The Lantern Ghost

Master Qiao's other hand swiftly sent out several slips of paper.

One was covered in dozens of different forms of the character "fire." With a whoosh, it burst into flames. Master Qiao could actually control the flames, splitting them into three fire serpents that coiled around the cage. In terms of controlling fire, Master Qiao was no less skilled than a Nine Streams Pill Cultivator.

But as the flames burned, the Bamboo Cage turned red-hot. The arm Master Qiao had lost to the cage sizzled and smoked!

Master Qiao let out a scream and waved the flames away, then used a second slip of paper.

This slip bore his own name and birth details:

Qiao Zi'ang, born in the Mao hour, on the Bingyin day of the Yichou month, in the Gengyin year.

These slips of paper were Master Qiao's ultimate lifesaving measures.

This one's purpose was to take his place.

Once the slip burned, it would take on all the calamities that befell Master Qiao.

Even if he were trapped, the slip would become a substitute and directly switch places with him.

But after the slip caught fire, before it could become a substitute, the Bamboo Cage suddenly spread wide and grew enormous, trapping both Master Qiao and the slip inside!

Cold sweat poured down Master Qiao's face. He cried out, "How can this be?!"

How could that little brat have such a treasure of an Artisan Cultivator?

My Eightfold Birth Chart Substitute Slip can withstand disasters of at least Eighth Stream caliber, yet it can't get me out of this little cage!

The Bamboo Cage began to shrink rapidly. Master Qiao threw out his last slip of paper.

It unfurled into a painting.

It depicted a Lantern Ghost.

The lantern's face was made of pallid human skin, and its frame was made of human ribs.

Ghost Fire burned inside the lantern. A huge "In Memoriam" was written across its face in blood, which dripped down in slow drops.

As soon as the painting unfurled, the Lantern Ghost leaped out and landed on the ground, igniting a field of Ghost Fire. Without a sound, it spread across a hundred-zhang radius.

The Lantern Ghost hung in midair, one zhang above the ground, as if it possessed the power to lure away souls.

Xu Yuan glanced at the Lantern Ghost, and his eyes glazed over. His movements slowed.

Suddenly, a pitch-black Ghost Claw reached out of thin air behind Xu Yuan and soundlessly stabbed toward his back!

The instant the Ghost Claw pierced his flesh, it sucked the blood and life from the surrounding tissue, turning his skin ashen gray.

The agony jolted Xu Yuan awake. He threw himself forward with all his strength.

Sssht!

The Ghost Claw raked downward, leaving five deep gashes across Xu Yuan's back!

The flesh around the wounds turned ashen and lifeless, and a faint Ghostly Aura seeped from them!

Xu Yuan rolled across the ground, twisted around, and spat out Inner Fire. Burned by the flames, the Ghost Claw recoiled in pain and vanished into thin air.

But as soon as Xu Yuan stopped, he sensed danger rushing toward him. He hurriedly dodged sideways, and the Ghost Claw appeared out of nowhere again, slashing past without a sound.

If he hadn't made that last dodge, the Ghost Claw would have seized him by the throat!

Master Qiao had asked Old Locust to buy this Lantern Ghost on Guanghuo Street. When living people wanted to buy things there, the only "money" they could use was Blood Food!

This was conclusive proof that he had colluded with the uncanny.

Xu Yuan still didn't dare stop. He dodged several more times, then let Inner Fire spread over his entire body.

But the Inner Fire of a Nine Streams Pill Cultivator was limited. Xu Yuan couldn't keep himself protected like this for long.

Xu Yuan watched Master Qiao. The Bamboo Cage continued to shrink, while Master Qiao fought desperately against it. Xu Yuan made a quick estimate and immediately grew pessimistic: Master Qiao could hold out longer than he could.

Xu Yuan opened his mouth and spat out a pill!

Puff! It struck the Lantern Ghost, punching a hole in the human-skin lantern.

