Just as she reached the roadside outside the hotel.
A black SUV braked sharply and stopped in front of her.
The door swung open, and a stern-faced man stepped out.
"Stop!" Yan Li barked, the ghost blood inside him beginning to stir.
As the Ghost Handler responsible for maintaining order in Dachang City for the Paranormal Forum, he happened to be patrolling nearby that night.
He had instantly locked onto Ning Rongrong and the blood-dripping duvet cover in her hand.
A heavy stench of corpses and blood assaulted his senses.
"Carrying a bleeding person around in the middle of the night-where did an unaffiliated Ghost Handler like you come from?"
"You dare cause trouble on Dachang City's turf? Do you have a death wish?"
Yan Li's gaze was icy.
Dachang City was home to the Paranormal Forum's Headquarters.
Boss Lin had laid down the rules: any outside Ghost Handler who dared cause trouble here would be killed without mercy.
The two faced off, tension crackling between them, and even the air seemed to grow colder.
Ning Rongrong looked at the dangerous man before her without panicking.
She slipped her free hand into her pocket, calmly took out the specially made, jet-black headset, and held it up before Yan Li.
"I'm with the Paranormal Forum," Ning Rongrong said evenly, invoking that formidable authority.
"This is a task from Boss Lin."
The instant Yan Li saw the special headset, his killing intent vanished without a trace.
Of course he recognized it. It was an Earpiece issued only to Forum members.
Besides, she had mentioned Boss Lin.
In Dachang City, no one dared joke around with Boss Lin's name.
Yan Li's attitude immediately underwent a complete reversal.
He dropped his guard and nodded slightly, his voice even taking on a hint of politeness.
"So you're one of us. Sorry. I was just doing my duty."
Yan Li glanced at the dripping duvet cover and asked no further questions.
No matter how brutal the methods, it was normal when carrying out the Forum's internal assignments.
"Walking down the street with that thing in the middle of the night draws too much attention. Get in. I'll take you to Headquarters."
"You must be a new Ghost Handler. Your methods are too crude. I'll handle the cleanup at the hotel for you."
Ning Rongrong accepted without ceremony, opened the door, and got in.
Sitting in the SUV's back seat, Ning Rongrong watched Yan Li concentrate on driving up front.
For the first time, the difference in status her affiliation afforded her made her truly feel the Paranormal Forum's power.
A mere Earpiece and a name were enough to disregard every law and easily take care of a death.
As long as I stay in the Forum, I can survive, Ning Rongrong thought.
The SUV stopped in front of the Paranormal Forum's Headquarters building.
After reminding her to be more careful next time, Yan Li drove off to continue his patrol.
Carrying the duvet cover, Ning Rongrong took the elevator to the building's core area, already familiar with the way.
Before the massive golden door.
Ning Rongrong stopped, looking at the high-tech fingerprint lock on the door with a slight frown.
Her fingerprints had never been registered, so she had no way to open it.
Just as she found herself at a loss.
Click, click, click. The crisp sound of high heels rang out through the empty corridor.
Jiang Yan approached, dressed in her sharp business attire.
She glanced at Ning Rongrong and the still-dripping duvet cover in her hand, without the slightest surprise.
"You're finally here. Boss Lin really had me waiting."
Jiang Yan made the offhand complaint, walked up to the door, and pressed her finger against the fingerprint lock.
The golden door slowly opened.
Ning Rongrong remained rooted to the spot, but shock surged through her.
She had only just killed Meng Yiran and skinned her at the hotel. Barely half an hour had passed.
Lin Cheng already knew?
He had even sent someone here specifically to wait for me and open the door?
The oppressive feeling that everything she did was under his watch made cold sweat instantly break out across Ning Rongrong's back.
Before this man, she had no secrets whatsoever!
"Finally, I can get off work."
Jiang Yan turned and walked away on her high heels, leaving Ning Rongrong alone before the deep golden corridor.
Ning Rongrong took a deep breath and entered the golden chamber with the duvet cover.
The decaying Ghost Cabinet still stood silently in the center.
It gave off a nauseating smell of mold.
Ning Rongrong walked up to the Ghost Cabinet and, without any hesitation, forcefully stuffed the bloodstained duvet cover containing Meng Yiran through the pitch-black gap in its doors.
The darkness swallowed Meng Yiran's body in an instant.
Not even a sound of struggle escaped.
Ning Rongrong stood there, waiting for the Ghost Cabinet to grant her another wish.
Yet a minute passed, and the Ghost Cabinet remained motionless.
Just as Ning Rongrong began to suspect something had gone wrong with the transaction.
With a creak, the gap opened again.
But this time, it did not let Ning Rongrong make a wish.
Instead, a blood-soaked note and a yellowed photograph emerged from the gap.
Ning Rongrong frowned and picked up the note and photograph.
In the photograph, a tall male corpse stood silently in a dim corridor.
The bloody words on the note were chilling:
[Condition: Find the item in the photograph within three days and bring it back.]
Ning Rongrong froze.
She lifted the yellowed photograph. It showed a blurry old Firewood Cleaver.
At the edge of the photograph was only the dark silhouette of a hand tightly gripping the Firewood Cleaver, with no background landmarks for reference.
Ning Rongrong's brow furrowed, her face filled with bewilderment.
She took a deep breath and, without lingering in the golden chamber, turned and walked out.
Only when the heavy golden door slowly closed was the cold sensation of being watched by the Ghost Cabinet completely cut off.
Standing in the empty corridor, Ning Rongrong took out the yellowed Sheepskin Paper without hesitation.
It was the only thing she could rely on now.
"Where is this Firewood Cleaver? How do I get it?" Ning Rongrong asked.
Lines of glaring, blood-red words slowly appeared on the Sheepskin Paper.
[My name is Ning Rongrong. By the time you read this letter, I will already be dead...] [I discovered that the Ghost Cabinet's transactions were a bottomless pit, but to stay alive, I had no other choice.] [I had no idea where the Firewood Cleaver was. Despite searching desperately, I still failed to find it. Three days later, I died from the Ghost Cabinet's curse...]
Ning Rongrong frowned, irritation rising inside her, and replied coldly in her mind.
I'm not asking to see how I die. Tell me how to find it.
The bloody words on the Sheepskin Paper vanished, then began writhing rapidly again.
[But I discovered a way to survive. I don't know whether I should tell you. I discovered that Yang Jian would go to a haunted place the next day to look for something. As long as I could show enough value to make him take me along.] [I knew this was my only chance to survive...]
The writing stopped abruptly there, slowly sinking deep into the paper. No further hints appeared.
Ning Rongrong was no fool. She keenly sensed obvious gaps in what the Sheepskin Paper had told her.
Where was that haunted place? What was Yang Jian going there for? The Sheepskin Paper had said nothing about any of it.
Stick close to Yang Jian? Ning Rongrong put the Sheepskin Paper back into her Storage Bag, her mind full of doubts.
Why has this paper been telling me to stick to Yang Jian from the very beginning?
And why is it such a coincidence? To survive the Ghost Cabinet's price, I just happen to need to follow Yang Jian?
She could not make sense of the logic behind it. The Sheepskin Paper seemed to have some hidden agenda.
But she also understood that from the moment she became a Ghost Handler, her life no longer belonged to her.
Ning Rongrong took a deep breath, her gaze gradually growing resolute.
To survive, she could only keep following this desperate path to its end. There was no turning back.
Show my value, huh...
Without further hesitation, Ning Rongrong turned and left the Paranormal Forum's Headquarters.
Before you continue