Otherworldly Desert Dust

"Would a Venerable Desert Dust be so thrifty with computation?" Wu Hen originally wanted to jest.

But he noticed that Mingyi beside him looked tense, her naturally dangling hand trembled slightly.

Mingyi and One-eyed Sister were both Visual Spiritual Awakeners.

The scenes they saw differed entirely from what Wu Hen and the others saw.

Because they could clearly see billions of White Bone Yin Ants, armed with a binary code of "0" and "1" akin to human computers, executing an extraordinarily precise "ten" construction... completing the walls, rooftops, beams, eaves, and interiors!

Most terrifying of all was that among the "pilgrims," there were many skeletons.

Once these skeletons stepped into Yinzhou, they immediately transformed into White Bone Yin Ants, instantly joining the "ant code" army for the construction!

Locusts devoured humans.

Humans turned into white bones.

Bones turned into Yin Ants.

Ants built Yinzhou!!

No one knew the true size of Yinzhou, but Mingyi and One-eyed Sister, with their Spiritual Vision, imagined it was constructed by billions of corpses. The entity capable of such a masterpiece had transcended most Desert Dust’s primal and savage nature, possessing its own unique "art"!

"Let’s keep moving forward..." Captain Cai took a deep breath and forced himself to speak.

Everyone took steps forward but couldn’t help glancing back at the Little Stutter.

The Little Stutter held a spirit candle, its flame inexplicably flickering, as if about to be extinguished at any moment.

"Switch groups." Captain Qin said as the Spirit Crown began to dim.

During their journey, they had already used up several Spirit Crowns.

In roughly the time of eight spirit candles, they had only seven left.

One Spirit Crown could sustain for about half an hour...

Honestly, the eerie and horrifying nature of this place meant that enduring centuries of torment would not be surprising, and they had only three and a half hours left!

"You’re traveling merchants, right? If you’re tired, you can rest at our inn and have some tea. With a group of twenty, it won’t cost many Yuanyou. Come and stay for a while, okay?" Suddenly, a possessed man approached, talking enthusiastically like a shop assistant.

Captain Qin glanced strangely at Cai Jinlin beside him...

Wasn’t this the same person who had walked ahead of them earlier?

Cai Jinlin was equally bewildered, clueless about the current situation.

The two captains immediately surveyed the surroundings. As the pale eerie scene became more three-dimensional and vivid, it revealed the bustling prosperity of an ancient marketplace. Not just ancient roads, buildings, shops, and pavilions, but also a large number of bustling people!

These people were the previously mindless worshippers. Having lost their sanity before, now entering the Yinzhou Ling Gate, they each acquired identity, purpose, and inexplicably "lived" as locals!

"No, no, we have other things to attend to." Captain Qin forced a smile, his skin crawling as he politely declined.

"Oh, then don’t let me disturb you as you go off to die..." The possessed shop assistant maintained his smile, yet his words were chilling!

Normally, if someone spoke so rudely, Qin Sheng would break their legs.

But this was Yinzhou. He decided it was best not to provoke even a possessed local.

The shop assistant glanced around the bustling Ling Gate, seemingly spotting another group of Spirit Awakeners to solicit business.

"Wait a moment, shop assistant." Wu Hen stopped the possessed shop assistant.

"Aren’t you in a hurry to die?" The shop assistant asked, puzzled.

"You mentioned we are a group of twenty, but isn’t it obvious we are twenty-one?" Wu Hen replied.

"Hehehehe~~" The shop assistant let out a theatrical, sharp laugh. His already eerie gaze swept over Wu Hen’s group, still grinning, "That’s your perception... If you’re not drinking tea, just hurry up and die, don’t interrupt my business!"

With that, the shop assistant dropped his feigned politeness, casting a sinister glance at Wu Hen before running towards another group of Spirit Awakeners!

Leading that group were two gun-wielding men, one tall and one short, looking like brothers.

As the shop assistant rushed at them, the younger brother immediately raised his elemental mechanical gun and shot at the shop assistant’s head!

"Bang!!"

The shop assistant’s head exploded, the area above his nose completely gone, exposing blood vessels and bones...

