Red Paper Covering the Eyes

In a public restroom.

Water gushed out as Yang Jian washed the foul-smelling bloodstains from his face.

He felt much calmer as the cool tap water touched his skin.

"It really was me who had the problem. That ghost just now could alter someone's memory, forcibly inserting a non-existent person into my mind, making me feel nothing unusual. Even with this eye, I wouldn't have detected anything."

"If Liu Xiaoyu hadn't warned me, I'd probably still be at home living with that ghost."

He looked up at the mirror in front of him.

The eye on Yang Jian's face had disappeared, and he had temporarily returned to normal.

"Hello, Yang Jian, please respond if you can hear me. This is Liu Xiaoyu." Suddenly, the satellite positioning phone next to the sink rang.

The call hadn't been hung up from before.

"It's me," Yang Jian said, picking up the phone.

"What's happening on your end?" Liu Xiaoyu asked.

Yang Jian replied, "You guessed right. My father did die in a car accident when I was in elementary school. The thing in the house just now wasn't human, it was a ghost."

"You escaped?"

"Yes." Yang Jian wiped the water from his face. At that moment, he suddenly saw a piece of red paper stuck to the back of his hand.

It was a fragment from the newspaper earlier.

"It's good that you're okay. Can you tell me about the ghost's general situation?" Liu Xiaoyu asked.

Yang Jian said, "That ghost can tamper with memories. Its patterns of movement are unknown, and its method of killing is unknown. But I was wrapped in a bloodstained newspaper before and almost suffocated to death. That's all I know for now."

"Okay." Liu Xiaoyu quickly took notes on her end.

"If my dad was a ghost, what about my mom? Where is she? And when did this ghost appear? You should be able to pull up the surveillance footage from this area. Can you check for me?" Yang Jian asked.

Liu Xiaoyu replied, "I can check for you, but you'll need to cooperate with our work going forward."

"What kind of work?" Yang Jian asked.

"For now, it's just simple information gathering. You must report the existence of any vengeful ghost immediately." Liu Xiaoyu said.

"What's in it for me?" Yang Jian asked.

"You expect me to risk my life for you without even a salary? I've looked at that website. If there are no tangible benefits, I refuse to work for you," Yang Jian said very seriously.

"Let's not discuss this topic for now. I have some other situations here. I'll contact you next time." Yang Jian didn't continue the conversation and hung up the phone.

"Beep." Liu Xiaoyu heard the sound of the call being hung up and was furious.

Yang Jian didn't hang up the phone as an excuse. He needed to deal with the piece of red paper stuck to his hand at this moment.

He peeled off the palm-sized red paper, preparing to throw it away.

This thing was something held by ghosts, exuding a sense of eeriness and malevolence. Carrying it on him was probably not a good idea.

However, the moment he tore off the red paper.

The skin where it was stuck immediately split open with a sharp pain.

A red eye reappeared.

At the same time, he felt a strange wriggling all over his body.

The few eyes inside his body became restless, as if using their power earlier had awakened them from their slumber.

"Could it be..."

Yang Jian looked at the red paper in his hand. He didn't throw it away but stuck it back onto the back of his hand, covering the eye.

The red eye immediately closed, and the strange wriggling sensation within his flesh and blood disappeared.

It seemed like everything had returned to peace.

"As expected, this red paper can suppress the power of this eye. Although it's not complete, it can slow down the degree to which this eye revives." Yang Jian was pleasantly surprised to see this.

Then he remembered the saying: Only ghosts can deal with ghosts.

If the eyes in his body counted as ghosts, then the red newspaper was also a ghost.

The powers of the two ghosts collided, and they restrained each other.

Perhaps this was the key to survival.

No, that's not right.

Yang Jian then frowned, "If this guess is correct, why wasn't my eye suppressed when that ghost infant bit me in the teaching building? Instead, it revived even faster due to the stimulation?"

The red newspaper. The ghost infant.

What was the difference between these two?

After some thought.

Yang Jian decided that this question could be left for later. Since the red newspaper could suppress the six eyes within his body, he had to take the risk to retrieve it.