Xu Yuan was about to press his advantage when nine more lanterns rose from the Ghost Fire covering the ground!

They all floated a zhang above the ground, then spun rapidly. Their flickering flames merged in an instant, leaving Xu Yuan unable to tell which one was the real Lantern Ghost.

Xu Yuan gritted his teeth and ran toward the edge. He had to get out of the Ghost Fire's range as quickly as possible.

The Lantern Ghost didn't try to stop him. As long as it remained within the Ghost Fire's range, its illusions wouldn't disappear.

Xu Yuan rushed beyond the Ghost Fire's range and felt a little relieved. The Inner Fire around his body weakened slightly, and a Ghost Claw silently appeared behind his neck, lunging viciously for him!

Xu Yuan suddenly twisted around and turned to face the Ghost Claw. He opened his mouth and spat. Puff!

The pill shot toward the Ghost Claw but passed straight through without the slightest resistance. The Ghost Claw had no physical form.

The ten Lantern Ghosts swayed above the Ghost Fire as if dancing, mocking the foolish living man.

The pill continued past the Ghost Claw, unable to stop, and flew toward the Lantern Ghosts. Then it suddenly exploded with a bang, transforming into a giant spider. The spider spun a vast web that enveloped every Lantern Ghost.

The web tightened and passed straight through the illusions. Only the real Lantern Ghost remained trapped inside.

The Lantern Ghost panicked, but it could no longer escape. As the spider continued to draw in its web, Xu Yuan dodged the Ghost Claw and rushed toward the Lantern Ghost. Then he gathered up all the Inner Fire covering his body and condensed it into a Fire Pill. With a puff, it struck the Lantern Ghost.

Boom!

Blazing flames erupted. The Ghost Claw that had relentlessly pursued Xu Yuan disappeared. The Lantern Ghost shrieked in the fire, slowly burning to ashes!

Xu Yuan examined the wound on his back.

It was still a patch of dead flesh, wreathed in Ghostly Aura.

Xu Yuan spat out another pill.

This one, too, had been refined from the villagers' herbs the night before.

It was a Detoxification Pill. He rolled it over the wound, but the Ghostly Aura didn't diminish in the slightest.

Xu Yuan shook his head. The Ghostly Aura had an effect like poison, but the Detoxification Pill couldn't dispel it.

Xu Yuan released a Healing Pill, but as soon as it drew near, not only did it fail to heal the wound, the Ghostly Aura even seemed to be contaminating it. Xu Yuan had no choice but to retrieve it.

He would try Inner Fire again. Earlier, when he'd briefly spread it over his whole body, it had thinned out and weakened, and the Ghostly Aura hadn't reacted much.

Now Xu Yuan condensed it into a Fire Pill and rolled it over the wound.

The Ghostly Aura really did fear Inner Fire. But when the Fire Pill provoked it, it burrowed deeper into Xu Yuan's body like a Poisonous Insect!

Xu Yuan quickly pulled back. What a thorny problem. He could only leave it for now and look for a solution after he got out of Ghost Witch Mountain.

Nearby, the Bamboo Cage had shrunk until it pinned Master Qiao firmly inside.

Xu Yuan walked over. The Bamboo Cage continued to contract. Several bamboo strips had already pierced Master Qiao's neck and were burrowing deeper into his flesh. Blood ran down the strips.

Master Qiao could no longer move. His eyes bulged as he stared fixedly at Xu Yuan. Summoning the last of his strength, he spoke in broken gasps. "The people in River Worker Alley... really are... a little uncanny..."

Master Qiao died filled with boundless regret.

There had long been an old saying in the county town: don't provoke the people of River Worker Alley.

All kinds of rumors circulated about River Worker Alley and the people who lived there.

But Master Qiao had lived in the town for decades and had never seen anything strange in the alley with his own eyes. He had always thought those tales were nonsense.

Now he had paid for that belief with his life.