The Operator

After Yang Jian left,

the others finally came to their senses.

"By the way, Yang Jian saved us, and we haven't even thanked him. Isn't that a little inappropriate?" Miao Xiaoshan said.

Zhao Lei said, "How about we find a chance in a couple of days to treat Yang Jian to dinner?"

"Maybe some barbecue?"

Zhang Wei chuckled beside them. "Barbecue? You call that a proper thank-you? I'm taking him to a fancy hotel for a feast, then to a bar to sing, and then for a full-body massage. Later, I'll find a chance to talk to my dad and see if we can buy him a house near ours. I heard his family is still renting, and their circumstances aren't great. Anyway, I'm clinging to this thigh for dear life. None of you better compete with me, especially you, Miao Xiaoshan. I heard you and Yang Jian were middle school classmates."

As he spoke, he sized Miao Xiaoshan up. "Don't you dare seduce him."

"What are you talking about, Zhang Wei?" Miao Xiaoshan's face reddened as she retorted.

"Isn't that a bit too exaggerated?" Zhao Lei said in shock.

Zhang Wei sneered. "Exaggerated? I'd happily sleep beside him every day."

"..." The others shuddered in disgust and instinctively moved several steps away from Zhang Wei.

The other girls also stared at Zhang Wei with uncertain expressions.

Everyone knew Zhang Wei was impressive, but wasn't this a little too impressive?

"What? You don't believe me? Then let me ask you: would you rather run into a ghost, or sleep beside Yang Jian every day?" Zhang Wei said.

Remembering what had happened last night, fear once again appeared on everyone's faces.

Zhao Lei hesitated before cautiously saying, "Sleeping together sounds better."

For some reason, given those two choices, he instinctively chose the former. Even the girls blushed, recalling how Yang Jian had said things like having Wang Shanshan repay him with her body after saving her.

Having Yang Jian around really did make them feel safe.

Zhang Wei said seriously, "Zhou Zheng said that supernatural incidents like this will happen again in the future. They're already gradually becoming a global catastrophe. In other words, we survived encountering a ghost today, but what about later? Ordinary people can't deal with ghosts. The only ones who can are people like Zhou Zheng, and Yang Jian has probably become one of them too."

"We should be glad that we know Yang Jian. In the future, he may be the only one who can save our lives."

Having said that, he stopped talking.

Zhang Wei understood very clearly just how special and important Yang Jian was now.

What had happened last night had been an utterly terrifying nightmare. He never wanted to experience it again in his life. If he were a girl, he would probably already be clinging to Yang Jian.

Wang Shanshan had done that very well.

He looked toward the bus stop.

Earlier, Wang Shanshan had clung to Yang Jian and made him take her home.

At that moment,

on the bus,

Yang Jian sat wearily in his seat, looking out at the familiar streets, the familiar crowds, and the familiar bustle beyond the window.

It was noisy, but reassuring.

At least there were no ghosts.

Wang Shanshan had truly latched onto Yang Jian. If their relationship had been a little further along, she would probably have wanted to stay at his house. Even so, she still begged him to escort her home.

"Yang Jian, will we run into something like this again in the future?"

Wang Shanshan held tightly onto Yang Jian's arm and refused to let go. Only after a long while did she ask that question.

"I don't know, but it'll probably happen again. It just depends on our luck. If we're lucky, we probably won't encounter it again. The Earth is so big. Even if supernatural incidents happen, once they're spread across every city and neighborhood, the odds should still be fairly low. It's not like an earthquake, flood, or some other large-scale natural disaster."

Yang Jian turned to look at her as he spoke.

Of course, that was merely something he said to comfort her. Whether anything would happen could only be known later.

Then,

he suddenly noticed that when Wang Shanshan tilted her head, the two dark bluish-black infant handprints on the back of her neck were still there. Like tattoos, they had yet to fade.

Those weren't bruises left by the Ghost Infant's claws. They looked more like a mark.

