There were five ghosts that Ruan Bei and his group had encountered, so it's no wonder they were dissatisfied with the three Yin Qi talismans Ruan Bei had provided; one talisman per ghost wasn't enough.
They went to discuss it and finally came back to quote a price for twelve Yin Qi talismans. With the three talismans that Ruan Bei had, the five of them would each receive three talismans.
The price was acceptable. Ruan Bei figured they wouldn't dare ask for too much. Ghost General only got eighteen, so they couldn't possibly have gotten more than him.
Ruan Bei felt the price was acceptable, but he still pretended to haggle for a while. He couldn't agree too easily and let the ghosts take advantage of him, otherwise something unexpected might happen.
When Ruan Bei "reluctantly" agreed to the request, the simple-minded ghost already showed joy on his face.
Once the two sides reached an agreement, the ghost they had met before spoke on behalf of the other ghosts, referring to himself as Lao Ding for convenience.
Old Ding accepted Ruan Bei's Yin Qi Talismans, keeping one for himself and giving one to each of his two stronger companions. The remaining two ghosts, who didn't get any, watched longingly, not daring to argue or object.
There's no way I'm going to keep it. It's a consumable item like the Yin Qi Talisman, so it's better to use it sooner rather than later for peace of mind.
Otherwise, if you're reluctant to use it, and it gets stolen by a more powerful ghost, you'll have nowhere to cry.
Old Ding took a deep breath of the Yin Qi talisman, sighed with satisfaction, then hid the remaining talisman paper before slowly saying, "It's a good thing you were clever enough to ask us for help. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been able to find anyone even in thirty days, let alone three."
Ruan Bei's heart skipped a beat, and he asked politely, "Brother Ding, what do you mean by that?"
Old Ding chuckled: "What I mean is, you can't find it yourselves."
Before Ruan Bei could ask any further questions, he waved his hand and said, "Alright, we've taken your things, so we won't renege on our promise. Let's be good guys for once. Didn't you want their personal belongings? Wait here, I'll go find them for you."
Ruan Bei originally thought that Lao Ding and the others would at most help him point out a location, but he didn't expect that he would take the initiative to offer to help them retrieve their things.
It seemed like a good thing, but Ruan Bei felt increasingly uneasy.
He thought for a moment, then tentatively asked, "Excuse me, are those people still alive?"
Old Ding and the other ghosts laughed together: "What are you talking about? It's been months. Who can survive for months in Ghost King Forest?"
Even if the ghosts in Ghost King Forest didn't attack them, the yin energy in Ghost King Forest is so heavy that ordinary people would fall seriously ill after a short time.
Those who practice spiritual cultivation may be able to persevere longer, but without supplies and facing danger at every turn, they will only face certain death if they cannot escape.
Ruan Bei and Jiao Yan looked somber. Although they had long expected this outcome, they still couldn't help but feel sad when they heard that all those people were dead.
But now is not the time to wallow in grief. Ruan Bei composed himself and carefully asked, "Could you tell us where they... are buried? They were comrades after all. If we pay our respects, we'll have something to say when we get back."
Old Ding glanced at him sideways and sneered, "To be honest, those people are no longer around here. If you want something, we brothers will get it for you, so we won't take your payment for nothing. If you still want to find someone, then we brothers are not going to play along. We'll tell you the location, you can go by yourselves."
If he still doesn't understand the problem after all this has been said, he'd be a fool.
But the current situation clearly does not allow them to continue their investigation. Being in the Ghost King Forest, it is difficult to even protect themselves. To try to search for corpses in the territory of other powerful ghosts is not called finding people, it is called courting death.
Of course, Ruan Bei wasn't so lacking in self-awareness, so he decisively chose the former: "Brother Ding, could you please help us retrieve their personal belongings?"
Old Ding glanced at him dismissively: "You're not completely brainless. Just you wait."
As soon as he finished speaking, he called out and took two of his brothers away, leaving two ghosts behind, perhaps to appease Ruanbei.
Jiao Yan hadn't said much before, but after watching Ruan Bei perform, he lowered his voice and said, "Don't worry, you won't have to pay for those Yin Qi talismans all by yourself. How about I pay you the market price?"
