"@Wang Niuma?"
When there was still no response from @Wang Niuma, the Great Black Mountain First Protector suddenly felt an ominous premonition rise in his heart.
The group chat fell into silence.
"@Wang Niuma — where are you?"
"@Wang Niuma"
…
Several consecutive @mentions were sent, but Wang Niuma never appeared.
Half a minute passed in silence.
Then, the Hanging Ghost finally spoke.
"Wang Niuma is usually glued to his phone…"
"…Could it be that he—?"
The sentence wasn't finished, but every ghost understood what was being implied.
Traffic Accident Ghost:
"Wasn't Wang Niuma already Tier 4?"
"And he had even awakened a Ghost Spirit Space. Lord Ghost King valued him greatly. With his strength, that shouldn't have happened, right?"
Old White Grandpa:
"I just remembered something… The place where Driver Ghost was killed—where that freak ripped out his waist—wasn't far from Wanda Plaza…"
Great Black Mountain First Protector:
"..."
Hanging Ghost:
"..."
Jumping Ghost:
"..."
...
Suddenly—
Great Black Mountain First Protector:
"@All Members — Emergency notice! Emergency notice!"
"A kidney-harvesting maniac has appeared in Jiangning!"
"Suspected of cultivating an evil art using ghost waists!"
"Strength possibly approaching Tier 5!"
"Wang Niuma and Driver Ghost have already been brutally killed! Please spread the word!"
"All Jiangning ghosts are advised to evacuate to other districts immediately! Travel in groups!"
The message detonated the group.
Countless previously silent ghosts surfaced.
One by one, Jiangning's ghosts trembled in fear, subconsciously clutching their lower backs.
That very night, many began packing and fleeing toward other districts.
Only ghosts with considerable strength chose to remain.
Seeing everyone discussing escape routes, the old ghost hiding in the bushes put away his phone.
He was just a Tier-1 minor ghost—even weaker than Driver Ghost.
If he ran into that freak again, he'd be dead for sure.
There was no way he was getting his waist torn off.
Jiangning was no longer safe.
After thinking for a moment, the old ghost sighed gloomily, lit another cigarette, and exhaled into the distance.
"Forget it… I'm heading back to Xuanwu District."
"Jiangning is completely unlivable now…"
Meanwhile — Eastern Jinling, at the Border
Great Black Mountain.
Stretching dozens of miles.
Back in the day, a royal noble had built a grand mausoleum here.
Later, it was seized by the Great Black Mountain Ghost King, who remodeled it into his headquarters.
Inside the tomb, the facilities were astonishingly modern.
Even the walls were tiled with black ceramic, exuding a contemporary aesthetic.
Clearly, this Ghost King kept up with the times.
Inside an office converted from a side hall—
A gloomy young man in a tailored suit and leather shoes shut down his computer and stood up from a boss's chair.
Moving swiftly through the maze-like corridors of the tomb, he entered a reception hall.
Anyone here was obviously not human.
This young man was none other than the Great Black Mountain First Protector.
A trusted aide personally cultivated by the Ghost King himself.
A Tier-5 Great Dao Ghost — Si Nan.
In life, he had been a Tier-3 Core Condensation heretic cultivator.
After death, he became a ghost and was taken in by the Great Black Mountain Ghost King.
Outside the reception hall—
Si Nan knocked on the door.
"My lord Ghost King, urgent matters to report!"
"Enter."
A deep, steady male voice sounded from inside.
Si Nan pushed the door open and stepped in.
Inside the hall—
A long table stood in the center.
At the head sat a middle-aged man with a square face and a calm, imposing aura.
He wore traditional Tang attire and idly rolled a rosary made of human skull beads in his hand.
No one would have imagined—
The Great Black Mountain Ghost King, Chu Wucan, looked like this.
Below him sat three women.
One wore a white kimono, her long hair draped over her shoulders.
Another wore a blue-and-white sailor uniform, twin ponytails bouncing as she played with an old red flip phone.
The third was a mature woman with wavy long hair, dressed in a flowing blue gown.
The four were in conversation, but the moment Si Nan entered, all fell silent and turned to look at him.
Under the gaze of four pairs of golden pupils, Si Nan felt invisible pressure crash down on him.
Rank suppression.
The mark of a Ghost King—
Golden Eyes.
All four of them were Catastrophe-Class Ghost Kings.
"Si Nan greets the honored lords!"
Though the three women were peerless beauties, Si Nan didn't dare look longer than a glance.
He bowed respectfully and stepped to Chu Wucan's side.
"My lord… something has happened."
Chu Wucan casually rolled the skull beads and waved a hand.
"Speak freely. These three honored guests are already our allies."
"They are not outsiders."
The three women gave slight nods.
Reassured, Si Nan spoke directly.
"My lord, a freak has appeared in Jinling!"
"A ghost controller, likely Tier 4 or above!"
"Driver Ghost and Wang Niuma—the streamer Ghost King you once favored—have both been brutally killed!"
"And before death, their waists were forcibly torn apart!"
"Suspected of cultivating an evil art using ghost waists!"
As he spoke, Si Nan pulled out his phone and respectfully handed over the video.
After watching it—
Chu Wucan's fingers paused on the skull beads.
He frowned slightly, pondered for a moment, then said calmly:
"For now… ignore it."
The moment he said that—
The woman in the blue gown frowned in displeasure.
"A Tier-4 ghost who awakened a Ghost Spirit Space was slaughtered so cruelly."
"And you say to ignore it?"
"That was a seed destined to reach Tier 6!"
"Don't tell me you're afraid of a mere Tier-4 ghost controller?"
The two Japanese women also frowned.
White-Kimono Woman (in accented Chinese):
"Chu-san, we cooperated with you because of your strength."
"If you won't even kill a Tier-4 ghost controller…"
"Then perhaps we should reconsider this alliance."
Twin-Tails Girl (smirking):
"That cultivator really is insane."
"Cutting ghost waists like that—aren't they afraid of triggering a ghost riot?"
"Too bad we don't have his aura. Otherwise, I could kill him in three days with my Curse of Doom."
Chu Wucan didn't avoid their gazes.
He handed the phone back to Si Nan, then looked calmly at the three women.
"Yellow Mountain Ghost King—you and I share the same roots. Even if your base is in Harbor City, you are still a Great Xia Ghost King."
"And as for the two Ghost Kings of Sakura Country…"
"Do you truly understand what a Ghost Controller represents?"
"That is a profession developed by the Spirit Control Bureau."
"And only those lunatics would dare do something as insane as tearing apart ghost waists."
The room fell silent.
The meeting of the Four Ghost Kings—
Had only just begun.