Chapter 23: Expert Guidance
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The bespectacled boy immediately labeled Huan Xiao a reckless rookie who was as good as dead, and he did so with absolute certainty.
“...Fine. Then tell me.”
Still angry, Huan Xiao hesitated for a moment before her temper faded.
If she could learn something she did not know, she was quite willing to play along as “a dying person.”
The bespectacled boy, unaware of what she was thinking, assumed that she had finally realized the danger.
That was more like it. A rookie ought to act like a rookie.
Unfortunately, according to his deductions, anyone marked by the White-Dressed Ghost could no longer resist. Even if Huan Xiao was frightened now, it was probably already too late.
At that thought, the bespectacled boy felt a rare pang of pity for her.
Today, he would graciously allow this rookie to die with a clear understanding of why she was dying.
“Ghost-Energy Controllers can only store ghost energy in vessels before wielding it. Each rank of vessel has a storage limit, and that is the key distinction between the ranks of Ghost-Energy Controllers. They cannot produce ghost energy out of thin air, much less allow it to invade a human body.”
“Living people can never be the same as ghosts. Otherwise, why distinguish between the living and the dead?”
A cruel smile spread across the bespectacled boy’s face as he looked down at Huan Xiao with the air of a superior.
“And you, as a living person—and a rookie who has only just entered the Strange World—I cannot sense even the slightest trace of ghost energy from you.”
“You have absolutely no chance of surviving beneath the hand of a powerful evil ghost.”
“The calmer you are now, the more agonizing it will be when the ghost tortures and kills you.”
The bespectacled boy wanted to frighten Huan Xiao with his words.
“You must have figured it out by now. The White-Dressed Ghost’s killing trigger is making eye contact with it. It will board at the next stop and kill you.”
He loved watching the terror on people’s faces when they confronted something uncanny and found themselves unable to escape. Such scenes fascinated him.
It was like a mighty being looking down upon a lowly, insignificant ant. The people’s fear was not directed at him, yet it still gave him immense satisfaction and confidence.
After waiting a while and realizing that the bespectacled boy had stopped providing useful information, Huan Xiao said with a smile, “So that’s how it is. I really didn’t know.”
Seeing her laugh as though she did not take the ghost seriously at all, the bespectacled boy grew displeased.
“Is that so? It seems you still haven’t understood what I meant. Then experience it for yourself. You’ll know soon enough.”
At that moment, as if to confirm his words, the announcement suddenly sounded.
“Ding! Corpsefield Mountain has arrived. Passengers boarding the bus, please hurry and get on.”
At the same time, the bespectacled boy and the announcement spoke together:
“The White-Dressed Ghost is about to board. It will kill you in three minutes!”
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The moment the doors opened, a chill swept into the bus with the wind, and the already frigid temperature plummeted even further.
It was pitch-black outside.
Unlike the previous stops, this one was not in a bustling city, but in a desolate wilderness.
Huan Xiao could vaguely see corpses strewn across the ground and heaps of white bones, as though this were hell on earth.
At that moment, the female ghost in the white dress was climbing into the bus from outside, leering at Huan Xiao with a ferocious grin.
She had completely shed the appearance of an ordinary human.
Her body was covered in wounds and smeared with blood. The white hem of her dress had been dyed crimson, turning it into a blood-red gown.
Even the ground beneath her feet was marked by a bloody footprint with every step.
With her sharp eyes, Huan Xiao noticed a corpse outside wearing a white dress identical to the ghost’s.
Apparently, this was the place where the female ghost in white had died.
“Corpsefield Mountain,” which should have been the penultimate stop, had unexpectedly moved forward...
“What... What is going on? Why can I see it?”
The bespectacled boy stared at the ghost in the blood-red dress in disbelief, his entire body trembling.
Impossible. Absolutely impossible. His deduction could not have been wrong!
No matter how powerful this female ghost was, she could not break the rules—unless she had done this because someone had triggered a hidden condition.
At that thought, he turned toward Huan Xiao in disbelief.
“What exactly did you do?! You saw it, and you should be the only one who can see her board. It was originally only supposed to attack you!”
“Did you do something somewhere I couldn’t see? Tell me, now!”
In the face of the bespectacled boy’s frenzy, Huan Xiao was far calmer.
What else could it be? In the White-Dressed Ghost’s eyes, Huan Xiao was also a ghost. Perhaps when two ghosts made eye contact, it triggered a different result.
Maybe the White-Dressed Ghost had been unable to do this before because of some restriction.
But the female ghost in white was clearly far more powerful now.
Huan Xiao solemnly compared the ghost energy surrounding herself with that surrounding the ghost before her.
Yes, as expected, she was still slightly stronger. Ha, ha.
Then there was nothing to worry about.
“Rookie, what exactly did you do?!”
When Huan Xiao remained silent, the bespectacled boy moved toward her, intending to attack her directly.
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Huan Xiao had originally intended to dodge, but when she saw the blood-red-dressed ghost suddenly appear behind the bespectacled boy, she decided to stay where she was.
The instant the bespectacled boy was about to touch Huan Xiao, the blood-red-dressed ghost attacked him.
He warily rolled aside and avoided the blow.
A ring of ghost energy surrounded his body as he remained constantly prepared for the female ghost’s next attack.
By chance, the bespectacled boy caught sight of Huan Xiao, who was still sitting in her seat.
When he realized that the female ghost had no intention of attacking her at all, his heart jolted.
Could Huan Xiao actually not be a rookie, but an evil ghost in disguise?
No, impossible. He had seen her eat human food with his own eyes, and both her expressions and manner of speaking were no different from those of an ordinary human.
Besides, Huan Xiao had a phone. Every sign indicated that she was a player.
“How did you do it? Why isn’t it attacking you?”
The bespectacled boy was unwilling to accept this. Could there be some clue he had overlooked?
“Maybe you look tastier than I do.”
Huan Xiao spouted nonsense and made up an answer on the spot.
The bespectacled boy believed her. The ghost energy stored within him held a fatal attraction for ghosts, so it was not impossible for the evil ghost to target him first.
It seemed that he would have no choice but to use his ghost energy today.
All the ghost energy within him had been accumulated by dealing with weak ghosts in the real world. Using so much of it at once pained him greatly, but he could no longer afford to care.
The instant the blood-red-dressed ghost pounced, the bespectacled boy used his ghost energy to block the attack.
But he had forgotten that the ghosts of the Strange World were on an entirely different level from those of the real world.
If the ghosts of the real world were leaves, then the ghosts of the Strange World were towering trees.
From the side, Huan Xiao saw everything clearly. The bespectacled boy was certain to lose.
The ghost energy surrounding the blood-red-dressed ghost was far beyond anything he could withstand. His death was inevitable.
And so it proved. He lasted less than a second before being defeated, the female ghost’s claws piercing straight through his chest.
A searing pain spread from his chest as he watched helplessly while the ghost tore out his heart.
Even as he collapsed, he still had not understood what had happened.
He had never truly fought a ghost from the Strange World head-on before.
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