Chapter 361: Ghost City, Royal Shadow Guard

’There are so many people? At least ten thousand, right?’

’Why is all their yang qi only C-grade? At a time like this, the Doomsday Game is still bottlenecking them...’

After a quick glance, Qi Suian moved out of the survivors’ line of sight.

The lives of this group of survivors were truly miserable, and it was likely a misery shared by everyone from top to bottom.

Every last one of them was painfully gaunt; you couldn’t get much meat off them even if you treated them like two-legged sheep.

After leaving, Qi Suian used a satellite projection to get an overview of the situation in this Truth Layer.

It was a large city, and not one with a single ghost, but a Ghost City teeming with them.

Because he had just arrived, the truth of the Truth Layer had not yet been observed, so everything was still in a deathly silent, dim stage.

If there were only a handful of survivors, they probably wouldn’t be able to achieve much exploration progress.

In that case, they would only need to avoid the rigid killing rules.

But once the exploration progress increased, the ghosts’ humanity would reawaken. The killing rules would still be in effect, but they would be anything but rigid.

That would be an absolute catastrophe for the survivors.

’I thought these were all solo instances, but it turns out there are team instances too.’

’But am I in the sealed area of Lanlou Mansion or Shengshi Mansion right now?’

’If it’s the former...’ Qi Suian suspected there was a problem with the ghosts in the Sealing Vault.

Previously, he wouldn’t have thought this, but the gathering of Ghost People was clearly a problem.

Since their creation, the goal of the Ghost People has been very clear: to release all ghosts except for the ones inside their own bodies.

Coupled with the sudden appearance of a place where a large number of ghosts were converging within a Truth Layer region, it was hard for Qi Suian not to think this way.

’I’ll set aside the disaster for now. What I see is an opportunity.’

To Qi Suian, a large city filled with ghosts and survivors was a land full of fuel.

’The problem is, this opportunity won’t be easy to seize.’ Qi Suian mused, feeling a bit helpless.

First, he had to stimulate the ghosts’ humanity before he could make a move.

He couldn’t do this alone; he had to pin his hopes on the survivors.

Without stimulating the ghosts’ humanity, Qi Suian couldn’t obtain the "humanity accelerant." Without it, the Tai Sui God’s Melting Furnace couldn’t burn the ghosts at all.

However, to stimulate the ghosts’ humanity, exploration was needed to bring the Truth Layer closer to the Reality Layer.

Qi Suian’s status was special; he couldn’t effectively use the observation effect to pull them closer. In fact, he was the one being pulled.

’Things have come to this... I’ll grab a few survivors first and turn them into living observation devices.’

Before, with limited numbers and not enough time, Qi Suian could only grab as many as he could.

This time, with over ten thousand people and no need to study their yang qi structure, he could catch them however he pleased.

Besides serving as substitute fields of vision, the living observation devices could also be used as weapons and for transferring rule-based damage.

So, in terms of utility, the more the better, naturally.

This time, however, not all the survivors acted separately; they huddled together for warmth.

A small number of survivors seemed to have more confidence in themselves, which is why they chose to leave the group.

Qi Suian naturally targeted these lone wolves. In less than three minutes, he had caught about ten of them.

He then began modifying them, quickly completing a batch of living observation devices.

The process was so fast that no one noticed his actions.

After he was done, Qi Suian began picking out some useful ghosts to use as fuel.

Swallowing all the ghosts in the entire city was certainly unrealistic. He was greedy, but not that greedy.

[You may need to halt your actions for now. The reconnaissance network has detected Ghost People.]

The smart AI organized the data and presented it to Qi Suian.

"Ghost People???" Qi Suian’s expression screamed ’what the fuck.’ ’It goes without saying, I must be in the Lanlou Mansion region.’

’What’s more, the Sealing Vault at Lanlou Mansion must have run into trouble. The ghosts might have even undergone some kind of mutation, which is what linked all the individual ghost Truth Layers together.’

This resulted in the appearance of a massive Ghost City within the Truth Layer.

The mastermind was very likely one of the Ghost People, and they possessed the ability to travel between the Reality Layer and the Truth Layer.

"Locate them. We have to catch them," Qi Suian said coldly.

It seemed his experimental interrogation techniques weren’t good enough. The Ghost Person who had fallen into his hands likely knew something.

But he hadn’t been able to torture it out of him.

No matter. If that one wouldn’t talk, he’d just find another. And right on cue, Qi Suian had found a new Ghost Person.

And in such a critical location, too.

The Tai Sui God ascended, but it didn’t fly too high, as there were certain ghosts in the upper altitudes as well.

Getting too close could trigger their killing rules.

It then locked onto a hastily moving Ghost Person who was draped in a black robe.

In the Reality Layer, this would have been conspicuous as hell.

However, this was the dim stage of the Truth Layer, and with the thick fog, it was actually excellent camouflage.

’But the problem is... this camouflage is completely useless.’

’Ghosts don’t care if you’re disguised or not when they kill. They kill based on rules; if you trigger one, they act.’

