Chapter 340 - 333: Requesting the Staff Technique

Chapter 340: Chapter 333: Requesting the Staff Technique

As far as Qin Xiaoxia was concerned, leaving these matters to the state was the most efficient approach. Besides, with the power the country now wielded, dealing with Ghost Souls was a relatively simple task.

Although the power of a Ghost Soul felt more oppressive to an ordinary person and was certainly stranger, it was a far cry from an Evolver’s in terms of both strength and potential.

Their nutritional needs, of course, weren’t met by offerings. Even without eating, they could survive by absorbing certain negative energies from their surroundings, which were especially abundant in places like cemeteries and other unique locations.

They could also absorb Soul Essence, which could be found in living humans, animals, and even plants, just in varying concentrations.

Their appetites weren’t actually that large; they could get their fill by feeding on small animals like poultry. Siphoning from a human would, at most, cause a normal person’s mental state to decline. If an Evolver were to lower their spiritual defenses and willingly let one feed, they wouldn’t even feel any effects.

Because the human soul is inherently powerful, if a Ghost Soul killed a person to feed, it could absorb a massive amount of Soul Essence in a short period. However, it could only digest a tiny fraction of it. The rest would linger for a while before dissipating. During this time, the Ghost Soul itself would become somewhat corrupted, causing its thoughts to grow more chaotic.

The terrifying part was what came after it recovered. That feeling of euphoria could become addictive for a Ghost Soul, especially one with pre-existing cognitive defects.

One of the cases discovered in Russia was a prime example. The Ghost Soul they found had been dead for less than two weeks, but had already killed or caused the deaths of five people through various means.

Some it attacked directly, while others it influenced as they were driving.

When Ben visited Martha’s House with his team, most of the pictures he showed were of this particular Ghost Soul.

The addictive nature of this feeding and the existence of Fierce Ghosts were confirmed so quickly because before executing the "Offender Ghost," Russia invited a Magic Controller from the Dawn Association to observe. After analyzing the Fierce Ghost’s Soul Body and deducing its previous actions, the Crystal Ball Witch captured it and used divination to get a direct answer.

When Russia’s Guardian forces captured this Ghost Soul, they initially intended to study it. However, once a second, "normal" Ghost Soul was discovered and willingly cooperated, the first "Fierce Ghost" was executed on the spot. It was that simple and brutal.

Of course, it did make one final contribution: it proved that methods like explosions, lasers, and high-temperature incineration could indeed harm and kill a Ghost Soul. Sufficiently strong kinetic energy also had a major impact on the stability of a Soul Body, a trait similar to the Yin Spirits of the Otherworld.

As for an Evolver’s attacks, even a simple punch or kick was infused with their own powerful Spiritual Power, making the difference between hitting a Ghost Soul and hitting a person negligible.

This data was made public to all World Alliance nations, so everyone could imagine what that criminal Fierce Ghost endured before its end.

But no one was about to start playing the morality police over it.

Unless they ran into an Evolver or a Guardian from the Dawn Association, it was nearly impossible for an ordinary person to defend against a Ghost Soul.

For a Ghost Soul that had become addicted to killing, the World Alliance nations had a single, unwritten rule: execution!

The *Ghost Soul Management Act* explicitly stated that the justification for execution was the same as that for a psychopathic serial killer.

It was worth noting that aside from the Fierce Ghost in Russia, none of the other Ghost Souls knew about killing people to absorb their Soul Essence. Even Sun Xiaoran, who had killed Xiaoliu for stealing her "money," immediately retreated to her own grave.

This was evident from her lucid state when she was captured. The Witch had also helped by performing a divination on Sun Xiaoran, which confirmed the Ghost Girl’s testimony.

Afterward, when nearly all the Ghost Souls learned of this possibility, they were terrified. They had all been ordinary people in life, with their own loved ones and dreams. As Ghost Souls, their existence was no longer their own, but they did not want to lose their humanity and sanity.

And so, on the eve of International Workers’ Day, the matter of the Ghost Souls was finally considered closed for the time being.

To be honest, the incident had given every country a cold sweat. Still, they figured that even without this turn of events, the various special-ops divisions would have discovered the existence of Ghost Souls sooner or later.

After all, their current surveillance capabilities were on a whole different level, to say nothing of that reckless Fierce Ghost in Russia that had been courting disaster.

Nowadays, any bizarre cases that the police department couldn’t crack, or any that raised certain suspicions, would be handed over to the nation’s special divisions. That Fierce Ghost would have inevitably attracted the attention of Russia’s Guardian forces. A mindless ghost like that couldn’t possibly hide from a special organization backed by a large number of the country’s Evolvers.

...

May First, International Workers’ Day. While it was no longer the "mini-long holiday" it used to be, for many Huaguo People, it was still a Golden Week.

