Translator: Cinder Translations
---
As the corpse puppet approached the Hollow Cicada Wood, the bone pile in the distance suddenly began to churn and move.
Something was emerging from beneath the white bones!
The object was moving extremely quickly, and in an instant, it had reached the feet of the corpse puppet, then burst out from the pile of bones, sending countless bones flying.
It was the dwarf ghost.
It charged directly into the corpse puppet, sending it soaring through the air.
Taking advantage of this, the dwarf ghost attacked the lower half of the corpse puppet with its claws, which were swirling with ghostly energy.
The sturdy left leg of the corpse puppet was instantly severed at the root.
The Qi Refining Sixth Stage corpse puppet was no match for the dwarf ghost.
The dwarf ghost was preparing to thoroughly destroy the corpse puppet but suddenly stopped.
It turned out that emerging from the bone pile had exposed its hiding cave.
Inside the cave where the dwarf ghost was hiding, the large green-faced female ghost was lying there in extreme weakness. It was unclear what method the dwarf ghost had used to save the nearly dissipated soul of the female ghost.
A dozen beetle Gu were buzzing around the female ghost, their claws outstretched, as if they were about to shred her soul completely.
"Human, if you dare to harm her in any way, I will ensure your soul is scattered."
The dwarf ghost, as if it had been stepped on its tail, suddenly became furious. The ghostly energy on its body began to churn violently, making the entire cave eerie and suffused with ghostly energy.
The dwarf ghost's voice was unpleasant, like an old windbox, making a howling noise.
Seeing the dwarf ghost's reaction, Song Wen revealed a faint smile.
He hadn't expected it to actually work!
Earlier in the cave, the dwarf ghost had chosen to abandon the attack on them to save the critically injured female ghost.
Song Wen had guessed at the time that the female ghost was very important to the dwarf ghost, or that they had a deep emotional bond.
So, upon discovering the green-faced female ghost, Song Wen decided to use the weakened female ghost to threaten the dwarf ghost.
"Give me that three-hundred-year-old Hollow Cicada Wood, and I will leave without harming her in any way," Song Wen said.
"That's impossible!" the dwarf ghost roared.
"Oh? Is that so?" Song Wen said with a sinister smile.
The sixteen black-bellied beetle puppets surrounding the female ghost suddenly surged with spiritual energy. The already extremely weak female ghost, surrounded by so many beetle puppets, was disturbed by the gusts of spiritual energy from their flapping wings, making her soul sway as if it were about to shatter at any moment.
"Stop! You must stop!" the dwarf ghost shouted in panic.
"I will give you the Hollow Cicada Wood."
The dwarf ghost floated toward the Hollow Cicada Wood, reaching out to uproot it.
"Tian Ge, don't. These two Hollow Cicada Woods are what you have painstakingly searched for and transplanted. They are the key to your breakthrough to a higher-level ghost," the weakened female ghost suddenly spoke.
Her voice was piercing and harsh, like two pieces of iron scraping against each other.
The dwarf ghost stopped its hand from uprooting the Hollow Cicada Wood and looked at the female ghost with a complicated expression.
"But if I don't give him the Hollow Cicada Wood, he will kill you!"
"The Hollow Cicada Wood can be found again, but if your soul dissipates, you won't even have the chance to be reincarnated."
The dwarf ghost's voice, which was already unpleasant to hear, now had a few sobs in it.
Seeing that the Hollow Cicada Wood was almost in his grasp, but the female ghost's words caused complications, Song Wen became anxious and urged, "Hurry, give me the Hollow Cicada Wood, or I'll make my move."
The dwarf ghost's face changed drastically. It shouted urgently, "Don't kill her, I'll give it to you."
With that, it pulled up the Hollow Cicada Wood by its roots and threw it toward Song Wen.
Song Wen looked at the Hollow Cicada Wood approaching him from mid-air, his face showing joy, but then he became alarmed again.
It turned out that the green-faced female ghost, after uttering "Tian Ge, goodbye," had her soul collapse and scatter.
"No!" The dwarf ghost's voice was filled with anguish, sorrow, and despair, as if it had suddenly lost the meaning of life.
