The Supernatural Bus was clearly empty, so why was it still hit by Ghost Slave?
While this matter remains unresolved, another matter is pressing.
"Are you alright?" Hu Jiu looked at Zhao Duohui's shoulder.
Zhao Duohui was a little confused and hadn't yet realized what had happened.
"Your shoulder!" Zhao Ruying exclaimed.
Zhao Duohui turned his head, his pupils shrinking sharply, "Damn it!"
In the short time it took to say just a few words, his entire left arm changed. The flesh was being eroded, and it seemed to be gradually turning into a plant, covered with lush, twisted grass leaves, and it was rapidly spreading to other parts of his body.
Zhao Duohui panicked, his eyes flashed with anger, and he decisively drew his knife to cut off his own arm.
Between two evils, choose the lesser. Compared to being completely swallowed up by weeds, losing a hand is nothing.
He grabbed the knife and slashed it down with a sharp sound.
The blade sliced through the flesh, but no blood flowed out, as if it had struck plant fibers. The blade cut straight to the bone, but could not penetrate any further.
Zhao Duohui flushed red, and he clenched his teeth tightly, letting out muffled groans. The encroachment of the weeds seemed to numb his nerves; it hurt, but it was within a tolerable range.
He Ming didn't help. Although Zhao Duohui made the decision to cut off his hand himself, what if he regretted it afterward and took his anger out on others?
Zhao Ruying stepped forward, trembling, and before the weeds could spread further, she helped Zhao Duohui exert force, and the sharp knife quickly cleaved through the brittle bones.
Snap--
The arm fell to the ground, and the last bit of human tissue quickly dimmed, turning into nutrients for plants, from which green grass grew.
"These grasses might be Fierce Ghosts!" Hu Jiu now understood why the surroundings were so quiet. The grasses that Fierce Ghosts had Supernatural manifested would trigger a killing pattern if any living creature lingered there for a while, inexplicably becoming parasitized and corrupted, turning into Ghost Slaves, and luring new prey.
"Let's go, it's too dangerous here!" Zhao Duohui's lips were bleeding from being bitten.
The four hurried forward, Hu Jiu asked cautiously, "What exactly did you and Shi Chang do? Why did you suddenly... fall into this trap?"
Zhao Duohui pondered, "I was bumped by the Ghost Slave earlier, and then something strange happened where I was hit. As for Shi Chang, I don't know what he did. In short, these grasses are dangerous; try not to touch them."
He Ming listened attentively to their conversation, memorizing every unfamiliar word.
After walking for a while, the outline of a car appeared on the road ahead. Only when we got closer did we realize that it was a car accident scene!
Many vehicles with varying degrees of damage were involved in rear-end collisions, and quite a few were overturned, while others remained relatively intact, with dense grass interspersed among the gaps.
"Let's pick a car that still works; I can't walk anymore," Zhao Duohui said, his face pale. Having just had an arm severed, he felt completely drained.
Hu Jiu glanced at him. Was Ghost Tamer really that weak?
Without saying a word, Zhao Ruying found a car by the roadside. The car door was half-open. She reached out and pulled it open, and a head suddenly appeared in front of her.
The head, riddled with holes, shriveled and emaciated, with a ferocious expression and grass sprouting from its seven orifices, was placed on the driver's seat, its face facing outwards.
The unlucky Zhao Ruying was so startled that she took two steps back, bumping her back against something hard. She quickly turned around and saw that it was Hu Jiu.
Hu Jiu used White Sash ribbon to pull out the head, went to the driver's seat, and inspected the car.
Before even checking if the engine could start properly, green grass sprouts were found growing in the blood-stained crevices of the car.
"There's grass on this car, are you sure you want to drive away?" Hu Jiu asked.
Zhao Duohui nodded weakly; he simply couldn't walk any further.
Zhao Ruying has no opinions of her own, and He Ming's opinion is unimportant to her, nor will he object, because he had already exhausted himself from running for his life and was now just barely holding on.
After clearing away the visible grass, the group got into the car. Hu Jiu gripped the steering wheel, He Ming sat in the passenger seat, and Zhao Ruying helped Zhao Duohui sit in the back.
As soon as he sat down, Zhao Duohui suddenly felt a stinging itch in the palm of his right hand. He scratched it a couple of times, but it did nothing to relieve the itch.
Looking down, I saw something growing in the vein on the back of my hand, a vein perfectly suited for injections. It looked like a thin worm crawling along the vein. Through the skin, I could see a garish green trying to emerge, a sensation that was numb, itchy, and painful.
