"Quickly, save them!"
"Bang bang!"
A gunshot rang out.
Although everyone had heard of the horrors of supernatural events before, this was the first time they had experienced it firsthand.
Fortunately, they were all in good mental fortitude and immediately fired at the corpse.
However, the bullets failed to take effect, and they then realized that ordinary physical attacks were not very effective against things of the extraordinary nature.
It was the corpse that had bitten the captain enough and then let go on its own.
The captain had clearly lost vital signs.
"Oh shit!"
Someone cursed.
"Another anomaly has occurred at the Supernatural Investigation Bureau Headquarters. Immediate backup requested! Hello...?"
Some people took out their phones to call for help, but it seemed that communication was severely affected.
The group scrambled to retreat, and despite their good relationship with the captain, no one paid any attention to his body in this situation.
Xiao Zheng nervously looked around, constantly mentally calculating the best escape route.
No one noticed that the captain, who had been lying on the ground and had stopped breathing, suddenly opened his eyes, his empty, lifeless pupils turning an eerie dark red.
"Ah--"
Another piercing scream rang out.
The captain's corpse suddenly sprang up in a way that defied common sense, catching up with and tackling a security guard with incredible speed, biting his neck viciously.
Everyone else was stunned by the sudden turn of events and instinctively pulled the trigger, unleashing a torrent of bullets.
"The bullets are useless, let's run!" Xiao Zheng shouted, and took off running.
The others also stopped firing and followed Xiao Zheng.
They didn't dare take the elevator; if it malfunctioned and they were trapped inside, they would only be left to die in the cramped, confined space.
As I turned a corner of the stairs, the surrounding temperature seemed to drop suddenly.
Xiao Zheng's face turned deathly pale, and his intuition screamed a frantic warning, "Everyone, be careful..."
No sooner had he finished speaking than a pale, fanged face suddenly appeared upside down in front of Xiao Zheng.
Xiao Zheng was startled, slipped, and tumbled down the stairs.
He instinctively protected his head, and as he rolled down, he heard screams behind him.
Several of his teammates perished.
When Xiao Zheng tumbled to the bottom of the stairs, he felt sore all over and dizzy. Fortunately, he had no broken bones or sprains.
He immediately stood up, not daring to look back at his teammates, and ran out as fast as he could.
Pushing open the door of the Investigation Bureau, Xiao Zheng, who thought he had escaped, hadn't even had time to be happy when he suddenly realized something was off.
Although it's nighttime, the area around the Investigation Bureau shouldn't be this dark; you can't even see the streetlights.
Moreover, the environment was too quiet. From the beginning, he seemed to be able to hear only his own footsteps, heartbeat, and breathing, as if he were the only person left in the world.
Thinking of this, a bead of cold sweat trickled down Xiao Zheng's forehead. All sorts of terrifying and bizarre ideas flashed through his mind, and he vaguely heard a strange wind whistling in his ears.
He dared not linger and ran toward the security personnel's duty room.
Several colleagues dressed in the same uniform were standing at the door of the duty room. When Xiao Zheng saw them, he was delighted, but just as he was about to speak, he suddenly realized that something was wrong.
In such a dimly lit environment, they weren't using their phones; they were just standing there blankly, which didn't seem quite right.
Xiao Zheng's face gradually turned terrified, and he retreated step by step.
Just then, the colleagues at the door of the duty room suddenly turned around and stared at Xiao Zheng with lifeless eyes.
In the pitch-black night, surrounded by strange people, Xiao Zheng just wanted to cry. He couldn't understand what was happening here; it was as if evil spirits had escaped from Hell everywhere.
He had already planned how to act and protect himself if he encountered supernatural events before taking up the post.
But when he actually encountered such a situation, none of his self-rescue plans were effective.
That's not entirely true; at least he outlived his unfortunate colleagues.
But it only took a little longer.
The ineffectiveness of physical attacks and the malfunction of communication equipment were two extremely detrimental factors.
"Whoosh--"
The strange colleagues who had been staring at Xiao Zheng suddenly moved. Their eyes glowed with a dark red, and they bared their teeth as they rushed towards Xiao Zheng.
"Ah..."
Xiao Zheng could no longer control himself and screamed in despair.
He felt he couldn't possibly escape from these zombie-like monsters, and only hoped he could die a quick and painless death, rather than be swallowed alive like cannon fodder in a movie.
Xiao Zheng closed his eyes and waited to die.
