The Vanished Hidden Danger
"This is terrible!"
On a dimly lit, deserted road in the suburbs of the city, a soft murmur could be heard. Large amounts of still-wet blood were flowing on the ground nearby, and a strange, pungent smell of blood lingered in the cold air.
A man sat weakly by the roadside, panting heavily, his brow furrowed and his teeth clenched, as if he were trying his best to endure some kind of pain.
"An unexpected incident still occurred. But I really did my best this time. Who could have imagined that the ghost Guo Fan released would be so terrifying? I almost couldn't withstand it and died here."
In the dim light, Chen Yi slightly raised his head, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the receding darkness in the distance.
In the distance, within the darkness, lies a ghost candle.
Although it came at a certain cost, they eventually managed to rekindle the second ghost candle.
However, the result was not ideal.
Chen Yi still feels a chill run down his spine when he recalls what happened. He was attacked by Guo Fan's ghost, and Zhong Shan, fearing that he would be killed by the ghost painting, blew out the ghost candle. This caused the ghost that emerged from the ghost painting to lose control for a short period of time, and although this period was very short, he barely survived.
The ghost candles were also successfully lit by the other Ghost Tamer from Headquarters who were responsible for providing support.
However, things did not return to what they were before.
The number of ghosts attracted decreased after the second ghost candle was lit.
Two of the five ghosts that emerged from the ghost painting mysteriously disappeared, leaving only three ghosts following behind the ghost candle.
"The ghost Ghost Domain of the Ghost Painting and the Ghost Messenger Ghost Domain of the Ghost Messenger have both disappeared. The state between the two ghosts has changed. Now the Ghost Candle Attraction Plan has gone wrong, and the two ghosts have gone missing. This will be a huge hidden danger. If they are not found soon, the Ghost Painting Incident may break out again, and this time the location will not be overseas."
Chen Yi closed his eyes, looking slightly pained.
He didn't think there was anything wrong with the plan; the step of attracting the ghost painting to suppress the Ghost Messenger was very successful.
Luring away the ghost painting is no problem at all.
But something went wrong with Guo Fan's connection. Why did the ghost go out of control even though he wasn't supposed to be ready to revive yet?
"Chen Yi, you look terrible. Are you about to die?"
At that moment, a voice suddenly appeared nearby, and then a figure seemed to appear out of thin air, standing eerily in front of them the next second.
Chen Yi finally opened his eyes and looked up slightly. "Jiang Shangbai? Did Headquarters send you, with your Ghost Domain, to provide support? How's the situation now?"
"You're speaking quite rationally. It seems your situation isn't as bad as I thought." Jiang Shangbai smiled slightly, while lowering his guard a bit.
Once Chen Yi dies, he won't be facing just one person anymore.
"The situation is neither good nor bad. The ghost-luring plan is still underway, but the two missing ghosts can no longer be found. At least, I've searched the entire city and haven't found anything suspicious. It's as if they've completely vanished."
Jiang Shangbai's smile faded, and he frowned slightly.
"They've gone into hiding, haven't they?"
Chen Yi's gaze darkened. "After all, we just dealt with a Ghost Messenger. Even a supernatural event of the Ghost Painting's level must have been affected. Otherwise, the Ghost Domain wouldn't have disappeared. Professor Wang's deduction is correct. The Ghost Painting has also been suppressed. The Ghost Painting's current level of danger certainly doesn't reach the true S-class. If nothing unexpected happens this time, we will be able to handle two S-class supernatural events in one go."
"That makes sense. Ghosts restrain each other, after all, the Ghost Messenger have an unsolvable ability to suppress other ghosts, so it's reasonable that the ghost painting was affected." Jiang Shangbai nodded. "But accidents are always hard to avoid, aren't they? Although the ideal situation is to solve two thorny issues, reality doesn't allow it."
"I think you shouldn't worry about this for now. Take a rest; the ambulance will be here soon."
After saying that, he took another deep look at Chen Yi.
A car appeared in the distance, and a driver had already passed by. Under the light of the headlights, Chen Yi's figure, which had been hidden in the dim light, became visible.
He was now covered in blood, his skin was completely gone, and what was exposed were muscles that kept oozing blood. Even his scalp and face skin had disappeared. It was as if someone had peeled off a layer of human skin while he was still alive, which was terrifying to behold.
Scientifically speaking, Chen Yi should have died long ago from this level of injury and the amount of blood loss. However, apart from enduring immense pain, he showed no signs of dying.
"Damn it, what a piece of trash." Chen Yi couldn't help but curse again at this moment.
"If Guo Fan hadn't run into trouble, none of this would have happened."
"Guo Fan?" Jiang Shangbai smiled knowingly. "He's fine now. He and the ghost switched places again. I checked his condition; although it's not good, he's still far from being a fully awakened vengeful ghost."
