Chapter 16: Battle of the Ghost Infants

Ye Feng ran wildly in the darkness, countless ghost infants flickered in and out of the darkness behind him, and the baby handprints on the ghost shroud on his body also kept increasing.

Finally Ye Feng rushed into the dark building: "Chen Shoushan! Wang Xiaoqiang! Save me!"

At this moment he also couldn't maintain his aloof demeanor, frantically shouting the names of Chen Shoushan and Wang Xiaoqiang.

But the first-floor lobby at this moment had no trace of Chen Shoushan and Wang Xiaoqiang, empty and deserted.

"Damn it!" Ye Feng cursed, glanced back at the relentlessly pursuing ghost infants behind him, knowing he might have to fight for his life this time.

Even though he was a Ghost Master who had tamed two ghosts, his body was still that of an ordinary person; after running all the way back here he was already out of breath, making further running unlikely.

Just as Ye Feng was about to desperately unleash his second ghost, a gunshot suddenly rang out, with a "pop" hitting a crawling ghost infant in the darkness; the ghost infant flew back a distance and lay motionless on the spot.

Bribery — Weakening!

Naturally the shooter was Chen Shoushan; the gun in his hand was a specially made pistol seized from mercenaries, firing golden bullets that are immune to spiritual interference, and combined with Chen Shoushan's extraordinary ability Bribery — Weakening.

It can weaken opponents from a distance; although it may not greatly weaken true ghosts, against these spawned ghost minions it can produce a suppressive effect as long as a coffin nail, lasting up to ten minutes.

Following the gunfire, Ye Feng saw Chen Shoushan standing on the second floor, couldn't help but feel delighted and forget his worries, while also wondering where Wang Xiaoqiang had gone; but without time to hesitate he started running toward Chen Shoushan.

"Mr. Ye, if I'm not mistaken, the first-stage ghost infants' killing pattern is to kill anyone they have seen; you've already been marked by them, so no matter where you run, it's useless unless you deal with them!"

Chen Shoushan hid behind the stairwell wall to avoid the ghost infants' gaze; anyone who has read the original knows the killing patterns differ by stage, and right now most of the ghost infants on the first floor are crawling monsters, so they must be first-stage ghost infants.

Ye Feng glared at Chen Shoushan, his face dark: "Deal with them? Easily said! There are at least dozens of ghost infants here! Even if I desperately dispose of them, by then the ghosts inside me will turn on me!"

With a "pop," a bullet whizzed past Ye Feng's head! He jumped in shock, then flew into a rage: "Damn it, this Chen Shoushan actually dares to attack me?"

Just as Ye Feng was about to erupt in anger, he suddenly froze, clearly feeling the ghost shroud inside his body growing calm, even more subdued than when he first began to tame the ghost shroud.

Ye Feng stared at Chen Shoushan in shock: "Is this your ability to command ghosts? Can it suppress the recovery of other Ghost Masters?"

"What the hell are you just standing there for?"

In the urgent situation Chen Shoushan also couldn't be bothered to keep up his noble façade, shouting loudly.

Chen Shoushan's voice brought Ye Feng back to his senses; then Ye Feng shouted excitedly: "I still have one ghost! Help me once more! I'll slaughter all these ghost infants!"

Chen Shoushan didn't disappoint Ye Feng—he raised his hand and fired another bullet that whizzed past Ye Feng's head; instantly the Ghost Fang inside Ye Feng's body began to calm, though not as effectively as the ghost shroud.

But this was enough to excite Ye Feng; he immediately tore open the chest part of the ghost shroud, revealing his scarred skin, and a set of sharp black teeth were exposed.

The next moment, the Ghost Fang opened its bloody maw and then snapped shut hard; although it hadn't bitten anything, the dozen or so ghost infants lunging at the front of the first-floor lobby suddenly burst apart, as if torn to pieces by something, and the scattered ghost infant corpses turned into a wisp of green smoke that vanished into the darkness.

Ye Feng's face turned ashen, beads of sweat pouring from his forehead, the Ghost Fang inside him stirred again; fortunately Chen Shoushan's ability was suppressing the Ghost Fang, otherwise even if the Ghost Fang didn't immediately recover from that wave, it would be close.

This is also why Ye Feng rarely uses the Ghost Fang; it's too easily agitated, far less steady than the ghost shroud—if his first tamed ghost had been the Ghost Fang, he probably wouldn't have lasted until now.

"Chen Shoushan, again!"

Ye Feng, face pale, shouted at Chen Shoushan.

"This is way too short—one big move and it's gone? Although the power is decent, it's still too short."

Chen Shoushan looked at Ye Feng helplessly: "It's gone; my ability can only be used once on the same target in a short time, and the effect lasts only about ten minutes, so don't be reluctant to use spiritual power."

"Bribery — Weakening isn't without cooldown; it not only consumes Chen Shoushan's own spirituality, but also prevents the same target from being affected by Bribery — Weakening again within half an hour."

Only then did Ye Feng notice that although his ghost shroud was quiet, it was still slowly "waking up"; Ye Feng felt a bit regretful but also thought it reasonable.

After all, if Chen Shoushan's tamed ghost could really suppress other ghosts' recovery so easily, a ghost of such terrifying power—why would he dare to use it casually? Isn't he afraid of it recovering?

Since this state can't be maintained long-term, Ye Feng's cautious thoughts of using it sparingly were shattered; he immediately stopped holding back, charging into the ghost infants while wearing the ghost shroud.

The mindless ghost infants naturally weren't afraid; they lunged at Ye Feng one after another, leaving black baby handprints before turning into green smoke and vanishing into the darkness.

As the handprints on the ghost shroud multiplied, Ye Feng clearly felt the ghost shroud "awakening" faster and faster, estimating it would soon return to its previous state; but Ye Feng gritted his teeth and didn't stop, continuing to crash into the ghost infants, taking advantage of the shroud not yet fully recovered to kill a few more.

Chen Shoushan watched Ye Feng repeatedly crash into the ghost infants, using the Ghost Fang on his chest and the ghost shroud on his body to blast the infants back into green smoke, and he wasn't idle at the stairwell, constantly employing Bribery — Weakening and Distortion.

One could see ghost infants in the lobby suddenly hit by bullets flying from who-knows-where, then dropping motionless to the ground—or a ghost infant lunging at Ye Feng would abruptly reverse direction and frenziedly bite a neighboring ghost infant, its attack target having been distorted!

Because Chen Shoushan's attack frequency wasn't high, most of the ghost infants were dealt with by Ye Feng; as Ye Feng and the ghost infants ran toward each other, the lobby's ghost infants were soon cleared out.

As the last ghost infant turned into green smoke and vanished from the first floor, Ye Feng collapsed from exhaustion onto the ground, and only then did Chen Shoushan emerge from the stairwell.

"Ye Feng, how are you holding up?"

Looking at the pale, silent Ye Feng on the ground, Chen Shoushan asked with some concern.

He also feared Ye Feng might silently and outright revive on the spot—that would be two genuine ghosts, not something those lowly ghost minions could compare to.

"Damn, good thing you just suppressed those two ghosts, otherwise it'd be trouble."

Ye Feng spoke weakly: "I'm mostly just exhausted; I was already weakened to the point of death by the Ghost Fang's torment, and I'd run myself ragged, nearly collapsing. Right now the ghost shroud and Ghost Fang have fully returned to their prior state, even further recovered, but still within my limits."

(End of chapter)