Chapter 31: The Cat Cries at Midnight (5)

  The Ghost Tribe is the most extraordinary of all, they are not formed by the soul of a deceased person, but born from the convergence of yin energy in a specific location. The Ghost Tribe does not have the concept of blood ties or familial relationships, any ghost born in the same location is considered to be of the same clan. They distinguish themselves from other ghost tribes based on this principle. However, survival of the fittest is a universal rule, and the Ghost Tribe is no exception. In their midst, ghosts with higher intelligence will devour those without intelligence to strengthen themselves, but they rarely harm intelligent ghosts of the same clan. This is the reason why, just as a single thread cannot make a rope, a lone tree does not make a forest.

  After the change of heaven and earth, the hundred clans declined, and the human clan prospered alone. The ghost clan was almost extinct because it could not reproduce with its own clan or other clans. Now, the ghost clan that has been passed down is also a scattered soul of the human clan, no longer a clan that dominates the creation of heaven and earth.

  As Su Qi followed Lu Ke towards the mountain valley, she gradually made out the appearance of the ghost tribe. The floating ghosts only had vague human silhouettes, with varying degrees of clarity between them. This could also be used to infer which ghosts had absorbed more spiritual energy and which had absorbed less. Some ghosts could only be seen as a rough outline, indicating that they were newly born. There were also some ghosts whose bodies were only partially solidified, while other parts appeared much fainter, making it seem like certain organs were floating in mid-air if one didn't look closely. No wonder some people had many taboos about ghosts; upon closer inspection, this wasn't unreasonable either.

  Lu Ke and She Ruiwen stopped advancing when they were about 100 meters away from the mountain valley where the ghost tribe lived, and just looked down at it quietly, observing the movements in the valley. "Why aren't you going any further?" Su Qi asked curiously.

  "The demonic tribe is naturally sensitive, even if the spiritual power is hidden well, it can't guarantee that it won't be detected." Lu Ke glanced at Su Qi Ruo, "Moreover, you don't understand how to hide your spiritual power, and going there will only alarm them. Let's first send Mao Tuan to investigate the situation and clarify the direction before taking action."

  The little ball of fur, with its small body and shiny black coat, was hiding in the darkness, exploring the surroundings. But wasn't it a creature that attracted evil spirits? Wouldn't it be possessed by some kind of ghost? And why hadn't it returned after going out to explore for so long? Just as Su Qi was starting to worry, there was a rustling sound from the bushes, and soon, the little ball of fur poked its fluffy head out from behind the grass. Its bright green eyes shone in the darkness as it meowed at Shi Ruiwen a few times before turning around and running down the mountain valley.

  "Let's go." Lu Ke led Su Qi Ru in the direction where Mao Tuan disappeared, although it was autumn, the trees and weeds were still lush, only showing some signs of withering. If Lu Ke hadn't been clearing the way and leading her, Su Qi Ru estimated that she would have already gotten lost in the mountains, and must have been scratched by branches and weeds until her clothes were tattered. It seemed that being a chivalrous hero who helps the weak wasn't something just anyone could do, one needed to have some real skills to back it up. As soon as Su Qi Ru thought of this, she began to sigh about her own unworthy heritage, if her heritage was fully awakened, would she also be able to be as powerful as Lu Ke and Shen Rui Wen?

  "Stop." Lu Ke chopped down the branches in front of him with his sword and pointed to a corner at the foot of the mountain, "The evil spirit is lurking around there."

  "Why can't I feel it?" She Ruiwen stared in the direction of Lu Ke's pointing finger, puzzled. If Mao Tuan's judgment was correct, there should be a spiritual vein where the evil spirit was buried. How could he not feel anything even when he was so close to the spiritual vein? Was there something strange going on? She Ruiwen shifted his gaze to Lu Ke, wondering if he also knew that there was something strange about this place. Or did he know something and deliberately brought him here? Was there something that even Si Bengzi couldn't handle?

