A Choice

Cao Yanhua and his group arrived at Ping An Hotel.

This time they came with the sincerity of Headquarters, and Wang Xiaoming's appearance also meant that he had given up the idea of eliminating Yang Jian and chose a more peaceful and friendly way to bring yesterday's events to a perfect end.

"Just a few of us going up is enough. If there are any more, Yang Jian will have second thoughts."

Before getting out of the car, Cao Yanhua said this, and then he, Wang Xiaoming, Wei Jing, and operator Liu Xiaoyu walked into the Ping An Hotel.

Before they even entered, Wei Jing, his face dark, numb, and cold, stiffly reminded them, "We're already in Yang Jian's Ghost Domain Wei Jing. He can kill any of you at any time, and I won't have time to stop him."

Cao Yanhua's heart skipped a beat, but he quickly said, "Don't worry, he won't do anything reckless. I trust Yang Jian quite a bit."

"Minister, where's Professor Wang? He was just here a moment ago, how come he suddenly disappeared?" Liu Xiaoyu asked in a panic.

At this moment, Wang Xiaoming, who was standing next to them, had mysteriously disappeared from their sight, leaving no trace whatsoever.

Wei Jing said, "He was probably taken away by Yang Jian. It seems he wants to talk to Professor Wang in person."

Cao Yanhua's lips twitched.

He just said Yang Jian wouldn't do anything reckless, but he started tampering with things as soon as he walked in.

At that moment, Yang Jian, who was talking to Huang Ziya and Zhang Lei in the room, suddenly stood up. "I have to go see someone. You two can continue your conversation. Remember not to touch my things; some of them are quite dangerous."

He gave them specific instructions to prevent them from being tempted to open their body bags and take out things they shouldn't.

Although Yang Jian knew everyone's every move in the Ghost Domain, it was still necessary to explain beforehand to avoid any misunderstandings.

After all, trust is very difficult to establish among Ghost Tamer.

Before the two could speak, Yang Jian disappeared from the room.

And at this moment.

Wang Xiaoming was nowhere to be seen on the first floor, had appeared on the top floor of the hotel.

There was no place to stand on the top floor of the hotel; the building was made of tempered glass. Wang Xiaoming, an ordinary person, stood on that seemingly fragile glass, with the wind blowing around him from the high-rise buildings, as if it might sweep his slightly thin body away at any moment.

But Wang Xiaoming remained calm, showing no fear of heights. Instead, he strolled around the top, stretching and gazing at the distant city.

Aren't you afraid of accidentally falling and dying?

Yang Jian's voice suddenly appeared. He saw Wang Xiaoming standing on the edge, looking down at the building below. His body was swaying slightly in the strong wind, and he looked like he was about to fall to his death at any moment.

"This kind of thing won't happen in your Ghost Domain."

Wang Xiaoming casually turned around and said, "If I really fell, it definitely wouldn't be an accident. You should attend the private meeting that was specially convened for you today; it will be good for you."

"I don't know if there are any benefits, but I know there are definitely drawbacks."

Yang Jian, "You've studied the curse of music boxes, so you should know my situation."

After he finished speaking, he stretched out his palm, on which rested an old wooden box.

The box was open, and it was pitch black inside. A strange, inaudible ringing sound seemed to be coming from within.

"I did study the Music Box Curse for a while, but I quickly gave up," Wang Xiaoming said.

"Did it fail?" Yang Jian asked.

Wang Xiaoming said, "No, I personally think it's foolish to pin our hopes on a supernatural object. After all, no matter how powerful a supernatural object is, it can only guarantee one person's survival and has no impact on the deteriorating situation. So, we gave up the research after not seeing any results in a short period of time."

"But let's put the music box thing aside for now and talk about you."

Yang Jian's expression shifted. "My business? Do you mean the thing about me taking down WeChat Moments, or the thing about me being taken down by WeChat Moments?"

