Lan City Central Hospital.
Today, there are many more patients with special needs in the hospital.
Several medical experts gathered to discuss the patient's condition.
These patients have very unusual conditions. The cause of their illness cannot be found, but their bodies are gradually turning into corpses, showing signs of livor mortis and decay, which deepen over time.
This disease was unheard of, which led many experts to gather together, showing great interest in this novel disease they had never heard of before.
Half an hour later, the medical experts who had been arguing with each other in the ward were lying slumped on the floor, all without vital signs, and their bodies were rapidly decomposing and shriveling.
Another half hour passed, and the entire central hospital fell into a deathly silence, completely shrouded in an ominous atmosphere.
Meanwhile, on the other side of Lan City, a soft light suddenly shone from the sealed-off Starlight Cinema. Wherever this light shone, the scene rapidly changed, and the original modern city was covered up, instantly turning into a deserted village in the deep mountains and forests.
This scene transformation, centered on the Starlight Cinema, continues to spread outwards at an extremely rapid pace.
This is clearly a Supernatural phenomenon.
Starlight Cinema had just recently come under close scrutiny from the Investigation Bureau, and now things have changed so quickly.
By the time the Investigation Bureau received the message, Lan City had already disappeared.
"Disappeared? What do you mean Lan City has disappeared?" Cheng Linzhou was greatly shocked.
"It means exactly what it says," the intelligence officer stated truthfully. "The area where Lan City was originally located has become a wasteland, and all the city's residents have disappeared."
Cheng Linzhou frowned. He had thought that the lockdown of a city was scary enough, but he hadn't expected there to be something even more bizarre.
The Artificial Ghost Tamer Plan has just begun to show some progress, and the search for wild Ghost Tamers in the community is only just starting out. The current situation is really terrible.
He sighed, picked up the phone, and intended to inform Wen Jingyan personally.
Wen Jingyan was resting at home at this time.
He was only wearing shorts and was barefoot, sitting on the sofa... looking in the mirror.
There was nothing unusual in the mirror; he was simply admiring his own face and body, one of his few hobbies.
[Ghost Possession] grants him the ability to possess other people's bodies, much like a transmigrator in an online novel. An ordinary loser suddenly transmigrates into the body of a tall and handsome man and falls in love with his new body immediately.
"Wen Jingyan" was a piece of clothing he had carefully selected. He was very satisfied with it in every aspect, and it suited him perfectly.
He really didn't want to give up this body unless he was forced to.
Unfortunately, he is currently under someone else's control and must find a chance to escape. Ideally, he should let the identity of "Wen Jingyan" die, then take over a new body, pretend to be an ordinary person under another identity, and live a quiet life for several decades before making any moves.
The mastermind behind it all seemed to be watching him closely, so he dared not make any rash moves, fearing that his secret of being able to change bodies would be discovered.
He feared that once his hand was revealed, he would be reduced to a pawn forever.
With a long sigh, Wen Jingyan looked melancholy. Just then, the mirror in front of him swayed for a moment, like the surface of water being rippled by the wind.
Then, a blurry, pixelated human figure suddenly appeared on the mirror.
Wen Jingyan's expression immediately turned serious, knowing that it was that same person who had come to order him around again.
That person always invades his life in a particularly bizarre way. Sometimes it's an encounter in a dream, sometimes it's instructions written in blood on the wall, and sometimes it's an extra memory that appears out of nowhere.
It's practically everywhere.
These subtle tactics inadvertently revealed the other party's strength, so Wen Jingyan remained obedient, doing whatever he was told.
"What do you want now?" Wen Jingyan made no attempt to hide his awe and apprehension.
"Don't be nervous. I've never made things difficult for you or forced you to do anything beyond your capabilities," Hu Jiu said calmly.
He slowly walked out of the mirror, more relaxed than when he was at home, and even took a bottle of wine from the refrigerator and gulped it down.
"The prescription is a bit low."
Wen Jingyan rolled his eyes inwardly, but not wanting to clash with the other party, he could only smile and reply, "I brewed it myself, so the methanol content is too high."
"Oh, not bad." Hu Jiu's voice was gentle, like an old friend. If it weren't for the fact that his face was still covered by a mosaic, you would never guess that he had any potential to be the mastermind behind the scenes.
"You came to my house just to say this?" Wen Jingyan urged him to get to the point.
"The Investigation Bureau will soon assign you to handle the Supernatural events in Lan City. Find a way to further escalate the situation," Hu Jiu said.
