Crack, crack~
Beneath the bleak moon, chilling winds swept through the air. Amid the sorrowful strains of opera, the bone and sinew inside Pear Garden kept cracking, sending shivers down the spine.
Three red-and-white "twisted knots" writhed across the ground, their limbs tangled together and their heads already turned backward. Their stark white bones stood out terribly against the darkness.
There was no doubt.
Physiologically speaking, the three men were already dead. Stranger still, they had killed themselves.
Wu Dao cultivated Stealing Heaven's Secret, so he understood one thing very clearly: the brain's protective mechanisms made it impossible for a person to hold their own breath until they died, let alone deliberately do something that endangered their life.
But these three young men—
In full view of everyone, they had twisted themselves into knots.
There was only one explanation: a ghost had possessed them—or, rather, their brains had been completely taken over by one!
Wu Dao knew what that felt like.
Back at Red Fire Mine, he had experienced a ghost possession himself.
In this world, ghosts damaged a person's neural pathways and destroyed their mind the moment they possessed them. They seized their will and turned them into puppets.
In other words,
once possessed by a ghost, a person suffered brain death. Even the gods could not save them!
And that was only the lowest level of Wandering Soul!
Anyone who had made progress in martial arts and initially broken through the limits of the human body—the Rigid-Soft Realm—could resist them to a certain extent, provided they had a vigorous, upright spirit.
Something stronger still—
For instance, a Martial Arts Grandmaster.
Their Martial Dao Will had already merged with their spirit. Viewed on the level of the soul and consciousness, they were like a blazing furnace. The wandering souls in Red Fire Mine wouldn't dare approach them, let alone possess them!
But the ghost in Pear Garden was entirely different!
It could not only influence the real world, but control an ordinary person's brain with nothing but its singing. It belonged to an entirely different level of Ghostly Entities.
Even Wu Dao, as he was now—
To be honest, he found this sort of being somewhat troublesome.
Because something occurred to him.
This ghost had appeared out of nowhere, which meant it might also possess the low-level ghosts' ability to be "invisible and intangible."
No matter how strong his brute force was,
he still couldn't strike it and cause it harm.
Unless a person's Vitality and Spirit underwent a transformation, granting them the ability to see through the netherworld and perceive spirits.
But only those with Subtle Mastery in martial arts or cultivators of the Cocoon-Breaking Realm, who had undergone the Rebirth Realm, possessed that ability.
As for the Stealing Heaven's Secret System—
One had to enter the Heroic Domain, with one's spiritual consciousness covering the body's inner and outer structures down to the tiniest detail, to gain that ability.
"Troublesome..."
Wu Dao narrowed his eyes and fixed his gaze on the ghost onstage, clicking his tongue.
If this thing weren't possibly connected to the anomaly inside Canyun Mountain, to be honest, he wouldn't have much interest in getting involved.
Still, he wasn't in a hurry.
Just because he had no way to deal with it didn't mean the natives of this world were helpless, too.
He couldn't fight the ghost.
But fighting people was as easy as taking candy from a baby. All he had to do was wait and reap the benefits.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~
As Wu Dao's thoughts stirred, the chilling wind grew stronger. The opera music inside Pear Garden gradually faded until it could no longer be heard.
The Green-Clad Dan onstage stopped singing and dancing.
The three red-and-white knots below the stage fell silent as well.
Whoosh~
A gust of cold wind swept by.
The Green-Clad Dan onstage turned into a ghostly shadow, flickering between solid and insubstantial.
Chilling winds swept through the air.
The Green-Clad Dan, flickering in and out of existence, tiptoed like a phantom in the wind and drifted off the stage.
Her sorrowful, mournful manner vanished, replaced by the ravenous hunger of a beast that had just caught its prey.
A strange, greedy look spread across her heavily made-up face. Crouching like a hyena before the three twisted knots, she opened her mouth and sucked in a breath.
Right before everyone's eyes,
the three contorted knots shriveled up. Their white bones surged into the Green-Clad Ghost's mouth like streams of milk.
After only a few breaths,
all that remained on the ground were three limp lumps of dough. Every bone had vanished, leaving a sight so horrifying it made one's skin crawl.