His heart tightened slightly. He didn't know whether he should warn her.

But considering that Wang Shanshan was nearly on the verge of a breakdown, Yang Jian ultimately said nothing.

What people feared most was frightening themselves. Maybe it was only a scar, and nothing would happen.

"You should be careful lately. If you run into any trouble, you can call me," Yang Jian still kindly reminded her.

"Th-thank you." Wang Shanshan looked up at him, moved.

"Ring-ring, ring-ring."

Suddenly, at that moment, one of the phones on Yang Jian rang.

"Ah!"

Wang Shanshan's face immediately went pale with fright, and she screamed instinctively.

"Don't worry. It's probably just an ordinary call," Yang Jian said.

He searched through the pile of phones.

In the end, he found one shaped like a walkie-talkie.

The standard satellite positioning phone issued to Ghost Tamers like Zhou Zheng.

It couldn't access the internet and could only make calls. It was as heavy as a brick. Yang Jian truly didn't understand why they had been issued such a phone.

After thinking about it, Yang Jian answered the call.

"Hello, Zhou Zheng. Report your situation." A female operator's voice came from the other end.

"Zhou Zheng is dead," Yang Jian said.

"Dead? How did he die?"

"He died giving birth."

"Giving birth?" The person on the other end was clearly stunned.

"Yes, giving birth. It was a cesarean section. There wasn't time for surgery, and the child probably couldn't wait, so it tore open his stomach and crawled out. I saw it with my own eyes. But the child wasn't very well-behaved. Maybe it blamed me for not delivering it. The moment it was born, it chased after me and bit me. It nearly ate me," Yang Jian said.

The operator on the other end, Liu Xiaoyu, was about to lose her mind. "What nonsense are you talking about? Who exactly are you? Why do you have Zhou Zheng's satellite positioning phone? Do you realize you are currently involved in a special case? I am Zhou Zheng's assigned operator, Liu Xiaoyu. I have the authority to demand that you truthfully report Zhou Zheng's situation."

"I already told you, Zhou Zheng is dead. If you want to know the real situation, can't you send someone to investigate? Do you expect me to say that Zhou Zheng died from a Ghost Tamer relapse and cause everyone on this bus to panic? Did you ever do reading comprehension in elementary school? Do you know what the main idea is? Your comprehension skills make me seriously question whether you're a qualified operator."

"I refuse to talk to you now. Put someone experienced on the phone."

At that moment,

at Ghost Tamer Headquarters, Asia Division,

inside the relevant department,

operator Liu Xiaoyu, dressed in uniform, gritted her teeth in fury. The 2B pencil in her hand had been sharpened to a vicious point, and she slashed it fiercely across the paper beside her, wishing she could stab that arrogant brat on the other end to death.

Don't get angry, don't get angry. Compared to the life-and-death struggles of frontline personnel, what does a little anger of mine amount to?

Liu Xiaoyu took several deep breaths and resumed her businesslike tone. "Sir, please cooperate with our investigation."

"Heh." The other party refused to talk and merely replied with a heh.

"Sir, please cooperate."

"Heh."

"Sir, I know you must know something. If it's inconvenient for you to speak because you are in a public place, I can give you five minutes to handle things and find somewhere quiet to truthfully report what happened to Zhou Zheng," Liu Xiaoyu said.

"Heh."

"What the hell does 'heh' mean?"

Liu Xiaoyu was about to explode inside. Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to stay calm. "Sir, since it is inconvenient for you to speak, could you at least tell me your name? We will send relevant personnel to collect evidence later."

"So you want to investigate me? I'm not afraid to tell you. I'm Zhang Wei, and Zhang Wei is me. If you've got the guts, come find me. If you don't, you're sons of turtles," Yang Jian said.

"Fine. Just you wait, you bastard."

Liu Xiaoyu completely lost her composure. She ignored all the usual rules and regulations and shouted back.