Every year, a massive wave of people went traveling, creating crowds so dense you could suffocate. And every year, despite being accustomed to the endless online complaints, countless people would still flock to scenic spots to see the "ocean"—an ocean of people.

Although the government had issued travel bans in some areas to protect the ecosystem, this mainly affected hardcore hikers and adventurers. Most conventional tourist attractions remained open as usual.

Compared to everyone else’s enthusiasm for travel, You Ye just wanted to lounge around at home or team up with his friends for some gaming sessions.

He’d had a moment of insanity and gone out with friends during the short holiday last year. Not only did they get stuck in traffic for ages, but the destination was also packed wall-to-wall with people. It was pure self-torture. Even with the physique he’d developed from training with his dad since he was a kid, he had been utterly exhausted.

Now, he was sitting on his bed, browsing the web on his laptop.

What was the main source of fun for people who didn’t travel during the holiday? Watching the travelers complain about their own foolish decisions was definitely one.

Weibo, WeChat, various forums and message boards... Since he had nothing better to do, he just browsed them all.

A notification popped up from a QQ group.

You Ye wasn’t in many chat groups. Other than two from his school days, he just had one for gaming and one for work.

Aside from the gaming group, which was always lively, the others were usually silent. He glanced at the notification—it was from his old university classmates.

He clicked on it to see what all the fuss was about.

Big Head Child: "HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIIIIIT! How did the plants deep in the mountains get so lush? Have all these damn trees mutated or something?"

Attached were several photos. The trees in them were colossal, towering into the sky. The undergrowth was incredibly dense, and everything was a lush, vibrant green, with hardly any dead branches in sight.

Dullard No. 1: "Where is that?"

Big Head Child: "The restricted zone in Taihang Mountain!! This is freaking insane! And it’s not just one spot. The deeper we went, the more places we found like this. In some areas, the canopy is so thick you can’t even see the sun! We’ve been here before; there’s no way the trees were this tall. I almost don’t recognize the place anymore."

Senior Class: "You went into a restricted zone? Don’t you know how strict the regulations are now? Careful, or I’ll have to righteously report you!"

Big Head Child: "Whoa, hold on! A few of us hardcore hikers couldn’t just go squeeze into the tourist traps, right? Someone organized a trip, so we found a way in."

"What I’m trying to say is, is our country’s environmental cleanup really this effective? Is this the work of some black-tech Golden Fertilizer?"

You Ye thought for a moment before typing a reply.

Wildman: "You have a signal in a place like that?"

Big Head Child: "Nope! GPS and sat phones worked, but there was no cell service. We’re sending these messages now that we’re out. The changes inside were too drastic. The guide and the rest of us got spooked and decided to bail, so we played it safe and headed back the way we came."

Senior Class: "Smart move!"

Just then, a screenshot of one of the photos was posted. It was zoomed in, with a red circle drawn around one area. The poster was "Little Taotao."

Little Taotao: "Big Head, are you sure this photo isn’t edited? What is that in the red circle?"

You Ye stared at the image, a sudden chill running through him.

The red circle on the screenshot was near the top of a huge tree. If the sharp-eyed Little Taotao hadn’t pointed it out, most people would have overlooked it completely.

It was a gigantic chameleon, at least a third as thick as the tree’s main trunk. And based on a comparison with the people in the photo, that tree was so massive it would take two people to wrap their arms around its base. Even higher up, the trunk was still as thick as one person’s embrace.

Big Head Child: "WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK!!! What IS that?! A chameleon? THAT BIG?! Holy crap, I feel like I just dodged a bullet!!!"

Little Taotao: "It’s still smaller than you, so it probably couldn’t eat you. But who knows what else is in there. This makes me think of those apocalypse theories online. You guys think they might be real?"

The photo successfully ignited the chat group. Even though Big Head Child swore it was real, many people still thought it was photoshopped. As the discussion heated up, even some of the chronic lurkers started to chime in.

"DING DONG, DING DONG~"

The doorbell rang. You Ye realized he was the only one home, so he had no choice but to get out of bed and answer it.

An old man with an ethereal, almost immortal-like presence stood at the door.

"Hello there, Xiaoyou. I’m a friend of your grandfather’s. I even held you when you were a little boy."

’Uh, I have no idea who this is,’ he thought. ’But his presence is seriously impressive.’

"Um, my grandfather passed away a long time ago..."

"Oh, please don’t misunderstand. I’m not here to see him. I’m looking for you and your father. I’ve come for your family’s ancestral Mad Demon Staff Technique. A young friend of mine is on the verge of a breakthrough and is in great need of drawing upon the strengths of many masters."

’Martial Arts? A staff technique?’

You Ye felt a headache coming on. ’I should probably give Dad a call,’ he thought, ’though I have no idea if he’s going to flip out...’

P.S. Second Chapter for Monday.