Chapter 214: Ha Ha, Caught a Wraith

"Aaaah!" Ang let out a roar, and a violent soul shockwave slammed over the field—every rat digging up seeds exploded in the head, dropping dead everywhere.

"Huh? Rats? How can there be rats here?" Serina exclaimed.

"No rats here? This entire mountain range has no rats?" Nai Ge Li Si was surprised.

"Of course not—I come up here often, and I've never seen a single rat. Look at how barren this mountain is—what could rats possibly eat to survive?" Serina said.

That made sense. Rats weren't undead—they might be tough, but they still needed food to live. The mountain was all rock, with almost no vegetation—how could rats possibly survive here?

"Then where did these rats come from?" Nai Ge Li Si asked curiously.

A weak, wavering voice drifted from deep inside the cave, timid and trembling: "I… I brought them. I didn't know this was your place, my lord. I won't do it again. I swear I won't."

Following the voice, a wisp of smoke drifted out from behind a rock, its form flickering uncertainly as it crept forward hesitantly.

"A wraith?" It was indeed a wraith: "You shocked it?"

Ang shook his head—he hadn't even noticed it. Under his soul shockwave, this wraith was no different from the rats—naturally, he hadn't sensed it.

Wraiths and liches are both high-tier undead, because they possess intelligence.

Skeletons and zombies must reach the Golden Skeleton and Iron-Hide Zombie realms to gain intelligence, but their intellect remains low.

Wraiths are different—they possess intelligence from the moment they're born. If they were once living intelligent beings, they retain their memories and knowledge.

This gives them a greater advantage over zombies and skeletons, making them the backbone of undead society.

Almost all high-ranking officials in undead empires are wraiths or liches—with rare exceptions, like Jian Gu Luo Ke.

Among them, wraiths are far rarer than liches. The Lich City has several liches, including Fei Lin and Li Sha, and Bingcheng's Lan is also a lich—but the entire Resting Abyss has not a single wraith, showing just how difficult it is for one to be born.

A wraith is a purely soul-formed undead creature, its soul naturally more condensed—even at low levels, it holds greater advantages than skeletons or zombies of the same rank.

But this advantage meant nothing before Ang. His soul shockwave wasn't even aimed at the wraith—Ang didn't even notice its existence—but the wraith nearly shattered from the impact.

Drifting to Ang's front, the wraith trembled and stammered: "S-sorry, my lord. I didn't mean to—I truly didn't know these were yours. My pets were hungry, and they just happened to find something on the ground, so… so…"

"You keep rats as pets? What's your name?" Nai Ge Li Si asked.

"Replying to my lord, I'm Fei… Feilike."

"How did you end up here?" Nai Ge Li Si asked.

"I'm a merchant, preparing to travel into human lands to acquire goods," Feilike said.

"You're a merchant—and you bring rats with you?" Nai Ge Li Si asked, puzzled.

Feilike hesitated, glancing at Ang, then sighed helplessly: "My lord, this is my secret. The Central Mountain Range has many fissure caves—some are tiny, but still passable. My pets can sniff out the routes that can be crossed."

Though reluctant, Feilike answered truthfully. Nai Ge Li Si sent a soul message to Ang: "He seems to have misunderstood something—probably thinks we're local high-tier undead."

That was normal. Ang was a Golden Skeleton—his soul strength alone could suppress Feilike, let alone being the God of Undeath. In undead society, where rank is measured by soul strength, Ang was impossibly high—no wonder the other was terrified.

Understanding this, Nai Ge Li Si knew how to proceed: "You're a merchant—what do you deal in? Where are your goods?"

Feilike reluctantly pulled out a space ring, thinking inwardly: "This is a disaster—I ran into a high-tier king? Oh well, better to lose money than face disaster."

As a wraith merchant, Feilike's soul wasn't strong—roughly equivalent to a Gray Bone Skeleton. For a wraith, this was the lowest possible level; weaker than this, and his soul couldn't even coalesce.

That's also why wraiths are so rare—they must be born with the soul strength of a Gray Bone Skeleton. Without that strength, they simply cannot be born.

But Feilike had soul strength without combat ability. In life, he was an accountant; as a wraith, that skill was useless—he was weaker than even an ordinary mage.

