Mysterious Awakening-Chapter 585: Good and Bad

Huang Ziya, carrying Yang Jian's head, followed the direction the headless body had gone and pursued its trail.

The street was very ordinary, a straight line, making the direction easy to discern. There was no fear of getting lost, and the chances of finding a certain body were relatively high—only if the surrounding buildings and shops were taken into account, the difficulty increased significantly. With some good luck, walking a bit further might reveal the terrifying body in a state of revival. But with bad luck, it's possible Yang Jian's body would fully awaken as a ghost before it was found.

"The bloodstains on the footsteps are fading."

Huang Ziya quickly followed the fresh bloody footsteps, left by Yang Jian's body.

However, when she reached the middle of the street, near the road, the bloodstains were no longer visible; no traces were left on the ground.

"People on the street are starting to panic, realizing the abnormality of being in the Ghost Domain, so now they are all moving around chaotically, trying to find a way out," Huang Ziya frowned deeply.

The pedestrians scrambling about meant that the ghost could attack any one of them. As for which target it would choose and where, that was very difficult to determine. It would be easier if all these people were gathered in one place.

She glanced at Yang Jian's head in her hand.

Huang Ziya didn't receive any notice from Yang Jian, which meant even he didn't have any good method to find his own body.

No, to be precise, that no longer qualified as Yang Jian's body, it should be referred to as the Headless Ghost's corpse.

Without Yang Jian's control, his body was a bona fide fierce ghost, even more terrifying than an ordinary ghost.

"Keep searching," Huang Ziya revealed a sense of urgency, knowing that the sooner she helped Yang Jian find his body, the safer it would be.

If it took too long, all kinds of horrible things could happen.

Yang Jian also saw the disappearance of the bloody footsteps on the road, and his remaining ghost eye was searching for the headless body's location. Since this ghost eye was not one of the eyes that could open the Ghost Domain, he was unable to understand everything in the Ghost Domain and had to look with his eye just like a normal person.

"Can I find my body before it turns into a real fierce ghost?"

He silently pondered to himself.

Although Huang Ziya's rescue and timely perception of information were a great start, the current action was what truly determined whether he would live or die.

"My body isn't on the highway." Yang Jian's ghost eye had excellent vision, enabling him to see from one end of the street to the other.

He quickly filtered through the options but didn't find his target.

Huang Ziya seemed to notice this as well, frequently glancing at the shops on both sides, as if she suspected that Yang Jian's body might have run into one of them.

This guess was right.

At that moment,

A headless corpse, its whole body covered with congealed blood, was taking heavy steps, walking from where Yang Jian was attacked all the way along the wide road towards the end of the street choked with cars. There, most of the passersby caught up in this situation were gathered, discussing the strange phenomena happening here.

A middle-aged man with his back to this direction appeared to have become the target of the Headless Ghost's corpse.

Initially, the middle-aged man had been discussing the situation here with other strangers and also called for help.

At times the phone worked, at other times it didn't, as if it was being interfered with. He could only barely speak a few words, but the other side couldn't hear him completely, receiving only a "Hello," frustrating him to the point of nearly smashing his phone.

Then, the middle-aged man thought of the computers that might be available in the nearby shops.

If calls couldn't get through, perhaps it wouldn't be a problem to ask for help online using a computer.

Immediately, the middle-aged man turned and headed towards a nearby shop, trying to borrow a computer to go online, trusting that the shop owner would be willing to help with this at such a special time.

As he turned, the headless corpse not far behind him also changed direction, following him. The terror of danger was silently approaching, yet this person was completely unaware and never once looked back.

However, just because the middle-aged man didn't notice, didn't mean the other pedestrians hadn't seen.

"Hey, did you see that just now? Someone with no head seemed to have passed by there," someone said, incredulously widening their eyes as if doubting their own eyesight.

"I think I saw it too. That person was covered in blood, following behind someone, but I couldn't see their head."

"Are you guys joking? With no head and still walking? What you saw, was it a person or a ghost?"

A ghost?

Amidst the discussion, as soon as the word 'ghost' was inadvertently mentioned, those already a bit panicked faced with this weird situation felt a nameless fear.