Ghostly energy surged around it, rising like a roaring flood.
As the dwarf ghost rushed into the cave, ghostly energy surged wildly towards the torn soul of the female ghost, attempting to keep the green-faced female ghost in the mortal realm.
However, it was ultimately in vain.
The female ghost's fragmented soul, like a cloud of dissipating smoke, was scattered even faster by the ghostly energy.
"No!"
Another roar mixed with sorrow and anger erupted.
The murderous intent was overwhelming, and the atmosphere was tumultuous.
The boundless ghostly energy swept wildly in all directions.
The sixteen black-bellied beetle puppets that hadn't managed to escape were engulfed by the ghostly energy, losing their vitality instantly, and were swept away by the ghostly energy, drifting aimlessly.
Song Wen, who had finally secured the Hollow Cicada Wood, was activating the Blood Escape Technique to flee when he sensed the death of the black-bellied beetle Gu.
He had already lost fifteen beetle Gu during the battle with the White Bone Worm, and now with the loss of sixteen more, he had lost a total of thirty-one.
However, Song Wen was too preoccupied with his escape to think about these losses.
He just wanted to get as far away as possible.
The enraged dwarf ghost was terrifyingly formidable.
Song Wen felt like things had gotten out of control.
He hadn't expected the emotional bond between these two ghosts to be so deep.
The dwarf ghost had given up its chance for advancement for the female ghost.
The female ghost, in turn, was willing to disintegrate her soul for the dwarf ghost.
Such a moving, steadfast, and selfless love!
To think it happened between two ghosts was almost unbelievable.
Willing to give everything, even life, for the other—that might be the most beautiful form of love.
In contrast, the entanglement between Lao Chun and the purple-clad figure was filled with madness, pathology, and schemes...
Sometimes, human emotions could be less pure and sincere than those of ghosts.
...
The ghostly energy from the dwarf ghost enveloped the entire cave, causing countless bones from the bone pile to rise and float toward the dwarf ghost.
The dwarf ghost's momentum rapidly increased, quickly reaching the Qi Refining Ninth Stage.
In an instant, a massive ghostly figure over two yards tall, covered in bones as if wearing a bone armor, appeared.
"Human, die!"
The roar of the Bone Dwarf Ghost reverberated through the cave, causing countless rocks to fall.
The Bone Dwarf Ghost chased after Song Wen, crashing through the cave and smashing countless stones.
By now, Song Wen had already covered two or three miles. Despite using the Blood Burning Technique, the blood scent he left behind, combined with the surrounding corpse energy and Yin energy, was quite conspicuous, allowing the dwarf ghost to track him easily.
The speed of the Bone Dwarf Ghost was faster than the exhausted Song Wen, and the distance between them was gradually closing.
"Boom!" Song Wen collided with a corpse, which was comparable to a Qi Refining Third Stage corpse. The impact shattered the corpse into pieces, sending rotting flesh flying.
Several wandering corpses attracted by Song Wen's strong blood scent, hurried towards him.
Before they could get close, Song Wen's figure disappeared without a trace.
Following closely, the two-yard-tall Bone Dwarf Ghost charged in. The ghostly energy swept through the corpses, knocking them to the ground, and stripping off layers of rotting flesh, revealing their stark white bones.
The Bone Dwarf Ghost, unable to catch up with the human in front, was burning with fury.
A transparent blade appeared in front of it, then swiftly crossed the distance of several dozen meters and stabbed towards the back of Song Wen's head.
Song Wen swayed slightly but did not slow down, continuing his escape.
The Bone Dwarf Ghost was momentarily stunned. It hadn't expected its invincible spiritual attack to miss.
Not only had it failed to injure the damned human, but it had also slowed its own speed, increasing the distance between them even further.
(End of the Chapter)
---
FUN FACT! You can now support me and read advanced chapters of RDC!
Currently up to 140 as of 15Sep24.
Just visit my p atreon: Pa treon.com/CinderTL
If you are content with the free chapters, you can show your appreciation by joining me for as low as $1. You can read this and other series (more coming in the future) on my Pa treon.