Chapter 448: A Chinese Ghost Story – Nie Xiaoqian
Before even entering [Lanruo Temple], the Navy Alliance team had already acquired rare items like the staff and the heartwood.
That made them all the more eager to see what kinds of monsters awaited them inside the temple.
A forest of withered trees stretched before them, the ground blanketed in rotting yellow leaves.
They pushed through layers of tall, barren trunks until a dilapidated temple emerged into view.
Outside the temple,
The five did not rush in immediately. Instead, they paused to consider the task given by Lord Ning.
"Have we collected enough Ghost Tree Hearts?"
"We've got fifty so far. Ghost Tree Demons are tough, and now have energy resistance—but they're still not a threat to us."
All the collected Ghost Tree Hearts were stored in Akainu's inventory.
Along the way, they had hunted about two hundred of the demons. While the hearts weren't guaranteed drops, the drop rate was high enough.
Orochimaru stuck out his tongue and brought up a concern. "Haven't you noticed? Lord Ning's quest seems... too simple."
"Old man doesn't like to think too hard," Borsalino muttered as he bent down, sweeping his Radiant Spear in a wide arc behind him, slicing an ambushing Ghost Tree Demon clean in half.
Plop.
Another Ghost Tree Heart dropped to the ground.
These quest items didn't appear as treasure chests—they just fell to the ground upon death.
Borsalino tossed the heart to Akainu. "At our current pace, we'll finish the task before dawn. Then we go back and claim help from a dark-gold-tier boss?"
Smoker frowned. Something about this didn't sit right with him.
In the Samsara Game, everything operated on equivalent exchange. The better the treasure chest, the stronger the monster required to earn it.
For a top-tier team like theirs, this quest was too easy. That in itself was suspicious.
"Also... that old woman Orochimaru killed earlier—she seemed to be hiding something."
"In that case, I suggest we first explore Lanruo Temple, investigate the Ghost Tree Demons and the temple itself…"
That would help them deduce Lord Ning's true intentions.
Better than being tricked.
Lord Ning was the [Demonic Robe Scholar], after all—a powerful and intelligent dark boss. Not someone any of them could fully trust.
"I second that," Garp said without much thought. He wasn't good at scheming, and he knew it.
Smoker nodded solemnly and stepped forward, taking the lead.
Death Fog...
A wave of purple-red mist began to spread through the dead forest.
Trees, rocks, and even wandering Ghost Tree Demons caught in the mist began to corrode, as if soaked in acid.
This large-scale toxic fog functioned like a detection skill. Any living being it touched would transmit information directly back to Smoker's mind.
Roar...
A Ghost Tree Demon flailed its branches, trying to disperse the mist—but instead, the swirling toxin took on the shape of a venomous dragon and viciously latched onto the creature.
"Finally using your real skills, eh? Admiral Smoker, the Venom Dragon..."
Orochimaru chuckled, his eyes narrowing to slits to conceal the dangerous light within them.
"This way."
Smoker closed his eyes, absorbing the flood of data from the Death Fog.
Half a minute later, his eyes snapped open. He bypassed the temple's decayed front wall and led the group into the rear courtyard.
"Here."
As Smoker finished speaking,
Garp leapt forward and smashed through the courtyard wall with a single punch.
They entered Lanruo Temple's rear garden.
Following Smoker's senses, they stopped beside a massive peach tree.
"I sense something buried here, connected to the ghost woman from before."
The tree was unnaturally large.
Its thick trunk was covered in cracked, dark-red bark—as if it had been soaked in blood and dried. Its upper branches spread outward like a giant hand.
The whole thing looked like a crimson limb clawing its way out of the earth.
"Found it…"
Orochimaru understood instantly. He summoned two necrotic curse snakes, which slithered into the soil and began to dig.
Soon, they unearthed a black ceramic urn, about the size of a human head.
[Nie Xiaoqian's Ash Urn]: Contains the ashes of the deceased. Can house a ghost spirit.
Hint: Consuming 20,000 reward points and offering a personal belonging of the urn's owner will allow you to summon their spirit.
"Twenty thousand reward points."
Without hesitation, Akainu retrieved the embroidered sachet left behind by the old woman and placed it into the urn.
The sachet vanished inside.
A faint wind began to blow.
The shattered ghost spirit of the old woman began to reassemble over the urn, forming a shimmering figure.
[Nie Xiaoqian].
This apparition was no longer the hunched, grotesque old woman they had encountered earlier.
Her brocade robes now fit her perfectly, her features delicate and pale, exuding a soft elegance.
But—
None of the five showed the slightest interest in her beauty. Garp was obsessed with training, Borsalino just wanted to kill the Tree Demon Matriarch and clock out, Orochimaru was already thinking about dissecting the ghost for research, Akainu was focused on becoming Fleet Admiral, and Smoker frowned at her revealing outfit—declaring it unworthy of justice.
Seeing their cold indifference,
Tears welled in the ghost's eyes. She knelt like a willowy girl in the wind and said gently, "Thank you all for rescuing me... and freeing me from Lord Ning's control."
Orochimaru ignored her posture entirely and smiled. "Tell us everything you know."
"Yes."
She began to explain.
Gradually, the team learned the truth about this pocket dimension.
"My name is Nie Xiaoqian. In life, I was the daughter of a government official. I was attacked by bandits while traveling and died beneath the roots of the Tree Demon Matriarch beneath Lanruo Temple. Since then, I've been used to drain the life force from men."
"Half a year ago, a scholar stumbled into Lanruo Temple…"
According to the River of Fate, this scholar—named Ning Caichen—was supposed to form a bond with the ghost Nie Xiaoqian, and they would eventually fall in love and stay together.
But fate had been derailed.
Ning had been seduced by the ghost and had his life force drained. Only the intervention of a Taoist swordsman named Yan Chixia saved him from immediate death, though he was left with severely shortened life.
Yan Chixia battled the Tree Demon Matriarch to the brink of death. Eventually, both combatants lay near-death.
Ning Caichen was the only one left able to move. The peach tree was withering. Yan Chixia, gravely injured, could barely breathe.
The Tree Demon Matriarch promised Ning treasures, beauty, and more... in exchange for killing the incapacitated Taoist.
Yan Chixia, even in his weakened state, pleaded with Ning to do the right thing—burn the peach tree and destroy the Tree Demon Matriarch for good.
Orochimaru sneered. "And Ning accepted the demon's offer, didn't he? Killed Yan Chixia?"
He never trusted people. Only the dead were loyal.
"No…"
Nie Xiaoqian gently shook her head.
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