Qingshan said nothing; only the wind howled.
The sunset came quickly.
The moment Black Fang was slain, Chen Zi'an, as a Chang Gui, dissipated along with him. His expression was peaceful. Perhaps he had thought that he would finally be reunited with his wife.
Wang Longqi stared blankly as Chen Zi'an vanished from where he stood, his gaze complicated. "How come even you were a ghost?"
Thinking back on this period of time, setting aside his suicidal trip to the Ghost Building, the girl he had met on the road was a ghost, his former sweetheart had become a ghost, and even his old friend was a ghost.
He nearly broke down. Lowering his head, he began to question life. "Could it be that there are no living people at all in this world?"
A figure in an Azure Daoist Robe came before him.
Wang Longqi calmed down slightly. No matter how many ghosts there were in this world, Li Chu definitely was not one.
Li Chu picked up the badly wounded White Fox from the ground, intending to take it back to Virtuous Cloud Temple to treat its injuries.
Thinking about it now, this White Fox had likely been cultivating on Miao Feng Mountain when it happened to uncover the plans of several ghosts, so it had tried to stop him from entering the temple.
Thinking that it had even resorted to publicly urinating in order to stop him from throwing himself into danger, Li Chu felt rather moved.
Wang Longqi's melancholy lasted only a short while. By the time the two reached the foot of the mountain, he had started talking nonstop again.
"This fox is so intelligent. Why don't you let me take it home and raise it? I promise I'll treat it well, feed it good food and drink."
Now that he knew it was a good fox, Wang Longqi had developed a great interest in it as well.
"This is no ordinary fox. It is a Demon Fox about to take human form," Li Chu explained.
"Take human form?"
"It means it is about to transform into a human."
"Hm?" Wang Longqi's eyes lit up even brighter.
A Fox Spirit.
If he could nurture the bond between master and servant while it had yet to take human form...
Li Chu looked at the light in his eyes, somewhat unable to understand. Wasn't a fox that had transformed into a human still a fox? What was there to be excited about?
Strange.
"After it recovers, you can ask it. If it agrees to acknowledge you as its master, I have no objection," Li Chu said calmly.
By the time they returned to Virtuous Cloud Temple, it was already somewhat dark.
Yu Qi'an saw the White Fox in Li Chu's arms and found it somewhat strange. "Did things go smoothly?"
Li Chu nodded. "More or less."
"Did you help that scholar rescue his wife?"
"No."
"Then where is the scholar?"
"He died too."
"..." Yu Qi'an blinked. How was that supposed to count as smooth?
Li Chu then told Yu Qi'an the entire course of events.
After hearing it, Yu Qi'an narrowed his eyes. "Those ghosts... were specifically coming for you."
"Yes."
Li Chu had already sensed that something was wrong earlier.
This was clearly a trap aimed at him. They had even investigated his relationships and used Wang Longqi as a line to lure him in. It was truly impossible to guard against.
In fact, when he had been swallowed by that black tiger and enveloped by Yin Fiend Qi, he had caught a faint whiff of danger.
If he had remained in such intense Yin Fiend Qi for a year and a half, perhaps his body really would have suffered some damage.
At that thought, Li Chu could not help feeling a lingering chill of fear.
Those ghosts were truly vicious.
In order to set a trap for him, they had even murdered an innocent husband and wife.
But... he had always considered himself refined and easygoing.
What ghost could possibly bear such deep hatred toward him?
Very quickly, he thought of that Life Buying Coin.
So the matter of the Vengeful Spirit really was not that simple?
Thinking of a group of incomparably brutal ghosts hiding in the shadows and watching him, Li Chu felt a slight prickling at his back.
Still, this trip had not been without gains. The Experience Points given by the black tiger and the zombie were unimaginably high.
The zombie was roughly equivalent to two thousand two hundred Lantern Monsters, while the black tiger was roughly equivalent to four thousand three hundred and ninety-six Lantern Monsters.
Judging by the Experience Points, they were the strongest opponents he had encountered so far—though the scenes when fighting them had all been about the same.
With that, his level had directly broken through level seventy-three and begun approaching level seventy-four.
The later it got, the more drastically the Experience Points needed for each level increased. Correspondingly, however, the subsequent growth in strength was also quite considerable.
In this incomparably dangerous world, only strength was the foundation for survival.
Earlier, he had thought that he could be a little more forceful within Yuhang Town's tiny patch of land, but now he cautiously withdrew that confidence.
Even in such a small place, unexpected dangers still lurked beneath the surface and could erupt at any moment.
Sigh.
Truly terrifying.
While he was lost in wild thoughts, Yu Qi'an had already bandaged the White Fox's wounds.
Little Yue'er kept stroking the White Fox's fur at the side, looking very happy.
Fluffy, smooth, and very nice to touch.
Yu Qi'an's eyes shone brightly as he said, "It would be great if we could keep it here while treating its injuries this time. While it hasn't taken human form yet, we could nurture the bond between master and servant..."
A Fox Spirit that had taken human form...
That was famously...
Looking at the light in his master's eyes, Li Chu found it somewhat familiar.
It seemed he had just seen it somewhere.
White Bone Mountain, Corpse Hiding Cave.
A skeleton clad in broad robes and wide sleeves sat on the ground, while across from it was the still-shaken Red Clothed Woman.
There had once been as many as five Ghost Generals sitting in a circle within this cave. Later, there had been four. Now, only two ghosts remained, staring at each other.
The night wind swept inside, and both ghosts felt a thread of desolation.
"I knew that useless Black Fang would definitely fail! But I never expected... that two Ghost Generals would die outright." Bai Jian said in a deep voice, "It was my miscalculation."
"No, that's not it." Red Ribbon shook her head. "Black Fang's plan was very successful. He swallowed the Little Daoist Priest... but then he... came back out completely unscathed."
Her voice still carried panic and disbelief.
"With a physique like that... what realm is he actually at?" Bai Jian asked.
"I couldn't sense any fluctuations of true qi from him, and he doesn't seem to be a Martial Artist. Perhaps he possesses some kind of miraculous Ancient Inheritance." Red Ribbon said, "In any case, he is not someone we can deal with!"
Bai Jian looked at Red Ribbon and sighed softly inwardly.
She had clearly been scared out of her wits.
They had both barely escaped alive from that brutal battle in the Ghost Kingdom. They should not have been like this.
One could imagine just how terrifying that Daoist was.
Bai Jian rose to his feet. "Since this matter is so grave, it seems we must ask the King to decide."
Red Ribbon raised her head. "You want to awaken the King?"
"Though it may provoke the King's fury, there is truly no other way... The deaths of three Ghost Generals are already an unbearable pain."
As she watched Bai Jian's back disappear deeper into the cave, fresh fear surfaced on Red Ribbon's face.
Her fear of the Daoist had descended from the sky, but her fear of that King was deeply branded into the heart of every Ghost General.
Far more deeply.
From the depths of the cave came a rumbling tremor, like magma rolling beneath the earth.
Before long, Bai Jian returned.
Every bone in his body trembled uncontrollably, producing clattering sounds.
"How did it go?" Red Ribbon asked.
Bai Jian's tone was chilling. "The King... may wish to meet him in person."
Thanks to "Unlucky Star of Calamity" for the two-thousand Recommendation Ticket Red Packet.
Thanks to "Lao Shu Gui" for the hundred reward.
And thanks to everyone who has collected the book and cast Recommendation Tickets during this time. Thank you for your support.
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