Chapter 62: Lord Shadow Wraith (3)

There was no time to wonder why the vengeful spirit from the car accident was here; Wu Zui ran straight toward the edge of the highway. Among the three-star spirits, the car accident ghost was merely a bottom feeder—his magnetic energy was more than enough to let him break through the illusion at its boundary.

He barely managed a few steps before he fell with a heavy thud. All around him, countless pale ghostly hands emerged from the asphalt, tripping him and pinning him firmly to the ground. The massive truck once again barreled through his body, further draining his magnetic energy.

Wu Zui struggled, only to realize there were simply too many ghost hands holding him fast; he couldn’t break free. His golden weapons—both in hand and strapped to his back—had been flung aside in his tumble and were now even farther away, seized by the spectral hands.

If things continued this way, Wu Zui feared he would be consumed alive by the vengeful energy. A new heavy truck appeared on the road, heading straight for him. Gritting his teeth, he bit through the tip of his tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood. A scarlet flame ignited in midair.

The truck was unsurprisingly burned to nothingness; the red flame’s assault on vengeful energy was always so direct and overwhelming. As the fire spread to the ground, the ghost hands gradually disappeared, and the illusion began to fracture.

Wu Zui found himself inside the house behind the decayed wooden door. Beside him, Xiao Ke’ai sat with her eyes closed, magnetic energy wrapped tightly around her body, warding off the vengeful energy that kept surging toward her. She, too, seemed trapped in the illusion.

Wu Zui raised his hand; flames swept toward the vengeful energy pulling Xiao Ke’ai into the illusion, quickly incinerating them. She blinked herself awake, aware she’d been caught in the illusion, though still dazed.

“I never expected it to be you two! How dare you interfere with Lord Shadow Ghost’s plans again! My lord will never let you go!” A cold, venomous female voice rang out from a mass of black mist deep within the room, glaring at Wu Zui and Xiao Ke’ai with bitter hatred.

Wu Zui spread scarlet flames around both of them, wary of attacks from the darkness inside. As the black mist surged, he caught a glimpse of the ghost’s face—it was Qian Lan.

“So you possessed Qian Lan? That means the Shadow Ghost is the four-star spirit that escaped from Haishan?” As Wu Zui spoke, he handed the hammer back to Xiao Ke’ai, his left hand moving behind his back, flames gathering in his palm to form beams of red light.

“Four stars? My lord is favored by the heavens and is on the verge of becoming a Ghost King. By then, you worthless lot won’t even be enough for my lord to pick his teeth!” The car accident ghost’s words were punctuated by the swirling black mist, which threatened to envelop her completely.

“Red Fire Prison!”

“Shadow Shift!”

Wu Zui’s left hand flung out a six-sided cube formed of scarlet flames, trapping the car accident ghost within. She tried to escape using the black mist, but the Red Fire Prison caught her squarely.

Sizzle—

The car accident ghost, now pure black mist, slammed into the scarlet flames; a portion instantly burned to nothing, and the once dense mist grew dim.

Wu Zui tightened his left fist, sending threads of red flame from his fingertips to connect with the Red Fire Prison. He contracted the prison, squeezing the black mist’s space.

“Trapping me is useless. This is my lord’s shadow mist. You can’t outlast me! When your flames fail to hold me, let’s see who kills whom!” The car accident ghost glared at Wu Zui with venom, utterly unconcerned for herself.

“If I’m not mistaken, your vengeful energy is mostly drained, isn’t it? You’re weaker now than when we first met—robbed by a spirit stronger than you. It must have been the Shadow Ghost! It should have warned you just how deadly my blood is to your kind!”

Wu Zui wiped some blood from his tongue with his right hand, then pulled the Red Fire Prison in front of him. His right hand passed through the prison, poised to touch the car accident ghost, threatening her.

“No! Get that away!”

As expected, the car accident ghost screamed like a slaughtered pig at the sight of Wu Zui’s blood so close.

The Shadow Ghost’s shadow mist could indeed stand up to the scarlet flames, and even the Shadow Ghost itself could overpower the Red Fire. But when faced with the fire born from Wu Zui’s blood, not only the mist but even the Shadow Ghost’s true form might not withstand it.

The Shadow Ghost remembered clearly—Wu Zui’s blood-born flame could even burn the strangeness beneath Haishan. With its current strength, unless it gained power from some extraordinary phenomenon, it could never contend with that dormant monster beneath Haishan.

“Come back with me and confess everything about your spirits! Otherwise, I’ll burn you to ashes!” Wu Zui threatened the car accident ghost trapped in the Red Fire Prison.

He had developed the Red Fire Prison recently, while increasing his magnetic energy in the enhancement chamber, inspired by Wang Yichuan’s technique of turning magnetic energy into blades, and combining it with his own ideas.

