Chapter 020: Cunning

Before long, a man, a demon, and a fierce ghost arrived at Rock Village, about a dozen kilometers from Yuzhou City.

Rock Village was a small hamlet with around a hundred residents.

The villagers all lived by farming, rising at sunrise and resting at sunset, no different from any other village of that era.

Before Wang Bo came, he thought the village's population had long been slaughtered by the three fierce ghosts.

But in reality, he was completely mistaken. The village was peaceful and tranquil, without a trace of bloodlust or even a hint of yin energy, as if no fierce ghosts had ever lurked there.

Wang Bo initially thought the gloomy man was fooling him.

After some inquiry, he learned that things were even stranger than he had imagined.

But it could be summed up in one phrase: the fox does not eat the grass at its own doorstep.

These three fierce ghosts lurked in Rock Village but did not massacre it; instead, they did their utmost to maintain its prosperity and stability, making outsiders mistake it for an ordinary mountain village.

Thus, naturally, no one would suspect that three fierce ghosts were hidden in this village.

And every time they committed a crime, they would go to other villages or farther away to Yuzhou City. When Yuzhou City was thrown into panic, no one would think that the real fierce ghosts were not in Yuzhou City but in Rock Village, a dozen li away.

Hearing the gloomy man's explanation, Wang Bo couldn't help but sigh: there were really too many clever people nowadays.

But Wang Bo still had a question: "You captured people and hid them in Rock Village—didn't the villagers notice?"

The gloomy man answered honestly: "We didn't hide the people directly in Rock Village, but in a cave behind the village. That place was once occupied by a giant serpent, and the villagers rarely went there, so no one noticed. Later, we killed the serpent and took over the place."

"Take me there." Wang Bo finally realized why there was no yin energy in Rock Village.

Because the three fierce ghosts didn't live in Rock Village at all. Rock Village was merely a facade for them.

The gloomy man, already terrified by the demon's torment, dared not disobey Wang Bo's orders. He led Wang Bo around Rock Village and headed toward the back mountain.

Before long, a cave appeared before Wang Bo.

Wang Bo entered the cave and found it to be an ordinary cave with nothing special about it. Moreover, he did not see any captured young maidens inside.

Without waiting for Wang Bo to ask, the gloomy man opened his mouth and spat out a stream of yin energy.

The black mist struck a wall at the end of the cave, instantly dissolving it and revealing a narrow passage.

Wang Bo cast a glance at the gloomy man, gaining some understanding of their caution.

First using Rock Village as a cover, then a cave with hidden depths—if he hadn't captured this fellow himself, Wang Bo might not have been able to find the three fierce ghosts.

He walked along the passage, and after a few dozen steps, the view suddenly opened up.

At the end of the passage was a huge cave, pitch black all around without a glimmer of light. But Wang Bo could sense a yin energy lingering there incessantly.

Clearly, this should be the lair of the three fierce ghosts.

Wang Bo's eyes were like torches; even in the dark, lightless place, he could clearly see everything in the cave.

He saw clearly that all the young maidens abducted from Yuzhou City were imprisoned here, listless and pale, with blood scabs on the right wrists of each woman.

These were traces left after the wounds healed.

Besides that, Wang Bo also saw two fierce ghosts silently approaching him from left and right.

These two had obviously detected the intruder and intended to strike a fatal blow while Wang Bo's vision was still adjusting to the darkness.

But unfortunately for them, they didn't know that Wang Bo's vision was unaffected by darkness.

One fierce ghost spread its fingers and clawed at Wang Bo's throat.

The other extended its right hand, aiming, judging by the finger's target, at Wang Bo's heart.

For ordinary people, both of these were fatal points.

Even for a cultivator, if the heart was pierced or the throat torn out, they would be severely wounded or even die.

But Wang Bo was different; he had a body of steel and was not afraid of the attacks of the two fierce ghosts. Even if he didn't dodge, they couldn't harm him in the slightest.

So Wang Bo raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

Snap!

Golden rays shot out from the void, instantly piercing the bodies of the two fierce ghosts. At once, two different screams of agony rang out.

The bodies of the two fierce ghosts were pierced by the golden rays, and strange green smoke rose from the wounds.

They hadn't expected Wang Bo to see them, and caught off guard, they were easily hit and suffered a great loss.

But the two reacted quickly, enduring the pain as they swiftly retreated, their bodies merging into the darkness.

Yet Wang Bo's attack was even more fierce; the golden rays pursued relentlessly, shooting out with a whoosh, leaving countless bottomless tiny holes in the ground and walls.

One of the fierce ghosts saw this and, without a second thought, instantly dashed behind several innocent maidens, using them as shields.

Wang Bo sneered. Just as the golden rays were about to hit the maidens, they suddenly swerved, went around behind them, and pierced the fierce ghost's body.

Ahhhhhhh...

In an instant, heart-wrenching screams echoed through the cave.

The other fierce ghost was terrified out of its wits. Without thinking, it rushed into the body of one maiden, possessing her, and shouted at Wang Bo: "If you kill me, she dies too!"

In an instant, the shooting rays stopped right before the maiden's brow.

At that moment, the ray was only a millimeter from her brow; if it advanced just a tiny bit, it would pierce her skin.

But Wang Bo forcibly halted the ray. Just this control alone made the fierce ghost possessing the maiden's heart pound with fear.

As the saying goes, when an expert makes a move, one knows if they have skill.

The fierce ghost admitted that its own strength was not weak and that it was proficient in several spells, but it did not have such control over magic.

This kind of control seemed to it utterly incredible, something no human could achieve—forcibly stopping a spell's effect mid-flight. How powerful must one's control be to do that?

Anyway, it couldn't imagine it, nor had it ever seen such a thing.

This made it revere Wang Bo even more, and it resolved not to leave the maiden's body until it was safe.