Edward Grant had previously gone through a fierce fight—his clothes were already tattered and stained with blood. After crawling and rolling through the mountains and forests for so many days, he was filthy beyond recognition, looking every bit the wandering vagabond of the martial world.

　　Old Butler smiled and said, “The long night stretches on, and with nothing to do, how about we each share a few interesting tales of the strange and supernatural?”

　　Seeing no one object, Old Butler chuckled, “Since that’s the case, this old man will go first.

　　There’s a legend in my hometown: when you sleep, if you place your shoes at the foot of the bed—one facing forward, one backward—it wards off evil spirits. That’s because ghosts determine the direction of the bed by the orientation of the shoes, and then climb onto the bed. If the shoes are mismatched, the ghost can’t find the bed.

　　A woman once heard this legend and joked about it with her husband late at night. Her husband scolded her, saying it was all nonsense.

　　When her husband went to the outhouse, the woman, just for fun, placed the shoes under the bed—one forward, one backward.

　　When her husband returned, he didn’t get into bed. Instead, he circled around the bed, muttering, ‘Where’s the bed?’”

　　Old Butler’s story was short, and not particularly terrifying in its telling, but it left a lingering sense of unease. It made Emily Foster of the Qingyuan Sword Sect inch ever closer to her senior brother.

　　At this moment, Benjamin Harris said, “Allow me to share a little story as well.

　　You’ve probably all heard the phrase ‘to act as an accomplice to a tiger.’ The word ‘accomplice’ here refers to a ghostly servant.

　　Legend has it that those eaten by tigers cannot reincarnate; their souls become ghostly servants, helping the tiger lure in travelers.

　　When a tiger eats someone, it gains a new ghostly servant and only then releases the previous one.”

　　Emily Foster wrinkled her nose and said, “That’s so wicked! It’s bad enough they died, but then they help the tiger that killed them to harm others.”

　　Benjamin Harris gently shook his head and said, “Every man for himself, or heaven and earth will destroy him.

　　If they don’t help the tiger kill, they’ll never reincarnate. People are selfish by nature—who can say that, if they became a ghostly servant, they’d willingly suffer eternal damnation rather than harm others?”

　　Andrew Morgan snorted disdainfully, “Cowardice is just cowardice. You scholars always have to come up with so many excuses.”

　　Sensing the atmosphere growing tense, Old Butler quickly interjected, “It’s just a story, no need to take it seriously.

　　Little Grant, you’ve wandered the martial world—do you have any interesting stories to share with us?”

　　Edward Grant shook his head and said, “Wandering the world, survival is what matters most. I don’t have that many interesting tales.”

　　Having only just crossed over a few days ago, what stories could Edward Grant possibly have? Was he supposed to tell them about some mountain village corpse legend?

　　Andrew Morgan waved his hand grandly, “The stories you tell are all so dull. Let me tell you something exciting.

　　Have you heard of the wolf bandits of the northern desert? Each one of them is a ruthless killer, merciless and brutal, leaving no survivors when they rob and murder.

　　Three years ago, I ventured alone into the northern desert, fought the wolf bandits in a battle that shook the heavens and earth, and single-handedly took down an entire stronghold.”

　　His junior sister Emily Foster asked in surprise, “But, senior brother, didn’t you say before that three years ago you were in Jiangnan? How did you end up in the northern desert?”

　　Andrew Morgan glared at her, “Your senior brother made a quick trip to the northern desert to punish evil—what’s wrong with that?”

　　“Oh, okay.” Emily Foster nodded obediently.

　　Andrew Morgan continued gesturing animatedly, “And then, a year ago at the ancient battlefield ruins in Haitian County, there was an evil cultivator practicing corpse refinement, turning countless buried corpses into zombies. Even the Nightwatch Division couldn’t handle it.

　　As it happened, I was in Haitian County at the time. A chief commander from the Nightwatch Division personally came to ask for my help.

　　How could a chivalrous hero like me stand by and do nothing? So I grabbed two swords and charged into the horde of corpses, hacking from the east gate to the west gate, back and forth for three days and nights. Heads rolled everywhere, but I just kept swinging my swords—both blades were nicked and dulled, and I didn’t even blink an eye!

　　In the end, with my help, the Nightwatch Division finally subdued that evil cultivator.”

　　Emily Foster rested her chin in her hand and asked doubtfully, “Senior brother, our Qingyuan Sword Sect doesn’t have a dual-sword technique. Why did you use two swords?

　　And master always said our Qingyuan Cold Light Sword is all about agility and striking vital points. Why were you hacking at people with your sword?”

　　After being exposed twice, Andrew Morgan was about to lose his mind.

　　“Why are your questions so strange, junior sister? Shouldn’t you be amazed at how brave I was, or at how terrifying those zombies were?”

　　As he spoke, Andrew Morgan kept gesturing:

　　“I’m telling you, those zombies had heads of bronze and bodies of iron, able to withstand blades and swords with their flesh. If you got scratched or bitten by their claws, you’d be instantly infected with corpse poison.

　　I’ve heard that some zombies have a very strange corpse poison—if you get bitten, you’ll slowly turn from a living person into a zombie yourself!”

　　Andrew Morgan deliberately used a spooky tone to create a sense of horror. Just then, a series of violent knocks suddenly sounded at the door of the mountain god temple, making Andrew Morgan shudder in fright.

　　No one knew when, but outside the mountain god temple, dozens of strange figures had appeared. In the firelight, their bodies looked stiff, some with crooked heads and twisted limbs.