Brian Clark and the others let out a sigh of relief, their faces finally no longer turning green from holding their breath. Mrs. Moore was overwhelmed with grief and hatred, her mind filled with the word "death." Not that she wanted to die to accompany her son, but that she wanted everyone in the world to die, especially the people in front of her. She always ordered her husband around in times of trouble, shoving him and saying, "Call for people! Bring everyone in!"

Her husband, however, stood there woodenly, perhaps too devastated by the loss of their only son, and actually pushed her back. Mrs. Moore, caught off guard, was knocked to the ground, stunned.

In the past, Mrs. Moore never even needed to push him—just raising her voice a little and he would obey. But today, he actually dared to push back!

All the servants were terrified by her expression. Andy, trembling, helped her up. Mrs. Moore clutched her chest, her voice shaking as she said, "You... you... you get out too!"

Her husband seemed not to hear. Andy shot several glances at Tommy, who hurried to support the master of the house out. The east hall was in utter chaos. Ethan Sullivan, seeing the family finally quiet down, prepared to continue examining the corpse, but had barely looked for a moment when another shrill scream pierced through from the courtyard.

Everyone in the hall rushed out. On the ground in the east courtyard, two people were convulsing. One was Tommy, slumped and alive. The other lay on the ground, his flesh and blood seemingly sucked dry and hollowed out, shriveled and withered, his left arm already gone, the wound too dry to bleed. The state of the corpse was exactly the same as Mo Ziyuan's.

Mrs. Moore had just shaken off Andy's support. The moment she saw the corpse on the ground, her eyes went wide, and she finally had no strength left to make a scene—she fainted. Ethan Sullivan happened to be nearby and caught her, handing her over to the rushing Andy. Looking at his right hand, he saw the wound was gone.

He had just stepped over the threshold of the hall and hadn't even left the east courtyard when Mrs. Moore's husband died a miserable death on the spot—it all happened in an instant. Ryan Clark, Brian Clark, and the others also looked pale. Ryan Clark was the first to regain his composure and questioned the slumped Tommy, "Did you see what it was?"

Tommy was so frightened he couldn't even open his jaw, unable to utter a word for a long while, only shaking his head repeatedly. Ryan Clark, anxious, had his fellow disciples take him inside, then turned to Brian Clark, "Did you send the signal?"

Brian Clark said, "The signal's been sent, but if there are no seniors nearby to come help, the fastest our people can get here is half an hour. What do we do now? We don't even know what it is."

Of course, they couldn't just leave. If any clan's disciples ran away when encountering evil spirits, not only would they disgrace their family, but they'd also be ashamed to face anyone. These terrified members of the Mo family couldn't leave either, because the evil was most likely hiding among them—leaving would do no good. Ryan Clark gritted his teeth and said, "Hold the line and wait for reinforcements!"

Since the distress signal had been sent, it wouldn't be long before other cultivators arrived to help. To avoid further trouble, Ethan Sullivan should have withdrawn. If the newcomers didn't know him, it would be fine, but if someone he had dealt with—or even fought—showed up, who knew what might happen.

But with the curse on him, he couldn't leave Mo Village right now. And the summoned thing had already claimed two lives in such a short time—its brutality was extraordinary. If Ethan Sullivan left now, by the time reinforcements arrived, the whole Mo Village might be littered with corpses missing their left arms, including several disciples of the Gusu Lan clan.

After a moment's thought, Ethan Sullivan decided, "Settle this quickly."

Chapter 5: Wild Ghosts, Part 2 (3)

The young cultivators over there were all new to the field, each one tense, but still strictly holding their positions to guard the Mo residence, and had pasted talismans all over the hall inside and out. The servant Tommy had already been carried into the hall. Ryan Clark was taking his pulse with his left hand and pressing Mrs. Moore's back with his right, trying to save both at once and getting overwhelmed, when Tommy suddenly got up from the ground.

Andy cried out, " Tommy, you're awake!"

She hadn't even had time to look happy before Tommy raised his left hand and grabbed his own neck.

Seeing this, Ryan Clark quickly struck three acupoints on his body. Ethan Sullivan knew that although people from their clan looked gentle, their arm strength was anything but—striking like that, anyone would be instantly immobilized. But Tommy seemed not to notice, his left hand squeezing tighter and tighter, his expression growing more and more pained and twisted. Brian Clark tried to pry his left hand off, but it was like trying to move a chunk of iron—completely unmoving. In no time, there was a "crack," and Tommy's head drooped limply, his hand finally letting go. But his neck was already broken.

He had actually strangled himself to death in front of everyone!

Seeing this, Andy said in a trembling voice, "...A ghost! There's an invisible ghost here, making Tommy strangle himself!"

Her voice was sharp and shrill, sending chills down everyone's spine, and in that moment, they all believed it. But Ethan Sullivan's judgment was the exact opposite: it wasn't a vengeful ghost.

He had seen the talismans the young cultivators had chosen—they were all spirit-repelling types, and the entire east hall was so tightly covered that not even a breeze could get through. If it really were a vengeful ghost, the talismans would have immediately ignited with green fire upon its entry, not remained as still as they were now.