Ding Zhong’s hand holding the red string froze in mid-air.

He knew he had encountered a ghost. But he didn't know that the ghost had replaced Ding Yi beside him.

As cold sweat dripped from Ding Zhong like water, he gripped the red string tightly: “Let me die knowing. How did you get into my brother’s body?”

Ding Yi chuckled: “I walked past your shoulder, and you didn't even notice. Who did you learn your skills from? Don’t you know your shoulder feels cold when a ghost is close?”

The elders say: When walking at night, stay to one side, leaving half the road for ghosts. If your shoulder suddenly feels cold while walking, it means a ghost is next to you. You must quickly move forward and not let the ghost press against your shoulder.

Otherwise, the ghost can easily squeeze your soul out. When you look back and see yourself walking forward, it means the ghost has squeezed your soul away.

Ding Yi's voice turned cold: “I didn’t squeeze out your soul, I squeezed out your brother's soul. Turn around and see if he’s waiting for you.”

When Ding Zhong turned his head, he indeed saw his brother standing pale-faced in the distance. He looked like he wanted to help, but he didn't know how to move forward.

The moment Ding Zhong turned his head, the red string in his hand suddenly snapped in two. The recoiling red string, like a whip, lashed towards the ghost behind him. When the bloody light the red string created in the air struck the ghost's face, it exploded like a flame, and a ghostly figure flew out of Ding Yi's body.

The shadowy figure surrounded by black mist retreated three zhi (a Chinese unit of length, approximately 1/3 of a meter) and stood there in astonishment.

Before the other party could react, I held Bai Zhou (Blade's name) and burst into action. In the blink of an eye, I dashed five meters, the blade's tip fiercely pointing towards the ghost's brow.

After Bai Zhou's blade had pierced an inch into the ghost's brow, it finally rolled its eyes to look at the blade pressing against its nose. It couldn't understand until its death how a disembodied person could suddenly attack, launching a surprise assault from several meters away.

“Vanquish!” I roared in a low voice, and the energy on the blade erupted, instantly shattering the ghost into phosphorescent flames.

“Li…” Ding Zhong had only uttered one word when I made a silencing gesture: “Get Ding Yi's soul back, quick!”

When Ding Zhong turned around, I once again disappeared from his sight, quickening my pace towards where Old Liu and Zhao Zhuang had fallen.

When I arrived, I saw the two of them lying face down on the ground.

As I walked forward slowly, Old Liu desperately tried to signal me, hoping to attract my attention, but from his position, he could only see Zhao Zhuang, who also had his head turned to the side.

Zhao Zhuang opened his eyes with a slight sneer. His eyes were stained with a layer of dark yellow, and his pupils were inverted. He didn't move his body, but his neck exerted a subtle force in a place beyond my view.

The moment I reached out to touch Old Liu's neck, Zhao Zhuang suddenly leapt up from the ground, trying to bite my hand.

As the腥气(xing qi, pungent smell of blood) wind brushed against my palm, I flicked my wrist slightly, and the Soul-Chasing Rope wrapped around my arm instantly slipped down, covering half of my hand.

Zhao Zhuang's teeth made a strange grating sound against the Soul-Chasing Rope, and as blood spurted from the corners of his mouth, I slapped the other party's face with my left hand. A ghostly figure was instantly knocked sideways out of Zhao Zhuang's body and rolled twice on the ground before stopping.

Before the ghost could steady itself, I swung my blade down on it.

The ghost, which had been lying on the ground, coiled up like a snake from the moment my blade rose, facing Bai Zhou's blade. I roared again and exerted my force, causing Bai Zhou's blade to explode with light, falling like a thunderbolt from the sky.

Bai Zhou's blade vertically slashed down from the top of the ghost's head, instantly splitting the ghost in two, and it fell to the ground. The serpentine ghostly shadow only touched the ground before violently erupting into phosphorescent flames that scattered across the ground.

As I sheathed my blade, I patted Old Liu and Zhao Zhuang a couple of times: “Get up! Did you bring wine? Take a few sips to dispel the yin qi (cold energy). Ding Zhong, Ding Yi, come in! Everything's fine here.”

As Ding Zhong helped Ding Yi over, Old Liu finally recovered his breath: “Mr. Li, did you predict that the ghosts would come out and possess us?”

“More or less!” I didn't have time to explain these things in detail, so I just brushed it over in one sentence.

When I was trying to break the formation, I felt that the core of this Bewildering Formation wasn't the formation itself, but two ghosts. If I didn't lure them out, even if I broke the formation, I wouldn't be able to cross these few hundred meters of mountain path.

I deliberately left Old Liu and the others to allow the ghosts to come out and find them.

The so-called Dragon and Tiger guarding the gate were just a snake and a cat. Snakes are good at ambushes, and cats like toying with their prey. No matter which of them acted, they wouldn't kill unimportant targets in the first instance, so I had enough time to take care of both sides.

Of course, what I did was also extremely risky. If I bet wrong, someone would have to die. Fortunately, I didn't miscalculate.

As I spoke, I stepped past Old Liu and stomped on the ground. My seemingly casual step seemed to crush the spine of Cangshan Mountain, and hundreds of meters of mountain path suddenly cracked under my feet.