Chapter 138: Return (4)-Deadly Detective(Plain barley wine)

However, neither defense had any effect; those transparent threads seemed to come from another dimension.

Imbued with the power of karmic laws and carrying a subtle concept of exchange, the thread instantly bypassed the palace lantern and Wang Hu's obstruction, slithering through the gaps of the Inquiring Heart Chain and straight into Wu Zui's body.

In the blink of an eye, the phantom's enormous body transformed entirely into threads, beginning to surge into Wu Zui.

"Give me your body!"

...

Countless voices echoed like a curse in Wu Zui's mind, voices of men and women, young and old. At the same time, Wu Zui felt his perception of his body gradually fading—not a feeling of numbness, but as if he had never possessed a body at all.

Even the instincts of his physical form seemed to be vanishing.

Xiao Ke'ai controlled Commander Cat's body to shift into an ethereal state, then slipped directly inside Wu Zui as well. Under Xiao Ke'ai's guidance, Commander Cat's sharp claws slashed and snapped many of the transparent threads that had entered Wu Zui's body.

Unfortunately, there were simply too many threads. Before long, Xiao Ke'ai was bound like a traditional rice dumpling. Fortunately, the transparent threads showed no interest in this magnetic-energy lifeform, or Xiao Ke'ai might have been finished first.

Just as Wu Zui felt his thoughts beginning to freeze, the Inquiring Heart Sword finally seized the time bought by Xiao Ke'ai to suppress the Karmic Fire physique. Immediately, the Inquiring Heart Chain rapidly retracted back to Wu Zui's heart.

A red glow flared from Wu Zui's chest, and a series of miserable shrieks echoed simultaneously in his mind.

Black resentful energy billowed from Wu Zui's body. The specters that had entered his flesh with the intent of seizing his vessel were trapped mercilessly within by the Inquiring Heart Sword, and burned to ashes by the karmic fire until they completely vanished.

Crapsing right along with them was the power of laws that had carried the intent of exchange. At the same time, the transparent threads entangling Xiao Ke'ai were burned away by the karmic fire, and the blue, fluffy ball once more returned to Wu Zui's arms.

Ooh—oooh—

After the demise of the phantoms that had invaded Wu Zui's body, a sound rang out that was hard to tell whether it was weeping or the howling wind.

Wu Zui looked in the direction of the sound.

Beneath the moonlight, he noticed that in the distance within the residential compound, figures like the one he had just encountered were beginning to appear on the balconies of many residential buildings.

*(Have I gone and poked a hornets' nest of ghosts?!)*

Wu Zui cursed inwardly in a low voice.

"Let's go!"

Wu Zui hastily pulled the lantern spirit and Wang Hu along, opened a spatial singularity with a distorted shadow, and vanished swiftly from the residential complex. Seeing that their target was lost, those figures slowly grew quiet and disappeared from the balconies.

Meanwhile, a six-star specter that was on the verge of awakening drifted back into a deep slumber once Wu Zui departed.

The ghosts that had recently arrived from the Netherrealm were all currently fusing with the laws of this world. Although higher-tier ghosts required more time, bolstered by the status of being the protagonists of heaven and earth, the process was proceeding exceptionally smoothly.

After using the spatial singularity to shift several times, Wu Zui finally located a three-story large shopping mall. He instructed the lantern spirit and Wang Hu to keep watch around the perimeter to ensure safety, and then began using his meditation technique to restore his consumed magnetic energy.

After Wu Zui entered deep meditation, the blue, fluffy ball hopped out from his arms. Xiao Ke'ai lay on the ground, flicking her tail out of boredom. She would have liked to cultivate as well, but unfortunately, neither external martial arts, artifact refinement, nor internal elixir cultivation worked for her.

The meridians of a magnetic-energy lifeform were completely different from those of humans; the cultivation methods created by humans were utterly useless to them, giving Xiao Ke'ai endless headaches.

As Wu Zui descended into deep meditation, strands of transparent threads were expelled from his body.

These threads expelled from within wrapped around him like a massive cocoon. These were the ghostly cores belonging to the cluster of four-star phantoms that had perished inside him.

Only now, as Wu Zui circulated his magnetic energy, were they purged by the energy.

Bored, Xiao Ke'ai's eyes suddenly lit up. The blue fluff ball trotted forward briskly on her short legs. She pulled out a transparent thread from beside Wu Zui, rolled it into a ball the size of a tennis ball, and began playing with it happily on the floor by herself...

As time passed, Wu Zui quickly replenished his magnetic energy. The moment he opened his eyes and saw the transparent threads tightly surrounding him, he was startled and instinctively summoned the Inquiring Heart Sword.

A red flash flickered and vanished as the Inquiring Heart Sword sliced the mass cleanly in two with a single slash. Moreover, the brief transformation into a sword after the bond of ownership did not alert the Karmic Fire physique slumbering within Wu Zui—another advantage of blood-bonding.

Hearing the commotion on Wu Zui's side, Xiao Ke'ai assumed her playing with the yarn ball had disturbed his cultivation. She quickly swallowed the spherical object beneath her paws in one gulp, then sat down obediently, putting on the air of a very good girl.

