Chapter 172: Everyone Must Follow My Rules

Whether it's a Ghost Ship, a Spiritual Bus, or a Ghost Train.

After a certain amount of time, everyone aboard discovered the final destination.

It was an ancient mansion deep within the Spiritual Realm, its sky long ago covered in a gray haze like the ash of burnt paper.

Beside the mansion lay a massive painted Square, its expanse linked to roads leading in every direction.

"Damn, what the heck is that?"

On the Spiritual Bus, Zhou Deng sat as it moved forward, suddenly noticing something on a nearby Road and a look of astonishment flashing in his eyes.

It was a massive ship sailing through Lake Water, yet at this moment it seemed as if it were moving across a painted lake, appearing incredibly eerie.

As the Spiritual Bus and the Ghost Ship advanced together, drawing ever nearer the endpoint, Zhou Deng, even while inside the bus, could sense the terrifying aura emanating from the Ghost Ship.

"What a joke? Even a Spiritual Bus might not be able to ram this thing, right?"

"Even this terrifying thing is heading here—what on earth is happening?"

Zhou Deng looked left and right, a sense of urgency rising deep within him.

But the matter was not over; after the Spiritual Bus traveled a further stretch, a sound of air being torn ripped from behind.

Zhou Deng turned his head and, at some unknown moment, saw on a Road leading to the Square a tail‑less Ghost Train speeding toward the Square.

"Damn, that can't be the Western Ghost Train, can it?"

Given Zhou Deng's position, he wouldn't claim to know nothing.

Staring at the Ghost Train, he couldn't help glancing at the Ghost Ship.

"If that is the Western Ghost Train, then this vessel must be a Ghost Ship, right?"

"Ghost Ship, Ghost Train, Spiritual Bus—several of the Ley Line Circle's major supernatural vehicles have appeared. What on earth is happening?"

Soon, the Spiritual Bus reached the end of the Road and stopped in an open area near the Square.

Darkness swirled over the carriage at breakneck speed, as if urging everyone to disembark quickly.

Having witnessed a bus stall before, the others naturally dared not remain inside.

Though the outside scene exceeded their imagination, staying inside the bus would mean being killed outright by the bus.

Getting out at least let them survive a while; even at worst they could become a clear ghost.

Zhou Deng left the Spiritual Bus and realized that there were more than just these few items here.

At some point, a small sedan had already been parked in the Square ahead, though its interior was empty.

Not far from the sedan, a strangely styled Motorcycle was also parked there.

"Whoa, these are all Supernatural Artifacts, right?"

Zhou Deng stared at the sedan and the Motorcycle, his eyes flashing with a ghostly light.

He stepped forward to open the sedan, but unfortunately it seemed imbued with some supernatural property that prevented it from being opened.

Zhou Deng then moved to the Motorcycle, yet no matter how he tried, the Motorcycle would not start.

"Zhou Deng, you fool!"

A few other Ghost Tamers who had alighted from the bus looked at Zhou Deng, a hint of helplessness in their eyes.

He really isn't afraid of death; in this situation he still dares to touch those supernatural vehicles.

"Hoo!"

At that moment, a sound came from an intersection.

Following the sound, they saw that, at some unknown time, an Armored Personnel Carrier that looked like it belonged to the last century was speeding toward them.

However, after reaching the Square, the APC did not stop; it kept driving forward, apparently being controlled by someone unwilling to let it halt.

Just then, the road ahead of the APC suddenly turned stark black and white.

Then, a pallid human silhouette appeared in front of the APC.

"Bang!"

The sound of a collision with a person rang out.

Just as everyone expected the pale figure to be flung away, the APC eerily halted in place.

The crowd moved forward, finding a suitable spot, and then discovered.

After striking the white silhouette, the APC did not send the person flying; instead, it itself was stopped by the impact.

"Red and White Double Evil—White Evil!"

Zhou Deng's eyes widened; as the Headquarters captain, he knew something about what Yang Jian and the others were doing.

But because he had become captain only recently, Zhou Deng had not taken part in this supernatural incident.

Now, seeing the Red and White Double Evil and the ancient mansion, countless questions instantly flooded Zhou Deng's mind.

"What about the old man in that mansion who can Erase everything?"