Still not making a move?
Wu Dao watched the scene and looked in surprise at Yun Tianliu, who remained calm and composed nearby.
Had he guessed wrong?
Did these people have no way to capture ghosts? Were they just following the clues, waiting for the anomaly behind it all to show itself?
Thud, thud, thud—
As Wu Dao wondered, his ears twitched. He heard heavy footsteps drawing nearer.
Along with them came a stern, righteous shout—
"Impudent demon! In broad daylight, how dare you harm people? Take this!"
The shout shattered the eerie silence of the ghost-haunted night.
Wu Dao was startled. Yun Tianliu frowned, and the breathing of the hidden people around them grew ragged.
The Green-Clad Ghost in Pear Garden seemed as startled as a wild beast. A gust of dark wind swept around her, and she was about to dissolve into an intangible wandering soul.
But before she could disappear—
Whoosh!
The sound of something cutting through the air rang out.
Beneath the stars and moon, a three-foot-long Tianpeng Ruler wrapped in yellow talismans and gleaming with multicolored light streaked through the sky. Like a long nail, it pinned the Green-Clad Ghost in place.
"Eee—!"
A shrill, agonized cry like an eagle's screech rang out. A storm of spiritual power burst forth, crashing in every direction like a raging sea.
"Ah! What kind of fool was that?!"
"Damn it!"
"I'm in agony!"
Under the spiritual storm's attack, the hidden people all around screamed in pain, and the place erupted into chaos. They had clearly been badly hurt.
Even Wu Dao—
His head throbbed as though needles were stabbing into it. He frowned hard.
"Ah, my apologies, fellow cultivators! I'll subdue this fiend right away!"
The newcomer seemed not to have expected this, either. Though he hadn't arrived yet, his apology had already reached them.
Accompanied by hurried footsteps,
a young Daoist in a gray robe appeared beneath the bright moon.
He was about twenty, tall and slender, with a sallow face and a goatee. His hair was gathered in a Daoist topknot with a wooden hairpin, and a patched Divination Bag and Red Skin Gourd hung from his waist.
He didn't look like much, more like a little weakling who'd been malnourished for years, but an unmistakable sense of righteous integrity radiated from him.
A Daoist?
Wu Dao stared, momentarily stunned. There was something familiar and comforting about the man's appearance. He looked just like the wandering Daoists of Wu Dao's previous life.
But Wu Dao knew the truth.
The path of cultivation definitely existed in this world. Those called Daoists most likely followed it.
The mysterious Daoist's sudden arrival had broken the deadlock in Pear Garden, but it also seemed to be throwing everyone's schemes off course.
He had clearly come for the Green-Clad Dan. Every word and gesture of his suggested that he intended to subdue the demon.
The only question was whether he'd planned this in advance—
or was simply passing through, sensed the ghostly disturbance, and stepped in out of righteous duty.
"Boundless Heavenly Venerable..."
The Daoist strode beneath the moonlight, moving quickly. In only a few blinks, he reached Pear Garden. Seeing the carnage, he couldn't help sighing.
"This truly is a heinous crime!"
Then his eyes flashed coldly as he fixed his gaze on the Green-Clad Dan struggling beneath the Tianpeng Ruler.
Seeing a lotus with alternating white and gray petals bloom between her brows, he said coldly, "If you're allowed to cross this threshold and cultivate into a White Lotus, who knows how many more sins you'll commit!"
"Daoist... I couldn't help myself. I never meant to hurt anyone. Please, I beg you, spare me just this once."
Beneath the Tianpeng Ruler,
the Green-Clad Dan had been badly wounded and subdued. Her earlier ferocity and shrill cries were gone. Now she pleaded in a soft, gentle voice.
"Silence!"
The young Daoist's words rang out like spring thunder. Upright and unyielding, he roared, "A ghost is a ghost! The fact that you've harmed people is plain as day, yet you still spout one ghostly lie after another?"
With that, the Daoist took the Red Skin Gourd covered in talismans from his waist and began to chant under his breath.
In less than three breaths,
the light of the talismans on the Red Skin Gourd blazed. It floated into the air and unleashed a suction force, drawing the Green-Clad Dan inside inch by inch.
