Half an incense stick’s time is shorter than imagined.
After Zhang Youhong personally handled those five ghost drivers from the Republic of China period, her solid body began to gradually turn ethereal, like smoke ready to scatter in the wind.
“My time has come, I must leave. The rest is up to you.”
Her face still wore a smile, then she turned and gracefully walked toward the misty distance.
Yang Jian said nothing, just watched Zhang Youhong leave.
Soon, her figure receded further and became fainter, finally unable to maintain form, dispersing directly into wisps of blue smoke.
A small piece of burning incense was left where Zhang Youhong disappeared.
“Gone rather carefree.” After watching her leave, Yang Jian looked toward Sister Hong’s position.
Sister Hong’s body had returned to normal, but she stood still with eyes closed as if in deep sleep. Gradually, her consciousness awoke as Zhang Youhong disappeared.
After a short while, Sister Hong opened her eyes with the familiar smile: “I said I could handle this matter well. Now, I personally buried those five in this graveyard. You should be satisfied.”
Yang Jian’s face was calm: “You should thank your past life for leaving you such measures. But I hope these skills aren’t used for the last time today, and will always be available.”
“That depends on my mood,” Sister Hong smiled.
Yang Jian said: “Moreover, these kinds of things shouldn’t happen again in the future. My energy is limited, I have no time to manage your Republic affairs, but Zhang Youhong said it’s the last time, so I’ll believe her this time.”
While speaking.
The stalled bus started again.
All the ghosts that got off the bus earlier were dealt with by the revived Zhang Youhong, even the two fierce ghosts initially on the bus were buried in this old graveyard, reducing Yang Jian’s trouble, otherwise, he’d have to deal with the bus full of ghosts.
“It’s time to leave here, I have matters to handle in Dachang City, don’t want to idle here.”
Seeing the bus restart, Yang Jian boarded without hesitation, sat in the driver’s seat.
“Shouldn’t you wait for me? Are you really planning to leave me in this ghost place?” Sister Hong got on the bus, reverting to her previous appearance, looking forlorn.
Yang Jian said nothing, just prepared to drive the paranormal bus away.
However, a voice echoed in the graveyard: “Yang Jian, wait, I haven’t boarded yet, I haven’t boarded yet.”
The sole surviving ghost rider wasn’t dead, but alive. He jumped out from behind an old grave, rushing toward the bus, worried Yang Jian would drive off and leave him here.
This graveyard is not a good place, a creepy paranormal location, staying here long increases ghost encounters.
Yang Jian didn’t intentionally leave the ghost rider; waited a few seconds before closing the bus door after he boarded, driving out along the road.
“Thank heavens, I survived.” The surviving ghost rider gasped, relieved and tense.
“Is surviving so joyful?” Sister Hong asked with a smile.
On hearing Sister Hong, the ghost rider’s smile vanished, his face tense: “No, not that joyful, just a little happy.”
He dared not provoke the woman in a cheongsam; she was scarier when angry than Yang Jian.
“A lucky fellow, surviving means live well,” Sister Hong chuckled.
“Yes, yes, you’re right,” nodded the ghost rider.
After driving out of the graveyard, Yang Jian let the bus follow a predetermined path on the quiet road; if luck favored a few stops, it would return to reality.
“Sister Hong, our transaction is complete; now can you explain the use of this item?” Yang Jian stepped away from the driver’s seat, holding an old copper coin, and asked.
Sister Hong glanced at it: “You have a good memory for such small matters, this coin is a paranormal item. Throw it out, and if there’s a ghost nearby, it will certainly pick up the coin.”
“Just that?” Yang Jian asked.
“Isn’t that enough? Don’t be greedy; this coin is a truly precious paranormal artifact. It can draw hidden fierce ghosts, disrupt ghost actions, and the moment the ghost picks up the coin is your best chance to deal with it. You’ll understand eventually that truly terrifying ghosts are often unseen,” Sister Hong said.
Yang Jian pondered, understanding her point.
This item greatly aids top-tier ghost riders but isn’t much use for ordinary ones. The fiercer the ghosts it handles, the more evident its effect.
“What if a ghost picks up the coin and I can’t deal with it in time?” Yang Jian asked again.
Sister Hong smiled widely: “Then the coin no longer belongs to you, and the ghost’s coin-picking time is brief; seize the chance. I’ve never lost the coin over two lifetimes, so hope you don’t make that mistake, it’s embarrassing.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll utilize this coin well,” Yang Jian replied and pocketed the old copper coin.
