Mysterious Awakening

Chapter 397: Chapter 396 Code Name: Ghost Strangler

Because ghost controllers possess the spirit of ghosts within their bodies, in most cases they can determine the presence of paranormal entities by instinct.

Looking at the female corpse on the ground.

Normal deduction would suggest that this female passenger had just died not long ago, certainly no more than half an hour ago.

Yet, there lingered a faint scent of corpse decay nearby.

This was clearly illogical.

Yang Jian knew that this stench of decay did not originate from the deceased but from the ghost.

The residual odor indicated that at some point earlier, a ghost had been wandering in the nearby cabin, and this female passenger was just unlucky enough to be targeted by it.

"Hello, I’m Wang Dong, the air marshal in charge of this flight. The situation has arisen quite suddenly; I hope we can cooperate to catch the killer quickly and not give them another chance to commit the crime.”

Yang Jian shook it and then said, “Dachang City’s Yang Jian here. I’ve taken over this case; from now on, everything on this plane is under my control. Everyone, including the pilots, must follow my arrangements, no, my orders. If anyone disobeys, I have the authority to shoot them on the spot.”

"So, I hope you can assist me from the sidelines, Wang Dong, and prevent the situation from getting worse.”

Wang Dong immediately frowned, “Yang Jian, this doesn’t seem to comply with the regulations. Even law enforcement needs to go through proper channels

"I am not law enforcement, but if you have any objections, you can talk to your superiors,” Yang Jian finished speaking and said to the satellite-positioning phone: “I can pretty much confirm it now, it should be classified as a paranormal event.”

Qin Meirou’s voice came through the satellite-positioning phone, “Can you solve it?”

"Don’t know, I’ve only just confirmed the event. Whether it can be resolved has to be attempted to be certain, but judging from the current situation, only one person has died, and the Terror Level definitely won’t be too high. However, I want to know if anyone has died on this flight before? I mean recently, you need to investigate this and also inform the people on this flight to cooperate with my actions,” Yang Jian said.

Qin Meirou responded, “Okay, I’ll get right on it. We’ll keep the communication open.”

Yang Jian didn’t speak, just hung the satellite-positioning phone on his chest and then crouched down to lift the piece of clothing covering the corpse to start examining the deceased’s condition.

The victim was a woman around forty, heavily made up, with eyes wide open in terror and a face filled with despair and horror, as if she had seen some unimaginable terror just before her death.

Although he was not a forensic expert, the cause of her death was quite peculiar.

Yang Jian saw that the woman’s head had been twisted several times around her neck, the skin of her neck nearly twisted into a cord, and under her neck, the skin was patchy with purple and blue bruises, as if strangled by something.

The death was truly gruesome~!

"Ugh”

The flight attendants nearby turned pale at the sight, feeling nauseated, and they stumbled and began to vomit.

At the same time, Wang Dong also received a call from his superiors.

"Wang Dong, given the urgency of the situation, I’m issuing a single directive: comply unconditionally with Yang Jian’s arrangements. Remember, even if he tells you to jump off the plane, you must comply. This is not a simple murder case but a special case with significant implications. I will repeat, comply unconditionally with Yang Jian’s arrangements.”

"Yes, unconditionally comply with Yang Jian’s arrangements,” said Wang Dong earnestly.

After the call, the look in his eyes towards Yang Jian changed.

Confused and puzzled, but his attitude was very decisive as he said, “Yang Jian, the superiors have instructed me to comply with your commands and arrangements, please issue your orders.”

"Headquarters is pretty efficient. You can’t be of much help; the only thing you can do is to stabilize the other passengers, keep them from being disorderly and panicking.”

Yang Jian was still squatting on the ground, he lifted the female corpse’s head and straightened the twisted neck.

"Rest assured, I’ll make sure the mission is completed,” Wang Dong said, before turning to leave.

"Wait,” Yang Jian called out to him.

Wang Dong asked, “Is there another arrangement?”

"Got a gun?” asked Yang Jian.

"No, I don’t,” replied Wang Dong, his expression shifting.

As an air marshal, he was not authorized to carry a gun; if he were equipped with one, there was the potential risk of losing it, which could introduce a safety hazard on its own.

"Words alone can’t hold people down in the face of terror. With so many passengers on the plane, just you and a few flight attendants will not be enough to keep order,” Yang Jian handed over a handgun he had retrieved from behind him: “I’m lending this to you for now; just return it to me after we disembark.”

Wang Dong hesitated for a moment, remembered the instructions from above, did not refuse, and immediately took the handgun.

After he left, Yang Jian had pretty much straightened the dead female passenger’s head.

He wasn’t interested in the cause of death; in the face of the supernatural, there were many possible ways to die. What he cared about was the bruising on the neck, the traces left by the ghost; this was what was most critical.

After straightening the twisted neck, the bruises connected to form a pattern.

These bruises, they formed the shape of a handprint.

No, not a single hand, but a pair of palms.