"What?" Chen Yi looked at him in surprise.
It's back to normal?
How is that possible?
Without controlling a new ghost or using any other means to suppress the resurgence of a vengeful spirit, no one has ever recovered from the brink of losing control on their own.
Because the process of a vengeful ghost's resurrection is irreversible.
The moment you lose control means death and being killed; ghosts will never be so kind as to let you go.
"I'm also surprised, but he's really fine," Jiang Shangbai shrugged.
"Forget it, I don't want to deal with this piece of trash now. Now that his ghost has gone back, what about my Human Skin Coat?" Chen Yi's eyes flickered slightly, no longer considering Guo Fan's special situation.
This matter will naturally be investigated by Headquarters later; it's not something he cares about.
"They're still standing over there. I knew that thing was dangerous, so I didn't dare go near it," Jiang Shangbai said, pointing to a spot not far away.
Over there, a dimly lit figure stood motionless. If one were to get closer and observe carefully, one would be horrified to discover that this was not a person at all, but a complete human skin without a body, empty inside. The appearance and features of this human skin were exactly what Chen Yi looked like before.
No, it should be said that Chen Yi's appearance is not his original appearance at all, but rather he has always presented himself to everyone in this human skin form.
As for Chen Yi's true appearance, it is estimated that only he himself or his former relatives and friends know.
The human skin looked like a living person standing near the woods. Although it was motionless, those who knew the situation understood that the Human Skin Coat was waiting for a living person to pass by.
Once you get close to a dangerous area.
That empty Human Skin Coat will be forcibly filled by a living person, becoming part of the ghost.
The pattern of the murder was quite simple, but when Chen Yi first came into contact with the Human Skin Coat didn't stand up on its own.
Now, however, the Human Skin Coat are becoming increasingly bizarre and uncontrollable.
Chen Yi struggled to his feet and walked toward the Human Skin Coat.
He and the ghost are now inseparable. Previously, because he was attacked by Guo Fan's ghost, his Human Skin Coat was suppressed. In order to survive, he had to abandon the ghost and shed his skin to escape.
However, Chen Yi, having lost his Human Skin Coat, wouldn't live much longer.
He had been wearing the Human Skin Coat for quite some time, and his body had long been corrupted beyond recognition by the ghosts. He could only survive by maintaining the previous balance.
Otherwise, Chen Yi would die from the resurrection of another ghost within an hour.
As Chen Yi approached the Human Skin Coat, his agonizing howls echoed from the dimly lit woods. The pain was as if someone had forcibly sewn a piece of skin that wasn't his own onto his body using extremely cruel methods, far worse than when he had torn off his own skin to survive the ghosts.
Most people who experience this kind of pain twice in one night would have already committed suicide. Even if they didn't, they would have a mental breakdown and would be absolutely unable to maintain normal rationality.
However, half an hour later, Chen Yi emerged from the dimly lit woods completely unharmed with a calm expression.
He neither went mad nor committed suicide.
"It must have been tough to survive," Jiang Shangbai said.
Chen Yi didn't say anything, walked past him and continued walking forward, in the direction of departure.
He appeared unharmed, but beneath his slightly sagging skin, his bloodshot eyes had lost some of their human sparkle, replaced by emptiness and numbness, making him seem one step closer to a real ghost.
Jiang Shangbai watched him leave but didn't follow. Instead, he walked in another direction.
He also had to make sure the second ghost candle didn't go out.
Previously, Chen Yi was the one being protected, but now he has been attacked by a ghost and is in poor condition, so we need to find someone else to protect him.
The terrible night eventually faded away with time.
Most people in the city could not imagine what had happened that night, but when morning came, this international metropolis continued to operate at its usual pace.
As the neon lights faded, people rushing to work surged like a tide at the station and subway entrance.
Cars were honking constantly on the road; traffic was congested again today.
However, in the upper floors of the Ping An Hotel, as sunlight streamed through the glass into the living room, Yang Jian slowly emerged from his room.
He stood in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, overlooking the city.
After observing for a moment, Yang Jian slowly withdrew his gaze. "It seems the matter is almost resolved, otherwise the city wouldn't be so quiet today. Headquarters does have some capabilities after all; it was the right thing for me not to get involved."
He recalled the events of his previous missions.
The Headquarters wasn't incapable of resolving the issue; they were just unlucky enough to be inexplicably drawn into several incidents.
If it weren't for the Starvation Ghost Incident, Yang Jian probably would still be hiding in Dachang City and would never have come here.
"Beep beep, beep beep."
At that moment, his personal phone received a message.
Yang Jian took out his phone and glanced at it. "A message from Li Yao? Very good. Now that the Ghost Messenger incident has been handled by Headquarters, it's time for me to get moving. Since I can't avoid it anyway, it's better to take the initiative. In a fight, the one who throws the first punch always gets the upper hand."