In truth, the Five Ghosts had no concrete form.
They were like the faint glow of fireflies, incapable of human speech.
Lin Mo recited the birthdates of those individuals.
"Find the locations of these three for me!"
Five clusters of light floated in midair, as if finally locking onto a target, then darted off in a single direction.
Lin Mo immediately summoned a gust beneath his feet, using Divine Movement to follow.
As expected, the Five Ghosts flew toward the surrounding mountains.
Given the timing, the criminals were likely still traversing the rugged terrain, and Lin Mo's task was to locate them.
And then kill them.
As a child, Lin Mo had quite enjoyed Batman and Superman.
But he never quite understood why Batman refused to kill those homicidal maniacs, instead locking them away in asylums.
Yet those asylums couldn’t hold them, so the criminals always escaped.
Each breakout resulted in the deaths of guards and countless civilians.
And Batman remained steadfast in his no-kill rule.
Lin Mo often thought that if Batman truly existed, he’d kill Batman first, then slaughter every escaped criminal.
Because back then, he was just an ordinary person.
As for the Joker?
Let’s see if you can still laugh when I blow your head off.
Along the way, Lin Mo’s mind wandered through countless thoughts.
Among superheroes, his favorite had always been a character named Rorschach.
Not because he agreed with the character’s philosophy, but because he admired his methods.
If you encounter evil, eradicate it.
Lin Mo’s earlier hesitation gradually hardened into resolve.
—System: My adorable host, what kind of superhero act are you putting on?—
Wu Zongshan stretched beyond the mountains.
In the pitch-black expanse of the hills, beams from flashlights cut through the dense forest.
"Brother Ma, what do we do now? We’ve got the money, but we can’t spend it, and we’re stuck in this godforsaken place."
"Enough talking. Just keep moving. If the cops find us, we’re done for."
The silent man among them spoke coldly, "Head downhill first. If we find a house, we go in."
The youngest of the trio shot him a resentful look.
"And what if there are people inside? Kill them too?"
His fear was obvious.
The silent man didn’t respond, continuing his descent.
Brother Ma, however, stepped in to mediate.
"There’s no turning back for us now. What’s the difference between killing once or twice? If we’re caught, the outcome’s the same. But we need rest."
The three had been trekking for a full day and night, utterly exhausted.
All they wanted was shelter.
But three men descending a mountain to seek lodging was impossible.
They weren’t foolish enough to check into a hotel—they’d be arrested the moment they stepped inside.
Brother Ma took a deep breath.
"Keep moving. We’ll be down soon. Just find a remote house to hole up in for the night."
The silent man couldn’t hold back. "Find one with people. Otherwise, there’s no food."
Brother Ma waved a hand dismissively, his expression now one of reckless indifference.
"Fine, fine. At this point, it doesn’t matter anymore."
Their pace quickened as they skirted the mountainside, spotting a faint light in the distance.
"Lights! There are lights! We’re almost there," Brother Ma said excitedly.
However, at that moment, a voice rang out.
"Indeed, congratulations—your time of death has arrived."
"Who's there?!"
Brother Ma pulled out a hammer from his chest, its surface still stained with dark blood.
Another man also drew a knife from his robes.
They both tensely scanned the direction of the voice.
A flock of crows suddenly took flight, their shrill cries causing the youngest of the three to drop to the ground, covering his head in terror.
Brother Ma couldn’t help but stride over and kick him.
"Useless coward! Get up!"
Lin Mo stood atop a tree branch, observing the three men below.
The calmest was the knife-wielding man, his eyes gleaming with ferocity. Despite his exhaustion, his grip on the blade remained unshaken.
The trio cautiously surveyed their pitch-black surroundings.
Though each held a flashlight, the dim beams offered no comfort.
Hiss—hiss—
Something slithered across the ground.
"B-Brother Ma!" The youngest man’s voice trembled as his gaze locked onto the earth.
"What?!" Brother Ma followed the light.
Dozens of snakes, their scales glistening in the mud, were inching closer.
Their vibrant colors made one thing clear—these were no ordinary serpents.
"H-how are there so many snakes?!"
The young man’s composure shattered. Ignoring the others, he turned and bolted—only to trip over something unseen, crashing face-first into the dirt.
His flashlight revealed a massive python coiled at his feet.
"Help! Somebody hel—"
Before he could finish, a red-and-green viper struck his neck, fangs sinking into his artery.
The venom spread unnaturally fast. His pupils dilated, foam bubbling at his lips.
"M-mom... I regr—"
His final word died in his throat as his head lolled, lifeless.
Brother Ma glanced at the corpse. Unaware the young man was already dead, he rushed over to drag him up—only for something slick to coil around his arm.
Then his legs.
Snakes ensnared him completely.
The knife-wielder fought back fiercely, seizing one serpent’s head and slicing it clean off with his blade.
But one kill meant nothing against the horde.
Soon, he too collapsed.
Only after all three had succumbed to the venom did the snakes disperse.
Lin Mo emerged from the forest.
Without a word, he commanded the woodland creatures to push the bodies down the mountainside.
By the time villagers discovered them, the case would be closed.
As he observed the corpses, wisps of black light rose from their forms.
Souls.
Fledgling spirits not yet turned to ghosts.
Lin Mo raised a hand, and the three souls gathered in his palm.
"System, I’ve decided. I’ll forge a Banner of Ten Thousand Souls as my lifebound artifact."
[Host, what is a Banner of Ten Thousand Souls?]
"Seriously? You call yourself the Invincible Cultivation System and don’t know the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls? It’s—wait, no. Not that. The proper name is the Banner of the Human Sovereign."
[Host, is this ‘Banner of the Human Sovereign’ the thing that spews endless black smoke?]
"What black smoke? Don’t you know anything? The Banner of the Human Emperor should obviously emit golden light."
[Whatever you say, Host.]
"Now the question is—how exactly do we forge this Banner of the Human Emperor?"
with countless casualties. As a top-tier gamer, Liu Xuan volunteered to join the fight, intending to dominate with his skills, but instead he obtained the hidden class: [Pacifist]. Unable to attack. Unable to use active skills. Fortunately, with each level gained, he acquired a new passive skill. And so, armed with a body full of passives, Liu Xuan slaughtered his way through the battlefield of ten thousand races! [You attacked Liu Xuan] [You gained the debuffs: 'Poison', 'Fear', 'Burning', 'Bleeding', 'Freeze', 'Silence', etc.] [Your attack speed has been reduced by 99%] [Your armor and magic resistance have been reduced by 99%] Warriors of the Ten Thousand Races: How the hell am I supposed to fight this?!
d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