As for why he wanted to capture the car accident ghost rather than destroy her on the spot—it was because the spirit detective who should have been patrolling outside Tiancheng Cinema had disappeared, and those who’d returned home without being checked for possession made Wu Zui suspect a conspiracy.

Moreover, three-star spirits possessed a certain intelligence; with intelligence came self-preservation, which meant they could be captured alive. This would also allow the institute to further analyze the cause of the ghost outbreak.

Just as Wu Zui expected, the car accident ghost hesitated.

Her vengeful energy had indeed been drained by the Shadow Ghost. Shortly after she possessed Qian Lan, she was controlled by the Shadow Ghost within Qian Lan. Facing a four-star spirit, she was a weakling among three-stars and naturally chose to submit to survive.

After her energy was drained, she, already weak among three-stars, was now even more pathetic. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have tried to run upon seeing Wu Zui and Xiao Ke’ai.

The Shadow Ghost made her its subordinate, instructing her to absorb vengeful energy inside Tiancheng Cinema, so the Shadow Ghost could periodically siphon it off. The shadow mist left behind was meant both as a lifeline and as surveillance.

“Ahhh—”

Suddenly, the car accident ghost howled; the shadow mist around her began corroding her body. Her form decayed as if exposed to acid, her vengeful energy spilling out and being absorbed by the mist.

Before Wu Zui could react, the car accident ghost was completely devoured by the shadow mist, transformed into pure vengeful energy.

Wu Zui immediately withdrew his right hand and pushed the Red Fire Prison far away. Then, clenching his left fist, he detonated the prison, flooding the shadow mist with scarlet flames, intent on burning it away!

As the flames gradually died, only a third of the original mist remained, drifting in the air.

“Impressive abilities, but you’re only a three-star. When my true form arrives, I’ll kill you and make you my ghost slave!”

The Shadow Ghost’s voice alone emanated from the remaining mist, yet it was enough to affect Wu Zui and Xiao Ke’ai—violent emotions began to surface.

Xiao Ke’ai gripped her hammer tighter, glaring at the mist with gritted teeth, itching to battle the Shadow Ghost right then. Wu Zui’s eyes reddened as he stared at the mist, seemingly ready to act.

But Wu Zui’s Red Fire Prison had nearly exhausted all his magnetic energy, and Xiao Ke’ai had spent much in the car accident ghost’s illusion. If they faced the shadow mist under the Shadow Ghost’s control now, victory was doubtful unless Wu Zui used his blood.

“Blood to Calm the Spirit!”

Wu Zui realized the danger immediately; with two fingers, he dabbed his blood onto both their foreheads, instantly calming their emotions.

“What a pity!”

The Shadow Ghost’s voice echoed from the mist, tinged with regret—no doubt, a trap had been prepared in the remaining mist for both of them.

Seeing the plan fail, the Shadow Ghost remotely directed the mist to sink underground...

As the mist began to disappear beneath the ground, Wu Zui lunged forward with an arrow’s speed!

“Spit!”

The blood lingering in Wu Zui’s mouth from his bitten tongue struck the departing mist dead-on.

“Ah! You... just... wait...”

A scream rose from below, the voice rapidly fading as if from a great distance, vanishing completely in the blink of an eye.

“So it escaped just like that?”

Xiao Ke’ai felt indignant; this mission had been utterly fruitless. The car accident ghost had been devoured by the Shadow Ghost’s mist, leaving no core or anything else behind. They hadn’t even glimpsed the Shadow Ghost’s true form before the mist fled.

“What a loss! Such a waste!”

Xiao Ke’ai fumed inwardly, stamping her feet.

“Well, judging by that scream, it fled pretty quickly! Wait, Shadow Ghost—could it have emerged from Qian Lan’s shadow? Damn it! Those people outside!”

At this thought, Wu Zui cursed under his breath and quickly ran downstairs.

“Master, wait for me!”

Xiao Ke’ai hurried after him.

With the car accident ghost’s demise, the confinement space created by the shadow mist began to dissipate as its vengeful energy faded.

At the entrance of Tiancheng Cinema, a group of people was preparing to leave. The ordeal of simply watching a movie had left them shaken, but at least their lives were spared.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

With his stern question, Wu Zui appeared behind the group, running up.

“Home!”

“Yeah, who’d stay in such a terrifying place?”

“Let’s get out of here!”

...

The crowd answered Wu Zui’s questioning in a chaotic jumble, some visibly uneasy.

Wu Zui immediately spotted several people who didn’t seem quite right. Lifting his golden longsword, he barked, “Magnetic energy check! You can’t leave until we confirm you’re not possessed by a spirit. Everyone, face the wall and stand in line!”