Could it be that a ghost is causing trouble on this street?

But thinking about it carefully again, they couldn't really believe such an absurd guess.

Even though it was night, the streets were filled with vehicles and people. With so many around, how could there possibly be a haunting?

Yet... as everything was enveloped in red light, some had already sensed the danger that had arrived and were trying to quickly get away.

The young couple that had seen the headless corpse stand up had now fled the street as if their lives depended on it.

"We need to get out of here, get away from that street, we absolutely can't stay there any longer. We didn't see it wrong just now, that headless corpse really stood up. It's very possible that a supernatural event is happening. Do you remember the ghost stories that have been popular online recently?" The young man, pulling his girlfriend, had already run to the end of the street.

He looked out at the silent city shrouded in darkness, and his fear deepened.

The young girlfriend was also in a panic, not doubting her boyfriend's words because she had seen that scene as well.

But even though they reacted quickly and started to flee, reality was cruel. This was the fourth layer of the Ghost Domain, and no matter which way they went, they couldn't leave this place.

The only way to survive and get out was to wait until Yang Jian's head returned to his body and retracted the Ghost Domain.

And Yang Jian was striving to do just that.

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Huang Ziya wasn't slow in her actions; carrying Yang Jian's head, she was still quickly searching for the headless ghost corpse.

As time passed, her anxiety grew.

Because she knew just how severe the consequences of a fierce ghost's revival could be.

"Continuing to search like this definitely isn't the way. The street is too long, the corpse must have run into one of the nearby shops or buildings. It wouldn't be easy to find unless the ghost starts killing. People will panic, making it easier to pinpoint its location," Huang Ziya said, slightly out of breath.

She was starting to run out of strength.

"Use the Ghost Candle." At this moment, Yang Jian saw her urgency and red text floated in front of her face, giving her a bit of informational help.

Ghost Candle?

Huang Ziya was slightly stunned for a moment.

She quickly understood Yang Jian's meaning.

When a Ghost Candle is lit, its burning time can fend off all attacks from fierce ghosts. As long as the candle's light covers them, people won't be killed by ghosts before it burns out. This effect has been verified through several supernatural events. While it may not count as truth, it has a high degree of credibility.

However, at this time, lighting the Ghost Candle was not to use this effect.

It was to detect the ghost's location.

The closer to the ghost, the more violently the Ghost Candle would burn. Using this feature, they could quickly determine the ghost's position.

Unfortunately, Yang Jian's white Ghost Candle was placed on the corpse. Otherwise, using the white Ghost Candle would have been more effective.

"Alright, let's use the Ghost Candle," Huang Ziya gritted her teeth, took out the Ghost Candle Yang Jian had left behind, and lit it.

The sinister candlelight emitted a strange color, and the Ghost Candle was successfully ignited.

Currently, there were no ghosts around, so it was burning slowly, meaning the Ghost Candle could last for quite some time.

"The Eight-Tone Music Box's curse is not affected by the Ghost Candle." The eerie ringtone in Yang Jian's mind was still echoing and didn't disappear with the lighting of the Ghost Candle.

This indicated that the Ghost Candle was ineffective against the Eight-Tone Music Box.

"No wonder the previous people who used the Music Box all died mysteriously; a curse that not even the Ghost Candle can fend off is indeed very dangerous," Yang Jian thought to himself.

He wasn't the first person to use the Music Box to save his life. Cao Yanhua had said that the Music Box had gone through several owners and had even been used by other ghost tamers at the headquarters. Although it could prolong life for a time, the headquarters had tried many methods and failed to overcome this terrible curse.

Initially, when Yang Jian chose it, Cao Yanhua had not recommended it, after all, it wasn't an item to save people, but to kill them.

However, now Yang Jian wasn't worried about the curse of the Music Box at all.

If his head couldn't return to his body, he was as good as dead; whether cursed or not was no longer important.

If Yang Jian survived this, he would then consider how to deal with the curse of the Eight-Tone Music Box.

Because she was carrying the Ghost Candle, Huang Ziya acted even more boldly. She didn't need to fear ghost attacks, so she began to run along the side of the road.

