I Am Your Natural Enemy

The gaunt Ghost with the tall hat reached out and grabbed the arm of the Two-Horned Ghost.

”Where are you going?”

”I’m going home.”

Hearing the Two-Horned Ghost’s matter-of-fact answer, the gaunt Ghost with the tall hat suddenly sucked in a breath of cold air.

He understood at once: these two horned Ghosts had a different destination from the very start.

That’s right, this Two-Horned Ghost had been trying to persuade everyone since before entering the Nether Path.

How could a guy like that possibly have the same goal as the rest of them?

If the goal were the same, wouldn’t he have to leave from the Big Intersection with them?

Wouldn’t that just be knowingly marching to their deaths?

They just happened to descend to the Nether Path together, but their destinations were worlds apart.

Their group of Ghosts had arrived, now stuck in a dilemma, awkwardly loitering here, completely at a loss for what to do.

But those two brothers—they were just passing through.

The gaunt Ghost with the tall hat gripped the Two-Horned Ghost’s arm, his face serious.

”Brother, I think what you said makes a lot of sense. We can’t let rumors sway us.”

”You think I’m right too, don’t you?”

”Yes, yes, you’re absolutely right. I think you make total sense. Mind if I visit your place? There’s something I’d like to ask you.”

”Uh, well, I guess it’s not really inconvenient… my place is just a bit shabby, I’m afraid—”

”No worries, we’ve all memorized the Humble House Inscription!”

”Alright then...”

The Two-Horned Ghost nodded, and the gaunt Ghost with the tall hat instantly stretched out his arms, clutching both the Two-Horned Ghost and the Uni-Horned Ghost.

”Brother, I feel I’m already being corroded by some evil magic here, getting all drowsy, so do me a favor and take me with you...”

The gaunt Ghost with the tall hat yanked his tall hat down, covering his entire head, then locked his arms tightly around the Two-Horned Ghost brothers.

Seeing the tall hat Ghost act so swiftly, the other Ghosts immediately had an aha moment, and one after another, they locked themselves, chain-like, onto the Ghost in front of them.

In just a few seconds, the Two-Horned Ghost looked at the gathered Ghosts in bewilderment—as if they were a chain, being led along by him.

How did everyone get convinced by him all of a sudden?

He didn’t think too much about it. As long as he could persuade them, that was enough. His mission this time was to persuade these Ghosts, save them, and reap a huge favor in return.

Reaching the goal was what mattered.

The Two-Horned Ghost and the Uni-Horned Ghost walked out in front, with a bunch of Ghosts trailing behind, strung together like a chain, locking tightly to each other.

Ever since they changed their destination, this group of Ghosts was lost; with no guide, there was no way they could ever get out on their own.

Good thing there were two Ghosts whose destination had been different from the start.

Under the glow of the greenish light, a long, long Ghost train slowly faded away into the distance ahead.

...

In the villa district, Pei Tugou was still sitting on the roof, letting the night wind blow as he waited quietly.

No one saw him, no one noticed him. The more intense his killing aura and fiendish energy, the more invisible he became.

He was still here waiting, because he’d heard earlier that besides that Taoist, there were apparently some Ghosts planning to stir up trouble as well.

Maybe everyone had their own goals—some knew those hanged Evil Ghosts, others had different motives.

But there were definitely a number of Ghosts wanting to sneak into the forbidden zone while they had the chance.

Pei Tugou kept waiting here, because he still felt out of sorts.

He wanted to wait for some Ghost who’d lost hope, just to have some fun and let off steam.

But he’d waited so long and still hadn’t run into anything.

Thinking about the creepy wood carving by the Nether Path, he sighed—hope he didn’t scare the Ghosts off for real?

Meanwhile, over at the Scorching Sun Department, they’d actually received word about the situation.

The news came from Lord Zhu; the Scorching Sun Department checked things out themselves and confirmed there was something odd going on.

For instance, today, a lot of well-known Ghosts hadn’t been seen anywhere. The guess was they must’ve found some way to reach the Nether Path.

No telling when they’d suddenly come charging out of the Big Intersection.

The Scorching Sun Department had people watching the place, with backup ready at any moment, just in case too many Ghosts turned up at once and that Great Killer Star couldn’t wipe them all out—and the ones who slipped away might cause more chaos.

But with dawn breaking over Tiandu, still nothing had happened.

...

As for Wen Yan, he’d left long ago—not the least bit worried anything else would crop up.

The terrifying wood carving by the road was enough to intimidate most Ghosts.

If any Ghost dumb enough not to know fear actually made it out, Pei Tugou would certainly have a great time.

He’d already done everything he needed to do; as for cleaning up afterward, he didn’t care to get involved anymore.

He made his way to King Guilong, dropped in to see him, and let King Guilong experience for himself the effects brought by his Calamity Protector Water Official Talisman.

Following the Big Grass Carp down to the ramshackle Dragon King Temple at the bottom of the river, Wen Yan waited until the Big Grass Carp and the rest had left, and only then did King Guilong show himself.

After some time recovering, King Guilong’s injuries had pretty much healed—except he’d regressed to a Flood Dragon, which was unavoidable.

That he’d even managed to stop the regression was no small feat. First, Wen Yan had used Blood Lock on him, forcefully tying off his life; then, the Taoist priest from Dragon Tiger Mountain, maybe since King Guilong had kept a genuinely good heart, stepped in to help too.

At the end, when he’d become a Flood Dragon, the regression was finally halted for good.

To fully recover his former glory, though, would take at least a few more hundred years.

King Guilong was pretty happy to see Wen Yan, though he couldn’t help feeling a bit slighted—Wen Yan hadn’t visited him in over a month.