Watching as the chains came lashing toward them, just the sight of their metallic glint made her flesh ache. A sudden tightness around her waist—Scout, who had been motionless moments ago, abruptly pulled her close, narrowly dodging the chains. With one hand forming a seal and muttering an incantation, he flicked his wrist, instantly reducing all the chains to dust. With a clang, the array beneath their feet shattered.
"Golden Core cultivator!" Ji Han's eyes widened in shock, only to cough up blood from the backlash of the broken array.
Without hesitation, Scout wrapped an arm around Shi Xia, grabbed Long Aotian by the collar, and shot forward like lightning, plunging straight into the "Gate of Death" on the right, leaving the stunned group behind.
Nice job! Shi Xia silently gave her personal bodyguard a thumbs-up. She’d almost forgotten Scout was sixth-tier, on par with that Ji Han guy. But since she and Long Aotian were practically combat-weak, running was the smartest move.
Scout flew with them for a long time before finally stopping. The surroundings grew even darker—while there had been faint light outside, here it was pitch black, not even a finger visible. With no immediate threats, Shi Xia summoned a flame to illuminate the area. They stood in what seemed like an endless corridor, its smooth stone walls stretching endlessly in both directions. Scout had flown for ages, yet there was no sign of an exit.
"They probably won’t catch up anytime soon," Shi Xia signaled for Scout to stop. "Put me down." She patted the hand still gripping her waist.
Scout hesitated briefly before loosening his hold, scanning her up and down. "Unharmed?" He began inspecting her, tugging at her sleeves, even pinching her cheek.
Shi Xia’s eye twitched. Are you checking for freshness? She swatted his hand away. "I’m fine!"
"I’m not…" Long Aotian wheezed, his face turning purple as he gestured frantically at his neck. "Choking… let… go!" Why did he have to be grabbed by the collar? He was about to suffocate.
Only then did Scout remember he was still holding someone. He casually tossed Long Aotian aside. With a yelp, the man tumbled several times before stopping, gasping for air on the ground. The difference in treatment—carrying one gently, dragging the other by the collar—was just unfair.
Shi Xia stepped forward. Well, being slim had its perks. Bulkier folks had narrower collars, making them harder to haul around.
"Feeling better?" She patted his back to help him catch his breath. After a few pats, Scout shoved his way between them, clearly displeased.
He flicked a finger against Long Aotian’s forehead, and the man’s purplish complexion instantly returned to normal.
Scout immediately pulled Shi Xia away as if avoiding the plague, even shaking his hand afterward.
"…" How disgusted could he be?
Shi Xia studied the seemingly endless corridor with her flame. "Scout, why did we enter the Gate of Death?" Though everything had happened too fast, the Gate of Life had been closer—yet Scout had charged straight into the right-side death gate.
"Both gates are the same," he replied, glancing ahead. "Only the trials differ."
"Huh?" Shi Xia blinked. "You mean both sides have dangers, traps, or arrays?"
Scout nodded. "Both radiate spiritual energy. The labels ‘life’ and ‘death’ likely indicate the nature of the arrays within."
Damn, so Ji Han and his group had agonized over nothing!
"Scout, can you guess what’s inside?" She pointed down the dark passage.
He shook his head. "I can’t discern the specifics, but it’s undoubtedly tied to the dead."
The dead.
Shi Xia shuddered, taking a nervous step back. "There… won’t be ghosts, right?"
"Even if there are, it’s fine," Long Aotian finally recovered, thumping his chest with righteous bravado. "A clear conscience fears no ghosts. If your heart is pure, why fear spirits?" He glanced at her. "You’re not scared of ghosts, are you, Benefactor?"
"Pfft, of course not!" She forced a laugh.
(Stop it, brain! No horror movie flashbacks! 〒▽〒)
"If they’re spirits, it’s manageable," Scout said.
"Why?"
"Ghosts belong to Yin, cultivators to Yang. Spirits generally avoid cultivators."
Seriously? That was a thing? Instantly reassured, she mentally deleted her inner horror reel. If she had a built-in ghost-repelling aura, what was there to fear?
"Let’s go!" Shi Xia turned and marched down the corridor. Maybe it was her imagination, but the air seemed colder now.
After walking for over ten minutes, the passage widened—from a single lane to a six-lane road. Just as she worried it might expand further, they reached the end: a solid wall.
The wall was massive, sealing the entire width of the corridor. Its surface was flawlessly smooth except for one conspicuously protruding brick in the center, practically screaming, "Press me!"