Wen Jingyan was silent for a moment. "May I ask, why did you deliberately instigate Supernatural events and disrupt social order?"
"To create a new world." Hu Jiu casually made up a rather absurd reason.
Wen Jingyan: "..."
"If you don't want to talk about it, then forget it. Lan City is too dangerous; I'd probably die there if I went."
The subtext of this statement is: I've done so much work for you, it's time to give you something in return!
Hu Jiu nodded to indicate that he understood, and a box about the size of an arm appeared in his palm and he handed it over.
The box appears to be made of black jade, and it feels extremely cold to the touch; just looking at it sends chills down your spine.
"What is this?" Wen Jingyan asked.
"A Supernatural Item..."
Hu Jiu briefly explained how to use the black box, Wen Jingyan became more and more shocked as he listened. "You're so capable, why don't you do it yourself? Why do you have to make me do these things for you?"
Hu Jiu didn't explain, only saying, "Don't meddle in things that aren't your business. Just do what I tell you. Don't worry, you'll get your share of the benefits."
Wen Jingyan ate the pancake with a forced smile.
Hu Jiu then disappeared. He's been very busy lately; he's caused a real Supernatural Revival in this world, loosening the barriers and attracting many Fierce Ghosts from the Ghost World.
Hu Jiu ate his fill; he swallowed all the ghosts except for the Red Moon.
This world itself is also brewing extremely terrifying Fierce Ghost. These are the fruits that Hu Jiu is about to reap, and he will not allow anyone else to touch them. Red Moon, who wanted to steal the fruits of his labor, has already been driven away by him without any mercy.
Besides Wen Jingyan, Hu Jiu has many other pawns who are driving the birth of new Fierce Ghosts around the world, releasing Fierce Ghost to wreak havoc.
Shortly after, Wen Jingyan received a call from the Investigation Bureau, instructing him to investigate the Supernatural events in Lan City.
Cheng Linzhou did not force him to solve the problems in Lan City. After all, Wen Jingyan was already in a sorry state before the Supernatural incident at the Starlight Cinema had fully unfolded.
Cheng Linzhou simply wanted him to investigate thoroughly to see if this Supernatural event would continue to spread, and if so, to what extent.
Wen Jingyan readily agreed.
The Investigation Bureau certainly wouldn't let him go on the risk alone, so they arranged teammates for him.
Twenty minutes later, there was a knock on Wen Jingyan's door. When he opened it, he saw two familiar faces.
"Mr. Wen," Feng Qian greeted him with a forced smile.
Following behind him was Du Yan, whose face was devoid of any smile, only filled with sorrow. After all, he had just narrowly escaped death in Lan City not long ago, and now he had been assigned there by the Investigation Bureau.
Wen Jingyan was somewhat puzzled. He could understand why Feng Qian had been assigned here, since the Investigation Bureau only had a few capable people, but he didn't understand why the Investigation Bureau had sent Du Yan, an ordinary person, to cause trouble.
With that in mind, he asked the question.
Du Yan smiled wryly and said, "The higher-ups said I had a previous experience of escaping unscathed from the Starlight Cinema, and they thought I had experience, so they sent me to assist you two."
Wen Jingyan then asked, "What about Su Yu? Your experiences are quite similar, why did you leave her out?"
Du Yan's expression turned strange in an instant. "Ever since she escaped from Starlight Cinema, Su Yu has resigned and gone to a mental hospital for treatment."
At this point, Du Yan felt regret, regretting that he hadn't run as fast as Su Yu.
The Investigation Bureau is really unreliable!
"Alright, things have come to this, let's get ready to set off." Wen Jingyan reminded them, "You all had better adjust your mindset, otherwise it will be detrimental to your survival. Especially Feng Qian, you've always been lucky, you might be able to control a new Fierce Ghost in this incident, so don't be too pessimistic."
Du Yan forced a smile, and Feng Qian also took a deep breath.
The journey from Jing City to Lan City was quite long, Wen Jingyan chose to drive there, which would allow Feng Qian and Du Yan to calm down along the way.
On the empty highway, Wen Jingyan drove the Investigation Bureau's car at the front, followed by several other vehicles heading in the same direction.
Feng Qian turned around and observed for a while, then noticed that the cars behind them didn't seem to be simply going the same way. He said, "Mr. Wen, it seems like someone is secretly following us."
