"Oh, what an honor. The City Lord, the Deputy City Lord, and all the elders are here—and you've even brought such a huge force. Are you throwing me a welcoming party?"
Xia Ping swept his gaze around. Aside from over a thousand Nether Ghosts, Qingyang City's City Lord Gao Ansheng, Deputy City Lord Tang Yu, the other elders, and every commander had all appeared here.
Practically all of Qingyang City's upper ranks had come.
This was a killing trap, one meant to put him to death, with no way out.
"A welcoming party, indeed—but one to welcome you into hell. Are you surprised to see so many of us here?"
City Lord Gao Ansheng said smugly, "You may have thought Deputy City Lord Tang Yu betrayed me before, but that was merely a scheme—a scheme to lure you into this trap.
"I never expected you not to suspect a thing, foolishly stepping right into the trap I designed without a single hitch. Boring. This is truly far too boring."
Xia Ping remained expressionless and unmoved as he looked at Deputy City Lord Tang Yu. "You should be human. Aren't Nether Ghosts humanity's mortal enemies? Yet you actually threw in your lot with them and became their lackey?!"
He could tell that Tang Yu and the others carried the aura of humans. They had not been possessed by Nether Ghosts.
"A wise man submits to circumstances."
Tang Yu spoke as though it were only natural. "There is no future in being human. This world will inevitably become a world of Nether Ghosts, demons, and devils. Humans cannot contend against them. Only by becoming vassals of the Nether Ghosts can we have a sliver of hope for survival. I merely made the correct judgment. Surrendering to the Nether Ghosts is not a