’As for the survivors, they’re no match for a Ghost Person. Given its strength, a single Ghost Person could take down a thousand survivors if it had enough time.’

How could survivors with less than 1 point in basic attributes possibly defeat a Ghost Person with at least 5?

CLANG~

The Tai Sui God swept over the Ghost Person and struck the back of his head with one hand.

The force was well-controlled, knocking the Ghost Person out instantly. Qi Suian then dragged him away.

After finding a secluded spot, Qi Suian tied the Ghost Person up, hung him upside down, and after a couple of sharp slaps, the Ghost Person finally came to.

Coming to his senses, a look of shock appeared on the Ghost Person’s ugly face.

"Who are you? Why are you in the Ghost City? Why did you knock me out?" The man fired off a volley of three questions.

Qi Suian had to admit, the combination of ugliness and shock left him speechless.

But Qi Suian had no intention of answering. Instead, he landed two more heavy slaps, knocking the man’s teeth out this time.

"I’m the one who caught you. I’ll be the one asking the questions."

"Who are you? Why are you in the Ghost City? How did you get in?" Qi Suian immediately followed up with his own three-question volley.

In fact, he had already gleaned some clues from the man’s questions.

For instance, the man could recognize him as a ’person,’ which meant he wasn’t the only Ghost Person in this Truth Layer region they called the Ghost City.

And his surprise at a non-Ghost Person appearing in the Ghost City implied that non-Ghost People might not be able to enter the Truth Layer.

The Ghost Person struggled continuously, trying to break free, and opened his mouth to shout.

Qi Suian immediately punched the man’s open mouth, a precise blow that landed right in his throat.

With that one punch, the Ghost Person fell silent, unable to make another sound.

"Struggle all you want. It’s not like you can get free."

"But shouting would be a bit disrespectful to my hard work."

"Oh well. You don’t look very cooperative. I guess asking questions before the torture is unrealistic."

As he spoke, Qi Suian began the torture.

He discovered that yang qi was extremely effective against Ghost People, almost like a direct counter.

’You have weaknesses that ghosts don’t, and for the weaknesses you share with ghosts, you take even more damage.’

Qi Suian tortured him, employing various cruel methods one after another. Since the Ghost Person’s regenerative abilities were quite good, Qi Suian could afford to be a little less gentle.

After being tortured to within an inch of his life, the Ghost Person finally said weakly, "I am a Royal Shadow Guard. I came to the Ghost City to retrieve the Longevity Dew."

"I used the ghost inside my body to enter the Ghost City."

After the brutal beating, the man gave a very concise summary of his information.

"The Ghost People are all from the Royal Family?" Qi Suian wasn’t too surprised. Since the Ghost People were man-made, the Ziyue Royal Family, the originators of the Ghost Control Technique, were naturally prime suspects.

"No, I am not a Ghost Person. Those failures are the Ghost People."

"I am a Shadow Guard." The Royal Shadow Guard corrected Qi Suian’s term for him.

"What’s the difference?" Qi Suian couldn’t quite understand. Based on his observations during the torture, there wasn’t much difference between the structure of a Shadow Guard and a Ghost Person.

"The Ghost People are slaves to ghosts, while the Shadow Guard are loyal to Zhiyue! They are running dogs, while we are guardians!" the Royal Shadow Guard declared forcefully, clearly taking great pride in his identity.

Qi Suian didn’t argue, but he understood the difference now.

It was merely a difference in whom they pledged their twisted loyalty to. The former were petty, loyal only to the ghost inside them; the latter had a grander scope, professing loyalty to all of humanity.

"What is this Longevity Dew, and how was the Ghost City formed?" Qi Suian pressed further.

He didn’t care about the effects of the Longevity Dew—it was no doubt exactly what the name suggested—but he wanted to know what it was made from.

The Royal Shadow Guard opened his mouth, but no words came out, as if something was stopping him.

"A restriction?" Qi Suian naturally noticed.

The Royal Shadow Guard nodded.

"Keep talking. It doesn’t matter if there’s a restriction." Qi Suian immediately began to dissect him.

As long as it was a restriction, it had to have a source. Qi Suian’s method was simple and crude: find the source and cut it out.

The Royal Shadow Guard was helpless in this matter and could only cooperate with Qi Suian.

’So it’s a restriction implemented through one of the ghost’s rules.’ Qi Suian quickly found the source.

The bad news was that he couldn’t cut it out. The good news was that he could temporarily isolate it.

As long as the man could talk, it didn’t matter if the solution was temporary or permanent.

The whole process went very smoothly. Once completed, the effect would last for at least ten minutes.

If time ran out, he could just isolate it again. It wasn’t like he could only do it once.

Qi Suian only limited the time to avoid any adhesion from the ghost.

"Alright, you can talk now." Qi Suian gestured, indicating that the guy should spill the beans.

"If you want to know, you can come to the Celestial Capital or the Ghost City Mansion. There is no need to trouble a Shadow Guard. Their loyalty to humans cannot afford to be lost."

The voice was the same voice, and the Shadow Guard was the same Shadow Guard, but someone else had taken control of his body.