"This place is shrouded by the Ghost Bride's Ghost Domain; could they be the source of this special supernatural incident?"

"Could it be that the Red and White Double Evil roamed around, scattering so many Red Letter Papers, to spread a curse?"

Though puzzled, no one could answer Zhou Deng.

"Baka Yalu! So it's you, you ghost?"

The APC stopped, and from it a short‑statured middle‑aged man wielding a katana stepped out.

He had just shouted, but upon seeing the other's appearance, the man froze.

"Little devil?" Zhou Deng was taken aback for a moment, looking surprised.

But he quickly recovered; with the Western Ghost Ship and Ghost Train here, people from the island nation showing up wasn't incomprehensible.

Zhang Hao blocked the APC, watching the man step down, a look of recollection in his eyes.

Soon, Zhang Hao retrieved the man's identity from his memory.

Ya Mu, an elder left over from the island nation's imperial era, the disciple of the Kamiya elder who ushered him into the Ghostly City.

That katana, judging by its appearance, was left to Ya Mu after the old Kamiya's death.

Speaking of the old Kamiya, his combat power was still quite impressive.

At least to some extent, the old Kamiya had already entered the ranks of the Seven Elders, though only among the lowest tier.

He used the katana together with the Yellow Mud Road Chessboard to stack Fierce Ghosts, achieving an infinite stacking effect, but the stacking speed was too slow.

Moreover, when the old Kamiya met Zhang Hao, he was already too old; even without Zhang Hao's appearance, he could not have lived more than a few months.

Nevertheless, even so, the old Kamiya still caused Zhang Hao a great deal of trouble.

If it weren't for the Ghost Bride's ability to continuously create killing clones, many clones would already have been produced in the island nation, plus the fourfold Restart between Zhang Hao and the Ghost Bride.

At that time, Zhang Hao facing the old Kamiya might truly have been restrained by the other side.

Ya Mu got off the vehicle and stared intently at Zhang Hao, but did not dare to act, only holding the katana, poised to strike.

Zhang Hao watched the Armored Personnel Carrier stop, and did not strike Ya Mu, but used Ghost Domain to shift the carrier to an open space not far from the bus. These are all good things, counted as the wedding gifts from these people.

As for those guys, Zhang Hao didn't pay much attention, because at this moment there were more important matters to handle.

Seeing Zhang Hao block the Armored Personnel Carrier and not attack him, Ya Mu breathed a sigh of relief, though deep inside still felt some apprehension.

He glanced back at the carrier that appeared not far away, knowing that vehicle would not return.

Because after the carrier was transferred, Ya Mu discovered the link between himself and the carrier had vanished.

"Hmm? Is that a Heavenly Dynasty person?"

Ya Mu surveyed the carrier and quickly spotted the group of people on the nearby open ground.

The faces on both sides were somewhat similar; Ya Mu initially thought they were island nation people, but soon realized their height was generally much taller than his, so they must be Heavenly Dynasty people.

"Little devil?" Zhou Deng stepped forward, eyes wary.

"Hmph!"

Hearing the term, Ya Mu let out a cold snort.

As someone from the Imperial Era, he knew exactly what the term Heavenly Dynasty person meant to island nation people.

Upon hearing that, Zhou Deng merely gave a cold smile.

He could sense that Ya Mu's aura was terrifying.

But so what, Zhou Deng considered that he might also possess the ability for a showdown.

After all, setting aside the monster captains of the older generation, his own strength as a New Era captain was very high, ranking among the top worldwide.

And Zhou Deng looked toward the not far distance.

Sure enough, a familiar person soon appeared in Zhou Deng's sight.

"Zhou Deng?" a bald man walked along the Road, and after spotting Zhou Deng, greeted him with a puzzled hello.

"It's me, just as I thought, Lin Bei, you also came, what about the other captains?"

Zhou Deng asked, "Did you notice any trace of them?"

"Hold on, first tell me what's going on now?" Lin Bei interrupted Zhou Deng's question.

Upon hearing that, Zhou Deng then told Lin Bei the scene he had just seen.

"So that's it. If it truly is this situation, many people will likely come in; don't rush to enter, keep waiting a bit, we can gather more captains and be safer."

"Even if it's not enough, we must ensure we have ten Ghost Tamers."

