Of course, there wasn't a single one of them that rashly moved in.
This party of five slowly made their way into the city, hiding in the corners of the buildings while looking over the ghosts that wandered around the city.
It was clear that these ghosts were normal since they were able to last in this kind of place for so long and then there was the giant tree of light. For this tree of light to last in this place for this long, it must be something special. Since that was the case, the best loot must be there.
As they were moving along the city, they found that there was a part of the city where there were fewer ghosts compared to the other parts of the city. It seemed like it was creating a straight line right to the tree of light in the center.
The man who was holding the chains was called Dugu Xiao, he was one of the seeded candidates for the exam and the one that was leading this group.
In the group that he led, there were the two girls who had passed the first exam who he had taken in before the second exam. As for the other two men that had chains around their necks, they were people who had passed the first exam that were unfortunate enough to run into Dugu Xiao during this exam. Dugu Xiao had immediately beaten them and sealed them up with chains.
If this was anywhere else, this wouldn't have been allowed, but in this place where there were no rules at all, he was free to do as he pleased. He chained them up to force them to follow him and he had full plans on using them as cannon fodder.
Such as in this situation.
Dugu Xiao looked at the area where there was a distinct lack of ghosts before turning to the two girls and saying, "It seems like someone else has already made their way down here and it seems like they've found a way to lure the ghosts away. Since that's the case, there should be a way for us to do the same."
One of the girls looked at the two men who were chained up and said, "How about we use them to lure the ghosts away?"
Dugu Xiao looked at them as well with a thoughtful gaze before saying, "I was thinking that as well, but the moment we let them go, who knows if they'll lead the ghosts back to us as well. We don't know how strong the ghosts are, so I can't take that risk."
After a pause, Dugu Xiao took out his blade and put it at the neck of one of the chained men before saying, "Summon out your pet."
Seeing the blade at his neck, that man immediately called out his pet which was a bright red bird. This bird was a Fire Finch, one of the fastest common pets out there.
Dugu Xiao's eyes lit up when he saw this since last time, he didn't get to see their pets. When he had caught them and chained them up, it only took a single swing of his sword to scare them into submitting. After all, seeing your comrades being cut in half in front of you was definitely a terrifying thing.
These two that had chosen to be chained were the smarter ones because the ones that had chosen to resist all had their heads cut off.
If they submitted, they would at least be able to keep their lives and have a chance to find a way to escape.
Dugu Xiao pointed at the ghosts that were in front of them and said, "Send your pet out there and draw away all the ghosts in front of us. If you dare make one wrong move, know that it'll be your head that flies."
That man looked up at Dugu Xiao and gave a nod before sending his pet out there.
The Fire Finch quickly flew up to the ghosts and the moment it flew past them, the ghosts immediately reacted to it. Just like with Lin Fan and his rat puppets, they immediately started chasing the Fire Finch, but the Fire Finch was much faster than the rats, so it was able to easily keep the ghosts behind it at a steady pace.
Seeing this, Dugu Xiao narrowed his eyes.
He didn't narrow his eyes because of how fast the ghosts were, but rather because of the aura that came from them. The moment the ghosts started chasing the Fire Finch, they immediately released their aura, which showed that they were in the Embryo Soul Realm.
They were in different levels of the Embryo Soul Realm, but Dugu Xiao himself was only in the mid Embryo Soul Realm, so he definitely wasn't able to take them on. Especially after he saw the high Embryo Soul Realm ghost that was chasing the Fire Finch.
Even Dugu Xiao who was in the Embryo Soul Realm had such a strong reaction after seeing the cultivation level of the ghosts, so there was no need to mention the others.
The two girls immediately came forward and rubbed their bodies against Dugu Xiao as they said, "Xiao Xiao, we're scared."
These two girls were quite scantily clad and showed quite a bit of skin, which was the main reason why Dugu Xiao had even let them tag along. After all, Dugu Xiao was a man and he had his instincts. If women were to throw themselves at him, there was no reason for him to resist.
Dugu Xiao revealed a smile and said, "It's fine, I'll take care of you."
As he said this, his hands came forward to squeeze their chests which caused a blush to come over their faces, but they didn't resist at all.
For Dugu Xiao, he was fine with keeping them with him, but that would all change if it was a dangerous situation. He wouldn't hesitate to throw them away if there was any danger to his own life because his life was the most important. However, seeing how easily the Fire Finch was able to keep the ghosts at bay, he knew that there wouldn't be any danger here.
Dugu Xiao had some fine with the girls while the two men in chains turned around, not daring to watch. After all, the last person who had dared to watch had already lost their head and they didn't want to lose their heads yet.
Dugu Xiao was already certain that he would be able to easily make his way to the giant tree of light in the center and he would get quite a few treasures, that was just the pride that he had as a young genius who had never suffered a setback before. That was also why he didn't mind having a bit of fun with these girls even though this was a very dangerous place.
But what Dugu Xiao never expected happened next.
As they were about to start their fun, there was a sudden boom that came from behind them and the ground shook.
Dugu Xiao, the girls, and the two men all turned to look in the direction of that sound, but before they could see a thing, there was a wall of dust that suddenly hit them right in the face.
Everyone was pushed back by that wall of dust and it took them a bit of effort to stabilize themselves, but Dugu Xiao who had stabilized himself first looked in the direction the cloud of dust came from and he was shocked.
When the rest of them turned, they were also shocked to see what it was.
That was because there was a giant beast that had suddenly appeared at the entrance. Under the feet of that beast were pieces of stone and when they looked up, they found that there was a giant hole in the ceiling.
This giant beast had suddenly fallen down and had created this giant cloud of dust that had almost blown them all away. Just how heavy was this beast?
But they didn't have any time to react since the beast was already making its own move.
The beast took a sniff of the air before suddenly turning in the direction of Dugu Xiao's group. The moment it looked over, there was a mountain-like pressure that suddenly fell over them and not a single one of them was able to make a move. To them, it was like there was a scythe that was placed at their necks and they would die at any moment.
Then in the blink of an eye, the beast suddenly disappeared from where it had been.
They were about to look around for the beast, but then their area suddenly became much darker. Everyone looked up to see the beast on the roof of one of the buildings that created this alley.
This beast was looking right down at them before it suddenly opened its mouth to say, "What are you all doing here?"
As it said this, there was a cold sweat that broke out on Dugu Xiao's back because he could sense the laws that were contained within its words. Just a few words would have already been enough to crush him.
One of the men that were chained couldn't take it anymore and he screamed, "I don't want to die!"
After that, ignoring the chain that was around his neck, he immediately ran off towards the entrance of the alley.
It was a good thing that Dugu Xiao was too stunned to pull on the chain and it was yanked out of his hand. The bad thing was that the beast suddenly raised its paw and smacked down, turning that person into a pool of blood in the ground.
After turning that person into a pool of blood in the ground, it licked its paw before saying, "Now, how about you answer my question?"