Heading to Ghost Village

"Phew~~"

In the mist-shrouded forest, Li Hai lowered his head, his face deathly pale like that of a corpse, and slowly exhaled an utterly frigid, sinister breath.

Right now, he felt as though the sea within his heart was as still and silent as a dead lake. Nothing interested him in the slightest, nor did any emotional ripples stir within him.

Yet what was horrifying was that when he raised his eyes and saw Guo Shiwen's mangled corpse over a dozen yards away, an intense appetite suddenly arose within Li Hai, driving him to rush over and feast on it.

It was as though that bloody corpse was not a corpse at all, but a braised pork knuckle.

"No! I'm a human, not a ghost. I can't do this!"

The instant that thought arose, the strange, seemingly irresistible craving vanished from Li Hai's heart as swiftly as mist scorched away beneath the blazing sun.

At the same time, his cold and muddled thoughts immediately cleared, becoming as lucid and distinct as those of a living person.

It was also at that moment that Li Hai somehow came to understand something.

If he disliked this ghostly appearance, he could return to his original living form with a single thought.

But likewise, all the abilities belonging to ghosts would be greatly weakened, to the point of being nearly useless.

Thus, in order to avoid being regarded as food by that Charred Corpse Ghost, Li Hai felt it would be better to maintain this ghostly form for now.

"So, in the eyes of ghosts..."

Looking from afar at Guo Shiwen's remains lying amid the rotting dead leaves more than a dozen yards away, Li Hai muttered in ghost speech, "All living people are servings of delicious food."

As he murmured, he also discovered that the vast, deep, gloomy forest surrounding him, as well as the misty, overcast sky above, had undergone a tremendous transformation.

The Ghost Forest had turned into a boundless field blanketed in golden rice, while the Nether Vault had become an endless expanse of azure sky.

A blazing sun hung high at the far end of that sky, generously scattering rays of sunlight that made the rice fields below gleam brilliantly, like a golden sea.

And the Charred Corpse Ghost that had just eaten half of Guo Shiwen's body—that old farmer—now appeared entirely like a living person. Squatting amid the rolling waves of golden rice, he had buried his head in a huge watermelon and was devouring it greedily.

Sunlight, rice fields, a farmer, watermelon... all of it together looked so warm and alive.

It was as if what Li Hai saw now was the real world, while everything he had seen before had merely been an inescapable nightmare of illusion.

"Could it be..."

He stared blankly at the golden sea of rice ahead with his lifeless eyes and murmured, "Is this the world as ghosts see it?"

"Young man, want some watermelon?"

The old farmer called out from afar, "The weather's so dry. Have some chilled watermelon to soothe your stomach."

"No, no."

Li Hai repeatedly waved his hands in refusal. "Thank you for the kind offer, but my stomach is bad. I just can't eat chilled watermelon."

As he spoke, his body flickered, and he crossed the dozen-yard distance in an instant, arriving beside the old farmer.

"Whoa!"

After steadying himself, Li Hai was secretly astonished. "After becoming a ghost, even my speed is this fast."

By his rough estimate, he was several times faster than when he activated Blood Devouring Burning Heart.

No wonder he had not been able to react at all when this old farmer pounced on Guo Shiwen.

This was faster than the wind. How could anyone react?

After collecting himself, Li Hai looked at the old farmer and asked with a smile,

"Old sir, how should I address you?"

Holding the watermelon, the old farmer mumbled, "This old man's called Guo Lao San. What's your surname, young man?"

"Guo?"

For some reason, Li Hai suddenly thought of Guo Huaijin.

"My surname is Li. My given name is Hai."

He crouched down and continued asking, "Old sir, once you're done with the farm work, where are you going back to? Where do you live?"

"Guo Family Village, of course."

Guo Lao San wiped the watermelon juice from the corner of his mouth. It was scarlet as blood. "There's only one village within dozens of miles around here. It's been that way for years."

As he said this, he suddenly rolled his eyes like a hanged ghost and stared fixedly at Li Hai. In a gloomy voice, he said, "Eh, that's not right. Since you specifically came here, why don't you know this is the territory of our Guo Family Village?"

"Heh heh heh~"

Li Hai smiled and casually made something up. "I travel everywhere. I just go wherever my feet take me."

"Oh~"

Guo Lao San's expression returned to normal as he muttered, "So you're an aimless drifter with no proper work."

"Old sir, after coming to this area, I happened to spend every last bit of my travel money."

Li Hai leaned closer and added, "Could I go to your Guo Family Village and work for a few days, earn enough money for food?"

"Sure."

Guo Lao San said, "The village chief's fields have just come into harvest. You can work as a harvest hand for a few days and help bring in the grain. What you earn should be enough to get you to the next village."

"That's easy. I've got plenty of strength."

Li Hai went along with it. "Give me a sickle, and I can cut from morning till night."

"Now that's great."

Guo Lao San gave an honest smile, then rose to his feet. "Come on, I'll take you back to the village."

"Alright."

Li Hai straightened up as well. "Old sir, lead the way. I'll follow behind."

Then the two of them walked one in front of the other, treading through the sea of rice toward the distance.

Logically speaking, Li Hai, who now possessed ghostly abilities, could have left this dark forest completely.

Then, relying on the Ghost Body trait that allowed him to shift freely between the tangible and intangible, he could have ignored ordinary firearm attacks, slaughtered the Musket Squad of Guo Family Fort, and properly dealt with that old dog Guo Huaijin.

But when one carried a blade, one did not fear meeting an enemy.

Now that he had basic combat strength as a safeguard, Li Hai naturally wanted to go a step further and acquire more trump cards.

In short, the key was to keep a low profile.

Therefore, following Guo Lao San to investigate the place where he had been born—the Guo Family Ghost Village—was an excellent choice.

Thus, the two of them... no, the two ghosts, slowly proceeded along the ridges between the fields beneath the scorching sunlight.

Swish~ swish~ swish~

As they traveled dozens of yards with every step, Li Hai caught sight of the heavy rice ears hanging low on either side. When the breeze blew, they swayed from side to side with a rustling sound, like human heads shaking and snickering.

"It looks pretty convincing, like it's real."

Muttering quietly, he swiftly dismissed his ghost form and looked with human eyes. He discovered that these were not rice ears at all, but gnarled, bizarre trees and withered shrubs.

There was no azure sky or blazing sun overhead either, only a misty, gloomy vault.

Beneath this Mist Dome, they were passing through trees and rocks like two phantom shadows, heading toward the deepest part of the dark forest.

To avoid being noticed by Guo Lao San, and to keep from falling too far behind, Li Hai hurriedly switched back into his ghostly form and quickened his pace to catch up.