Ch. 105 – Human Ghost

After a brief moment of weightlessness, Feng Ye felt solid ground under his feet once more. He immediately rolled upon landing, moving clear of his original position.

This dispersed some of the impact of his fall and also let him evade any incoming attacks.

Feng Ye crouched halfway to the ground, holding his breath as he waited.

No attack came, nor was there any sound. It seemed as though nobody else was here. Feng Ye rose to his feet again with Hao Chen’s pearl in his hand, using its light to illuminate his surroundings.

He was still within the underground city. Having just fallen downward, he must have reached an even deeper underground level.

Ahead lay a narrow, cramped passageway just like the one before. After observing his surroundings for a moment and determining that there was no danger, Feng Ye continued forward.

The Grand Array had already been activated. He had recognized one of the arrays within it, but hadn’t had time to identify the others.

This Eight Ghost Illusion Array was for the purpose of refining ghosts, and the eight great ghost generals serving under Western Qiang’s high priest were all products of this very array.

As the name implied, eight ghosts would enter the array and slaughter one another, with the surviving ghost being the strongest and most malevolent of them all.

But those entering the array must be malevolent spirits, and ordinary ghosts would not suffice. They must be spirits of a vicious nature, the kind that actively sought to harm the living.

Then as for the other arrays nested inside the Eight Ghost Illusion Array, they must be arrays capable of transforming anyone who entered it into a ghost.

The links were so intricately intertwined that no matter who entered this Grand Array, even a virtuous soul with boundless compassion, whose hands had never once been stained with blood, would ultimately be transformed into a cannibalistic fiend before they knew it.

But Feng Ye was not entirely clear on how these arrays functioned. While he had heard of the Eight Ghost Illusion Array, this was his first time entering it.

Scattering their party was likely the first step in this array’s operation, and there was no telling what might lay ahead.

Feng Ye decided to take a wait-and-see approach. In order to break the array, he would either have to locate its core or follow the flow of its operation to discover the exit. Of course, this required there to actually be an exit.

Some killing arrays were specifically designed to destroy all those who entered them, and naturally wouldn’t provide a way out.

As for creating an exit through force, although it wasn’t impossible, this force would need to be several times more powerful than the array itself.

Feng Ye was actually capable of such a thing, provided that he was in his true form.

But he was currently just a divine soul attached to a mortal body, and the power in his hands fell short of what he possessed at the peak of his strength.

During the battle at Lingxiao Sword Sect, he had acted while borrowing Fang Yang’s body. Aside from not wanting to invite trouble by exposing himself, there was also the fact that the power he could exert in his current body was limited.

Relatively speaking, the use of the God-Summoning Token as a medium allowed him access to a slightly wider range of powers.

Feng Ye advanced with caution, though he wasn’t particularly worried. Aside from swordsmanship, arrays were arguably his greatest strength. The enemy had chosen to use one against him, but Feng Ye would certainly not be the one to suffer in the end.

He walked at a brisk pace and arrived at the end of the passageway shortly after.

Feng Ye’s way was blocked by a stone wall over three meters high.

He held up the pearl and let it shine against the wall. This wall differed from the walls of the passageway, in that rather than looking like a slab of rock, it seemed more like…..a door?

But how did it open? Holding the pearl, Feng Ye examined it closely.

Suddenly, he noticed a mask situated in the center of the stone door, its face pulled into a distorted grimace.

He had assumed that it was merely ornamental, and only when his hand brushed against it did he realize that it could actually be moved. Feng Ye paused and thought about it for a moment, then removed the mask.

And as he did so, he readied himself to avoid possible traps.

But after removing the mask, there were no traps or triggered mechanisms. Absolutely nothing happened.

There was no sign that the door had shifted. Feng Ye took another close look and found that there was something behind the mask.

It was a sword. The blade was embedded in the wall, with only the hilt exposed.

Stuck right in the center of the stone, it looked somewhat like a key.

As this thought occurred to him, Feng Ye reached out and grasped the hilt of the sword. The blade was stuck fast, and appeared to have been here for so long that it had fused with the door.

But the muscles of Feng Ye’s forearm tensed, and with a sudden, powerful heave, he yanked the blade free. In response, the stone clutching the blade shattered under the force.

Amidst the sound of falling rubble, Feng Ye swung his sword in a horizontal slash through empty air, the blade humming as it followed his movements.

It was indeed a fine sword.

Judging by the sound alone, it’s certainly not a common blade, Feng Ye thought. As he examined the blade’s edge under the pearl’s light, it gleamed with a sharp, piercing brilliance.

This blade, which had been embedded in the stone door for who knew how long, had miraculously escaped the ravages of rust. On the contrary, it remained as pristine as the day it was forged, capable of severing an enemy’s head from his shoulders with a casual stroke.

Having finished his inspection, Feng Ye glanced down at his other hand. Now, with a mask in one hand and a sword in the other, this stone door was still…..

His musings were interrupted when the stone door, which had been still all this time, suddenly shifted.

Vibrations rippled through the ground as an array came to life, along with the sound of the door grinding open.

