Chapter 76: Why?

“Watch out!”

Wei Long stretched out his long arm and pulled Lu Ran behind him.

Wei Hu landed farther back; the two brothers formed a front-and-rear barrier, trapping Lu Ran in the middle.

On the upper and lower staircases, Deng Yuxiang and Sun Zhengfang were fighting the boy and girl spirits.

“Wu wu wu!”

The ghost-charm boy spat out a chilling cry, his pitch-black eye sockets “staring” at Sun Zhengfang as his tiny hands flailed wildly.

Instantly, dozens of black paper talismans materialized out of thin air and whipped toward Sun Zhengfang.

Sun Zhengfang remained unmoved; the branch in his hand rapidly wove into a shield of interlaced twigs.

Two soft *tap-tap* sounds echoed as the black talismans stuck fast to the shield.

Immediately, deep red runes glowed across the black paper, their light growing blinding.

*Bang! Bang!*

Massive explosion!

Waves of blood mist burst outward, the stench of blood thick in the air.

Yet Sun Zhengfang’s twig shield remained undamaged.

“Stream Realm, Stage 3 to 4!” Sun Zhengfang shouted, his palm surging with divine power.

From within the twig shield, two branches shot out like whips, lashing at the enemy.

Hearing Sun Zhengfang’s report, Lu Ran felt slightly reassured.

The ghost-charm boy’s appearance was terrifying, but if it was only Stream Realm, it couldn’t possibly threaten several powerful Moonwatchers.

“River Realm! River Realm, above Stage 3!”

Above them, Deng Yuxiang’s voice rang out.

Lu Ran: “.”

His heart, just settled, rose again in alarm.

Sun Zhengfang: “Big Dragon, Big Tiger, advance in order—help Little Deng find the yellow paper!”

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

Ever since the yellow talisman fell off, the ghost-charm boy’s body had become ethereal, immune to most physical damage.

If the yellow talisman was reattached, the ghost-charm boy would regain solid form.

Unfortunately, Lu Ran couldn’t learn this technique.

Because it wasn’t a demonic art.

It was the ghost-charm boy’s racial trait—innate.

“Yes!”

“Yes!” The Wei brothers received the order and surged upward.

Lu Ran, caught in the middle, tried to rush up too—but though he’d lifted his legs, he couldn’t climb the stairs.

A supple branch had suddenly wrapped around his waist.

Sun Zhengfang: “Little Lu, your chance to shine—scared?”

Lu Ran instantly perked up: “Not scared!”

“Good! I’ll lure this boy spirit up,” Sun Zhengfang spoke rapidly. “You climb the stairs again and find the yellow paper.”

Lu Ran was puzzled—climb the stairs again?

Before he could ask, the branch around his waist tightened and hurled him upward.

“Oh!” Lu Ran let out a soft cry as the branch whipped him through the window between the third and fourth floors.

Instantly,

Night wind struck, rain drenched him.

The branch dragged Lu Ran downward until it released him at the second-floor level.

Lu Ran landed hard; before him stood Deng Yuxiang’s Night-Cutting Blade, planted at the stairwell entrance.

“Hum~”

The Night-Cutting Blade trembled faintly, as if eager to join the battle.

Lu Ran charged forward without pausing to soothe it.

As he moved, his divine power surged as he pushed the demonic art—Demonic Awareness—to its limit.

He scanned the stairwell swiftly, sprinting up to the second floor.

Before his headlamp’s beam even reached the yellow paper, his peripheral vision had already locked onto the target.

“Found it?”

“Found it!” Lu Ran clenched the yellow paper; its surface was rough under his fingers.

Sun Zhengfang held his twig shield, using another branch to lash at the ghost-charm boy: “Wait for the right moment—stick it to the spirit!”

Though the whip cracks echoed constantly, each lash passed clean through the ghost-charm boy’s body, striking only the concrete steps.