Wen Jingyan glanced at the rearview mirror. "This isn't covert following, it's overt following. I don't know if they're bad guys with ulterior motives, but they're definitely not very smart."
Du Yan thought for a moment and said, "It's probably an internet celebrity trying to gain attention."
"Huh???" Wen Jingyan and Feng Qian were both full of question marks.
Du Yan explained, "Currently, paranormal phenomena are a hot topic online. Many metaphysical bloggers and ghost-hunting bloggers have become overnight sensations and made a fortune. As a result, many people online are following suit, most of whom are just making up stories. However, some people are willing to risk going to real Supernatural sites to explore, such as Shanque City, which has now become a ruin. There are many internet celebrities there every day."
Wen Jingyan was speechless. "Alright, they're asking for trouble, we don't need to meddle."
This trip to Lan City is bound to be extremely dangerous, and under such circumstances, Wen Jingyan couldn't be happier that someone volunteered to go and scout ahead.
The car stopped at a place not too far from Lan City. The three of them got out and prepared to investigate the area around Lan City.
The original location of Lan City has become a wasteland, as if it had been suddenly erased. Wen Jingyan plans to ask around in the surrounding villages and towns to see if there are any witnesses or people who were lucky enough to escape from Lan City.
Soon, they discovered a village.
As they approached the village, Du Yan hesitated. He had a bit of PTSD and asked, "Won't there be something wrong with this village?"
Wen Jingyan stood at the village entrance and sensed the situation. "There are very few people, and no Supernatural presence, so it should be fine."
Feng Qian, his eyes gleaming with golden light, looked around the village and said, "I haven't noticed anything unusual either."
"Let's go then." Wen Jingyan led the way into the village.
Feng Qian and Du Yan followed closely behind.
The village is somewhat desolate and dilapidated, with very few people, almost all of them middle-aged and elderly; there are no young people or children at all.
The three found the village chief, an old man with gray hair, cloudy eyes, and a bit of confusion.
The village chief said, "The young people in the village are unwilling to farm, have never learned farming, and don't know how to grow crops at all. Most of them have gone to live in the city, and after they have stable jobs there, they bring their parents with them, so the village is becoming increasingly sparsely populated."
"Old man, do you know what happened in Lan City yesterday?" Feng Qian asked.
"Lan City, so many young people from the village have gone to Lan City. We have to thank the country for that. Back in the day, we didn't have such good days..." The village chief rambled on without any focus.
Wen Jingyan and Feng Qian exchanged a glance. It seemed that the old man had dementia and they wouldn't be able to get any useful information out of him.
They then bid farewell to the village chief, asked other villagers, and visited other nearby villages, but unfortunately, they found nothing. Everything that happened inside Lan City remained shrouded in mystery.
As evening fell, the three of them found a guesthouse in a small town to rest, and none of them took the initiative to suggest going to check the location where Lan City had disappeared.
The leader was Wen Jingyan. As long as he didn't say anything, Feng Qian and Du Yan would rather drag things out indefinitely than risk their lives.
Wen Jingyan was not in a hurry. He was not the kind of person who cared about the country and its people. He couldn't care less about the lives of others. He was only concerned with someone else's mission.
Someone gave him a strange black box. This black box is a very powerful Supernatural Item. If all else fails, he can just take this Supernatural Item and barge into Lan City to take a look.
For the next two days, Wen Jingyan continued to take Feng Qian and Du Yan for a stroll around Lan City. They were not even as enthusiastic as those internet celebrities who were trying to ride the wave of popularity.
Wen Jingyan wasn't just slacking off; he was actively thinking. He believed that the vanished Lan City was likely trapped in some kind of Ghost Domain.
A Ghost Domain capable of obliterating an entire city must be incredibly terrifying. The person behind it all wants to use him to open this Ghost Domain, and although he is unwilling, he has no other choice.
Wen Jingyan laid out his conjectures to Feng Qian and Du Yan. Feng Qian was unfazed, but Du Yan was shocked. He was just an ordinary investigator and had little access to in-depth secrets about Fierce Ghosts and the Supernatural.
"This is unbelievable! It means Lan City is still in the same place, but it's covered by an abnormal space called the Ghost Domain. How do we get in?"
Wen Jingyan said, "It's like a locked door. To open it, one way is to use a key, and another way is to break it down with brute force."
There is definitely no key; the Fierce Ghost that created the Ghost Domain realm is the key itself. But he has no shortage of brute force; he has plenty of strength and means.