Chapter Eighty-Three: The Terrifying Mark

This voice made the already tense sheriff even more nervous. His hand hovered at his waist, ready to draw his gun at any moment.

After dismounting, he walked over to his subordinate and followed his gaze—there, scattered across the ground, was a large expanse of pale bones.

He crouched down to examine them, and a wave of nausea swept over him. The bones were all human and horse remains, and there were various water containers nearby.

This meant that these dead people, like them, had come here for water. But why hadn’t they seen any of this when they first arrived? Could it be that these people had died within the past three days? That didn't add up—he, as an official, had only received word today that there was water here, which meant that the earliest any water-gathering party could have arrived was today.

Had these people been waiting here beforehand? That made even less sense. Such behavior would go against all conventions and likely result in collective reprisal—no one would risk everything that way.

So what had really happened? The thought sent a chill racing up his spine. Leaving aside why these people were here, the fact that they had all died together in this place was already deeply unsettling.

At that very moment, a weak voice rose up: “Are you… are you Sheriff Remick?”

Remick spun around and saw a young man desperately crawling toward him.

“You… Delmo, is that you?” Remick recognized the man.

He was Delmo, the head of a notable gang in Oxen City, and like Remick, a Grade D Spirit Wielder—a formidable one at that. Though they belonged to rival camps, in the current situation, Remick couldn't help but ask, “What happened here?”

Delmo didn’t answer. His face was twisted in terror, and he pointed at himself, stammering, “Malevolent Wraith! The Malevolent Wraith! The stories are true!”

At that moment, a crimson silhouette radiated a blood-red glow from Delmo’s body.

He had uttered the name “Malevolent Wraith” three times in a single breath—clearly, the terror had shaken him to his core.

“What are you talking about? Make yourself clear!” Remick barked, anxiety rising in his voice.

But his shout only seemed to agitate Delmo further. He started convulsing violently, his eyes turning blood-red, his breath ragged and unstable.

Remick didn’t know what was about to happen, but every instinct screamed that it was nothing good. He immediately bellowed to his men behind him, “Retreat, now!”

But it was already too late.

A blood-red haze abruptly engulfed the area. Remick felt as if he had been transported to another realm, one saturated with deathly silence.

All his subordinates stood frozen, heads bowed, mute and motionless.

It was uncanny, unbearably uncanny.

Before he could process what was happening, Delmo stirred beside him. Remick looked down to see Delmo’s expression had morphed into a chilling smile as he stared coldly up at him.

That smile, paired with the oppressive atmosphere, was the height of horror. Remick tried to speak: “What’s going on? What’s wrong with you?”

Delmo still said nothing. Instead, he bared his teeth—teeth that had grown unnaturally sharp.

Something was very wrong.

Without time to think, Remick shoved Delmo aside and shouted to his men to flee.

“What are you waiting for? Run!”

But not a single subordinate responded.

Looking over, Remick saw that all their eyes were blood-red, their mouths full of fangs as they stared hungrily at him. The meaning was unmistakable.

And that wasn’t all. Above the group floated a blood-red specter, claws outstretched, leering at him—a perfect match for the legends of the Malevolent Wraith.

“Demon! It’s a demon!”

He understood at once—this was the fabled Malevolent Wraith.

The crushing aura radiating from the enemy left Remick with only one thought: escape.

There was no hope of victory. Survival depended on flight.

In a flash, he drew his pistol and fired at one of his former subordinates barring his way.

After shooting the man dead, Remick kicked the body aside and sprinted away—every movement swift and decisive, without a second’s hesitation.

But the transformed group gave chase, wild and relentless.

Watching this unfold, Xiao Zi couldn’t help but laugh aloud, “Ha, this guy’s even more resourceful than I expected.”

Indeed, only the living can spread fear. He’d worried that the man would be too frightened to flee, but it seemed his concerns were misplaced.

In the next instant, Xiao Zi darted after Remick and, in a blink, appeared right beside him.

At that moment, Remick felt the icy touch of death.

Instinctively, he glanced back—the red phantom had vanished, but searing pain flared across his back.

Strangely, from that moment, the energy within him seemed to surge, and he ran even faster. Before long, he had escaped the bizarre forest.

Daring not to rest, he sped toward the town at breakneck pace.

But upon arrival, he was confronted by a deeply unsettling sight: his former subordinates were already waiting for him inside the town.

And… they appeared perfectly normal.

Remick, shaken to the core, rushed up to one of them, blurting, “How did you…”

Before he could finish, the group all turned to look at him in unison, their gazes unfathomably strange. “Where did you just run off to?”

It was then that Remick noticed the crimson, spectral mark on the neck of the man before him.

Damn it!

Realization struck. He bolted, shouting to the townsfolk as he ran, “They all bear that eerie mark! They’re possessed by the demon! Everyone, run!”

The townspeople burst out laughing at his words, some even walking over to his odd-acting subordinates.

“Sheriff, you really are just as they described—always trying to spook us the moment you arrive!”

Hearing this, Remick slowed in frustration, “For heaven’s sake, run! There’s something truly wrong with them!”

The crowd only laughed harder.

“Oh, Sheriff, stop joking. They already told us you’re up to your old tricks, trying to scare us, right?”

“You’ve been found out! And your acting is way over the top, don’t you think?”

The laughter continued.

But in the next second, a chill swept through the crowd. Glancing back, they saw Remick’s men glaring at them like hungry predators, the strange marks on their bodies now glaringly apparent.

“Hey… heh heh heh!”

“Hey, what’s wrong with you?”

“I… I’m going to kill you all!”

“Come on, aren’t we all in on this? Weren’t we just going to prank the sheriff together? Why are you trying to scare us—ah!”

The words had barely left his mouth when terrified screams echoed to the heavens, and the swirling dust seemed to reek of fresh blood.