Though he could use Wraith Holy Fire to learn knowledge quickly, he didn't want to pledge loyalty to any Wraith Saint, so he never got the chance. Eventually, he just became a merchant.

After all, he was immortal now—even if he lost money in trade, he wouldn't starve.

To be a merchant, he had to go to human lands—undead had no commerce. Four months out of every year, they slept; only during Eternal Night did they stir.

But to reach human lands, the Central Mountain Range was a natural barrier. Humans had erected many warning towers, defense towers, soul towers—all designed to suppress undead. As a wraith, he couldn't cross easily.

Ordinary humans, however, weren't detected by soul towers. As long as they avoided the defense towers' nodes, they could slip through—even if spotted by warning towers, it didn't matter.

Soul towers were useless—their detection range was too wide, and they specifically targeted souls. Even a high-tier king couldn't withstand a direct soul strike from one.

So to cross the Central Mountain Range, he needed another way.

By chance, Feilike discovered that rats had an extraordinary sense of direction—they could find hidden crevices and narrow paths where no trail existed. So he kept a few as pets, specifically to navigate the Central Mountain Range.

Today, he returned to the Central Mountain Range, planning to rest and feed his pets, when he spotted freshly tilled soil. His pets, once released, immediately rushed to dig up the seeds.

"Probably planted by humans down below," Feilike thought. "They won't eat much—I'll compensate them with something else later." He'd already prepared to make amends—until a high-tier king suddenly stormed in and unleashed a furious soul shockwave.

That wasn't just a soul shockwave—it was a soul storm. It swept over like a hurricane. Even though he'd been hiding behind a rock, he was still caught in the blast. If the rock hadn't blocked the direct impact, he would've exploded right then.

This high-tier king was more terrifying than the few Wraith Saints he'd ever met. Feilike dared not think of anything else—he'd obey without question. Otherwise, if the king decided to do something with his soul, he'd have no tears left to cry.

Watching him pull the ring from his smoky body, the little angel curiously trotted over, wanting to poke it with her finger—but Ang called her back.

From afar, he hadn't noticed—but now, up close, Feilike sensed a terrifying holy light power emanating from the little angel.

Such terrifying holy light? A holy maiden? This high-tier king could command a holy maiden of the Church of Light? Feilike's heart pounded wildly, and his hands moved faster.

"This is a spirit painting book, this is a human knight novel, this is a recording stone of eunuch songs, this is a banshee spirit rune, this is the Hero vs. Dragon board game, this is Lord Rock's Playing Cards, this is a wraith alarm clock…" Feilike listed each item as he pulled out a pile of bizarre goods.

Nai Ge Li Si looked curiously and couldn't help asking: "Why are most of these entertainment and cultural items?"

Feilike replied: "These sell well. I can't haul back daily necessities—my space ring holds little, and they fetch no price."

Nai Ge Li Si nodded—he understood. To undead, there was no need for food, so no need for grain, pots, pans, or other daily necessities, nor bedding sets.

The only real demand was entertainment—after all, for an immortal life, how to pass the endless time was the biggest problem. You couldn't just sleep all day.

Knight novels, song stones, board games—these sold extremely well.

"Then what are the spirit painting books and wraith alarm clocks for?" Nai Ge Li Si asked.

Feilike glanced at the little angel, leaned close to the brass dragon, and whispered: "For that kind of use, of course. There are several series—Duchess's Lady, Smooth Holy Maiden, oh, and the Eighteen Postures of the Shape-Shifting Dragon—perfect for you. These sell extremely well to humans—open them and they trigger spiritual illusions, vivid and lifelike."

"My lord, you know undead are strong in spirit—we're best at crafting spirit painting books. One such book costs only three hundred magic crystals, yet humans can't get enough."

Even Nai Ge Li Si was intrigued, curious about the Eighteen Postures of the Shape-Shifting Dragon.

"As for the wraith alarm clock—it's just an alarm clock. Some humans are extremely lazy—they sleep too deeply in the morning and can't sleep at night. They need something to jolt them awake. Set the time, and when it hits, the wraith inside screams. Even someone who hasn't slept in ten days will wake up, chilled from crown to sole—extremely effective."

"You can also use it for reading and studying—when the wraith screams, you're guaranteed to be alert."

