Fresh? Still food?
The sudden voice made the hairs on my entire body stand on end.
The voice sounded very peaceful, as if a normal neighbor was chatting, but the content was chilling. Coupled with the bloody white bones around, anyone with less courage would have fainted. Just like Huang San and his disciples at my feet, they immediately dug holes and hid in them.
I cursed Huang San in my heart for being a coward and vowed to kick him out of the house when I got married. At the same time, I quietly activated my Ghost Eyes. Instantly, my vision was filled with multiple colors again, and I looked towards where the voice had come from.
I saw a blurry figure standing in the open space before me, shrouded in a layer of gray mist. Just as I was about to get a closer look to see if it was a person or a ghost, a black halo erupted from within him.
"Damn it! The sun! My eyes."
The black halo from him hit me, and it felt like I was looking at an electric welder with my eyes open. In an instant, my vision turned white and then completely dark. I couldn't see anything. My Ghost Eyes closed, and tears began to fall like a small fountain, one after another.
"Brother Zhang, be careful, he's right in front of us."
"Ling'er, five meters in front of me."
Bai Ling'er was stunned for a moment, then reacted. She opened her mouth, and a white beam of light blasted towards the location I indicated, simultaneously forming a crystal-clear ice surface around it.
"Idiot, are you wasting my young lady's spiritual energy?" Bai Ling'er questioned angrily, looking at the "ice surface" that was smooth enough to reflect a person's image.
Before I could explain, Zhang Dabiao spoke, "He's been ambushed. Be careful of your surroundings." He then held his mountain-splitting saber across his chest, took out the dark red piercing nails, and scanned his surroundings for the assailant.
"Heh heh... Not bad. In all these years, you're the second person who can see me without me revealing myself. What a pity, though, you're about to become my meal."
This time, I didn't need to say anything. As soon as the voice appeared, Bai Ling'er's attack struck. Bai Ling'er's attacks were fast, but the owner of the voice was not slow either. After finishing his sentence, he had already dodged Bai Ling'er's five attacks.
"Oh ho, this little loach has quite a temper. When I catch you later, I'll definitely put you on a fire and roast you slowly, with some chili and sesame salt. The taste must be great..."
When had Bai Ling'er ever been mocked like this? Usually, anyone who dared to speak to her like that had already been turned into an ice sculpture by her. The owner of the voice was no exception.
"Today, this young lady will see who roasts whom on the fire." Bai Ling'er's tone carried a hint of anger and exasperation. At the same time, she felt the surrounding temperature rapidly dropping, and tiny ice crystals began to fall from the sky.
"Little loach, I didn't expect you to be of the cold attribute. You might not even be cooked on a normal fire. What should we do? This is truly a difficult problem to solve..." He was better off not speaking; the more he spoke, the more ice crystals fell from the sky.
A falling ice crystal landed on my eye, giving me a cool sensation and significantly reducing the burning sting. I reached out and caught a falling ice crystal, covering my eye. Instantly, the stinging sensation subsided by more than half.
I opened my still stinging eyes and looked up at the sky. Bai Ling'er was coiled in a serpentine formation in mid-air, her small tail and forked tongue acting like human hands, drawing talismans on the void.
"Ling'er, don't be rash. Pause your spellcasting."
I knew her personality. Once she set her mind to something, even I couldn't stop her. But this time, while I verbally told her not to be rash, I also mentally communicated with her through our soul contract, urging her to calm down.
Bai Ling'er paused upon hearing my words, then tilted her little head to look at me. She then dispersed the energy of the talisman. This was due to her inherent control over energy, even with most of her powers sealed. If an ordinary person were interrupted mid-spell, they would be severely injured, if not killed.
There was a reason I told her not to unleash her ultimate move. It was clear that we were in the open, while the other party was hidden, putting us at an inherent disadvantage. As the saying goes, it's easy to dodge a gunshot but hard to guard against a hidden arrow. An unseen enemy is the most terrifying.
You never know from which direction they might launch a surprise attack. Moreover, Bai Ling'er was our strongest fighter. If she were incapacitated, it would be very difficult for me, Zhang Dabiao, and Huang San to contend with the enemy.
"Alas! What a shame. I wanted to see just how capable this little loach is. Why did she suddenly stop?" The mocking voice sounded again, still originating from around five meters in front of us.
The moonlight shone on the ice layer on the ground, reflecting a flickering, swaying figure. The figure was like smoke, very insubstantial.
I was now certain that the person before me was definitely not human, but it also shouldn't be a ghost. Ghosts don't eat living things; they only consume spirit money and candles. Even the food they consume is different from what normal people eat.
I comforted Bai Ling'er, whose eyes were burning with fierce flames, urging her to calm down. Then, I spoke to the open space before me, "May I know your esteemed name, senior? Would you be willing to meet us?"
"Meet me?"
Through the reflection on the ice surface, I could clearly see the black figure's body stiffen slightly. Then, he let out a sinister chuckle and said, "Didn't you see me just now? Did you not get a clear look? Shall I give you another chance to try?"
His words made me frown. My eyes were still stinging, and they were probably swollen. If I tried to look again, would he blind me completely?
Although he didn't directly answer my question, he gave me the answer I was looking for.
First, his strength was likely not superior to ours. If he were truly a bloodthirsty demon who killed without mercy, he wouldn't need to hide himself. He could have easily crushed us. Even if he wanted to play a cat-and-mouse game, he would be the one toying with us. Su Dan Novel Network.
Second, judging by his hazy, twisting appearance reflected on the ice surface, he should be a different kind of malevolent spirit that had cultivated into sentience. I once read in the "Yin Jing" about a type of spirit similar to him called a Shadow Ghost.
Everything in the world has a shadow, and even ghosts have their own shadow. However, when some people are killed, due to the influence of certain special regions, their earthly soul can attach itself to their shadow. This causes them to be invisible, because they are the shadow, and the shadow is them.
The strength of such Shadow Ghosts is generally the same as their strength when they were alive. To increase their strength is as difficult as climbing to heaven. They need to devour their own kind to improve, but it's rare for a Shadow Ghost to appear in decades or even a century. To elevate their ghost rank is absolutely no simpler than climbing Mount Everest naked.
With a plan forming in my mind, and to confirm that my judgment was correct, I had to communicate with Bai Ling'er again through our soul contract, asking her to exhale cold air and turn the entire ground into a perfectly smooth mirror.
Bai Ling'er, though somewhat confused, complied. This made the Shadow Ghost very excited. It would occasionally appear from different locations to say a word or two, and then mock us from another spot.
Since I only asked Bai Ling'er to exhale cold air this time, and I was constantly observing the ice surface, I had already determined the approximate range of the Shadow Ghost's appearances. Centered on our current position, its activity range extended to about fifty meters at its furthest.
Having confirmed his operational range, I instructed Bai Ling'er to stop exhaling cold air. Then, I said to the Shadow Ghost, "I'll give you a chance. Stop harassing us, or I'll have to get serious."
"Get serious? Come on! Come on! I'm so scared..." the Shadow Ghost said mockingly.
The corner of my mouth twitched, and I said to Bai Ling'er, "Ling'er, unleash your full power and bombard the barrier."