CHAPTER 412: CHAPTER 174: DELIVERING INTELLIGENCE, A GREAT ENEMY AT SIDE (5K)

At the entrance of the manor, hanging from the lantern pole, dangled a sharp-faced, sunken-cheeked Ghost.

There was no text above this Ghost’s head indicating it was an NPC. It was definitely not a player, and it didn’t trigger a reaction from the Natural Enemy Profession either. Thus, Wen Yan could only assume it was a hostile wild monster with unimpressive strength.

It wasn’t often he came across a wild monster with Spiritual Intelligence, the ability to speak, and to transform into someone else; Wen Yan really didn’t want to kill it.

After testing the power of the Incense Candle Crossbow, he confirmed that it was indeed quite lethal to Ghosts. Wen Yan felt that was enough.

He sat on a chair, extended two fingers, pinched a sparse hair from the top of the Ghost’s head, plucked it, and placed it into a small box beside him.

"I’m particularly free right now, so bored I can take my time with you," Wen Yan said.

"You can choose to speak or keep silent; it’s better if you don’t say anything.

"I’ll start by plucking all your hair, one by one, making sure I count every single one.

"Then, bit by bit, following the grain, I’ll peel off your skin.

"I’m quite curious to find out—when a Ghost that has condensed a physical form is dissected without dissipating, how different is it from dissecting a human?

"I’ve calculated that, by killing time this way, I could probably amuse myself for three months.

"You’d better last until I can excavate your Ghost Bone.

"Let me see if a Ghost Bone taken from a living body will be more plentiful than the Ghost Bone remnants left after dispersal."

The sharp-faced, sunken-cheeked Ghost hung there inverted, a look of horror on its face.

Not far away, Lin Jue and the Grave Walker also wore horrified expressions.

These three, from Wen Yan’s somewhat listless tone, could tell that he was truly bored out of his mind and actually wanted to see if Ghost Bones obtained this way would indeed be more abundant.

Lin Jue flinched. If he hadn’t become what he was now, he’d probably be breaking out in a cold sweat, he thought.

He glanced at the "Coachman" beside him. The Coachman remained silent, like a mute, evidently also somewhat fearful.

Before Wen Yan could make his next move, the sharp-faced, sunken-cheeked Ghost couldn’t hold back any longer.

"I just came to take a look..."

SMACK! A slap landed across its face as Wen Yan looked at it coldly.

"I don’t like to hear those words."

The paper servitor brought over a small charcoal stove and a teapot. Wen Yan brewed tea for himself, leaning back in his chair with a vacant look in his eyes, gazing into the distance.

How I yearn to slump on a sofa and mindlessly scroll through videos, just being a couch potato! he thought. Days without the internet are unbearably boring, and even researching something is inconvenient. While Lord Zhu’s study has many books, a lot of the content is semi-incomprehensible to me, and grasping it on my own is too strenuous.

The sharp-faced Ghost, having received a slap, felt even more frightened seeing Wen Yan’s demeanor.

If Wen Yan had been fiercely interrogating me, I might still think he placed great importance on what I knew, the Ghost thought. But it seems like Wen Yan is truly just bored, so bored he’d resort to something like counting leg hairs for fun. That’s what makes me truly afraid. When someone seeks amusement without any clear purpose, that’s the most frightening thing. It means my bargaining chips have very little value.

The moment Wen Yan finished his absentminded reading and lifted his head, the sharp-faced Ghost couldn’t hold back any longer.

"I came from the northern mountains. The Great King ordered me to scout the surroundings. I discovered this place and just wanted to go inside to take a look."

Wen Yan ignored it. But at that moment, the sharp-faced Ghost also saw a jumble of garbled code appear above Wen Yan’s head. It gradually expanded and unfurled, transforming into two lines of text.

Below those two lines, the current affinity was displayed: Neutral.

The sharp-faced Ghost completely abandoned the last shred of hope in its heart. I don’t even qualify for his disgust; I’m utterly insignificant. I’d better say something more, it thought.

"The Great King has awakened. He’s very hungry and needs to eat. Previously, more than a dozen Ghosts carrying Yang Energy came, and the Great King devoured them all.

"But it’s still not enough, far from it. So the Great King dispatched us, his subordinates, to scout the vicinity and see if there’s anything else.

"When I saw such a large manor, I just wanted to sneak a peek first to confirm how many Ghosts were here.

"Then I could go back and tell the Great King. If the Great King has other things to eat, he won’t be so famished that he’d eat me too."

"That’s it?" Wen Yan put down his teacup, somewhat speechless. Just a people-eating Evil Ghost, that’s all.

However, judging by its words, those Ghosts with Yang Energy must be the players. Managing to take down a dozen at once means this Great King indeed has some skill. In a one-on-one fight, I’d consider it average, but when numbers increase, it’s not just a matter of having enough Power. In the past, when I ran errands for my Boss, helping catch some free-range chickens, netting them one at a time was simple. But once I started trying to catch them, and those free-range chickens scattered, flapping their wings and flying all over the place, even catching a dozen became quite difficult. If a dozen people scattered and fled, even if you could kill one with a single slap, capturing all of them would require sufficient Power, speed, and the ability to track each person’s escape direction and location.

Wen Yan wasn’t particularly interested. He just instructed the manor’s paper servitors to heighten their vigilance and report any abnormalities immediately.

Just then, Wen Yan looked toward the darkness a short distance away. A faint streak of light flashed and vanished, and the Little Thief appeared there, just outside the paper servitors’ patrol range.

Fu Guangfei carefully scanned his surroundings. He noticed the manor wasn’t far, with Wen Yan sitting at the entrance, drinking tea at a small table. He let out a sigh of relief.

He was indeed somewhat afraid. Minister Cai had told him he could choose, but also informed him that over a dozen people had already died in the Netherworld. Because of the ultimate hardcore mode, dying in the Netherworld meant true death.