Sharp Claw

"A ghost? Or a soul?" Li Shaolin knew that skeletons could apparently harm such beings, so he wasn't too worried.

"Noble mage, please allow me to express my gratitude." The soul bowed, not approaching, but speaking from a distance.

"Oh?" Though he didn't know how a soul could speak, he had his own way of discerning. He cast Detection, and a line of green text appeared: Captain Greyson (Ghost), Level 30!

The name was green, so there was no hostility. He relaxed his tense heart and looked up to ask, "What's going on here?"

Captain Greyson, in his ghostly form, drifted lightly and, without any visible movement, came before him. "You may have noticed that along this coastline lie countless wrecks—ships that were about to reach Stormwind City or had just set sail from it, forever stranded here due to storms or murloc attacks. And I, Greyson, was once one of them."

"I'm sorry for your loss." Seeing the soul's melancholy, as if recalling past days, Li Shaolin sighed and walked over to light the oil lamps. He wasn't used to facing a soul in pitch-black night, even if it was friendly.

Greyson didn't stop him. After Li Shaolin lit a few lamps and found a plank to block the door, he continued, "At the time, my ship had already crossed the Endless Sea, and Stormwind City was right ahead. In my excitement, I ordered the crew to press on, but unfortunately, the ship ran aground. That very night, murlocs attacked us. In the chaos, I saw the lighthouse by the sea and fled here in a small boat."

"Alas, though I survived that night, I ended up causing the lighthouse keeper's family to die!" the soul said sorrowfully. "I watched helplessly as the murloc leader, Old Blindeye, brutally killed them."

"Excuse me, you mean you didn't die then? So how did you end up like this?" Li Shaolin found it strange. How had he escaped the murlocs?

"I was only focused on fleeing. I ran frantically to the attic of the lighthouse, but the stairs were damaged—as you can see, broken in the middle. Then the murlocs caught up and began the slaughter." Greyson explained regretfully.

"What happened next?" The story couldn't be over; otherwise, how had the captain become like this?

A look of terror crossed the soul's face, as if gripped by deep fear. "I was trapped at the top of the lighthouse, with no food or fresh water. I'd been wounded in the fight with the murlocs, and over a few days, I weakened quickly. As the days passed, I felt my body grow more and more powerless. Though my heart was full of unwillingness, there was nothing I could do. Finally, on the sixth day, I vaguely saw the Holy Light."

At this, Greyson's body trembled, unable to control his fear. "Then the Witch appeared! A witch who studied plague and death. She drained the last drop of blood from my body, ripped out my heart, and trapped my soul forever in this lighthouse to herd ghouls for her!"

"A Witch?" Li Shaolin recalled the woman from his dream and couldn't help but shiver.

"Yes. I don't know why, but after the lighthouse keeper died, no one ever came to clean this place. Over time, it became like this." The soul seemed unaware that Westfall had been taken over by the Defias, speaking in confusion.

"By the way, where's that Witch now? And why did you thank me?" He had a vague guess but didn't quite believe it—that woman couldn't have just vanished, could she?

"That Witch later somehow separated her soul from her body. Her heart and soul were placed in this lighthouse, influenced by Undead energy, while her body was taken away by a middle-aged man. Just now, when she attacked you, her soul was destroyed." The soul recounted these events, his voice full of fear.

A middle-aged mage? Could it be Karnak? That noble Defias who kept a ghost? For some reason, Li Shaolin suddenly thought of what happened at Jason's Farm, the woman in the Bronze Coffin, and the Pentagram on the ground. Was there a connection? He quickly asked, "What was that woman's name?"

"I don't know that. But a few days ago, her soul weakened a lot, as if it had been harmed. By the way, respected mage, please let me return to the embrace of freedom." The soul spoke devoutly.

Li Shaolin was quite surprised. "I'm not a Paladin or a priest. I'm afraid I can't help with that!" Though he didn't know how to free him, it was probably something like purification—how could he, an evil Necromancer, manage that?

"No need for Holy Light purification. At the top of this tower, there's an iron box locked with my heart. If you remove the curse on it, I'll be free. Also, that evil Witch's heart is in there too. Please destroy it." Greyson said.

To be honest, he hadn't lifted a finger in destroying that Witch's soul—it seemed to be thanks to the Book of the Dead. Even so, whether he could destroy the heart was still a question.

Well, let's take a look first. The problem was, how to get up there? Staring at the broken stairs, Li Shaolin was stumped.

