A sharp cry echoed through the sky.
Not far away, the patrolling ghost marshals all looked over.
"There seems to be some movement over there!"
Hong Ya said, pulling out her mourning stick.
She was ready for battle.
Behind her,
Qiao Linglong took a deep breath and also took out two mourning sticks.
In special times, it was necessary to have more weapons.
Two mourning sticks meant double the burst power.
Bai Wan, smelling of delicious food, nodded. As the highest cultivator among the three,
He flew ahead, "Let's go and see!"
Recently, due to the appearance of the pollution source, all teams had adjusted their working methods.
The first was personnel pairing; they had to travel in teams.
Hong Ya, Bai Wan, and Qiao Linglong were assigned to the same group.
Among the three ghost marshals, Bai Wan had the highest cultivation and voluntarily took the lead when encountering problems.
He was considered the small leader of the team.
Hong Ya's cultivation was average, but her stability was very good.
As for Qiao Linglong...
She was prone to accidents but had strong burst power.
Ghost marshals, like humans, were not perfect.
After getting to know each other, their cooperation was quite good.
Since the pollution source incident,
Their work, besides guiding souls, also included regular patrols at fixed points.
To check for any abnormalities.
...
Soon, Bai Wan and the others arrived above the cornfield.
At a glance, it was all lush green corn stalks.
Occasionally, one or two incompletely filled baskets could be seen lying askew on the ground.
Golden corn kernels had spilled out.
There was no human sound around, only the incessant chirping of cicadas.
Yet, the air clearly retained the scent of humans.
And... a faint smell of blood.
"Be careful, something's not right..."
Before Bai Wan could tell Hong Ya and the others not to rush forward, black shadows shot out from the cornfield below.
They attacked from all directions, forming a pincer movement.
Accompanied by "ji ji" sounds.
The three ghost marshals' eyes sharpened, and they immediately entered combat mode.
Their ghost energy shields were activated, mourning sticks in hand, one strike for each black shadow.
Unlike in the past,
Their ghost energy shields now had circles of white or colorful rings.
As their ghost energy flowed, these rings slowly rotated around them.
At first glance, it looked like some kind of special effect.
"It's ghost monkeys!"
Bai Wan reminded them while defending.
Ghost monkeys were new creatures formed by the accumulation of resentment.
Neither fully ghost nor fully monkey.
...
"Ji ji!"
"Ji ji!"
As more and more black shadows flew out from the cornfield,
The ghost marshals' initial ease in dealing with them turned into tension.
Bang!
Just as Qiao Linglong knocked away an incoming black shadow, she felt a strong gust of wind from behind.
Her left mourning stick immediately moved to block it.
Unexpectedly, the black shadow clung to the mourning stick.
"Ji ji!"
Qiao Linglong turned her head and found herself face-to-face with the black monkey, its teeth bared and saliva dripping.
Because of the close distance, she could clearly see the pustules on its body,
And the shreds of meat still stuck between its teeth, not yet removed.
The stench from its body assailed her nostrils.
Instantly, the ghost energy around Qiao Linglong faltered.
Her body trembled.
"You're so, so,"
"You're so smelly—!"
Qiao Linglong, feeling somewhat overwhelmed, sealed her sense of smell and forcefully swung her left hand.
The mourning stick, along with the black monkey clinging to it, was thrown out.
With a bang!
It created a large pit on the ground.
The black monkey also turned into a pool of black mosaic.
The dark mourning stick floated in mid-air, and the surrounding Yin energy vibrated.
The filth on it was brushed off, and it turned white again, flying back to its owner.
Picking up the two mourning sticks again, Qiao Linglong looked at the dense swarm of black monkeys flying towards her, wanting to have a 'close encounter.'
Her scalp tingled, and she immediately entered berserk mode.
"Get away!!!"
"You're so disgusting, don't come near me—!"
Bang! Bang!
Bang bang!
One black monkey after another was sent flying, exploding in mid-air.
Beside her,
Hong Ya and Bai Wan, already accustomed to Qiao Linglong's combat style, made way for her.
Giving her ample space to unleash her power.
It had to be said, even after seeing it many times,
Hong Ya was always filled with emotion.
It was hard to imagine how such a small body, about 1.4 meters tall, could unleash such immense combat power.
The two mourning sticks swung rapidly around her, forming an almost impenetrable defense.
Each strike was accurate, clearly indicating extensive training.
The ghost monkeys couldn't get close to her... Wait!
Hong Ya's gaze suddenly sharpened, and her entire body felt as if it had fallen into an ice cellar.
"Stop! Qiao Linglong, stop!"
"Calling for backup!"
As she shouted, she pulled out her Underworld Work Log.
She saw that on Qiao Linglong's ghost energy shield, the colorful lines—
A corner on her back was missing.
As if it had been erased, making the entire circle incomplete.
But Hong Ya knew,
These colors on the ghost energy shields were specifically designed to prevent pollution sources!
To prevent them from being parasitized unknowingly!
Teaming up was also so that everyone could monitor each other's ghost energy shields!
As long as it was discovered in time,
Stopping the initial parasitism of the pollution source could prevent further spread!
"It's the pollution source! They're disguised by the pollution source!"
Hong Ya knew without looking that her and Bai Wan's ghost energy shields must also have been infiltrated.
But, it was too late!
Just as Bai Wan reacted and, along with Hong Ya, took out their Underworld Work Logs to request backup,
The ghost monkeys that had been blown up in the air,
Quickly connected together, forming a black barrier.
Separating Hong Ya and Bai Wan, and Qiao Linglong, into different enclosed spaces.
At the same time, it blocked the red lights from the Underworld Work Logs that were supposed to fly towards Jiang Lin and the members of the eighteenth team.
Hong Ya's heart sank. The rescue call failed!
Disguise, isolation...
These pollution sources were prepared!
Could it be... the human voices from before were meant to lure them here?!
As this thought arose, Hong Ya felt a sense of terror.
Enemies with strong power were terrifying,
But enemies that could think, learn, and also possess power were even more terrifying!
—What exactly were these pollution sources?!
...
...
"Holy crap, holy crap! What the hell is this thing?!"
"Scared in advance, streamer protect me!"
"Huddling in my little blanket (shivering jpg.)"
The live stream camera followed Hong Ya and the others to the cornfield.
Because they had confidence in the ghost marshals, the viewers were initially watching with ease.
They even had the leisure to discuss Qiao Linglong's overpowered existence; even her frightened expression when facing the black monkeys was incredibly cute.
Both adorable and powerful.
She was simply a dream loli character in a game!
But, as Hong Ya let out a loud cry, the entire battle situation took a sharp turn.
In an instant, the enemy gained the upper hand.
Many viewers hadn't even reacted, with a line of question marks on their foreheads.
What just happened?
Hong Ya shouted, pollution source?
Then, then?
And then, in the live stream footage, only two giant black spheres remained.
One contained Bai Wan and Hong Ya, and the other trapped Qiao Linglong.
And in the cornfield,
More and more ghost monkeys continued to leap out, burrowing into the black isolation spheres.
"I was wondering, where are all these monkeys hiding?"
Looking at the cornfield, it didn't seem like there was enough space to hide so many monkeys!
...