Mysterious Awakening

At first, Yang Jian assumed Zhao Lei had become a ghost manipulator who merged with a fierce ghost, having his thoughts and will altered. The whole person became extreme, amplifying various negative emotions, which was why he inexplicably set his sights on him.

But now it seems that it's not the case at all.

Zhao Lei had unintentionally encountered a ghost and tried to control it, but ultimately failed. He struggled with all his might but couldn't escape the fate of having his memories rewritten.

While the outcome was the same, the process was not.

"He always wanted to become a ghost manipulator, hoping to be different. He never expected such an outcome," Yang Jian's expression changed uncertainly.

He no longer blamed Zhao Lei for attacking him. As he saw it, this created an opportunity for him to imprison the ghost.

However, he did not seize the opportunity.

No, to be more precise, Yang Jian was restrained by that ghost.

Without the ability to open the Ghost Domain, he couldn't trap Zhao Lei. Failing that, he couldn't keep Zhao Lei around, especially since that thing seemed to have integrated many people's memories by now, turning into a creature with intelligence that knew very well how to avoid him, and even if it did make contact, it would be extremely cautious.

"No, Zhao Lei did serve a purpose. He made me sense that something was wrong and informed me of what happened to him, allowing me to be on guard. This is very important, and it also reminded me that the ghost seems to be up to something terrible," Yang Jian reflected while looking at the notes scattered on the floor.

Zhao Lei was attacked by a fierce ghost, and if he couldn't control the ghost, it didn't make sense for his personality to remain intact for so long.

Or perhaps, there were some changes that he himself was aware of.

Yang Jian thought for a moment but decided not to waste time here. He tidied up, packed the scattered notes into a box, then took some personal items he cared about from home, left a year's rent money, locked the door, and left.

If the landlord was still alive, he should receive this last rent.

He would not return here in the future, even if the place was no longer haunted.

"I'll make a round in Dachang City. Zhao Lei might not have left the city yet. With some luck, I might be able to find him," Yang Jian thought to himself.

Though not very hopeful, he felt it was necessary to try.

Driving with the Ghost Domain activated, Yang Jian's car eerily maneuvered through every corner of the city. At this moment, he felt a sense of duty as a ghost manipulator and began a comprehensive patrol. If there were any supernatural events, he would surely detect them. And even if he didn't find Zhao Lei, confirming the current situation in Dachang City was essential.

"Yang Jian, I've found something," Liu Xiaoyu's voice suddenly came from the satellite-located cellphone.

"What's the situation with Zhao Lei's family?"

Liu Xiaoyu reported, "His parents are still alive; his father is on a business trip out of town, while his mother survived at home. However, several other relatives have gone missing."

In Dachang City, to go missing meant death.

"I understand. Continue the search. Same as before, contact me if there is news," Yang Jian hung up the phone.

Indeed, Zhao Lei's memories had been tampered with. Under these circumstances, whether his parents were alive or not was no longer important. In his current memory, he probably believed that his parents were dead. Even if he saw his parents with his own eyes, he might not recognize them.

By evening,

Yang Jian's search had yielded nothing.

He also confirmed one thing: Dachang City was currently very safe, with not a single paranormal event occurring. As long as no transient populations brought in any paranormal entities, the city of Dachang could now be counted as one of the safest cities in the world, save for some public order issues.

The irony was not lost on him.

A city that had experienced an S-level paranormal event had now become a rare safe zone on earth.

However, outside of Dachang City, Yang Jian found something bizarre.

North on the highway, there appeared a blood-red pond, with vague figures of bodies bobbing and soaking within.

He had checked the data and compared it with the previous incident; he could confirm that the Blood Pool was left after Yan Li's death because he had sped away, heading north, before collapsing and succumbing to the fierce ghost not far from the highway.

After observing it for a while and realizing it seemed tranquilly located in a sparsely populated area, Yang Jian decided against provoking whatever was in that Blood Pool.

With supernatural incidents becoming more frequent in the world, each of his actions should focus on resolving urgent matters. As for mysterious events of low threat, they weren't worth the risk. No one could guarantee the harmlessness of seemingly innocuous entities; a misstep had no recourse.

And based on his understanding of Yan Li's Ghost Blood, it seemed to have the ability to suppress all other ghosts.

Very troublesome.

So I'd rather not get in touch for the time being.

I returned to the Guanjiang Residential Complex.

The place was brightly lit, with nearby construction sites working day and night, rushing to finish the remaining safety measures for the safe house as quickly as possible. Zhang Xiangu was determined to complete it in the shortest time possible.

It's best to be prepared for danger in times of safety, especially after having just gone through such a major event. I could understand the feeling of having survived a close call with death.

