As long as you have the courage, fierce ghosts go on maternity leave.

Chapter 361: Three mental challenges

"You don’t know about Xiao fish?" Alexander’s expression turned puzzled.

It was surprising that the six women were unaware of Xiao fish, a common entity in the Horror World. Any ordinary ghost citizen in the Horror World would know about Xiao fish, an essential part of their survival. Each ghost dwelling typically had a well for Xiao fish.

The fact that these Guardians were unaware of such common knowledge was perplexing.

After all, the Mist World had invaded countless ghost cities; it seemed impossible that none of these cities had such wells. Even if the cities lacked wells, wouldn’t the absorbed ghost citizens know about Xiao fish?

"This place has a well!" Zoe exclaimed after a long pause, staring at the well that suddenly appeared before her. "When we first came in, we didn’t notice it. I thought you brought us here to help gather hell warriors!"

Everyone’s expressions changed at her words. Zoe and the others were Guardians, with senses and strengths far surpassing those of ordinary Ghost Emperors. Yet, they hadn’t noticed the well until Alexander pointed it out. This wasn’t something that could be easily explained by mere oversight or carelessness.

The situation seemed eerily familiar to Alexander, reminding him of the Graveyard District.

Back then, he hadn’t noticed anything strange in the district until after Sofia disappeared, which revealed the peculiarity of the place. The similarity to the current scenario was striking.

"Could it be..." As Alexander pondered, Louis and the others seemed to realize something, their expressions showing sudden understanding.

"Have you figured out the reason?" Alexander quickly asked.

"Yes," Louis nodded. "The Chess Player, it must be them! Only they have the capability to do this."

"Chess Player?" This term was new to Alexander, and thinking it might relate to Sofia, he urgently asked, "Who are these Chess Player you speak of, and where are they now?"

"They are our... the Mist World’s archenemies!" Blood Clothes interjected. "And they are also the ones behind you! Where they are now, we don’t know. In fact, if we had found them by now, the entire Horror World would no longer exist!"

So it was related to Sofia. Alexander understood and couldn’t help asking, "If you haven’t had any contact with these Chess Player you mention, why are you helping me?"

Alexander had initially thought that these Guardians were swayed by Sofia, especially considering Blood Clothes’ past cohabitation and mother-daughter relationship with Sofia.

He couldn’t help but wonder.

However, seeing their apparent lack of knowledge, it seemed Sofia had kept other matters secret from Blood Clothes.

Perhaps all this was arranged by James? Could his so-called past life actually be James?

The timeline didn’t quite match up.

If it wasn’t necessary to save the red wine for his last-ditch talent revival, Alexander was almost tempted to drink a bottle and awaken those supposed past life memories.

"These are not things you need to know right now!" Louis seemed unwilling to continue this topic, saying, "Aren’t you going down to refine Ghost Pills? We’ll watch over here; you can go ahead without worries."

Alexander rolled his eyes at the strange way she phrased it and stopped dwelling on these issues. Overacting could lead to slips, after all. He turned and without hesitation, leaped into the well.

Instead of plunging into darkness, Alexander felt his surroundings twist and turn, as if enveloped by some liquid, and pushed forward by a great force.

...

"Master, wake up! Please wake up!" A voice called out amidst the confusion. Opening his eyes, Alexander saw a young female soldier in camouflage, holding a strange silver gun, smiling at him.

"Sofia?" Alexander exclaimed in shock, "How are you here?"

"Master, have you gone daft from exhaustion? It’s our turn for night duty!" Sofia extended her hand to his forehead, adding, "We better go change shifts, or the captain will scold us. I might be fine, but you, as the deputy leader, will definitely be punished!"

"Change shifts?" Alexander’s mind was still foggy as he looked around.

They were in a military camp surrounded by the darkness of night. This wasn’t the usual training camp but one on the front lines, with sturdy defenses built of steel and concrete, and barbed wire covering the entire base.

If not for the white, rune-inscribed bricks on the walls emitting a pale glow at intervals, Alexander would have thought he was back in a real-world military camp. But he was certain that nothing like this existed in his past or present life.

What surprised Alexander even more was the pale white mist flowing from the white bricks, spreading along the barbed wire and enveloping the entire base in a faint mist.

This mist was imbued with forbidden power!

...

Meanwhile, in a mysterious, sci-fi office, Sofia, dressed in military attire and identical to the girl next to Alexander on the screen, murmured as she watched the giant screen, "Master, it’s the final test! The three mental challenges you set up back then, can you overcome them now?"

Then, she smiled wistfully, shaking her head, "How could you not? After all, you are the person I admire the most. I believe you will become the ultimate sword-bearer. No one else is more deserving than you!"

"I feel like I just dozed off for a moment. How is it already time to switch shifts? Did something happen just now?" Walking behind Sofia, Alexander pretended to be disoriented and asked.

He was cautious because since arriving here, all his Ghost Energy had vanished, along with his skills, talents, and items. If not for the dizziness from passing through the bizarre tunnel, he might have thought he had traveled through time again, perhaps even soul-travelled.

Since it wasn’t soul-travel, and his powers mysteriously disappeared, Alexander could only think of one possibility – an illusion, a test of some kind.

Even if one doesn’t really die in an illusion, there’s likely a reward for passing the test. This reward might be the Xiao fish he needed to convert into Ghost Pills or something else, but it’s undoubtedly very important to him.

"Deputy leader Alexander, you must be tired from the daytime battle against the bug race," said a man in military uniform, carrying a silver gun. Along with Sofia, seven men and one woman were part of the team changing shifts with Alexander.

Sofia, concerned, asked, "Master, are you okay? Do you need to take a break? We can have Kalin cover for you for a while. He’s always been at odds with you, so you don’t need to worry about offending him further."

Everyone agreed with Sofia’s suggestion, clearly supportive of Alexander, likely his loyal team members. "No need, let’s go quickly so we don’t get talked about for being late," Alexander replied, trying to act natural. Everyone then quickened their pace.

Soon, the group of ten arrived at the massive wall constructed of reinforced concrete. They climbed the iron ladder to reach the top. The wall was several meters high and over ten meters wide, with a large platform like a beacon tower in the center of each side. Inside the wall was a huge barbed wire fence, and the outside was similarly fortified.

As soon as he climbed the wall, Alexander was stunned. What shocked him wasn’t the net covering the base hundreds of meters in diameter, but the black ground in front of the barbed wire wall, rising higher than a person, extending a hundred meters outwards.

The ground was entirely composed of densely packed corpses of black beetles.