"Enough! Quit wailing like a ghost in here. You're making a fool of yourself!"
A cold, hoarse voice rang out abruptly, as if it could scrape the flesh from a man's bones.
Ghost Leopard Douluo's sobbing stopped dead.
A cold, withered hand like an iron claw had somehow settled on his shoulder. It yanked him bodily out of Chrysanthemum Douluo's embrace.
It was Ghost Douluo.
His gloomy face betrayed no emotion.
Yet the temperature around them seemed to drop several degrees all at once.
Ghost Leopard Douluo shuddered and immediately clamped his mouth shut. He even forced back his sobs, though his body still trembled uncontrollably.
Seeing this, Tuoba Xi, Demon Bear Douluo, and the others couldn't help giving Ghost Douluo a mental thumbs-up.
Old Ghost was still the one who could cure anything.
Of course, Ghost Douluo would never admit it.
He simply thought Ghost Leopard's tear-and-snot-streaked old face looked rather unsightly pressed against Yue Guan's luxurious, immaculate robe.
Extremely unsightly.
Was someone as stupid as him allowed to lean on Yue Guan's shoulder whenever he pleased?
From beneath the shadows, Ghost Douluo's eyes coldly swept over the stain of tears and snot on Chrysanthemum Douluo's shoulder. His voice grew even hoarser and more chilling.
"If you want to obtain the senior's fortune, then at least show some... dignity."
With that, he said no more. Grabbing Ghost Leopard Douluo by the collar with an iron grip, he dragged him toward Maple Dye Pavilion like a dead dog.
Chrysanthemum Douluo watched his old comrade's resolute retreat, then glanced down at the stain on his shoulder.
The corners of his enchanting lips curled into a barely perceptible smile of pleasure that no one noticed.
At last, amid the Spirit City residents' dazed, horrified gazes, mingled with boundless sympathy...
The farce came to an end.
Outside Maple Dye Pavilion's simple, elegant entrance,
the same batch of exceptionally distinguished guests from yesterday had gathered again, without a single one missing.
Only, the lineup had become somewhat... difficult to describe.
Ghost Douluo still led the way, his signature black robe moving without a breeze, his entire body radiating a chilling aura that warned others to keep their distance.
The only difference was that he was also carrying a dejected "ornament" in his hand.
Behind them,
Chrysanthemum Douluo held up Yue Guan's Sigh—an item he treasured beyond measure—with a delicate, orchid-like gesture, lightly covering the corner of his mouth. For some reason, a trace of amusement glimmered in his gaze as he watched Ghost Douluo's back.
Spirit Kite Douluo regarded Ghost Leopard Douluo's sorry state with great interest. Her phoenix eyes, ablaze with golden Divine Flame, were practically overflowing with schadenfreude.
Of course, the "good disciple" Yan, sporting a "pig's head," trailed close beside her.
At the rear of the group walked Tuoba Xi, his expression solemn.
Hu Liena and her elder brother Xie Yue, flanking him, looked just as devout, as if they were about to meet a god.
At last, the group reached once more the shop door that seemed to divide the mortal world from the Divine Realm.
"Senior, we... have come to trouble you again."
Ghost Leopard Douluo, still dangling from Ghost Douluo's grip, hurriedly bowed as well, his posture so humble he seemed ready to sink into the dust.
But—
One second.
Two seconds.
A long while passed, yet not a sound came from inside the shop.
The silence was like death.
Ghost Douluo took a deep breath, stepped forward first, and bowed deeply toward the figure reclining in the rocking chair inside.
Ghost Douluo's heart tightened. He slowly lifted his head and cautiously peered behind the counter.
On the rocking chair, the figure they regarded as a god, the master of creation itself, had his eyes closed, his chest rising and falling steadily.
His breathing was even; his expression serene.
The senior had...
fallen asleep?
Just then, Chrysanthemum Douluo, Spirit Kite Douluo, and the others caught up and instinctively began to greet him.
A moment before they could make a sound, Ghost Douluo summoned every ounce of speed he possessed and sent a thought filled with utter terror and warning ringing through the minds of everyone behind him!
"Silence!"
Every one of them stopped in unison at the door, as if an invisible, sacred boundary lay inside the shop. They dared not cross it by even the slightest measure!
Ghost Douluo's hoarse telepathic voice sounded again, this time carrying absolute reverence that rose from the depths of his soul.
"The senior... is resting."
"We must not disturb him!"
At his words, these Titled Douluo, powerful enough to stir the outside world, didn't even dare breathe too loudly.
They feared that the faintest breath might become a sin, disturbing a god's slumber.
Resting?
No!
That mundane word flashed through their minds for only an instant before being crushed beneath an even deeper reverence and astonishment, rising from the depths of their souls.
After witnessing miracles that defied fate, reshaped Martial Souls, and bestowed divine flames, who could still foolishly believe that this senior needed ordinary sleep like a mortal?
This was no simple rest!
It was clearly a higher form of... cultivation, beyond their understanding—or even their imagination!
Was he roaming the great void in his dreams?
Or was his divine soul contemplating the truths of heaven and earth?
How could ordinary mortals like them hope to glimpse even a fraction of a god's mysteries?
To stand here in silence, guarding the senior without making the slightest sound—
That alone was an immense honor!
At once, everyone imitated Ghost Douluo, bowing reverently and silently toward the little shop door.
Their devotion far surpassed what they would show before the Pope!
And so, the mighty Titled Douluo of Spirit Hall stood motionless outside Maple Dye Pavilion like the most devout of believers.
Of their own accord, they even formed a human wall, sealing off the entire street.
Any passerby who tried to approach was frightened into fleeing in disarray by the terrifying aura they unconsciously exuded, a presence powerful enough to freeze the soul.
Time passed, second by second.
Two hours slipped by.
Not one of these top-tier powerhouses, each capable of making the continent tremble with a single stomp, showed the slightest impatience.
Quite the opposite.
Their expressions grew more reverent, and the awe in their eyes deepened.
To "guard" such a godlike, mighty being and personally feel the Dao aura that drifted from his "cultivation"—that alone was an unparalleled opportunity worth more than its weight in gold!
Though their cultivation was too shallow for them to sense that Dao aura...
Inside the shop,
Lin Feng, lying in the rocking chair, finally let out a satisfied hum and slowly woke from his deep sleep.
Wonderful!
He'd spent half the night experimenting with the Ice and Fire Dual Heaven fusion technique, and that had been one hell of a good sleep!
He exhaled a long breath of stale air. Every joint in his body loosened. Instinctively, he wanted to stretch and give a long, blissful yawn.
But the instant his eyelids lifted a sliver,
every movement of his froze!