Because that was his chance to survive.

"I need to go home again."

Yang Jian's gaze was solemn. He took a deep breath, strode out of the public restroom, and prepared to take a risk by going home.

But just as he exited the restroom, four or five young people walked towards him, looking like delinquents with a carefree attitude.

"Bro, using the restroom? Don't go, meeting you is fate. How about we discuss something?" one of the youths' eyes lit up upon seeing Yang Jian. He immediately walked forward and placed a hand on Yang Jian's shoulder.

"What is it?" Yang Jian asked, glancing at him.

"It's nothing, just getting acquainted. My name is A Fei. May I know your name, brother?" the youth who called himself A Fei said.

"Yang Jian."

A Fei grinned, "Then we're friends. Since we're friends, if a friend is in trouble, you'll help, right? I'm a bit short on cash today. Yang Jian, can you lend me some money? Don't worry, I'll pay you back. Come here tomorrow and I'll return it to you, not a penny less."

Yang Jian tilted his head and looked at him, "Lend money? I think you guys are trying to rob or extort me. But if you're going to rob or extort, can't you pick a normal person to target? I'm not very normal lately. You'd better stay away from me. I'm afraid I might lose control of myself and commit a crime."

"Kid, you're quite arrogant. A Fei asking to borrow money from you is giving you face. Don't be ungrateful, kid. If you want to die, just say the word, and I'll grant your wish."

A young man next to him patted Yang Jian's face with a small knife.

"Friend, don't do that. It won't be good if something happens. Let me go. Let's pretend today never happened, okay?" Yang Jian said.

"Not okay. If you don't hand over the money today, you're not leaving," the young man with the knife chuckled.

"Brother, even if I'm borrowing it from you, I'll pay you back next time we meet. We're friends, don't be so ruthless," A Fei said mockingly from the side.

Yang Jian said, "Since you guys have said so, there's no other way. The money is in my pants pocket. Take it yourself."

"Smart kid."

The young man with the knife got a little excited. He reached into his pocket, preparing to take the money.

But as his hand went in, he suddenly felt something cold, like a glass ball, in the pocket.

He instinctively pulled it out.

But then, the young man with the knife found his hands covered in blood. In his palm, he held a red eye, which slowly rotated with a sinister gaze.

"Ah~!"

The young man with the knife screamed in terror, his face turning pale. He stumbled backward.

However, as he retreated.

Everything around them had inexplicably turned scarlet.

The residential buildings, streetlights, the moon in the sky, even everything on the ground seemed to be enveloped in a red glow.

"Since we're friends, it shouldn't be a problem for you to help me test out the ghost domain, right?" Yang Jian slowly walked out of the restroom.

A Fei's eyes widened.

As he walked out of the restroom, who was the person with his arm draped over?

At this moment, he didn't even dare to look back, only feeling the coldness of the person with his arm on his shoulder. It felt like a corpse.

"G-ghost!"

A Fei's face turned deathly pale. He turned and ran, fleeing the public restroom as if his life depended on it. The other delinquents also turned and ran in terror.

Yang Jian looked at the back of his hand.

Where the red paper was pasted, the outline of an eye was revealed, but it was quickly pressed down by the red paper. Then the eye emerged again, as if they were in conflict.

"If I grow six eyes, I can use the ghost domain. But with one eye covered by red paper, I can use the ghost domain with five eyes. The ghost resurgence has been stopped."

He felt the pain of five places on his body cracking.

Five fields of vision entered his mind.

Everything around him was clearly under his control.

"Six eyes are the limit the body can withstand, but with five eyes, the situation is much better. Although there are still side effects, they are not as significant." Yang Jian's gaze shifted slightly, as he roughly understood his limit.

"If I get that red newspaper, and it covers six eyes, does that mean I can use the ghost's power without side effects? I won't have to worry about the consequences of a ghost resurgence anymore."

"But before that, I need to master this ghost domain."

Yang Jian looked at the fleeing delinquents. Using them to test it out was the best option.

Mastering the ghost domain is my capital for dealing with ghosts next time, so using the ghost's power once is necessary, not a waste.