Hearing Zou Cong's words, Hu Jiu looked surprised. "What's so special about the source ghost of Longevity Village?"
He looked down at the candle in his hand. "Could this Longevity Candle be headquarters' target?"
Zou Cong coughed softly twice. "It's only a secondary objective. It's best if we can get it, but it doesn't matter if we can't. The key is the ghost Mr. Peng controls!"
Hu Jiu rubbed the Longevity Candle, feeling the warmth coming from it. "Mr. Peng really was a Ghost Tamer!"
Zou Cong nodded. "That's right. According to the intelligence you received, Mr. Peng was a generous, charitable man. He treated patients, cared for the elderly, and taught children, all free of charge. So far, everything sounds wonderful, but there's more to the story."
"What happened next?" Hu Jiu asked.
Zou Cong said, "The villagers accepted Mr. Peng, an outsider, and regarded him as their great benefactor. But as time passed, a few villagers noticed something was wrong."
"The patients Mr. Peng cured gradually began aging faster, with changes visible to the naked eye in just a month or two. The elderly people he cared for became kind and gentle, wearing benevolent smiles even when injured, as though they had lost all other emotions. The children he taught never misbehaved again, but they also lost the liveliness children should have. They did whatever their parents told them to do, so obedient and submissive that they were practically slaves."
"At first, the villagers thought it was a coincidence, but gradually, more and more people in the village became strange. They finally realized what the problem was!"
"The villagers feared Mr. Peng and tried to drive him away by force. That's when something terrible happened. Mr. Peng tore off his mask of false kindness. One moment, the villagers were driving him out; the next, they were thanking him profusely and becoming his loyal supporters."
"Of the entire village, only one farmwoman saw that things were going badly and escaped, taking the secret with her. Later, some curious people went to investigate, but all they found was a peaceful, tranquil village and its honest, kindhearted residents. No one believed the farmwoman anymore. They all thought she had gone mad, and when her family asked for help, some kindhearted people forcibly sent her home."
Hu Jiu wrapped the Longevity Candle in gold foil and said casually, "This must have happened many years ago, right? You went to a lot of trouble to find out so much about it."
Zou Cong sighed. "Headquarters has a Ghost Tamer codenamed [Secret Peeker]. As long as he has relevant clues, he can peek at secrets from the past."
"!"
Hu Jiu froze in shock. In his previous life, he had never known such a person existed, right up until his death!
Worse still, had headquarters long since learned about the heinous things he had done in Linjiang City? Had he thought himself a step ahead, only to be a mere clown?
Zou Cong seemed to see Hu Jiu's suspicion and alarm and explained, "Don't worry. Although [Secret Peeker] is a trump-card support, and headquarters would love to keep him hidden so no one knows about him, [Secret Peeker] himself is in a severely abnormal state. He won't use his ability on unimportant people without good reason."
"But headquarters sent you on the Longevity Village mission, so I'm afraid they have some issues with you. You should understand: compared with Ghost Tamers raised by headquarters, unruly independent Ghost Tamers make the best cannon fodder, especially unstable elements like you and Yue Renchun."
Hu Jiu's lips twitched. "You sure know a lot."
Zou Cong gave a bitter smile. "I'm one of the Ghost Tamers raised by headquarters."
"But you don't seem very loyal to headquarters." Hu Jiu couldn't help commenting. Zou Cong had casually leaked confidential information to an outsider. Headquarters had been careless in choosing its people.
"What do you know?!" Zou Ran's expression suddenly turned serious. "Ghost Tamers can no longer be considered purely human. Those high-and-mighty officials will never trust Ghost Tamers unless they themselves possess supernatural power that's safe, powerful, and has no side effects! Headquarters' own people aren't distinguished by loyalty, but by compulsory restraints!"
Hu Jiu raised an eyebrow. "Compulsory restraints? You mean the kind of supernatural restriction on you?"
"Yes." Zou Cong coughed a few more times, seemingly feeling some discomfort in his throat. "Headquarters possesses an extremely overbearing supernatural item—the [Ghost Contract]."
This was another thing Hu Jiu had never heard of. It seemed headquarters really did have hidden depths. He also had to blame his own poor standing in his previous life, which had kept him from coming into contact with such high-level things.