"Mage, you can summon Undead creatures from the hells to fight for you. Could you perhaps grant me a body? I've been a soul for twenty years, and I long for that tangible feeling." Greyson's tone carried a plea.

"Let's destroy that evil Witch's heart first." Li Shaolin had no idea how to summon Undead from the hells—his Necromancer skills were a cheap imitation.

After thinking for a long time, he still couldn't find a way up. Then, glancing at the Black Skeleton behind him, he had an idea. With its nimble movements, it could probably fetch the iron box.

At his mental command, the Black Skeleton understood. It leaped four or five meters high, landing precisely on the broken stairs. With a few bounces, a dark shadow flashed, and amid falling dust, it had jumped up.

"Captain Greyson, take my servant over there to check." Li Shaolin said to the astonished soul.

Soon, commotion came from above.

With a burst of dust, the Black Skeleton landed, carrying two iron boxes.

One box was adorned with ornate, eerie patterns, its sides inlaid with dazzling gems that sparkled in the dim lamplight. The other box was rusty and covered in dust. It seemed the fancy one belonged to the Witch.

Inside were hearts? Were they still beating?

With these thoughts, Li Shaolin felt no fear at all, only a hint of excitement, eager to open them.

Still, he rationally summoned three Bone Shields before cautiously approaching.

"Don't!" The soul appeared before him, quickly stopping him. "The Witch's life force hasn't faded yet. There might be something strange inside."

Hearing this, Li Shaolin dared not act rashly.

Just as he was about to ask Greyson something, a figure suddenly sprang up from the ground. With a screech, a ghoul that had been lying motionless lunged straight at him!

It happened too fast to dodge, and the sharp claws reached his face! "Crack! Crack! Crack!" Three sounds, and the three Bone Shields shattered instantly! This thing was fighting like its life depended on it—so strong!

The White Skeleton beside him shifted its body, quickly blocking in front of Li Shaolin.

Bones cracked as the ghoul's claw drove into the White Skeleton's chest, while the other claw slashed down from above, plunging into its skull!

In an instant, the soul-fire in its eye sockets flickered.

"Shhk!" From behind, the Bronze Skeleton's long blade stabbed into the ghoul's heart, while the Black Skeleton dropped the two boxes and drove both its blades into its head.

Under such fierce attacks, the ghoul still opened its jaws wide and bit into the White Skeleton's neck. "Crack," and the head was severed from the body.

Li Shaolin felt a dizzying jolt in his mind—had the White Skeleton been destroyed?

"Boom!" The Fire Skeleton launched a Fireball, hitting the ghoul's head and igniting the drool dripping from its mouth, setting it ablaze!

Li Shaolin quickly backed away, while the other skeletons surrounded the burning ghoul, wary of further trouble.

In the roaring flames, the creature finally stopped struggling.

Wait! The connection to the White Skeleton was still there! Every summoned creature had a mental link with him—even the uncontrollable Golden Golem in Fargodeep Mine had a faint one. No mistake. So the skeleton was still alive? Looking closely, sure enough, within the blaze, there was a dim red soul-fire, weak but not extinguished!

Li Shaolin was overjoyed and hurried over to check, but then he frowned. The White Skeleton's skull had been pierced by the ghoul's claws—it probably couldn't be restored. Well, let's try anyway.

He took out the Book of the Dead, ready to store it inside, but after trying for a while, there was no response.

It really does seem to be completely scrapped.

Gritting his teeth, he chanted a skeleton-summoning spell over the ghoul's corpse. The sound of bones clattering filled the air, and in an instant, a brand-new Skeleton Warrior stood up.

It was completely different from all the other skeletons.

About one and a half meters tall, with a hunched frame, sharp and elongated claws, and brownish-yellow bones—if not for the lack of rotting flesh and hair, one might have thought he had summoned a ghoul instead.

It seemed to be a mutation of the Bone Skeleton!

Li Shaolin was astonished to realize that the connection with the Bone Skeleton had never been severed from start to finish.

He quickly cast a Detection spell, and a blue name appeared: Fourth Tier Claw Skeleton (Plague Carrier). Good heavens—just one rebirth like this, and it had jumped from Second Tier to Fourth Tier.

In the midst of this frantic activity, a pitch-black heart inside the fallen iron box had already begun to move slowly, crawling in a bizarre manner toward another dead ghoul.