"If you don’t do business with me, there’s no need to be so rough!" Even with half a head, the shop assistant could still talk, his remaining half-face slowly forming a grin.

The scene horrified the entire squad, causing them to retreat!

Suddenly, all the locals on the street turned towards them, their pupils glowing eerily, staring hungrily and resentfully at the gun-wielding squad!

Like hungry ghosts seeing living flesh, a swarm of possessed locals rushed at them, mouths agape, ready to devour!

"Bang bang bang bang!! Bang bang bang bang!!!!"

Bullets flew wildly as the squad attempted to defend themselves, shooting at the possessed locals.

But even when riddled with bullets, the locals remained vigorous, pouncing on the squad, tearing off limbs and devouring them like starving people feasting! n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

The ground was stained with blood, as a group of locals licked the flowing blood and devoured the remaining flesh scraps.

Just a few hundred meters away, Wu Hen’s team watched, horrified and trembling!

Although weaker than their Night Ghost squad, this Spirit-Awakened team stood no chance against the countless locals...

Within minutes, they were reduced to skeletons.

The bones quickly decomposed into White Bone Yin Ants, seamlessly becoming part of Yinzhou, forming a white bone plaque in front of the inn!

After witnessing this, Wu Hen and the others understood: every brick, tile, and stone in Yinzhou was constructed from living humans’ bones!

If they died here, they too would become part of Yinzhou.

"We must not attack these locals." Captain Cai Jinlin quickly jotted this down.

"Captain, such places usually have Yuanyou." The burly man with the black hairband noted.

"Indeed, but we need to survive first." Captain Cai said.

"Excuse me, I can’t stop thinking about what the shop assistant mentioned." Wu Hen said.

Even though he wanted to sense something amiss and secretly move behind everyone, the different rules targeted indiscriminately. If he didn’t gather valuable information, he would likely die!

"It’s probably just a mistake. Why dwell on it?" The White Peacock Man said impatiently.

"What’s your take, young man?" Cai Jinlin didn’t overlook it.

"The shop assistant seemed to distinguish between the possessed and those like us who retained consciousness... So is it possible that someone in our group was possessed upon entering Yinzhou, becoming a local?" Wu Hen shared his insight.

Both teams froze, their gazes swiftly scanning each face!

Indeed, why assume no one in their group could be possessed?

Could there be a stronger kind of infiltration that could pierce the Spirit Crown’s protection???

After all, everyone traveling Desert Dust faced otherworldly infestations, whether ordinary or Spirit Awakeners.

This was Yinzhou, a more terrifying Evil Realm, where the weak-willed, fearful, or resentful could easily be possessed!

"Wu Hen is right; someone in our group could be contaminated or possessed." Qin Sheng nodded in agreement.

"We commonly call them ’ghosts’." Cai Jinlin said.

Wu Hen had experienced life and death situations before.

He remembered vividly when he and his aunt fled Evil Soil, and the scar-faced uncle suddenly went mad, truly like a water ghost, dragging everyone into the water to drown!

If there was a ghost in their group, it had only one purpose.

"I suggest we split into trios, watching each other. Otherwise, if the ghost in our group attacks these locals, we’ll all be doomed!" Wu Hen proposed.

Everyone tensed!!

They hadn’t reacted at first, but seeing the bloodless remains of the previous squad, they quickly realized!

"You mean, the one who fired earlier could be their squad’s ghost!" Mingyi quickly understood Wu Hen’s implication.

Wu Hen nodded.

Yes, that shooter acted too recklessly, defying logic.

Anyone familiar with Desert Dust knew to avoid confrontation with strange entities, not to draw a gun and shoot without reason!

Unless that person was the ghost.

Their purpose was to ensure the squad’s destruction!!

Who was the ghost among their twenty-one?

"Cap… Captain… the candle… the spirit candle is going out!" The Little Stutter shouted in panic.

Captain Cai turned to see the freshly lit spirit candle rapidly extinguishing

They had just switched in a new group to deploy the Spirit Crown for protection!

Once the Spirit Crown vanished, they too would be devoured by Alien Locusts and Otherworldly Ants!

There was truly a ghost!

A ghost wanted to annihilate them all!