FCRCG Chapter 8

Nan Deng originally planned to find Lian Yi.

He had nowhere else to go. As a ghost, he couldn’t afford not to search for food.

Perhaps if he visited more often and let his presence deeply cling to Lian Yi, he might be able to feed on him eventually.

The black cat came again at dawn, wanting to rest with Nan Deng, but it hurriedly left only when night approached.

Nan Deng set off alone in the familiar direction, looking for suitable items along the way.

Although he didn’t know whether the items he left by the door had been taken by Lian Yi, he decided to try every method he could.

The outskirts were empty. The rabbit head, having eaten well the previous night, was in a good mood today. It bounced around in the grass by the roadside, helping Nan Deng look for targets.

Soon, it came back with a black feather in its mouth, presenting it to Nan Deng as though it were a treasure.

The feather was about the size of a palm. Nan Deng couldn’t tell which bird it came from. He examined it for a while, thought it was a decent find, and tucked it into his pocket.

He bent down and hugged the rabbit head, saying seriously, “No running around today. And no eating other people’s things.”

The rabbit head blinked silently, as if acknowledging his words.

Suddenly, the black mark on one of its ears glowed.

Nan Deng froze for a moment, still holding the rabbit head. In an instant, both of them disappeared from their location.

When he opened his eyes again and saw the surroundings, his heart sank.

The mark had taken effect, teleporting them to a familiar underground cave.

In the narrow, dim space, various ghosts crowded together, the number even greater than the last time Nan Deng had been there.

This was bad.

He had gained nothing these past few days. He wasn’t sure if the leaves and small paper figures the rabbit head had eaten could even be considered food.

Nan Deng shoved the rabbit head into his pocket, trying to squeeze towards the edge of the cave, searching for the same exit he had found last time.

“Who stepped on me?”

“You stink, get away!”

Nan Deng dared not look up and quietly shifted his position.

Crack—

A gap opened in the ceiling of the cave’s center and thick fog began to pour down.

The ghosts recoiled in fear, backing away.

The mist solidified into a vague human shape, and a low, deep voice echoed, “Are you all full?”

He raised his hand and the marks on the ghosts’ bodies began to glow. As before, they were forced to open their mouths, releasing large clouds of black smoke.

The rabbit head floated out of Nan Deng’s pocket, spun in the air, and then landed smoothly on the ground without spitting anything out.

The mark on its ear also disappeared, signaling that it had lost its effect.

Nan Deng lowered his voice to a near whisper, “Does it hurt?”

The rabbit head shook its ears, appearing fine and unaffected.

Nan Deng felt a bit relieved, then pretended to collapse, slowly moving toward the exit with the rabbit head.

The black smoke was completely absorbed by the fog-shrouded specter, who tilted its head back in enjoyment. The fog surrounding it suddenly froze for a moment.

“What’s this… a disobedient one?”

The fog-shrouded specter turned its head. The ghosts around it hurriedly scrambled away.

Nan Deng, at the farthest corner, felt a chill on his back, and his attempt to escape stopped.

He lay on the ground, pretending he couldn’t get up, but his body suddenly flew into the air, heading straight toward the fog-shrouded specter.

The rabbit head bit his clothes, also being dragged to the center of the cave.

“You don’t know…” The fog-shrouded specter’s low voice sounded terrifying in the cave, “the consequences of not bringing back food?”

Nan Deng couldn’t move, his body spinning mid-air.

The fog-shrouded specter reached out, grabbing him from the air, its face wrapped in mist like an endless black hole. Nan Deng was terrified, his mouth opening but unable to make a sound.

A moment later, the fog-shrouded specter seemed to notice that there were no marks left on Nan Deng. His gaze shifted to the rabbit head still hanging from Nan Deng’s clothes.

It paused in silence for a few seconds. “What is this?”

It raised another hand, grabbing the rabbit head from a distance.

The rabbit head held onto Nan Deng’s clothes tightly, but it couldn’t withstand the fog-shrouded specter’s strength. The corner of Nan Deng’s clothes was torn off.

