“Whoosh~~”
In the misty, vast forest, Li Hai, his head bowed and face ashen like a corpse, exhaled a chilling, eerie breath.
Now, he felt his mind was as calm and still as a dead lake, with no interest in anything and no emotional waves stirring.
But terrifyingly, when he looked up and saw Guo Shiwen's mutilated corpse a dozen feet away, a strong hunger suddenly arose within Li Hai, compelling him to rush over and feast.
It was as if it wasn't a bloody corpse, but a braised pork hock.
“No! I'm a human, not a ghost! I can't do this!”
As this thought emerged, that strange, seemingly irresistible desire, as if mist exposed to the scorching sun, instantly vanished from Li Hai's mind.
At the same time, his cold and Chaos-filled thoughts immediately cleared, becoming as lucid and distinct as a living person's.
It was also at this moment that Li Hai inexplicably knew.
If he didn't like this ghostly appearance, he could instantly revert to his original living human form with a single thought.
But similarly, the various abilities belonging to ghosts would also be greatly reduced in effect, almost to nothing.
Therefore, to avoid being treated as food by that burnt corpse ghost, Li Hai felt it was better to maintain this ghostly appearance for now.
“So, in the eyes of ghosts…”
Looking distantly at Guo Shiwen's remains lying among the decaying dead leaves a dozen feet away, Li Hai murmured in a ghostly voice, “All living people are delicious meals, aren't they?”
While murmuring, he also noticed that the deep, dark, vast forest all around him, and the misty, gloomy sky above, had now completely changed their appearance.
The You Forest had transformed into vast fields covered with golden rice, and the gloomy sky had become an endless azure sky.
At the end of this sky, a hot, large sun hung high, generously casting rays of sunlight that made the rice fields below shimmer brilliantly, like a golden ocean.
And the burnt corpse ghost—that old farmer—who had just eaten half of Guo Shiwen's body, was now squatting in the golden rice waves, swaying with the wind, completely in the form of a living person, burying his head in a large watermelon and eating heartily.
Sunlight, rice fields, a farmer, watermelon… all of these elements combined looked so warm and vibrant.
It was as if what Li Hai was seeing now was the real world, and everything he had seen before was an unawakening, illusory nightmare.
“Could it be…”
He stared blankly at the golden rice sea in front of him with a pair of dead eyes, muttering, “Is this the world through a ghost's eyes?”
“Young man, do you want some watermelon?”
The old farmer in the distance called out, “This weather is too dry; eat some cool watermelon to moisten your stomach.”
“No, no.”
Li Hai waved his hands repeatedly, refusing, “Thank you for your kindness, but I have a weak stomach and can't eat cold watermelon.”
As he spoke, he swayed his body and instantly crossed a dozen feet, arriving beside the old farmer.
“Whoa!”
After steadying himself, Li Hai was secretly surprised, “After becoming a ghost, even my speed is so fast.”
He roughly calculated that it felt several times faster than when he was circulating Devouring Blood Burning Heart.
No wonder he couldn't react at all when the old farmer attacked Guo Shiwen just now.
This was simply faster than the wind; how could he react?
After settling his mind, Li Hai looked at the old farmer and asked with a smile:
“Old man, what should I call you?”
The old farmer, holding the watermelon, mumbled, “My old man's name is Guo Lao San, young man, what's your surname?”
“Guo?”
For some reason, Li Hai suddenly thought of Guo Huaijin.
“My surname is Li, and my given name is Hai.”
He squatted down and continued to ask, “Old man, after you finish your farm work, where are you going back to? Where do you live?”
“Guo Family Village, of course.”
Guo Lao San wiped the watermelon juice from the corner of his mouth, which was as red as blood. “There's only our one village for dozens of miles around here; it's been like this for many years.”
At this point, he suddenly rolled his eyes and stared intently at Li Hai, like a hanged ghost, and said gloomily, “Eh, that's not right. Since you specifically came all the way here, why don't you know this is our Guo Family Village's territory?”
“Hehehe~”
Li Hai laughed and fabricated a story, “I travel everywhere; I always just go wherever I end up.”
“Oh~”
Guo Lao San's expression returned to normal, and he mumbled, “So you're an idler who doesn't do proper work.”
“Old man, after arriving in this area, my travel money has run completely dry.”
Li Hai leaned closer and said, “Would it be possible to work for a few days in your Guo Family Village and earn some money for food?”
“Yes, you can.”
Guo Lao San said, “The village chief's land is just ripe for harvest. You can be a temporary harvest worker and help gather the grain. The money you earn should be enough for you to go to the next village.”
“That's easy; I have plenty of strength.”
Li Hai went along with it, “Give me a sickle, and I can cut from morning till night.”
“That's excellent then.”
Guo Lao San gave a simple, honest smile, then stood up and said, “Come, I'll take you back to the village.”
“Alright.”
Li Hai also stood up straight, “Old man, you lead the way, and I'll follow behind.”
Subsequently, the two, one in front and one behind, walked across the rice sea towards the distance.
Logically, Li Hai, who now possessed ghostly abilities, could completely leave this dark forest.
Then, relying on the 【Ethereal Body】 characteristic that allowed him to freely switch between reality and illusion, he could ignore ordinary firearm attacks, wipe out the Guo Family Fortress's fire team, and then properly deal with the old dog Guo Huaijin.
But as the saying goes, with a weapon in hand, one's heart is not afraid of enemies.
Since he already had basic combat power assurance, Li Hai naturally wanted to go further and acquire more trump cards.
In short, it was all about being cautious.
Therefore, following Guo Lao San to investigate the source of his birth—that is, the Guo Family Ghost Village—was an excellent choice.
So the two… no, two ghosts, slowly walked along the field path under the scorching sun.
Swish~ Swish~ Swish~
As they moved dozens of feet with each step, Li Hai glimpsed the heavy rice ears drooping on both sides. With a gentle breeze, they swayed back and forth, making rustling sounds, like human heads shaking and chuckling.
“Looks so real, like it's actually happening.”
While whispering to himself, he quickly dispelled his ghostly form and looked with human eyes, only to find that these were not rice ears at all, but gnarled strange trees and withered shrubs.
There was no azure sky or scorching sun above; only a misty, gloomy firmament.
Under this misty firmament, they were moving like two phantoms, passing through trees and rocks, heading into the deepest part of the dark forest.
To avoid being discovered by Guo Lao San, and to avoid being left too far behind, Li Hai quickly switched back to his ghostly form and hurried to catch up.