After walking for about fifteen minutes along a winding path, Li Hai, who had been following behind Guo Lao San, vaguely saw plumes of cooking smoke rising in the distance, at the end of the golden sea of rice fields.
And beneath those wisps of smoke, a village appeared faintly.
"We're here! We're here!"
Guo Lao San pointed over there and shouted, "That's Guo Family Village. We'll be there in a few more steps."
Li Hai nodded and said nothing.
A moment later, they finally reached the village entrance.
Standing under an old locust tree with lush branches and leaves, Li Hai put his hands on his hips and scanned the area, finding that it was not much different from a typical village.
The village was mostly comprised of various sizes and types of adobe houses, all old and rustic.
But because many children were laughing and running, and many young adults and elders were resting in the shade, it appeared full of the Qi of the Human Realm.
Yet, Li Hai knew that all of this was an illusion.
If one were to look with human eyes at this moment, these would absolutely be eerie and dilapidated ghost houses.
Li Hai did just that.
He very subtly reverted to his living state and quickly scanned the inside and outside of the village.
He then discovered that the children running and laughing, as well as some of the young adults and elders, were indeed all ghosts, and almost all of them were ugly, charred corpse ghosts.
Furthermore, those adobe houses had all turned into dark ruins, mostly collapsed.
As for the so-called Qi of the Human Realm, it had transformed into deathly silence and desolation.
"Could it be... that this Guo Family Village suffered a fire a long time ago?"
After reverting to his ghost form, Li Hai speculated in his mind, "Did this fire burn everyone to death, and then these villagers who were burned to death all turned into charred corpse ghosts due to some unforeseen change?"
Just as he was lost in thought, Guo Lao San's voice rang in his ear:
"Young man, why are you standing there? Come with me to the village chief's house."
"Oh, oh."
Li Hai casually responded and then followed behind the swiftly moving Guo Lao San, walking into the village.
As he walked, he specifically observed the various ghosts in the village, looking for new skills and entries.
To Li Hai's disappointment, the personal interfaces of these child ghosts, adult ghosts, and elder ghosts were all identical to Guo Lao San's, each possessing only the Ghost Body Soul Remains skill.
"Bah~ nothing useful at all."
Li Hai secretly disdained, "A bunch of poor ghosts."
Before long, he and Guo Lao San arrived together at the highest point in the village, on a rocky slope with a grain-drying yard.
There, stood a large tiled house, clearly of a higher Rank than the adobe houses in the village.
"Village Chief! Xiao Jinzi!"
Guo Lao San walked to the tiled house's door with his old legs, raised his hand, and knocked, "It's your Third Uncle! Open the door quickly!"
Creak~
The wooden door slowly opened, and a young man emerged from inside. Although dressed in coarse cloth, he was extremely handsome and possessed a gentle and refined temperament.
Clearly, he was the Xiao Jinzi Guo Lao San spoke of, and also the village chief of Guo Family Village.
The young village chief looked at Guo Lao San, furrowing his brow as he asked, "Third Uncle, weren't you going to collect grain? Why are you looking for me?"
"Xiao Jinzi, aren't you tired of working in the fields?"
Guo Lao San chuckled foolishly, pointing to Li Hai who stood silently behind him, and said frankly, "Here, I found you a laborer."
"Oh, I see."
The young village chief's brow immediately smoothed out, and he smiled, "That's great! I happen to need someone to help me collect grain."
As these two conversed, Li Hai, off to the side, was secretly shocked.
Because this village chief named Xiao Jinzi, he actually... couldn't see any of his personal interface information.
The System had no reaction to this young man, as if the other party didn't exist at all.
Just as Li Hai was bewildered and confused, Guo Lao San turned back and waved to him:
"Hey, young man~ Come over, come over, I'll introduce you."
Li Hai forced a simple, honest smile and walked over without a word.
"Now, this is our village chief—Guo Huaijin."
Guo Lao San patted the handsome young man's shoulder casually, saying, "His father happens to be my cousin, and he was the previous village chief of Guo Family Village."
"Guo Huaijin?!"
Li Hai's pupils trembled slightly, but he maintained his simple, honest smile and immediately grasped the hand of this young village chief named Guo Huaijin, speaking offhandedly, "I've long heard that Village Chief Guo is a man of outstanding talent. Seeing you today, your distinguished demeanor is indeed extraordinary."
"That's right!"
Guo Lao San beside him raised his head, pouting as he boasted, "Our great nephew is a famous handsome young man within a hundred li radius. Even the old master of the Qian family wanted to recruit him as a live-in son-in-law. If it weren't for Xiao Jinzi and A Su's deep love..."
"Enough, Third Uncle."
Guo Huaijin on the side said helplessly, "Your mouth has no filter. You're about to spill all our family matters."
"Alright, alright, I won't say anymore, hehe." Guo Lao San lightly slapped his own mouth and burst into laughter.
"Third Uncle~ Huaijin~"
A gentle female voice came from inside the house, "What are you talking about?"
Along with the voice, a pregnant woman with a clear and gentle appearance slowly walked out, holding her waist.
"A Su, be careful."
Guo Huaijin quickly supported the pregnant woman, scolding her softly, "You should rest well. Why did you come out? What if you catch a cold from the wind?"
"It's fine. The sun is so bright, how could I catch a cold?"
A Su smiled, pursing her lips, "I heard Third Uncle call my name, so I came out to see."
"Oh dear, it seems it's Third Uncle's fault."
Guo Lao San rubbed his hands and chuckled dryly, "Well, A Su, your belly is so big now, it won't be long until you give birth, right?"
"Yes." A Su nodded and smiled gently, "The doctor came to see me and said I'll be in labor this month."
As these few people talked, Li Hai on the side was once again secretly shocked.
Because the information in the personal interface of this pregnant woman named A Su was strikingly different from all the villagers in Guo Family Village—
Character Name: A Su
Rank: Ghost Dao →Li Po
Skills: Ghost Body Soul Remains, Evil Spirit Earth Drawing Yin Method (Incomplete), Evil Star Descending Yin, Resentful Spirit Extinguishes Yang
Entries: 【Ethereal Body Rank 2】 【Weird Rank 2】 【Double Evil Rank 2】
Strongest Fragment: None
Judging from the number of skills and the Rank of the entries, this female ghost named A Su was definitely the true strongest ghost in Guo Family Village.
But what was the deal with Guo Huaijin, who was currently chatting happily with A Su and Guo Lao San?
And what was his relationship with that Guo Laogou outside the forest?
Who was the real Guo Huaijin after all?
Li Hai was greatly puzzled by all of this.
"Damn it, if I can't figure it out, I won't. Who cares who they are, I'll learn skills first."
After thinking for a few seconds and not finding an answer, Li Hai immediately cast these messy questions aside and began to concentrate on secretly learning A Su's skills.