Otherworldly Desert Dust

Chapter 51 - 48: There’s a Ghost

"Would a Venerable Desert Dust be so thrifty with computation?" Wu Hen originally wanted to jest.

But he noticed that Mingyi beside him looked tense, her naturally dangling hand trembled slightly.

Mingyi and One-eyed Sister were both Visual Spiritual Awakeners.

The scenes they saw differed entirely from what Wu Hen and the others saw.

Because they could clearly see billions of White Bone Yin Ants, armed with a binary code of "0" and "1" akin to human computers, executing an extraordinarily precise "ten" construction... completing the walls, rooftops, beams, eaves, and interiors!

Most terrifying of all was that among the "pilgrims," there were many skeletons.

Once these skeletons stepped into Yinzhou, they immediately transformed into White Bone Yin Ants, instantly joining the "ant code" army for the construction!

Locusts devoured humans.

Humans turned into white bones.

Bones turned into Yin Ants.

Ants built Yinzhou!!

No one knew the true size of Yinzhou, but Mingyi and One-eyed Sister, with their Spiritual Vision, imagined it was constructed by billions of corpses. The entity capable of such a masterpiece had transcended most Desert Dust’s primal and savage nature, possessing its own unique "art"!

"Let’s keep moving forward..." Captain Cai took a deep breath and forced himself to speak.

Everyone took steps forward but couldn’t help glancing back at the Little Stutter.

The Little Stutter held a spirit candle, its flame inexplicably flickering, as if about to be extinguished at any moment.

"Switch groups." Captain Qin said as the Spirit Crown began to dim.

During their journey, they had already used up several Spirit Crowns.

In roughly the time of eight spirit candles, they had only seven left.

One Spirit Crown could sustain for about half an hour...

Honestly, the eerie and horrifying nature of this place meant that enduring centuries of torment would not be surprising, and they had only three and a half hours left!

"You’re traveling merchants, right? If you’re tired, you can rest at our inn and have some tea. With a group of twenty, it won’t cost many Yuanyou. Come and stay for a while, okay?" Suddenly, a possessed man approached, talking enthusiastically like a shop assistant.

Captain Qin glanced strangely at Cai Jinlin beside him...

Wasn’t this the same person who had walked ahead of them earlier?

Cai Jinlin was equally bewildered, clueless about the current situation.

The two captains immediately surveyed the surroundings. As the pale eerie scene became more three-dimensional and vivid, it revealed the bustling prosperity of an ancient marketplace. Not just ancient roads, buildings, shops, and pavilions, but also a large number of bustling people!

These people were the previously mindless worshippers. Having lost their sanity before, now entering the Yinzhou Ling Gate, they each acquired identity, purpose, and inexplicably "lived" as locals!

"No, no, we have other things to attend to." Captain Qin forced a smile, his skin crawling as he politely declined.

"Oh, then don’t let me disturb you as you go off to die..." The possessed shop assistant maintained his smile, yet his words were chilling!

Normally, if someone spoke so rudely, Qin Sheng would break their legs.

"It’s probably just a mistake. Why dwell on it?" The White Peacock Man said impatiently.

"What’s your take, young man?" Cai Jinlin didn’t overlook it.

"The shop assistant seemed to distinguish between the possessed and those like us who retained consciousness... So is it possible that someone in our group was possessed upon entering Yinzhou, becoming a local?" Wu Hen shared his insight.

Both teams froze, their gazes swiftly scanning each face!

Indeed, why assume no one in their group could be possessed?

Could there be a stronger kind of infiltration that could pierce the Spirit Crown’s protection???

After all, everyone traveling Desert Dust faced otherworldly infestations, whether ordinary or Spirit Awakeners.

This was Yinzhou, a more terrifying Evil Realm, where the weak-willed, fearful, or resentful could easily be possessed!

"Wu Hen is right; someone in our group could be contaminated or possessed." Qin Sheng nodded in agreement.

"We commonly call them ’ghosts’." Cai Jinlin said.

Wu Hen had experienced life and death situations before.

He remembered vividly when he and his aunt fled Evil Soil, and the scar-faced uncle suddenly went mad, truly like a water ghost, dragging everyone into the water to drown!

If there was a ghost in their group, it had only one purpose.

"I suggest we split into trios, watching each other. Otherwise, if the ghost in our group attacks these locals, we’ll all be doomed!" Wu Hen proposed.

Everyone tensed!!

They hadn’t reacted at first, but seeing the bloodless remains of the previous squad, they quickly realized!

"You mean, the one who fired earlier could be their squad’s ghost!" Mingyi quickly understood Wu Hen’s implication.

Wu Hen nodded.

Yes, that shooter acted too recklessly, defying logic.

Anyone familiar with Desert Dust knew to avoid confrontation with strange entities, not to draw a gun and shoot without reason!

Unless that person was the ghost.

Their purpose was to ensure the squad’s destruction!!

Who was the ghost among their twenty-one?

"Cap... Captain... the candle... the spirit candle is going out!" The Little Stutter shouted in panic.

Captain Cai turned to see the freshly lit spirit candle rapidly extinguishing

They had just switched in a new group to deploy the Spirit Crown for protection!

Once the Spirit Crown vanished, they too would be devoured by Alien Locusts and Otherworldly Ants!

There was truly a ghost!

A ghost wanted to annihilate them all!