"Once you sign the contract, you become a slave." Zou Cong's voice was full of grief and indignation. "At first, I was just an ordinary independent Ghost Tamer, diligently dealing with supernatural incidents. Later, headquarters notified me that I'd accumulated enough merit to apply to control a second ghost."
"Ghost-Covered Eyes was already very strong, and I was in decent shape at the time, so I didn't intend to risk controlling a second ghost. But headquarters said they'd found the missing pieces of Ghost-Covered Eyes: [Ghost-Blocked Ears] and [Ghost-Covered Mouth]. The success rate for controlling multiple ghosts at once was over 80 percent, a rare and exceptional case. I'd made outstanding contributions, and headquarters was very willing to make me a priority for development!"
"Now that I think about it, I was dazzled by their promises. I happily went to headquarters to take part in the experiment, but I passed out as soon as I entered the lab. When I woke up, I was already afflicted by the Ghost Contract's curse. After that, they put me through a series of obedience tests. I grew stronger, but from then on, my life was no longer my own." Zou Cong's expression grew uglier as he spoke, as though he had recalled a sickening past, and he ground his teeth with hatred.
Hu Jiu couldn't help frowning too. "Headquarters actually has such a formidable weapon! Are they trying to catch every Ghost Tamer in the country in one fell swoop?"
"You think headquarters doesn't want to? They can't!" Zou Cong's voice grew increasingly hoarse. "The [Ghost Contract] is incomplete, and using it requires numerous preconditions. Otherwise, why would headquarters need to go about it so indirectly, tricking and deceiving people? They'd have resorted to force long ago! That's what this mission is for."
Hu Jiu understood instantly. "Longevity Village's source ghost is a missing piece of the Ghost Contract!"
"The ghost Mr. Peng controlled is codenamed [Chang]." Zou Cong panted heavily. "Ordinary vicious ghosts can only turn corpses into ghost slaves after killing people, but the Chang Ghost is different. Its killing rule is to turn living people into slaves. They remain alive, but their thoughts are twisted, and they obey their ghost master completely, becoming its minions."
"The Ghost Contract acts on the body, while the Chang Ghost acts on consciousness. Combined, they completely tame the person under control, body and soul, inside and out..."
Hu Jiu's heart suddenly skipped two beats. Those mighty superpowers who had dominated the scene in his previous life had all been completely loyal to headquarters, never made any unreasonable demands, and kept the lowest possible profiles. Could they have...
"Who currently controls the [Ghost Contract]?" Hu Jiu pressed urgently.
Zou Cong answered, "How could something like that be allowed to fall into any one person's hands? You have to understand that the Ghost Contract can control not only Ghost Tamers but ordinary people with even greater ease. Every time it's used, a tedious, complicated procedure has to be followed. Using it or coming into contact with it alone is strictly forbidden."
Seeing Hu Jiu fall into thought, Zou Cong continued, "The Longevity Candle isn't an ordinary supernatural item either. Its other name is the Ghost Borrowing Lifespan. Its holder can plunder other people's lifespans."
"Oh, borrowing lifespan? I imagine certain people who are old or nearing the end of their lives would find that very tempting." Hu Jiu took two steps back without drawing attention to it. "Was Cui Xueyan set up, getting mixed up in such a dangerous mission?"
"I don't know." Zou Cong looked confused for a moment. "Headquarters can't interfere in the military's affairs."
"One last question." Hu Jiu continued backing away. "Who exactly are you?"
Zou Cong knew far too much about headquarters' confidential information, and the two of them had been blathering at this intersection for so long without being hunted down.
"Don't doubt it. I'm me." Zou Cong lifted his chin. "You have secrets, and so do I. Who hasn't had a few lucky encounters? Otherwise, why would headquarters have gone to such lengths to control me with the Ghost Contract? I've said everything I need to say. Now we have to find a way out of here!"
Zou Cong stared at Hu Jiu. "Can you use that book of yours to leave?"
"I tried. It doesn't work." Lies came readily to Hu Jiu as he silently counted down.
"That's trouble." Zou Cong pursed his lips. "Mr. Peng must have made arrangements before he died, trapping the ghosts to form some kind of balance. It won't be easily broken, so I'm afraid it'll be difficult for us to escape."