The mist ghost brought it up to its face and carefully examined it. “Alive?”

The rabbit head’s black pupils stared at the fog-shrouded specter, and with a soft “pop”, it spat the cloth at the fog-shrouded specter’s face.

The cloth slowly floated down. The cave fell into complete silence.

The mist began to churn. Nan Deng watched as clear fingerprints appeared on the rabbit head’s body, as though an invisible hand had tightly gripped it.

The fog-shrouded specter had already shown signs of anger. The other ghosts were afraid.

Nan Deng was deeply worried, struggling and waving his hands. “No…”

“Heh…” The fog-shrouded specter sneered, then opened its mouth wide, throwing the rabbit head inside.

Next, it planned to devour Nan Deng.

“Too weak,” it murmured, “No need to keep it.”

Just as the mist closed in around him, Nan Deng felt the fog-shrouded specter’s mouth expanding wider, seemingly about to swallow him whole.

Nan Deng thought he was doomed, but suddenly, the fog-shrouded specter’s actions stopped, and it looked down.

In just a few seconds, its stomach began to expand rapidly, bulging like a balloon. Something inside was still moving.

The mist ghost’s body was no longer in human form. It cried out in pain, casually tossing Nan Deng aside.

Nan Deng crashed to the ground. Not even having time to wonder why he felt no pain, he quickly got back on his feet.

He looked up again. The fog-shrouded specter was now completely unrecognizable. Only a huge mass of mist continued to expand and rise, with faint red light flickering at the top.

Boom—

A tremendous crash sounded as the cave’s ceiling was torn apart by the expanding mist and several stones fell.

The narrow space descended into chaos as the mist pressed forward. Some ghosts had already taken the opportunity to flee.

Others stayed behind, hoping to see what had happened to the fog-shrouded specter, wondering if they could reclaim the food it had taken.

Amid the chaos, Nan Deng was pushed to the edge of the cave. He forcefully shoved aside the ghosts around him. “Xiao Tu…”

He didn’t believe the rabbit head was gone just like that. It must still be inside the fog-shrouded specter’s stomach, not yet digested.

At this moment, Nan Deng was no longer afraid. He felt around on the ground and found a sharp-edged stone.

The mist had expanded several times over, filling most of the cave. The fog-shrouded specter occasionally let out muffled groans from the pain.

Nan Deng approached the mist, reaching out to touch the icy sensation.

He raised his right hand, gripped the stone tightly, and thrust it down hard.

In the next instant, the fog-shrouded specter, now expanded into a mass, exploded with a “bang”. Nan Deng was flung back by the powerful air current.

He fell again, but when he got up, he saw the mist dispersing. At the center, there seemed to be another massive creature.

But in the blink of an eye, that massive creature vanished.

Moments later, the rabbit head emerged from the mist and hopped towards Nan Deng.

Nan Deng’s tensed nerves relaxed. He quickly grabbed it. “I’m so glad you’re okay…”

“I smelled something just now… What was that?” A voice from one of the ghosts in the cave spoke.

“I smelled it too, but something’s not right…”

The remaining ghosts in the cave noticed the sudden surge of malicious energy and were about to react when the energy vanished just as quickly.

They didn’t know what had happened, but the fog-shrouded specter was definitely not the ghost king. It was strong, but the malicious energy it exuded was insufficient.

Meanwhile, the mist that had scattered around them began to gather again.

Nan Deng widened his eyes slightly and quickly started to flee with the rabbit head.

In the center of the cave, the fog-shrouded specter reappeared, waving its hand to scatter a large number of black paper pieces.

Half of the ghosts had already escaped, while the remaining ones were marked by the black paper pieces.

The fog-shrouded specter arched its back. It raised its hand and pointed at Nan Deng, its voice thick with suppressed rage: “Catch them.”

It must have been injured. Whether it was unwilling to risk itself again or unable to leave the center of the cave, it commanded the remaining ghosts to catch Nan Deng and the rabbit head.

