"Farrel, I don't feel as tired as yesterday even though I've done about the same amount of work, is that weird?"
"Of course not, the technique that I taught you before I fell asleep was one of the techniques that my ghost friend used to strengthen himself."
"And that big guy had existed for hundreds of years already, so we can trust him on that."
Currently, Farrel and Joy were still traveling the forest area, particularly around the bandits' hideout doing the same thing as they did before.
However, different from before when Farrel kept all the ghosts that had decided to help him inside his body, this time, he wasn't able to do that anymore due to the vessel, his body, didn't have the capability to contain more ghosts.
And right now, there were 21 ghosts behind him, following Farrel and Joy around like chicks following a hen.
'I should really train this body and meditate more…'
'This body is just simply too weak both physically and spiritually.'
'I guess the present ghost inside helped a little, but it's far from enough.'
Looking at Joy who was floating beside him, Farrel began thinking again.
'Well, that would be easier if I had a strong ghost that also had a unique ability…'
Farrel then suddenly shook his head.
'He suffered enough. He should rest after his soul gets its peace.'
"You would be able to use your ability more if you continue doing that," Farrel spoke out loud.
"In fact, do it right now while we're walking around, every second counts in increasing your strength."
Joy looked at him seriously and nodded his head.
"Thanks, Farrel."
After catching two more ghosts, Farrel finally had a total of 46 ghosts that had agreed to work together with him.
23 of those ghosts were inside his body, while the other 23 were following closely behind him and Joy.
"So, what are we doing now?"
"It's time." Farrel looked in the direction of the bandits' hideout which was only several hundred meters away from his current position.
Looking in the direction of Farrel's gaze, Joy quickly understood what he meant. "You mean…?"
"Yes."
Farrel then looked above, locating the exact position of the sun above his head.
"I have some preparations to do first."
"But after the sun sets."
Farrel turned his head towards the army of ghosts following behind him, then focused inside his body, locating all the ghosts that had been nurturing both themselves and Farrel's negative energy, increasing each other in quality.
"It will be the prologue of those pigs' epilogue."
============
Living in the silent and eerie forest was none other than a group of bandits that hid deep inside the forest.
The forest was not their base of operation since the place was almost practically abandoned and there was little traffic going on over there.
The people believed that the forest was haunted and there was a scary ghost inside that would kill anyone that bothered it.
Hence why the locals and other travelers very rarely visited the forest or even passed through it.
If there was an alternative path other than the one going through the forest, then people would definitely choose that path.
However, for that exact reason, the bandits chose the forest as their hideout and their resting ground.
With many people avoiding it, they could use the forest as a place to hide and lay low after they did a large robbery somewhere else.
And they weren't totally cut off from the world either since they could always visit the villages around the forest if they wanted anything that they couldn't get in the forest.
And the presence of those villages also meant a merchant bringing stuff and trading with the villages.
They kept it at a minimum to make sure that other merchants wouldn't be too scared to come back, but if they ever got their hands itchy after laying low, then they would also rob those merchants that came to the villages near The Forest of Death.
And right now, when the sun set and the campfire was turned on, it was time for them to eat their dinner before going to sleep.
Sitting around the campfire, a group of 12 people were talking to each other while munching on the boar leg that they had roasted since the evening.
There weren't many spices that they could use, but the taste and smell of simple meat and salt were more than enough for the group to be excited to eat.
"Although the smell is great, the meat is slightly tough. The one I cooked yesterday is better than this crap," One man said after munching on the meat in his hand.
"Shut up. That shit you cooked yesterday was raw. Blame your rotten teeth for not being able to chew, not my cooking." Another man that sat across from the first man snarkily replied.
"What did you say you dumb pig? Want to see these teeth bite your ears off!?"
"Come here and see for yourself how my foot would break your teeth from its root!"
Although the two of them barked and shouted curses at each other, none of the other men reacted, and even the ones who said those curses themselves didn't react much.
They only bantered while keeping their hands and mouths busy eating their meat.
It was their usual activity to chat with each other while eating, and not a single day would pass without a slight bickering.
Suddenly, one of them started talking.
"Hey do you guys know, yesterday, I heard a voice of a woman crying in the forest."
The second the man said his first sentence, another instantly replied,
"Woman? Where did you hear it? Did you catch her? Can you share her with me?"
The man who started the story snarled, "Shut up dickhead. Can you not think with your balls and use your pig brain instead!? I haven't finished telling my story."
Hearing it, the man shut up and let the first man continue his story.
"As you all know, even though I'm not like this dickhead right here, who wouldn't want to have a woman here? So of course I went ahead and went towards it."
"I followed the distant voice, going in the right direction, but even after walking 5 minutes straight in that direction, I found nothing."
"Still curious, I tried following the voice once more, but there's still nothing even after following it for longer than before."
"I listened closely and found out that the crying had become even more distant instead of getting closer."
"After that, I decided to give up and return here instead."
The man then stayed silent for a few seconds before continuing.
"But do you guys know, the second I turned my head away and walked back, the crying voice suddenly became very close..."
"So close that I thought there was a woman crying right beside my ears!"
The second the man finished telling his story, a reply soon entered his ears.
"Bah! You are joking yourself, there's no way something like that would happen." The man who cooked the boar said.
"It's true! I really heard the crying as clear as day!"
"There's no way. You must be hallucinating," The cook once again commented.
Then another man who only heard from the beginning said, "It might be his hallucination."
"Or it might be…"
"Ghosts…"
Hearing the preposterous answer, the cook instantly reacted.
"Shut up! There's no such thing as a ghost!" The cook rose from his seat.
"We've been here for years and there's not a single ghost that we saw!"
"Calm down old man, don't need to get worked up just because of a story." Another man said when he saw the cook standing.
"Tck."
After that, they continued eating their meals, talked some more, and either went back to their tents to sleep or do some other activities.
The cook was among the ones that went straight back to his tent.
'There's no such thing as ghosts. Those people are crazy.' He thought as he made his way back to his tent.
While on his way back, his eyes darted left and right, looking at the dark, empty, silent forest around the hideout.
His ears perked up, trying to hear the tiniest amount of sound available around him.
And only when he arrived inside his tent did he finally relax.
'Don't be stupid, ghosts don't exist.' He thought to himself as he closed his eyes.
However, the second his eyes were closed, they abruptly opened again as the man sat up straight.
'No way…'
He looked to his left and right, then seeing that there was no one inside besides himself, the man tried to calm down and rested his body on the ground again.
However, the second he tried to do so, he heard it again.
A distant voice of a crying woman.