These Yin Qi talismans are an extra expense. Although the mission is to be completed as a team, everyone shares the benefits of the mission's completion. There's no reason for Ruan Bei to pay for so many talismans by himself.
Those are not the team's common property; they belong to Nguyen Bei privately.
Ruan Beigang was about to refuse, but then he thought that these talismans were painstakingly drawn by Kunkun. It was one thing for him to use them himself, but to give them to others to use was called being generous with other people's money and shameless.
The ones he gave to his teammates before were all Void Stones he took, so they weren't exactly free. But this time they were truly free, with the members of the Scorching Flame Squad also getting a free ride.
So Ruan Bei nodded and didn't refuse, planning to send the money to Qin Gu after receiving it.
After Lao Ding left, the sky gradually darkened to a chilling degree. Conan and his friends, carrying camping lights, looked in this direction from afar.
With two ghosts left here, they couldn't just leave. After thinking for a moment, Ruan Bei asked Jiao Yan to go back and report the situation to the others.
Jiao Yan was a little worried, but Ruan Bei hinted that if anything unexpected happened, his teammates could be prepared in advance. Only then did Jiao Yan walk over, looking back every few steps.
A short while later, Jiao Yan returned, having apparently finished explaining the transaction results to the others, carrying a lamp and a bundle of moisture-proof mats.
He spread out a cushion and invited Ruan Bei to sit down. The two of them ate while waiting for Lao Ding and the others to return.
They waited for more than an hour. At the speed of ghosts, it's hard to imagine how far they had traveled in an hour. No wonder Old Ding said that they couldn't complete the mission.
Ghosts of Old Ding's level could naturally touch physical objects. He and two other ghosts brought back several backpacks and threw them in front of Ruan Bei.
Ruan Bei opened it and looked inside. There were cell phones, accessories, hair clips, wallets, keys, etc., which should be personal items from different owners.
The bag that Jiao Yan opened contained more badges, discarded talismans, Special Affairs Bureau identification, and some broken magical artifacts. These were probably the personal belongings of the second batch of entrants.
Old Ding kept his word: "I took something from each of the corpses we found. Isn't that enough?"
"Enough!" Ruan Bei suppressed his sadness, packed away his backpack; these things were enough for them to take back and report.
"Alright, that's settled then. Don't forget the Yin Qi Talisman you owe us. Let me tell you, if you dare to renege on your debt, we brothers won't let you off the hook," Old Ding said fiercely.
"No." Ruan Bei repeated the agreed time: "Don't worry, I will definitely bring you the talisman at that time."
Old Ding uttered a few more harsh words before leaving with his four ghost brothers.
As soon as they left, the others rushed over and, finding the mission accomplished, were all beaming with joy.
If it weren't for the fact that it was so dark around them, and the dense yin energy was affecting the brightness of the lights, making it too dangerous to travel, they would have wanted to turn back right now.
They found a suitable place to set up camp and spend the night there. The next morning, when the sun rises, they will be able to leave Ghost King Forest and submit their mission.
Although the mission was completed, they were still in danger and had to keep watch as scheduled the previous night.
Perhaps it was because of the reputation they made in the battle the previous night, because although ghosts occasionally drifted by, they ultimately did not gather together to attack the squad.
Ruan Bei is a bit picky about his sleeping environment. He can only sleep soundly in familiar places where he feels safe. So he hasn't slept much these past two nights, at most he'll doze off for a while, and he'll wake up at the slightest sound.
He was so stressed that, in addition to physical exhaustion, he also had a headache, as if a tendon was being pulled, causing a throbbing pain.
Around six or seven o'clock, although it was still dark, the surrounding darkness was not so deep anymore.
Mao Xiaoqian, who was lying next to him, stirred. Ruan Bei immediately opened his eyes, then rubbed his temples before closing his eyes to rest.
Mao Xiaoqian sat up, gently nudged Ruan Bei, and when he opened his eyes, asked, "I'm going to pee, wanna come together?"
It's not that Mao Xiaoqian is naive; in this kind of environment, they have to do everything in pairs. Even Xiaotong, the only girl in the team, has someone following her from a distance when she needs to go out to take care of her physiological needs.
