Ghost Card

Gao Tian had only been trying his luck.

After all, he had already been driven into a corner. Even if he failed, things couldn't get any worse than they were now.

His gamble had paid off. This headless corpse really was Xu Yuan's, and the Seal he had given Gao Tian had worked as expected.

With one shot, Gao Tian had completed both the Jialan Society Chat Group mission and the Living Person Apartment mission. Anyone who had experienced the thrill of coming back from the brink of death would understand.

An ordinary gun tip certainly couldn't pin down a Vengeful Ghost, but this was the main weapon Xu Yuan had used for half his life. Even after death, his body had reacted to its presence.

The Female Star's head, which had grown out of nowhere, seemed unwilling to give up. Her beautiful face thrashed and screamed as she drove the body to shake and struggle wildly, as if she still wanted to wrench the gun tip that pierced its chest free.

But no matter how fiercely she struggled, the corpse grew weaker and weaker. At last, the woman's head that had sprouted from the body began to melt. The corpse itself, all six chunks of it, lost their original connections and slowly began to split apart again.

As they witnessed this indescribable scene, Boss Jin, Su Jiu, and the others were still reeling from the terrifying ordeal they had just survived. Just then, all four mission participants received a text message on their phones, which chimed at the same time.

Shata, the most experienced among them, first made sure the Female Star's corpse could no longer cause trouble. Only then did he turn and remind them,

"This is the notification that you've completed the Green Text Mission and received your reward.

"Check your own rewards. And remember, don't tell anyone else what your Supernatural Item does.

"Otherwise, its effect might stop working."

As someone who had inexplicably been dragged into the Second Green Text Mission, Gao Tian naturally received a reward as well. He opened his phone and checked the voice message from an unfamiliar number:

Congratulations. You have completed the Second Green Text Mission.

As compensation for the Living Person Apartment temporarily assigning you to the Second Green Text Mission, when your results are tallied, your First and Second Missions will both automatically be counted as complete. This reward is the combined total for both missions.

Your reward is—

Ghost Card.

Ghost Card effect.

The Ghost Card is a standard deck of 52 playing cards, with the jokers removed. It has four suits, with cards numbered from 1 to 13.

Every time you die, you will be revived on the spot. As a penalty, the Ghost Card will randomly draw one card and place it on your soul.

If your soul ever has two playing cards with the same number, you will die on the spot. No defensive Supernatural Item will be able to save you.

For the user's convenience, here is an example.

Suppose you are killed by Ghost A for the first time.

The Ghost Card's effect activates. You are revived on the spot and draw a five of clubs.

The second time, you are killed by Ghost B.

The Ghost Card's effect activates. You are revived on the spot and draw a king of hearts.

The third time, you are killed by Ghost C.

The Ghost Card's effect activates. You are revived on the spot and draw a five of spades.

The five of spades and the five of clubs have the same number, so you die on the spot. This death will directly erase your soul. No matter what defensive Supernatural Item you use, or even if you try to enter the Living Person Apartment to suppress the supernatural force, nothing can stop this death from happening.

Looking over the description of his new Supernatural Item, the Ghost Card, Gao Tian felt a little surprised. No wonder it was the reward for combining two Green Text Missions. This thing's effect really was pretty outrageous.

In theory, the Ghost Card had 13 different numbers. That meant he could be revived up to 13 times.

But in practice, there was no way he'd be that lucky. Gao Tian would probably draw a card with a number he'd already drawn after seven or eight revivals, and die on the spot.

And this deck of Ghost Cards had another fatal weakness.

He would be revived where he died. He couldn't change the place he came back.

That created a very awkward situation.

If Gao Tian encountered a vengeful ghost with a strong grudge, such as the Shattered Face Ghost, it could kill him, then see him suddenly revive on the spot. The Vengeful Ghost would surely kill him again, then stay there to guard his corpse.

He could revive as many times as he liked. Every time he revived, the ghost would kill him again. He could revive a hundred times, and the ghost would kill him a hundred times.

In that situation, the Ghost Card's ability would be wasted.

Fortunately, Gao Tian had another item that could perfectly make up for the Ghost Card's weakness.

The Black Card.

If Gao Tian was revived by the Ghost Card and saw that the Vengeful Ghost that had killed him was still nearby, guarding his body, he certainly wouldn't give it another chance to kill him. He'd activate the Black Card and escape straight back to the Living Person Apartment.

Together, these two Supernatural Items could achieve an effect greater than the sum of their parts.

Overall, Gao Tian was quite satisfied with the Ghost Card. Even without the Black Card to back it up, it would greatly increase his margin for error. In this supernatural age, where every step felt like walking on thin ice, it gave him a lot more peace of mind.

At any rate, getting a powerful item after only the first two Green Text Missions was a pretty good start.