However, the expected pain did not occur; instead, the sound of heavy objects falling to the ground came through the ears.
Xiao Zheng quietly opened his eyes and saw a handsome man in a black trench coat pointing at the security guards who had turned into monsters, and then they all fell down.
This face looks familiar; I feel like I've seen it somewhere before.
Xiao Zheng took a closer look and noticed that the mysterious man who had suddenly appeared was rather unkempt. His hair was matted, his beard hadn't been shaved in a long time, and his clothes were wrinkled and hadn't been changed in a while.
"You're Wen Jingyan?!"
Xiao Zheng finally remembered who this person was. The photo Mu Xingrui left behind before his death was no secret; many people in the Investigation Bureau knew about it.
It wasn't that the Investigation Bureau hadn't done a good job of maintaining confidentiality; rather, the new director Cheng Linzhou, would bring it up every now and then, seemingly intentionally putting down the former director and complaining that the former had left behind inexplicable and useless information, which unnecessarily added a lot of workload to the Investigation Bureau.
The Investigation Bureau is still searching for Wen Jingyan's whereabouts, and Xiao Zheng never expected to meet him in this way.
"Mr. Wen, hello." Xiao Zheng's attitude was very respectful, after all, Wen Jingyan had just saved him.
"You know me? How do you know me?" Wen Jingyan looked surprised and puzzled as he looked at Xiao Zheng.
Xiao Zheng's face stiffened. Having just survived a life-or-death crisis, he had been careless and had inadvertently revealed that he knew "Wen Jingyan" by addressing him in a certain way.
It seems that Wen Jingyan is unaware that the Investigation Bureau is looking for him.
Xiao Zheng hesitated for only a second before finally choosing to tell the truth. After all, the Investigation Bureau was looking for Wen Jingyan, and Xiao Zheng could tell that this person was truly capable. He didn't want to curry favor with him, but at least he couldn't afford to make enemies.
"The former director took a picture of me before he died?" Wen Jingyan asked in surprise.
In that situation, how exactly did Mu Xingrui manage to take out his phone and take photos so discreetly? How come I didn't notice at all?
Seeing Wen Jingyan's strange expression, Xiao Zheng quickly changed the subject, asking, "Mr. Wen, do you know what exactly happened here?"
"It's haunted," Wen Jingyan replied succinctly.
Xiao Zheng felt a jolt in his heart and swallowed hard. "A ghost?"
Wen Jingyan was about to explain when he suddenly remembered the strange occurrence that happened when he was explaining the Fierce Ghost and Ghost Tamers to Mu Xingrui that day, so he simply shut his mouth.
He pointed randomly in a direction and said, "There's more than one Fierce Ghost here. It's very dangerous. You should leave quickly. Head in the direction I'm pointing. No matter what you hear, don't turn around. You'll be safe once you're out of the Ghost Domain."
Xiao Zheng immediately did as instructed, without asking any questions about why they were running in this direction or what the Ghost Domain was. He was already lucky to be alive; too much curiosity was not good for survival.
Wen Jingyan sighed, feeling extremely tired.
Previously, when the Supernatural Investigation Bureau encountered Fierce Ghost Revival, he casually lent a hand, but unexpectedly it led to a whole host of troubles.
He wanted to escape, but the person behind the scenes wouldn't let him go.
He vanished without a trace, seemingly disappearing into a strange Ghost Domain. In reality, he was swept away by a powerful Supernatural force.
That Ghost Domain was composed of multiple illusions and dreams, and Wen Jingyan barely managed to escape after exerting tremendous effort.
He had just escaped that Illusory Dream Ghost Domain when he appeared directly at the entrance of the Supernatural Investigation Bureau, only to find that the Investigation Bureau was haunted again.
He's starting to have trouble distinguishing between reality and illusion, and even suspects he's still living in a nightmare.
If it wasn't a dream, why are there so many Fierce Ghosts wandering around the Jing City?
Right now, there's a terrifying and powerful Fierce Ghost inside the Investigation Bureau Headquarters building. After killing people, it has transformed the corpses into Ghost Slaves.
This ghost originally had its sights set on Xiao Zheng, but Xiao Zheng was shown a way to escape by Wen Jingyan, so the ghost then turned its attention to Wen Jingyan.
Wen Jingyan was not afraid of this ghost. He controlled the two extremely special ghosts, [Yin-Yang Road] and [Ghost Possession], and he was able to protect himself against most Fierce Ghosts.
