7: Chapter 7 Hope, Despair? The Great Terror of Qingquan Village

[Obtained 13 fear value from Gu Yiyi.]

[Obtained 16 fear value from Ji Bocang.]

[All fear values have been automatically converted to 'evolution points'!]

[...]

Watching the steadily increasing fear value, Lin Chuan's mood grew better and better.

At this rate, he would soon accumulate the 1,000 evolution points he needed.

With that thought, Lin Chuan controlled the Coughing Ghoul, preparing to ramp up the "intensity" for Zhao Bingtian and his group.

The scene shifted back to the first floor of the Zhao family villa, inside the banquet hall.

Step! Step, step!!

Just as Zhao Bingtian and the others were feeling despair, a series of footsteps echoed outside the banquet hall once again.

Immediately after, a figure strode in against the dim light of the corridor.

The newcomer was also wearing a black trench coat and carrying a golden briefcase. With every step he took, the ground seemed to vibrate.

"Second Uncle!?"

Seeing the figure, a glimmer of light suddenly appeared in Zhao Bingtian's previously ashen eyes.

But in the next moment, he became alert.

Was the uncle before him... really his uncle?

However, before Zhao Bingtian could think further, the man standing at the door spoke with authority.

"Bingtian, step back."

As he spoke, he waved his hand, and strands of pitch-black hair flew out instantly like tentacles, tightly binding the "Qiu Xiaoya" hanging upside down in mid-air.

"We're saved!!"

"We're really saved this time!"

"Taoist? Celestial Master? No, no, no! Lord Immortal! Please save us!"

Seeing this, the surviving wealthy heirs trembled with excitement. Like drowning men catching a straw, they rushed toward the man like madmen.

"We beg the Lord Immortal to take us away from here!!"

"We will do everything in our power to repay the Lord Immortal!"

As they spoke, they rushed out of the candlelight's range and straight toward "Zhao Linfeng."

However.

Just as they approached "Zhao Linfeng."

A sudden transformation occurred.

The previously majestic "Zhao Linfeng's" body suddenly went limp like a puddle of mud.

Immediately after.

Puchi! Puchi!

Several sharp white bones emerged from his body, like bone snakes, directly piercing through the chests of those wealthy heirs.

Blood gushed out, staining the floor red.

The man's face also completely peeled off at this moment, revealing a maggot-infested, rotting... young girl's face.

That wasn't Qiu Xiaoya.

It was another nameless girl who had been toyed with until death by Zhao Bingtian and buried in the back mountain!

"How... could..."

The wealthy heirs looked at the bone spikes in their chests in disbelief, the life in their eyes rapidly fading.

"Hee hee hee..."

"Young masters, don't you remember me?"

"Didn't you say... my bones were very soft... well, how about now? Are they... even softer?"

The girl with the rotting cheeks tilted her head and let out a hair-raising laugh.

At the same time.

Shadows began to writhe all around the banquet hall.

More hideous Fierce Ghosts emerged.

There was the young boy whose legs Zhao Bingtian had broken before throwing him into the river, the female student Meng Minghao had forced to jump off a building... all of them had turned into Fierce Ghosts!

Their bodies were tattered and emitted a foul stench as they formed a circle, staring deathly at Zhao Bingtian and the others inside.

"Young Master Zhao... give me back my life..."

"Why... why did you harm me..."

The venomous whispers converged into a terrifying wave of sound, constantly battering the eardrums of Zhao Bingtian and his group.

"Get away!! All of you, get away!!"

Zhao Bingtian waved the last bit of the ghost candle in his hand, looking half-crazed.

But the candlelight was already extremely weak, ready to go out at any moment.

His two lackeys, Li Bo and Wang Zhao, also couldn't withstand this extreme mental torture and began to scream frantically.

"Aaaah! No! Let me go!!"

"We were wrong!"

At this moment, due to excessive burning, the ghost candle's light gradually dimmed, no longer able to cover a two-meter radius!

Soon, the spot where Li Bo stood was no longer protected by the candlelight.

