Hu Jiu left the area designated for the second assessment and arrived at the rest hall.
A strange woman in a blue skirt was already sitting in the lounge. Her expression was indifferent, and nothing about her could be seen.
Afterwards, many more Ghost Tamer had passed the test arrived at the rest hall in a scattered manner. Some of them did not look particularly good, probably because they had failed in the second test.
Hu Jiu sat down casually and closed his eyes to rest.
More than half an hour later, someone plopped down next to Hu Jiu. Hu Jiu opened his eyes and saw that it was Wei Ze.
His expression was also not good, but he quickly recovered and turned to Hu Jiu, saying, "I didn't expect you to pass so soon. It seems I underestimated your abilities."
Hu Jiu said, "I wasn't the first one to come out; that person was the first."
He quietly pointed to the strange woman in the blue miniskirt.
"It's her, there's nothing strange about that~" Wei Ze said with a matter-of-fact expression.
"Who is she?" Hu Jiu asked.
"Her name is Yin Zhong, nicknamed the Witch. She's quite skilled in violence. I reckon she just recklessly went through the second assessment." Wei Ze subconsciously lowered his voice.
Hu Jiu's voice softened as she continued, "Is it possible to crack it entirely through brute force? Won't the score drop?"
Wei Ze shook his head. "Although someone who only knows how to use their fists and not their brains is very likely to die in Supernatural events."
"But if you become so powerful that you can easily overwhelm your opponents, intelligence becomes less important; as long as you don't hold them back, that's enough."
Hu Jiu was taken aback. "What you said makes sense."
After waiting for a long time, the members who participated in the second assessment had all come out of the examination area and entered the rest hall.
The area for the second assessment disappeared when the last person walked out, signifying the end of that assessment.
The door to the lounge was pushed open, Kaiyang walked in, his bald head shining brightly.
He was surrounded by a powerful aura, which made everyone feel a sense of oppression.
Kaiyang's tone was very serious. "The third assessment is about to begin. This time it's a real-world exercise, dealing with real Supernatural events, and it carries a certain degree of danger."
Participation in this assessment is not mandatory; you may choose to withdraw. Those who withdraw will receive a score of 0 and can leave now.
This kind of talk is completely meaningless, just like a teacher asking students "you can choose not to buy the workbook" or a boss asking employees "you can choose not to work overtime"—it's just a formality.
Sure enough, none of those present chose to back out; instead, they were all eager to try their luck.
"Alright, since no one has chosen to withdraw, let's prepare to depart. The third assessment will not be held here!"
Kaiyang led the way out of the hall.
The others followed closely behind.
The scene outside the lounge had changed; there was now a wide dirt road leading to the entrance, and darkness surrounded the area, with the faint sound of waves audible.
This road is very similar to the path Hu Jiu took when he arrived at this base, only it is wider and can accommodate more people.
If one day humanity truly tames the Supernatural and uses Supernatural in transportation, it will certainly be very convenient.
After walking for a while, we came to a huge square at the end of the road.
The square is located on an island, and it is Silence all around, with only the occasional sound of wind, birdsong, and waves.
Others might not know the location of this island, but Hu Jiu knew it very well. Wasn't this the Star-Time Island that he had asked Headquarters to investigate before?
Kaiyang began by briefly reiterating the existence of the Ghost World, and then continued:
"This is one of the borders between the Ghost World and the real world. Big Dipper has created a large containment base here to prevent Ghost World invasions, and is also responsible for researching rare and powerful Fierce Ghosts or Supernatural Items."
Kaiyang led everyone on a tour, explaining as he went. Following his lead, the group saw many containment rooms and imprisoned Fierce Ghost and Supernatural Items.
Hu Jiu made a quick comparison: the Headquarters' containment chambers were all made of gold, while Big Dipper's containment chambers were mostly built using Supernatural, with only a small portion using pure gold.
Kaiyang described many strange ghosts and Supernatural Items, and at this moment he was pointing to a quilt in a containment room:
"Covering yourself with that blanket will protect you from all attacks by Fierce Ghosts; it's practically a life-saving artifact."
"But this thing is generally not used. Do you know why?"
"Why?" someone asked cooperatively.
Kaiyang said, "Because that blanket has a very serious side effect. Although it can block the attacks of Fierce Ghost, people who use it will suffer from 'bed-rest syndrome,' preferring to stay in bed even if it means starving to death."
"Even those Ghost Tamer find it difficult to be immune to this side effect, which means that after using this blanket, a person becomes completely useless."
Everyone marveled, but to be fair, despite the serious side effects of the blanket, it was still necessary to use it in a crisis.
Becoming a lazy bum who only knows how to stay in bed is much better than being killed by a ghost on the spot.
Kaiyang then led the group to a very advanced containment chamber, pointing to the humanoid creature inside:
"That's a time traveler. According to his account, he comes from the Qi Kingdom in Parallel World. The history he remembers overlaps with the history we know, but after a certain point in time, a huge divergence occurs."
"Apart from that, the writing system, language, and physical structure he used were exactly the same as ours."
"Unfortunately, his Parallel World has been completely invaded by the Ghost World. He used the Ghost Domain to lure a large number of people from Otherworld, attempting to smuggle them into our real world. Fortunately, Big Dipper stopped them, preventing further disaster."
Hu Jiu leaned closer with interest and took a few more glances. Through the window, he could see a naked person bound hand and foot.
He has a handsome face, and judging from the muscle outline of his chest and abdomen, he should be a man. However, his three limbs are missing, as if they were violently chopped off. He is also missing an arm, leaving only a lonely left arm and a body that looks like a human pig.
Even so, his eyes remained defiant, and his face showed no sign of dejection.
The glass outside the containment room should be one-way, so the time traveler was unaware that he was being watched.
Seeing that some people in the crowd seemed to feel sorry for the time traveler's plight, Kaiyang's tone immediately became serious:
"This is a very dangerous person. There's no need to pity him, nor should we treat people from Otherworld worlds as equals. They have no human rights!"
"When we arrested him, Big Dipper paid a heavy price. In order to extract more useful information from him, we had to resort to some inhumane methods."