At midnight in winter, the temperature was very low.

It was almost sub-zero.

The wind blew in the forest, making a sound.

In the distance, the whimpering of the owl was intermittent.

The rotten matter underfoot made a rustling sound when stepped on.

The kitten curled up in the arms of its master and was very docile.

The trees seemed to be a little crooked?

The branches were stretched out in a mess. The withered leaves were still tenaciously sticking to the branches at the top of the tree.

The pale moonlight shone down and the shadows were indistinct. It was like the atmosphere at the beginning of a horror movie.

However, Ling Pingan felt very comfortable.

The countless thoughts in his heart rose and fell as he advanced.

Bits of light appeared beside him.

Ling Pingan looked at it. "Fireflies!"

But..

How could there be fireflies in the middle of winter?

He blinked his eyes, and his childlike heart rose. He turned his head and gently held a small firefly that had flown to his side.

"Little bug," he smiled. "It's such a cold day. Why aren't you in your nest? What are you doing here?"

The tiny firefly in his hand was trembling.

It seemed to be very afraid.

Ling Pingan smiled and didn't make things difficult for the little firefly. He let it fly away from his hand easily.

"Go! Go!" He said lovingly, "Little guy, go back and find your mother!"

... ... ..

From another angle.

Five minutes ago.

Zhuang Qiu woke up in the middle of the night as usual.

The cold spirit aura slowly nourished her soul.

"Qiu!" The Major's voice came from her soul, "A stranger is here!"

"Get ready to drive him away!"

Thus, she slowly flew out of the ground.

Her incorporeal body slowly rose under the moonlight.

It was like a flame drifting with the wind.

It was green.

Beside her, familiar flames flew over one after another.

In the green flames, one could vaguely see figures wearing military uniforms.

That was a black military uniform!

An army uniform from a hundred years ago.

It looked clean, beautiful and neat.

It was as if they were carefully taking care of it every day.

"There's a stranger crossing the river..."

"Drive him away!"

The Major's voice came from the soul.

"Yes!" Zhuang Qiu and her comrades used their souls to make a sound.

It was the same voice as a hundred years ago.

Determined and without delay.

This was their defense zone!

It was the same when they were alive and it was the same after they died!

Therefore, more than ten ghost fires slowly floated toward the riverbank.

In the past hundred years, they had done countless similar evictions.

This was the world of the dead, the cage of the dead.

The living should not be near!

Even just entering and coming into contact could cause a terrible impact on the living that could not be salvaged.

At best, they would be plagued by numerous diseases. At worst, they would be infected with all kinds of evil diseases and die from them.

However..

In her heart, Zhuang Qiu could not help but feel a little resentful.

"The people recently... they really are bored out of their minds..."

"Moreover, they are getting bolder and bolder!"

She recalled the so-called streamers who had brought a raft and rowed across the Wuding River not long ago.

They were really courting death!

In order to attract attention, they were willing to give up their lives!

In the end, she and her comrades had no choice but to waste a little of their soul power and reveal their ghost forms. They scared those fellows until they fainted, and only then did they not cross the defense zone and enter the core of the cross slope.

As she grumbled in her heart, Zhuang Qiu also saw the intruder.

It was a young man.

Under the moonlight, his appearance could not be seen.

His body seemed to be shrouded in a fog.

"A transcendent being?" Zhuang Qiu thought.

"Didn't the elders in his family teach him?"

"To a transcendent being, the cross slope is a place of great danger!?"

To an ordinary person, the cross slope was just a little scary.

It was amazing to be tainted with some evil and pollution. As long as he was treated in time, he could still turn the situation around.

However, to a transcendent being, this place was taboo!

The world of the dead was filled with spirit power, and to the living, it was an absolute poison.

Just a little bit of it could lead to eternal damnation!

It was the ultimate principle that Yin and Yang countered each other!

Unless one had the protection of a pure Yang treasure, or one's own Qi and blood had been perfected, and there was no dirt in the universe.

Only then would he be able to avoid the contamination of this place.

"Let's give him a scare!" Zhuang Qiu thought. "I hope he knows what's good for him..."

Thus, she and her comrades flew towards the young man who was carrying the cat and stepping on the rotten substance as they passed through the forest.

As they flew, spirit power was released from the soul's body. The extremely cold spirit power stirred up gusts of evil wind.

The evil wind whimpered, mimicking the background sounds of a few well-known horror movies on the market.

Mournful, bleak, and sinister.

Their souls worked together with each other.

With the natural talent of ghosts, they created all kinds of horrible, evil, and cold atmosphere for strangers.

This was their tried-and-true method of eviction.

It was also the method that did the least harm to strangers.

The person who was driven away would at most be scared.

But, unexpectedly...

Zhuang Qiu and her companions found that the person was not affected at all.

The cold wind blew past like a breeze.

The mournful screams were ignored.