“Wah~”

Was the ghost-charm boy actually crying in frustration?

He kept summoning black talismans, flinging them relentlessly at Sun Zhengfang’s shield.

Clearly, this demonic entity had low intelligence—like a real three- or four-year-old child.

Sun Zhengfang and Lu Ran were loudly strategizing, yet the spirit paid no attention, fixated solely on hammering the twig shield.

“There you go~”

Lu Ran roared inwardly; as the ghost-charm boy launched another black talisman, he fired a burst of mist from his feet.

“Whoosh—”

Lu Ran shot forward, yellow paper in hand, and slapped the spirit’s occiput with a palm strike.

“Ugh~” The ghost-charm boy emitted a strange guttural sound.

His little head spun dizzily!

He even forgot to cry.

The ghost-charm boy’s ethereal body instantly solidified.

Worse still, a festive tiger-head cap now sat atop his head.

Nobody knew where the cap had come from.

But the yellow paper was in place—and so was the cap.

Now that the ghost-charm boy had regained solid form, his fate was obvious.

Lu Ran’s palm strike had been no light blow!

He sent the ghost-charm boy flying straight into the twig shield.

From the shield, twigs sprouted upright, transforming into sharp wooden spikes.

“Puff~”

The ghost-charm boy’s energy body shattered into mist, spreading outward.

“First time seeing that?” Sun Zhengfang retracted his twig shield and looked down.

From Sun Zhengfang’s expression, it was clear he was highly satisfied with Lu Ran’s performance.

Sun Zhengfang could have handled the ghost-charm boy himself.

But under acceptable conditions, the Divine People Bureau’s doctrine was to let Lu Ran fight as much as possible.

Lu Ran had not disappointed Sun Zhengfang’s expectations—he had once again completed his task flawlessly!

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

“Truly eye-opening,” Lu Ran nodded.

He’d only ever seen this kind of demon in textbooks.

In rarity, the ghost-charm boy was on par with the Crimson Paper People.

Sun Zhengfang gestured for Lu Ran to ascend: “Ghost-charm boys have a 30% chance of appearing in pairs. These demons are strong, yet weak.”

Weak, because of their low intellect.

Strong, because of their racial traits and potent demonic arts.”

“Mm.” Lu Ran replied as he sprinted upstairs. “I’m familiar with Yu Fu’s divine arts.”

Lu Ran said this because the ghost-charm boy’s demonic art resembled the divine arts of the Yu Fu sect.

Only, the ghost-charm boy flung black talismans instead of white jade tablets.

“Stop!” Wei Long’s voice rang from above.

Sun Zhengfang remained at the rear, gazing upward: “Did you find the yellow paper?”

Wei Long: “We gave it to Little Deng. Big Tiger’s opening a Blood Sea Chaos on the fifth floor, blocking the demon’s escape.”

Even so, since the ghost-charm boy was ethereal, the sides couldn’t be sealed off.

But there was no need to worry about it fleeing.

After all, such demons had low intelligence and loved slaughter—they would never let this group go.

“Big Dragon, guard Lu Ran.” Sun Zhengfang continued upward.

Facing the River Realm ghost-charm boy, Sun Zhengfang decided not to let Lu Ran fight.

“Boom!”

A violent explosion echoed from above—Deng Yuxiang had been forced to retreat.

Deng Yuxiang closed her eyes, her expression grim.

Strands of wind wrapped around her body, interwoven with wisps of mist.

Northern Wind Divine Art: Shattered Wind Armor!

“Come out!” Deng Yuxiang’s voice was icy. “I’ll give you a quick death.”

Suddenly, Deng Yuxiang’s ear twitched slightly; she swung her wind blade upward in a sharp slash.

From the wall to her left, a pale little hand suddenly emerged, flinging a black talisman.

The wind blade shattered the black talisman—instantly, brilliant lightning flashed!

