「Sometime before the battle between Yuan Luàn and Boku」

「Thonburi Square」

The square was buzzing with the clamor of a huge crowd.

A statue of the King of Thonburi of Tai Lan Country stood in the square.

The Zhengwang Festival was dedicated to commemorating the King of Thonburi, making the square a natural gathering spot for the city’s residents.

Amidst the crowd, Ghost Night looked just like an ordinary tourist. He appeared to be of South Indian descent, his body covered in large tattoos. Dressed in a hoodie and jeans, he had a distinct hip-hop vibe. He stood on a high point at the edge of the square, surveying the scene below. His gaze fell upon a dense sea of people.

’So many people,’ he mused. ’Since it’s the Zhengwang Festival for the King of Thonburi, making a mess here in Thonburi Square is the obvious move. That idiot whose brain’s been eaten away by disease would never have come up with such a great idea...’

’The square is pretty big. My ability will have trouble covering the entire area. But that’s fine. It’s nighttime. Even if they get outside my magnetic field’s range, the effect should last for an hour or so. Hmm... I’m not the Feathered Serpent Primordial Ancestor, after all...’

Gazing at the lively scene in the square, Ghost Night broke into a satisfied smile. He casually took a final drag from his cigarette, then flicked the glowing butt away. A strange light glinted in his eyes.

Under the dim lights, his shadow began to writhe rapidly, as if something were struggling to break free from within.

Eventually, three long, slender shadows detached from his own. They suddenly swelled, becoming three tangible, three-dimensional beings, no longer confined to a two-dimensional world.

They looked like three long serpents. However, unlike ordinary snakes, two pairs of wing-like appendages grew from their sides, right where their hearts would be.

This was the manifestation of Ghost Night’s special Magnetic Field Ability: the Feathered Serpent Shadow.

"Go. Reap these ignorant souls."

Ghost Night murmured the words, and the three Feathered Serpent Shadows immediately shot toward the crowd in the square at incredible speed.

Soon, one of the Feathered Serpent Shadows reached the edge of the crowd.

The Feathered Serpent Shadow moved so fast, and the crowd was so raucous, that people only perceived a fleeting shadow, unable to make out what it was.

In an instant, the Feathered Serpent Shadow burrowed into the body of a middle-aged man who had brought his six-year-old daughter to the square.

How could an ordinary person’s body possibly withstand the immense Magnetic Field Power carried by a Feathered Serpent Shadow formed from that same special power?

Almost instantly, the man’s bodily magnetic field was destroyed. His internal organs failed, his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed heavily to the ground, silent and still.

"Daddy? Daddy, what’s wrong? Are you tired? If you’re tired, I can rub your legs for you, okay?"

"Daddy? Daddy, why aren’t you saying anything?"

The six-year-old girl walked over to the man, shaking his arm, confused and at a loss. When she received no response, her big eyes slowly filled with tears.

"A sudden illness?"

"Quick! Call an ambulance!"

...

The surrounding crowd had also noticed something was wrong with the man. A good Samaritan had already pulled out their phone to call for an ambulance.

But in the next moment, a sight no one could have ever imagined unfolded before their eyes.

A semi-transparent... something... seemed to float out of the lifeless man’s body.

The translucent, ethereal form gradually took shape, and it looked identical to the man himself.

It was...

An unnatural dread gripped the crowd. Everyone but the little girl began to back away frantically.

’A soul? A ghost?’

The next moment, the man’s apparition snapped its eyes open.

There was no trace of sentience in those eyes. The irises, the pupils, the whites—everything was pitch-black, filled with malice and resentment.

It immediately fixed its gaze on the little girl beside it and lunged, thrusting its hands forward.

Now composed of a magnetic field under the influence of Ghost Night’s special ability, the man’s hands passed through the girl’s physical body without obstruction, reaching her internal organs and destroying their magnetic field structure.

THUD!!

The whites of the little girl’s eyes showed, and she slowly collapsed.

"A ghost!!"

Witnessing this, the crowd erupted in screams. They fled as if they had gone mad, desperate to escape the horrifying scene.

As the crowd scattered in a panic, a black shadow suddenly shot out of the man’s corpse and lunged toward another target.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

One by one, people in the crowd collapsed. Faint, translucent apparitions floated up from their corpses and, like ghosts filled with infinite malice and resentment, pounced on the living around them. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Thought, wisdom, life—all were nothing more than constructs of a magnetic field.

Feathered Serpent Shadow. Any life-form killed by this ability would be influenced by Ghost Night’s special magnetic field. Their crucial magnetic-field information would be temporarily preserved, separated from the physical body, and would possess certain "living" characteristics. They became a part of Ghost Night’s magnetic field, subject to his control and command.

During the day, this effect only worked within the range of his magnetic field. At night, however, the effect could persist for an hour or even longer, even after the victims left the field’s range.

This ability was the foundation for all of Ghost Night’s other, more incredible Magnetic Field Abilities.

Ghost Night called himself the messenger of death, but within the Celestial Organization, he had another title.

One of the Seven Mo Luo: Night Parade of Hundred Demons.

Standing in the dim light at the edge of the square, Ghost Night watched the scene unfold, one hand casually tucked in his pocket. He had already lit another cigarette.

Suddenly, his leisurely expression tensed. He glanced in a specific direction, from which he seemed to feel a probing gaze, locking onto him.

’The Buddhist Sect’s Celestial Eye? Is that the Monk King from the Jade Buddha Temple?’

He then saw helicopters rapidly approaching in the distant sky, and the source of the probing gaze seemed to be on one of them.

’Not going to be that easy, huh? Fine, I’ll play with you for a while.’

Ghost Night crushed out his cigarette, a smirk spreading across his face.

...

...

Just as the second of the Seven Mo Luo launched an attack on Banku, the Donghua Secret Inspection Bureau received intel from Tai Lan Country.

At that moment, a support team, long since prepared, was already on high alert. They weren’t in the country, but were positioned in the international waters surrounding Donghua.

Should a problem arise in East Luoni or other regions, they would be able to reach the country in question at a moment’s notice.