Shi Xia stared at the brick, her eye twitching. "This thing’s totally the array trigger, isn’t it?"
"…Likely," Scout agreed.
"So, should I press it, press it, or press it?" Her compulsive side was itching.
Long Aotian sighed. "Benefactor, just press it. It’s not like we have another path."
Taking a deep breath, Shi Xia shoved the brick in, forcing it back into alignment.
The moment she let go, a series of grinding noises erupted. The once-flat wall began folding open from the center, layers retracting like stacked blocks until the entire structure vanished, revealing a horrifying sight.
For a second, Shi Xia thought she’d stepped into an apocalypse. Behind the wall, a dense crowd of ghastly figures floated—mutilated, bloodied, crawling with insects, some disemboweled with intestines in hand, others half-rotted, exposing skeletal remains.
Aside from their floating (as opposed to shambling) movement, it was a full-blown zombie horror scene.
If not for her prior exposure to gruesome sights at the cliff’s base and days of fasting, she’d have lost her dinner. Others weren’t as lucky—while Scout remained unfazed, Long Aotian was already vomiting violently.
Strangely, the ghosts paid no attention to the trio, continuing their macabre activities. Shi Xia recalled Scout’s words—they really were afraid of cultivators.
"The exit should be there." Scout pointed beyond the sea of spirits. Shi Xia squinted but saw only an endless mass of floating horrors.
A bone-chilling gust of wind rushed at them, making Shi Xia shiver involuntarily. She took a deep breath to steady herself before stepping forward alongside Scout, while Long Aotian leaned against the wall as he followed.
Then, a familiar tearing sound echoed behind them—whoosh—the vanished wall suddenly reappeared, sealing off the passage in an instant. This time, however, the surface was smooth, without a single protruding brick.
"No need to worry," Scout reassured her, gripping her hand with a serious expression. "These are just ordinary malevolent spirits, not ghost cultivators. They fear spiritual energy the most. We’ll be fine."
Right, right! She was a cultivator, brimming with spiritual energy. Nothing to fear. Mustering her courage, she took another step forward.
Suddenly, the wandering spirits that had been drifting aimlessly froze as if someone had flipped a switch—creak—every single one of them, whether facing away or sideways, turned their heads in unison toward her. Their previously lifeless eyes now glowed like lit bulbs, radiating an eerie red light.
Shi Xia had a bad feeling about this…
The nearest ghost—a one-legged specter—raised a blood-drenched hand and swiped at her without warning, its mouth emitting a menacing click-click-click noise.
Startled, she dodged sideways and stumbled back, shooting Scout an exasperated look. "So much for ‘we’ll be fine’? Where’s the trust between humans and… whatever you are?"
Scout’s calm expression faltered for a moment before he straightened up and declared with utmost seriousness, "...Just this one’s a bit special."
"Hsss—" The one-legged ghost let out a strange screech after its failed attack, as if triggering some hidden mechanism. Instantly, the entire horde of malevolent spirits erupted in synchronized click-click-click cries, advancing toward them.
Shi Xia: "..." You said just one was special?
Long Aotian: "..." You said just one was special?
Scout: "..." Fine, this whole group’s a bit special.
The trio had no choice but to retreat into a corner.
"What now?" Shi Xia whispered frantically. She was still an apprentice—she hadn’t learned how to exorcise ghosts yet!
"Stay calm," Scout said in a low voice. "Ghosts are heavy with yin energy. Pure spiritual energy is their natural weakness."
"And what counts as ‘pure spiritual energy’?" she snapped. "No riddles, please!"
"Any of the five elemental spells will work!"
"So you’re saying any spell can counter them?" She narrowed her eyes. "I’m not that gullible."
"Yes," Scout nodded, then added after a pause, "...Probably."
"Fine. You use fire, I’ll use wood-element spells to bind them."
Shi Xia channeled her spiritual energy, summoning two slender vines that coiled around the nearest ghost’s waist, holding it back. Scout flicked his wrist, hurling a fireball straight at it.
Just as the flames were about to strike, the ghost didn’t even flinch. Instead, its jaw unhinged and dropped to the ground with a thud, and—gulp—it swallowed the fireball whole. A faint hiss followed as the flames were extinguished inside it, and the ghost even let out a satisfied burp.
...
It ate the fireball. Ate it.
Malevolent spirits weren’t supposed to devour spiritual energy—not even ghost cultivators could do that!
These were no ordinary ghosts. Not even your run-of-the-mill evil spirits. No, this was a group of refined malevolent entities—ghosts that had clearly transcended the mundane!
