Chapter 59: He Nian's Confidence

Chapter 59: He Nian's Confidence

Complaining all the way, the two of them closed their eyes and scrambled back on all fours.

The Urban Legend Heart-Stealing Ghost was still rolling on the ground, and Duan Ming immediately cast an appraisal.

[Heart-Stealing Ghost]
[Name: Xu Yang]
[Level: Malicious Ghost Grade]
[Ghost Qi: 782]
[Friendliness: -100]
[Target Information: Once brutally murdered simply because he witnessed a murder, forced to watch helplessly as his heart was gouged out, after which his corpse was fraudulently donated to a research institution. Witnessing such a cruel scene right before his death caused his gaze to mutate, allowing him to forcibly halve the strength of all targets below the Fierce Ghost grade. He harbors a deep hatred for all entities with hearts; when fighting against such entities, the power of his hatred is sufficient to temporarily boost his Ghost Qi strength to suppress his opponent, up to a maximum of one hundred times.]
[Hint: Through years of cruel slaughter and devouring to grow stronger, he has only one goal: to find the person who killed him back then and take revenge with his own hands. However, he has completely failed to obtain any clues for a long time, and the face in his memory has shattered into pieces. He only remembers that the other person had a mole on their lower lip.]

Turns out his real strength was only at the Malicious Ghost grade.

The troublesome part was that he had a King Kai Fist equivalent.

Yet in just a flash, Duan Ming already had a plan in mind.

He smiled confidently, just in time to see the corners of He Nian's mouth curve up lazily beside him as well.

The two exchanged glances.

Duan Ming: "Oh? It seems you're about to play your trump card?"

He Nian: "I can tell you've already got a plan too."

Duan Ming: "My plan isn't worth mentioning. Why don't you go first?"

He Nian: "You go first. If things really get out of hand, Daddy will come and save the day."

"You go first, you go first."

"No, you go first."

"Alright, how about we do it together?"

"My thoughts exactly."

The two smiled slightly, their eyes behind their sunglasses flashing brightly.

Then, they simultaneously dropped to their knees and burst into loud wails.

He Wei, who was still holding and washing his little heart: "???"

Appearing alongside the utterly bewildered He Wei was a muscular man wearing only a pair of bodybuilding briefs, striking an extremely difficult bodybuilding pose.

The muscular man was clearly much more experienced than He Wei; after just a momentary pause, he walked straight over to He Nian.

"What's the situation? Trouble?"

He Nian wiped away his tears, nodded, and gestured toward the Heart-Stealing Ghost on the ground.

The muscular man looked over, his brow furrowing slightly: "This guy seems pretty low-level, right? Didn't I give you some emergency items? You still couldn't handle this?"

"No, my son said this guy isn't simple. Just to be safe, I thought I'd call you over."

He Nian said casually, then turned to Duan Ming: "Heh, I never expected you to have mastered this crying skill too. I thought I was the only one."

Duan Ming was rather shocked.

Not because He Nian had also mastered the ghost technique of crying at graves, but because this bodybuilding ghost was truly extraordinary.

[Bodybuilding Ghost]
[Name: Chen Hui]
[Level: Fierce Ghost Grade]
[Ghost Qi: 99999]
[Friendliness: 0]
[Target Information: A passionate man who devoted his entire life to bodybuilding, upholding his faith even after death. Accidentally discovered He Nian's talent for fitness and holds him in very high regard.]
[Hint: What kind of hint do you want? What does he have to do with you?]

Uh, well, that actually made some sense.

This was He Nian's sugar daddy; what did it have to do with him?

Just at that moment, the status panel—which was still in its manifested state—saw its Friendliness value suddenly jump from 0 to 20.

As Duan Ming's gaze shifted back, he saw the fitness ghost walking over with a beaming smile: "Hello, my name is Chen Hui, nice to meet you."

"It's my fault too. I fancied myself so close to He Nian that I didn't even know he had a son. Look, I'm his big brother, and I don't really know how to calculate these complicated relationships. I won't take advantage of you either; just call me Grandpa."