"Yang Jian, what happened? I saw your car hood popped open earlier. Were you in an accident?" Zhang Liqin asked as she entered and noticed something was wrong with the car parked outside.

"Just ran into a bit of trouble. If you have nothing else going on, help me piece these scraps of paper together and glue them properly. Don't mix them up, there might still be some information I need in there," Yang Jian said, putting a cardboard box on the coffee table.

I had only taken a preliminary look at Zhao Lei's notes. I wanted to make sure I hadn't missed any clues.

"Leave it to me, she's just a saleswoman, what does she know?"

Jiang Yan said pledging her capability, "I was the second-place winner in puzzle competitions when I was in elementary school."

"What's there to brag about? I even won first place in a children's song contest when I was a kid, did you see me showing off? Want me to sing a couple of lines?" Yang Jian looked at her seriously.

Zhang Liqin said a bit embarrassedly, "I'll go contact the repair shop for you, try to get the car fixed as soon as possible."

Yang Jian nodded, didn't say much, and went straight to the fifth floor.

He picked up a voice recorder pen at his desk on the fifth floor and said, "Today I encountered Zhao Lei. The effectiveness of Ghost Shadow's abilities is not particularly clear.

Although turning one arm of Ghost Shadow into a javelin can take the place of Coffin Nail, it's easy to be fooled by fierce ghosts during an attack, which makes it too risky and likely to fail, so I don't recommend using it, unless it's an emergency."

Covering my body with Ghost Shadow to simulate the effect of a shroud seems to be quite effective, able to withstand the attack of fierce ghosts and ensure my safety during the initial contact.

Ghost Shadow also seems to be able to activate the Ghost Domain, but the range isn't large. I'm not sure if it's because it lacks a head. This is an incomplete Ghost Shadow, and even after being revived, it still has defects.

After recording, Yang Jian put down the pen.

Lately, I've been attempting various experiments, trying to comprehensively develop the abilities of fierce ghosts. There have been many foolish attempts, but also some successful ones.

Because of Zhao Lei's case, I can't get it out of my mind.

In order to eliminate this hidden danger and to avenge Zhao Lei, after much consideration, I decided to take out the box containing the skin paper that was hidden in the wall.

In the face of supernatural events, I dared not to utilize this eerie skin paper.

Back then, I lacked the leverage to negotiate with it, so I could only try to believe in this ghostly thing. The result was that the skin paper successfully devoured a ghost... However, this time with the hanging in front of the Ghost Mirror, since I got the method in advance, the skin paper didn't take advantage.

Yang Jian was gradually getting the hang of it.

To avoid direct contact, he even put on a pair of specially made gloves.

He took out the skin paper again.

He laid it out flat on the table; the dark brown paper was soft yet exuded a chilly feel, with mottled marks making it look very old. At first glance, there was nothing odd about it, but it was actually creepy and terrifying. Continue reading at empire

At least I considered it the most bizarre thing I'd encountered in all my experiences with supernatural events.

"My name is Yang Jian, and if you're reading this, I'm already dead. Although I was lucky enough to survive the Hungry Ghost incident, I've realized that it was not the end of the nightmare, but the beginning. If you haven't left Dachang City yet, maybe there's still a chance to change everything..."

On the skin paper, words gradually appeared and finally formed a sentence.

"Enough with the nonsense, can't you change your opening lines? Always writing about my death, are you trying to make me feel hopeless so that I would have to listen to you to survive?" Yang Jian said, "I wonder how many people you duped to death before you came across me."

The writing stopped, with no more messages emerging.

"Tell me where Zhao Lei is, and what's the deal with that ghost. I might consider taking the next step in collaboration with you," Yang Jian directly started a negotiation dialogue, of course without any sincerity.

It was all about wheedling information first.

The words on the skin paper quickly began to disappear as if they were being rapidly erased, then it returned to calm once more.

It seemed to be ignoring Yang Jian, the big swindler.

"Quite proud, aren't you?" Yang Jian said, "If you're so dignified, how about I send you a thousand meters underground? Don't even think about seeing the light of day again for a thousand years, let alone ten thousand."

This skin paper had one major flaw: it could only display information. For anything else, it had to rely on someone else to act.

It was somewhat similar to the ghost that Zhao Kaiming had dealt with.

Only Zhao Kaiming's start was too bad. His whole family died, and the ghost caught his fatal weakness, leaving him no choice but to walk down a dark path, and in the end, somehow, he swallowed a gun and committed suicide. If it had been a better start, with Zhao Kaiming's abilities, the outcome wouldn't have been what it was.

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