Hu Jiu had already stepped on the gas. Zhao Ruying was behind him, suddenly screamed. The wound on Zhao Duohui's left shoulder was now covered by tender green shoots. The veins on his face were bulging and sunken. Under his tight clothes, the outline of his chest and abdominal muscles looked like countless worms crawling inside. There were even green grass leaves sticking out from his collar.
"Damn it!" Zhao Duohui used his right hand to tear off the grass from his body and scratched it fiercely, his fingernails full of blood and foam, wishing he could peel off his skin and pull out all the foreign objects inside by the roots.
The back seats were soon covered with grass, which crawled all over Zhao Ruying like insects. Zhao Ruying screamed in despair, pulling her hands back into her sleeves and sweeping all the grass away.
He Ming was at a loss. Zhao Duohui opened his mouth as if to say something, but only a familiar "ah ah" sound came out of his throat, just like Shi Chang had done before.
The bumps on his face twitched incessantly. After a moment, they finally found a way in, and his eyes quickly became cloudy, a glimmer of green flashing in their depths.
With a "plop," the eyeball seemed to shatter, and fresh, tender leaves sprouted from the eye socket, followed by the nostrils, ears, and mouth. The chaotic protrusions beneath the skin finally found an outlet and gushed out all at once.
Zhao Duohui is still stubbornly alive, but unfortunately, he has become a breeding ground for grass.
"Throw him out," Hu Jiu said to Zhao Ruying as he slammed on the brakes.
Zhao Ruying was stunned. "Are we really going to do this? I feel like my nephew can still be saved..."
Hu Jiu remained calm. "If you want to turn into a bonsai tree along with him, then keep him in the car. I don't really care."
He Ming dared not speak. He knew that throwing the person out was the best option, but he couldn't help feeling a sense of shared sorrow.
Zhao Ruying hesitated for a long time, unable to bring herself to do it.
With a "click," the car door was pushed open, and Zhao Duohui put down his equipment, staggered out, turned around and waved to Zhao Ruying, forcing a small smile at the corner of his mouth.
Before they could say goodbye, the wheels started turning again, leaving the human-shaped bonsai tree far behind.
"Why is that?" Hu Jiu pondered as he drove. He Ming, an ordinary member of the group, wasn't attacked by the parasitic plants, but Shi Chang and Zhao Duohui, the two Ghost Tamers, were the first to be targeted. Why were they being targeted?
"We're almost at Xihe City," He Ming said wearily. Familiar scenery was already faintly visible ahead, and his heart finally settled back down.
Zhao Ruying lowered her head, tears falling silently.
"What kind of ghost is Zhao Duohui piloting? What is his code name?" Hu Jiu suddenly asked.
"His codename is [Ghost Kicks People], and his ability... is kicking people with his feet, right?" Zhao Ruying replied, her voice trembling with suppressed sobs.
Hu Jiu then asked, "And what about you? You don't look like Ghost Tamer at all."
"I... I don't control Fierce Ghost, I'm just cursed." Zhao Ruying's voice trailed off, not revealing her abilities.
Hu Jiu didn't press further.
Clang--
The roof of the car was suddenly struck by a heavy object. A green, grassy arm reached out to the windshield and slammed it down, sending shards of tempered glass flying everywhere.
The Ghost Slave crawled into the carriage, its body wriggling as it attacked the group.
Without hesitation, Hu Jiu precisely tightened the White Sash around the Ghost Slave's neck, yanking him upwards. A deep indentation was left on his neck, and dark green juice, smelling of earth and grass, was squeezed out. The Ghost Slave stopped moving, but the White Sash was stained green.
The green spread extremely quickly; in no time, several blades of grass, like earthworms, wriggled and grew out of the White Sash.
Hu Jiu suddenly felt a strange, Supernatural aura clinging to his body and attempting to invade it, but it failed.
Watching the White Sash being rapidly swallowed up by the grass, a thought suddenly flashed through my mind—could it be that this strange grass devours the Supernatural of other Fierce Ghost spirits as nourishment?
"Go away, don't come any closer..." Zhao Ruying cried out from behind, while another Ghost Slave was peering menacingly through the rear window.
A single pane of glass offered no protection whatsoever; the Ghost Slave quickly burst in and was about to pounce on Zhao Ruying.
The middle-aged housewife was panicked and had nowhere to retreat. She clenched her fists, ready to fight to the death.
Bang--
He Ming quickly picked up the gun Zhao Duohui had dropped, and with trembling hands, he pulled the trigger. After firing the first shot, the recoil caused him to lose his balance.
