OFTLHFRO C175

Chapter 175: Kindness and Monsters

Luo Mingchen heard Huo Yan utter two words.

“Ghost Granny.”

The girl, whose appearance was both innocent and alluring, looked at him with wide, guileless eyes. “Young Master, whatever are you talking about?”

“What’s going on?”

No sooner had Luo Mingchen spoken than the three men inside suddenly became covered in ghastly bluish-purple veins. Their faces twisted into horrifying, grotesque masks as they writhed across the ground in agony. As for the one Luo Mingchen had thrown outside earlier, his eyes were already wide open in death.

Huo Yan immediately became vigilant. “We meant no offense. Please forgive any inadvertent disrespect, Senior.”

The girl slowly pulled on her thin garments and covered her lips with a charming smile.

The three men on the ground quickly breathed their last.

Tiny parasitic insects crawled out through their mouths and noses, rapidly scurrying onto the girl’s hand. At that very moment, a violet butterfly suddenly appeared atop her head. The little parasites were swiftly absorbed by the butterfly.

In the end, the butterfly fluttered gently onto her hair, folded its wings, and became indistinguishable from an elegant hairpin.

Luo Mingchen, who had witnessed the entire process: “……”

His habit of sticking his nose into other people’s business was proving incredibly difficult to break.

The girl’s gaze lingered between the two of them before settling on Luo Mingchen with a graceful smile.

“Little brother, who is your master? Your martial skills are quite remarkable. To hear something from so far away…”

“…My apologies for disturbing you.”

Judging from Huo Yan’s attitude, this woman was likely far older than she appeared—and extremely dangerous.

Naturally, Luo Mingchen had no desire to continue chatting with her.

Fortunately, Ghost Granny seemed equally uninterested in making a move against them. Her melodious voice carried an irresistible charm.

“Little brother, since you’ve helped me, let me return the favor with a warning. Go to sleep early tonight. Do not light any fires. If you’re fortunate, you may live to see tomorrow morning.”

“What do you mean?”

The instant Luo Mingchen finished speaking, a frigid gust of wind swept past.

Ghost Granny vanished without a trace, leaving behind only a lingering, delicate fragrance.

She truly resembled a phantom.

The two people who arrived afterward saw only the four corpses.

Hua Yaoyue raised an eyebrow. “Ghost Granny did this, didn’t she? She actually didn’t turn either of you into hosts for her gu… How exactly did you manage that?”

Li Yunde frowned. “Ghost Granny? You mean the one said to drift through the desert like a ghost, seducing men solely to raise gu insects?”

“With deaths like these, who else could it possibly be?” Hua Yaoyue replied.

Seeing Luo Mingchen looking rather dispirited, Hua Yaoyue refrained from asking anything further.

At that moment, people from the merchant caravan rushed over, their faces filled with fury.

“You killed our men?”

Hua Yaoyue looked at them and sighed.

“Would you please use your brains? What possible benefit would there be in killing them? We merely heard some unusual noises and came over to investigate.”

Because Hua Yaoyue spoke with such natural confidence, the merchants could not immediately determine whether he was telling the truth.

Before they could sort out their thoughts, the four of them had already returned to their own tent.

On the way back, Huo Yan relayed Ghost Granny’s warning.

Li Yunde asked, “Can Ghost Granny’s words really be trusted?”

“They weren’t poisoned, nor were they implanted with gu insects. Ghost Granny had no reason to harm them,” Hua Yaoyue replied seriously. “Besides, she’s lived in this desert for so many years. She undoubtedly knows things we don’t. We’d do well to follow her advice.”

For once, Hua Yaoyue’s expression was utterly solemn.

Though Ghost Granny’s warning was difficult to understand, they ultimately decided to obey it.

Huo Yan had someone quietly inform Wu Song’s caravan as well.

The couple returned to their tent.

Huo Xiang and Huo Xinyue were already asleep, while Huo Yuhui remained awake.

Because the situation was unusual, they had only pitched four tents so everyone could look after one another as much as possible.

Once the campfire was extinguished, complete darkness swallowed the tents.

Unable to sleep, Luo Mingchen whispered softly,

“Do you think I’m foolish?”

Huo Yan gently stroked his back.

“No. Had I heard it, I would have gone to save her as well.”

Those words eased the heaviness in Luo Mingchen’s heart.