Hearing this, Nai Ge Li Si couldn't help feeling sorry: "That's too cruel."

"Relax, most people buy them and toss them under the bed; they won't stick with them. If a human could stick with it, they wouldn't need an alarm clock at all," said Feric with a tone of someone who had seen it all.

"True. Are there other good things?" asked Nai Ge Li Si.

"Uh, even my lord looks down on these? I am just an ordinary undead merchant; these are the only good things I have." Feric shook his ring and said casually:

"There's only a bag of grain seeds left in the ring..." No sooner had he spoken than Nai Ge Li Si and Seeing Ange leaned in, their eyes gleaming as they asked, "What grain seeds?"

"Uh, they are grain seeds specially cultivated by humans to adapt to the growing season of this plane. They are sown during the Eternal Night, sprout after the Eternal Night ends, mature in two and a half months, and are harvested before the next Eternal Night arrives. Their root systems are exceptionally vast, allowing them to take root in deeper soil layers. They require no watering, growing solely on surface water, and yield is very high: two hundred and twenty jin per mu."

"Two hundred and twenty jin per mu is considered high? I'll take this. Make this your compensation, and your offense this time is forgiven," said Nai Ge Li Si in surprise.

Seeing Ange already possessed grain seeds that broke the thousand-jin-per-mu mark, and even the saltwater demon rice yielded six or seven hundred jin per mu; hearing two hundred and twenty jin per mu described as "very high" was simply incomprehensible.

Feric was so moved he nearly cried, asking in disbelief, "Really? But this thing isn't worth much..."

A small bag of grain seeds was hardly valuable. Aside from the difficulty of crossing mountains and valleys, this was merely a little he had asked of farmers while traveling as a merchant. Yet a High King my lord wanted nothing else, only something so worthless.

He naturally did not think Seeing Ange was only interested in grain seeds; he simply assumed the King my lord was benevolent and did not wish to bully him, which moved him greatly.

Hastily placing the grain seeds into Nai Ge Li Si's claw, Feric asked cautiously, "My lord, may I leave?"

"Leave? Where do you plan to go?" Nai Ge Li Si tossed the seeds to Seeing Ange and asked in passing.

"I plan to go to the human world on the other side of the mountains," said Feric.

"That's perfect; we are going the same way. You lead the way. You've crossed back and forth so many times; you should know which route is safe to cross," said Nai Ge Li Si.

Feric hesitated. To be honest, he was not very willing. The mountain-crossing route was his secret; if others learned of the route, wouldn't he have a batch of competitors?

At Nai Ge Li Si's signal, Ange took out ten soul crystals and held them before Feric.

"Respected King, I am honored to lead the way. Rest assured, the routes I, Feric, have explored are both safe and secret; I will absolutely bring you safely to the other side of the mountains," Feric promised excitedly.

"However, my lord, you have too many people, and there is also a horse. I worry there are places we cannot pass," said Feric.

"You are the horse! Your whole family is horses! Are you blind? Do you see what this is..." Lightning struck his own head hard, but before he could finish, Seeing Ange stuffed him into the Palace of Rest.

The others were also stuffed in one after another; Nai Ge Li Si was no exception, leaving only Seeing Ange outside.

"My lord's space is truly vast. Then I'll hurry," Feric remarked.

Some spatial items can hold living beings; for example, the Silver Coin General Store once held a World Tree sapling while seeking the elves. As long as they are retrieved before the air inside the space runs out, nothing will happen.

One could only sigh that Seeing Ange's space was truly vast, capable of holding even a horse, with enough air to breathe.

Under Feric's guidance, Seeing Ange followed a winding path through several underground tunnels and fissures, climbing up and down the mountain walls, and finally, after six or seven hours, crossed the entire mountain range.

"I told you the route I lead is safe and secret. My lord, cross this dense forest, and ahead lies the human town of Mushrooms," said Feric.

No sooner had Feric finished speaking than a sudden whistle sounded, and a group of paladins emerged from the surrounding woods. The leading paladin laughed aloud, "Hahaha, caught an undead! Eh, and a human following?"

PS: I have already collected three months of full attendance. I have been writing books for nineteen years and have never been this diligent. The epidemic, my mother-in-law cannot come, no one helps me take care of the child, aaaaaah!!