Zhou Long fell with a scream.
Lu Rui was in terrible shape too. His entire body was covered in a dense mass of festering wounds, like a bed of flowers oozing murky, yellowish-brown "nectar."
Watching Wei Xiyuan's retreating figure, already far away, Lu Rui seemed unwilling to let him go, but he was powerless to give chase. The Corpse Oil Ghost he controlled was on the verge of reviving, and he couldn't afford to keep using its supernatural power.
At that thought, he pulled a Golden Corpse Bag from his backpack and prepared to contain Zhou Long's Fierce Ghost.
But just then, something unexpected happened!
Countless strips of Bloodstained White Silk appeared out of thin air and drifted toward Lu Rui.
"How did it revive so quickly!" Shocked, Lu Rui instinctively used corpse oil to defend himself, worsening his condition. The festering wounds across his body merged together, making him look as though he were about to dissolve.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the original White Sash around Zhou Long's neck was only swaying slightly and clearly had yet to revive. A realization struck him, and Lu Rui reached out to seize one of the strips floating in midair.
He touched nothing!
His hand, covered in Corpse Oil, passed through the illusory light and shadow. Anger at being fooled flared up in an instant, and Lu Rui immediately realized Zhou Long hadn't lied earlier. He really hadn't attacked of his own accord.
"Who is it!" Lu Rui looked around with bloodshot eyes, suspecting that another Ghost Tamer was watching hungrily from the shadows.
But why would someone who attacked from hiding show himself so easily?
The drifting White Sashes surrounded Lu Rui, as though mocking his helplessness. The agonizing pain in his body constantly reminded him that retreat was his best option.
He turned and ran, and the false White Sashes failed to hinder him in the slightest. Just as he thought he had escaped, a chilling cold suddenly gripped his neck, making his hair stand on end. He instinctively used Corpse Oil's supernatural power again.
The real Bloodstained White Silk had revived.
The White Sashes hanging from the sky were a mixture of real and fake, impossible to tell apart. Lu Rui struggled to fend them off, his throat and tongue already corroded by corpse oil, leaving him unable to speak. Even if he could speak, he probably wouldn't have said anything. The other party clearly intended to kill him and was unlikely to show mercy because he begged or offered terms.
A fierce sensation of suffocation struck him. At some point, a White Sash had tightened around his neck. He struggled desperately, his body festering beyond human recognition, until he finally collapsed, powerless.
Even before his death, his eyes remained wide open, as though he wanted to see who was trying to kill him. Unfortunately... there was nothing.
Only after confirming that Lu Rui was thoroughly dead did Hu Jiu appear. He picked up the Golden Corpse Bag from the ground and grabbed the original Bloodstained White Silk. The White Sashes that had emerged in midair vanished along with it.
The cold sensation in his hand seemed to trigger some instinct in the Mirage Ghost. Startled, Hu Jiu quickly stuffed the White Sash into the corpse bag to contain it. He had no desire to test the Mirage Ghost's new ability in a place like this.
By now, Lu Rui had become a puddle of rotting flesh. Greasy liquid kept churning out of him, quickly forming a pool that continued to spread, making it difficult to contain and deal with.
"Mr. Lu, thank you for your generosity." Smiling, Hu Jiu strode away, decisively giving up on this ghost.
Hu Jiu lived in Linjiang City, not too far from Lizhou City. By the time he returned home, it was already night.
After a brief rest, Hu Jiu turned on his computer and casually searched for information about ghosts while reviewing his first operation since his rebirth.
Overall, he was very satisfied. Although the process had involved a few coincidences and unanswered questions, he had already secured the benefits. For now, he wasn't in a hurry to solve the mystery, and rushing wouldn't help anyway. Increasing his strength was the key. A strong enough fist could smash any conspiracy!
After all, he had the advantage of rebirth, which gave him that confidence.
Supernatural incidents weren't very frequent in the country yet, and information about ghosts was being suppressed, but traces could still occasionally be found.
Hu Jiu had just seen a post in which the author described information about ghosts in detail, laying everything bare: Ghost Domains, Ghost Slaves, the inability of ghosts to affect gold, and so on.
A Ghost Domain was a supernatural space derived from a Fierce Ghost's power. Within that space, the Fierce Ghost was the master and could even rewrite the laws of physics!
Ghost Slaves were puppets controlled by a Fierce Ghost after it killed them. They might retain some of their instincts from when they were alive and assist the Fierce Ghost in killing.
Supernatural powers had no effect on gold, so a sealed gold container could be used to imprison a Fierce Ghost.
There were only a handful of scattered replies beneath the post:
"What century is this? We can't be indulging in feudal superstition."
"Is this a horror story?"
"I think my bank balance is scarier..."
The post might have been written by some well-meaning Ghost Tamer, but before long, the webpage changed to: [This post has been deleted for suspected violations!]
Hu Jiu closed the webpage and took out the Golden Corpse Bag he had picked up that day. When his fingers touched the Bloodstained White Silk inside, the Mirage Ghost within him instinctively stirred again.
Five seconds later, an identical White Sash appeared in his hand.
The Mirage Ghost's second ability: imitation and replication!
Although the copy had only about thirty percent of the original's strength, he was quite satisfied. In essence, this replication ability still created a Phantom; it simply created a Phantom of a Fierce Ghost, imitating its supernatural power.
Hu Jiu continued testing. He tried opening a Ghost Domain, and the Mirage Ghost's supernatural power spread outward from him...
Nothing happened.
There was no change in his surroundings whatsoever.
Only the light and shadows in the room swayed slightly for an instant, like ripples on water, as though something indescribable had been added.
Hu Jiu watched the time. After only eight seconds, his complexion had turned deathly gray, and he hurriedly withdrew the supernatural power.
The Mirage Ghost's Ghost Domain had no distinguishing features and could blend seamlessly with reality. Apart from gold, Hu Jiu could turn anything within the Ghost Domain into a Phantom, and could also turn Phantoms into solid objects.
This ability to switch between illusion and reality was powerful. Hu Jiu even had a vague feeling that, given enough time, other Fierce Ghosts within the Ghost Domain could also be turned into Phantoms and become part of the mirage.
However, eight seconds was already his limit. He could explore the Ghost Domain's general abilities, but didn't have time to continue testing it with the Bloodstained White Silk. If he forced himself to carry on, he might die from the Fierce Ghost's revival.
He stuffed the White Sash back into the corpse bag. At that moment, Hu Jiu felt mentally exhausted, and his body was somewhat cold. Frowning, he opened the Ghost Book. The first rule he had written had, at some point, grown faint and transparent, as though it might disappear at any moment.
Was it because I forced the Ghost Domain open just now? Hu Jiu stroked his chin thoughtfully. The Mirage Ghost's terror level really is extraordinarily high. It seems I shouldn't use the Ghost Domain lightly in the future.
Picking up his pen, he wrote another sentence in the Ghost Book: [This book will protect the body and consciousness of its holder, Hu Jiu, from harm.] There was more resistance to his writing this time. Perhaps after one or two more uses, he would no longer be able to leave any writing in it.
The eyeball on the Ghost Book's cover spun wildly. Hu Jiu put it away with a grim face.