Two more black paper pieces flew toward Nan Deng and the rabbit head. The rabbit head broke free from Nan Deng’s arms. It was quick and agile, jumping up and biting the two pieces of paper at once, shaking its head to tear them apart.

“Phh.” The rabbit head spat half of the paper toward the mist ghost, a clear act of provocation.

Nan Deng quickly scooped it up and dashed into the tunnel leading to the well cover.

Ghosts were following behind. Fortunately, they had all recently had their food absorbed by the marks and were still weak and hadn’t recovered.

One ghost, the fastest, passed through the stone wall of the tunnel and tried to intercept Nan Deng.

It stretched out a hand, but the rabbit head, nestled in Nan Deng’s arm, suddenly opened its small three-pronged mouth to an unbelievable size and bit off the ghost’s arm at the elbow.

The ghost lifted its severed arm and stared at it for a while, letting out a terrified scream.

The tunnel was dark. Nan Deng was focused on escaping, not noticing what had happened.

Hearing the scream behind him, he hurried to speed up.

The other side of the tunnel led to the plaza outside. Nan Deng pushed open the well cover and emerged.

The sounds of various ghosts’ roars were closing in. He quickly scanned his surroundings and continued to flee toward the deserted streets.

—

At the moment when the cave collapsed, compasses from all directions in the city simultaneously detected a powerful surge of malicious energy.

Lin Jiu’s expression was grim. “It has appeared again.”

Tonight, the city was particularly unrestful.

The news of the Ghost King’s appearance was known not only to the Celestial Masters but also to the resentful spirits.

Once the resentful spirits learned that the Ghost King was in the area, a large number of hidden spirits, from all levels, could no longer restrain themselves. They stirred up chaos, trying to attract the Ghost King’s attention.

Some even came over from other areas quietly. No one knew how the news had spread.

The number of resentful spirits appearing in the past two nights had increased exponentially. Sure enough, the Ghost King reappeared, just as they had hoped.

Lin Jiu immediately gathered his team and headed in the direction indicated by the compass, while inquiring about Lian Yi’s whereabouts.

On the other end of the communication device was another small team, and the team leader replied in a low voice, “Chief Lian… has left, heading southeast.”

The southeast direction led to the outskirts, so Lian Yi may have returned to his residence.

Several distress signals had come in tonight, all of which were resolved by Lian Yi, who handled them alone without requiring the assistance of the Celestial Masters.

Lin Jiu noticed the hesitation in the team leader’s voice and pressed for more details.

“Chief Lian seemed… not in a good mood tonight.”

The team leader used vague words, but in reality, Lian Yi tonight was like a god of destruction.

Their team had been assigned to assist the underworld in trapping a resentful spirit that was about to be born. Along the way, another fourth-tier resentful spirit attacked them, trying to disrupt their efforts.

Their team couldn’t handle it and sent out a distress signal. Lian Yi arrived quickly.

The fourth-tier resentful spirit, second only to the Ghost King, didn’t last twenty minutes under Lian Yi’s hands.

Lian Yi didn’t even use the Bagua ring. With his bare hands, he tore off the fourth-tier resentful spirit’s arm and then proceeded to refine it on the spot.

The fourth-tier spirit had a tragic death. Being refined on the spot made it experience its death all over again.

The team members couldn’t bear to watch but dared not intervene.

Only Lian Yi remained cold and detached, as though he couldn’t hear the resentful spirit’s screams.

Afterward, the team’s target died and a new resentful spirit was born. However, the underworld hadn’t appeared yet.

Lian Yi didn’t care and directly refined the newly born spirit on the spot.

Refined souls weren’t “fresh” enough for the underworld, so their power was significantly reduced.

This was akin to stealing food from the underworld. Logically, it shouldn’t have been done, but since no one had ever done this before, there were no additional rules against it.

Before leaving, Lian Yi simply said, “I’m in a hurry.”

The team leader watched him leave and didn’t dare say a word.

