By now, it was already evening. The moon rose late in the mountains, while the sun was slowly sinking.
Qin Hao looked around the courtyard, now pockmarked with craters from his own blows. Though he had not used much strength, he had still ruined it quite thoroughly.
"Phew! Let's call it a day."
Qin Hao dropped down onto the ground, leaned against the wall, and stuffed chunks of beast meat into his mouth without pause.
"This meat is hard as nails!"
"Looks like I need to go into the city and buy some daily necessities."
Qin Hao planned to head to the county town early the next morning to purchase some supplies. He could not possibly gnaw on dried meat every day.
After finishing the dried meat in his hand, Qin Hao washed up and went to bed.
Qingshi County
"Have you heard? The Old Zhang Family Residence seems to be haunted!"
"Haunted? No way! I passed by there this morning!"
"It's true! Widow Zhao told me! She said that a few nights ago, she happened to pass by and saw a ghostly figure in white appear inside the old residence."
"Oh, stop it! You're giving me goosebumps!"
"Huh? Wait a minute! Isn't this the road to the Old Zhang Family Residence? Good heavens! Let's take another route."
The two hurriedly backed away, changed paths, and took a detour around the Old Zhang Family Residence.
Not long after they left, a shadow flashed past at high speed and headed straight for the Old Zhang Family Residence.
The Old Zhang Family Residence was an ancient estate, gloomy and decrepit.
Ghostly aura shrouded the sky above the compound.
Several tattered white lanterns still hung by its gates, looking especially eerie and terrifying beneath the moonlight.
Yet amid such a sinister and horrifying scene, a figure appeared before the Zhang family gates.
For some reason, his face could not be seen clearly, as if it were shrouded in black mist.
"Heh~ heh, keke~"
"These ghostly creatures are nearly fattened up. In a few more days, they can be released from their cages."
"The ghost race has reappeared in the mortal world. Keke, our chance has arrived."
As he spoke, he walked toward the Old Zhang Family Residence.
As though he had no physical form, he passed straight through the compound gates.
The man entered the courtyard.
The old residence looked particularly desolate, covered in cobwebs and falling apart.
Gusts of cold wind rushed toward him.
"Kekekeke~"
"My little darlings, come out. I've brought you food."
With that, he conjured two corpses out of thin air. They were the very two people who had just taken the detour.
"Woooo~ woooo!"
"Woooo~ woooooo!"
The moment his words fell, waves of eerie, terrifying sounds rose from every direction!
In an instant, the courtyard was filled with ghostly figures, all dressed in white and staring at him with green light in their eyes.
There were at least thirty or forty of them.
The sight was horrifying beyond measure. An ordinary person surrounded like this would likely be scared to death on the spot.
"Kekekeke, come. Enjoy yourselves to your hearts' content."
As he spoke, he tossed the two bodies into the midst of the ghosts.
The ghostly creatures caught the scent of blood and went mad, pouncing on the corpses and devouring their flesh and blood frantically.
Watching this scene, the man's smile grew even more sinister.
Then he took out a pitch-black gourd, which radiated an exceptionally chilling killing intent.
He opened the gourd. After a while, many souls flew out from within.
"Ah! Where is this?"
"No! Let me go, please!"
"Ahhh! I don't want to die!"
The moment they were released, the souls cried out in heart-rending agony.
The ghostly creatures looked at the souls with hungry eyes. If not for their fear of the man before them, they would have already rushed forward and torn those souls apart to feast on them.
Together with the sinister, terrifying atmosphere around them, calling this place hell would not have been an exaggeration.
"I don't want my soul to scatter and vanish, never to be reincarnated!"
"Run! Hurry and run!" Hearing the man's cry, the surrounding souls came to their senses and fled in every direction.
"How naive! Do you think you can escape?"
As he spoke, several iron chains flew from his sleeves, instantly piercing more than a dozen souls and sending them tumbling to the ground, unable to rise.
"Please, spare me. I have lots of money—I'll give it all to you."
Another plump-looking soul knelt before the man and begged for mercy.
Seeing this, the man's smile became even more sinister.
"Kekekeke, mortals are as ignorant as ever. Do you think begging for mercy will let you cling to life?"
"You are nothing more than food for us to set foot upon the path of Ghost Immortals, hahaha!"
After saying that, he spoke no more. Instead, he looked toward the Fierce ghosts around him, signaling that they could begin their meal.
Seeing this, the hungry ghosts charged wildly at the souls, opening their blood-filled maws and feasting with relish.
At once, countless cries of agony rang out throughout the courtyard.
"Eat, eat to your hearts' content. Only then will your resentment and killing intent grow heavier, and only then can I become stronger!"
"Hahahaha! Keke~ keke."
After saying that, his figure slowly vanished from where he stood.
What the man did not know was that someone in the distance had seen everything he had done.
That person wore black clothes and a mask. A token hung at his waist, bearing one large character.
"Tai!"
"A Ghost cultivator? Could the rumors be true?"
"Otherwise, how could these things that cannot bear the light grow more and more rampant?"
He had witnessed everything, including the murder, soul-snatching, and raising of ghostly creatures. Yet none of that seemed to concern him.
What concerned him more was why Ghost cultivators dared to be so brazen.
"It's probably eight or nine parts out of ten. Preparations must be made early."
"I need to report this matter to Senior Brother."
The sword at his waist slowly rose, instantly expanding several times in size. He stepped onto it with both feet and shot through the air.
With both men gone, the sinister old residence became eerily quiet once more.
The next morning.
Mangshan Village.
"Ah~"
The sky had only just brightened when Qin Hao got up, preparing to head into the county town.
Before going, however, he planned to collect this month's allowance from the clan.
Qin Clan.
A plump middle-aged man was calculating accounts at the counter.
"Uncle Gang!"
At that moment, Qin Hao came before the middle-aged man.
Hearing someone call him, the middle-aged man raised his head toward the voice.
"Hm?"
Before his eyes stood a tall youth, like a wall blocking his view.
Training in martial arts could raise one's height, but the person before him seemed to have taken it a little too far. He looked quite young, yet he was far taller than this eight-foot-tall man himself.
"Who are you?"
The man found the person before him somewhat familiar, yet he could not recall anyone he knew who matched his former appearance.
"It's me, Uncle Gang—Qin Hao!"
Qin Hao knew that his height and build had surged recently for various reasons. Knowing that this clan uncle did not recognize him, he reminded him.
"Qin Hao?"
"You're Qin Hao from Tianlang's family?"
The man asked uncertainly.
"Hehe, yes, Uncle Gang. I'm Qin Hao. My father is Qin Tianlang."
"How come you can't recognize me after only one month?"
Even after hearing Qin Hao's answer, he was still startled.
Although he had received word from the clan that Qin Hao, this child, had awakened some kind of physique and his body had grown dramatically—
He had never expected him to grow this much. Just last month, he had still been a little taller than Qin Hao.
But now? He did not even reach Qin Hao's shoulder.
Before you continue