Mysterious Awakening-Chapter 384: Personal Archives

The hotel couldn’t possibly still have any living people; everyone knew that in their hearts.

Yet the clear sound of footsteps coming from just beyond the wall made one’s heart sink involuntarily. Despite it still being broad daylight outside, with the sunlight even able to shine in, everything around bright and clear, this offered him not the slightest comfort.

Once that thing appeared, it killed without any sense of reason.

It was terrifying and strange, unpredictable.

"The footsteps are very close; it seems like they’re heading this way."

Zong Shan listened against the wall again, confirming it with certainty.

The footsteps were heavy, devoid of any echo, carrying a deathly aura as they moved along the floor. In his mind, he could even picture a corpse wandering aimlessly in the dim corridor next door.

"Yang Jian’s intel is accurate; there is indeed something terrifying wandering around in here. No wonder he suggested sealing off the entire hotel."

He looked up again, "Guo Fan, what do you plan to do?"

"I’ve already stood up; I can’t just go back to the altar now, can I?"

Guo Fan’s face looked a bit awful, "Don’t worry about that thing. I’ve heard those footsteps more than once during the days I was trapped here. They appear periodically, so, to leave here... Although I don’t understand the pattern of that thing, since Yang Jian dared to seal this place with confidence, it means its range of influence isn’t great."

"Let’s hope nothing happens." Zong Shan was tense all over because at this moment he was certain that the footsteps were just beyond this wall.

Which meant that the ghost was only a wall away from him.

Not daring to get close to such a supernatural presence, he immediately moved away from the wall, retreating several steps backward.

Guo Fan also quickly chose to retreat.

The two of them quickly left the fourth floor via the fire ladder they had used earlier and arrived outside the hotel.

During the retreat, both of them were constantly looking into the broken rooms, especially towards the firmly locked room door.

They were terrified that the door would burst open with a bang and something horrifying would appear before them.

The situation seemed better than expected.

The locked room door didn’t open, and they successfully distanced themselves from the dangerous area. The ghost inside didn’t seem to have followed them out, either.

"A close call, huh?" Shen Liang, the team leader observing from a distance with binoculars, also let out a sigh of relief.

From his observations of Zong Shan’s movements, it was clear they encountered something terrifying within the hotel and the danger was very close to them. Fortunately, the supernatural presence inside never erupted, and the rescue mission ended successfully, with Guo Fan and Zong Shan both coming back alive.

"Zhang Gao, could you have a construction team close up the blasted opening afterwards, and seal off any possible entrances to the hotel, including windows and even sewer drains. Set up a warning perimeter around it—not just 500 meters, but 1,000 meters. From now on, this place is sealed off, and arrange for personnel to stand guard. We cannot allow anyone near it."

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Now that the situation was resolved, Shen Liang began to organize the follow-up work.

The liaison from Dachang City, Zhang Gao, nodded and then said, "But this might have a significant impact. Can’t we solve it once and for all?"

"Three exorcists fell victim in one go here, even with Yang Jian leading the team it wasn’t resolved, so there’s definitely a serious problem. A temporary seal is the best course of action for now. Rest assured, headquarters won’t ignore this; when conditions permit, it will be dealt with," Shen Liang said patiently.

"That’s the only way then." Zhang Gao frowned slightly, looking a bit worried.

Three days later, as Shen Liang led Guo Fan, Tong Qian, and others to J City, the Dachang City’s head balloon incident came to a temporary close.

Although the problem wasn’t completely resolved, at least its impact was contained.

Although it seemed that Yang Jian hadn’t done much this time, he did come away with some gains. Though he had to give up Ghost Candle and the face-covering cloth, he gained two teammates, resurrected Tong Qian, and discovered the hotel ghost’s habits and some special secrets.

"The existence of that ghost will be of use someday; for now, getting in touch is still too risky."

With this thought, he returned to Dachang City once more.

When he stood at the entrance of the Guanjiang Residential Complex with his suitcase, he found that there had been quite a few changes since he last left.