He wondered what items Boss Jin and the others had received. But Li Jin looked dejected, and Boss Jin said nothing, lowering his phone as soon as he finished reading. Perhaps they weren't very happy with the Supernatural Items they'd received.

Regardless, the mission was now completely over.

With the outcome settled, Gao Tian went over to the shattered corpse and pulled out the tip of the Ghost Transformation Spear.

The weapon's effect was incredible, but it was also very sharp. Honestly, it could come in handy in certain situations.

Besides, Xu Yuan had said that if Gao Tian completed the mission, he could have the weapon he and his teacher had spent their lives studying.

If Gao Tian treated the Ghost Transformation Spear as an exceptionally sharp ordinary blade, it was still quite useful. He just had to remember not to use it to kill anyone.

And who knew? Maybe if Gao Tian kept the spear by his side and used it for a while, he'd discover one of its secrets.

Though that possibility was about as likely as winning the lottery.

The bystanders were still frantically taking pictures. So many people in the First Floor Plaza had witnessed this bizarre scene. There were too many witnesses. Even if Gao Tian had control of the Memory Ghost, changing all their memories one by one was out of the question.

Still shaken, Su Jiu half-covered her face and tugged at Shata's sleeve.

"So many phones caught us on camera. Is everything that happened at the mall today going to be trending soon?"

Shata had done Green Text Missions before, so this was nothing new to him.

"Don't worry. They won't be able to post anything.

"Supernatural Events are resurfacing in every corner of the world. The reason most people still haven't realized what's really happening in the world...

"...is that any posts related to this stuff are deleted from the internet instantly. By tomorrow, no one will remember what happened at Sapphire Mall."

During her Fifth Green Text Mission, something even more bloody and absurd had happened at a Superstar Concert, where the crowd was denser than this one. But after the mission ended, Shata had fled through the chaos back to the Central District of the Living Person Apartment. When he checked the internet, he found it quiet as could be. There was no discussion of the incident at all.

The truth—that people and ghosts existed in the same world—was too terrifying. On this particular issue, the Various Governments were remarkably united, doing all they could to delay the public's discovery of the truth.

Besides, once the mission ended and the White Mist cleared, everyone in the mall had been too frightened to stick around. Like startled birds, they rushed toward the exits, afraid that if they moved too slowly, the White Mist would trap them there again. Hardly anyone dared to come over and inspect the corpse that had died, come back to life, and died again.

Boss Jin looked at the Ghost Transformation Spear in Gao Tian's hand and asked a question the two other newcomers had been eager—but too afraid—to ask.

"Did you get that gun as a Supernatural Item before entering the Living Person Apartment?

"Is its effect really that incredible? Can it suppress a Vengeful Ghost outright?"

It could only suppress Xu Yuan's corpse.

It was a specialized item. As for its normal effect... Gao Tian had found it to be the most useless one he knew of so far.

Gao Tian didn't give Boss Jin much of an explanation. Instead, he asked in surprise,

"What suppression?

"I don't know what you mean.

"A friend of mine who collects antiques sold me this gun tip. I usually carry it for protection. Sometimes I use it to cut people up or whatever.

"It has nothing to do with this Supernatural Event."

Watching him lie through his teeth, Su Jiu, who was already frightened, couldn't hold back any longer. She leaned over and cut in.

"That's not right. I saw you suddenly stab the gun into that body's back. After it took the hit, it fell to the ground, lay still, and broke apart.

"I was so scared I thought I was definitely going to die. Sister Shata said ghosts couldn't be killed. I never expected you to save my life so casually. I still feel like I'm dreaming."

Faced with Su Jiu's insistence, Gao Tian looked into her amber-colored eyes.

"You were so scared you got confused.

"I did save you just now. But I'm pretty strong, so I kicked that corpse away. Its time was up, and it stopped moving on its own.

"It had nothing to do with the gun tip in my hand."

How could a person match a ghost for strength?

Even Shata had only dared to say he could hold the corpse off for a little while. He would never claim he could subdue it. Gao Tian had kicked a Vengeful Ghost away? Not even a child would believe that.

But at that moment, the Memory Ghost's ability activated again, affecting Boss Jin, Su Jiu, Li Jin, Jiangyang, and the others. The more they thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. Perhaps the corpse's time really had been up, and Gao Tian had kicked it away at just the right moment, saving Su Jiu in the nick of time.

In any case, Boss Jin and the others had finally completed their Second Green Text Mission too. No one wanted to stay in this unlucky place any longer.

Shata and the others picked up the scattered Corpse Pieces, wrapped them in black garbage bags again, and prepared to take them away from Sapphire Mall.

After all, if they left them here, the Corpse Pieces might still join together at any moment and turn back into a Vengeful Ghost.

Only by taking them back to the Living Person Apartment and containing them would they be absolutely safe.