Chapter 17: The Hidden Predator

Ding Ren sliced a C-class ghost clean in half.

However, the ghost’s vitality was exceptionally tenacious; the two severed halves of its body actually showed signs of merging back together.

Ding Ren’s eyes emitted a faint red glow.

With two swift stabs, he pierced the C-class ghost’s eyes, and it finally crumbled into ash.

Sough—

A rain of black soil began to fall from the sky, and black dust spread through the surroundings like a sandstorm.

“Fall back, quickly!” Ding Ren barked.

The people in the vicinity vanished in an instant.

Sizzle.

Several ghosts nearby failed to escape in time and were enveloped by the black smoke. Green flames immediately erupted on their bodies, and amidst their shrieks, they were reduced to ash one by one.

This sight left many people with lingering fears.

****

Ding Ren targeted another C-class ghost.

A violent battle erupted once again, ending in a one-sided rout of the ghosts.

Many onlookers stared blankly; hearing about him was one thing, but today they had gained a direct understanding of why he was called the number one C-class expert.

At this time, a large group of people from within the city also took the initiative to strike out.

Another C-class combatant appeared.

The battle ended quickly this time.

While the number of ghosts was significant, there were only three C-class ghosts besides the Lamp-Skull Tree. Ding Ren handled two by himself; though the remaining one was somewhat eerie and difficult to deal with, it ultimately failed to cause much of a stir.

In the end, over a hundred ghosts managed to use various abilities to successfully infiltrate Xincheng City. They would have to be dealt with by the people inside.

The remaining surviving ghosts began to flee into the surrounding areas.

With the addition of Ding Ren’s team, the casualties in Xincheng were minimal this time, finally smoothing the deep frown on Guan Zhang’s brow.

The remaining survivors began to clear the battlefield.

The primary task was to gather the various ghost remains and incinerate them.

“City Seat, many of the ghosts’ heads have disappeared again.”

Guan Zhang’s mood sank once more upon hearing this bad news. Seeing Ding Ren nearby, he hurried over to express his gratitude.

“Captain Ding, we truly owe you for this.”

Although Guan Zhang remained wary of Ding Ren, as long as Ding Ren didn’t reveal a “true face,” Guan Zhang treated him with his usual demeanor. Regardless of the ultimate outcome, his gratitude toward Ding Ren at this moment was sincere.

Xincheng was a large city with millions of residents, yet it had only five C-class experts in official positions, two of whom had already died in combat against the Head-Swapping Ghost.

Including the C-class Civilian Guard who had happened to appear in Xincheng recently, only four C-class combatants remained.

The reason this ghost invasion seemed to be resolved so easily was entirely due to Ding Ren’s assistance.

“This was my mission to begin with,” Ding Ren nodded. “What were you talking about just now?”

“The ghosts’ heads,” Guan Zhang said without hiding anything. “Every time we clear the battlefield, we find that many ghost heads have vanished. We suspect the Lamp-Skull Tree is taking them by some means, and perhaps that is how it manages to return from the dead every time.”

“You’ve all been deceived by it.” Xi Yu walked toward them under Zhang Qingyuan’s escort.

“What do you mean?” Guan Zhang acted as if he were facing a great enemy, but kept his surface calm.

“I’d like to ask City Seat Guan, have you ever faced the Lamp-Skull Tree head-on?”

“No, I’ve only seen its body through binoculars,” Guan Zhang said honestly.

“That explains it.” Xi Yu nodded. “The main body of this ghost should be underground; what you see on the surface is merely a hallucination it projects.”

‘[Sequence 6: Animosity Class. Generally, ingredients buried underground are good, but this one is an exception. Although it’s large, it has almost no meat.]’

Xi Yu hadn’t participated in the fight; he had spent the entire time observing the battlefield. Subsequently, his Food Sacrifice ability, [I Can See the Quality of Ingredients], gave him a surprise.

In a crater left behind by the combat, he discovered the true form of the Lamp-Skull Tree; although its body flashed by in a semi-illusory state, it was still detected by his ability.

This Lamp-Skull Tree was incredibly sinister; not only did it make no sound underground, but it was also secretly strengthening itself.

Guan Zhang’s heart jolted; who would have thought a ghost resembling a giant tree would be hiding beneath the earth?

If that were true, things would be troublesome, but finding the direction of its true hiding place was at least a piece of good news. He looked out over the battlefield, feeling for a moment as if the Lamp-Skull Tree could be hidden anywhere beneath the ground.

“Thank you for the warning.” Guan Zhang thanked Xi Yu, then apologized and excused himself to investigate the possibility.

****

Watching him leave, Xi Yu didn’t say much else.

That the Lamp-Skull Tree was hidden underground was beyond doubt, but it didn’t yet confirm that the ghost siege was controlled by it.

However, if it could be forced out, the current situation in Xincheng would surely take a turn for the better.

Furthermore, Xi Yu noticed that the scale of this ghost siege was actually not that large, and Zhang Qingyuan had told him the scale was roughly the same every day.

This was very strange; powerful ghosts possessed high intelligence, and if they intended to attack a human city, they would surely commit all their strength. Their current actions looked more like they were coming to “deliver their heads.”

It was all very eerie.

As for the Ghost Crying House, it hadn’t appeared today, so its situation couldn’t be judged for now.

However, no matter how bizarre the Lamp-Skull Tree’s abilities were or what secrets it held, the source of Xincheng’s crisis was ultimately the Star-Dream Jellyfish. As long as that was resolved, all other problems would naturally be settled.

