Shock After Shock

After winding along for about fifteen minutes, Li Hai, who had been following behind Guo Lao San, finally caught sight of wisps of cooking smoke rising in the distance, at the far end of a golden sea of rice.

Beneath those curling strands of smoke, a village appeared and disappeared from view.

"We're here, we're here."

Guo Lao San pointed ahead and called out, "That's Guo Family Village. Just a few more steps and we'll be there."

Li Hai nodded without speaking.

A little while later, they finally reached the village entrance.

Standing beneath an old locust tree with lush branches and leaves, Li Hai put his hands on his hips and looked around. He found that this place was not much different from an ordinary village.

The village was mostly made up of earthen houses of all sizes and shapes, old and shabby-looking.

But because many children were laughing and running about, while many young adults and elders were resting in the shade, it looked full of the warmth of mortal life.

Yet Li Hai knew that all of it was an illusion.

If he looked with human eyes now, these would surely be nothing but gloomy, dilapidated haunted houses.

So that was exactly what Li Hai did.

He discreetly reverted to his living form and swiftly swept his gaze over the inside and outside of the village.

Sure enough, the laughing, running children, along with some of the young adults and elders, were all ghosts. Moreover, nearly all of them were ugly Charred Corpse Ghosts.

And those earthen houses had all turned into black ruins, more than half collapsed.

As for that supposed warmth of village life, it had become bleak, desolate silence.

Could it be... that Guo Family Village suffered a fire long ago?

After shifting back into his ghostly form, Li Hai guessed inwardly, Did that fire burn everyone to death, and then some other change turn all the burned villagers into Charred Corpse Ghosts?

While his thoughts ran wild, Guo Lao San's voice sounded beside his ear.

"Young man, what are you standing around for? Hurry up and come with me to the village chief's house."

"Oh, okay."

Li Hai answered casually, then followed the briskly walking Guo Lao San deeper into the village.

As they traveled, he deliberately glanced at the various ghosts in the village, hoping to find new skills and traits.

But to Li Hai's disappointment, the personal panels of those child ghosts, adult ghosts, and elderly ghosts all looked exactly like Guo Lao San's. Every one of them possessed only the skill Ghost Body Soul Remains.

"Pah. They've got nothing at all."

Li Hai scoffed inwardly. A bunch of poor ghosts.

Before long, he and Guo Lao San arrived at the highest point in the village, a rocky slope with a grain-drying yard built atop it.

There stood a large tiled house, clearly of a higher grade than the earthen houses in the village.

"Village Chief! Little Jin!"

Guo Lao San walked up to the tiled house on his two old legs and knocked on the door with a loud bang-bang-bang. "It's your Third Uncle! Open the door!"

Creak~

The wooden door slowly opened, and a young man emerged. Though he wore coarse cloth garments, he was remarkably handsome and carried himself with a gentle, refined air.

Clearly, he was the Little Jin Guo Lao San had mentioned, as well as the village chief of Guo Family Village.

The young village chief looked at Guo Lao San and asked with a frown, "Third Uncle, didn't you go collect grain? What did you come to see me for?"

"Little Jin, don't you hate working in the fields?"

Guo Lao San grinned foolishly and pointed at the silent Li Hai behind him. "So I found you a laborer."

"Oh, I see."

The young village chief immediately smiled. "That's perfect. I just happen to need someone to help me harvest grain."

While the two spoke, Li Hai was secretly shocked.

Because this village chief named Little Jin... had no visible personal panel information whatsoever.

The system had no reaction to this young man, as though he simply did not exist.

Just as Li Hai stood there in confusion, Guo Lao San turned around and beckoned to him.

"Hey, young man! Come here, come here. I'll introduce you."

Li Hai grinned, putting on an honest and simple smile as he walked over without a word.

"Well, this is our village chief—Guo Huaijin."

Guo Lao San patted the handsome young man's shoulder and said bluntly, "His father was my cousin, and he was the previous village chief of Guo Family Village."

"Guo Huaijin?!"

Li Hai's pupils trembled slightly. He then maintained his honest smile, grabbed the young village chief named Guo Huaijin by the hand, and spouted nonsense. "I had long heard that Village Chief Guo was a man of exceptional talent. Seeing you today, you truly have an extraordinary bearing."

"Of course!"

Beside him, Guo Lao San raised his head and bragged with pursed lips, "My grandnephew is a famous handsome young man within a hundred miles. Even Old Fortress Master Qian wanted to take him in as a live-in son-in-law. If not for how deeply Little Jin and Asu loved each other as husband and wife..."

"That's enough, Third Uncle."

Guo Huaijin said helplessly, "Your mouth really has no restraint. You've nearly spilled every detail of my family affairs."

"Fine, fine, I won't say anymore. Hehe." Guo Lao San lightly slapped himself across the mouth and laughed heartily.

"Third Uncle~ Huaijin~"

A gentle female voice came from inside the house. "What are you talking about?"

Following the voice, a beautiful, gentle-looking pregnant woman slowly emerged, supporting her waist.

"Asu, be careful."

Guo Huaijin hurriedly supported the pregnant woman and softly reproached her, "You should be resting properly. Why did you come out? What if the wind makes you catch a chill?"

"It's fine. The sun is so bright, how could I catch a chill?"

Asu smiled with pursed lips. "I heard Third Uncle call my name, so I came out to take a look."

"Ah, then it was Third Uncle's fault."

Guo Lao San rubbed his hands and laughed awkwardly. "Well, Asu, your belly is so big now. You'll probably be giving birth soon, right?"

"Yes." Asu nodded and smiled gently. "The physician examined me and said I would give birth this month."

As the group chatted, Li Hai was shocked once more.

This pregnant woman named Asu had personal panel information utterly different from that of every other villager in Guo Family Village—

Character Name: Asu

Level Rank: Ghost Path → Fierce Soul

Skills: Ghost Body Soul Remains<Evil Spirit Earth Yin Absorption Method (Incomplete)>Evil Sha Yin DescentResentful Sha Yang Extinguishing

Trait Characteristics: [Ghost Body Level 2][Ghostly Image Level 2][Twin Sha Level 2]

Stronger Fragment: None

Judging from both the number of skills and the levels of her traits, this female ghost named Asu was undoubtedly the true strongest ghost in Guo Family Village.

But what exactly was going on with Guo Huaijin, who was happily chatting with Asu and Guo Lao San right before his eyes?

And what relationship did he have with that Old Dog Guo outside the forest?

Who was the real Guo Huaijin?

Li Hai was utterly baffled by all of it.

"Damn it, if I can't figure it out, then I won't think about it. Whoever they are, I'll learn the skills first."

After thinking for several seconds without finding an answer, Li Hai immediately threw all those messy questions to the back of his mind and began focusing on secretly learning Asu's skills.