In his eyes, almost instantly, he was grabbed by a group of "Fierce Ghosts" and then torn apart!

Bang!

But in Zhao Bingtian's eyes, Li Bo was using a bizarre posture that defied the laws of physics... to forcefully tear his own body apart!

In an instant, blood splattered everywhere, a shocking sight.

The other wealthy heir named Wang Zhao didn't fare any better.

He also lost the protection of the candlelight and was now kneeling on the ground, frantically scratching his own face.

He didn't stop until he had shredded the skin, revealing the white bone beneath. Finally, in a state of extreme terror, he went completely silent.

"No... no..."

Zhao Bingtian slumped on the ground, his crotch already soaked.

He watched the approaching vengeful souls, watched his fair-weather friends and subordinates die miserable deaths one by one, and his mental defenses completely collapsed.

As these demons in human skin died one by one in terror, the panel information deep in Lin Chuan's consciousness was nearly exploding with updates.

Line after line of text kept popping up.

[Obtained fear value from Zhao Bingtian: +30!]

[Obtained fear value from Li Bo before death: +10!]

[Obtained fear value from Wang Zhao before death: +55!]

[...]

Finally.

With Zhao Bingtian's final roar of despair, the number in the evolution points column broke the one thousand mark!

[Current evolution points: 1020.]

[Consuming 1,000 evolution points can immediately evolve into a D-Class Abomination!]

Seeing this, Lin Chuan didn't hesitate for a moment and focused his mind.

"Evolve!"

In an instant, 1,000 evolution points were deducted.

A special power quickly flooded into Lin Chuan's stone statue body.

His damaged Buddha statue body was gradually repaired by that power!

However, the peeling gold leaf on his body did not return; instead, it turned into a deeper, dark-black color that looked like dried blood.

The collapsed shoulders of his stone statue rose again.

His blurred features also became clearer.

A hazy face that seemed to be both smiling and crying, carrying endless compassion yet exuding endless evil... slowly emerged!

The information on the panel also underwent a refresh:

[Consumed 1,000 evolution points.]

[Level Up: E-Class → D-Class!]

[Congratulations, Master, your life tier has undergone a leap!]

[Unlocked core ability: Ghost Domain (Level 1)!]

[Ghost Domain Description: This is your world. Within the range of the Ghost Domain (current radius 200 meters), you can distort reality, create hallucinations, and even... modify certain physical rules. As long as the Terror Level of an existence does not exceed your own, you can use the Ghost Domain to directly devour or seal them...]

[Master, because you have evolved to D-Class, the panel has also been upgraded.]

[Special functions unlocked: fear shop and wish power mall are now open!!]

Lin Chuan felt the rule power swirling around him and tried to expand his Ghost Domain.

Soon, the entire Desolate Temple was shrouded in an indescribable power... the already dilapidated and eerie Desolate Temple became even more terrifying under the influence of this power!

After expanding the Ghost Domain, he glanced at the newly opened shops.

In the fear shop, various mouth-watering Rule Ability fragments were displayed: [Ghost Blinding Eyes], [Ghost Pressing Bed], [Ghost Wall]... while the wish power mall contained various special supernatural items: [Death-Substitute Straw Man], [Soul-Sealing Jar], [Blood-Stained Shroud], [Blood Crow Servant], [Corpse-Nurturing Bronze Coffin]... Unfortunately, these items were all frighteningly expensive.

Any single item required thousands or even tens of thousands of Power Of Will and fear value.

Lin Chuan withdrew his gaze and stopped looking at the two shops.

His top priority after obtaining Power Of Will and fear value was still to increase his Terror Level!

With this in mind, he turned his attention back to the Coughing Ghoul and the Crying Ghost.

Because he sensed it.

Outside the Zhao family villa, a fairly strong aura of rules was rapidly approaching.

The source of that aura was clearly a Ghost Controller!

And a powerful Ghost Controller who controlled two E-Class anomalies at that!

It was Zhao Bingtian's second uncle, the deputy director of the Ghost Suppression Department and one of the powerful figures in Changyang City... Zhao Linfeng!!