There were security guards at the entrance, each one exuding a fierce demeanor, clearly professionally trained.

The security monitoring had also become much more stringent, and he even saw teams of security personnel patrolling within the complex, which had not been the case before.

"Zhang Wei’s dad is pretty impressive in getting things done. He built a safe house earlier, stockpiled supplies, and then reorganized the security of the neighborhood... It was indeed no mistake to work with him," Yang Jian thought to himself.

After all, he was just a student, and if he were to handle these matters, he wouldn’t have managed any of them well. Of course, he was also very aware of his own capabilities, which is why he had sought to cooperate with Zhang Xiangu; he provided the security resources, and the other provided manpower and material support. Under such mutually beneficial circumstances, not a single member of Zhang Wei’s family died during the Hungry Ghost incident.

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Although Yang Jian valued benefits, he also knew when to be generous, and he wouldn’t be stingy when it was time to be open-handed.

He had yielded quite a lot, like the quotas for the safe house and shares in the Guanjiang Residential Complex.

It seemed that Zhang Xiangu had profited, as after all, the Gold used to build the safe house and the resolution of the paranormal events within the complex were all thanks to Yang Jian. However, Yang Jian was clear that, if it were solely up to him, there would never have been such a scenario.

But just this was still not enough.

Yang Jian also wanted to use his security benefits as a core, with Dachang City as a foundation, and himself at the center, to create a larger cooperative group.

Only in this way could he ensure he’d maintain control of Dachang City’s territory in the future.

Entering the neighborhood, the guards on duty did not stop him but immediately let him through with great politeness; they recognized Yang Jian.

Others might need to swipe a card to enter or exit the complex, but Yang Jian just needed to show his face.

After all, Yang Jian was the second-largest shareholder of the complex. Nearly half of it belonged to him, so he certainly had the privilege to bypass normal security measures with facial recognition.

He returned home.

There was no one in the house; Jiang Yan wasn’t there, nor was Zhang Liqin.

The computer room reserved for Zhang Wei was also empty.

The absence of people appeared to be temporary, as Yang Jian noticed the room was very clean and there were plenty of fruits and snacks on the table, which certainly must have been bought by Jiang Yan.

He didn’t pay much attention and went straight to the fifth floor.

He checked each room.

There were fierce ghosts locked up in specially made boxes, the Ghost Mirror covered in black cloth, and a skeleton that had been dismantled and restrained... Finally, he also looked up at the window outside, to a solitary decorative structure, the bell tower.

At the very top of the bell tower, in a small compartment, was a red wooden cabinet placed very conspicidentally from this angle.

That was the Ghost Cabinet.

Since Yang Jian was uncertain about the other risks it might pose, he dared not keep it at home and instead placed it in the bell tower not too far away.

Having ascertained that there had been no abnormalities with these supernatural objects during his absence, Yang Jian began to organize the items from this time.

The eerie doll from the suitcase, that bloodstained old newspaper.

As well as the archived documents recording this incident.

"The tall male corpse with a knife in Z City’s Caesar Hotel, codenamed: Man-Killing Ghost, my assessment of the danger level: A, movement patterns..."

Yang Jian picked up a voice recorder and started recording some of the critical information from this time, to later input into the computer and categorize it for saving, ensuring that he wouldn’t forget in the future.

Previous events like the bus incident, the Crying Tomb Ghost, the Dried Corpse Bride, and all the other supernatural events he had experienced were also recorded.

Yang Jian was creating a personal archive of the supernatural.

Some of the information in these personal supernatural archives wasn’t even in possession of headquarters.

While there was a risk of these records being stolen, Yang Jian no longer trusted his own brain completely.

Altered memories, supernatural resurrection, or even other situations could all cause him to lose his own memories, making it especially important to have backup archives.

The computer on the fifth-floor desk was not connected to the internet.

After entering the data, there would be no possibility of cyber intrusion unless someone broke in to steal the information.