As she ran, she kept an eye on the candle flame.

Soon.

The effectiveness of the Ghost Candle was fully demonstrated when Huang Ziya passed by a row of shops and the flame on her candle suddenly expanded, burning much larger and faster than before.

"The ghost is nearby."

Huang Ziya abruptly halted her steps, her gaze and Yang Jian's Ghost Eye simultaneously scanning to both the left and right.

Very quickly.

Inside one of the shops, she saw a horrifying scene.

A middle-aged man was sitting in front of a computer at the shop's counter, apparently trying to seek help online, while a bloody headless male corpse had already approached him.

Perhaps because he was too focused on revealing, the middle-aged man had not yet realized that something had drawn close to him.

"Found it," Huang Ziya's eyes narrowed.

At last, the location of Yang Jian's body was confirmed.

However, the headless corpse had already begun its attack on the first person. Although both Huang Ziya and Yang Jian saw it, judging by the distance, it seemed too late to stop it.

Even if they couldn't stop it, they couldn't just stand by and do nothing.

"Quick, get away from there," Huang Ziya charged forward, shouting loudly in an attempt to warn the middle-aged man.

The distance from here to inside the shop wasn't far, just across half a street and a sidewalk; a quick person could arrive in just about ten seconds.

But as quick as her actions were, the ghost killed even faster.

The headless ghost corpse had already stood behind the middle-aged man and was slowly raising its hands.

The middle-aged man wasn't completely without alertness; he had felt someone following him into the shop. However, afraid that someone would fight him for the computer, he didn't turn his head, taking a seat immediately upon entry.

By the time he came to his senses, his peripheral vision had already caught someone standing behind him.

"Are you here to use the computer too? First come, first served, wait until I'm done then it's all yours..."

However, before he could finish his sentence, the headless corpse behind him had already raised its hands and grabbed his head.

"What do you want to do?"

The middle-aged man was startled and instinctively tried to turn around and push away the person behind him, only to realize upon touching that the person behind him was somewhat peculiar.

The body was stiff, cold, and very heavy, completely immovable.

Only then did he see that the thing grabbing his head wasn't a person at all, let alone a living one, but a headless corpse drenched in blood.

Fear surged instantly, causing even this grown man to scream hysterically.

But the screaming was of no use.

Those hands were still clasping his head tightly, with astonishing strength, squashing his skull until it began to deform.

The Headless Ghost Shadow possessed the ability to disassemble and reassemble corpses, and even though it was in a state of revival, taking the head of a living person was still a breeze, but this time it failed.

The head of this middle-aged man didn't come off, and it remained on his neck.

"The gloves in my hand isolated the ability of the Ghost Shadow, causing the ghost's attack to fail," Yang Jian thought, feeling a sense of unexpected gain upon witnessing this.

During the previous ghost painting incident, he had asked Wang Quan for a special pair of gloves to block the Ghost Hand's influence, to prevent accidentally harming others, hence he was still wearing those gloves till now.

The Ghost Shadow did not appear to have the ability to think and did not actively take off the gloves.

As a result, the Headless Ghost Shadow was greatly restricted and also unable to use that Ghost Hand.

"Opportunity."

Huang Ziya's eyes focused, her actions more decisive than usual. Whether it was the Ghost Candle in her hand that gave her confidence, or the key information revealed by Yang Jian, she felt certain about her actions.

She rushed into the shop, ready to return Yang Jian's head to the body.

However, the moment she pushed the door open.

The scene before her changed.

There was no headless ghost corpse, no person being attacked, only a bloody corpse on the ground. The corpse's features and head were deformed, as if they had been gruesomely crushed by something. It seemed as though what she had just seen was a scene from minutes earlier, and the attack had already ended here.

"How could this be?" Huang Ziya was instantly stunned.

What she had seen outside did not synchronize with what she saw inside.

"It's the Ghost Domain... The Headless Ghost Shadow has already taken control of the ghost's eye and is starting to manipulate the fourth layer of the Ghost Domain. We've been deceived by the Ghost Domain. It's still nearby, but not in this layer of the Ghost Domain," Yang Jian communicated with Huang Ziya, explaining the situation just now.

