Path of Ghosts
After a long time,
Figures in white carrying stretchers arrived at the entrance of the Dark Palace.
"Is it down here?"
"Yes, it's said dozens of people died... Almost all the manpower from our logistics side has been transferred over, otherwise we really couldn't carry them away."
"... When the Dark Palace was designed back then, was it this dangerous?"
"It shouldn't be, but they said it was internal strife among them, so..."
"Forget it, this is not a question we should consider. Let's go down and move the corpses. Make sure to correspond one-to-one with the roster, don't leave any omissions."
Numerous logistics personnel successively entered the Dark Palace. Seeing the purgatory-like scenes at each level, their faces instantly turned somewhat pale... They couldn't imagine exactly what happened in the Dark Palace to cause such a scene?
"What's wrong, Team Leader?"
"The souls? Why are their souls gone?!"
The Team Leader hurriedly ran to another corpse and used his Divine Pathway to sense for a moment, his face becoming increasingly ugly... After successively finding a few more corpses to verify, he froze in place for a time.
"How is this possible... It shouldn't be..."
"The souls are missing?" Everyone instantly realized the severity of the matter. "But Mr. Han's [Kingdom of the Dying] has always covered every corner. All the souls wouldn't dissipate, but should be kept inside the corpses instead... How could the souls be gone?"
"But they are indeed missing. All the corpses in the Dark Palace are like this."
Light repeatedly flashed in the Team Leader's eyes, as if thinking about something. Then he turned around and ordered: "Quick, gather all these corpses together first, temporarily do not leave the scope of the [Kingdom of the Dying]... Then urgently contact Mr. Han and see what his side says."
"Yes!"
...
[Audience Expectation Value +4]
[Current Expectation Value: 67%]
Seeing two lines of characters floating up before his eyes, Chen Ling, who was walking on the streets of the Old District, was slightly stunned.
"What's wrong?" Jian Changsheng, walking shoulder to shoulder with him, couldn't help but ask in confusion when he saw Chen Ling suddenly stop his footsteps. "Could it be that you found your conscience and plan to give the [Privilege] to me?"
Chen Ling: ...
It could be seen that Jian Changsheng really wanted the [Heaven-Reaching Star Position].
Chen Ling had thought that his scheming against Tu Tian would increase a portion of the Audience Expectation Value, but this Audience Expectation Value came a bit too late... After all, several minutes had already passed since Tu Tian left.
Could it be, it wasn't because of Tu Tian?
Chen Ling pondered for a long time but didn't have any other clues. He could only shake his head and continue forward.
But regardless of why the Expectation Value increased, it had now reached the 67% threshold. As long as it increased a bit more, it could reach 70% to undergo a safe resurrection.
On one hand, missing an arm made Chen Ling's actions very inconvenient. On the other hand... Chen Ling wanted to try finding his Domain back through death.
Currently, one of the biggest problems troubling Chen Ling was his missing Domain. If the reason he didn't receive information about the Domain after advancing this time was because his account was overwritten by "Mockery" during the process of "Loss of Control"... Then is it possible that as long as he experiences death one more time, he can reproduce the "Loss of Control" process?
Just like during a game, when the reward settlement was originally proceeding, the account was remotely logged in by someone else, overwriting the original content... If this was the case, then as long as he logged into his own account again, he could retrieve the original interrupted settlement rewards.
If this method still didn't work, Chen Ling truly wouldn't know what to do. Perhaps he wouldn't be able to possess a Domain belonging to himself in this lifetime.
"What are you thinking about?" Seeing Chen Ling still spacing out, Jian Changsheng couldn't help but ask.
Chen Ling pondered for a moment,
"I want to find an opportunity to die for a bit."
Little Jian: "???"
"There's actually such a good thing?!" After a brief moment of being stunned, Jian Changsheng's eyes instantly lit up. "Do you want me to help you?"
"... The problem is, if you kill me here, I won't die either."
"That's true... Eh!" Jian Changsheng raised the index finger of his right hand. Seeming to have thought of something good, he revealed two rows of snow-white teeth. "How about I kill you once first, to let you enjoy it for a bit?"
Chen Ling: ?
After speaking, Jian Changsheng didn't forget to add, "But before you die, can you transfer the [Privilege] to me?"
At the same time, tens of meters away from the two, participants sneaking around wanting to find an opportunity to launch a sneak attack heard the conversation between the two. After exchanging bewildered glances, they had expressions as if they had seen a ghost.
After hesitating for a few seconds, they silently chose to flee, unwilling to provoke these two psychopaths.
"Do you want the Heaven-Reaching Star Position that much?" Chen Ling couldn't help but say, "Although that thing has many benefits, once you accept it, it also means you will become the key cultivation target of the Five Great Realms... When that time comes, you won't be able to be as free as you are now."
Jian Changsheng was startled. After a long silence, he muttered somewhat softly:
"I just... don't want to be an unlucky bastard my whole life."
Chen Ling took a deep look at him and didn't speak anymore.
At the same time,
A slight sound of electric current sounded from the Walkie-talkie in his embrace.
"This frequency band is..." Chen Ling seemed to sense something. He immediately took it out and began monitoring the communication conversation.
"Bzz bzz bzz bzz bzz..."
"Are you saying, the souls of the corpses under the Dark Palace are all gone?"
"Yes, Mr. Han! A total of forty-nine corpses, and their souls have all vanished... We have never seen this kind of situation before."
"Within the [Kingdom of the Dying], no situation of souls being scattered was sensed. They should have been transferred by someone." Mr. Han pondered for a moment. "Don't panic for now, they must definitely be within the Old District."
"But, who transferred these souls? We've never heard of this kind of method."
The other side of the Walkie-talkie paused for a long time, before speaking in a deep voice,
"There is, there is someone who can do it."
"Who?"
"The Path of Ghosts." Mr. Han slowly said, "In the rumors, the Path of Ghosts can control ghosts and demand souls, strengthening themselves by absorbing the nourishment of souls... The more souls they control at the same time, the stronger their own strength will become."
"It can even be like this???"
"Not only that, I've seen records in ancient texts. The Path of Ghosts can also use secret arts to reproduce the abilities the souls had when they were alive, and can even consume souls to unleash various bizarre and unpredictable 'Ghost Dao Divine Abilities'... They can move mountains and fill seas, being omnipotent.
It is said that they are the wardens of the undead world, the embodiment of the 'Yin' in the world. Their appearance is often accompanied by great disasters in the world, therefore in ancient times, they were also called Plague Gods."
"Path of Ghosts... I remember now, the organizers' side said that when receiving the registration forms, there was a form with no name, no photo, no resume... But, the three words [Path of Ghosts] were written on it!"