a formidable opponent.
Even if his opponent was powerful, Liu Mingguang wouldn't surrender without a fight. The scent of the Ghost Perfume grew stronger, covering the entire room. The effect was immediate: the ghost hands quickly retreated like the tide.
Yet in that short time, Liu Mingguang's face had turned ashen and haggard. Herpes-like blisters occasionally rose on his skin and burst like erupting volcanoes, releasing billowing clouds of fragrant mist.
"Brother, you can't do anything to me for the moment. There's really no need for us to keep this up. If I offended you in the past, I can compensate you generously!"
Liu Mingguang hurriedly stated his position, but how could the mastermind behind it all, a certain Hu, possibly let him go?
The winding strands of hair were an illusion created by the Mirage Ghost. They seemed to surround Liu Mingguang menacingly, but they were actually forcing him to overuse the Fierce Ghost's power. A closer look would have revealed that the "ghost hair" had only been making menacing feints all along.
Seeing that communication was useless, Liu Mingguang grew apprehensive. Wasn't his opponent afraid that such a massive assault would revive the ghost inside him? Or did mastering two ghosts greatly slow the revival process?
The most troublesome thing was that he still hadn't figured out his opponent's exact abilities. Only by understanding a ghost's rules could he find a way to counter it, but the attacks came too relentlessly for him to do anything but defend.
His body was like a punctured vessel, constantly spewing blood-colored fragrant mist. The Fierce Ghost roared inside him, and his organs, muscles, and bones were all dissolving into perfume.
No, I'll definitely die if this goes on! Liu Mingguang frowned deeply. If only he had a ghost domain, he could use it to attack or defend.
Unfortunately, he didn't.
But he had other means. Since the soft approach hadn't worked, he could only resort to force. "If you still won't stop, don't blame me for what happens next. At worst, I'll drag you down with me!"
Hu Jiu said nothing and maintained the same pace. The Mirage Ghost could only create visual illusions, not auditory ones. Otherwise, he would have cursed Liu Mingguang into shutting himself off.
When Hu Jiu said nothing, Liu Mingguang realized that this fight probably wouldn't end until one of them was dead. He hesitated no longer and played his trump card.
The Ghost Perfume could conceal and suppress supernatural phenomena, but when its revival reached an advanced stage and its scent became too strong, it produced the opposite effect: it attracted supernatural phenomena, commonly known as luring ghosts.
Liu Mingguang himself knew little about this hidden ability. The sensation of being on the verge of revival was too unbearable, so he never dared to try it lightly.
But the situation was urgent, and he had no other choice. Against a Ghost Tamer who had mastered two ghosts, he could only stake his life on one last fight!
Liu Mingguang's body swelled strangely, his eyes bulging like a goldfish's and his mouth gaping wide. His whole body seemed to turn into a giant perfume bottle, and pitch-black mist slowly seeped from his mouth, nose, and ears, carrying a very peculiar smell.
Hu Jiu noticed the change in Liu Mingguang. As a qualified villain, he shouldn't give an enemy time to transform.
With that thought, Hu Jiu used a ghost hand to pick up a battered head whose eyes had remained open in death, holding it high in front of Liu Mingguang.
Liu Mingguang looked up and froze on the spot. The Looking-Up Ghost's killing rule was triggered, but it failed to stop the Ghost Perfume's revival, because Liu Mingguang had lost his reason.
The head belonged to his mother.
The head had already begun to rot, and its expression was hideously distorted. One could almost imagine how much she had suffered before her death. Liu Mingguang took one look and went mad.
Under the influence of the Fierce Ghost, Ghost Tamers' emotions gradually faded. Even so, he still couldn't accept his mother's tragic death.
His father had died when he was young, and his mother had raised him on her own. He had finally risen above others, but hadn't yet had the chance to let her enjoy a good life...
"That's impossible. It's all fake!"
"I was protecting my mom so well..."
Liu Mingguang muttered crazily, refusing to believe what he saw.
"That old hag had tough bones. It took several chops to get her head off." Hu Jiu pinched his throat and spoke, deliberately provoking him.
Liu Mingguang was in utter turmoil. Otherwise, he would certainly have recognized that the voice sounded a little familiar. But he was in such a daze that he couldn't tell at all.
After the depths of grief came overwhelming rage. His grief and fury, coupled with his loss of reason, further accelerated the Ghost Perfume's revival.
As the black fragrant mist spread, a faint, sinister aura suddenly descended. Even Hu Jiu, hidden in the corner, felt a chill run down his spine, as though some great terror had fixed its gaze on him.
The change came too quickly. Liu Mingguang laughed madly. He seemed to have lured a very powerful ghost, and it would probably attack him first.
Pitch-black tears ran from the corners of his eyes. At that moment, it was hard to tell human from ghost, or whether he was being controlled by the Fierce Ghost's instincts or his own true thoughts. Before, Liu Mingguang had only wanted to break the deadlock and save himself. Now, he wanted nothing more than to destroy everything without restraint!
Once the Ghost Perfume's scent reached a certain intensity, it gradually began to smell rotten and foul. The ominous aura grew increasingly chilling. Hu Jiu could sense the arrival of another ghost and roughly guessed what Liu Mingguang had done. He hadn't expected the ghost Liu Mingguang controlled to have a summoning ability, but this random summoning seemed to be beyond his control.
Liu Mingguang, however, was determined to die together with the person who had killed his mother. Giving no thought to the consequences, he lunged with all his strength at the "stranger" in the doorway.