Chapter 78: Next Move—A Blitz Against the Ghouls!

Wang Chen furrowed his brows. This was troublesome; his plan would need adjusting.

Originally, he had hoped to restrain the giant ghoul first, then eliminate the troublesome ordinary ghouls ahead of time. With Lin Lehan's assistance, there should have been no major issues. Now, with the giant ghoul's whereabouts unknown, he could deal with the ordinary ghouls first, which seemed favorable for his plan. Yet in reality, an uncontrolled giant ghoul was like a lightning bolt poised to strike from any direction, liable to return to the ghoul colony at any moment.

He pondered for a while, then looked at Lin Lehan. “Are you confident you can silently dispatch an ordinary ghoul?”

She was taken aback, thought for a moment, and replied, “I should be able to do it with stealth assassination skills.”

“Why do you ask?”

“I want them to repeat the ritual we saw—the one resembling a sacrificial ceremony. It seems that whenever they share a ghoul corpse, they summon the giant ghoul to divide the body,” Wang Chen explained. “At that moment, we’ll seize the opportunity to control it. I don't feel secure letting it roam outside the battlefield.”

Lin Lehan contemplated briefly and asked, “Could we use some remains from a weak beast to coax them into such an act?”

Before Wang Chen could answer, she shook her head. “That won’t work.”

“Good, I see you’ve realized it,” Wang Chen smiled. “If every meal required such a ceremony, the ghouls would have starved long ago.”

“I understand. I’ll give it a try,” Lin Lehan said, drawing her dagger.

“Let’s go together. I'll cover you,” Wang Chen said, packing up his preparations from the ground into his storage ring and heading toward the ghoul colony with Lin Lehan.

…

Beneath the shade of a towering tree, dozens of ghouls rested. They lay strewn about in disarray, their foul mouths emitting heavy snores. No one noticed as a shadow quietly slipped from the darkness cast by the tree.

The shadow crept up to a ghoul leaning against the trunk, two pale arms emerging—one gripping a dagger. Silently, the blade was pressed against the ghoul’s throat and slashed swiftly.

The shadow then vanished into the darkness. The ghoul, its throat slit, woke from sleep in panic, clutching its bleeding neck. Terrified, it tried to scream, but its shattered windpipe could only produce a raspy, guttural sound.

It staggered to its feet, spinning in confusion. The commotion roused the surrounding ghouls, who stared in bewilderment at their convulsing companion. Soon, the ghoul collapsed from suffocation, falling heavily to the ground.

The other ghouls gathered around, shoving and inspecting it. Upon discovering it was dead, they began howling.

Wang Chen watched as events unfolded according to familiar script, and relaxed, letting out a breath. From the shadows at his side, Lin Lehan emerged, the darkness receding as she stepped out.

“How did it go?” she asked.

“Exactly as planned,” Wang Chen replied, eyes fixed on the unfolding scene.

After the familiar chain reaction, strange dance, and songs concluded, the ground trembled violently—a massive figure appeared.

“What sort of principle is this? Can ghouls summon each other?” Wang Chen’s eyes flashed with purple light.

Using his Beast Eye to examine the ghouls’ skills, he found most silver-grade ghouls lacked any abilities, though a few larger ones possessed a weakened version of Savage Battle Cleave.

“So they just shout loudly enough to call the boss over.” Wang Chen felt slightly speechless.

But this was exactly what he wanted.

His fingertips flashed as he produced a bottle of stimulant, preparing it. He turned to Lin Lehan. “Let’s begin.”

She nodded, tossing a pouch toward the ghouls. Wang Chen waited until the pouch was overhead, then seized the moment to activate his skill; the head of the Forest Gale staff echoed with the sound of crashing waves.

“Wave Dragon Strike!”

A twisting water projectile shot forth, whistling as it tore through the air, piercing the pouch. The pouch deformed and burst, spilling a mass of bone-white liquid that splashed over the ghouls.

Lin Lehan’s hands moved swiftly, hurling pouch after pouch until she had thrown all she had.

Wang Chen, after taking the stimulant, used Wave Dragon Strike to detonate the pouches one by one, soon covering all the ghouls in bone-white liquid.

The liquid hardened visibly upon contact with air, becoming viscous and binding the ghouls together. Their bodies were already cumbersome; now, movement was nearly impossible.

Seeing this, Wang Chen spun the Forest Gale staff, its head glowing with a delicate, airy brilliance.

“Power of Swiftness!”

A wave that warped the air flashed past Wang Chen and Lin Lehan, making their bodies feel much lighter.

“I’ll go for the giant ghoul; you clean up the ordinary ones,” Wang Chen instructed Lin Lehan, charging toward the giant ghoul.

He swung the Forest Gale staff, its head radiating the aura of death.

“Life’s Benediction!”

A black-red chain of death shot out, winding toward the giant ghoul. Upon contact with its feet, the chain snapped and lashed, binding both legs.

Not finished yet, the staff’s head crackled with electricity.

“Lightning Barrier!”

Three spheres of lightning linked by electric chains spun and were hurled at the giant ghoul, targeting its feet. The spheres wrapped around its legs, delivering continuous shocks.

Struck by two skills, the giant ghoul threw its head back and roared, venting its pain and sudden anger. Its monstrous face twisted toward Wang Chen, eyes blazing with fury.

It wanted to crush him with its bone club, but the death chain and lightning spheres hampered its legs, preventing it from moving.

Instead, it hurled its bone club.

To Wang Chen, it was as if a tree swept up by a hurricane was crashing down on him. Fortunately, he was prepared; rather than retreating, he ran forward, dodging the club’s impact point.

The massive bone club, propelled by tremendous force, buried itself deep in the ground, embedding several meters before finally stopping and falling with a thunderous crash.

As Wang Chen sprinted ahead, he heard the commotion behind and felt the gale as if a tower were collapsing. He leaped aside with all his might.

The club’s end crashed down, but he completely evaded the blow.

Seeing its attack miss, the giant ghoul roared and continued struggling against its restraints.

Wang Chen seized the moment to proceed. He knew the two skills wouldn’t last much longer and prepared to further restrain the giant ghoul.

Swiftly, he darted toward the giant ghoul, the Power of Swiftness making him even faster. In no time, he was at its side.

He then raised the Forest Gale staff and released a point of light.

“Paralysis Spell!”

The light embedded itself in the giant ghoul’s neck, trailing a crystalline thread like a piano wire, connecting to the head of the Forest Gale staff.