Loser System and Berserker Me - Chapter 179: Fog of Specters

Governor Ye compared their letters and quickly noticed that something was amiss.

“There’s something wrong with your letter.”

The brawny man’s letter was not stamped with the imperial seal, and it was lacking in crucial details too.

In contrast, Governor Ye’s letter contained elaborate details explaining why they shouldn’t dispatch their soldiers—the Tangs’ undead army could turn the corpses of the deceased into one of their own, and they could reanimate more than one soldier from a single corpse.

So, if they engaged the Tangs’ army, they would only grow stronger as the battle progressed. For that reason, they should avoid engaging the Tangs.

“You have been fooled. We can’t dispatch our troops,” Governor Ye said.

He breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that his son’s letter was fake.

“Look at our people. Does your heart not beat in fear? Do you think that they have the means to defeat the Black Lotus Buddha, the incarnation of the Gatling Buddha, and the ghost horsemen under his command?” Governor Ye asked with a smile.

“Son, you should obediently remain in Suyab. It’s safe here. At least we won’t have to worry about the Tangs’ undead army until the Tibetans stationed here and in Beiting fall.”

Suyab was under the Anxi Protectorate’s jurisdiction, but it was much closer to the Beiting Protectorate. The closest Anxi Protectorate’s city to Suyab was Shule in the south, but even so, the two cities were divided by the towering Tianshan.

In contrast, Beiting was right east of Suyab, and to its west were Talas and Dayuan.

If the Tangs wanted to attack Suyab, they would have to take a detour around Tianshan, but there were many buffers along the way regardless of whether the Tangs took the east or west detour. In any case, Suyab wouldn’t be the first one to suffer.

“Hmph!” The brawny man harrumphed.

He could see through his father. He would be a goner if he failed to dispatch the troops now.

He had rallied the chieftains together, promising them a southward expedition that would bring great wealth to them. Backing out at the last moment would severely impact his credibility. He would lose the prestige and honor he had built up in the grasslands!

You want to regain power so easily? Dream on!

“You have worked hard, father. Please take a break,” the brawny man stowed away the letter before replying icily.

“YOU!!!” Governor Ye stared in shock as his son imprisoned him in his manor.

Now, the brawny man was put in a dilemma.

How should I resolve this situation?

After some thought, the only solution he could think of was to bring more shamans to deal with the Tang bandits’ undead. Ideally, they would find a route the head southward in the fastest way possible, quickly plunder whatever they could, and then make their escape.

That way, he could at least still be accountable to the chieftains.

While the brawny man was pondering a solution, he suddenly felt a cold, sinister wind.

Brrrr!

He shuddered. “Cold! Are the servants dead?! Why aren’t they restocking the firewood…”

The brawny man’s words suddenly trailed off.

Now that I think about it, it has been unbelievably quiet here since a while ago?

“Kikiki!”

A sinister laughter suddenly echoed out of nowhere.

Shing!

The brawny man hurriedly drew his sword and activated his protection talisman. He warily made his way toward the source of the laughter.

It appeared to be coming from a box.

Bam!

The brawny man hacked his sword down, and the box was sliced into two. A translucent, skull-faced specter emerged from the box.

“Kikiki!”

“Damn it! It’s a ghost!” The brawny man tried to slash the specter, but his sword passed right through the latter without dealing much damage. “Why would ghosts suddenly appear here?!”

It was fortunate that he had protective artifacts with him.

Psh!

A flash of light bombarded the specter, vanquishing it with a miserable cry.

“Hu!” the brawny man breathed a sigh of relief.

Phew, it was just a ghost. It’s still not too much to deal with.

“Oi!” the brawny man shouted toward the door. “Clean up the room!”

There was no response.

At the same time, the brawny man noticed noises coming from a far distance away.

Hold on! This…

The brawny man rushed out of the room and climbed to the manor’s vantage point to get a good view of what was happening outside. What he saw turned his face pale.

The winter snow battered against his face, inflicting him with a biting cold.

But what if these white things battering on my face are not snow?

The brawny man took a closer look, and to his horror, countless specters had infiltrated every nook and cranny of the Ye Governor Manor. He thought that snow was falling in the courtyard, but it turned out that the courtyard was haunted by countless specters instead.

Countless corpses piled up in the courtyard, and it looked like he would be next.

Many skull faces pressed against his body, nuzzling against his arms, thighs, and even his face.

“Kikiki!”

“AHHH!” the brawny man screamed.

His scream didn’t last long, as the specters made use of this opportunity to jam their hands into his throat and stifle his voice. More hands reached for his other apertures, be it his eyes, nose, ears, or mouth.

Shu Yichao was invading with his army, though all he did was stroll around.

He was accompanied by tens of thousands of specters.

It was as if the gates of hell had opened today, unleashing countless vengeful ghosts in the mortal world. These specters, disguised as snowflakes, suffused Suyab’s every street and alley like an unstoppable force of nature.

The city was shrouded in an unnerving morning fog that seemed to silence everything.

There were no battles. It was as if a monster had devoured the city.

The specters jammed themselves into the bodies of the Karluk soldiers like a can of sardines. The eyes of the Karluk soldiers rolled over, as they clutched their chests and struggled in desperation, but it was to no avail. They were eventually torn apart from the inside before they were turned into specters themselves too.

Wherever Shu Yichao went, the deathly white fog followed.

The momentum continued building up until it was no longer stoppable.

“Tsk tsk tsk. I didn’t think that the specters could be so useful in urban warfare,” Shu Yichao murmured as he strolled through Suyab on his sand monitor. “Not bad, not bad!”

The specters, with their incorporeal bodies, could easily infiltrate any area. Most Karluk soldiers failed to even realize that the snow around them had been replaced with specters.

Some of the Karluk soldiers were awoken by a dull pressure on their chests, and the moment they opened their eyes, they found dozens of specters squeezed in the narrow space between them and their blankets. Before they could do a thing, they were already overwhelmed.

The specters were weak alone, but no army had the power to oppose an entire sea of specters.

Just like that, Shu Yichao reclaimed Suyab with ease.

With that, the Anxi Protectorate’s four cities had been restored!

Shu Yichao, who was filled with gusto, suddenly frowned. “Oi, my son! How long are you going to continue clutching onto my clothes?”

Miazova, despite its towering stature, was tightly holding onto Shu Yichao’s clothes, with its body bunched into a ball. It was trembling.

“You darned grandson…” Miazova’s teeth were clattering,

Do you not know what you have done?

Your terracotta soldiers at least put up the pretense of a fight, so that the enemy troops know what has gotten them. But this… this is too frightening! Specters are squeezing all around us!

I give up! Get them away from me!

“Kikiki!” The specters approached Shu Yichao with gleeful grins.

Shu Yichao patted their heads and complimented, “Well done.”

“Kikiki!” The specters dove toward Miazova.

“Big bro, my big bro!” Miazova screeched. “Get them away from me! Please!”