Chapter Thirteen: Two Battlefields

"Stop talking about life or death—let’s focus on keeping this fragile soul intact!" The burly ghost seized Han Tianyue and the wiry ghost by the arms and dashed into the distance.

They ran and ran, yet the soul-hunting beasts behind them showed no intention of giving up the chase.

"When will this ever end?" Although running as a soul was utterly effortless, after such a long flight, Han Tianyue could feel nothing else.

The burly ghost replied, "Wait for daylight. When dawn comes, the soul-eating beasts will stop pursuing us!"

"Ah!" Han Tianyue was left speechless.

They kept running, racing madly ahead. Apart from the three ghostly shadows gliding like the wind, not even a speck of dust was stirred in their wake.

"Hahaha, isn’t it wonderful to just run like this?" The wiry ghost had completely forgotten his earlier terror. As he ran, he began to show off—running backwards, sprinting on his hands, and even crawling as he went.

As the sky gradually brightened, the three ghosts found a cave to shelter in. The soul-eating beasts, deterred by the daylight, were forced to retreat into the shadows.

"At last, we can rest!" The wiry ghost flopped to the ground and began snoring at once.

But Han Tianyue felt no trace of sleepiness. He sat quietly on the ground, his mind still preoccupied with thoughts of Prince Mao.

"What are you thinking about?" The burly ghost slung an arm over Han Tianyue’s shoulder and asked.

With his head lowered, Han Tianyue replied, "I’m thinking of my old friends."

"You’re already dead; your paths are forever divided," the burly ghost said.

"I am not dead!" At these words, Han Tianyue scrambled to his feet in protest.

"Then how did you end up here?"

Han Tianyue told the burly ghost everything about the encounter with the spiritual entity. At some point, the wiry ghost had also sat up. When he finished listening to Han Tianyue’s story, he exclaimed, "How could you just die like that?"

"For the last time, I am not dead! I’m going back!" Han Tianyue shouted, more agitated than before.

"All right, all right, you’re not dead," the burly ghost hastened to comfort him.

"Dead is dead—why won’t you just admit it?" the wiry ghost sneered.

"I said, I am not dead!" A glint of hostility flashed in Han Tianyue’s eyes.

"Aren’t you supposed to be sleeping? Go to sleep!" The burly ghost, seeing Han Tianyue was genuinely angry, quickly snapped at the wiry ghost.

"But I’m a ghost—I don’t need to sleep!"

"If you don’t sleep right now, I’ll peel your ghostly skin off myself!" The burly ghost’s patience was wearing thin.

Seeing both of them upset, the wiry ghost obediently lay back down, motionless, pretending to sleep.

While Han Tianyue was lost in thoughts of Prince Mao, elsewhere Prince Mao and Boca had vanished from the school, leaving no one with any clue to their whereabouts.

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