Chapter 48: Why?

"Watch out!"

Wei Long swept his long arm out, pulling Lu Ran behind him.

Wei Hu, meanwhile, dropped back further, the brothers positioning themselves one in front and one behind, sandwiching Lu Ran in the middle.

In the stairwell spanning the two floors, Deng Yu Xiang and Sun Zhengfang were each locked in battle with a boy and girl spirit.

"Woooo-wah!"

The ghost-talisman boy let out a hair-raising cry, his hollow eye sockets "staring" at Sun Zhengfang as his small hands flailed wildly.

In an instant, black talisman papers appeared out of thin air, whipping toward Sun Zhengfang.

Sun Zhengfang didn't flinch; the tree branch he extended from his palm rapidly wove together into a wooden shield.

With two soft "tap-tap" sounds, the black talisman papers stuck to the shield.

Immediately, deep red runes lit up on the black paper, the light growing increasingly blinding.

"Bang! Bang!"

A massive explosion!

Bursts of blood mist detonated, and the stench of blood rushed into their noses.

Sun Zhengfang's wooden shield, however, remained completely undamaged.

"Stream Realm, 3rd to 4th stage!" Sun Zhengfang shouted, divine power surging in his palm.

Two branches suddenly shot out from the wooden shield, lashing at the enemy like whips.

Hearing the intel Sun Zhengfang relayed, Lu Ran felt a little more at ease.

The ghost-talisman boy's appearance was indeed terrifying, but if it only had Stream Realm strength, it naturally couldn't do anything against several powerful Moon-Watching agents.

"River Realm! River Realm, 3rd stage or higher!"

From above, Deng Yu Xiang's voice rang out.

Lu Ran: "..."

His heart, which had just settled, hung in the air once more.

Sun Zhengfang: "Da Long, Da Hu, advance in order. Help Xiao Deng find the yellow paper first!"

The so-called yellow paper was the yellow talisman previously stuck to the tiger-head hat.

From the moment the yellow talisman fell off, the ghost-talisman boy's body became ethereal, allowing it to be immune to most physical attacks.

If the yellow talisman were stuck back on, the ghost-talisman boy would manifest a physical form.

Unfortunately, Lu Ran couldn't learn this trick.

Because it wasn't an evil technique.

It was a racial trait of the ghost-talisman boy, innate to its kind.

"Yes!"

"Yes!" The Wei brothers received the order and scrambled upward.

Lu Ran, mixed in the middle, wanted to charge up too, but even though he clearly moved his legs, he couldn't step onto the stairs.

Because a flexible tree branch had suddenly wrapped around his waist.

Sun Zhengfang: "Xiao Lu, your chance to shine is here. Are you afraid?"

Lu Ran's spirits were instantly lifted: "I'm not!"

"Good! I'll lure this boy up." Sun Zhengfang spoke quickly. "You climb the stairs again and find the yellow paper."

Lu Ran was a bit confused—climb the stairs again?

Before he could ask, the branch around his waist suddenly exerted force, carrying him into the air.

"Whoa!" Lu Ran let out a soft cry as he was rolled up by the branch and sent out the window between the 3rd and 4th floors.

In an instant,

The night wind struck, and heavy rain poured down on his head.

The branch bound Lu Ran all the way down until it released him at the 2nd-floor level.

Lu Ran landed heavily; right in front of him was the Night-Slaying Blade that Deng Yu Xiang had stuck at the building entrance.

"Hum~"

The Night-Slaying Blade trembled slightly, as if it were eager to join the fight.

Lu Ran charged forward, having no time to soothe it.

As he moved, Lu Ran's divine power surged, desperately driving his evil technique: Corrupt Mind!

He scanned the stairwell rapidly and sprinted up to the second floor.

Before his headlamp beam could even hit the yellow paper, his peripheral vision had already swept over the target.

"Did you find it?!"

"Found it!" Lu Ran gripped the yellow paper tightly; it felt rough to the touch.

"Look for an opening and stick it on the boy!" Sun Zhengfang stood his wooden shield up, using other branches to lash at the ghost-talisman boy.

Although the sound of whipping was constant, every lash passed through the ghost-talisman boy's body and struck the concrete stairs.

"Waaa..."

Was the ghost-talisman boy actually crying out of frustration?

