Marked, Another Announcement

It was Lin Xue.

Sharp ice crystals condensed around her, faint light flickering inside them.

In just an instant, four or five had formed.

Seeing this, Fan Shang pointed at someone's back without hesitation.

It was the Grudge-Crying Ghost that had glared at him earlier.

Then came a whoosh!

The sharp ice crystals streaked through the air.

They moved so fast that Fan Shang could even hear them slicing through the air.

But when they reached the survivor's back, Fan Shang was disappointed.

The freezing ice crystals simply passed straight through the man's back without doing anything.

They neither hurt the ghost nor accomplished anything else.

They had no effect whatsoever.

"It's no use."

Several more ice crystals shot out, but they still did nothing. Lin Xue shook her head, her expression grim.

Another bout of sobbing followed.

Before everyone's eyes, the bluish-purple figure appeared again, this time on another person's back.

As the man's screams grew more intense, his chest began collapsing inward along the marks left by the arms strangling him.

Then a mouthful of crimson blood sprayed out.

Whoosh-!!

Another conical ice crystal flashed straight past.

The bluish-purple figure merely glared resentfully at Lin Xue. Then the ice crystal shattered, and black mist coiled around the figure.

"Hee... boohoo... human, human scent..."

The infant vanished in an instant.

But Liu Tie and the others could all feel an icy gaze clinging to them.

The ghost had set its sights on them.

"We're... we're done for. Brother Tie, what do we do now? Lin Xue's ability doesn't seem to be able to hurt that ghost at all..."

Zhou Ping swallowed as he spoke.

He had seen Lin Xue's Sequence ability before.

The ice crystals she formed could punch straight through rock.

Yet what had just happened? Her ability hadn't even touched that ghost.

As he thought this, the two ghosts had already begun killing again.

Screams, chaos, and all manner of noise blended together.

As the fear around them deepened, Fan Shang could see that the survivors who originally had no handprints on their backs...

...were now developing those same tiny black handprints.

Turning his head, Fan Shang saw a wisp of black smoke appear on Zhou Ping's back.

Then a black handprint slowly took shape.

Zhou Ping... had been marked too.

Perhaps because he was a Sequence User...

...the instant the handprint appeared, Zhou Ping felt an icy chill.

The moment he felt it, he knew he had been targeted too.

"Brother Tie, I... I've been targeted!"

As he spoke, Zhou Ping shuddered, fear rising in his heart.

The thought of the survivors' horrific deaths was almost unbearable, even for a Sequence User like him.

And just as he was thinking this...

...Liu Tie and the others felt their hearts sink at his words.

After all, if Zhou Ping had been targeted, how long would it be before they were too?

Not long. They had to come up with a solution, fast!

"Damn it!"

"Quick, think of something! How do we kill that ghost? Otherwise, we're all going to die here!"

As he spoke, Liu Tie pulled two paper talismans from his pocket, one yellow and one purple.

For some reason, the instant he took them out, he felt considerably calmer.

He regained his composure.

Lin Xue didn't hesitate either. She knew it was time to put her life on the line.

Ignoring the strain on her body, she condensed a multitude of ice crystals around her.

At the same time, her body temperature kept dropping.

As for Zhou Ping, though he was nearly frightened to his knees, he still remembered to rummage in his pocket.

He pulled out four small objects resembling steamed buns.

He handed them out to Fan Shang and the other two.

"Brother Tie, you... you guys have to protect me..."

"Heh, Zhou Ping, you little rascal. I didn't realize you'd kept so much good stuff tucked away!"

Liu Tie took the little bun-like object Zhou Ping offered him.

He was a little surprised, but he still grinned and spoke.

"Don't worry. Brother Tie's got your back."

His words eased the atmosphere around them, which had been stretched almost to breaking point.

Seeing Fan Shang looking at the bun-like object in his hand, Liu Tie offered a brief explanation.

"This is another of Zhou Ping's Sequence abilities. Eating it will boost our strength."

With that, Liu Tie said no more and looked around.

Fan Shang's mouth twitched. He had realized that Liu Tie and the others weren't exactly straightforward either. They certainly had plenty of tricks up their sleeves.

In that short span of time, nearly ten more people had died out of the fifty-odd survivors left in the convoy.

Whenever Liu Tie saw this, he couldn't help thinking to himself.

Humans are far too fragile before these ghosts. If we can't deal with them quickly...

...we'll be the next to die.

What do we do? How are we supposed to fight a ghost with no physical body?

Even with these talismans, there's nothing we can do if we can't hit it. Or... do we just have to try everything we can?

With that thought, Liu Tie tightened his grip on his hoe.

Then he shouted.

"Fan Shang, point it out-"

"I know! I know how to kill these things!"

Before Liu Tie could finish speaking...

...a sharp look flashed across Fan Shang's pale, composed face.

Feeling the icy chill behind him...

...Fan Shang knew they had fallen victim too. They had been marked as well.

And the instant he was marked, that blood-red text he dreaded seeing yet longed to see began emerging before his eyes.

[My name is Fan Shang. By the time you see this, I am already dead. The convoy encountered a Grudge-Crying Ghost. We were marked. I should have realized sooner. The failure of Lin Xue's attacks was deliberate on the Grudge-Crying Ghost's part. I should have realized sooner. The Grudge-Crying Ghost is not without a physical body. In the few seconds when it kills, it takes physical form. I cannot die. I cannot die here yet...]

Reading the announcement, Fan Shang narrowed his eyes slightly.

He had found a way to kill the Grudge-Crying Ghost, and he had also gained a new understanding of his Death-Announcing System.

It seemed that to trigger a death announcement, he had to be under a certain degree of threat.

Whether that threat came from the Cat-Faced Ghost's indiscriminate killing, being directly targeted by the Compound-Eyed Sunflower, or the Grudge-Crying Ghost's marking and killing...

...his announcements, his last words, seemed to require him to be under threat before they could trigger!

"How?!"

Liu Tie's voice came through, tense and urgent.

But before Fan Shang could respond, a trembling voice revealed what was happening.

"F-Fan Shang, buddy, if you have a way, tell us now! It... that ghost is staring at me and crawling toward me!"

As he spoke, Zhou Ping pointed in front of him.

Looking up, Fan Shang saw a bluish-purple infant crawling toward Zhou Ping, its face filled with spite.

"Boohoo... heehee..."