The little pig thought for a moment before fiendish qi gathered in front of it, gradually condensing into a beastly maw.
The large mouth opened and closed, emitting an indistinct voice: "Too many ghosts... scattered spaces... different..."
Its ability to express itself was still raw, but the meaning was clear.
The number of ghosts in the Path of Hungry Ghosts was enormous, and they were scattered across different architectural spaces.
The Taihe Hall area where they were currently located was only one part of it.
Many more ghosts were hidden in other buildings, corridors, and even underground spaces.
If they were to enter dreams one by one to investigate, it would not only take a very long time, but with its current state, it was somewhat beyond its power.
The little pig paused for a moment before the beastly maw continued to open and close: "Gather them... dreams converge... can find..."
Chen Zhou understood.
If they could gather all the ghosts into a single space, the little pig could attempt to force all their dreams together, forming a temporary collective dream.
Then, it could dive into the depths of this dreamscape to find the most special dream light-point.
It would be like finding a glowing pearl in a murky pond.
It would be much easier.
"Gather all the ghosts together..." Chen Zhou mused.
Brute-forcing the spaces and then using a ghost domain to forcibly drag all the hungry ghosts over was theoretically feasible.
However, the rules of the Path of Hungry Ghosts were unique, making it hard to distinguish between reality and illusion; forcing a breakthrough might trigger unpredictable chain reactions or even cause the space to collapse.
Moreover, it was too much effort.
Chen Zhou's gaze slowly shifted to the Nine-Age Crane nearby.
The Nine-Age Crane had finished eating the meat and regained its strength.
It was currently carefully pressing down the feathers it had plucked and stuck back in earlier when it looked up and met Chen Zhou's half-smiling eyes.
"Gah?!"
The Nine-Age Crane's feathers puffed up, and it instinctively shrunk back.
A bad premonition!
A very bad premonition!
It felt like it had been targeted by an evil spirit!
"Old Crane," Chen Zhou spoke with a smile, his tone so gentle it made the Nine-Age Crane's scalp tingle.
"To save your old master, it’s no problem to make a small sacrifice, right?"
The Nine-Age Crane: "...Gah?"
It wanted to refuse, but the thought of the Heavenly Chef potentially being trapped in some corner, suffering from hunger, made its heart ache.
Chen Zhou patted its head and spoke with earnest gravity.
"Look, the ghosts here have absolutely no resistance to the scent of your feathers."
"As long as the fragrance is rich enough and spreads far enough, it can attract all the hungry ghosts scattered everywhere."
The Nine-Age Crane let out a cry of grief and indignation, using its wings to protect its body.
Plucking feathers again!
You only know how to pluck feathers!
My feathers are very precious!
"If you hesitate any longer, your old master might be assimilated by the Path of Hungry Ghosts and turn into a monster that only knows how to scream for food," Chen Zhou added cryptically.
The Nine-Age Crane trembled all over as images of a gaunt Heavenly Chef frantically gnawing on its own arm flashed through its mind.
"Gah—!"
It let out a long cry. Steeling its heart, it lowered its head and used its beak to viciously tear a large clump of feathers from its chest!
The soft crane feathers drifted away as a pale yellow dust, accompanied by an incredibly rich and exotic fragrance, instantly exploded outward!
"Whoosh—!"
The fragrance swept out like a storm, instantly filling the entire Altar of Heaven area before frantically diffusing even further!
The ghosts lining up to take the meat froze in unison.
In the next second, all the ghosts turned their heads simultaneously, their crimson gazes locked onto the drifting clump of crane feathers and the source of the fragrance—the Nine-Age Crane itself.
"Fragrant... so fragrant..."
"Eat... I want to eat..."
Order collapsed instantly.
All the ghosts went mad.
The moment the exotic fragrance swept through, the hungry ghosts in the entire Altar of Heaven area descended into total frenzy.
The ghosts who had been in a long line to carve meat turned their heads as if a switch had been flipped.
On their sallow and gaunt faces, their features twisted and their eyes widened until they nearly split; gurgling noises came from their throats as saliva dripped from the corners of their mouths.
"Mine! It's mine!"
"Get away! No stealing!"
The few ghosts closest to the feathers were the first to pounce.
They tore and bit at each other just to stuff even a single feather into their mouths.
The ghosts behind them were also driven by instinct, surging forward in layers, and the top of the Altar of Heaven instantly fell into chaos.
Song Zi'an was startled and instinctively raised his ladle to defend himself, but Chen Zhou raised a hand to stop him.
"Step back. Don't block the way."
Chen Zhou stepped forward, death qi surging in his hands as it condensed into a hideous bone spear nearly three meters long.
The shaft was pale and covered in fine bone spikes.
Chen Zhou locked his gaze on the pitch-black meat mountain and flickered, appearing directly in front of it.
He gripped the spear with both hands and twisted his waist, pouring his entire body's strength into his arms; the bone spear drew arcs in the air, tearing through the atmosphere with a sharp whistle.
"Boom—!!!"
The roar shook the Altar of Heaven.
The bone spear smashed into the meat mountain, and with a jerk of Chen Zhou's wrist, death qi exploded!
The entire meat mountain was blown apart by Chen Zhou, sending countless pieces of minced meat and black juice spraying in all directions like a rainstorm!
Chen Zhou stood with his spear retracted, his black robes fluttering in the turbulent airflow.
"Splash—!"
The minced meat was lifted into the sky by Chen Zhou, mixing with the fragments of crane feathers as they showered down upon the crazed crowd of ghosts below.
The ghosts fighting over the feathers instinctively opened their mouths to catch the bits.
They chewed and swallowed.
Then, their movements suddenly paused.
The effects of the black meat caused the ferocity on their faces to slightly recede, and the green glow in their eyes dimmed a little as they calmed down.
They stood in place, no longer fighting, chewing the contents of their mouths one bite at a time.
But this peace only lasted for a brief moment.
"Whoosh—"
A breeze carrying the sweet fragrance of the auspicious beast blew past.
The hunger that had just been suppressed immediately surged back with even greater violence.
"Not... not enough!"
"Want more! I want to eat more!"
The hungry ghosts became crazed once again.
The ghosts who ate the meat wanted to be still, but the ghosts who smelled the fragrance wanted to go mad.
However, before they could stay mad for long, more minced meat would fall into their mouths.
Then, they would chew and swallow.
They would fall back into a brief state of calm.
Then, they would be stimulated again and go mad once more.
The hungry ghosts were tossed between clarity and madness, tormented back and forth between satiety and hunger, yet they were all moving toward the platform.
As the Nine-Age Crane continuously channeled spiritual power to release its exotic fragrance at full strength, this tempting storm finally broke past the boundaries of Taihe Hall and swept toward the further reaches of the Path of Hungry Ghosts.
Inside a cramped palace courtyard.
A palace maid ghost walking with her head down suddenly stopped; she threw away the half-eaten piece of black meat in her hand and lifted her head, her nose twitching desperately.
"Fragrant... so fragrant..."
Her shriveled belly rose and fell violently as the green light in her eyes intensified. She dropped her lantern and dropped to all fours, sprinting toward the direction of Taihe Hall like a wild beast.
Under a dilapidated corridor.
A guard ghost leaning against a pillar gnawing on meat was jolted awake; he knocked aside his companions who were in his way and stumbled toward the source of the fragrance.
Countless hunched figures stood up.
They abandoned everything in their hands—whether it was the black meat they were eating or the mangled limbs of their companions—and all converged toward the same direction.
Rate on N.U.