Those terrifying, evil, and cold projections from the psychological level seemed to have no effect on him at all.

"What's the situation?" Zhuang Qiu was confused.

She had no choice but to carry out the second plan.

"Go over and reveal your true form!"Zhuang Qiu's soul body screamed.

This scream could be heard even in the material world.

The voice was shrill and sharp.

It was like the legendary female ghost who had returned from Hell and was about to claim her enemy's life!

Her comrades immediately replied, "Okay!"

More than ten ghosts screamed in unison.

They had been cooperating with each other for nearly a hundred years.

Therefore, they immediately activated the magic art that they were already familiar with.

Magic art that only ghosts could use.

Ghost beating the wall!

It caused the strangers to fall into the maze set up by the ghosts, lose their direction, and fall into hallucinations.

At the same time, they revealed their true forms.

They turned into solid monsters that looked invisible but actually had contours, green faces, and fangs. They carried a thick aura of death and resentment.

They were like the most common evil spirits in horror movies.

When they appeared, they carried a terrifying, low-pitched sound effect.

Normal people would be stunned by the double impact of sight and psychology just by looking at them.

Even a transcendent being would fall into fear because they suddenly saw the physical body of a ghost. In the end, they would be hypnotized under the effect of the magic art.

This was a move that had been tried countless times, and it worked every time.

For a hundred years, they had relied on these methods to firmly guard this stretch of the river.

They did not allow the things inside to escape, nor did they allow anyone from the outside to enter.

But..

This time..

They had miscalculated!

The young man walking in the forest turned a deaf ear to everything they had created, as if he had not seen it at all, much less know about it!

No!

Zhuang Qiu soon found out.

It was not that he did not see it, nor did he know about it.

But..

He looked down on all of this!

It was like an elephant looking down on all the ants under its feet.

Because..

Ants that could be trampled to death with one foot were not worth the effort of an elephant.

So, he even smiled.

Zhuang Qiu could see the curve of his lips suddenly.

His smile was filled with contempt.

At this moment, Zhuang Qiu felt an endless pressure rolling over from all directions.

The surrounding spirit power was instantly sucked out by something.

At this moment, she felt like a helpless fish that had been thrown onto the shore.

Without water, she did not even have the strength to struggle.

In that instant, she was about to be suffocated!

And that person had already stretched out his hand.

Zhuang Qiu's three souls and six spirits were completely terrified!

"Oh no..." She fell helplessly into that person's palm.

It was a palm that seemed weak and had no strength at all.

The skin on the surface of the palm was white and smooth.

However, Zhuang Qiu, who had fallen into this palm, felt as if she had fallen into a brand new world,. It was as if she had entered another world.

A voice slowly echoed in his ears.

"Little bug..."

Zhuang Qiu raised his head and saw that person's face.

He was clean, fair-skinned, and looked ordinary. He was the type of person one would not pay attention to or notice.

However, at this moment, this face, which was originally ordinary and had no special features or memorable characteristics, had become incomparably majestic

It was like a celestial being that could stand up to the heavens and cover the sun and moon.

Those huge eyes were like stars, huge, dazzling, and eye-catching.

Looking at those eyes, those eyes that were as huge as stars.

Zhuang Qiu understood that he was right.

She was indeed just a bug.

"On such a cold day, why aren't you staying in your nest? What are you doing here?"

A rumbling sound echoed in her ears.

It was like thunder.

Then, Zhuang Qiu felt that she had regained her freedom!

She had been released.

That person let go of her hand lightly, like a loving parent watching a naughty child.

"Go! Go!" He laughed lightly. His voice was easy-going, but it carried an irresistible authority. Zhuang Qiu did not dare to defy him.

"Little fellow... go back and find your mother!"

As Zhuang Qiu listened, she could feel that her soul seemed to have solidified.

In fact..

"I... might be able to appear during the day..." She could clearly feel the strength within her soul.

She had painstakingly cultivated for a hundred years, but she was still unable to solidify her soul.

However, at this moment, there was a turn of events.

And this turning point was merely being held in this person's hand and observed?

Who was he?

Zhuang Qiu was puzzled.

At this moment, her comrades surrounded her.

"Zhuang Qiu..." The concerned voice of her comrades came from within the soul. "How are you?"

"I'm fine..." Zhuang Qiu flew a little further away in bewilderment.

She stared at that person from afar.

That person also raised his head and looked at Zhuang Qiu.

The corners of his mouth curled into a smile, just like a loving father.

The faint mist around him flashed and disappeared.

But at that moment, Zhuang Qiu saw the figure of a feathered man with wings on his back and a long halberd in his hand. Behind that figure, there was a huge horn.

For some reason, Zhuang Qiu only wanted to worship it.

It was as if the horn in the mist was her king.

"Major!" Zhuang Qiu calmed down and used her soul to contact her superior. "We may have met... a debt collector..."

"Hmm?" The major sent a question from his soul.