Celestial masters, who trained in spiritual arts, were naturally more sensitive to the presence of resentful and malicious energies. Just standing there, Lian Yi exuded an overwhelming pressure.

If one were to get close, they would feel inexplicably fearful, as though he could suddenly transform into another resentful spirit and kill them without hesitation.

This was the negative impact of a naturally malevolent body. No wonder no one dared to get close to him.

His method of refining resentful spirits on the spot was also different from other Celestial Masters. He wasn’t worried about the excessive consumption of spiritual energy, nor did he care about the resentful spirits’ suffering and death right in front of him.

If one were to agree with him, they might think it was nothing. But personally refining resentful spirits was something no Celestial Masters would willingly do.

The team leader kept it brief and relayed everything that had happened to Lin Jiu.

The underworld never showed up afterward, possibly sensing that the soul had been refined and didn’t want to make the trip for nothing.

Lin Jiu remained silent for a moment before replying, “Understood.”

He put away the communicator and led the team to the location of the cave.

The ground had a large depression as if it had collapsed from below. The remaining malicious energy was nearly undetectable, and the compass needle wobbled back and forth.

It had escaped again.

The Ghost King seemed to be toying with them, intentionally revealing a trace of its presence, but never truly appearing.

Lin Jiu furrowed his brows and instructed the others to investigate carefully.

Soon, they discovered traces of several resentful spirits lingering near the collapse. They had gathered together and moved along a tunnel.

Lin Jiu led his team to continue the pursuit, eventually reaching the square in the city center.

By the time they reached the square, the remaining traces had become sparse. They could faintly sense that they were still heading toward the outskirts.

Lin Jiu hesitated for only a few seconds before deciding to head in the direction of the outskirts.

The closer they got to the outskirts, the fainter the traces became. It seemed the resentful spirits had scattered. The compass needle swayed unpredictably, pointing to several locations.

Lin Jiu held the compass and patiently waited. The needle finally settled on a new position.

He looked up and realized that it pointed toward Lian Yi’s residence.

Since there were still traces, it was impossible to give up. The team split up and moved in different directions.

The team led by Lin Jiu chose the direction of Lian Yi’s residence. Just as they were about to continue forward, a black cat appeared from the night, blocking their path.

In the few days since they last saw it, the black cat had grown more robust.

Its back arched slightly and its fluffy tail bristled. It let out a low growl, trying to intimidate them and prevent them from heading to the outskirts.

Lin Jiu took a step back and tried to communicate with the earth spirit, “We’ve been tracking resentful spirits to this point and hope you will allow us to pass.”

The black cat ignored him, its golden eyes staring fixedly at the group. It seemed as though if they moved one step closer, it would immediately attack.

Lin Jiu realized they had likely trespassed into the black cat’s territory and found no way around it.

Reluctantly, he decided to continue the pursuit in a different direction.

With the earth spirit here, they likely didn’t need to worry too much.

Before leaving, Lin Jiu took out his communicator and hesitated before dialing Lian Yi’s signal.

He thought Lian Yi wouldn’t answer, but to his surprise, the connection was established just a few seconds later.

“Chief Lian,” Lin Jiu said respectfully, “Are you in the outskirts?”

“Yes.”

Lin Jiu quickly asked, “The Ghost King reappeared tonight and escaped again. It’s possible that other resentful spirits have fled toward the outskirts. Have you encountered anything unusual on your end?”

Lian Yi stood at the door, unlocking it.

He walked inside. Upon smelling a familiar scent, he realized it was coming from his room.

“No.”

Lian Yi uttered the two words before abruptly cutting off the communication.

The lights were off in every part of the house. The moonlight streamed in through the window, casting a faint glow on the hallway floor, where a black feather lay.

Lian Yi picked up the feather and walked toward the bedroom.

Inside the bedroom, the wardrobe showed signs of having been opened.

Lian Yi stopped in front of the wardrobe, standing motionless like a statue.

He hesitated for a moment, then raised his hand and knocked.

“Come out.”