It kept summoning black talisman papers, throwing them relentlessly at Sun Zhengfang's shield.

It was clear that this kind of evil spirit didn't have high intelligence; it really seemed like a three or four-year-old child.

Sun Zhengfang and Lu Ran were "conspiring loudly" right there, but the ghost boy didn't react, focused entirely on bombarding the wooden shield.

"Go!"

Lu Ran roared in his heart. Taking advantage of the moment the ghost-talisman boy threw a black talisman, he sprayed a burst of mist under his feet.

"Whoosh—"

Lu Ran darted forward, holding the yellow paper, and slapped it onto the back of the ghost-talisman boy's head.

"Urgh~" The ghost-talisman boy let out a strange guttural sound.

Its little head was buzzing!

It even forgot to cry.

The ghost-talisman boy's ethereal body instantly gained a physical form.

Not only that, but a festive tiger-head hat was suddenly placed on the ghost-talisman boy's head.

We don't know where the hat came from.

Anyway, the yellow paper was in place, and the hat followed suit.

Since the ghost-talisman boy had regained its physical form, its fate was easy to imagine.

Lu Ran's slap was certainly not light!

He sent the ghost-talisman boy flying directly into the wooden shield.

On the wooden shield, rows of branches stood up, transforming into sharp wooden spikes.

"Pfft~"

The ghost-talisman boy's body, composed of pure energy, shattered into mist and permeated the air.

"First time seeing this?" Sun Zhengfang retracted his wooden shield and looked down.

From Sun Zhengfang's expression, it wasn't hard to see that he was very satisfied with Lu Ran's performance.

Sun Zhengfang could certainly have dealt with the ghost-talisman boy on his own.

But whenever conditions allowed, letting Lu Ran participate as much as possible was the policy of the Divine People Bureau.

Lu Ran did not let Sun Zhengfang down, completing the mission properly once again!

Just like his performance over the past few hours, one word: steady!

"It was indeed an eye-opener." Lu Ran nodded.

He had only ever seen this kind of evil spirit in textbooks.

In terms of rarity, the ghost-talisman boy should be on par with the Ink-Paper Person.

Sun Zhengfang signaled for Lu Ran to go upstairs: "Ghost-talisman boys have a 30% chance of appearing in pairs. This kind of evil spirit is very strong, but also very weak."

"Weak in terms of intelligence."

"Strong in terms of racial traits and powerful evil techniques."

"Mm." Lu Ran responded while running upstairs. "I am familiar with the Master Yu Fu Sect's divine techniques."

The reason Lu Ran made this comment was that the ghost-talisman boy's evil techniques were similar in effect to the Master Yu Fu Sect's divine techniques.

It was just that the ghost-talisman boy threw black talisman papers instead of white jade slabs.

"Stop!" Wei Long's warning shout came from above.

Sun Zhengfang was still bringing up the rear, looking up at the stairwell: "Did you find the yellow paper?"

Wei Long: "Already gave it to Xiao Deng. Da Hu is currently unleashing a Blood Sea Chaos on the fifth floor, sealing the evil spirit's path."

Even so, the ghost-talisman boy was in an ethereal state, so the left and right sides couldn't be sealed.

But there was no need to worry about the ghost-talisman boy escaping.

After all, this type of evil spirit had low intelligence and loved slaughter; it would absolutely not let this group of people go.

"Da Long, protect Lu Ran." Sun Zhengfang continued to walk upward.

Facing a River Realm ghost-talisman boy, Sun Zhengfang didn't intend to let Lu Ran attack.

"Rumble!"

A violent explosion sounded, and Deng Yu Xiang, who was upstairs, actually retreated.

Deng Yu Xiang kept her eyes tightly shut, her expression grim.

Her body was wrapped in strands of wind, mixed with wisps of mist.

Lord Bei Feng Divine Technique: Shattering Wind Armor!

"Come out!" Deng Yu Xiang's voice was extremely cold. "I'll give you a quick end."

Suddenly, Deng Yu Xiang's ears twitched slightly; she wielded a wind blade and slashed upward violently.

A pale little hand suddenly reached out from the wall to her front left, throwing a black talisman paper.

The wind blade shattered the black talisman paper, and in an instant, lightning flashed brilliantly!

