Xiaoming's Greetings
With the human skin paper plan no longer viable, Yang Jian could only pin his remaining hopes on the ghost cabinet.
The ghost cabinet is located in Dachang City.
Therefore, after a brief period of consideration and stay Yang Jian chose to return to Dachang City.
He didn't carry the human skin paper with him; he buried it underground near He Tianxiong's villa because he knew that if he brought it back to Dachang City, he might bring trouble with him. Since he was going to throw it away, he might as well throw it far away.
Yang Jian used the Ghost Domain to return to Dachang City in less than a minute; distance was not a problem for him.
But this time he didn't notify anyone; he just returned secretly. If he had made a big fuss, Headquarters would definitely have known about the existence of the Ghost Cabinet.
After all, Liu Xiaoyu even knew how many movies Zhang Wei had stored on his computer.
In an information-driven world, many people have no secrets.
Today.
The sky was overcast at midday in Dachang City. The low winter temperatures combined with the rain in the south created a chilly atmosphere in the air.
In the suburbs, the Guangjiang Residential Area remains sparsely populated, with very few residents.
Although there are few residents, the facilities are complete, and the management is even stricter than that of high-end residential areas in Dachang City.
Yang Jian appeared atop a European-style clock tower in the residential area.
Inside the small attic of the clock tower was a wooden cabinet. The cabinet had two shelves, and the doors were tightly closed. It was covered with bright red paint, as vivid as blood. Despite the bright color, the rest of the cabinet looked very old, as if it had been there for decades. It was an obsolete item, not even worth repairing.
But this seemingly old and worn-out cupboard concealed a tremendous horror.
It's suspected that an unknown and terrifying vengeful ghost is hiding inside this wooden cabinet, or perhaps the cabinet itself is a ghost.
Ghost Wardrobe.
This is how Yang Jian used to name it.
"Found within a year."
He remembered the request Ghost Chef had made last time, after which he was given a photo of a woman. The meaning was easy to understand: find the person in the photo within a year.
Assuming you've already found it, how should you answer?
Yang Jian thought for a moment, then took out the paper and pen he had prepared earlier and wrote down a sentence: "I found it. Now it's my turn to make a request: help me break the curse on the music box."
After looking at the answer, Yang Jian thought it made perfect sense.
The requirement to find the ghost closet within a year, and to answer that you've found it yourself, carries a high degree of uncertainty and ambiguity, which might just fool the ghost closet.
Immediately, Yang Jian stuffed the paper into the top compartment of the ghost cabinet.
Although the cabinet doors were closed, they were openwork designs, allowing you to stuff things inside. However, it was pitch black inside, with no light penetrating at all. No matter how close you were, you couldn't see what was inside. Last time, when he tried to peek inside with his Ghost Eye, he actually saw a pair of eyes, which startled him.
After that incident Yang Jian suppressed his curiosity.
"Will it work?" Yang Jian began to wait for the result.
Soon, the cabinet door beneath the ghost cabinet opened, and the piece of paper that had been placed inside earlier reappeared eerily, with a line of distorted writing on it, as if it were being written by a vengeful ghost.
"You didn't find it, you only saw it." This sentence appeared in the handwriting.
Yang Jian's expression immediately hardened, and a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes.
I thought I hadn't met the requirements of the ghost cabinet, but I didn't expect I was so close to the answer: I saw it?
"Saw it" – does it mean you saw a ghost drawing?
The reason it wasn't found is because the source of the ghost drawing, the ghost, hasn't appeared yet, so this task isn't considered complete.
"How do we determine if this transaction is complete?" Yang Jian pondered for a moment, then wrote another note and tossed it in.
Soon, the note that had been thrown down from the upper cabinet appeared below.
"You have nine months and three days left." This is a time reminder, with no other information.
"No hints whatsoever? We have to complete the task entirely on our own." Yang Jian frowned immediately.
Although the Ghost Cabinet is not as tricky as the Paper Doll, it is still quite difficult to complete, and these tasks require dealing with vengeful ghosts, which is dangerous.
"How do I complete the quest from the ghostly human-paper cabinet? No, that won't do. Asking the human-paper cabinet might turn ordinary things into something incredibly complicated. Its information might be true, but it might also give me the most difficult way to complete it, just trying to find a way to kill me."