"Perhaps the balance has already been broken," Hu Jiu reminded him.
Zou Cong thought for two seconds. "You're right. Headquarters' Ghost Tamers died here, adding many variables."
"How about you try controlling the Chang Ghost?" Hu Jiu proposed a bold idea.
Zou Cong rolled his eyes inelegantly and was about to say something when an inexplicable force suddenly struck inside his skull. The grooves of his cerebral cortex felt as though they had burst into raging flames. His nostrils grew hot, and blood gushed out, staining the ground red.
His vision soon blurred as well. His ears rang and stung, and his throat, which had been uncomfortable for a while now, felt as though it were stuffed with cotton, making it difficult to breathe.
"Th-this is..." Zou Cong struggled to reach out toward Hu Jiu. Bulging veins and black blood vessels were clearly visible beneath the skin on the back of his hand.
Time was up. Hu Jiu breathed a sigh of relief. The Ghost Book's suppression of the other supernatural forces on Zou Cong had been given a time limit, and the effect had finally worn off.
Zou Cong collapsed. The blood flowing from his nose seemed to contain fragments of internal organs, and tender buds of flesh sprouted from his exposed skin.
What was there left to misunderstand? He had leaked major secrets and triggered the Ghost Contract's curse. This was the delayed backlash!
His eyes burning with anger and unwillingness, Zou Cong stared fixedly at Hu Jiu. He wanted to demand an answer, but he couldn't speak. He knew human hearts were hard to fathom, but judging by actions rather than intentions, Hu Jiu had saved him from the Peng family mansion and helped him suppress the contract's curse. He was grateful and had truly wanted to make a friend of him...
Why?
Blood poured from Zou Cong's seven orifices, only for the proliferating buds of flesh to soon block them. The buds overlapped and tangled together, writhing as they took root and spread deep into his flesh, greedily drawing nourishment.
Hu Jiu simply watched in silence, feeling neither sorrow nor joy.
Zou Cong had witnessed the entire process of Hu Jiu using the Ghost Book and knew that Hu Jiu had taken the Longevity Candle. Temporary gratitude and trust meant nothing. Human hearts were the easiest things to change, so... he might as well die. Only the dead could keep secrets forever!
"Why isn't he completely dead yet?" Hu Jiu looked over the eyesore of an abomination before him and could only finish him off personally.
Having sent off another teammate, Hu Jiu found a Golden Corpse Bag in Zou Cong's backpack and contained him in it. He also crushed Zou Cong's satellite phone underfoot.
Afterward, Hu Jiu sat down where he was. He needed to rest, and he also had to think about what to do next.
Four people had come in. Now two were dead, and Cui Xueyan's whereabouts were unknown. If he was the only one to come out alive, headquarters would certainly do everything it could to use him as a starting point for its investigation.
The Ghost Contract was another hidden danger. He didn't know how much of Zou Cong's story was credible, but since Zou Cong had mentioned such a thing, Hu Jiu had to guard against it.
In theory, the Ghost Contract's existence was beneficial to both the country and its people. Keeping reckless Ghost Tamers under control could effectively maintain the stability of the existing order, unless certain people controlling the Ghost Contract insisted on using it to court death.
But that was bad for Hu Jiu's personal development!
Only if headquarters wasn't too powerful would power trickle down. Only if resources weren't monopolized could everyone share in the feast brought by the supernatural resurgence. If headquarters held absolute power, how could someone from a grassroots background like Hu Jiu qualify for a seat at the table?
When personal interests clashed with collective interests, the scumbag Hu Jiu would not hesitate in his choice.
He was a borer that needed a living tree with a weak immune system to provide shelter and food until he completed his transformation!
People should always have a clear understanding of themselves. A villain was a villain. Pretending to be a good person to fool others was one thing, but there was no need to fool oneself, racking one's brains to excuse and whitewash one's own misdeeds. It was pointless and draining.
He looked up at the night sky. Ever since the Longevity Candle was contained, the dark clouds had gradually dispersed, and hazy moonlight shone on this land for the first time in a long while.
Has the ghost domain disappeared? Hu Jiu immediately got up and tried walking out of the village.
He still couldn't get out.
He could only keep waiting. He didn't dare go to the Peng family mansion at night, but he could investigate it again once daylight came.