“Where I came from, kind people were the easiest to betray. Everyone struggled just to survive—for that tiny scrap of resources. They’d sacrifice anything, even the people closest to them.”

Even so…

Luo Mingchen still didn’t want to abandon the last bit of kindness he possessed.

Perhaps it stemmed from his childhood.

If not for the compassion of strangers, he might have starved to death long ago.

Having once received the kindness of others, he simply wanted to pass that kindness onward—to help someone else whenever it was within his power.

Huo Yan quietly told him,

“This isn’t your world anymore. My mother once said that the most important thing in life is having a clear conscience. If even using one’s own strength to do good invites condemnation… then that would be far too tragic.”

Hearing that, Luo Mingchen laughed.

“You’re right. It’s not like I’m being generous with someone else’s possessions. I’ll do whatever the hell I want. If anyone dares nag me about it, I’ll throw them out and beat them a hundred times.”

Chuckling, Huo Yan held him tighter.

“Go to sleep.”

“We’re really sleeping? What if something comes? Wouldn’t we have no idea?”

Huo Yan pressed a gentle kiss against his hair.

“I’ll keep watch.”

“I’m not sleepy yet.”

As he spoke, Luo Mingchen looked toward Huo Yuhui. Seeing that the boy was lying too close to the edge of the tent, he got up and patted his shoulder.

“Xiaohui, move over and sleep beside your father.”

“Little Daddy, I’m fi—”

Before Huo Yuhui could finish speaking, Luo Mingchen suddenly covered his mouth.

A long, emaciated shadow had appeared on top of the tent.

Luo Mingchen was absolutely certain that thing was moving.

Yet he was equally certain…

It was dead.

There was no breathing.

No heartbeat.

It felt exactly like…

A zombie.

And it had appeared out of nowhere. Otherwise, neither he nor Huo Yan could possibly have failed to notice its approach.

Huo Yuhui saw the shadow as well, his heart instantly leaping into his throat.

That thing was frighteningly close.

Da Bai, who had been sleeping, suddenly raised its head. Every hair on its tail stood on end.

Yet instead of growling, the cat silently fixed its faintly glowing heterochromatic eyes upon the shadow.

A moment later, anguished screams erupted in the distance.

The creature vanished in the blink of an eye.

Huo Yuhui’s voice trembled as he whispered,

“Little Daddy… was that one of the Sand Wraiths?”

“Don’t be afraid. Let me take a look…”

Luo Mingchen forced himself to remain calm as he extended his sensory ability.

Although he had mentally prepared himself…

The instant he “saw” those countless shriveled, mummy-like creatures, he almost mistook them for zombies.

The screams were coming from the merchant caravan where Ghost Granny had been.

Someone there had hacked one of the dried corpses cleanly in half.

Yet after collapsing into sand, it immediately reformed into another desiccated corpse.

Whether struck in the head or anywhere else, they were utterly fearless.

The moment they saw a human, they lunged.

They were especially attracted to light.

Those carrying torches suffered the fiercest attacks.

Anyone wounded by them seemed to have every drop of blood instantly drained from their body. Their flesh cracked and dried until they resembled figures sculpted from sand before turning upon their former companions.

Through his perception, Luo Mingchen could sense that everyone in both his own group and Wu Song’s caravan remained awake.

Each person clenched their teeth tightly, desperately suppressing any sound that might attract those dried corpses.

Good heavens…

What in the world were those things?!

Luo Mingchen looked toward Huo Yan, who already had his weapon in hand. Just as he was about to explain what he had sensed, he discovered even more dried corpses emerging from beneath the sand.

Cold sweat instantly broke out across his back.

They were in the desert.

His abilities were significantly weakened here.

Luo Mingchen had no idea how long a water barrier could withstand such an assault.

Then a thought suddenly struck him.

Silently making up his mind, he condensed a water tendril and secretly sent it behind one of the dried corpses.

Without warning—

He drenched it completely.

Sure enough.

The portions soaked by water were unable to regenerate.

Luo Mingchen’s eyes lit up.

He tested it again.

After secretly eliminating more than a dozen dried corpses with water, he condensed an enormous mass of water and released it like a sudden rainstorm, soaking the entire area around their camp.

The dried corpses caught within the rain instantly crumbled into ordinary sand.

The remaining ones all detoured around the drenched ground, marching instead in another direction—

Toward Wolf King Fortress, by the look of it.