Chapter Forty-Eight: Sacrificing Oneself to Pacify the Spirits

Ah Huang let out a thunderous roar, but it was already too late.

The little girl ghost swooped down from the air, charging straight at the unfortunate police officer.

In a flash, she plunged into his body—a possession!

Hee hee hee, ha ha ha.

The expression on the possessed officer's face immediately turned vacant and foolish. Though he was clearly a grown man, girlish laughter spilled from his mouth, sending chills down everyone's spine.

Still laughing, he raised the gun in his hand...

Fu Yang's pupils contracted sharply; something clicked in his mind. He hurriedly broke free from Zhao Shanshan's grasp, lunging forward.

From behind, he pinned the officer, now possessed by the Smiling Ghost, beneath him with all his strength.

Almost at the same moment, the officer’s gun went off.

Bang bang bang bang...

Relentless, emptying the entire magazine in one breath!

Standing directly opposite him, Liu Zhan stared in shock, a bead of cold sweat appearing on his brow.

By now, everyone understood! The Smiling Ghost had possessed the officer and used him to open fire and kill. None of them had ever encountered such a thing, so they couldn’t possibly have anticipated it. If Fu Yang hadn’t reacted so quickly, Liu Zhan might have been shot to death in the chaos.

Ah Huang exhaled beside them, “Xiao Yangzi, you’re incredible! That reaction time—even faster than mine.”

“Hee hee hee, ha ha ha.”

Pinned beneath Fu Yang, the possessed officer kept laughing in that unnerving way. With surprising strength, he twisted, struggling and managed to throw Fu Yang off, then opened his mouth, drooling, and lunged to bite Fu Yang’s wrist.

“Damn it!” Fu Yang cursed, furious. He hadn’t expected the possessed man to fight so desperately.

Instinctively, Fu Yang grabbed the officer’s neck, his right hand pressing firmly against the forehead...

In that instant!

The savage beast-mouth in Fu Yang’s right palm stirred again, its abyss-like maw radiating an intense suction. It seemed to latch onto the officer’s scalp.

“My spell is working wonders again!”

Fu Yang realized what was happening, delight surging through him.

Just then, Ah Huang and Zhao Shanshan hurried over to help. Ah Huang was already forming the signs, preparing to unleash a lightning strike.

“Don’t move! I can handle it myself!” Fu Yang shouted, stopping the others from interfering. He worried that if Ah Huang cast a spell midway through his ghost-devouring, it might cause unforeseen complications...

The others paused, curiosity glinting in their eyes.

Looking at the possessed officer, he now appeared terrified, no longer grappling with Fu Yang but desperately trying to escape, to break free.

But escape was impossible.

Fu Yang would never let him go!

“Die!” he roared, and the beast-mouth in his right hand seemed to heed his command, devouring faster. In the blink of an eye, it tore the ghost from the officer’s body and consumed it entirely.

Thud.

The officer, freed from possession, went limp and collapsed, falling unconscious.

Fu Yang, meanwhile, rose to his feet, energized, his eyes almost shining.

“Fu Yang, are you alright? Are you okay?” Zhao Shanshan, anxious, kept tugging at him, asking repeatedly. Fu Yang smiled, reassuring her not to worry. He was full of vigor, strong enough to wrestle a bull.

Ah Huang leaned in and whispered, “Did you devour the Smiling Ghost?”

“Yes, and I’ve absorbed some of its power. All my fatigue is gone—I’m back to peak condition...”

“Amazing, bro... You’ve basically got a cheat code now!”

“If you don’t like it, try beating me.”

Even in such dire straits, these two couldn’t help but banter; truly, they were something else.

The burliest officer picked up the unconscious, formerly possessed colleague, carrying him on his back. The group continued cautiously forward.

So far, they’d only traveled two kilometers, yet already one officer was missing and another unconscious—a heavy toll...

But retreat was no longer an option. Their only hope lay in pressing on, fighting their way out.

Then, greater danger arrived.

From the surrounding fog came the sound of bells jingling.

Jingle-jingle, jingle-jingle!

Everyone’s faces changed at once.

They remembered this sound vividly: back in the sealed factory, over three hundred rotting corpses had been controlled by these bells.

Now, with the bells ringing again, did it mean more corpses were closing in?

“Damn! It’s that corpse-herder from Xiangxi again. This valley forms a feng shui trap for corpses—a site where bodies never decay. Perfect conditions for turning the dead into walking corpses... It’s practically their home turf!”

Ah Huang’s expression was more grim than ever.

As if to underscore their dread, eerie laughter echoed all around.

Through the thick mist, they could just make out figures darting through the air, exuding a wicked and uncanny aura.

More Smiling Ghosts!

There were at least six or seven, like a vanguard preceding the army of walking corpses...

Shuffling sounds—soft, scraping footsteps—came from every direction.

The rustling of weeds being trampled revealed that not only the road ahead and behind, but also the grass on both sides, was crawling with corpses. Above them, Smiling Ghosts swooped in the sky. They were thoroughly surrounded, a net closing in from all sides. The mastermind was determined to wipe them out.

At this critical moment, inspiration flashed through Fu Yang’s mind. He grabbed Ah Huang’s hand, startling him.

“What’s the matter, Xiao Yangzi? Are you realizing, at the end of your life, that you’re actually—well, never mind. Are you about to confess to me?”

“Get lost! Listen, Ah Huang. Can you lure the Smiling Ghosts in the sky closer to me? My right hand can devour them all, but they’re too far right now...”

So that was it!

Fu Yang had devised a plan.

Since his right hand could absorb and devour spiritual entities like these fierce ghosts, strengthening himself in the process, if he could take them all in, his combat power would surely increase.

“Brilliant!” Ah Huang exclaimed, delighted.

“I know a ghost-suppressing spell—using myself as bait. But it’s risky; I can only hold out for five seconds. If you fail, I might be overwhelmed by the Smiling Ghosts.”

“Don’t worry! I won’t need three seconds!”