As time passed, the paranormal bus went several stops; ghosts tried boarding, but Yang Jian stopped them.
Around the fourth stop, the bus emerged back into reality.
“This stop returns to reality, you can disembark.”
Yang Jian opened the doors; the bus had no ghosts, only him, Sister Hong, and the lucky survived ghost rider.
“Indeed, time to get off. I initially thought of finding some old comrades but seems I’ll be lonely from now on. It’s bleak when you think about it.”
Sister Hong stood, stretching lazily before slowly exiting the bus.
Yang Jian ignored her remarks, disembarked but glanced at the shrinking ghost rider in the corner.
“You first, you first, I prefer staying on the bus longer,” the surviving ghost rider chuckled nervously.
He dared not get off, worried about repercussions if stepping the wrong foot first landed him a fatal hit from Yang Jian.
Plus, he hadn’t stayed long, his paranormal resurrection unsolved, needing more bus time.
But with Yang Jian and Sister Hong off the bus, he had hopes to survive since only one ghost occupied the driver’s seat and he was alone in the empty vehicle, short-term unthreatened by overcrowding.
“I don’t care how you survive, just don’t mess around, or we’ll meet again,” Yang Jian said, ignoring the ghost rider and exiting the bus.
Soon.
The haunted bus started again, shut the door, and continued to move forward. It didn’t go far before disappearing from sight, beginning a new journey once more.
“Did Sister Hong leave as well?” Yang Jian looked around and found no sign of Sister Hong’s presence. Clearly, she left right after getting off the bus.
“In that case, I’ll return to Dachang City too.”
Water seeped out beneath his feet, and quickly engulfed his body, directly using Ghost Lake to transfer him back to Guanjiang Residential Complex in Dachang City.
However, the time serving as Sister Hong’s driver was brief. It’s only ten thirty now, having spent just over an hour, and if it weren’t for dealing with those five people from the Republic of China period, the time would have been even shorter.
Yet right after coming out of the swimming pool at home, Yang Jian glanced at his phone and noticed several text messages on it, sent by Liu Xiaoyu, teammate Li Yang, and Zhang Liqin.
“Did something happen?”
He furrowed his eyebrows, sensing something was amiss, otherwise so many people wouldn’t repeatedly contact him since everyone knows not to disturb him unless it’s important.
The messages didn’t specify the issue, only instructing Yang Jian to come and discuss at the meeting room in Shangtong Tower if he has time upon receiving the message.
“At this hour, Jiang Yan and Zhang Liqin haven’t returned home yet, most likely being held back at the company for overtime.” At this moment, Yang Jian opened his ghost eyes, looked in the direction of Shangtong Tower, and then took a step forward, disappearing from where he stood.
Compared to Ghost Lake, he’s habitually using ghost eyes for travel, for it avoids getting wet all over each time.
Meanwhile.
In the top floor meeting room of Shangtong Tower.
It was already ten forty at night, yet the place remained brightly lit.
Liu Xiaoyu, Jiang Yan, Zhang Liqin… Li Yang, these important people sat on the sofa, silent, seemingly waiting for something.
“We’ve messaged him, if the captain received it, he’ll definitely come. Now that he hasn’t appeared, it only shows he’s dealing with other matters, likely related to that Sister Hong Jiang Yan mentioned earlier, who’s indeed mysterious and special,” Li Yang said in a calm tone.
Liu Xiaoyu, however, said apologetically, “Sorry to have called both of you here. Originally, you were off work going home to rest, but now you’re here with us working overtime through the night.”
“It’s not a problem, it’s all for work, understandable,” said Jiang Yan.
“Working for President Yang, there’s really no hardship,” Zhang Liqin said with a smile.
Suddenly.
Li Yang sensed something, instantly turning to look behind.
At an unknown time, Yang Jian had appeared abruptly in the office, expressionlessly striding forward: “Why aren’t you resting so late, rather coming to work overtime? What’s going on? Don’t tell me it’s something from headquarters again.”
“Captain, you got it right, it is a headquarters matter. Let Liu Xiaoyu tell you, I’m not of a high enough level to know the details,” Li Yang said.
Yang Jian approached, sat on the sofa, then gestured: “Get me something to drink, I’ve just finished handling my matters, now I have time to hear you out slowly.”
