Chapter 273: “Master and Servants’ Bond”

The moment Temple Keeper Huang held that massive flood dragon head in his hands, with foul-smelling blood still dripping from its severed neck, the four chang ghosts felt their thoughts momentarily freeze.

Never in their wildest dreams did they think they would one day witness their mighty master having his head severed with a single sword strike, left with no choice but to flee without resistance.

Their previous disdain for Temple Keeper Huang’s claim of a true immortal had now turned into a resounding slap across their own faces.

Now that Hei Shui had fled, his fate uncertain, the four chang ghosts, whose lives were tied to him, felt an unprecedented fear.

If Hei Shui died, they wouldn’t even need anyone to act against them—they would simply vanish into thin air.

Such was the fate of a chang ghost.

When the master died, they died too.

It wasn’t long before their expressions changed in unison. As they anxiously worried about Hei Shui, they suddenly felt the bond that connected them to their master sever.

Immediately after, a desperate roar echoed in their minds:

“Enter Northern Huangtian and report my death to the Flood Dragon Emperor!”

Hearing these words, the four chang ghosts trembled inwardly. They realized that, in his final moments, their master had returned their freedom to them.

And in his very last breath, he had given them one final task—to report his death to the Flood Dragon Emperor.

However, given their current state—having already sacrificed much of their cultivation—even escaping from under Temple Keeper Huang’s watchful eye was impossible, let alone contending with the terrifying Mr. Gu.

Even if their opponents allowed them to flee for an entire day and night, Mr. Gu could likely catch them in an instant.

[Our master is gone… yet in his final moments, he freed us…] The plump woman lowered her eyes, speaking to the other three chang ghosts through their shared mind link.

Hearing this, the other three struggled to suppress their emotions, afraid of betraying anything before the cunning yellow weasel before them.

The cart-pulling man responded: [What do we do now? The one who killed our master did so as easily as crushing an ant—we are just powerless ghosts now. We can’t possibly fight him!]

The butcher agreed: [I think the same. Forget Mr. Gu—even this wretched yellow-furred bastard is beyond us! We probably can’t even escape from his sight!]

[Wuuu—Master is gone—wuuu—but we’re free now!]

[As for Master’s last order, I say we forget about it. We’re in no position to deliver any message now!]

[Rather than that, we should be thinking about how to escape…]

The opera-dressed youth’s transmission still carried his habitual weeping tone, yet the other three could unmistakably hear the sheer joy within it.

To him, even though Hei Shui had returned his freedom at the very end, he simply couldn’t suppress his happiness long enough to grieve for his fallen master.

The cart-pulling man said: [How about this? We split up and run. The town is still in chaos—maybe one or two of us will make it out…]

The butcher agreed: [Sounds good. And as for whoever escapes… whether they deliver Hei Shui’s final message or not—well, I’ll just say this as a fellow chang ghost: it’s best not to.]

[Even if we somehow avoid Mr. Gu’s pursuit while heading to Northern Huangtian, even if we manage to stand before the Flood Dragon Emperor… Our master is dead. Delivering that news… probably wouldn’t end well for us.]

[In his rage, the Flood Dragon Emperor might just wipe us out with a flick of his hand…]

Hearing this, the chang ghosts fell silent. But they all understood that the butcher’s words were the truth.

After a long pause, the plump woman spoke: [Our master believed in us to the very end—he granted us our freedom. If we run now… are we really just going to abandon him completely?]

[At the very least… delivering his final message wouldn’t be that difficult…]

Yet the Lustful Ghost’s words received no response.

It seemed the other three had already made up their minds.

[In three breaths, we scatter!] The cart-pulling man sent out one final transmission.

Then, clasping his hands together, he turned to Temple Keeper Huang and spoke aloud:

“Temple Keeper Huang! I never expected that Mr. Gu’s strength would be so immense!”

“Would you be willing to put in a good word for us? Perhaps help plead for mercy—so that we might have a chance to reform ourselves?”

Hearing this, Temple Keeper Huang sneered, “Reform yourselves? Why don’t you go ask the people of Four Corners Town if they’re willing to give you that chance?”

“Besides, now that your master is dead, you chang ghosts will vanish soon anyway—what use is talking about redemption…”

Temple Keeper Huang’s voice abruptly cut off.

Before his eyes, three of the chang ghosts—excluding the Lustful Ghost—suddenly burst into motion, fleeing in different directions at incredible speed!

Despite supposedly losing their cultivation, the chang ghosts erupted with a speed that was no weaker than during their peak!

For a moment, Temple Keeper Huang, standing alone, found himself unable to split his focus. He had no choice but to remember the escape directions of the two fleeing ghosts before dashing toward the opera-clad youth in pursuit!

As for the plump woman who remained in place, he did not forget to toss out a talisman, which transformed into a prison barrier, locking her inside.

Seeing that Lustful Ghost was motionless within the barrier, Temple Keeper Huang, though somewhat suspicious, had no time to dwell on it. He suppressed his doubts for now and focused on chasing after the opera-clad youth…

“Master was quite good to us…”

“We were originally doomed to die, yet at least in the end, he granted us a sliver of life, didn’t he?”

“What you’re doing now completely disregards even the last shred of master-servant bonds…”

The plump woman’s gaze remained calm as she lifted her fair hand, looking at her palm.

At some point, a pair of crimson fangs had appeared in her hand—razor-sharp, straight, and resembling the fangs of a serpent.

As she reached out and touched the cold prison barrier before her, the formation imbued with spiritual light shattered instantly!

Then, stepping out of the broken prison, she softly murmured in the direction the three chang ghosts had fled:

“Don’t say I didn’t give you a chance. I’ve already warned you twice.”

With that, she raised the crimson fangs toward the sky and muttered a few incantations.

From both the north and south, two figures swiftly flew back—it was the butcher and the cart-pulling man, the very two who had just fled earlier.

As they hurried past, they exchanged the briefest glance with the plump woman before dashing toward Temple Keeper Huang at full speed.

Meanwhile, at that very moment, an unexpected change occurred with the opera-clad youth.

He had been running just fine when, all of a sudden, he stopped in his tracks, his entire form transforming into a pale opera robe! The long sleeves of the robe billowed as it wrapped around Temple Keeper Huang!

As the two clashed, Temple Keeper Huang naturally had no fear of a chang ghost. However, after turning into an opera robe, the ghost did not engage in direct combat but simply entangled him, as if deliberately stalling for time.

At first, Temple Keeper Huang was confused—why would this chang ghost sacrifice itself instead of its fellow ghosts?

It wasn’t until the butcher and the cart-pulling man suddenly turned back and charged toward him that he finally realized the truth—

The one who was truly escaping from the beginning…

Was the one who never made a move at all—Lustful Ghost!