CHAPTER 372: CHAPTER 372: THE RED-HAIRED GHOST KING’S STORY, JOHNNIE’S DANGER

A sharp, scary ghost cry suddenly filled the air. Hundreds of ghosts merged together into a huge monster that was over ten meters tall.

Its body was full of ghosts that hadn’t fully merged yet. Its skin was covered with arms, eyes, and teeth, making it look really disgusting and terrifying.

The monster blocked Johnnie’s way forward.

Johnnie took a deep breath. Around his body, several flying swords suddenly appeared.

The Flying Sword Shock technique activated, and the Sword Intent let out a low hum.

In the next moment, all the flying swords shot forward at high speed, aiming straight at the monster.

The monster saw the flying swords, but instead of trying to dodge, it quickly stretched out its arms and blocked the way to the remaining statues.

"Plop!" The swords pierced into the monster’s body.

The arms that hadn’t fully merged yet grabbed the swords tightly. Some of the mouths around the swords opened, and ghost teeth bit wildly at the swords.

Johnnie frowned and used more soul power to create over a dozen more flying swords.

"Kid, hurry up! This guy is too crazy!" Dragon Soul’s loud voice echoed. He was breathing heavily, and his huge body was full of wounds, letting out gray-white energy.

"Ku ku ku..." A strange laugh came from the Red-Haired Ghost King, who was now controlled by Holy Mother. He stared coldly at Johnnie.

"Die!" The Red-Haired Ghost King shouted, and his red ghost hair flew down like rain, rushing toward Dragon Soul and Johnnie.

Johnnie had to use some of his flying swords to block the attack.

The huge monster, made from hundreds of merging ghosts, wasn’t very strong, but it had a very high defense. It was hard to deal with for a while.

Johnnie moved quickly, running around the monster while getting closer to it.

He just wanted to destroy the rest of the statues.

The monster was huge and moved pretty fast, but it still couldn’t match Johnnie.

Soon, Johnnie found a small opening. Without hesitation, he used a new soul attack he had just learned.

"Swish!"

Two flying swords shot out from Johnnie’s eyes. They were so fast that they were almost invisible. They flew straight toward the remaining statues.

The monster tried to block them again, but this time, Johnnie’s attack was too fast for it to react.

"Boom!"A flash of sword light, and the last three statues broke apart at the same time.

Everything around them suddenly became quiet. Both the Red-Haired Ghost King and the monster stopped moving.

"You... I remember you." a strange voice came from the broken statues.

Johnnie looked down. The pieces were shaking slightly and then spoke again."The eyes of the Celestial Spirits are watching you. Human, you won’t live much longer."

Celestial Spirits?

Johnnie frowned slightly. What were they?

He looked at the Red-Haired Ghost King, who probably knew something useful.

After a while, the Red-Haired Ghost King finally opened his eyes. His eyes were no longer black. He looked at the broken statues and took a deep breath.

"Hahaha! Finally, finally free!"

"Damn Holy Mother. Damn Celestial Spirits!" The Red-Haired Ghost King clenched his fists, then slowly opened his hands and lifted them to his face, turning them gently.

Johnnie slowly looked up at the Red-Haired Ghost King and said calmly."I destroyed all the statues. Now you can tell me what really happened."

The Red-Haired Ghost King quickly landed and walked toward Johnnie once he touched the ground.

At that moment, Dragon Soul changed his size and landed as well. He stood in front of the Red-Haired Ghost King with a look of caution in his eyes.

The Red-Haired Ghost King stopped and looked at Johnnie helplessly. Then he slowly said.

"What do you want to know?"

Johnnie answered."Everything."

"That will take a long time to explain. How about this—let’s go to my mansion. We can talk while we rest."

Once they entered the Red-Haired Ghost King’s mansion, he finally started to tell the whole story, bit by bit.

It turned out that Terra Lady’s disappearance was connected to the Merciful Mother of Deliverance from Suffering. They had secretly made a deal with a powerful being in the Realm of the Dead. Because of this, Terra Lady was trapped in the center of the Realm of the Dead and couldn’t escape.

"The so-called Holy Mother is actually a group of cruel invaders. Their real name is Celestial Spirits. They were born after the world was destroyed." the Red-Haired Ghost King said, clenching his fists tightly. His red ghost hair kept moving in the air.

"Celestial Spirits?" Johnnie frowned and mentioned the Star Raiders.

The Red-Haired Ghost King nodded. "Celestial Spirits are part of the Star Raiders. But they are different. They don’t attack the real world. Instead, they target the minds and souls of living beings."

"I was controlled by the Celestial Spirits and looked through a lot of old records. I found out that they appeared in the Realm of the Dead a long time ago."