Duan Ming: "(∞)"

Are you actually brain-damaged from all that bodybuilding?

At least go stand outside a supermarket and shake things up before saying something like that.

He waved his hands repeatedly: "Ha, haha, you've got it backward. I'm hardly qualified to take on the title of grandson."

The fitness ghost Chen Hui scratched his head: "Is that so? Sorry about that. Then why don't you call me grandson, and I'll call you grandpa?"

"Hey, alright then, grandson."

Everyone: "Σ(゜゜)"

Taking advantage of this momentary silence, the Heart-Stealing Ghost, cast in the role of the villain, finally managed to assert his presence. He grunted and blinked his eyes fiercely; when his vision finally cleared, he nearly collapsed to the ground in a limp heap.

What is this?!

Why did a peak Fierce Ghost grade suddenly pop out?! Even maxing out the King Kai Fist wouldn't be enough to take this guy down.

Everyone's gaze converged.

Chen Hui glanced at He Nian: "Should I finish him off?"

"No, not for now."

Duan Ming refused.

He had already planned this out when Jiang Xiaoxiao mentioned that Fierce Ghost grade entities couldn't approach the Urban Legend domain. Now that they had Chen Hui, who was at the half-step Evil Ghost grade, they could try a different approach.

After pondering for a moment, he squatted down and stared directly into the Heart-Stealing Ghost's eyes. Instantly, a wave of profound weakness surged from every part of his body, and his Ghost Qi was abruptly suppressed by half.

So the "stare makes you weak" ability was actually a passive skill.

That made him even more excited.

Duan Ming said, "Come with me, and I'll help you find the person who killed you back then."

It would have been fine if he hadn't brought it up, but the mere mention of it caused the previously somewhat cowering Heart-Stealing Ghost's eyes to turn blood red, wearing an expression as if he wanted to devour Duan Ming alive.

Duan Ming hurriedly retreated a step and sighed: "Fine, since that's how it is, we'll just have to execute Plan B."

"He Wei, help me lower his health bar."

He Wei was stunned: "What does that mean?"

"Oh, go beat the crap out of him."

He Wei didn't move. His eyes rolled around as he glanced toward the fitness ghost, lowering his voice as much as possible: "Why call me? Isn't there a big boss right over there?"

Duan Ming: "I'm afraid he might punch the guy to death in one blow."

"But my Ghost Qi value is only 875, and that guy on the ground is probably around the same, right?"

"He's at 782, even lower than you."

"You just said he's only slightly lower! Doesn't that mean I'm basically just going to wrestle with him and burn pure stamina?"

"Are you going or not?"

He Wei wore a crying face: "Do I have a choice? I don't want my body to start moving on its own again."

Duan Ming patted his shoulder, tossed a look toward Jiang Xiaoxiao, leaned in close, and whispered quietly: "Don't worry, I'm not making you help for nothing. Remember what Jiang Xiaoxiao said earlier? She probably knows Yongmei. Once I get closer to her, I'll find a chance for you and Yongmei to meet."

He Wei: "!!!"

"Hah! Taste my Meatball Chariot!"

His plump figure zipped across like a gust of wind, and He Wei had already charged right in front of the Heart-Stealing Ghost.

Naturally, the Heart-Stealing Ghost wasn't about to sit and wait for death either. The terrifying wound on his chest began to gush blood frantically.

He was activating his special constitution ability that grew stronger the stronger his opponent was.

Yet a moment later, his expression froze in astonishment.

He Wei smiled wickedly, the massive tear across his chest opening and closing to reveal a hollow void inside.

"Heh, didn't expect that, did you? Big daddy here doesn't have a heart."

"Damn it!"

The two of them completely tumbled together in a brawl.

It looked precisely like a fight between two low-level street punks.

Ten minutes later, a bruised and battered He Wei dragged a similarly bruised and battered Heart-Stealing Ghost right in front of Duan Ming.

"Nuo ga, sing bu hu wing!" *(T/N: Slurred "Not bad, mission accomplished!")*

"Well done."

Duan Ming grinned broadly and pulled out a Ghost Spirit Master Ball.

(End of this chapter)