Zhang Liqin smiled while pursing her lips and immediately got up to go to the bar.
“I’ll listen too, if you don’t mind,” Jiang Yan leaned in, settling beside Yang Jian.
Liu Xiaoyu glanced around before speaking, “Two issues. The hungry ghost incident failed in handling. Lin Bei and Wang Chaling withdrew from the paranormal incident site, but fortunately, Lin Bei blocked off the paranormal zone, preventing the hungry ghost’s influence from growing further.”
“Two captains couldn’t settle the hungry ghost? Are you kidding?” Yang Jian frowned.
Knowing the hungry ghost’s kill pattern was already clarified, he thought Wang Chaling alone could handle it, albeit consuming some time, given the guy is an ordinary person, cautious, yet upon taking a drive, coming back, he’s told not even with Lin Bei could they handle the hungry ghost.
Liu Xiaoyu continued, “Yang Jian, according to Lin Bei’s report, the hungry ghost likely consumed the coffin nail, making it unable to be contained, thus leading to the operation’s failure.”
“No way?”
Beside him, Li Yang’s face abruptly changed: “The coffin nail got consumed by the hungry ghost? If the news is true, then the hungry ghost is unsolvable.”
“Consumed the coffin nail? That’s quite absurd, yet in the paranormal circle anything might happen. Assuming Lin Bei’s information is accurate, with the hungry ghost consuming the coffin nail, it acquires the coffin nail’s ability to resist suppression, thus making it understandable why the captains couldn’t handle it.” Yang Jian also furrowed his brow.
Just upon returning, the paranormal circle gives him quite a surprise, indeed fascinating.
“Yet Lin Bei did well, immediately retreating upon gathering intelligence, not losing too many lives, promptly sealing the area to prevent the hungry ghost incident from worsening,” Yang Jian then nodded, acknowledging Lin Bei’s emergency measures.
“Set this matter aside for now, discuss the second issue.”
Liu Xiaoyu earnestly continued, “Earlier, headquarters notified the captain of Zhang Jun’s death, investigation results are now available.”
“Headquarters has some skill, deducing cause of death this fast?” Yang Jian received the cola from Zhang Liqin, taking a swig.
Liu Xiaoyu proceeded, “It’s confirmed, Zhang Jun was murdered by several key members of the foreign King Organization.”
Upon this, Yang Jian’s drinking paused briefly.
“Moreover, the King Organization’s Ark Plan has confirmed its initiation, with the vessel codenamed Ghost Ship already sailing, targeting our country. Besides, Cao Yang suffered an attack from an unidentified ghost handler, temporarily unharmed, but his assistant Wang Quan was killed.”
“Leuk San has a teammate named Wang Jie, confirmed murdered today, cause of death unknown. Investigation shows, however, three days ago he went missing.”
“He Yiner, involved in rebuilding Taiping Ancient Town, faced an attack tonight at the construction site, luckily she had other assistants and is confirmed unharmed currently.”
“These are the current intelligence pieces, more updates will be sent subsequently,” Liu Xiaoyu reported today’s happenings with diligence.
On the side, Li Yang hesitated after hearing this, before his face clouded: “This isn’t coincidence, the foreign ghost handler headquarters is stirring things. They want to give us a blow, clearly prepared for it, deciding on action seeing the hungry ghost incident at Dadong City.”
“Currently, Zhang Jun is dead, Li Jun encountered problems, Wei Jing is missing, Lin Bei and Wang Chaling failed handling the hungry ghost event, coupled with exposing the theft of the hungry ghost incident, showing our internal huge conflict, becoming the perfect timing for their Ark Plan.”
“Of course, not ruling out Zhang Jun’s investigation triggered them, forcing an expedited kill on Zhang Jun, accelerating the action.”
“In essence, that King Organization wants to pressure our other captains, trying to dismantle our headquarters in one go, making us overwhelmed, allowing the Ghost Ship to smoothly land.”
Instantly, Li Yang analyzed cause and effect, expressing his opinions and insights.
He also knew of the foreign Ark Plan, surprised only by its rapid materialization following the previous captain’s meeting.
“The balance in the supernatural circle finally breaks?”
Yang Jian slowly spoke, showing calmness towards these messages.
He knew this day would inevitably come, unexpectedly by human hands breaking this balance.
Source: Webnovel.com, updated by novlove.com
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