Am I really hallucinating?

Chapter 423 Before the War
Zhou Lanshan battlefield.

The once lush and green mountains have now been set ablaze by war, with vegetation reduced to ashes and the air thick with the stench of decaying corpses.

"The spirits are gathering their forces and converging on Zhou Lanshan," the reconnaissance corpse reported to its superiors.

The corpse advisor at the scene said, "They are determined to defend Zhou Lanshan. This is their last line of defense unless they abandon the Undead City behind it."

“Spirits don’t have as many restrictions. They have an excellent ability to use whatever they can find. Even if they abandon the Undead City, as long as the Ghost King is still there, they can always rebuild one Undead City after another.” A corpse pointed this out.

If the spirits insist on running away, the main force of the Undead City will definitely not be able to catch up. At that time, only the spirit-hunting force will be able to give chase, but it will be impossible to capture them all.

“I don’t think they will do that.” The strategist shook his head. “They haven’t given up yet, they haven’t been completely scared by us, or rather, it’s precisely because the Ghost King is still around that they won’t choose to back down.”

The corpses present seemed to ponder this.

"There is an irreconcilable conflict between us and the spirits. We both want the other dead and to be forever inferior to us. We could have won by playing it safe, but the King chose a more aggressive strategy. This was a test for us, and also a show of weakness to the enemy. It left the proud spirits with an opportunity to exploit a weakness they could not let go of."

It was obvious that if they concentrated their forces to hold the enemy back, they would have a chance to win or even launch a counterattack. Even if the spirits lacked military thinking, the Ghost King wouldn't be that stupid.

Everyone agreed with this statement.

"Keep an eye on the Ghost King's movements; it can't possibly stay away at this point," the strategist said.

"What are the king's arrangements...?" one of the corpses asked cautiously.

The Immortal King's itinerary was naturally arranged by the King himself, and they always believed that what they could think of, the Immortal King could also think of.

Faced with the most likely strongest counterattack from the spirits, the King will probably come to oversee the situation.

"Our mission is to defeat the spirit army; the king will take care of the rest," the advisor said.

While they were discussing, Jiang Si, sitting at the very edge of the room, was furiously writing down his report.

The sound of the pen nib scratching on the paper was quite noticeable to the corpses with their keen hearing in this discussion. However, no one dared to object to Jiang Si's obvious inattentiveness.

More opinions likely revolve around why the Spirit Hunter Squad brought Jiang Si to the meeting.

By the time the meeting ended, Jiang Si had finished her report around the same time. After a quick check, she put it away with satisfaction.

Looking up, I saw that the other corpses were packing up their belongings and preparing to leave.

"Hmm? You're done talking?"

"Uh, yes, miss." The corpses who hadn't left yet and were discussing the details of the strategic deployment looked at each other, then nodded in reply.

What am I supposed to do?

"We have no authority to make any arrangements for you; you will have to cooperate on your own."

"I see."

After agreeing, Jiang Si got up and left, looking around outside the tent.

"Looking for me?" A round, black ghost suddenly appeared in front of me.

"Where did Mr. Devil go again?" Jiang Si asked.

"I've investigated the spirits' deployment for you, but I feel it's all been pretty useless; I've forgotten most of it on the way back," Zheng Fan said, uttering a seemingly pointless remark. If the officers on the body-swapping side heard Zheng Fan's words, they would be heartbroken.

Intelligence is, of course, an extremely important aspect of warfare. If the corpses weren't so swift and equipped with anti-spirit devices, they would easily be outmaneuvered by spirits in terms of intelligence, and might even be completely transparent to them.

Things that are invisible and intangible are, to say the least, excellent at gathering intelligence.

However, the corpses successfully curbed this advantage, and there are likely still many spies from the spirits on the edge of their camp.

Therefore, the Spirit Hunter squad still needs to conduct high-intensity patrols even before the official start of the war.

"So you just went off to wander around aimlessly?"

"It's alright, we can just look at it again later, or recall it when needed," Zheng Fan said calmly. "I even went to the City of Undead for a look. What a pity, since everyone else is invisible and intangible, why can't they see me?"

Hearing this, Jiang Si asked curiously, "Can hallucinations possess spirits?"

Zheng Fan replied without hesitation, "Although I have no experience in this area, based on my intuition, it is possible."

"Ouch."

“Hallucination possession requires, strictly speaking, an ‘entity’ rather than a ‘body.’ The mind is also a form of existence, and existence is an ‘entity,’ which perfectly meets the requirements of hallucination,” Zheng Fan explained in detail.

“Speaking of which, I did indeed sense a strong aura of illusion in the City of the Undead. Considering what the spirit that touched Frankenstein said before, they might have a close relationship with illusions.”

Spirits are much more receptive to hallucinations than corpses.

To spirits, hallucinations, these other-dimensional demons, are like their foreign counterparts—different in nature but sharing similar traits. The same applies to corpses; no matter how you explain it, to corpses, aren't other-dimensional demons simply more malevolent spirits?
"Hallucinations? I haven't seen many before." Jiang Si recalled the spirits she had encountered in the past month, and none of them seemed to be hallucinating.

Zheng Fan said, "Although I feel that hallucinations can possess spirits, there may be unexpected difficulties in the detailed process. Perhaps what we will face next are just a very small number of successful elites."

"It doesn't matter. When it comes to hallucinations and possession, they can't beat Mr. Devil."

"I'm happy to hear that, but I still want you to fight the Ghost King one-on-one." Zheng Fan suddenly said something rather frightening.

"If I'm going to get beaten to death, you'll definitely come to my rescue, right?" Jiang Si asked to confirm beforehand.

"Of course. Just like Mr. Wang wants to see your current limits, I'm also very curious." Zheng Fan didn't hide anything and didn't say anything about "not being able to save you".

Putting aside the fact that he couldn't possibly refuse to save her, this kind of feigned coercion would only work on people who lack self-awareness and whose potential has not yet been developed, while Jiang Si clearly doesn't need such things.

Once you tell her, she will do it very well.

"I'm telling you this beforehand so you can relax. That Ghost King, although he has never met Mr. Undying King, is believed by the spirits to be a king on par with the Undying King. But that's not the case."

Ah Piao Zheng Fan's short, twisted hands clasped together: "The Undying King is very strong. It possesses a deeper secret that leads directly to the root of the world. That might be its origin, or a power it has already mastered. The Ghost King, on the other hand, has only scratched the surface of this path and is far inferior to the Undying King."

Jiang Si pondered for a moment: "It's just the tip of the iceberg. For someone like me who doesn't even have the tip, it's a huge gap."

"That depends on how you handle it. You should be able to see what the Undying King expects from you in this war," Zheng Fan said with a smile.

“I know,” Jiang Si replied. “In short, let’s take ‘we can win’ as our guide and give it a try.”

(End of this chapter)