The Eerie Music Box

"The plan is finalized, and the list of participants for this event is basically confirmed. If there are no unforeseen circumstances, we will begin our operation at 9 PM tonight and strive to resolve the Ghost Messenger incident before dawn tomorrow."

Inside the Headquarters' conference room.

Cao Yanhua, Wang Xiaoming, Shen Liang, and other key personnel held a small meeting.

The meeting's content was simple: to refine the plan based on previous proposals and strive to resolve the Ghost Messenger ghost codenamed "Ghost Messenger."

Headquarters could no longer allow the ghost that escaped from the coffin to roam around J City.

This operation was highly secretive, the entire plan was kept under strict confidentiality, and the list of participants was not made public. Even Ghost Tamer of Yang Jian's caliber would not be notified unless he was selected by Headquarters to be one of the participants.

However, it is clear that Yang Jian was not among the operatives.

"Alright, if there are no other questions, the meeting is adjourned. Everyone, go and prepare." Cao Yanhua felt that the discussion had gone on enough, so he dismissed the meeting.

The others looked grave and remained silent. After packing their things, they immediately left the meeting room and began to take action.

A moment later.

Liu Xiaoyu arrived at the conference room, found Deputy Minister Cao Yanhua who was still there, and reported on Yang Jian's previous incident.

"Oh, Yang Jian made his choice so quickly?" Cao Yanhua wasn't surprised after hearing Liu Xiaoyu's report, but rather felt a little taken aback.

The surprise was that Yang Jian actually chose the music box.

This didn't align with his previous assessment of Yang Jian. He believed Yang Jian would reject the music box immediately and was more likely to choose the Ghost Portrait, since Yang Jian's past handling of paranormal events had always involved a strong gambling element, Ghost Portrait was more in line with this somewhat crazy and impulsive young man.

Did he say anything else?

Liu Xiaoyu said, "Yang Jian said to have the Deputy Minister do it as soon as possible."

"Okay, I understand."

Cao Yanhua thought for a moment and decided to finish Yang Jian's business first. After all, the situation was delicate, and it would be better to maintain a good relationship with Yang Jian. In case the next operation went wrong, at least Yang Jian could rescue the person and prevent further losses and the loss of the Ghost Tamer.

He checked the time and, feeling there was enough time, immediately got to work.

Two red ghost candles, one white ghost candle, a tightly packaged music box, and a substitute doll.

These items are extremely valuable resources for any Ghost Tamer, some even being strategic in nature. They are only used as a last resort. Even if these items fell into the hands of an ordinary person, they would be enough to safely and easily survive a supernatural event, let alone in the hands of a top-tier Ghost Tamer like Yang Jian.

Of course, this was a huge financial blow to Cao Yanhua.

If Yang Jian hadn't solved the S-class paranormal incident in Dachang City and rescued a group of important Ghost Tamer, including Wang Xiaoming, during the Ghost Messenger incident, his contributions would have been too great, and he wouldn't have valued him so much.

Putting everything else aside, just the fact that he killed Gao Zhiqiang at Headquarters would have been enough for anyone else to be severely punished. It couldn't have been as simple as just verbally scolding him and fining him a little.

Soon.

He sent a staff member to secretly and quickly deliver these items to the Ping An Hotel where Yang Jian was staying.

Around eight o'clock.

A suitcase was dragged into Yang Jian's guest room by Headquarters staff.

"This is something the minister sent you; please sign for it," the staff member said.

"Cao Yanhua's efficiency is really fast, it's a bit unusual for him." Yang Jian was a little surprised that the things had arrived so quickly. He glanced at the package and then smiled, "There must be a problem at Headquarters, so they finished my business immediately to prevent any misunderstandings from arising later."

"The only thing that could cause problems at Headquarters is the Ghost Messenger incident. The operation is about to begin, and it might even start tonight."

As he spoke, he looked out the window.

That was the direction of the laboratory; Yang Jian could see several helicopters flying over there through the city sky.

Although inconspicuous.

But his intuition told him that Headquarters was mobilizing personnel in preparation for an operation.

A bead of cold sweat appeared on the staff member's forehead. "I don't know. It's all confidential; I have no right to know."

"The situation can be kept secret, but the operation cannot." Yang Jian smiled. "You can go first. If anything happens, have Cao Yanhua call me."

At this moment, fulfilling his request also meant that Cao Yanhua was making a gesture of goodwill.

This operation is definitely very dangerous. If something goes wrong, some people might be trapped in the Ghost Domain like last time, and they might even need Yang Jian to rescue them. At this critical juncture, Yang Jian believes that Cao Yanhua will agree to any request he makes, as long as it's not excessive.