The Ghost Slave, struck at close range, had his head split open, his skull filled with green stuff. He Ming trembled all over, unable to muster any strength, and could only watch helplessly as the Ghost Slave grabbed at Zhao Ruying.
At the critical moment, Hu Jiu finally stopped watching the show, his palms turned pitch black, and he grabbed the Ghost Slave by the neck, throwing him directly off the carriage.
Meanwhile, in Yuzhou City.
Fu Youhua and Shen Jiliang's group faced the same crisis: weeds suddenly grew wildly from all directions, taller than a person, and soon scattered them.
"Minister, where are you?" someone whispered.
"Don't make any rash moves!" Fu Youhua said.
The sky was too dark, there was no moon or stars, and the surrounding grass was tall and lush, making it difficult to discern directions.
Fu Youhua and Shen Jiliang struggled forward; the light from their Flashlights was almost useless in the dense grass. The blades of grass seemed to be drawn to them, trying to tear through their clothes and burrow into their flesh. Fortunately, their protective suits were specially made with gold, making them lightweight and airtight.
As if walking through an endless maze, the atmosphere grew increasingly oppressive. Shen Jiliang couldn't help but shout, "Xu Bo, where are you? Why aren't you using Ghost Domain?"
A few seconds later, a response came from one direction. Xu Bo's tone was very serious, "I'm here, and I've encountered very serious trouble."
Fu Youhua and Shen Jiliang adjusted their course, weaving through the increasingly dense undergrowth, and headed towards Xu Bo.
A moment later, they finally broke through the obstacle and could vaguely see Xu Bo's figure, but this was not good news. They also saw that a Ghost Tamer standing near Xu Bo was covered in emerald green.
"Please save me!" the Ghost Tamer pleaded.
Shen Jiliang went over to observe for himself and asked, "Would you like to try the Longevity Potion?"
The Ghost Tamer shook his head. "No, I've already used one, and these grasses are growing even faster!"
"What did you say? The Longevity Potion didn't work, and it even had the opposite effect!" Fu Youhua was shocked.
Although the Longevity Potion was merely a byproduct of a classified project, it was also one of Headquarters' important Supernatural resources, and this information absolutely could not be leaked...
"This incident is too troublesome. I sense that the Supernatural of the mysterious Ghost Domain is increasing, and with the interference of these grasses, I'm afraid we can't get out now." Xu Bo solemnly delivered this bad news.
Shen Jiliang pushed up his glasses. "You can't even leave your Ghost Domain?"
Xu Bo nodded. "The moment I activated my Ghost Domain, I felt Ghost Domain being invaded and damaged by these weeds, making it unable to maintain stability."
"What a joke! Even Ghost Tamer with Ghost Domain is useless! Is the Source Ghost this incident really that terrifying?" Fu Youhua's face was extremely ugly.
Shen Jiliang sighed, "The situation is terrible. I'm worried that if we can't contain the Source Ghost in time, will it continue to spread outwards?"
"There's no point in staying here. Let's go back to Headquarters and see if there are any Supernatural Items or special Ghost Tamer that can be used." Fu Youhua pulled Shen Jiliang away, while instructing Xu Bo, "After we leave, you guys continue to gather more useful information here. You can try to handle it, but if you can't, focus on self-preservation."
After saying that, the two of them disappeared from the spot without anyone knowing what they did.
They may indeed be just ordinary people, but as a leader, especially one commanding a group of powerful Ghost Tamers, how could he possibly compromise his own safety?
They can only contribute to the country and continue to shine while they are alive, so... it's normal for them to have a few trump cards up their sleeves.
Xu Bo stared blankly at the spot where Shen Jiliang had disappeared, stunned for a moment, unable to recover for a long time.
Fu Youhua's figure suddenly appeared in his office. This teleportation ability, which ignored the Ghost Domain's blockade, came from a Supernatural Item. Unfortunately, the method of use was too cumbersome. The return coordinates of the teleported person had to be set in advance, and only a few people could be teleported at a time, making it impossible to use to rescue a large number of people.
Not long after he returned, he received a document from his operator, which was information about the killing patterns of "Ghost Grass".
Fu Youhua carefully reviewed the information and immediately contacted the operator, asking directly, "Xiao Mei, where did you get this information? Can you guarantee its accuracy?"
"It was Hu Jiu, the Ghost Tamer I was in charge of contacting, who took the initiative to report it. He said that this intelligence was obtained by the leaders of Xihe City and Peishui City at the cost of their lives, and he hoped that Headquarters would discuss a solution as soon as possible," Xiao Mei said truthfully.