Picking Up an Old Man for Free

"Come, come, come..."

Outside the dormitory door, the beggar waved the white banner in his hand, opened his mouth wide, and you could see his Adam's apple wriggling irregularly, emitting a low voice. In a short while, two souls drilled out from under the door.

The beggar nodded with satisfaction, walked to another dormitory door, and saw two yellow talismans stuck on the door. He immediately spat out a mouthful of phlegm with indignation and turned to the next dormitory.

He looked at the dormitory door, confirmed with a glance, and raised the white banner in his hand to continue calling souls.

"Tap!"

Suddenly, the beggar's ears twitched, and he looked behind him in confusion.

He heard the rapid footsteps in the corridor getting faster and faster, and soon a flashing black shadow rushed towards him.

Looking at the black shadow rushing towards him, the beggar merely let out a low howl of dissatisfaction. Angry emotions spread around him. Even among Night Ghosts, they disliked having their own kind appear within their hunting range.

But the black shadow did not slow down; instead, its speed exploded in an instant.

Activating his awakened ability [Spirit Walk], Xiao Ran's figure left an afterimage in the night. The next moment, he had already rushed in front of the beggar.

The beggar's small, bean-sized green eyes quickly locked onto Xiao Ran's direction. He swung the white banner in his hand and smashed it towards Xiao Ran. The banner's swing emitted a piercing cry. Even Xiao Ran felt a moment of mental confusion, but fortunately, [Corpse Stitcher] had some resistance to hypnosis, illusions, charm, curses, and other negative effects. Coupled with Xiao Ran's upgraded Ghost Sense, his mental state was not bad. After just a brief moment of confusion, he immediately recovered, tapped his toes on the wall, and somersaulted over the beggar's head.

The instant Xiao Ran landed, he fiercely grabbed the beggar's body with both hands. However, the beggar didn't even try to dodge, letting Xiao Ran's dark green claws scratch him.

Xiao Ran could clearly see a mocking expression on the beggar's face.

Indeed, his claws, only strengthened to level 4, couldn't even tear open a dormitory door that had been reinforced a few times, let alone pose any threat to the beggar in front of him.

He heard a tearing sound under the beggar's clothes, but it only made the beggar's clothes more tattered.

Through the torn opening, one could see the flesh and skin beneath the beggar's clothes, like bark from a hundred-year-old tree, stained with patches of black grime.

His own nails couldn't leave a single mark on it.

The beggar waved his sleeve, and the faces on the white banner in his hand writhed and opened their mouths wide, blowing forcefully at Xiao Ran.

Instantly, the surrounding temperature plummeted. Xiao Ran felt his whole body shiver. A bone-chilling cold blew at him, making him feel as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

Although Night Ghosts are not human, they still have souls. With this evil wind blowing, an ordinary Night Ghost would probably have its soul scattered.

Fortunately, Xiao Ran was not a true Night Ghost and had a physical body to protect him. With a jolt, he quickly raised his cloak to block in front of him, deflecting most of the evil wind. However, he was still kicked by the beggar's follow-up attack, rolling and sliding more than ten meters before stopping.

"I'm outta here, I'm outta here!"

Xiao Ran got up and immediately ran towards the stairs.

Seeing him escape, the beggar didn't intend to chase. Unexpectedly, after running a few steps, Xiao Ran couldn't resist shaking the gourd in his hand triumphantly.

The beggar's expression changed drastically. He instinctively reached for his waist and found that the gourd hidden in his clothes was gone.

It turned out that Xiao Ran wasn't aiming for the beggar just now. He had found an opportunity, used [Empty Handed Master], rummaged through the beggar's clothes, and casually took out the gourd.

This gourd looked quite exquisite and was clearly not ordinary.

If he could still speak after transforming into a Night Ghost, Xiao Ran would have definitely said, "Thanks."

Unfortunately, he couldn't check what was inside the gourd now. After discovering that Xiao Ran had stolen his gourd, the deathly aura around the beggar intensified, and the strong hatred surged several times. He chased after Xiao Ran barefoot.

"I can't beat you head-on, you'll regret this later!"

The beggar wasn't slow, but Xiao Ran was faster. With the boost from [Spirit Walk], Xiao Ran could easily escape the beggar's pursuit if he wanted to. However, Xiao Ran deliberately slowed down and ran up the stairs.

Seeing Xiao Ran trying to escape, the beggar naturally wouldn't let him go. He chased closely behind Xiao Ran, his facial features gradually contorting, and he let out cackling sounds as he pursued.

Although he couldn't understand, he could feel that he was being cursed harshly.

Suddenly, the beggar's left foot tightened, as if he had stepped on something. Immediately, one of his feet moved uncontrollably to the side, causing the beggar to lose his balance and fall heavily onto the steps, even losing a front tooth.

He lowered his head in confusion and saw an embroidered shoe on his left foot.

He was instantly bewildered and kicked it hard a few times. To his surprise, the embroidered shoe not only didn't come off but became tighter.

After struggling a few times without success, the beggar looked up and saw Xiao Ran running further away. He couldn't bother with the ill-fitting shoe anymore, got up, and hobbled forward.

"Heh!"

Xiao Ran looked back, grinned, and took out another embroidered shoe, holding it in his hand. Although this cursed item was a pair, it was actually one entity. Xiao Ran held one in his hand, unafraid that the other would act up; otherwise, he could destroy it at any time.

Xiao Ran casually flicked his hand, and the embroidered shoe in his hand immediately reacted. The beggar behind him felt his foot slip again, his left foot uncontrollably veered to the right, and his body almost rolled down the stairs.

This embarrassing scene drove the beggar to the brink of madness. He punched his own thigh twice.

Then he looked up at Xiao Ran, roaring loudly.