****

While Xincheng’s side was busy, Zhang Qingyuan and his team weren’t idle either.

They dragged their spoils of war back to their simple house, including the corpse of the C-class ghost Ding Ren had slain.

This made Guan Zhang frown.

Failing to completely destroy ghost remains could easily lead to unnecessary accidents, but since Zhang Qingyuan and the others were taking their own spoils, he couldn’t say much.

He didn’t want to stir up more trouble and acted as if he hadn’t seen it.

Privately, however, he became even more alert, feeling increasingly that Xi Yu was strange—how could a normal human collect ghost corpses?

Inside the simple house, Xi Yu tossed all the ghost corpses into his glove space, giving the dragon aura and blood more work to do.

By now, over a hundred ghosts of various kinds were stored in his glove space.

Most were low-level.

Aside from the unranked ones, some F-class ghosts and beasts were close to having their mutation traits dissolved, which left him with great anticipation.

Xi Yu began making preparations, waiting for Ding Ren to return so they could head out to investigate the Star-Dream Jellyfish.

****

At that moment, the horizon suddenly turned a fiery red; the corpses of nearly a thousand ghosts had been piled onto dry wood and branches and set ablaze.

“What a waste.”

When Xi Yu was drawn outside, he heard Fang Jianbo lamenting, “It would have been so great if all those ghosts could have been collected by Xi Yu.”

This made Xi Yu chuckle.

Fang Jianbo turned his head instinctively and realized Xi Yu had arrived, making him stick out his tongue in embarrassment.

The sight of the burning ghost corpses was spectacular.

However, most people’s expressions were solemn; the number of ghosts was endless, and today’s wave was just a minor incident. No one knew what tomorrow would bring.

Xi Yu watched for a while and then stopped thinking about it.

The humans of Kun Star were destined to keep fighting if they wanted to survive. If they succumbed to fear or retreated, they would eventually be phased out by this world.

He turned to look in the other direction.

Ding Ren was speaking with Guan Zhang and another individual.

Suddenly, Xi Yu’s pupils contracted sharply.

In an instant, he finally understood why the ghost siege appeared so bizarre.

In a flash, Xi Yu reacted; he looked at the person next to Ding Ren with a hint of panicked fear in his eyes.

As if sensing his gaze, Yao Yanyi looked toward Xi Yu’s direction, at which point Xi Yu hurriedly turned away.

“Captain Ding, is that youth the reserve Realm Guard you’re planning to recruit?”

“Mhm.” Ding Ren narrowed his eyes and glanced at him before responding flatly.

“He certainly looks elegant and extraordinary,” Yao Yanyi praised.

“Comrade Yao, we owe you our thanks for helping out this time.” Guan Zhang stepped in to block Yao Yanyi’s line of sight as if by accident.

“Not at all, City Seat Guan is being too polite.” Yao Yanyi couldn’t help but shake his head.

Guan Zhang simply didn’t want Yao Yanyi to come into contact with Xi Yu.

His heart was a bit heavy; he had specifically requested that the city’s C-class experts not come out this time, yet Yao Yanyi had come out anyway.

But there was nothing he could do; Yao Yanyi was a Civilian Guard and a C-class expert, so Guan Zhang had no authority over him. Yao Yanyi disliked being restricted; even if the city tried to force him to stay inside, they might not be able to stop him.

Moreover, since he had come out to help proactively, it was even harder to say anything.

Guan Zhang knew Yao Yanyi’s heart for protecting the country was no less than his own, so he naturally didn’t want Yao Yanyi to potentially fall under Xi Yu’s “influence” after coming out.

****

“Captain Zhang, what’s the name of that person standing with Captain Ding and City Seat Guan?”

When Xi Yu pulled Zhang Qingyuan back toward the simple house, his expression had returned to normal, completely devoid of the panic from earlier, as he asked the question casually.

“His name is Yao Yanyi; he’s a C-class Civilian Guard in Xincheng.”

Zhang Qingyuan had naturally looked up all the C-class experts in Xincheng. He instinctively detected something off in Xi Yu’s tone. Furthermore, Xi Yu’s reaction just now had been strange; it wasn’t like his personality at all.

“When Captain Ding gets back, tell him to come find me immediately.”

“Mhm, alright.” Zhang Qingyuan agreed without asking further.

****

Code-named [Taotie], a heinous thug with the blood of millions on his hands—one of the nine future A-class super-criminals of the Middle Continent, aside from the world-class terrorist organization [Underworld].

He was also one of Xi Yu’s enemies from his previous life.

He was one of the sources of chaos in the Middle Continent that Xi Yu intended to eliminate in this life, and he had unexpectedly run into him here in Xincheng.

Xi Yu was quite surprised.

He hadn’t expected Yao Yanyi to be using his real name at this time.

To be honest, in his previous life, Yao Yanyi was insignificant among his enemies. The fellow had coveted him back then, but after failing an ambush and being heavily injured, he never appeared again.

Therefore, Xi Yu hadn’t paid him much attention and didn’t know much about him. He only knew that Yao Yanyi had appeared out of nowhere and quickly became a major threat to the Middle Continent.

However, he did know that Yao Yanyi possessed a Food Sacrifice ability: [Devour], which allowed him to control the ghosts he swallowed.

Yao Yanyi, Devour, ghost siege, Ghost Domain, A-class… in an instant, a line connected them all.