After all, Cao Yanhua believed that the overall situation was the most important thing, and many minor issues could be tolerated.

After seeing the staff member off.

Yang Jian looked at the ghost candle and the substitute doll in front of him, and after confirming their authenticity, he stopped paying attention to them. Finally, he focused his gaze on a golden box.

The box was well-sealed, and there were even some warning signs on it saying "Danger: Do Not Touch".

"This must be the eerie and terrifying music box Cao Yanhua mentioned. It can prevent the person holding it from being killed by vengeful ghosts, but they will suffer a terrible curse afterward." Yang Jian pondered for a moment before carefully opening the golden box.

Inside was a small, square wooden box.

The exterior is plain and somewhat old. The red paint on the wooden outer box is peeling and mottled, as if it has been used for a long time, and there is a faint smell of decay emanating from it.

Yang Jian's nose twitched, and his gaze sharpened. "This is the stench of a corpse."

The smell made him suspect that the music box might contain part of a corpse, but what bothered him was that the material of the music box looked somewhat familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before.

Oh, right, the Ghost Closet.

The red-painted wooden outer box is almost identical in material to the ghost cabinet.

"Is it a product of the same period, or a terrifying toy created by a former Ghost Tamer using and imprisoning a vengeful spirit?" Yang Jian pondered.

He dared not open the music box, because according to Cao Yanhua, once opened, the music box would repeatedly play a bell melody, and a terrible curse from a vengeful ghost would begin to spread. It could only be used at the most critical moment. Normally, anyone who listened to this thing would die, but when targeted by a vengeful ghost, this cursed music could guarantee your safety.

Although it's temporary, at least I can survive.

Thinking of the previous users, all of whom had died tragically under the curse, Yang Jian was very wary of this thing.

However, he still chose this one.

For no other reason than to have the resources to launch a desperate comeback in a critical moment.

"Hopefully, this thing will only be used as a trump card and won't have a chance to be used," Yang Jian thought to himself.

He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but just by looking at the music box, before he even opened it, he felt a chilling aura lingering around him. At first, it wasn't very noticeable, but it became more and more obvious as time went on. It wasn't just around him; the chilling aura was right next to him.

They lingered, as if a ghost was about to appear.

"Hiss~!"

Yang Jian noticed that the lights were flickering, indicating that the circuitry was being affected by a strange force, and the surrounding light seemed to be gradually dimming.

The tightly closed music box suddenly trembled slightly, as if it were about to open on its own without any conscious effort.

Yang Jian's face darkened, and he immediately closed the golden box, sealing it completely.

Immediately.

The chilly atmosphere disappeared, the dim light returned to normal, and the disrupted circuits stopped hissing.

"This is a strange thing. It's already acting strangely before it's even been used. It's really hard to imagine what terrifying things will happen when we actually use it. Sure enough, things that can save your life aren't as good as you think." Yang Jian felt a sense of dread.

He felt that this thing was as eerie as a ghost mirror.

And at this very moment.

A special team of personnel approached alone outside a valley near the suburban experimental base.

The area was eerily quiet; not even a single insect chirped at night. The only sounds were the occasional rustling of the cold night wind through the treetops, carrying a strange chill and a faint, pungent odor.

Dozens of small drones streaked overhead, proving that the operation was underway.

Ordinary people could only offer very little help in this operation; all they could do was provide informational support.

"So Yang Jian created this valley and trapped that Ghost Messenger here?" The group stopped in their tracks.

The light shone from above.

The valley in front was pitch black, resembling a huge Black Coffin placed on the ground, only it was hidden by mounds of earth, making it invisible to outsiders.

"It's not that Yang Jian trapped the Ghost Messenger here, but rather that Ghost Messenger lost their target and temporarily stopped here. This ghost doesn't seem to be the kind that spreads very easily, as can be seen from the files of the Huanggang Village incident. But the premise is that this thing cannot be brought into the city, otherwise..."

Some people analyzed the situation and described the most terrifying possible outcome.

This outcome is exactly what Headquarters fears most; once they enter the city, they become a terrifying force capable of easily wiping out an entire city.

It's even more unsolvable than the Starvation Ghost Incident.

"If that's the case, why not just let it stay here? Why bother with it?" Someone frowned, feeling it was unnecessary.

"Are you sure you don't mind having this thing near your house?"

"Everyone, please be quiet and wait for news from that guy surnamed Liu."

The group quickly fell silent, standing quietly by the dimly lit roadside, waiting for news from the other side.