Dragon Soul listened and frowned. He asked."Why have I never heard of the Celestial Spirits? And you said a group,not just one?"

The Red-Haired Ghost King explained that the Realm of the Dead was mostly separated from the real world. Only ghosts of the dead could enter. But the Celestial Spirits had broken into it.

Although they called themselves the Merciful Mother of Deliverance from Suffering, there were actually many of them.

The Red-Haired Ghost King sighed deeply. When the Merciful Mother first appeared, he really thought they had some amazing power that could make wicked ghosts become sane and live a good life again.

But as time passed, the Red-Haired Ghost King slowly realized something was wrong.

He spoke up."Those statues weren’t just absorbing negative emotions—they were quietly controlling the wicked ghosts. If the Holy Mother noticed something was wrong, it would kill all the wicked ghosts here."

"Of course, that included me."

At this, the Red-Haired Ghost King looked at Johnnie with a grateful expression. Then he slowly stood up and bowed deeply to Johnnie, saying.

"Thanks to you, I wouldn’t be alive right now."

Johnnie waved his hand, not wanting to talk about it. Right now, he wanted to know exactly where Terra Lady was.

The Red-Haired Ghost King said the Realm of the Dead was very complicated, full of dangerous places. For example, the area where the River of Forgetfulness flowed was off-limits to ghosts. If they got too close, they would be trapped there forever.

Terra Lady was stuck inside Three Lives Mountain. The surrounding area was full of dangers, and without a guide, going there alone would almost certainly lead to trouble.

"Three Lives Mountain?" Johnnie looked at Dragon Soul, confused.

Dragon Soul shook his head, looking puzzled. He didn’t know where that was either.

The Red-Haired Ghost King said without hesitation."Three Lives Mountain is the most mysterious place in the Realm of the Dead. It’s made up of three great mountains: the past life, the present life, and the future life."

"The real world is the past life of ghosts, the Realm of the Dead is their present life, and entering Reincarnation to be reborn is their future life."

"The three mountains are very important. I don’t know which one Terra Lady is in."

"But I’ve been there once. I know the dangerous areas nearby. I can go with you."

Johnnie nodded. Having the Red-Haired Ghost King, a local expert, lead the way was the best idea.

But just then, the Red-Haired Ghost King’s eyes suddenly stopped on Johnnie’s wrist.

His expression turned serious and heavy.

Johnnie looked down and saw that the thread on his wrist had become a little blurry, as if it was fading.

Dragon Soul quickly moved closer to Johnnie and took a good look at him, saying."Kid, we don’t have much time left."

The Red-Haired Ghost King took a deep breath and said."You’re a survivor. Your soul and body are still connected, so you can’t stay in the Realm of the Dead for too long."

"If you stay too long, your soul will start to separate from your body. The worst case is that you’ll never be able to return to your body and will become a lost ghost forever."

"And you’re not like us. You can’t quickly regain your Soul Power in the Realm of the Dead, because you’re not a real ghost. So, if you run into trouble, you should try to avoid fighting as much as possible."

The Red-Haired Ghost King and Dragon Soul exchanged a quick look. Both of them looked worried.

Dragon Soul was worried about Johnnie’s safety, while the Red-Haired Ghost King wanted Johnnie to change the current situation in the Realm of the Dead and help free Terra Lady.

Johnnie looked at the slightly blurry thread on his wrist, took a deep breath, and said calmly.

"We don’t have much time. Let’s leave as soon as possible."

"Kid, maybe we should go back first. There’s still time to come back later. No need to rush." Dragon Soul suggested.

When the Red-Haired Ghost King heard this, he asked in detail how they had entered the Realm of the Dead. After hearing the full story, his expression darkened. He said."You might not be able to go back. The bronze gate at the Eastern Mount entrance had some problems not long ago, and that was caused by you. The Holy Mother mentioned it to me, and they’ve already made the barrier stronger."

Johnnie asked."Why would they do that?"

"The White and Black Reapers usually appear near the entrance of the Eastern Mount. The Celestial Spirits can’t control too many ghosts who just arrived in the Realm of the Dead, so they decided to lock that bronze gate."

Ghosts who had just entered the Realm of the Dead were seen as a kind of fuel by the Celestial Spirits. They needed the wicked ghosts to keep eating, which helped them absorb negative emotions and gain control over them.

The Red-Haired Ghost King said that many strong beings in the Realm of the Dead had been affected by the Celestial Spirits. Some had become their puppets, and others had died completely.

The White and Black Reapers had decided to lock away their minds temporarily, leaving only their bodies’ instincts to fight off the Celestial Spirits’ influence.

"Maybe we can try to wake up the White and Black Reapers." the Red-Haired Ghost King suddenly suggested.