The bruises on the neck showed the shape of a pair of hands—one on the left, one on the right—with delicate finger marks, and even wounds from fingernails digging into the skin.

"This pair of female hands,” Yang Jian frowned, holding up the corpse’s palms for comparison.

They were exactly the same size.

"Does this mean that she strangled herself? And also managed to twist her own head several times around her neck?”

Seeing this, he knew things had become complicated.

An unidentified ghost, killing patterns unknown, actions unclear, and even its means of manifestation a mystery.

An enigma through and through.

The only consolation was that this ghost’s level was low, not as terrifying as the ones he’d encountered before. This method of killing was relatively mild, and so far, only one person had died, which indicated that the ghost’s Terror Level was not high.

"Create a new supernatural file, Terror Level C, codename: Ghost Strangler.” Yang Jian spoke up.

"The file has already been created,” Qin Meirou’s voice came through. “Additionally, I’ve thoroughly investigated all flights on this airplane for the past half year; there were no similar incidents before, not even a single passenger death. There were a few cases of sudden illness on board, but no accidents occurred.”

Upon hearing this, Yang Jian narrowed his eyes; “The ghost has started killing, which means it’s active. Under such circumstances, there should have been deaths on every flight. The absence of past incidents means the ghost isn’t lingering on the plane, but was brought aboard by a passenger.”

"Perhaps that passenger is also a ghost controller who suffered a lapse in judgment during this flight and accidentally killed someone, or maybe the ghost controller died on the plane, leading to the revival of a vindictive ghost… Regardless of the situation, there’s a strong likelihood that this event is man-made.”

"So it’s like that.” Qin Meirou was somewhat surprised.

But from Yang Jian’s analysis, it indeed seemed very likely.

Yang Jian continued, “Currently, there are two solutions I have in mind. Discuss them with headquarters.”

"Go ahead,” Qin Meirou said immediately.

Yang Jian said, “First, I can use the Ghost Domain to take all passengers on this plane away from here. Once we’re on the ground, we can investigate every passenger to find the potential ghost controller. This is the safest method. Of course, I can’t rule out the possibility that the ghost is still on the plane, in which case it may crash the plane and reappear elsewhere.”

"The second option is to let the plane keep flying while I try to deal with the entity on board. This could result in some, or even all, passengers being injured or killed, but the upside is that we have a chance to eliminate the ghost.”

"It’s up to you at headquarters to decide. We haven’t had a second victim yet; there’s still time to think. Likewise, give me a response within five minutes.”

Yang Jian stood up and covered the body again.

It was confirmed; this body had no issues, was not a ghost controller, and certainly not a ghost—just an ordinary, innocent passenger.

Both the solutions he proposed had their pros and cons.

The first solution was about saving people, avoiding contact with the supernatural.

With the Ghost Domain, Yang Jian could prevent direct casualties, but it meant leaving the ghost unmanaged, which could lead to it appearing elsewhere and continuing to kill. The casualties then could far exceed the number of people on a commercial jet since it takes time to notice, find, and neutralize a ghost. During this time, the ghost could kill without restraint, and the casualties would absolutely exceed the number of passengers on a plane.

As for the second solution, it prioritized resolving the supernatural occurrence to ensure safety in other areas and remove potential hazards. However, the premise was that some or all passengers on the plane might be sacrificed.

To save people now, potentially causing more deaths later.

Or let some die now, to avoid more deaths in the future.

Regardless of the choice, death was certain, so Yang Jian would not make this decision. He left it to headquarters to decide.

Following Yang Jian’s words, an intense telephone conference immediately began at headquarters.

"Everything should be focused on saving lives; saving people comes first, and dealing with the ghost afterwards is something we can assign someone else to. Nothing is more important.”

"Bullshit, if we don’t deal with the ghost now, when it reappears, it may kill more people than we save today. And now that we’ve pinpointed this ghost, given the plane’s small space, Yang Jian should have no problem containing it. We can’t miss this opportunity.”

"I suggest we resolve it on the spot. All lives are equal. We can’t ignore the safety of the many for the safety of a few. Besides, the supernatural entity has only just emerged. Acting now would minimize casualties. Have you already forgotten the Dachang City incident?”

"Can’t we have Yang Jian save the people first and then deal with the ghost?”

"Impossible; no one can guarantee that the ghost isn’t hiding among the passengers. If so, saving people would also mean releasing the ghost.”

After a brief but intense discussion.

Qin Meirou conveyed the final command to Yang Jian: resolve the supernatural event on the plane.

Yang Jian wasn’t surprised by this arrangement.

Considering the bigger picture, resolving the supernatural occurrence at its onset would lead to the lowest loss. If the ghost were released to save those few dozen people on the plane, the next incident might see more deaths than those saved this time.

The staff at headquarters could not possibly be so shortsighted.

"Resolve it on the spot? Understood, I’ll do my best,” Yang Jian replied calmly.

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