Xiao Ran could feel a strong sense of hatred emanating from the other party. He slowly shook the gourd in his hand, provocatively gave the beggar the middle finger, and turned to walk towards the sixth floor.

"You climb slowly, I'll go up and take a look first."

Xiao Ran wasn't in a hurry to fight the beggar to the death.

He remembered that there was also a safe house on the sixth floor, and there should be many people there. If he lured the beggar there, he wouldn't lack people to deal with him.

Of course, there would likely be people who would deal with him too, but that was exactly what Xiao Ran wanted to see.

The forces in this dormitory building were complex. He wanted to take this opportunity to get a good understanding of these people.

Climbing the stairs to the sixth floor, the smell of blood in the air was replaced by a musty odor. Various writings began to appear on the walls piled with debris, most of them written in red paint, filled with resentment and various negative emotions.

The debris in the middle of the corridor increased. Xiao Ran noticed that the doors of many dormitory rooms on both sides had been smashed open, and they were piled with messy clutter, clearly abandoned for a long time.

Normally, dormitories are considered precious resources, yet so many abandoned ones here remain unoccupied.

When things are too unusual, there's bound to be a trick. Xiao Ran tightened the Ghost Cloak around himself and quickly walked eastward down the corridor.

Before long, Xiao Ran heard a familiar barrage of curses.

"Hurry up and throw it, hurry up!!"

That was Yang Kai's voice.

"Wasn't this guy on the third floor? How did he get all the way up to the sixth floor?"

Xiao Ran peeked out and saw, at the end of the corner, Yang Kai and a few others surrounding an old man, continuously throwing black plastic bags at him. The bags were filled with excrement and urine. As soon as they hit the old man, they burst open, splashing the waste onto him. The old man let out agonizing screams as his flesh and skin dripped to the ground like melted wax from a candle.

The old man's eyes were bloodshot, and he tried to lunge forward several times, but on the dormitory doors to his left and right, two bronze mirrors were hung.

The moment the mirrors reflected him, the old man froze on the spot, unable to move.

Beside the doors, two crooked couplets were also hung, intermittently emitting a strong light that struck the old man.

"No wonder!"

Xiao Ran, hidden in a corner, saw everything clearly and immediately understood.

The so-called safe house was actually a trap for these Night Ghosts. Yang Kai and his group were being used as bait, their purpose being to lure the Night Ghosts into the trap.

Xiao Ran's gaze swept around again. At this moment, he noticed one last dormitory at the very back. The door was ajar, and a burly man with a full beard, holding a cleaver, was watching the commotion.

"Initiate!"

This was the third Initiate Xiao Ran had encountered in Miyuan City, besides Huang Le and the young man who called himself "Leek."

Judging by his build, covered in muscle, he was clearly a tough opponent.

"Hurry and throw, hurry and throw! This old bastard can't hold on much longer."

Seeing the old man's body about to split open, Yang Kai and the others urged everyone to go all out. At the same time, they shouted to two subordinates behind them, "Quick, go move another box! I'm running out of urine bombs."

The two subordinates quickly turned and walked towards a room nearby. Inside, more than ten boxes of various sizes were stored.

Xiao Ran's brow twitched upon seeing this. He quietly crept forward, hidden in the shadows.

"Hurry, hurry!!"

At this moment, after throwing the urine bomb in his hand, Yang Kai habitually reached out his hand behind him.

Seeing the palm extended towards him, Xiao Ran grinned and placed his own hand there.

Yang Kai felt the texture was wrong and immediately slapped Xiao Ran's hand away. "Get lost! I need urine bombs! Hurry up, don't delay my progress."

Seeing this, Xiao Ran glanced around and happened to see the two subordinates carrying boxes out of the adjacent dormitory. The two subordinates' eyes widened and their bodies trembled when they saw Xiao Ran standing behind Yang Kai, almost dropping the boxes they were holding.

The blue flames in Xiao Ran's skull-like eyes flickered as he gestured for them to be silent. Then, under their horrified gazes, he took the boxes. He picked up a urine bomb wrapped in a black plastic bag and handed it to Yang Kai.

"That's more like it!"

Yang Kai took the urine bomb and immediately went all out, smashing it at the old man. But as he kept throwing, the sounds around him gradually faded until only Yang Kai's hearty laughter remained.

"Smash you to death, smash you to death, hahahaha..."

Yang Kai didn't realize anything was wrong at first. It wasn't until he casually looked up that he noticed his subordinates had somehow moved to the opposite side.

Not only his subordinates, but the expressions on everyone else's faces were varied: some were terrified, some confused, and some seemed to be enjoying the show.

Now, even if Yang Kai were slower, he would have realized something was wrong. A chill ran down his spine. He slowly turned his head and, upon seeing the skull head peeking out from the shadows behind him, its head almost touching his face, he felt his blood run cold. His eyes rolled back, his body swayed a few times, and he fell straight to the ground.

"He fainted?"

Xiao Ran looked at Yang Kai, who had collapsed on the ground, and felt a bit speechless. With such a timid disposition, how could he be a squad leader? It seemed the Independent Regiment's leadership was truly filled with water.

Faced with the sudden appearance of Xiao Ran, the others were caught off guard. However, the Initiate standing at the dormitory entrance seemed intrigued. His eyes scanned Xiao Ran, and one hand rested on the hilt of his sword.

Their gazes met, and the flames in Xiao Ran's eyes flickered with a cold light.

The entire corridor fell silent. Everyone involuntarily held their breath, their eyes darting between their group leader and the Night Ghost before them.

But...

The next second, Xiao Ran suddenly hoisted the old man onto his shoulder and turned, running towards the stairs...

"Score! Found an old man for free!! Happy!!"