At this moment, his face was dark, and his body emitted a thick stench of corpses.

Behind him, he carried a long golden box.

The moment he stepped into the first-floor banquet hall, the two ghosts he controlled immediately became restless.

"You reckless thing, how dare you provoke someone you can't afford to cross!"

Zhao Linfeng looked at the mess in the banquet hall, killing intent boiling in his eyes.

In his vision.

The banquet hall was filled with "anomalies."

And those blood-covered, hideous Fierce Ghosts were surrounding his nephew, "Zhao Bingtian," baring their fangs and claws.

While his nephew "Zhao Bingtian" was curled up in a corner, shivering while holding a candle that was about to go out.

"Second Uncle?! Is it really you?!"

Seeing the figure at the door, the real Zhao Bingtian was first stunned, then began to shout like a madman.

But he didn't dare move.

The previous two lessons had left him unable to distinguish between reality and hallucination.

"Hmph, useless trash,"

Zhao Linfeng snorted coldly, shouting at the "Zhao Bingtian" he saw.

Immediately after, without wasting words, he slapped open a golden box.

Clack.

The box opened.

A rusty, black-blood-stained cleaver suddenly appeared in his hand.

That was the E-Class Anomaly he controlled... the Ghost Blade!!

The moment he gripped the Ghost Blade, his originally neat short hair also suddenly began to grow wildly!

This was the second ghost he controlled... Ghost Hair!

"Go!!"

Zhao Linfeng moved.

Bolstered by supernatural power, his figure was like lightning as he instantly charged into the "ghost crowd."

Puchi!

The Supernatural Head Blade swept through.

That bloated "Drowned Ghost" was directly sliced in half, vanishing into a puddle of black water.

Shiu, shiu, shiu!

Black hair flew through the air, instantly piercing the head of that "Jumping Ghost."

Zhao Linfeng moved as if through an uninhabited land, frantically slaughtering the "aberrations" in the hall.

With every one he killed, he felt the malevolence in his heart increase by another notch.

Anyone who dared to touch someone from the Zhao family, even if they were an aberration, had to pay the price!

However...

What he didn't know was...

In Zhao Bingtian's eyes at this moment, what he saw was a completely different, hellish scene.

Zhao Bingtian saw...

After his second uncle rushed in, without a word, he swung his blade directly at a follower standing in the distance.

That follower had just fainted from fear and had barely woken up from his coma when he saw a long blade cleaving toward his head.

"No... save..."

Puchi!

Before he could finish his sentence, his head instantly hit the floor.

Immediately after...

Zhao Linfeng controlled that terrifying black hair again, piercing toward another rich young man who was trying to escape.

"Ahhh!!"

Miserable screams rose and fell one after another.

Zhao Bingtian watched helplessly as his second uncle, like a madman, slaughtered the survivors one by one.

Blood splattered onto Zhao Linfeng's face.

But he was smiling.

Smiling cruelly and with great satisfaction.

In his eyes, all the "aberrations" had been completely suppressed by him.

"No... don't..."

Zhao Bingtian's whole body trembled, his teeth chattered, and his mind completely collapsed.

"He's crazy... Second Uncle is also crazy..."

"No! He's not Second Uncle! Hahaha! That's a ghost! It's a ghost!!"

"They're all ghosts..."

Just as Zhao Bingtian was alternating between wild laughter and terrified weeping...

Zhao Linfeng, who had suppressed numerous "aberrations," turned around and fixed his gaze deathly upon him.

In Zhao Linfeng's field of vision...

The current Zhao Bingtian wasn't his nephew at all.

But a Fierce Ghost covered in corpse spots, baring its teeth at him!

"Is there one more?"

Zhao Linfeng narrowed his eyes, holding the dripping Supernatural Head Blade, and walked over step by step.

"No, don't kill me..."

"I am the Third Young Master of the Zhao Family."

"Uncle... I'm your nephew!"

"Don't kill me, spare me..."

Facing death, Zhao Bingtian shouted in terror, tears and snot flowing freely.

But to Zhao Linfeng's ears...

