Chapter 2472 — A Fright for Everyone

"I do not know. You may try, but if you die, you will not come back to life," Jiao Yazi said.

"..." Wei Zhao was speechless.

"Eh? Where am I?" Suddenly, Wei Zhao heard Wang Xinyan's astonished voice...

Wei Zhao hurriedly returned from the space of the jade pendant to the outside, only to see a completely different scene! The desolate village was still that same desolate village, the skeleton on the ground was still there, and the small bag Wei Zhao had emptied was still there as well—only the scene behind him had changed beyond recognition!

Not far away were Han Jingyi, You Panhu, Kang Jinglong, and also Huang Mao and Zi Mao, and faintly the lights of the expedition vehicle could be seen in the distance. This place had returned entirely to normal, no longer in its former illusory state.

Beside him, Wang Xinyan was at that moment looking around with a puzzled gaze, but when she saw Wei Zhao standing right beside her, she suddenly let out a breath of relief.

"Xinyan, are you all right?" Wei Zhao asked hurriedly.

"I... I am fine..." Wang Xinyan shook her head and said, somewhat strangely, "Wei Zhao, I remember getting out of the car just now, and after that I do not remember anything. How did we walk so far? And on the ground... why is there a skull?"

Wang Xinyan was, after all, a medical student. Though seeing a skull frightened her a little, it was not enough to make her legs go weak.

"It is fine. We ran into a ghost wall earlier and could not get out, but now it is all over..." Wei Zhao said. "Let us go. We should head back."

"A ghost wall?" Wang Xinyan's heart gave a jolt. She remembered nothing of what had happened before, and now it seemed certain that nothing good had occurred.

"Yes, haha, but it was nothing. It is all over now." Wei Zhao did not want to explain too much to Wang Xinyan, lest she be frightened and overthink things. After all, Wang Xinyan had earlier lost her mind, so she had experienced comparatively little of these terrifying things.

"All right." Wang Xinyan did not want to stay in this haunted place either, and nodded.

Han Jingyi and the others were also quite astonished. Earlier they had watched Wei Zhao walk off, and then in an instant he had vanished from sight; now, all at once, Wei Zhao could be seen again, and they were taken aback.

Wei Zhao and Wang Xinyan walked over. Kang Jinglong sat on the ground, still ashen-faced and not yet on his feet, while You Panhu was looking at the suddenly changed scenery nearby with some astonishment, uncertain and alarmed.

"Where is that ghost?" You Panhu glanced at Wei Zhao.

"I scared it off." Wei Zhao clearly did not wish to explain further—the matter of the jade pendant was all the more something he could not tell You Panhu!

In truth, even now Wei Zhao had not recovered from the shock. The jade pendant had always been his greatest secret; apart from himself, only Jiao Yazi, who was part of it, knew. How this ghostly thing had come to know was simply inconceivable.

What was most terrifying was that it could also enter, and had taken up residence inside, leaving Wei Zhao utterly helpless.

"Scared it off?" You Panhu was stunned. "You scared it off?"

"Yes. That ghostly thing fears elixir fire. The moment I condensed elixir fire, it fled. Actually, you could have scared it off too," Wei Zhao said.

"...Then why did you not say so earlier..." You Panhu was somewhat speechless. Had he known, he would not have been so afraid, and would not have had his calves cramping for so long for nothing.

"I had not tested it out earlier either," Wei Zhao said. "All right, let us go back. That Zi Mao subordinate of yours is probably about to die, is he not?"

"He is all right. I gave him a Small Return Elixir. His injuries are all external; once they are under control, he will be fine." You Panhu answered Wei Zhao's question with surprising honesty. The earlier situation had frightened him badly; if not for Wei Zhao, it was hard to say whether any of them could have gotten out.

Moreover, Old Master You had instructed him before that Wei Zhao could even wound a Heaven-tier expert, so You Panhu was still very much in fear of him.

"Sister Xinyan, are you all right?" Han Jingyi looked Wang Xinyan up and down, somewhat surprised, for Wang Xinyan showed not the slightest trace of fright. It seemed there was some inside story here that she did not know.

"I am fine, quite well." Wang Xinyan smiled. She had indeed been the least frightened; from the beginning she had never seen that ghostly thing, and only woke up when it burrowed into Wei Zhao's jade pendant.

"Oh, that is good then." Han Jingyi nodded.

Only then did Kang Jinglong climb up from the ground. He glanced silently at Wei Zhao and Wang Xinyan, and immediately his face reddened with embarrassment.

It had been his idea to get out of the car and explore this place, and in the end they had run into a ghost—and he was the first to be so frightened that his legs went weak. Meanwhile Wei Zhao, whom he had always mocked, had rushed forward the instant Wang Xinyan was in trouble.

Who was strong and who was weak was plain at a glance. Kang Jinglong was consumed with shame and indignation, and now he made no sound at all, not daring to put on airs before Wei Zhao anymore!

The group walked silently toward the expedition vehicle, each understanding without saying a word, when suddenly a skull came flying through the air toward Kang Jinglong!

Kang Jinglong had just been scared out of his wits. Although Wei Zhao said he had frightened the ghost away, Kang Jinglong was still trembling and had not come back to himself. Now a skull suddenly flew at him, and it frightened him out of his soul; he let out a shrill, miserable scream: "Awooo..."

Wang Xinyan had been walking quietly at Wei Zhao's side with her head down. Suddenly hearing Kang Jinglong's scream, she was startled, and when she looked up she saw the skull flying through the air, and with a cry of "Ah!" she instinctively threw herself into Wei Zhao's arms...

Wei Zhao was not afraid. He was not even afraid of that ghostly thing that had surpassed the Heaven tier, so how could he fear a flying skull? But with a beauty in his arms, Wei Zhao was naturally glad to let nature take its course. He caught Wang Xinyan and said to her, "Do not be afraid. It is all right..."

"Meow..." A cat's cry broke the crowd's terror. When the skull came closer, Kang Jinglong finally saw clearly—where was this a flying skull, for heaven's sake? It was plainly a cat, with a skull somehow perched on its head!

Only, the cat was black, not especially clear in the dark night, and invisible from a distance. If one did not look carefully, one really would think it was a flying skull!

"My heavens! Scared me to death!" Kang Jinglong caught his breath and patted his chest.

You Panhu was somewhat speechless. If not for Kang Jinglong making a fuss over nothing, he would not have been frightened along with him.

As for Wang Xinyan, at that moment she was blushing and trying to struggle out of Wei Zhao's embrace, but Wei Zhao held her tightly, so that she struggled once and could not break free. Only then did she say, "Wei Zhao..."

"Ah, haha, sorry. I was frightened too, and could not help holding you tight!" Wei Zhao awkwardly released Wang Xinyan and said with a laugh.