Fine currents of electricity crawled like tiny snakes up the wind blade toward Deng Yuxiang.

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

At the same time, a small tornado scraped along the wall, tearing it open.

Plaster peeled away, dust swirling everywhere.

The Ghost Talisman Doll clearly sensed the danger—the little hand protruding from the wall retracted swiftly.

Deng Yuxiang said grimly: “Captain Sun, you all evacuate first. I’ll tear this building down.”

Sun Zhengfang: “Nonsense!”

Deng Yuxiang was indeed furious, itching to unleash everything—just summon a full tornado storm.

The Ghost Talisman Doll is immune to physical attacks, is it?

Then neither you nor this damn building will survive!

Sun Zhengfang acted instantly: “Da Long, take Little Lu and jump out the window. Use the Sound of Compassion to lure the Ghost Talisman Doll.”

“Shh!” Deng Yuxiang suddenly issued a silence command.

Sun Zhengfang fell silent at once, afraid of disturbing his teammate.

The stairwell fell utterly still.

Deng Yuxiang frowned slightly—had she misheard?

At present, the Ghost Talisman Doll’s body was in a phantasmal state; when moving, it made almost no sound.

So Deng Yuxiang could only detect its presence by listening for the faint ripples of energy disturbance when it cast spells!

The difficulty was unimaginable!

Below in the stairwell, Lu Ran waited a moment, then sneaked again.

He used Wei Long as a living shield, pushing the Cultist of the Imprisoned Demon up two steps, reaching the fourth floor.

Wei Long naturally knew Lu Ran wanted to contribute to the team—but…

He planted his feet firmly, halting movement, blocking Lu Ran solidly.

But Lu Ran still had a trick!

He hugged Wei Long, tilted his body, and strained to peer forward.

Finally, Lu Ran saw the tall figure standing by the window on the half-floor above.

Wei Long was about to steady Lu Ran when he noticed Lu Ran had closed his eyes.

He hesitated a moment, but ultimately did not disturb him.

In truth, no one else knew: Lu Ran was utterly different from Deng Yuxiang!

Northern Wind devotees

listen for the sound of wind.

Lu Ran,

smells the stench of ghosts!

Evil Art: Evil Perception doesn’t just enhance hearing—it enhances all five senses!

Hm?

Why is the smell fading?

Has the Ghost Talisman Doll left the building?

Impossible—how could such a demon flee? Wait, damn it!

Lu Ran’s heart jolted: “Sis, watch out behind you!”

“Behind me?” Deng Yuxiang was startled, but turned anyway.

This trust stemmed from Lu Ran’s repeated astonishing performances.

But this time, Lu Ran seemed to have messed up.

The broken window had no glass—only the frame—outside, utter darkness, torrential rain.

Where was the Ghost Talisman Doll?

“Hm?” Just before Deng Yuxiang closed her eyes, she suddenly spotted a pale little hand creeping out from the window frame.

Deng Yuxiang whipped her hand—yellow talisman flew toward the hand.

Her motion was seamless: she leaned out through the frame, slashing horizontally with her wind blade!

The troublesome creature was instantly decapitated!

“Puff!”

The Ghost Doll’s energy body shattered into wisps of mist, drifting outside the window.

Wei Long stood with his mouth slightly open, utterly stunned.

“This?” Sun Zhengfang also rubbed his head.

Deng Yuxiang straightened up and whispered: “Little Lu Ran.”

“Sis?”

“How?”

Lu Ran: “...”

Because I’ve got a dog’s nose?

That explanation sounds ridiculous!

Deng Yuxiang turned slightly, looking down: “I didn’t hear anything. How could you?”

Lu Ran opened his mouth, unsure what to say.

Because I’m not listening!

I’m smelling!

After a long pause, Lu Ran finally muttered: “When we finish work tomorrow, I’ll clean your ears for you, Sister.”

Deng Yuxiang: ???

Is he insulting me?

(End of Chapter)