At the sound of that sinister sobbing...
Fan Shang narrowed his eyes, while Little Black arched his back beside him.
"Hah!"
Without hesitation, the instant he heard Zhou Ping's words, Fan Shang offered his solution.
"It's simple. When the Grudge-Crying Ghost goes in for the kill, it reveals its true form for a few seconds. We just have to seize that chance and kill it!"
Fan Shang spoke quickly. As he watched the creature crawl toward Zhou Ping, he couldn't help putting some distance between them.
Of course, this wasn't because Fan Shang was afraid that Zhou Ping's death might drag him down too. It was simply an instinct to protect his own life.
He wasn't the only one. Liu Tie and Lin Xue also unconsciously backed away a little.
That left Fan Shang somewhat speechless, but he had no objections.
After all, there was nothing wrong with keeping yourself safe.
In fact, the fact that they hadn't turned tail and run already spoke well of their relationship. Of course, being unable to escape was another factor.
In any case, Zhou Ping was currently within their attack range.
The moment anything changed, all three of them could strike.
Those thoughts flashed through his mind.
Questions followed right on their heels.
"Attack then? But didn't Lin Xue already...?"
It was Liu Tie's voice.
Fan Shang naturally knew what he meant: earlier, Lin Xue's ice crystals had exploded before they even touched the creature.
It was perfectly normal to have doubts.
One wrong move, and Liu Tie would be killed outright by the creature.
But there was no time to explain. Fan Shang got straight to the point.
"It did that on purpose! It deliberately made us think we couldn't hurt it even then, so it could kill more people!"
"There's no time to explain the rest. Trust me!"
At that, Liu Tie said nothing more and simply tightened his grip on his hoe.
Lin Xue was even less likely to speak. She wasn't much of a talker to begin with. Since there was a solution, she would just follow it!
But compared to their composure, Zhou Ping was almost scared witless.
Because he could already see the blue-purple hand on his shoulder.
And the Grudge-Crying Ghost's venomous face.
"F-Fan Shang, buddy, is... is this really going to work? N-nothing's going to go wrong, right?!"
Zhou Ping spoke to vent his anxiety.
Fan Shang naturally understood how Zhou Ping felt. After all, someone with a support Sequence couldn't possibly remain unafraid after being targeted by a supernatural creature.
So Fan Shang said nothing that might undermine his confidence. Confidence was what Zhou Ping needed right now.
Instead, Fan Shang merely raised the fire axe in his hand and spoke.
"Don't worry. It'll work."
As for what would happen after it worked, Fan Shang didn't say, because he didn't know either. But there was one thing he could be sure of.
Even if they interrupted the Grudge-Crying Ghost's attempt to kill, that probably wouldn't be the end of it. These creatures weren't so easy to deal with.
And the instant Fan Shang finished speaking, a blood-red handprint abruptly appeared on Zhou Ping's back.
Then Zhou Ping felt a weight settle onto his back.
An intense, icy chill spread from his back through his entire body.
At that moment, even though Zhou Ping knew what the Grudge-Crying Ghost looked like, his body still couldn't stop trembling with fear.
It was like facing a natural predator. No matter how calm you were, you couldn't suppress the fear when a creature like this was beside you.
"Sob, sob... human... human scent..."
The next instant, a blue-purple figure appeared on Zhou Ping's back without warning.
Then its blue-purple hand lunged straight for Zhou Ping's head.
Yes, the Grudge-Crying Ghost had changed its movements.
It wanted to-it intended to kill Zhou Ping outright.
Because it could sense that this human posed a threat to it, and so did the other three.
Driven by instinct, the Grudge-Crying Ghost wanted to kill the human before it immediately.
But it had only just begun to move.
Suddenly, the Grudge-Crying Ghost heard something cutting through the air.
Then a hoe sharpened to a razor edge came straight for its forehead.
"Die!"
It was Liu Tie.
He truly lived up to his status as a veteran who had survived nearly a year in the highway world.
There was no hesitation in his strike.
The instant the creature appeared, he charged straight in with his treasured hoe.
Lin Xue's ice crystals followed too.
Sensing the incoming attacks, the Grudge-Crying Ghost released black mist around its body, intending to withstand this assault just as it had before.
It wanted these humans to experience utter despair.
But as that thought crossed its mind, a cone-shaped ice crystal struck the black mist.
The first shattered. The second thinned the mist slightly. Then came the third, the fourth...
The instant the fifth struck, the formerly dense black mist had become incredibly thin.
And that sight only strengthened Liu Tie and the others' conviction.
They could hit it. They could kill this creature!
The creature clearly hadn't expected this.
It tried to move.
But Liu Tie's hoe was already right in front of its face.
Then... came the sound of flesh caving in.
With his tremendous strength, Liu Tie smashed the creature's skull apart with his hoe.
"Aaaaargh!!!"
A shriek rang out, and the black mist broke apart.
A single blow from Liu Tie's hoe sent the Grudge-Crying Ghost flying backward.
That low, growling sound was the creature's scream.
At the sight, Fan Shang's eyelid twitched.
Deep down, he seriously questioned what Liu Tie had said when introducing his Sequence earlier.
Seriously, man, you're telling me this is the [Farmer] Sequence? You call that having a bit of strength? Even a joke has its limits!
Suppressing his urge to unleash a torrent of complaints, Fan Shang turned his gaze a short distance away.
The Grudge-Crying Ghost, whose form had previously been completely invisible to his right eye, could now actually be seen.
In other words, the creature now had a physical form!
"I... I survived?!"
Feeling the icy chill vanish from his back, Zhou Ping spoke in delighted surprise.
But a cold dose of reality immediately followed.
"Don't celebrate just yet, kid. We've got trouble."
Liu Tie's expression was grave.
"We finally solved the problem of not being able to hit it, and now there's another problem!"
At those words, they followed Liu Tie's gaze and saw the Grudge-Crying Ghost's body convulsing wildly a short distance away.
At the same time, thick black mist kept pouring out of its shattered head.
"Wait, it... it's still not dead? You've got to be kidding me!"
Zhou Ping spoke.
Then the creature's wounds began healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The icy chill radiating from its body could be felt even several meters away.
"It got stronger after taking physical form! What kind of joke is this?!"
But Liu Tie clearly had no intention of giving the creature a chance to recover.
He swallowed the steamed bun in his mouth in one gulp. Before Fan Shang's eyes, Liu Tie's body visibly swelled a size larger.
Then he lunged forward in a sudden burst.
He was just about to swing his hoe down and plant the creature in the ground when it crawled out of the way of his strike.
Then a hand wreathed in black mist grabbed at Liu Tie's ankle.
Riiip!!
The sound of tearing fabric rang out.
Bloody claw marks appeared on Liu Tie's ankle.
Fortunately, Liu Tie reacted quickly. Otherwise, his entire ankle would have been severed.
Catching it off guard, Liu Tie swung his hoe down several more times. The tremendous force even cracked the ground.
But it was no use.
It barely helped. In mere moments, black mist enveloped and healed the wounds he had inflicted, and the Grudge-Crying Ghost lunged at Liu Tie again.
In just a short while, dozens of bloody gashes appeared across Liu Tie's body.
And all of this had happened in just over a minute.
Of course, this wasn't because Liu Tie was weak. On the contrary, he was strong enough to kill a person with a single punch.
But his strength was useless against this creature.
Because as long as that layer of black mist remained, the creature could keep healing its wounds.
"Lin Xue, attack!"
Before you continue