Ruan Bei also felt the urge to relieve himself. Since he couldn't sleep anyway, he simply got up and went with Mao Xiaoqian.
As they got up to leave, they saw Xiaotong leaving with a boy named Zhou Xin from Jiao Yan's team. The two were a couple, and Xiaotong would always ask him to go out.
Ruan Bei and the others obviously couldn't follow, so they simply chose the opposite direction from Xiao Tong and Zhou Xin.
Because of her sexual orientation, Ruan Bei was usually quite careful and ignored Mao Xiaoqian's teasing, dealing with the matter separately from him.
When Ruan Bei walked to the camp while chatting casually with Mao Xiaoqian, he realized that something had happened. Only Conan and Lao Bai were left in the camp.
Before Ruan Bei could ask, Conan hurriedly said, "We just heard Xiao Tong scream. Jiao Yan and the others have already rushed over, but they can't find you. We'll stay and wait for you to come back."
"Take us there quickly!" Ruan Bei and Mao Xiaoqian rushed into the tent, grabbed their backpacks and magical artifacts, and put aside their other belongings for the time being. Conan and Lao Bai led the way, chasing after the direction the others had gone.
It was still dark, and the path through the dense forest was difficult to traverse. They trudged along, one step at a time, and before they even got close, they heard the sounds of fierce fighting.
Ruan Bei looked up and suddenly broke out in a cold sweat: "How... how come there are so many ghosts..."
Densely packed, a dark mass as far as the eye can see.
Jiao Yan and the others were surrounded by ghostly figures. They formed a circle, back to back, with Yin Kai at the front and Xiao Tong and Zhou Xin in the middle.
Xiaotong's hair was disheveled, and her eyes were red as she supported Zhou Xin. Zhou Xin's face was pale, and she was dragging one arm. Her exposed wrist and palm looked as if they had been soaked in ink, and were black.
Ruan Bei suddenly opened the Yu'an umbrella and said in a low voice, "Stand behind me."
His teammates immediately hid behind him and were also protected by the Yu'an Umbrella. Ruan Bei activated the Soul-Capturing Bell and, taking advantage of the brief moment when the ghosts surrounding Jiao Yan and the others were distracted, cleaved the ghosts blocking his way with a sword.
Old Bai threw a trapping formation at the nearby ghosts, preventing them from rushing over. Conan and Mao Xiaoqian worked together perfectly, throwing out thunder talismans and blasting a path through them.
"Charge!" Yin Kai roared, his fists slamming against the ghosts in front of him, causing their spirits to tremble. The others used all their skills to rush out, trying to reunite with Ruan Bei and the others who had come to meet them.
While activating the Soul-Capturing Bell, Ruan Bei also focused on attacking with the talismans on the Yu'an Umbrella. Qin Gu liked to use thunder magic and was good at it. He drew a thunder talisman array on the Yu'an Umbrella, connecting many thunder talismans to use offense as defense. Any ghost that got close was no match for him.
However, this lightning array consumed a tremendous amount of energy. Before long, Ruan Bei felt more than half of his spiritual energy being drained away. To prevent exhaustion, he dared not use it again.
Fortunately, the incredibly powerful lightning array proved quite effective, blocking the surging ghosts and allowing Jiao Yan to lead the others through.
The team regrouped, but there were just too many ghosts around. They didn't have time to ask how they had attracted these ghosts, and they fought and fled at the same time.
Ghosts are territorial; they just hope that once they run far away, these ghosts will stop chasing them.
"I'll cover the rear." Yin Kai punched the ghost that lunged at him in the face and left without hesitation in the most dangerous last position.
When fleeing for his life, Ruan Bei couldn't hold up the Yu'an Umbrella upside down. Instead of running ahead, he should use the Zhaohan Sword. He folded up the umbrella and was about to put it in his bag when he caught a glimpse of a familiar ghost out of the corner of his eye. He was startled and almost tripped and fell.
Old Bai pulled him back just in time. Ruan Bei gritted his teeth and said coldly, "Ma Chunhua."
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