I Am Your Natural Enemy

At the time, he’d caught a glimpse from afar, and was nearly scared to death. How could he dare to look any longer? He hurriedly took advantage of the chaos to escape.

Now, seeing Wen Yan, his steps came to a halt. Visions spun before his eyes—his whole life flashing like a lantern show.

He randomly picked a hiding spot and ended up stumbling right into a dragon’s pool and tiger’s den.

When Wen Yan turned his head to look over, Tong Si felt as if the images flickering before his eyes began to chime with crisp, tinkling sounds.

That was from when he’d still been alive, in his childhood—the first toy he could remember, a wind chime hanging outside his window.

He didn’t remember anything else, just that wind chime—its sound was clear and bright, the echo lingering on the beams. Whenever he heard the chime stirred by a breeze, he could always sleep soundly.

When Wen Yan seemed about to stand up, he felt a gentle warm wind blowing across his cheeks, the scent of grass from outside the window wrapping around his nose.

Tong Si stood there, dumbstruck.

Only a single thought remained in his mind.

The flashing lantern of life, the sound, the caress of the wind, the smell of grass—they were all here.

He was going to die.

Tong Si flopped onto the ground with a thud, prostrating himself, and shrieked at breakneck speed.

”I have information!”

Lord Zhu’s face was dark, his head full of question marks. What’s going on?

Wen Yan was also full of question marks—what’s happening?

He didn’t seem to have done anything, just saw someone coming and glanced over.

Looking at the ghost sprawled on the ground, not even daring to raise his head, a new prompt appeared in Wen Yan’s eyes, unhurried and cool.

”Grim-eyed Ghost.”

”In life, he had double pupils in one eye, considered a bad omen, then fell into the Otherworld, suffered endless tribulation, escaped death by a hair’s breadth countless times.

He can see things ordinary people can’t, and is well-read, so some ghosts regard him as a guide.

Sadly, seeing more is not always a good thing.”

”A rather unusual Grim-eyed Ghost—can see some things on you.”

”Temporary ability: None.”

Wen Yan glanced at it. The prompt was probably because this Grim-eyed Ghost had sharp sight, able to see what others couldn’t.

In fact, just as he’d thought, ordinary ghosts really weren’t much of a threat to him.

It was the first part of the description that made Wen Yan think Lord Zhu pretty much nailed it.

This wasn’t a weak ghost, and he knew Feng Wei—so there’s no way he didn’t know about Lord Zhu.

”You’re one of those that came out of the crack that day?”

Wen Yan asked, and Tong Si trembled violently, still face-down on the ground.

He’d guessed right! The other party didn’t even have to see his face to know about his origins!

”Yes. That day, the sealing over the crack suddenly vanished. I saw You Guang charge out, so I followed and slipped through the crack too.”

”Besides you, who else?”

”Quite a few Nether Souls as well. Since Night Vigil Deity doesn’t like to eat our kind, from what I know, there were about over a dozen, and another dozen or so I didn’t recognize.

All of them took advantage of You Guang’s break for freedom—outside was in chaos, so we rushed out too.

Where they went now, I don’t know. But they probably haven’t done anything evil.

No, there was one Burned-to-Death Ghost, obsessed with the flames there, tried to burn people to death, but he couldn’t ignite a single one.”

Tong Si had zero intention of keeping secrets for the other ghosts, nor did he feel any obligation.

He’d already seen his life flash like a lantern—expecting him to die for those other ghosts? That’d be asking too much, and completely unghost-like.

Wen Yan committed the info to memory.

”Where are they all scattered now?”

”We parted ways right inside the Nether Path—each left from whichever opening they saw.”

”You helped them?”

Tong Si shivered and confessed honestly.

”I spotted some unstable little paths. No idea where those led or when they’d vanish, so I sent them off, one ghost per path.

I just wanted to shake them off—those guys sticking to me felt way too dangerous.”

”Which ones do you think are the least trustworthy?”

”Just the Burned-to-Death Ghost was really full of resentment. The others were pretty decent. We were just banding together to survive—the things that could kill us over there were just too many. Ever since I landed there, I never managed to leave a radius of three hundred miles. Anyone who stepped out, died.”

”That place over there—what exactly is it? A Domain?”

”I’d heard lots of names for it—some call it Dongtian, some call it the Great Wilderness, others the Four Wilds. I’m not really sure. I never got far. That place is the pasture of the Night Vigil Deity.

Night Vigil Deity likes to eat meat and isn’t interested in us. Actually, we use Night Vigil Deity to protect ourselves.

We’d all had enough for ages. This time, when an opportunity to escape came up, everyone bolted, betting everything on a desperate shot.”

”Is it huge, over there?”

”Don’t really know, probably is. Heard that back in the day Night Vigil Deity fought some other races, lost, and was banished to the Land of Four Wilds. There’s really nothing there at all.

For the first few centuries, everything there was withering away, and all the Night Vigil Deities were slumbering.

We all grew weak too, buried ourselves in graves. When I came to, a lot of the ghosts I’d seen in life had already faded away.”

When I woke up, a Night Vigil Deity had already awakened. Then a few days ago, You Guang got woken up too.”

Tong Si saw Wen Yan was interested in all this, and wracked his brains, but he really didn’t know much more.

Wen Yan’s brows knitted slightly—now he finally understood why the Scorching Sun General Director and Old Celestial Master were so pissed.

The Old Celestial Master apparently had to suppress a huge crack that couldn’t be sealed, and the place on the other side was at a higher level than this world.

If it could be sealed, none of this would be happening.

If it came to a head-on conflict, this world might not necessarily lose.

But against lots of weirdos and things impossible to guard against—the power these guys had, and the damage they could cause, weren’t necessarily proportional.

Wen Yan sized up Tong Si, thought for a bit, and said,

”If you haven’t harmed anyone, we can talk.

But—if any of those other ghosts have done harm, it all goes on your head too!”