"Every matter deserves a resolution. Although I'm not good at negotiating, I don't want to see this situation become a mess, otherwise my research will be meaningless," Wang Xiaoming said.

"I've resigned. I'm quitting as team leader. I'm going back to Dachang City," Yang Jian said casually.

Wang Xiaoming shook his head slightly and said, "That definitely won't work. Ghost Eye Yang Jian's resignation will have a huge impact and will shake many people."

"So what? Kill me? To avenge Jiang Shangbai? He's the captain too. If you don't take me out, a lot of people will complain, right?" Yang Jian smiled coldly. "The situation will deteriorate just the same way, and the Captain Plan will fail just the same."

"No, Jiang Shangbai is dead, you are still alive. All the blame can be placed on a dead man, and you, by killing the guilty Jiang Shangbai, have rendered meritorious service. With a little maneuvering from Headquarters, it will not only not have a negative impact, but will also deter those Ghost Tamer with ulterior motives because of your existence, making the situation more favorable."

Wang Xiaoming spoke very directly and cruelly; this was his way of putting an end to Jiang Shangbai's story.

"Of course, this is on the premise that you can't die, at least not in the short term. As for resigning, that's even more impossible, otherwise no one will believe what Headquarters says, after all, Ghost Tamer are all extreme and suspicious."

Upon hearing this, Yang Jian's eyes narrowed slightly.

Wang Xiaoming's approach was indeed ruthless and clever. He used Jiang Shangbai's death to establish his authority and also used his own power to enhance the Headquarters' prestige, thus deterring other Ghost Tamer with ulterior motives.

If successful, the current situation will be better than before.

"As for those people in my WeChat Moments, they're dead, so be it. This is a good opportunity for Headquarters to take over all their research projects and assets, which will be of great help to my upcoming experiments and Headquarters as well," Wang Xiaoming added.

"Killing three birds with one stone?" Yang Jian's eyes flickered slightly. "It's a waste for you to stay cooped up in the lab; you should be a minister."

Wang Xiaoming said, "Anyone can be a minister, and even if they are the best at it, they won't play a crucial role. What truly affects the situation is the research and deciphering of the vengeful ghosts."

"That makes sense." Yang Jian agreed with his idea, then asked, "You've arranged everything, so how are you going to arrange things for me?"

Wang Xiaoming said, "Your resignation will be changed to an indefinite leave of absence. You've chosen to relinquish your team leader position due to some personal mistakes at work. The Deputy Minister's previous promise to you still stands; you remain the person in charge of Dachang City. In addition, you still have a maximum of six team slots to take from Headquarters, but the benefits, including those for your teammates, will be gone. You can try to get those slots yourself if you need them."

"The way to win them over is simple: resolve paranormal events."

Yang Jian looked at him and said, "So, you want to use a city and a few teammates to tie me down? For the sake of the city and the situation of my teammates, I will still have to work for Headquarters in the future."

Wang Xiaoming did not deny it, and nodded directly, saying, "That's roughly the idea. A win-win cooperation approach suits you better."

"If you won't give it to Dachang City, I can take it myself," Yang Jian said. "The second CEO in my circle of friends might just be me."

"You don't have that much ambition; you can't become the second 'Friends Circle'," Wang Xiaoming said. "This isn't a matter of ability, it's a matter of personality. If you wanted to become the second 'Friends Circle,' you wouldn't have given up the captain's position."

"If I agree to your plan, what will I get in return?" Yang Jian asked directly. "After all, I'm just a dying man, capable of anything."

"There's no need to threaten me, it won't work," Wang Xiaoming said. "I only have one condition: I'll help you break the curse on the music box."

"You? I don't quite believe it," Yang Jian said.

Wang Xiaoming said, "If you don't believe me, do you believe that piece of paper? Or are you planning to get on that bus?"

Human skin paper?

Yang Jian's eyes flickered slightly. He had always considered the human skin paper as his last resort. If he had even the slightest choice, he would not have believed the information on the human skin paper.