Faintly,
the sound of liquid sloshing inside the gourd mingled with shrill screams.
What a treasure!
Seeing this, greed flared in Wu Dao's eyes.
If he had that gourd,
he wouldn't be helpless the next time he encountered Ghostly Entities.
White Lotus Fierce Ghost?
At the same time, Wu Dao didn't forget the information the Daoist had let slip. It seemed that ghosts in this world were ranked according to their cultivation.
He didn't know the rest,
but the basic ranks seemed to be Grey Lotus and White Lotus.
If he wasn't mistaken,
the Green-Clad Dan's cultivation lay somewhere between the two.
Judging by the young Daoist's wary attitude, a White Lotus Fierce Ghost was probably equivalent to a cultivator of the Cocoon-Breaking Realm—a highly dangerous opponent.
As his thoughts churned,
the red light of the floating gourd in Pear Garden gradually dimmed. The Green-Clad Dan had been sucked inside in her entirety.
Only then did the young Daoist let out a breath of relief.
Using the gourd seemed to have taken a heavy toll on his spirit. His face was full of exhaustion he could barely conceal.
But just then!
"Haha, many thanks for your help, Daoist! Allow me to handle the task of converting her from here!"
A voice, brimming with barely restrained excitement, rang out of nowhere.
From the shadows,
a knife-wielding man suddenly sprang out. Fast as a leopard, he kicked up a gust of wind, his face greedy as he reached for the falling gourd.
"Impudent!"
"You're asking for death!"
"That's a Chang Ghost! Whoever gets it can find the Strange Treasure in Canyun Mountain! Take it!"
The knife-wielding man's sudden attack
was like a spark tossed into a pan of oil. Shouts and roars thundered from all sides, as shadowy figures brimming with murderous intent burst out.
Every one of them made a beeline for the Red Skin Gourd!
"Haha, it's mine!"
The knife-wielding man was no weakling. He was at least at the peak of Internal Strengthening, charging forward like a tiger and bounding like a leopard. In the blink of an eye, he reached the falling gourd, leapt up, and grabbed it.
Shing!
But in the next instant, a blade bit into flesh, and blood sprayed through the air!
In the cold moonlight,
the knife-wielding man was cut clean in half at the waist. Red and green gore spattered the ground in a gruesome mess.
An old man with a sinister face had struck him from behind with a blade. He seized the gourd and turned to flee.
But the surrounding martial artists had already surged around them, cutting off every escape route.
Where could he run?
Clang, clang, clang!
Blades clashed, and flesh flew!
A full-scale melee erupted!
"Wait, what are you doing?!"
From the knife-wielding man's appearance to the outbreak of the melee, the young Daoist had been staring in shock and confusion.
By the time he came to his senses,
the area around him had become a meat grinder. Flying chunks of flesh splattered him, turning him into a blood-soaked gourd.
"Stop! Don't fight!!"
The little Daoist looked frantic. Gone was his earlier decisiveness; now he was at a loss, hastily calling out to stop them.
But the people around him had already gone berserk. His voice couldn't reach them, and he could barely look after himself.
Someone had already set their sights on his Divination Bag and Tianpeng Ruler, taking him for an easy mark. Blades, fists, and feet came crashing down on him without mercy.
Wu Dao hadn't made a move. He simply watched from where he stood, since Yun Tianliu, hidden nearby, and another presence at the Divine Strength Realm hadn't acted either.
He watched the goateed Daoist dart left and right in the crowd, struggling to cope, yet unable to bring himself to strike back hard. A strange look came over his face.
Where had this blockhead come from?
Had he learned a few grand principles about righting wrongs and then gone down the mountain to roam the world?
The Immortal Dao was mysterious and unpredictable, enough to make people wary—but only if they feared you.
Most of the people there were clearly the sort who'd lived by the blade, hard-bitten thugs who cared only about what was in front of them. They didn't give a damn whether you were a lord or a minister.
And in that situation, he'd brazenly shown off all the treasures he had on him.
Not only that.
He'd exhausted himself, leaving his Origin Qi badly depleted, yet still refused to hurt anyone in return. He had no idea how treacherous people could be.
Wasn't this just asking to die?
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