Lin Bei looked toward the Square, where red tables were arranged, each table bearing ten benches.

Some tables deep in the Square already had Fierce Ghosts sitting on them.

Although the situation is still uncertain, if we are to go in later, it's better to prepare in advance as much as possible.

On the other side.

At this moment, Zhang Hao had arrived before the Ghost Ship.

The captain, piloting the Ghost Ship into the vicinity of the old mansion, refused to stop the Ghost Ship, instead steering it to repeatedly ram back and forth.

Even in a place without Lake Water, it kept the Ghost Ship running, trying to force it to walk along the shore.

Facing Fierce Ghosts trying to disrupt his wedding banquet, Zhang Hao naturally could not let them run amok.

"Bang!"

The massive Ghost Ship barreled forward, but a tiny human silhouette stood in front of it, comparatively minuscule.

The Ghost Ship collided with the silhouette, yet oddly the silhouette did not retreat at all; instead the Ghost Ship was forced to recoil.

"Tap tap tap!"

Sensing the Ghost Ship had hit a person, the captain walked to the bow and looked forward.

Upon seeing that pale white silhouette, he stood still, staring fixedly at it.

The captain was not a simple Fierce Ghost; it possessed a certain degree of living consciousness, so it could defy the Killing Rule of Fierce Ghosts.

However, in the current situation, the captain, looking at the person who forced the Ghost Ship to stop, dared not launch an attack.

At this moment, a blood-red letter appeared in Zhang Hao's hand, the paper seemed lifted by wind, drifting to the captain's side.

As the captain took the letter, some information seemed to surface in its mind.

The captain understood why it had come here, yet it remained motionless.

The captain hesitated, wondering whether to obey the rule set by the ghost before it.

A weak Fierce Ghost facing this ghost would be crushed in Terror Level, causing such Fierce Ghosts to instinctively obey the other's rule the moment they learn the information attached to the red paper.

But for a Fierce Ghost of the captain's caliber, it can resist the supernatural attached to the red paper.

"Splash!"

The captain stood still, but as it remained silent, the Lake Water beneath the Ghost Ship roiled into waves.

Meanwhile, at some point the sky rose a foul‑smelling wind carrying the stench of corpses, the wind howled like a Fierce Ghost's wail.

The ash in the sky subtly darkened, turning into sheets of burning Paper Money.

It seemed that as soon as the Captain made any act showing a hint of refusal, these bizarre Spirit Phenomenon would swarm and attack the Captain.

That silence didn't last long; apparently sensing that Zhang Hao was not to be trifled with, the Captain quickly made a choice.

Although the Captain is an extremely terrifying Fierce Ghost, as long as Zhang Hao's Killing Rule is not triggered, the Captain does not wish to clash with Zhang Hao.

Putting other matters aside, this ghost Captain is definitely at a relatively high level of intelligence among Fierce Ghosts.

After all, few ghosts can cooperate with humans; a ghost like the Captain who works with a great many top Ghost Tamers is almost unheard of.

Zhang Hao guessed that, apart from himself and the old man of Baishui Town, other Fierce Ghosts probably do not match the Captain in intelligence or freedom from rules.

Even Human Skin Paper, which can know many pieces of information, is still constrained by rules in its actions.

The cleverness of Human Skin Paper is limited to its knowledge of many things; it is not intellectual cleverness, because it remains bound by its own rules.

The Wish Ghost need not be mentioned; it followed Zhao Kaiming in the early stage and later followed Zhao Xiaoya.

This undoubtedly shows that they are constrained by rules.

The only one that raises doubt is the Newspaper Ghost.

After this thing returned to the Ghost Newspaper Agency, Zhang Hao finds it hard to assess its condition.

Because Zhang Hao is unclear about the relationship among the Newspaper Ghost, the Paper‑selling Ghost, and the Ghost Newspaper Agency, he does not know who is dominant.

What is certain is that the Newspaper Ghost's level of intelligence does not match the Captain's.

After all, the Newspaper Ghost itself lacks genuine intelligence; its 'intelligence' is more like the suppression of its own behavioral logic through the judgment of massive human thoughts, rather than individual wisdom.

Simply put, the Newspaper Ghost and this kind of Fierce Ghost called Ghost Shadow Head are like an information hub.

(End of Chapter)