Chapter 158: The Lady in the Basement

Chapter 158: The Lady in the Basement

The next day.

In the guild lounge.

Wu Heng sat at the head of the table, with three figures standing behind him.

Barson, Bagdong, and a tall figure wearing a round helmet and carrying a sniper rifle—Hunter One.

He didn't bring the skeleton dog as it was harder to disguise.

Duke and Marta walked in one after the other.

"Captain, you called us?" Duke asked in his gruff voice.

"Yeah, go register and get a wagon. We've got a job, we're heading out." Wu Heng said directly.

"Alright, finally a mission." Duke hurried off to prepare the wagon.

Once everything was ready,

They set off for the location Wen Mansa had provided.

Approaching noon.

The three, along with three skeletons, arrived at the meeting spot.

Wu Heng signaled to Hunter One, who immediately ran off to the distance, climbing a hill and pointing his gun toward the location.

Ahead was an abandoned stone building.

Thorny vines covered the structure, but the building itself remained intact.

From a distance.

Two groups of differently dressed people could be seen.

One group wore mismatched armor and helmets, looking like bandits who hadn't received supplies in a long time.

The other group mainly wore leather armor, with a few clad in metal plates, likely the gang members here to make the trade.

At least a dozen people stood guard outside.

There were probably more people inside the building.

Both sides had arrived quickly.

"Captain, there are guards at the front and back, a total of twelve people. A few more are on the hill." Marta whispered.

As a ranger, she shared vision with her trained animals.

Although her black-feathered hawk wasn't in the air, it perched in high places, observing the surroundings more clearly.

"Let's wait for now!" Wu Heng ordered.

He was waiting for news from Xiaoxiao.

She hadn't returned since being sent out.

As time slowly passed,

Wu Heng's expression grew darker. Xiaoxiao still hadn't come back.

Could something have gone wrong?

Who could possibly control a ghost?

"Captain! They might be leaving soon." Duke whispered.

At the second-floor window, someone was starting to pack up.

It seemed the trade was complete, and both sides were preparing to head out.

Wu Heng glanced up and decided not to wait any longer.

If Xiaoxiao was in danger, he needed to rush in and save her. Being a spirit, if she was dispersed, there wouldn't even be a chance to rescue her.

He immediately turned back and gave a signal to Hunter One, who was perched on the hill.

Bang~!

The gunshot rang out.

The person at the window's forehead exploded in an instant.

The body fell backward.

The room inside the stone building went deathly quiet, and both groups stared at each other in shock.

With a shout, they started fighting.

The sounds of shouting and clashing weapons filled the air.

The guards outside realized something was wrong. Seeing the fight break out inside, they drew their weapons and joined the fray.

"Let's move in closer, but don't engage yet." Wu Heng said.

They crouched and advanced, using the vegetation as cover.

About 200 meters away, they stopped and watched the battle unfold.

The fighting was intense.

Both the gang members and bandits were ruthless.

Their killing techniques and ferocity were sharp, and people were constantly falling into pools of blood.

Some died instantly, others lay on the ground moaning in agony.

When most of the people outside were dead, the battle inside continued.

"Charge in, leave no one alive." Wu Heng ordered.

"Ah!" Duke shouted and charged forward.

He startled a nearby bandit, who was promptly sent flying by Duke's strike. The axe came down, splitting the man's head open.

Marta ran in a wide arc.

Using her shared vision with the hawk, she fired arrows at the men on the hill.

She chased them down with arrows, forcing them to retreat again and again.

Wu Heng hurled fireballs from a distance, while Barson and Bagdong quickly closed in.

They swiftly killed off the remaining people outside.

Standing at the stone building's entrance, they could still hear the sounds of battle inside.

Duke hefted his axe, ready to charge in.

Wu Heng grabbed him and carefully sensed the surroundings.

There were still five people on the third floor, and two energy signatures in the basement, one of them being his ghost, Xiaoxiao.

After thinking for a moment, Wu Heng pulled out a few poison smoke grenades from his space ring, lit them, and threw them into the building.

It was difficult to cast 'Fog Spell' from the outside.

These poison grenades were much more practical.

Boom, boom, boom~!

Thick smoke filled the building.

Coughing and cursing erupted from inside.

Even then, the people inside showed no intention of rushing out.

"Charge in and kill them." Wu Heng ordered.

Barson and Bagdong rushed in immediately, and gunfire erupted.

After the gunfire,

The sounds of fierce combat continued.