That "Fierce Ghost" only emitted bursts of ear-piercing, strange roars that sounded like teeth grinding.

"What are you howling for?"

Zhao Linfeng let out a cold laugh.

"You dare to touch my, Zhao Linfeng's, nephew? Go howl in hell!"

Swish!

As Zhao Linfeng moved, the black Ghost Hair suddenly surged, like countless chains, binding Zhao Bingtian tightly and hoisting him into the air.

"Urgh... urgh..."

"Uncle..."

Zhao Bingtian struggled desperately, his feet kicking wildly.

"Die!"

Zhao Linfeng barked, and the Supernatural Head Blade in his hand slashed down fiercely.

Puchi!

Blood splattered everywhere.

Zhao Bingtian's body was instantly split in two.

The two halves of the mangled corpse fell to the ground with a thud, organs spilling all over the floor.

Until the moment of death, his eyes were wide open, dying with his eyes unclosed.

"Phew..."

After suppressing the last "ghost," Zhao Linfeng let out a long breath.

He wiped the blood from his face and looked around.

"Finally cleaned it all up."

Where is that kid, Bingtian?

He put away his Supernatural Head Blade and was about to search for his nephew's whereabouts.

Just then.

The surrounding space suddenly distorted.

The banquet hall, which had been filled with a sinister aura, changed its appearance in an instant.

The black water on the ground disappeared.

In its place were the original luxurious decorations and the floor covered in... corpses.

Human corpses.

Zhao Linfeng froze violently.

His gaze fell upon the two halves of the mangled corpse at his feet.

Those familiar clothes.

That familiar gold watch.

And that face... with eyes wide open, carrying endless terror.

"Bing... Bingtian?!"

Zhao Linfeng's pupils constricted violently, and he felt as if he had been struck by lightning.

Clang!

The Supernatural Head Blade in his hand fell to the floor.

He knelt down trembling, holding Zhao Bingtian's head in both hands.

"How... how could this be?!"

"The ones I killed... were clearly ghosts!!"

An unprecedented chill instantly shot from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.

An illusion?!

Even an E-Class Ghost Controller like him, who controlled two ghosts, had fallen for an illusion?!

And without noticing at all?!

"Damn it!! Damned aberration!"

Zhao Linfeng suddenly looked up, staring fixedly at the void of the banquet hall, letting out a beast-like roar.

"Get out!!"

"Get out here!!"

The two Fierce Ghosts inside his body began to act up frantically, his black hair dancing wildly, and his murderous aura surged to the sky.

"As you wish."

A grand, vast, yet bone-chilling voice echoed throughout the banquet hall.

Buzz!!

The air vibrated.

When the voice fell, the ceiling above the banquet hall disappeared.

In its place was a dark red sky.

A massive, damaged golden Buddha statue bleeding tears of blood slowly emerged, looking down at the ants on the ground.

That was Lin Chuan's Ghost Domain projection!

Although Lin Chuan was in the Desolate Temple, he had directly descended a part of his Ghost Domain here through the Coughing Ghoul!

"What... what is this thing?!"

The moment he saw this Evil Buddha, Zhao Linfeng's breathing stopped.

Even when facing the Director of the Changming City Ghost Suppression Department, he had never felt such a terrifying sense of pressure.

D-Rank?!

No... with this level of rule perfection... could it be C-Class?!

While Zhao Linfeng was filled with uncertainty, Lin Chuan's voice suddenly boomed like a great bell:

"I am the Ancient Buddha of Rebirth!"

"Sinful disciple, what you just did was to be caught in appearances."

"Since you have seen this Buddha, why not put down your butcher's knife and take refuge immediately!"

"Know that the sea of suffering is boundless, turn back to the shore..."

Before Lin Chuan's voice had even finished.

The Crying Ghost and Coughing Ghoul, who had been lurking in the shadows, suddenly activated their killing rules and attacked Zhao Linfeng.

"Wuuuu..."

A shrill crying sound rang out.

Zhao Linfeng only felt an uncontrollable surge of sadness in his heart, and tears instantly burst from his eyes.

