Prisoner No. 199’s eyes welled up with a blood-red tint, he gritted his teeth and said, "Of course he’s tough to deal with, he’s a disciple of Withered Bone Pavilion, and only they would do that ghostly thing to their bodies. Even one-on-one, I’m not sure I could beat him. Letting him go earlier was like releasing a tiger back into the wild."
"Hiss—" Sky No. 84 also looked in the direction the two had left, his tone changing as well, "Disciples of Withered Bone Pavilion... damn, how did these neither-human-nor-ghost creatures also co to join in the fun?"
"Is Withered Bone Pavilion that strong?" Yang Xiao asked out of curiosity.
"Kid, you dare wander into the world of martial arts without even having heard of Withered Bone Pavilion?" Having been suppressed by Yang Xiao all this way, Prisoner No. 199 finally found an opportunity for revenge, imdiately mocking him. Yang Xiao’s question only confird his belief that he was dealing with a greenhorn.
In the end, it was Sky No. 84 who spoke up to clear things up for Yang Xiao, "Withered Bone Pavilion isn’t as famous as those big factions in the world of martial arts, not because they’re weak, but because there are so few of them. But it’s said that each of them is skilled, and their thods are unorthodox. Ordinary people really don’t dare to provoke them."
"Snap."
A drop of water fell onto Yang Xiao’s head, cold to the touch when he felt it with his hand.
Sky No. 84 seed to have sensed sothing too, lifting his head to look at the dark sky, "It’s starting to rain..."
The night rain ca quickly and urgently, within a few seconds, raindrops began to fall pitter-patter. Yang Xiao lifted his backpack to cover his head, planning to find sowhere to take shelter from the rain first.
But soon, the three of them realized sothing was off. Aside from them, it seed no one else nearby had any intention of seeking shelter from the rain. People were laughing and enjoying themselves, still imrsed in their fun. What was more eerie was that the visitors’ clothes weren’t getting wet at all!
The rain was not falling on the visitors’ heads, only affecting the three of them!
All three being individuals of rich experience, they imdiately realized sothing was wrong — a ghost must have appeared, and it was close by!
The three stood back to back, forming a triangle. There were too many visitors walking around them, n and won, old and young alike. Their gazes swept over one unfamiliar face after another, searching carefully, identifying, regardless of the pouring rain overhead.
"There!"
Yang Xiao squinted his eyes, staring intently ahead. About 20 ters away, behind the crowded throng, stood a clown.
The clown was dressed in red and yellow patchwork, wearing a red Christmas hat, his face painted with makeup that was exaggerated to the extre. At that mont, he was tilting his head, staring at Yang Xiao and the others.
A string of colorful balloons floated above the clown’s head, connected by thin strings that were tightly wrapped around the clown’s neck, blood and flesh blurred at the throat.
Suddenly, the clown moved, taking a step forward. Yang Xiao couldn’t help but widen his eyes; he saw the clown’s body eerily passing through the crowd without any obstruction.
The other two had also noticed the clown by now, and without needing to discuss it, they turned and ran. However, they couldn’t avoid the visitors like the clown did. The surging crowd beca a barrier in their escape, and they nearly got separated several tis.
"Don’t... don’t run around, don’t split up!" Because of his size, No. 84 ended up at the back and couldn’t help shouting out.
Yang Xiao knocked over an empty stroller and bumped into a middle-aged male visitor, but the surrounding visitors acted as if they saw nothing and continued their fun. The knocked-down man got up with a chuckle, as if nothing had happened, and kept chatting and laughing with the woman beside him.
In the chaos, Yang Xiao didn’t have the ti to look back and check the clown’s position, but judging from the balloon string floating in mid-air, the clown was rapidly closing in on them.
Yang Xiao was the first to stop, "Stop running, we’re trapped!"
After all this running, he hadn’t even left this road; they were confined within this downpour.
By now, the clown was only 7 or 8 ters away, still wearing that exaggerated smile, his eyes gaping voids of murky grey. His feet in yellow pointed boots lifted and fell in a stiff gait, moving towards them.
Unable to run away, they had no choice but to stand their ground, "Let’s fight together!" Yang Xiao was the first to act, pulling out his Human Bone Staff and striking at the clown.
Man No. 84 followed suit, reaching into his bosom for a red cloth bag. He quickly unfolded it to reveal a clay doll the size of a palm.
The clay doll had no face or skin, nor any clothing, its body covered in crisscrossing lines resembling an acupoint map used in Chinese dicine. The man steeled himself and, with a flick of his finger, tapped the doll on the head.
After being hit by Yang Xiao’s staff, the clown staggered, and before he could regain his balance, his head, topped with a red Christmas hat, violently jerked to one side, and his body uncontrollably swayed, as if struck by a heavy blow.
Seizing the opportunity, Yang Xiao swung his staff again, striking the clown’s left foot. Losing his footing, the clown fell to the rain-soaked ground in a comically awkward pose.
The mont the clown hit the ground, the curtain of rain hanging over the trio’s heads dissipated. Yang Xiao turned and ran, only daring to look back once he was past that street. He saw the clown already standing again, currently turned away from them, moving off in stiff steps.
In just a few breaths, the figure swiftly vanished into the crowd, out of sight.
Exhaling slowly, Yang Xiao thought that the clown’s strength wasn’t as formidable as he had feared. He and No. 84 together had managed to bring down the ghost without even going all out. Had he faced the ghost alone, he would have been able to escape.
Of course, that was just for now. Once the ghost killed a few more people and stole their Magic Artifacts, that would be another story.
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