Heavy objects smashed against the walls, thudding loudly.

But under the effects of the poison smoke, their combat strength was severely limited.

Before long, Barson and Bagdong gained the upper hand, snapping necks and killing them all.

The battle ended, and the area fell silent.

The smoke hadn't yet dissipated.

Two skeletons dragged the bodies out of the building, placing them in the open space outside.

Marta returned from afar.

She, too, was dragging a body.

Wu Heng glanced at the dissipating smoke and the corpses on the ground.

He pulled out his tablet and handed it to Duke, "Check and see who the wanted criminal is."

"Got it, Captain." Duke took the tablet and began comparing the corpses to the wanted posters.

Wu Heng, meanwhile, led Barson and Bagdong down the spiraling stone stairs.

The damp, dark basement was filled with many plants.

There was no sunlight, yet vibrant flowers bloomed.

It looked like a semi-underground garden.

There wasn't much in the basement.

A worn wooden table, an empty rocking chair that creaked as it swayed.

Xiaoxiao floated in midair.

She shrugged helplessly, "I can't help it. This lady wouldn't let me leave. I don't understand anything she's saying."

Wu Heng's gaze shifted to the rocking chair, and he spoke softly, "Captain of Guild Squad 12, Wu Heng. How should I address you, ma'am?"

The chair stopped.

A half-transparent figure appeared on the chair.

"Glenda."

The rocking chair came to a halt.

A figure in a gown, wearing a lady's hat, appeared out of thin air.

Her face was mature and dignified, like a noblewoman who had just stepped out of a grand estate.

"Glenda!" The woman spoke softly, snapping her fingers.

The scene in the basement began to change.

The stained walls were replaced with vibrant wallpaper, and the moss-covered dirt floor became smooth and clean.

Furniture and potted plants filled the space.

This was no longer a basement but the interior of a wealthy family's mansion.

An illusion!

The transformation happened right in front of him.

Wu Heng immediately sensed something was wrong.

At the same time, a resistance suddenly surged from deep within his mind.

The illusion shattered, and all the false scenery disappeared, returning the space to its original dilapidated basement.

The woman stood slightly, mimicking the act of pouring tea.

Wu Heng glanced at her; she probably didn't realize that the illusion had failed.

She continued acting out the scene as if everything was still in place.

"Did my child disturb you, madam?" Wu Heng asked softly.

The woman sat back in the rocking chair, snapping her fingers again, and Xiaoxiao regained her ability to move. She immediately flew to Wu Heng's side, hiding behind him.

Peeking over his shoulder, Xiaoxiao said, "Uncle, she doesn't seem like a good person."

Wu Heng nodded but remained silent.

The woman glanced over and explained, "It's just that I haven't interacted with outsiders in so long. I wanted to ask her some things about the outside world, but it seems we don't speak the same language."

Both were in ghostly form, but the languages they had learned in life were different.

Xiaoxiao spoke Chinese, while the woman spoke the local language.

Sitting together, they had no way of communicating.

Wu Heng, however, was different. Thanks to his system translation, he could communicate with both sides.

"The children from my hometown haven't learned the local language yet." Wu Heng explained, then asked, "Have you always lived here, madam?"

The woman nodded, speaking softly, "Yes, it's been many years. In the past, gangs or mercenaries would come here to make deals, but fewer and fewer people visit nowadays."

Ghosts were difficult to form.

They required a special environment and strong mental power before death.

Not just anyone could become a ghost after death.

From a certain perspective, ghosts were also immortal.

If it were easy to become one, powerful aristocrats nearing the end of their lives would have long formed ghostly families.

Even the infant spirits from the "Mine Village" in Blackstone Town were difficult to form, requiring the dark environment and long exposure to necromantic magic.

Those spirits turned out to be violent and uncontrollable vengeful spirits.

Both Xiaoxiao and the lady in front of him becoming ghosts was a rare occurrence.

"Did you witness the deal those people made earlier? You just let them conduct illegal transactions here?" Wu Heng continued to ask.

"Showing myself in front of outsiders would only cause me trouble. There's no such thing as 'illegal' here, as long as they don't disturb me." The woman answered.

Wu Heng agreed.

Meddling would only lead to a request to clear out the ghost appearing on the guild's task board.

The woman before him was smart, knowing not to reveal herself unnecessarily.

Tap, tap, tap~

Just then, footsteps echoed from upstairs.

Then Duke's rough voice called out, "Captain, are you down here?"

The footsteps grew closer.

Duke came straight down.