Emerging from the transparent cocoon, Wu Zui realized he had just been a bit too high-strung. Presumably, the large cocoon formed by these transparent threads was the core of that composite ghost. It must have died inside his body, causing these remnants to be purged in such a manner.

Stepping out from the perimeter of the transparent cocoon, Wu Zui spotted Xiao Ke'ai sitting like a beckoning lucky cat. At this moment, the blue fluff ball's body was still emitting a faint blue glow, and in Wu Zui's perception, the energy fluctuations within Commander Cat's body were growing increasingly intense.

Judging by the sensory feedback, it felt as though she might explode at any second.

Yet Xiao Ke'ai showed no trace of discomfort. She seemed utterly blissful, squatting there with her eyes narrowed in a squint, a smile plastered across her fluffy little face! A terribly cute smile!

Moments later, Xiao Ke'ai completely digested the threads she had swallowed into her belly, and her magnetic energy rank was on the verge of returning to two stars.

*(It really is great being a cat; you can cultivate just by eating, and you never have to sit there boringly meditating again!)*

Seeing the considerable amount of transparent cocoons still left on the ground, Xiao Ke'ai's eyes shone brightly. The ability to increase one's realm simply by eating was absolute heaven to her!

Watching Xiao Ke'ai's expression, Wu Zui instantly understood what had happened.

"Did you eat that thing?"

"Meow-oo~"

Faced with Wu Zui's astonishment, Xiao Ke'ai let out a cry to indicate she was fine. Then, leaping forward like a tiger, she pounced onto a cocoon and began feasting heartily. As her short legs stepped back and forth, the cocoon began to vanish rapidly...

*(Mmm~ Delicious! (*￣︶￣))*

"..."

Wu Zui could only watch Xiao Ke'ai anxiously, ready to interrupt her feeding immediately if anything seemed amiss. However, Wu Zui's worries proved excessive; having a wonderful time eating, Xiao Ke'ai was rapidly assimilating the energy contained within the ghost cores.

With the disappearance of the transparent cocoons, Xiao Ke'ai leveraged the energy of this collective group of four-star ghosts to climb back up to the four-star realm. Had so much energy not been wasted along the way, she probably wouldn't have been far from returning to five stars either.

By then, Xiao Ke'ai might even have been able to resume her human form.

*(The piece left over is so short! I'll keep it to play string games with!)*

Xiao Ke'ai looked at the remaining piece of transparent thread in front of her, which was less than a meter long. Intending to keep it as a little pastime toy, she thought to herself and wound it around her paws. Then, with a few bounds, she leapt back into Wu Zui's arms.

Sensing the four-star magnetic energy within Xiao Ke'ai, Wu Zui spoke to her solemnly: "Don't go devouring ghost cores out in the open from now on. If others find out you can advance by eating ghost cores, you'll be captured and sliced open for research! Do you understand?"

The blue fluff ball shuddered, a look of terror appearing in her blue eyes. Just the thought of lying on an operating table being dissected and studied filled Xiao Ke'ai with dread.

"Meow-oo~"

━Σ(??Д??|||)━

The blue fluff ball nodded while letting out a soft cry, then burrowed deeper into Wu Zui's clothes. Meanwhile, the lantern spirit and Wang Hu, who had been on guard duty, rushed back from both sides upon sensing the violent magnetic energy fluctuations coming from Wu Zui's location.

Looking at Wu Zui, who was still recovering his magnetic energy, the lantern spirit asked softly, "Young Master? Did something happen?"

"Nothing. Resume your watch," Wu Zui replied.

"Understood!"

The two acknowledged the order and departed to continue patrolling the surrounding area.

After this return, Wu Zui noticed that the ghosts had undergone significant changes. In the past, no matter how many four-star ghosts there were, they could never harm him once he reached the five-star level, because the gap between those two realms was practically an unbridgeable chasm.

Yet this time, the ghost that had attempted to transform into him seemed to possess a special power, one that allowed it to inflict damage on a being superior to it in realm.

Furthermore, judging by how Xiao Ke'ai—who had already become a magnetic-energy lifeform—had been wrapped up like a rice dumpling when attacking them, the suppression that magnetic energy once held over them seemed to have vanished.

*(Is this the special treatment the ghost clan receives after becoming the protagonists of heaven and earth?)*

Wu Zui could not help but ponder quietly in his mind...

...

Another night passed, and the weather remained overcast.

After recovering his magnetic energy, Wu Zui failed to find any usable motor vehicles within the urban area. Fortunately, however, he discovered that bicycles were still functional; it seemed only motorized vehicles had been affected by the intense magnetic field.

Thus, Wu Zui had no choice but to ride a bicycle out of City Y, heading toward the outskirts to assess the situation first. If his luck was bad, he might have to pedal a very long distance before encountering usable vehicles outside.

After spending the entire morning riding, Wu Zui finally managed to leave the urban area of City Y. Although he encountered a few ghosts along the way, he was fortunate enough not to run into anything more troublesome than that group of shape-shifting phantoms.

...

Having endured days of cycling, Wu Zui finally laid eyes on living humans once again within a county-level city under the jurisdiction of City Y.

Longquan County.

"Old sir, are there working telephones in the county? Mine is broken, and I'd like to borrow one," Wu Zui said, looking at the elderly man with tanned skin who was carrying two buckets of water on a shoulder pole.