Feng Ye retreated a few paces and waited until the door was fully open, then glanced inside. It was just as dark as the rest of this place, and he was unable to see a thing.

He listened for a moment longer, but heard no sign of any living thing. Then, he stepped inside.

Feng Ye observed his surroundings as he walked. Unlike the cramped passageways he had walked through earlier, this area was very spacious. It was a massive circular platform large enough to accommodate four or five hundred people, though there was no indication of its purpose. The walls lining the edge of the platform were considerably high, around five or six meters, making it impossible for an ordinary human or beast to leap to the top.

And at a higher level on either side of the circular platform were seats reserved for spectators.

Feng Ye paused in surprise at this sight, then spun around and swept his gaze across his surroundings. At last, he realized what this place was, as well as why the mask and sword had been embedded in the stone door.

This was a beast-fighting arena…..a form of entertainment for the nobility of Western Qiang. Of course, the combatants were not always beasts. There were sometimes ghosts as well, or even…..the living.

And fighting while wearing the grotesque ghost mask had always been a tradition in Western Qiang. It served as both protective gear and as a means to intimidate opponents.

Feng Ye suddenly tightened his grip on the sword. Now that he had entered the arena, he certainly wouldn’t be alone. Then his opponent must be…..

Feng Ye tossed the pearl in his hands up and down a few times, then crouched down slightly and sent the pearl rolling away at a carefully-gauged speed.

The pearl illuminated its path as it rolled long, and Feng Ye’s eyes followed its movement.

The path left in the pearl’s wake remained empty. Feng Ye’s calculation of force was precise, and the pearl should roll just about all the way to the other edge of the platform.

But halfway through its journey, the pearl came to a halt.

It had run into something.

The pearl bounced back slightly from the impact, and its light receded from that object.

Yet due to a gust of cold wind that happened to blow by, the pearl was once again pushed from the back.

Under the influence of the two forces, the pearl rolled back and forth twice before gradually coming to a standstill.

Its position was now just right, allowing Feng Ye to clearly make out the face that flickered in and out of view in the faint light.

Not just a single face, but dozens, hundreds.

All of them hideous and demonic.

And among the multitude of ghosts, Feng Ye spotted a few familiar faces. The Eight Ghost Generals…..

The ghost general masks were just how he remembered them, and even the towering stature of these eight ghosts matched his memories perfectly.

Feng Ye was not short, and was in fact a bit taller than the average person. And by the standards of an adult man, his physique could be described as robust. While he lacked any exaggerated, oversized muscles, when stripped of his clothes, his musculature was clearly visible.

But even so, he appeared somewhat small when standing before these tall, burly ghost generals.

These things that had once stood as a barrier in the hearts of every outsider held captive in Western Qiang were like towering, insurmountable mountains.

These ghost generals felt no pain, nor did they bleed. Mortal weaponry was completely useless against them. Those facing them could do nothing but tremble in fear as they were treated like fish on a chopping block, to be slaughtered at will. There was never any hope of resistance.

Just like the rest of them, Feng Ye too had once gazed up helplessly at these ghost generals.

The scene before him stirred up his memories, and it felt as if history was repeating itself.

The same arena, the same person, and the same ghosts.

However…..

Holding the sword in his right hand, Feng Ye slowly raised the ghost mask with his left, his eyes fixed on the horde of ghosts directly before him. There was no human emotion in the eyes of these malevolent spirits. They were mere weapons that knew nothing but slaughter.

But at this moment, Feng Ye was no different, the warmth of humanity slowly draining from his eyes. As he fitted the ghost mask completely over his face, he became indistinguishable from the multitude of ghosts before him.

Boom!

A heavy drumbeat resounded from above. The deep, resonant sound echoed across the circular platform, jarring the eardrums of the ghosts standing there.

It was the war drum!

The horde of ghosts sprang into action when they heard this sound, charging directly at Feng Ye!

They advanced with overwhelming momentum, like an army of thousands. The sound of their running footsteps even momentarily drowned out the drums.

Yet in the face of this ghostly army, it never occurred to Feng Ye to run. Despite standing alone, he also charged forward, surging ahead even faster than the opposing army.

He was like a moth rushing into the flames, but also like…..a mythical deity, single-handedly charging into battle against an army of ghosts!

At the moment of collision, he swung his sword and severed the head of the nearest ghost. And with a flick of his wrist, the blade pierced the chest of the next enemy without the slightest hesitation.

He struck without a shred of mercy or delay, and even though the enemy forces outnumbered him a hundredfold, there wasn’t the slightest indication that he was at a disadvantage.

Valiant beyond compare, he single-handedly tore a gaping hole in the charging ranks of the ghost army.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The rhythm of the war drums began to shift. The originally heavy beat grew increasingly fast and turbulent, and the fighting within the arena intensified.

A human figure intertwined with ghostly forms under the faint glow of the luminous pearl, rendering them indistinguishable from one another.

Ghostly shadows moved to and fro, their forms tumbling one after another with severed limbs.

But this only drove the horde into a greater frenzy.

This was a fiendish revelry, the blood and slaughter heightening their excitement even further.

Gradually, there were no living souls left in the room.

Or perhaps there never had been.

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