Five Ghosts

He looked at the young man strolling leisurely before him, at the bead in his hand, condensed from all the sinister power Xiong Kui had accumulated over his lifetime. A chill deeper than death shot from his tailbone to the crown of his head.

The calamity threatening to destroy the entire Wang Family, his grandson Wang Xiao's desperate cries, the line of defense the guards had built with their lives—all that blood and fire, life and death...

In the young man's eyes, was it nothing more than a play?

That realization terrified and overwhelmed Wang Bo'an even more than the threat of destruction Xiong Kui had posed.

It was the despair of having one's very existence utterly crushed by a higher order of life.

It was like an ant struggling to survive in a raging storm, exhausting all its strength and finally seeing the rain let up, only to discover that the wind, rain, thunder, and lightning had been nothing but a giant sneezing as it passed by.

And now, that giant was looking down at it with interest and asking, "Was my sneeze loud enough?"

Wang Bo'an's lips trembled. A dry, rasping "khh, khh" rose from his throat, but he couldn't utter a word.

The members of the Wang Family behind him were just as silent. Every one of them stared at the young man with the awe and terror one might feel toward a god or demon.

Wang Xiao had just rushed out of the house, ready to die alongside his family. Now he stood frozen in place.

He looked at the young man's back, then at the black bead on the ground. Recalling the streak of light that had just cut across the sky, an absurd yet inescapable answer took shape in his mind.

It was him...