At the same time, he also sensed that things were getting out of control.

In the fourth layer of the Ghost Domain, the ghosts hidden within were almost unsolvable mysteries, Yang Jian, who had once controlled the ghost eye, knew this very well.

"Then what do we do? Wouldn't that mean we'll never find your body?" Huang Ziya exclaimed in shock.

Yang Jian couldn't hear her speaking, but he knew Huang Ziya was troubled; however, he quickly revealed some news, "The next time the attack happens, my body will definitely appear. That's our opportunity."

No matter which layer of the Ghost Domain his body was hidden in, it would have to be in the same layer as the others when attacking someone.

Then they would be able to reach his body.

Although that was the rational explanation, Yang Jian had to admit that his own Ghost Domain was indeed tough to deal with.

Fortunately, the Headless Ghost Shadow had not fully revived yet. Because it was wearing gloves, it had not managed to find a human head smoothly, merely taking simple control of the Ghost Domain for the time being. If those limitations were not there, then that would be the real horror.

"I know what to do now. The mission this time is fairly simple and not very dangerous. Captain, don't worry. I will handle it well," Huang Ziya said confidently.

She was not discouraged by one failure.

Having thoroughly understood the situation here, she believed this was not even a C-level paranormal event, let alone with Yang Jian's guidance and the protection of the Ghost Candle, it was impossible for her to fail.

Of course, despite her confidence, Huang Ziya did not forget that she was dealing with an unrevived corpse and not a ghost that had been resurrected.

She took Yang Jian's head, turned around, and walked out the door.

She was going to find the second victim and seize the second opportunity.

Just as Huang Ziya's actions were going smoothly.

The head office and the friends' circle were already arguing vehemently over Yang Jian's incident, each side needing a result that both could accept.

At the top floor of Ping'an Tower.

Jang Shangbai put down what must have been the umpteenth phone call, rubbed his head, and said, "The head office has agreed to help cover up the news of Yang Jian's death. Of course, they want our cooperation. In any case, we can't let others know that Yang Jian was killed by us; otherwise, the situation will spiral out of control."

"So they've compromised after all," someone sneered.

"There must be conditions," Fang Shiming said slowly.

"Yes, there are conditions. There are roughly three: first, we hand over three experimental projects and half of the properties; second, the Ghost Drawing operation must be a part of this; third, the issue of Yang Jian's ghost revival is our responsibility to handle," Jang Shangbai said; "There's no room for negotiation. If we don't agree, Old Qin will make a trip to Ping'an Tower."

"At that point, apart from those who have joined the head office's ghost riders, not a single person will be spared."

"We can't agree to that. It's practically like cutting off half of our assets," someone protested in shock and anger.

Fang Shiming spoke calmly, "They're really being tough. But it's just a bluff. Although I don't doubt that the head office has the capacity to take down our friends' circle, they won't actually do it because it's too much of a loss. Regardless of whether we die or several of their captains perish, it will inevitably cause a paranormal event."

"By then, we the living will have battled it out to the death, while the fierce ghosts wreak havoc unabated. Everyone knows how that will go."

"But we still need to give them a step to step down on. We'll agree to it first and then act according to the situation. If we've been too aggressive, we'll need to show some submission. After the fighting can't go on, it'll be time for each to use their own methods to compete for benefits," Fang Shiming considered for a moment, then continued.

"That makes sense," Jang Shangbai nodded slightly in agreement.

At that moment, many people around the conference table breathed a sigh of relief.

This also proved that Fang Shiming's strategy was correct. He had bluffed the head office using a tough stance, making Yang Jian's death a boon to them.

Even though some benefits were lost, at least the major issue was resolved.

However, both the head office and the members of the friends' circle were overlooking a reality.

What if Yang Jian wasn't dead and suddenly returned? What then?

Yang Jian didn't yet know that his attack was orchestrated by the friends' circle, nor was he aware of the head office's decision to compromise. Once he learned all the truths, the consequences would be very frightening.

But no one considered this point.

Because Yang Jian's fate had been sealed, he had died in some unknown paranormal event, with no possibility of survival.