Chapter 112 96. Defeat the main villain first_2
Tan Shuchang couldn\'t help but take a look.
He didn\'t recognize this ghost but had some impression; it followed his dog-headed strategist.
Hence, he had no choice but to stop his attack and instead asked aloud, "Just you alone?"
"Replying to Sir, after that bitter old ghost deceived us to let him in, he took the fierce ghosts and started slaughtering us everywhere. Fortunately, with the strategist\'s intervention, we scattered and fled, thereby escaping with our lives."
"Alright then, follow me," Tan Shuchang nodded.
"Thank you, City Lord, Sir!" The ghost was ecstatic, and then, it witnessed what it meant to pulverize.
Soon, Tan Shuchang\'s sleeve was stuffed with thirty ghosts.
And behind him stood five ghosts.
It was the scholar ghost and its subordinates.
"City Lord, Sir, that bitter ghost is truly detestable. Holding the dark deity\'s decree, he deceived us and even tried to exterminate us all. Fortunately, Sir, when you left, you did not take the seal of the City Lord, and thus we survived until now," said the scholar ghost with a face full of hatred. It used to hate General Huai the most, but now it despised that bitter ghost the most.
While saying this, the scholar ghost hurriedly handed over the city lord\'s seal it carried to Tan Shuchang.
But Tan Shuchang waved his hand, letting it keep holding it.
"I don\'t need it."
He, a living person, couldn\'t activate it at all. Though he could force it to work, it was too strenuous and unrewarding, so he chose not to use it.
Then, Tan Shuchang was about to inquire about the whereabouts of the bitter ghost, but just then he noticed someone coming and asked the scholar ghost and others to leave first.
To him, even if he didn\'t know where the bitter ghost was, it didn\'t matter; the strongest ghost here must certainly be the bitter one. Thus, completely unaware that he had already stuffed the bitter ghost into his sleeve, Tan Shuchang decided to exchange information with the approaching Players first.
They were a group of seven, men and women, who became excited upon seeing Tan Shuchang.
"Sir, after receiving your message, we came over immediately! And as per your command, we have gathered those players!" "Your ghosts are ready for deployment," said the leader of the seven Players.
And this remark made Tan Shuchang realize all at once that he had encountered a "traitor." He just didn\'t know which "lord" these seven people served.
Was it the bitter ghost, or one of those three Grade-A special invite Players, or some Yin God?
Thoughts raced in Tan Shuchang\'s mind, and he was about to go forward and pretend to talk; after all, from these people\'s conversation, the adversary clearly did not know what the so-called "lord" looked like.
However, before Tan Shuchang could speak, he sensed a strange energy coming towards him.
It was a bizarre energy entangled with life and death.
He couldn\'t help but look over, and then he saw a figure rushing towards them swiftly. This was a young man, handsome but somewhat effeminate.
This young man was the owner of the strange energy Tan Shuchang had sensed.
Watching him appear like a phantom from the grey fog, the hopeful look in Tan Shuchang\'s eyes instantly vanished, for although there was a hint of death in the young man, he was not a ghost.
When this young man saw Tan Shuchang and the other seven, he didn\'t suspect Tan Shuchang but asked the seven, "How is the task I commanded coming along? Have all the players gathered?"
"Two... two lords?" This was someone from among the seven who couldn\'t help but exclaim in astonishment.
But no sooner had this person spoken than the leader scolded him, "Fool, what two lords? This is an imposter! Who are you really? Why are you impersonating the lord?"
Those last two sentences were directed at Tan Shuchang.
"He\'s not one of your people?" The conversation among the seven made it clear to the young man that this person was not who he had been trying to contact.
Instantly, the young man with a chilly gaze turned to Tan Shuchang and said, "You really have some nerve, nearly deceiving even me."
"Your forces are truly chaotic," Tan Shuchang couldn\'t help but remark; it was almost like the inner courts, so with a flick of his hand, he instantly stripped the deathly aura from the young man\'s body.
This deathly aura was the source of the young man\'s power. Once stripped away by Tan Shuchang, the young man instantly collapsed to the ground in pain.
However, Tan Shuchang\'s method of stripping was too crude.
As a result, not long after the deathly aura left the young man\'s body, he died and then a malicious ghostly figure burst out from his body.
Tan Shuchang was somewhat surprised by this scene, not because the youth who was originally alive had instantly turned into a ghost after the deathly aura was stripped but because the appearance of the ghost was completely different from that of the young man.
Involuntarily, Tan Shuchang thought of the concept of "possessing corpses to revive spirits."
At that moment, as the ghost left the young man\'s body, although it looked terribly fierce, it did not attack Tan Shuchang but instead, turned and ran.
As a ghost that had successfully possessed a corpse and revived, its intelligence had already become as high as any living person\'s.
And even more cunning.
"Don\'t leave so quickly; it makes me seem very inhospitable!" Tan Shuchang hurriedly raised his hand and lightly swept his sleeve, instantly creating an invisible air current that rolled the ghost into his sleeve.
Having done this, Tan Shuchang, seeing the seven people looking terrified, comforted them, "You need not be afraid; I seldom take human lives. Oh, and if you still want to commit \'human treachery\', I won\'t expose you. You can boldly do it, enjoy it, feel free to continue!"
After all, these seven persons had opened up a new train of thought for acquiring ghosts for him, so Tan Someone was still willing to acknowledge this kindness, as long as they were willing to continue being bait.
However, upon hearing his words, these seven were even more scared.
"I seldom take human lives"… interpreted, could it mean—It\'s not that I don\'t kill people, just that compared to others who kill frequently, it seems I kill less.
Seeing them like this, Tan Shuchang couldn\'t help but sigh that a rotten wood cannot be carved.
Indeed, could there be any who betray their own kind and help another species harm their kind who aren\'t craven?
Thus, Tan Shuchang left with a sweep of his sleeve.
Seeing Tan Shuchang leave, the seven felt as if they had survived a catastrophe, each appreciative of their fate. But then, suddenly, several ghosts appeared and surrounded them.
"Esteemed ghost sirs, may I know your noble purpose?" The leading person hurriedly asked in panic.
He feared if he spoke too late, he\'d be devoured by these ghosts.
After all, this weird game instance clearly stated that the ghosts would eat humans this time.
"Can you contact someone like that young man?" the ghost scholar asked, referring to the young man who had been filled with the deathly aura just a while ago.
"We cannot..." the leader hurriedly answered truthfully, that level of a Player was not someone he could contact on his own.
"Then kill all of them!" the ghost scholar immediately ordered.
Upon hearing this, his subordinates instantly took action. Despite their respectful demeanor towards Tan Shuchang, none could hide their inherently ferocious nature.
As a result, the seven could not last half a minute and were cleanly slaughtered.
Then one of the ghosts asked the scholarly ghost, "Strategist, won\'t the City Lord blame us for acting rashly?"
"The Lord was clearly very pleased to see that the ghost had successfully possessed and revived, so the implication of keeping these people was very obvious. Since they are unwilling, they are naturally useless," the scholarly ghost explained.
...
Meanwhile, Tan Shuchang, who had walked some distance away, sensed the commotion behind him. He felt a bit odd but said nothing, thinking that it might be a good opportunity to cultivate his canine-headed strategist.