Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“Where? I don’t see anything?” someone else said.
“I really did see something. I swear, I’m not going blind,” said Huang Mingqi.
“This place really gives me the creeps. I would probably believe you if you told me that there were a bunch of ghosts living in that manor,” said his colleague, Deng Deng, with a weak laugh.
“Gao Peng, there’s heavy Yin energy radiating from inside,” said Flamy quietly into Gao Peng’s ear.
“Yin energy?” Gao Peng frowned. The presence of Yin energy almost certainly meant that there was something corrupt lurking inside the building. The walking monster corpses from before had also oozed with Yin energy.
“Do you sense anything else that might be a threat to us?” asked Gao Peng.
“No,” said Flamy, shaking its head.
“That’s reassuring.” Gao Peng let out a sigh of relief. You can always count on a woman’s intuition in times like this… especially that of a female one-legged crane.
The researchers were still under the impression that they were inside a pocket dimension and that people had once lived there a long time ago. However, Gao Peng already knew that they were not in fact in a pocket dimension, but rather in the Naihe Underworld!
There was nothing normal about finding a small manor in a place like this. Gao Peng frowned, sensing that something was definitely off about it. Why does it look like a papier-mache model?
A hollow rustling noise sounded from the manor’s walls every time a gust of wind blew past them, and the whole thing seemed to be trembling.
The 32-foot-tall manor swayed in the wind like a huge monstrosity lazily swinging its head around. Gao Peng strained his eyes at it. The building’s stats appeared before him instantly.
[Monster Name]: Papier-Mache Phantom Manor
[Monster Level]: Level 52 (King-tier)
[Monster Grade]: Excellent/Excellent
[Monster Attribute]: Yin/Ghost
[Monster Ability]: Ghost Husbandry Level 3, Exorcism Level 3, Yin Accumulation Level 3, Mist of Yin Corruption Level 3
[Monster Weakness]: Fire
[Monster Description]: A monster born from the ashes of countless papier-mache houses that were burned in honor of the dead. It is capable of absorbing Yin energy, as well as nourishing a spirit within its confines. As a result, it has become a favorite place for all manner of ghosts and apparitions to hang out. However, the Papier-Mache Phantom Manor takes control of any spirit weaker than itself, condemning it to a life of servitude.
To think that slavery exists even here among ghosts…
“Don’t go in,” warned Gao Peng, stopping those who were about to head towards the manor. “Don’t you think it’s strange to find a manor just sitting here in the middle of nowhere?”
One of the researchers smiled apologetically at him. It was thanks to Gao Peng’s presence that he had even had the courage to venture into the unknown… He had heard about all the achievements that Gao Peng had accomplished in the past. Being under the protection of an almost godly presence like Gao Peng for this long, the researcher couldn’t help but feel as if nothing could hurt him, as long as Gao Peng remained by their sides.
“That’s what you’re here for, isn’t it? To keep us safe from whatever danger awaits us?”
“There’s a high chance that monsters above Emperor-tier exist in this place,” said Gao Peng gravely. “I may not be able to protect all of you by myself. Better to be on the safe side for now.” He then turned to Flamy, ordering it to attack the manor before them.
Flamy took a deep breath, letting air flow into its stomach. In an instant, its stomach expanded like a balloon.
Sensing that danger was coming its way, the phantom manor immediately retreated from the group of people, its body shaking dangerously.
“The building moved!” Huang Mingqi shouted in surprise. He had seen all kinds of monsters and even conducted autopsies on some of them, but this was the first time he had seen a building that could move on its own.
“Can we dissect the building’s body? If we do, will we find actual organs or just drywall?” said Jiang Feifan, his eyes lit up.
Speed seemed to be the phantom manor’s weakness. Before it could move to safety, Flamy’s attack was already upon it, spewing flames from its mouth at the building like a flamethrower.
The flames struck the phantom manor’s facade. The building let out a chilling shriek as the flames invaded its interior via the windows. It began to visibly distort before them. The varnish on the walls fell off into the inferno that had surrounded the structure.
Its gabled roof had also changed drastically. Screaming faces now dotted the roof’s surface, contorting it into a misshapen hat. The building’s windows had also transformed into caverns that seemed to be wailing like the spirits of the damned.
The ghosts living inside the phantom manor were burned “alive” inside it. They were reduced by the inferno to piles of ash before they even had a chance to scream out in pain. After burning for five whole minutes, the phantom manor, too, was reduced to a large pile of ash. Black smoke was rising from it.
“It’s all burnt to ash. I don’t think there’s anything left for you to dissect,” said Huang Mingqi.
Flamy flew over to the pile of ash, from which it dug out a gray crystal core. It then swallowed the crystal core while everyone was looking at it, impressed.
“It’s a bit spicy, like the first I ate when I was young,” said Flamy. It really liked eating spicy food.
“I guess we can still experiment on its ashes when we get back.” Jiang Feifan began stuffing the phantom manor’s ashes into a test tube before putting it back inside the portable space of his Levitating Jellyfish.
Seeing as Gao Peng was watching Jiang Feifan intently, Professor Chen, the oldest member of the research team, as well as some of the younger researchers’ instructor, explained to Gao Peng, “Little Jiang has always been this way. He likes to experiment on anything that catches his fancy.”
“I see. I guess he has something in common with most accomplished researchers: an insatiable curiosity,” said Gao Peng, smiling.
“Haha, I suppose so. By the way, the Levitating Jellyfish provided by the Southern Sky group is quite handy to have, especially when we’re conducting fieldwork. As long as we have one with us, we never have to worry about not having enough space to store the samples that we’ve collected,” said Professor Chen.
Suddenly, the sound of beating wings could be heard from afar. A powerful presence seemed to be drawing closer and closer. It was dark, foul and violent.
The first thing they saw in the distance was the green feathers of the Qing Luan bird. There were three people sitting on its back. When they saw Gao Peng and the others, they shouted, “Help!”
Qing Xu immediately recognized Gao Peng on the ground. “There’s an Overlord-tier monster behind us. Be careful,” she said, watching Gao Peng’s face intently for any changes in his expression.
Gao Peng seemed untroubled by this. He simply waved her off and said, “Get behind me.” He then said to Li An and the others, “You, too. Follow them.”
Li An nodded, then looked at Professor Chen, as if wanting to say something to him. However, the latter waved a hand at him before running to the back as fast as he could.
Gao Peng was now staring in the direction from which the Qing Luan had come. Even though there were still no signs of its pursuer, he could see black clouds rolling up from the horizon, effectively blocking that part of the sky. He could now see the silhouette of a huge creature moving towards him amid the clouds.
The monster’s features were obfuscated by the clouds, so Gao Peng could only see a general outline of it, but it was at least 60 to 100 feet tall. A pair of crimson lights pierced through the black clouds. Gao Peng could also hear the sound of something heavy being dragged across the ground.
“Electric-type attacks always seem to work best against evil creatures,” said Gao Peng, before summoning Da Zi from his Familiar Space.
Once it was summoned into the open, the electricity around Da Zi’s body came into contact with the air, setting off loud crackling sounds. Its electricity seemed to have a violent reaction with the Yin energy in the air.
“Da Zi, give this guy a taste of your Silver Lightning attack.”
