Chen Chong

Ghost Servants?

Chen Bin's heart jolted as information on ghost servants flashed through his mind.

Deep in the mountains south of Wanbao County dwelled a mountain lord with an extraordinary bloodline.

Though only at the Aperture Opening Realm (for demons, equivalent to a human's Meridian Opening), it had awakened a divine ability—swallowing souls to condense ghost servants.

It drove these ghost servants to possess human bodies, specifically devouring the life force of the living.

When the ghost servants returned to the mountain lord, that life force became its nourishment, aiding its cultivation and breakthroughs.

The ghost servant before him, with its karmic reward, had likely consumed quite a few people!

Its strength probably rivaled that of an Organ Tempering Realm expert.

Chen Bin withdrew his gaze without changing his expression, a flicker of disdain in his eyes. He paid no heed to the two burly young ghost servants flanking the Village Chief and asked directly, "I heard seven people died in your village yesterday?"

The Village Chief leaned on his cane, nodding slightly with a pained expression. "Sir, this humble one will take you to see the bodies right away."

Chen Bin waved a hand and said coldly, "No need for the trouble. Bring all the bodies here."

At this, the Village Chief's face shifted dramatically, and he said in terror, "Sir, the bodies are already in their coffins. Doing this would be a grave disrespect to the dead!"

Chen Bin snorted, his eyes radiating an unyielding authority. "In my eyes, only the imperial court deserves respect.

What, are you more noble than the court?"

The Village Chief trembled all over, cold sweat pouring down his face. He quickly turned and ordered, "Hurry, bring the bodies over at once!"

"Yes!" The crowd acknowledged and departed.

Though ghost servants possessed people to devour their life force, before breaking free, they acted according to the thoughts of those they had consumed.

After a moment, a group of villagers carried several coffins in a procession to the threshing ground.

The coffins were set down on the field, opened one by one, and arranged neatly in a row.

Chen Bin stepped forward to examine them closely. The bodies showed no external damage, not a single wound. At first glance, even their skin color remained unchanged, indistinguishable from the living.

Yet on the mysterious map in his mind, this area blazed a vivid red, warning of danger.

He looked again at the seven corpses lying on the ground.

Chen Bin marveled inwardly:

[Zhang Jingwei: Ghost Servant, Karma +10]

[Zhang San: Ghost Servant, Karma +10]

Ten points of karma was likely the limit for these seven ghost servants—they were full.

Rumor had it that a fully fed ghost servant was roughly on par with a Body Tempering Realm Jade Marrow Stage martial artist.

A full seven ghost servants, all at a higher realm than his own.

Chen Bin knew well that after possessing a person, ghost servants would gradually drain their essence, energy, and spirit until they were completely sucked dry, leaving only an empty shell, before moving on to the next target.

Until then, everything appeared normal.

Judging by appearance alone, ordinary martial artists couldn't detect these possessed ghost servants at all.

That was why the Village Chief had been so afraid of Chen Bin earlier.

And he'd never heard of ghost servants being able to produce split souls either!!

Chen Bin pondered to himself—the entire village had probably already been devoured by these ghost servants.

The ghost servants ate people, and the mountain lord ate the ghost servants to grow stronger.

This South Mountain Lord truly had ruthless methods!

Chen Bin narrowed his eyes, a sharp killing intent flashing within them, his right hand unconsciously resting on his blade.

"Sir, all the bodies are here," the Village Chief said cautiously.

Chen Bin didn't turn around. "How many people are in your village?"

The Village Chief quickly replied, "Reporting to you, sir, the village has eighty-six households, nearly four hundred people."

Chen Bin nodded slightly and said in a deep voice, "I've roughly determined the cause of these deaths.

They have no wounds at all—they must have fallen to some evil sorcery. I suspect there are more victims in the village who've been struck down by the culprit.

You will immediately gather everyone here. I need to inspect each one."

The Village Chief's face showed reluctance. After a moment's hesitation, he said, "Sir, many villagers are out working in the fields, and some have gone hunting or gathering firewood in the mountains. It'll be hard to assemble them all anytime soon."

Chen Bin's gaze sharpened like a cold star. He suddenly drew the long blade at his waist—its body pitch-black yet radiating a chilling edge—and pointed it straight at the Village Chief, saying coldly:

"Find a way to get them! If these evil spirits come back tonight and infect the others, none of you will live!"

The Village Chief's legs went weak, nearly collapsing to the ground. He spun around and stumbled off to arrange the manpower.

Chen Bin turned and sat down on a grand armchair carried over by two ghost servants.

His eyes burned like torches, fixed on the ghost servants gathering one by one, as he silently calculated his next move.

At this moment, the sun blazed ever hotter, and the yang energy between heaven and earth was at its peak.

Chen Bin circulated the breathing method of the Golden Sun Body Tempering Technique, slowly drawing the dense yang energy into his body. With each breath, he could feel his blood and qi surging and roiling within him, while he kept a close watch on the movements in the threshing ground, biding his time.

At the village entrance, the County Office officers led by Chen Chong had finally arrived.

They were all panting heavily, some with disheveled hair, looking utterly disheveled and miserable.

Chen Chong sat on his horse, gazing toward the village, his heart a tangle of mixed emotions.

He glanced at the horse tethered at the village entrance, hoping nothing had gone wrong.

He took a deep breath, straightened his team, and then led them toward the interior of the village.

"Into the village."

Chen Chong's arm pointed straight ahead.

In an instant, over a dozen officers surged forward in a mighty wave toward the village.

Their steps were hurried, and soon they reached the village threshing ground, coming to a halt directly beside Chen Bin.

"Big nephew?"

Chen Chong's eyes were full of surprise. He never expected the person before him to be his own elder brother's son.

The surprise flickered across his face, then was replaced by a warm, familiar expression as he naturally began to play up their connection.

Chen Bin looked up at the sound of the voice and saw who it was.

To be fair, if he thought about it carefully, he really was the other man's big nephew.

The Chen family was a major clan in Wanbao County. Their ancestors had once walked out of the same ancestral hall together, and both men made their living in the county office, so they naturally kept in touch.

Just recently, for the hundred taels of silver needed to secure a promotion, Chen Bin had even borrowed twenty taels from Chen Chong.

Chen Bin quickly stood up and called out naturally in a loud voice, "Uncle Chong!"

Chen Bin was tall and sturdy, a full half-head taller than Chen Chong, standing over 1.9 meters like a small mountain.

The officers had originally harbored some dissatisfaction toward Chen Bin and were about to show it.

But seeing their leader so familiar with him, they immediately put on expressions of breathlessness mixed with fawning smiles, crowding around.

"Why are you the one here?"

Chen Chong raised his hand and lightly patted Chen Bin's arm. In that instant, he felt his palm rebound with a strong force, startling him, and he blurted out, "You've advanced in cultivation?"

"Had some insights!"

Chen Bin only replied casually, his expression quite indifferent.

"What's the situation now?"

Chen Chong didn't forget his purpose and quickly shifted the topic.

"After these people died, there were no wounds on the surface of their bodies. I suspect they were cursed with some evil technique, so I had the Village Chief gather all the villagers."

Chen Bin extended his hand, pointing at the coffins laid out ahead, looking at the Ghost Servants inside. His tone was steady, carrying a note of certainty.

Chen Chong pressed further, "Any leads?"

Chen Bin shook his head gently, his voice low. "None."

"In that case," Chen Chong's brow furrowed deeply, as if lost in thought, and after a moment he said, "We need to leave before dark."