CHAPTER 401: CHAPTER 170: WAITING FOR SUNRISE, PLAYERS (5K)_2

"Makes a lot of sense."

In the quiet neighborhood, only the lines of streetlights in front and behind the villas lit up the internal roads. The lights flickered slightly, as if the current had been disturbed.

Pei Tugou stood on top of a streetlight, grinning wide with a mouthful of big white teeth, looking all relaxed and content.

Ever since he failed to hang that Deadly Trickster Old Meng last time, he’d felt off—been holding it in for days, totally uncomfortable. Finally, today, he felt at ease.

Looking around, he saw that on every streetlight in the villa district, there was a silhouette hanging from it.

Some were burly, over two meters tall, exuding a sense of menace.

Some wore blood-red clothes, sticking out long tongues, still struggling while being strung from the lamp post.

And some kept changing their shapes, trying to transform into mist to slip away, yet no matter what, they couldn’t break free from that blood-red rope.

One evil ghost after another dangled from the streetlights, gently swaying, causing the lights to flicker—just like during New Year’s, when every streetlight is adorned with a red lantern.

Right now, looking at them, there was indeed a freaky sense that made you both scared and inexplicably reassured.

Inside Wen Yan’s house, Little Zombie, Sparrow Cat, Old Zhao, the five brothers—all had the same feeling. Huddled together, shivering, not sure if they were scared of the suddenly rampaging evil ghosts or of Pei Tugou.

Pei Tugou just felt damn good, the pent-up annoyance in his chest blown out with a single breath.

The best part was, ordinary people couldn’t even see these ghosts, so he wasn’t worried about his family witnessing the scene—plus, it didn’t count as killing in front of his own house anyway.

It’s just a shame that in Old Zhao’s villa, the evil ghosts burst out less and less. Several minutes went by, and no new ones showed up.

While he was pondering this, an evil ghost suddenly came grinning out from Old Zhao’s twisted front door.

The moment it stepped out and saw all those lamp posts hung with evil ghosts like cured meats drying in the sun, the newcomer was immediately creeped out and tried to back away.

But it was too late.

"Ha..." Pei Tugou couldn’t help but burst out laughing, his dazzling smile already flashing on the ground.

The blood-red rope sprang out on its own, instantly winding around the evil ghost’s neck—the rope so thoughtful it wound a few extra circles, forcefully stifling whatever sounds the ghost tried to make.

Whistling a cheerful tune, Pei Tugou dragged the new evil ghost for a stroll around the neighborhood, saw that all the streetlights were already fully occupied, and in the end had to helplessly drag the ghost north out of the complex, looking for a big streetlight by the main road.

"Lucky you, got yourself a good spot."

After hanging it up, Pei Tugou dusted off his hands, headed back into the neighborhood, and perched atop a lamp post, eyes fixed on Old Zhao’s main door. One hand gripped the blood rope, whose other end had twisted itself into a noose and dangled right over Old Zhao’s main entrance, quietly waiting for the next customer.

On the other side, Gauss arrived under the streetlight holding a bottle of booze and two glasses, and waved at Pei Tugou.

"Seems like the goods are coming in slower—shall we have a drink and take our time?"

Pei Tugou thought about it, hopped down from the streetlight, and—while at it—delivered a slap to that nearly limp, struggling hanged ghost, urging it to keep twitching a little longer.

Gauss poured Pei Tugou a drink with gusto, raised his glass, glanced up at the dangling ornaments on the lamp post, and sighed.

"Really looks like back home, wind chimes hanging under the eaves."

The tranquil glow of the lamps and the diverse shapes of wind chimes echoing each other—truly a work of art."

Saying that, Gauss pulled out the phone the Scorching Sun Department gave him, pondered over the shot, and with a click, snapped a photo.

"Perfect! Pei, you’re honestly an artist—cheers to you."

Pei Tugou was in a fantastic mood. Seeing Gauss appreciate his handiwork so much, he accompanied Gauss for a couple of drinks.

In the distance, one of Feng Yao’s subordinates put down his binoculars, and in his notebook, next to a tally, added another stroke.

"That’s the thirty-eighth one—no wonder the boss said, including the West River, the most dangerous place in Virtue City is here."

"Even if you brought in a Purple Robe Taoist who could summon lightning, and had him set up the altar himself, he couldn’t kill this clean and fast."

As for whether any ghosts coming out of that villa at this hour were innocent, no one even thought about it—or rather, anyone who could manage to make it out of Old Zhao’s villa now definitely had it coming, all doomed.

Weaklings had no business or ability to walk out of there at times like this.

And frankly, among the ghosts that turn into evil ghosts, maybe you can’t say 100% are rotten, but at least ninety-nine point nine percent have done shit.

Ghosts who’d never done anything, even if they were once pretty fierce and now revived as old ghosts, at most they’d be about on Old Ghost Ji’s level.

As for those who somehow stumbled on some supernatural treasure and leveled up—yeah, right, that kind of artifact simply does not exist these days.

Even Lord Zhu—a big shot among ghosts, and real powerful—when he goes to a showdown, always wears a python robe for protection.

The game’s only just had an update, and all these evil ghosts showed up—there’s no way any of them are unjustly killed.

...

The night was long, and chaos already reigned in Guanzhong County.

Lord Zhu’s manor was pure bedlam.

Stuff was vanishing left and right, entire buildings built especially for Nether Souls to live in had disappeared, and a huge number of paper-servant golems were gone as well.

Most importantly—Wen Yan was nowhere to be seen.