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Translator's note: A parasite Specter… Interesting. So the psychic must've failed to eliminate the Specter and got this parasite in her. That's bad, man.
ED Note: Will he die, though? Place your bet.
Shen Lingxue paused for a moment but then chose to put her faith in Fang Xiu.
She reached out with her delicate, pale finger, and with a gentle 'poof', a small flame sparked to life at her fingertip. With just a quick snap, the little fire jumped onto the gasoline.
The fuel caught fire in a flash, and a massive blaze roared up into the sky. The hungry flames rapidly consumed everything—trees, houses, chicken coops, piles of logs—all showing no mercy in the fiery rampage.
The high-reaching flames lit up Blackwater, making the night as bright as if it were day. The intense heat made Fang Xiu and his group instinctively back away.
"Xiu, are you absolutely sure that all of Blackwater's people are Specter Slaves? If you're wrong, we've just done something terribly wrong," Liu Shuai voiced his worry.
Fang Xiu didn't answer; he just kept his eyes fixed on Blackwater Village, the reflection of the fire dancing in his dark eyes.
"Doesn't it seem too silent to you?" Zhao Hao asked, as if he had a sudden realization. "I mean, if these villagers were ordinary humans, wouldn't there be screams? Why isn't anyone running out of their houses in such a massive fire?"
By now, Blackwater Village was entirely engulfed in flames. Out of nowhere, a deep, muffled roar echoed through the fire, the sound so powerful that it made Fang Xiu and the others' ears ring even from a distance.
"DIE!!"
All at once, a sharp and deadly female voice pierced the air.
BOOM!
A building on the northwest side of Blackwater blew up, scattering embers everywhere.
A flicker of thrill gleamed in Fang Xiu's right eye. Lit by the blaze-filled sky, a young woman stepped out from the debris. Her build was slight, her skin coarse, and a large black birthmark marred her left cheek.
She was dressed in a red floral shirt, resembling a farm girl, yet her waist-length, silver-white hair was startlingly odd.
As she showed up, a bone-chilling Specter power began to fill the air. It was so cold it seemed to overpower the heat of the fires, making the air several degrees cooler.
Fang Xiu wasn't surprised by the sight of the strange silver-haired woman. If the brain behind all this had been the village head or someone like Wang Fugui, now that would have been a shock.
After all, a true schemer would have stayed hidden, avoiding any action that might blow their cover. They wouldn't act like they were in a TV show where the bad guy keeps showing up, basically handing the hero a clue.
"I didn't want to kill you, but you dared to wreck my home. Now, you've left me no choice but to end you!" The silver-haired woman's declaration was like a battle cry.
Immediately, one after another, villagers came out of the blazing houses. They were all aflame, their skin scorched to a crisp, with hair that was also burnt but bizarrely kept growing back, only to catch fire again in a continuous loop. They were silent in their agony, resembling souls trapped in eternal suffering.
Fang Xiu expected this. He knew regular fire wouldn't be the end of these Specter Slaves but would only injure them. Their hair seemed fragile but was actually as durable as metal cables.
The Specter Slaves rallied around the silver-haired woman, positioning themselves as if they were the devoted protectors of their leader. Then, with a wave from the woman, a surge of potent Spiritual Energy pulsed in the air. Sounds of churning water roared from the direction of the Blackwater River.
In the next instant, an unbelievable sight occurred: a gigantic tidal wave, towering more than ten meters tall, appeared to be summoned and rolled from the Blackwater River towards the village.
WHOOSH!
The huge wave crashed over everything, smothering the massive flames that had consumed Blackwater.
The fire on the Specter Slaves was also extinguished. But by then, they didn't look human at all, only retaining a human outline. Their forms were composed entirely of hair, as dark as the night, resembling mummies not wrapped in cloth but in strands of hair.
Shen Lingxue couldn't hide her astonishment, having sensed the robust Spiritual Energy coming from the silver-haired woman.
"She's not just any Specter; she's a psychic. And a second-tier psychic at that! The water manipulation we just witnessed was her doing," Shen Lingxue said.
At her words, the reddish glow that had been flickering in Fang Xiu's eye faded.
"She's a psychic? But then what's the deal with those hair Specter Slaves?" Zhao Hao asked, taken aback.
"She is a psychic, yes, but her hair is Specter material! I bet this hair Specter is a parasitic type, having taken over her," Shen Lingxue surmised.
Upon understanding this, the reddish light in Fang Xiu's eye sparked back to life. He was piecing the puzzle together.
The silver-haired woman had been the one beckoning them to Blackwater River on that first night, manipulating the water with her psychic abilities and controlling the female corpse with the power of the hair Specter.
"Kill them!" The command from the silver-haired woman set the hundred Specter Slaves in motion as they roared and surged toward the group.
"Help!"
"Xiu, they have us outnumbered. Should we back off for now?"
"Fang Xiu, you were confident we'd come out on top. So what do we do now?" Shen Lingxue asked, her voice filled with worry.
Though she knew she was strong, Shen Lingxue recognized that taking on a second-tier psychic along with hordes of Specter Slaves was no longer about self-belief but sheer survival.
This kind of formidable force could pose a serious challenge even to the likes of the investigation bureau's head, Captain Yang Ming, or his second hand, Bai Qi.
As the Specter Slaves rushed forward, Fang Xiu's composure didn't waver; he even cracked a dark smile. "We have the upper hand!"
Shen Lingxue was taken aback. "Fang Xiu, this is no time for jokes—"
"Just keep those Specter Slaves at bay. I'll handle the silver-haired psychic."
In fact, the wisest move then would have been to choose death and reset the situation. With the Specter's true identity known, Fang Xiu could devise a strategic plan, bide their time, and make a surprise attack—perhaps even bring in heavy weapons and strike her down unexpectedly.
While heavy weapons are usually useless against Specters, the silver-haired woman was human. This method would be the most effective.
Yet, this was not Fang Xiu's choice. Such a tactic seemed too dull for him. His battle was not just with one Specter but with all Specters worldwide. Encountering powerful Specters often, if he always took the easy way out, he would never be able to sharpen his Spiritual Energy on the brink of life and death. Thus, he could never get stronger.
The silver-haired woman stood before him in her most powerful form: a second-tier psychic, flanked by a legion of Specter Slaves and a Class-B Specter.
Fang Xiu, however, decided to engage in this battle. After all, his goal was to challenge the strongest. Only if he defeated this Specter would he be able to continue his journey of bringing more pain to the Specters around the world.