His vision blurred, and his movements slowed.

"Cough, cough... cough, cough, cough..."

Following that, violent coughing sounds exploded in his ears.

Every cough felt like an invisible giant hand was crushing his lungs.

"Ahhh! Get away from me!!"

Zhao Linfeng roared, trying to mobilize the Ghost Hair and Supernatural Head Blade inside him to counterattack.

But.

He had just excessively used supernatural powers, coupled with his violent emotional fluctuations.

The balance of the Fierce Ghosts within him... was broken.

The Ghost Hair began to backlash, tightening around his neck.

The Supernatural Head Blade began to tremble, wanting to hack at his own neck.

"Na... mo..."

At this time, Lin Chuan also activated his Rule Ability... Life-Reaping Sanskrit Sound!

In an instant, the metallic chanting echoed continuously, like steel needles frantically piercing into Zhao Linfeng's brain.

"No... stop chanting!!"

Zhao Linfeng clutched his head in pain, rolling frantically on the ground.

In that grand and eerie Buddhist Chant, he seemed to see the sins of his entire life.

He saw those who had been killed by the Zhao family.

And that Evil Buddha sitting high in the clouds became his only salvation.

"I am guilty..."

"I am guilty..."

Gradually, Zhao Linfeng stopped struggling.

He knelt on the ground, his face covered in blood and tears, and kowtowed heavily toward the Buddha statue in the sky.

"I beg the Buddha... to Enlighten me."

[Congratulations Master, you have successfully enlightened a Fanatic Believer (E-Class Ghost Controller)!]

[Obtained Power Of Will: +100!]

Lin Chuan looked at Zhao Linfeng kneeling on the ground, his mind quickly calculating.

He had originally intended to just kill Zhao Linfeng.

He hadn't expected the other party to actually be "enlightened" by him.

However, keeping Zhao Linfeng alive was also a good thing.

The Zhao family was deeply rooted in Changyang City and controlled a large amount of resources and intelligence.

Controlling Zhao Linfeng was almost equivalent to controlling half of the Zhao family!

"Zhao Linfeng."

Lin Chuan's voice echoed in his mind.

"This disciple is here."

Zhao Linfeng replied respectfully, his eyes fanatical and devout.

"Handle everything here."

"Do not let the people from the Ghost Suppression Department trace anything back to me."

"In addition... I want a list of all evildoers in Changyang City."

"As well as intelligence on all supernatural events."

"Yes! This disciple obeys!"

Zhao Linfeng kowtowed heavily.

Hearing this, Lin Chuan withdrew his gaze with satisfaction.

In the next second, the Ghost Domain dissipated.

Peace was restored to the banquet hall.

Only Zhao Linfeng remained, kneeling among a floor of corpses, with a strange yet sincere smile on his face... inside the Desolate Temple.

Lin Chuan checked the remaining Power Of Will and fear value on his panel.

The harvest this time was very significant.

His Terror Level had not only promoted to D-Rank, opening his Ghost Domain, but he had also unexpectedly recruited Zhao Linfeng as an important chess piece.

Now, in this world of Terror Resurgence, he could be considered to have some ability to protect himself.

However.

Before he could breathe a sigh of relief.

A strong sense of unease suddenly came from afar.

Lin Chuan turned his head sharply, looking toward the depths of the mountains.

That was... Qingquan Village!

Even across several miles.

He could clearly sense a thick, inseparable black mist churning frantically in that direction.

Gurgle... gurgle... vaguely.

He seemed to hear the muffled sound of water, like some massive creature was feeding.

The Ghost Domain there... was expanding again!

And it was very fast, with a huge commotion!

"At this rate... I'm afraid in less than two or three days, it will affect this place."

Lin Chuan's heart sank.

The source of the Ghost Domain in Qingquan Village was at least a C-Class Abomination.

It might even be... a B-Ranked Anomaly!!

"I can't just sit and wait for death."

"I must go and scout for information in advance!"

"If it's truly impossible to deal with, I can only have Zhao Linfeng bring people over to move my stone buddha body away..."