  Lu Ke's face was as calm as water, staring intently at the place where the evil spirit was hiding. It was indeed strange, could it be that there was something below that could offset the spiritual energy emanating from the scattered spiritual veins? Or was there something that could conceal the spiritual energy? Or perhaps this evil spirit was about to emerge, and the spiritual veins here had already been depleted by him? Lu Ke slightly shook his head, no, if the spiritual veins had already been depleted, it would be impossible for so many ghost tribes to still exist here, and judging from the situation, some of them were newly born ghosts not long after birth. What could be used to test...

  "Go, go back." After thinking for a while, Lu Ke still decided to leave temporarily. For things that are not certain, it's better to plan carefully before acting, otherwise this rare spiritual pulse would be wasted.

  "Go back? Just like that?" Su Qi didn't seem to understand Lu Ke's thoughts, and suddenly just went back. Didn't they waste their time tonight?

  "Let's go, let's go!" Xie Ruwen wasn't a fool either. Seeing Lu Kezhi retreat in defeat, it seemed there was no effective solution after all. He might as well go back and think about how to handle it himself. Ah, the Spiritual Pulse! Xie Ruwen greedily licked his lips.

  Seeing that both of them had the intention to retreat, Su Qiye naturally couldn't stay here either. The two of them were the main force in clearing out the evil spirits, and his own inherited powers hadn't awakened yet, so he couldn't possibly engage in a solo battle. However, saying they would retreat and then actually retreating like this... wasn't that just probing the terrain? This clearly didn't fit Lu Ke's and Xi Ruiwen's style, did the two of them have some other plan?

  Three people walked down the mountain road in silence, none of them speaking. Su Qi saw that the two of them had serious faces and didn't know what to say either. It was strange, could it be that the evil spirits on Mount Hou were really not easy to deal with?

  "Have you recently had an outdoor internship?" Lu Ke suddenly broke the silence and asked Su Qi Ruo.

  "Really, why are you asking this?" Su Qi had almost stopped attending classes since her senior year, and when she did attend, it was usually for outdoor practice. She seemed to have casually mentioned something like that before, but didn't expect Lu Ke to ask about it.

  Lu Ke didn't answer Su Qi's question and instead asked, "Where are you going for your internship?"

  "Hou Shan Ba." Su Qi said, immediately alert. With so many ghost tribes in the back mountain now, would it be dangerous to come to the back mountain for practice? Su Qi furrowed his brow, thinking about whether he should think of a way to stop this practice or not.

  Seeing Su Qi Ruo's worry, Lu Ke comforted her by saying, "The ghost tribe won't come out during the day, you don't have to worry. Besides, with a god like you here, the ghost tribe wouldn't dare cause trouble for you."

  Lu Ke explained it this way, Su Qi felt relieved and let out a light breath of air, "Fortunately, it's daytime."

  "When will you go for an internship?" Lu Ke asked casually.

  "Just these few days." Su Qi suddenly couldn't recall the specific time, she usually only paid attention to her schedule the day before.

  "We're here." In the blink of an eye, they arrived at Su Qi Ruo's dormitory. Lu Ke reminded her, "Go back early, and don't forget to attend self-study tomorrow."

  "Hmm." Su Qiye turned around and went back to the dormitory. Fortunately, the door of the dormitory was still open at 11:30, otherwise she would have had to knock on the door and disturb Auntie who was keeping watch, which would have led to a scolding.

  "What do you want to do?" She Ruwen gazed at Lu Ke with interest, he didn't think Lu Ke would ask about Su Qi's self-study out of the blue.

  Lu Ke let out a cold snort and turned back to his dormitory without giving Si Ruiwen a reason. Si Ruiwen sneered at Lu Ke's back, secretly resenting him, thinking that just because he didn't say anything, he couldn't do anything about it, but wanting to shake him off was still far-fetched!