I might not be able to win, but I can definitely survive!
The question now is, should he meddle in other people's business?
He had already experienced the consequences of meddling in other people's business once.
Wen Jingyan wanted to back down and pretend nothing had happened. In the end, he was essentially an egoist. As long as his own safety was not affected, he didn't mind casually saving people and showing off, experiencing what it felt like to be a hero and be worshipped.
When his own survival is threatened, his first priority will always be himself.
Unfortunately, reality doesn't change according to his personal will. When he saw the ghost about to attack him, he knew he had nowhere to retreat.
"What exactly do you want?" Wen Jingyan lowered his voice, seemingly muttering to himself, but actually asking the person behind the scenes.
"I was only dragged into this by accident, not intentionally. I can leave immediately now and promise never to interfere with your plans again."
As soon as he finished speaking, a gust of cold wind swept by, seemingly bringing whispers.
Wen Jingyan his ears, then his eyes widened instantly, his face filled with disbelief and shock.
He hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded, inwardly smiling bitterly: he was now on a pirate ship with no way to get off.
The night sky over Jing City was dazzled by artificial light sources, and the air was filled with the unique atmosphere of everyday life.
At this moment, the lights in a media studio are on full display.
"Three, two, one, broadcast begins!"
As the director gestured, the young man sitting in the center of the ring light instantly put on a professional, radiant smile.
He straightened his meticulously styled bangs and waved to the camera. "Good evening, everyone! It's your old friend Weapon A! Tonight's live stream is going to be amazing! I'm going to take you on a journey to explore the supernatural phenomenon that's been making headlines online lately!"
The barrage of comments immediately surged in, with various gift effects exploding on the screen. Weapon A glanced at the ever-increasing number of viewers in the upper right corner, and the smile on his lips deepened.
"Looks like everyone's getting impatient, right?" Weapon A said into the microphone, its voice sounding particularly magnetic thanks to the professional sound card. "Don't rush, let our 'supernatural detector'—the XXXX drone—say hello!"
He pressed the controller in his hand, and a drone flashing red light rose up outside the office's floor-to-ceiling window. The camera slowly turned towards the live broadcast room, as if to greet the audience, and the barrage of comments erupted once again.
"That's so professional!"
"They've really gone all out this time!"
"Brother A is awesome!"
Weapon A chuckled inwardly. There was no huge investment involved; it was just newly purchased equipment, perfect for tonight's script.
These days, many rumors about supernatural phenomena are circulating both domestically and internationally, and he wants to ride that wave of popularity.
With guidance from an expert, he decided to follow the entire live stream of the paranormal event.
Of course, the so-called supernatural events are all scripted. Weapon A has its own team and has rehearsed many times in advance, so there are basically no loopholes.
--It doesn't matter if there are loopholes.
He's just using the "supernatural" gimmick to attract viewers; once the number of viewers in the live stream reaches a certain level, he can start selling products.
Making money through live-streaming sales is the primary goal.
The supernatural events rehearsed are just for fun; as long as they can make the viewers in the live stream laugh and provide sufficient emotional value, that's enough.
Afterwards, Weapon A might even have to voluntarily reveal that there was a script involved, in order to avoid being banned for being suspected of feudal superstition.
This combination of tactics will definitely make them incredibly wealthy.
Weapon A grew increasingly excited. He cleared his throat and began rehearsing his lines: "According to an anonymous netizen, unidentified flying objects have been frequently appearing in the skies over Jing City recently, with some witnesses even claiming to have seen 'Ghost Shadow'..."
Assistant Xiao Wang held up a sign outside the camera's view: [Drone is in position, ready to switch footage at any time].
"Alright, now let's switch the view to the drone's perspective!" Weapon A snapped its fingers, and the main screen of the live stream immediately switched to a night sky view captured by a drone.
From a height of 300 meters, the lights of Jing City shone like a galaxy. Weapon A continued its narration, "We will follow the coordinates provided by netizens to the area rumored to have the most frequent anomalies..."
He glanced discreetly at the script hidden under the table. According to the plan, five minutes later, the drone would "accidentally" capture a blurry image of light and shadow, and then the live stream would suddenly go black for a few seconds. When the image returned, a "mysterious symbol" drawn in fluorescent paint would appear on the ground. His team had already prepared all the props at that abandoned construction site.
"Everyone, look towards the northeast." Weapon A's tone suddenly became mysterious. "A netizen revealed that they've seen it there..."