Chapter 617: Deep Water (9/10, bonus chapter for

The severed hand fell into the deep-water zone…

Slosh— the severed hand immediately dissolved like it had melted, blending into the water as black blood spread.

Fang Yue's expression shifted slightly. He was deep in the water, just as he thought 【Crystal Ghost】 had pulled off some grand trick.

12!

15!

17!

One after another, HP-loss prompts like he'd been poisoned bubbled up from his body.

And it only lasted a moment — the severed hand's toxicity seemed to run out, and the spreading black blood was washed back into ordinary deep water.

And Fang Yue himself, with the help of 【Breath of Night】, shook off the status in a matter of seconds.

That's it?

Under 【Crystal Ghost】's stunned gaze, Fang Yue's face darkened and he charged straight in.

【Crystal Ghost】 was so startled she slapped her single hand over the only exit at the top of the cube, seemingly trying to change its nature and seal the entrance.

But it was too late.

Fang Yue's black blade sliced through the water surface, pierced straight through her neck, and hoisted her high into the air as he burst out of the water with her.

Breaking the surface, Fang Yue twisted the blade midair, lopped her head clean off, held it in his hand, and kicked her corpse flying downward — crash — the body hit the ground and shattered like glass with a loud bang.

When Fang Yue landed, he first went back and hacked the smooth floor at the exit to pieces, then, holding Yang Qingqing's head, surveyed his surroundings.

He found himself at the doorway of what looked like a young lady's boudoir.

Fang Yue could roughly guess this was Yang Qingqing's room.

He hadn't expected that exiting that deep-sea cube would teleport him straight into this room.

Though the distance wasn't far, it was genuine spatial translocation — already impressive enough.

He looked at Yang Qingqing's still-lively head, wearing an expression of terror and dread.

Fang Yue gathered his inner force and drove a blade straight through her skull, ending her life.

"System Notice: Congratulations to player 【Yese Liming】 on killing 【Crystal Ghost】. Reward: Control +40, Deflection +50, Lifespan +3 years."

"System Notice: Congratulations on obtaining Calamity Stone x10."

Just as Fang Yue had expected — as a special-type ghost, the stat rewards weren't much, but the lifespan bonus was generous.

Glancing at the stat changes, Fang Yue felt a measure of satisfaction.

Though he hadn't gone out to cut people down yet, so his Ghost Realm and Comprehension hadn't risen, his Lifespan had ticked up another wave.

"Control: 8480 【Base: 8460】 【Status/Buff: +20】."

"Deflection: 6980 【Base: 6960】 【Status/Buff: +20】."

"Lifespan: 4 years, 3 months."

Take 【Crystal Ghost】 — though she was a Calamity-grade ghost, her direct combat strength clearly wasn't much; it was just her methods that were bizarre and powerful.

If Fang Yue didn't have 【Ghost Spirit Root】, which could burn 【Ghost Value】 to provide some resistance, dealing with this kind of ghost's special abilities would have been very difficult.

By the time Fang Yue turned back to find the eldest miss Yang Hongxia, Hai Guanjia had already reunited with her, followed by a squad of guards holding Soul Torches, their faces set with the grim resolve of men marching to their deaths.

These guards, who looked a bit different from the rest, seemed to be death warriors personally trained by the Dayang Merchant Caravan.

Such death warriors are the core strength of any merchant caravan — each one costs a fortune to train. Because they represent absolute loyalty, the caravan spares no expense on their resources, making them formidable.

One could say that if Regimental Commander Yang hadn't died, the Dayang Merchant Caravan wouldn't have been so quick to deploy the death warrior squad — their trump card.

It just seemed they had arrived a little too late.

Seeing Fang Yue, the furious eldest miss rushed over and asked, "Where is that ghost?"

"Dead."

Fang Yue pointed at the glass shards on the ground.

"Dead?"

The eldest miss was stunned, then her feelings grew complicated.

Not being able to take revenge with her own hands was certainly a regret, but Fang Yue had, without any help, directly dealt with such a terrifying ghost…

"Thank you for your aid, Lord Ye!" The eldest miss expressed her gratitude, glanced at Hai Guanjia, and began arranging people to handle the aftermath.

Who was behind Guest Bing, pulling the strings — that was still unclear.

But Guest Bing had barely been locked in the cell when a ghost came in to cause trouble, possessed the third miss, and killed Guest Bing — the one most likely to expose the mastermind.

Regardless of why the third miss was first possessed, looking at the result, the possessing ghost was trying to silence witnesses while wiping out the entire Dayang Merchant Caravan.

This left the eldest miss deeply puzzled.

It was as if there were two separate groups.

One was Guest Bing's people, who simply wanted to kidnap her and take benefits from the Dayang Merchant Caravan.

The other group was out to take the lives of everyone in the Dayang Merchant Caravan!

Who could be so vicious!

Thinking of her dead father, the eldest miss clenched her fists.

Next came handling the aftermath — thoroughly checking whether any other ghosts or dangers were still lurking in Dayang Fu.

There was also Regimental Commander Yang's death and the third miss's death, both of which needed to be made public — internally and externally alike.

On that basis, preparations also needed to be made for the eldest miss's formal ceremony of inheriting the Dayang Merchant Caravan and becoming the official commander.

A mountain of tasks piled together kept the entire Dayang Fu busy through the night.

Since it was uncertain whether any ghosts were still lurking in Dayang Fu, Fang Yue, as the Supreme Guest, couldn't leave yet.

His dream of wandering the world with sword in hand had hit an obstacle on its very first day.

Fortunately, during this time Fang Yue also took the opportunity to cultivate, so it wasn't a complete waste of time.

After his Comprehension rose in succession, Fang Yue used Calamity Stones to cultivate, and his cultivation progress had been very smooth, the efficiency quite satisfying.

This is what it feels like to be a genius!

No, it's still not enough—I want to be an absolute genius; being a mere genius right now is still far from enough!

After a night of cultivation, Fang Yue felt his strength had improved considerably once again.

Because he had eased his mindset, Fang Yue no longer feared the Yama Emissaries the way he had before, jumping at shadows.

Mainly, he truly had no way to deal with it—who knew when the Yama Emissaries would appear again.

After all, last time he could see 【Yama Emissaries】, it was within the thunder of 【Night Rain】, not really visible to the naked eye anytime and anywhere.

Perhaps the 【Yama Emissaries】 were already by his side right now, just that he couldn't see them; but as long as they hadn't come to take his life, everything was negotiable.

The immediate priority was to quickly find the Phoenix Organization and locate intelligence on An Dong'er.

When the first ray of morning sunlight fell, Fang Yue opened his eyes.

Once daytime arrived, it was time for Chunuan City's public order to be restored.

During the night, Fang Yue had heard several disturbances outside—tremors and firelight shooting into the sky.

Unfortunately, he still needed to hold down the fort here; otherwise, he would really have wanted to go over and join in the excitement.

Really just joining in the excitement—as for killing people, a good boy never does such things.

"First help the Great Sun Merchant Caravan finish their trivial matters, so that tonight I can begin the Hunting Day!"

The soul of the hunt is burning!

Because it was daytime, the deterrent effect of Government forces like 【Qing Si】 and the 【Heavenly Commerce Alliance】 had all been restored.

Chunuan City became lively and peaceful once more.

(End of this chapter)