"I've been considering taking that bus. After all, that thing can also solve my problem of the vengeful spirit's resurgence. Your thing from last time is starting to lose its effectiveness."

"You mean the coffin nails I made?" Wang Xiaoming said, "I reminded you last time that they had defects."

"What defect? You didn't mention it back then," Yang Jian asked.

"Haven't you already discovered it? That thing is starting to malfunction."

Wang Xiaoming said, "After all, it was made by extracting a portion of the Ghost Messenger's abilities. Although it has the effect of suppressing three ghosts, this suppressive ability will gradually weaken with the number of times it is used and the time it takes, until it disappears completely in the end. Let's just consider it an upgraded version of the ghost candle."

"However, according to my calculations, this thing shouldn't fail so quickly. What? You tried to suppress a highly dangerous ghost? It's best not to do that, or you might suddenly fail and be attacked by a vengeful ghost."

Yang Jian's face darkened; Wang Xiaoming hadn't mentioned these things last time.

No wonder he used three of his Ghost Hands to suppress one of the ghosts inside Fang Shiming's body; he couldn't suppress the tall, rotting corpse in the Caesar Hotel at all, and it was directly attacked with a woodcutter's knife.

Both the tall, rotting corpse and Fang Shiming's ghost, which was about to revive, were extremely dangerous entities, consistent with what Wang Xiaoming had said.

As for why he can balance himself, it's because Ghost Hand is incomplete, Ghost Shadow is in a dead state, and Ghost Eye has Ghost Shadow to help suppress it. Plus, those three spots are no problem.

However, the reason his two spots were truly invalidated was because he used the strange wood-chopping knife.

The medium was triggered twice, resulting in two hits and the loss of two of his suppression slots.

Wang Xiaoming continued, "However, you'd better think carefully before getting on that bus. Your consciousness is currently under the curse of the music box. If you get on the bus and the ghost inside you is suppressed along with the curse, will your consciousness continue to exist, or will it disappear in an instant?"

"I think it will most likely disappear in an instant."

"This is just your guess," Yang Jian's expression changed slightly. He had also considered this possibility, but he would still take the gamble.

"I've done the research; you should trust science, not luck."

Wang Xiaoming said seriously, "To break the music box's curse, you should separate the curse from your consciousness. Only then can you survive. I have a feasible method with a success rate at least higher than taking the bus."

"Promise me what you said today, and I can help you deal with the curse. You just need to give me two days to prepare, and within those two days, your curse won't flare up."

Yang Jian's eyes flickered slightly, as if he were weighing the situation.

The bus incident wasn't anything particularly secret; many people had been on the bus before him.

Is it really true, as Wang Xiaoming said, that I'll die as soon as I get on the bus?

Is it a gamble, or should we trust Wang Xiaoming?

Or perhaps look at the information on the parchment.

Finally, find a way to complete the ghost cabinet transaction. When the transaction is completed, Yang Jian can make his own requests.

Ghost Chef asked him to help find the person in the photo. If he could do so, Ghost Chef would be able to break the Music Box Curse. As for what Ghost Chef would ask for afterward, that was none of his business.

The unlimited trading rule is a huge trap that Yang Jian can't afford to play, but he has no choice but to play it in order to survive.

"I can't trust buses too much, nor can I completely trust paper dolls, and I certainly can't gamble my survival on the ghost cabinet, but Wang Xiaoming isn't exactly reliable either." Yang Jian began to think calmly. He stopped thinking about past grievances; survival was the most important thing right now.

If you can't live, nothing else matters.

"Since we can't trust either side, we should try each one. I need to pinpoint the bus's location, attempt to complete the ghost cabinet transaction, inquire about the human skin paper, and also agree to Wang Xiaoming's proposal."

After thinking it through, Yang Jian said, "I agree to your request. I'll give you two days. I expect to see a result in two days. If you disappoint me, I'm capable of anything."

"Of course," Wang Xiaoming said, extending his hand. "Then, is it a pleasure to cooperate?"