Chapter 1250: Why Did You Lose Twice in a Row?

But the firelight also illuminated its peculiar expression:

Wait, why hasn't the guillotine dropped yet?

Is the mechanism stuck?

It was an antique from thousands of years ago; it was a wonder it still worked at all. What was so strange about it occasionally getting stuck? It quickly reached out and fiddled with the mechanism again.

The guillotine above remained motionless.

He and Dong, standing opposite, watched it with calm composure, not showing any of Fu Liushan's urgency.

They knew already? Without a word, the Ghost King Xuanlu turned and ran towards the light source at the exit.

Its reaction was both swift and accurate.

These few individuals were formidable opponents. With the mechanism failing, its only option was to escape.

But just as it was about to reach the exit, the faint light there suddenly vanished!

It was as if someone had suddenly cut off the light source, plunging the entire Budunghavani Garden into pitch-black darkness.

“No…” The Ghost King Xuanlu leaped upwards, but instead of reaching the cave's entrance, it crashed into a thick stone wall.

Even it, a ghost, could feel the chilling cold of the stone wall.

There was no way forward; it was trapped!

“Damn it! A trap—” Dong Rui’s mocking voice came from behind. “—for you!”

Light reappeared in the dark chamber: the opponent's monkey had produced two glowing spores.

The Ghost King Xuanlu’s face was illuminated, making it appear even paler.

Dong Rui's smile was even more sinister and triumphant than its own had been moments before.

“Where is this?” The Ghost King Xuanlu looked around frantically, its gaze darting about. “This isn't Budunghavani Garden!”

It was utterly bewildered: “Where was the flaw in my disguise?! How could you possibly have seen through it?!”

It had tormented the short-lived ghost with the severed arm for eighty years, observing its state and how it cried and wailed in pain countless times. It had learned the behavior so perfectly that its imitation was uncanny.

So deeply immersed in the role, it even felt as if it *was* the severed-arm ghost itself, deeply feeling its own misery.

Moreover, to earn their trust, it had even actively helped them avoid several traps along the way, such as the guillotine.

How could this person named He have discerned the truth?!

He Lingchuan simply uttered three words: “Guangming Well.”

The Ghost King Xuanlu tilted its head, and Fu Liushan couldn't help but ask, “What about Guangming Well?”

He had heard every word the evil ghost had said during its disguise earlier. Had he missed any crucial information?

He Lingchuan slowly said to the Ghost King, “After you brought that short-lived ghost into the underground palace, it was kept in a cage. How could it know how many exits this palace has? And how could it know that the route to track the Ghost King would definitely pass through Guangming Well?”

Dong Rui and Fu Liushan exchanged a glance, a realization dawning on them.

That's right, the severed-arm ghost had said earlier, “We’ll pass by Guangming Well soon.”

At that time, it was clearly still confined to a cage and shouldn't have known the Ghost King’s whereabouts. How could it have known the path would lead past Guangming Well?

Unless it intended to lead them there all along.

He Lingchuan had something else he hadn't mentioned:

When he encountered the underground current, he released his eyeball spider.

The little spider followed the water upstream and discovered a collapse near the surface. Humans couldn't get through, but its small size allowed it to squeeze through cracks and climb to the surface.

If it could squeeze out, why couldn't the Ghost King, in its ghostly form, exit from there? Why did it have to go through Guangming Well?

Fu Liushan had also tested with talismans: the severed-arm ghost had not been imprinted with a soul lamp.

In the Ghost King’s lair, what kind of ghostly entity wouldn’t need to be imprinted with a soul lamp?

Besides the caged ghost, which it tormented for amusement, there was only the Ghost King itself!

“Furthermore, after eighty years of insane torment in a sunless dungeon, the severed-arm ghost’s mental state couldn't possibly be so stable,” He Lingchuan said, slowly drawing his knife. “What was its true condition before you devoured it?”

The severed-arm ghost had wept, pleaded, and volunteered itself before them. While its story sounded tragic, its speech was coherent, and its demeanor was remarkably stable. How to put it—

It was, in short, a remarkably normal ghost.

He Lingchuan believed that if he himself had been imprisoned and tortured for eighty years, he certainly wouldn't have appeared so composed.

The Ghost King Xuanlu's face darkened.

Before it devoured the severed-arm ghost, the ghost had already gone insane. It would simply shake its head, dodge, and shriek whenever it saw the Ghost King, unable to understand human speech or communicate at all.

This had made tormenting it rather dull for the Ghost King, no longer as entertaining as before.

But its identity could be exploited, so after devouring it, the Ghost King impersonated the descendant of its own enemy, luring these sworn enemies into its trap.

What was the result? These individuals had taken the bait, but not entirely; instead, they had outsmarted it.

Dong Rui chuckled, “My apologies, but none of your arrangements in Budunghavani Garden came into play!”

With its mouth full of sharp teeth grinding audibly, Xuanlu hissed, “Where exactly is this place?!”

Its connection to its imps and zombie puppets had been severed, which was inconceivable. Unless the opponents possessed great power to cut off spells, it meant that neither it nor its enemies were in the underground palace space anymore.

This meant it was now completely isolated, with no subordinates for backup, no zombie puppets to command. It had to face three opponents as a lone ghost!

How could it possibly win, especially when among them was—

As if hearing its thoughts, He Lingchuan strode forward, and the Dragon Roar Armor automatically affixed itself to him.

The Black-Armored God of Slaughter, whom the Ghost King Xuanlu most hated and despised, had appeared.

“This armor, this blade, neither likes you,” He Lingchuan said, lightly flicking the blade. Fusheng hummed softly, a sound of slaughter. “Third time’s the charm; it’s time to end this!”

From the moment he drew his blade, the Ghost King Xuanlu felt a shiver deep in its soul, as if the knife was even more terrifying than the Rakshasa Armor.

“Wait!” It quickly waved its hand. “Why must we fight to the death?!”

Dong Rui chuckled, “What 'fight to the death'? There's only one outcome: your death!”

“If you let me live today, I can sign a contract with you!” the Ghost King Xuanlu quickly offered. “The masters of the Rakshasa Armor have always been ambitious and warlike! As long as you sign a contract with me, your army will never lack disciplined, fearless elites!”

“You should know how important an elite vanguard is in an army, and how difficult it is to select such a force,” it continued in one breath. “With my help, you could acquire such elites effortlessly!”

The moment the Rakshasa Armor appeared, Fu Liushan was startled.

This... he'd already put it on?

He had worried that He Lingchuan would be swayed, as all previous masters of the Rakshasa Armor had revered martial prowess above all else, and such assistance was too valuable to refuse.

Moreover, he had witnessed the Ghost King Xuanlu’s manipulation techniques; the elite vanguard controlled by it indeed possessed formidable combat strength.

However, He Lingchuan remained unmoved. He drew the Fusheng blade, filling the chamber with a cold gleam. “If such methods were effective, why did you lose to the Rakshasa Armor twice?”

He already possessed the best; why would he settle for less?

The Ghost King Xuanlu dodged left and right, evading three strikes. It was a spirit body, but the Fusheng blade's aura still caused it a faint, stinging pain. The last strike directly pierced its right arm, making it roar in agony.