Dense electric currents like small snakes crawled along the wind blade toward Deng Yu Xiang.

But as soon as the current crawled onto her body, it was erased by the strands of wind.

At the same time, a small tornado tore along the wall surface.

The wall plaster peeled off, and dust filled the air.

The ghost-talisman boy clearly realized the danger, and the little hand reaching out from the wall quickly retracted.

Deng Yu Xiang said in a low voice: "Team Sun, you guys withdraw from here first. I'll just tear this building down."

Sun Zhengfang: "Don't be reckless!"

Deng Yu Xiang was indeed burning with anger, wanting to go all out and unleash a tornado storm.

The ghost-talisman boy is immune to physical attacks, right?

Then neither you nor this broken building will survive!

Sun Zhengfang made a prompt decision: "Da Long, take Xiao Lu and jump out the window. Use the Sound of Compassion to lure the ghost-talisman boy..."

"Shh!" Deng Yu Xiang suddenly issued a command for silence.

Sun Zhengfang immediately stopped talking, fearing he would disturb his teammate.

The stairwell was silent.

Deng Yu Xiang, however, frowned slightly. Could she have heard wrong?

Currently, the ghost-talisman boy's body was in an ethereal form; when it moved, there was almost no sound.

Therefore, Deng Yu Xiang could only listen for the subtle wind waves caused by energy fluctuations when the ghost boy used its techniques!

The difficulty of this can be imagined!

Below in the stairwell, Lu Ran waited for a moment and then secretly started causing trouble again.

Using Wei Long as a human shield, he pushed the Demon-Imprisoning believer and carefully climbed up two steps, reaching the fourth floor.

Wei Long naturally knew that Lu Ran wanted to contribute to the team, but...

He stood his ground, stopped moving, and blocked Lu Ran firmly.

But Lu Ran still had a trick!

He hugged Wei Long, tilted his body, and stretched his head out as far as he could.

Finally, Lu Ran saw the tall figure standing in front of the window on the fourth-and-a-half floor.

Wei Long was just about to steady Lu Ran, but he noticed Lu Ran had closed his eyes.

He hesitated for a moment, but ultimately didn't disturb Lu Ran.

Actually, no one knew that Lu Ran was completely different from Deng Yu Xiang!

Lord Bei Feng believers,

are listening to the sound of the wind.

Lu Ran,

is sniffing the scent of the ghost!

The evil technique Corrupt Mind didn't just enhance hearing; it enhanced all five senses, including hearing!

Hmm?

Why is the scent getting weaker?

Is the ghost-talisman boy not in the building? Has it already run away?

That's impossible; how could this kind of evil spirit escape... Holy crap!

Lu Ran was shocked: "Sister, watch out behind you!"

"Behind me?" Although Deng Yu Xiang was surprised, she still turned to look.

This trust stemmed from Lu Ran's stunning performance time and time again.

But this time, Lu Ran seemed to have made a mistake.

The broken window had no glass, only the frame; outside was pitch black, with heavy rain pouring down.

Where was the ghost-talisman boy?

"Hmm?" Just before Deng Yu Xiang closed her eyes, she suddenly noticed a pale little hand quietly reaching out from the window frame.

Deng Yu Xiang flicked her hand violently, and the yellow talisman flew toward the little hand.

Her movements were incredibly fluid; she leaned her upper body out of the window frame, and the wind blade in her hand slashed horizontally!

This tricky creature was instantly decapitated!

"Pfft!"

The ghost boy's energy body shattered, turning into wisps of mist that permeated outside the window.

Wei Long's mouth hung slightly open, his face full of disbelief.

"This?" Sun Zhengfang also scratched his head.

Deng Yu Xiang stood up straight and said softly: "Little Lu Ran."

"Sister?"

"How?"

Lu Ran: "..."

Because I have a dog's nose?

Explaining it like that wouldn't sound right!

Deng Yu Xiang turned slightly to look down: "I hadn't heard it yet; how were you able to hear it?"

Lu Ran opened his mouth, not knowing what to say.

Because I didn't rely on hearing!

I smelled it!

After a long while, Lu Ran managed to squeeze out a sentence: "After work tomorrow, let me help you clean your ears, Sister."

Deng Yu Xiang:???

Was he insulting her?

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 49 =====