Yang Jian thought to himself.
Because whatever you seek about the human skin paper, it always hides some terrible dangers you are unaware of.
Yang Jian could survive once or twice without any problems, but he dared not gamble with his life every time.
If you lose once, you'll lose everything, even your life. But losing a piece of paper is insignificant; there's always another chance.
"We're in a dead end now, unless we get involved in the Ghost Painting Incident and find its source," Yang Jian pondered.
The music box's curse has three days left.
If I won't die within three days, is it possible to find the ghost in the painting within that time?
But what if finding the haunted cabinet doesn't actually fulfill the requirement?
"The information from the Ghost Cabinet just showed that I only saw it, but didn't find it. This means my previous puzzle guess was wrong. For the Ghost Cabinet, it doesn't need me to find all the puzzle pieces; it only needs to confirm the location of one of them. So, is that ghost in the ghost painting, or the ghost I encountered on the paranormal bus last time?"
Yang Jian hadn't forgotten that there was another woman similar to the one in the photo: the mummified bride.
Choose one: The Mummified Bride or the Ghost in the Ghost Painting.
Both of these fit Ghost Cabinet's answer: they saw it, but didn't find it.
"There's a fifty percent chance that choosing the wrong option will mean mission failure, and I'll die from the Music Box Curse." Yang Jian squatted on the ground, looking at the ghost cabinet in front of him, lost in thought.
After thinking for a moment.
Yang Jian immediately shook his head. "I'm overthinking it. It seems like I have a choice, but actually I don't. I can't get on the supernatural bus, and I have no ability to find the mummified bride. I can only gamble on the ghost painting."
"Once I find the source ghost in the ghost painting, my mission is complete; I don't need to solve the Ghost Painting Incident at all."
Thinking about it this way, the difficulty is reduced, and the feasibility becomes clear, preventing it from being a complete dead end.
If this road is also blocked, Yang Jian will have no choice but to put his life on Wang Xiaoming's shoulders, or stubbornly take the bus.
"Then, within three days, that is, before midnight the day after tomorrow, find the ghost in the ghost painting, complete the transaction for the ghost cabinet, and then make your request to break the curse on the music box."
Yang Jian organized his thoughts.
"No. We can't be so rigid with the timeline. We need to leave some time so I have other options."
"Two days. Find the source of the ghost painting within two days. If the ghost cabinet fails, I'll have to resort to gambling Wang Xiaoming or the bus."
Yang Jian felt this was the most reasonable arrangement, as it significantly increased his chances of survival.
With that in mind, he decided to turn back and investigate the origin of the ghost painting.
I looked in the direction of the residential area.
Yang Jian saw some familiar faces, including his mother, but he didn't greet them. Instead, he turned and disappeared.
Now.
Greater J City.
Wang Xiaoming's car, which had previously driven against traffic and bypassed Cao Yanhua, stopped in front of an upscale residential area in the city.
Wang Xiaoming got out of the car and looked down at his phone.
The satellite-guided phone displayed two signals.
"No mistake, Guo Fan lives in this neighborhood." Wang Xiaoming said, and started sending a greeting text message, preparing to arrange a meeting with Guo Fan.
Soon.
Inside a luxurious villa in an upscale residential area, a grand and imposing solid wood tea table sits on the floor, surrounded by several antique-style screens.
At the tea table, a man who looked to be under thirty and was rather thin was intently watching a teapot that was being heated on a charcoal stove.
Whether it was my imagination or not, under the overhead light, the man's skin appeared excessively pale, as if he had lost the color of a living person, revealing an unsettling and eerie quality. His eyes were numb, empty, and devoid of any life. He sat there motionless like a corpse.
Guo Fan doesn't like drinking tea, but people always need to do something to pass the time when they have free time, especially people like him. They can't afford to let their minds wander, so the best way is to shift their attention.
Boiling water and making tea is a very simple thing, but Guo Fan always likes to make the process extremely complicated.
He spent a considerable amount of time learning about the types of teapots, the selection of tea leaves, the size of the fire, and even the types of charcoal.
"Wang Xiaoming sent a message, he's looking for you." Across the tea table, another man handed over a cell phone, which displayed a message.
Guo Fan's expression shifted slightly, somewhat surprised. "Professor Wang is looking for me? Really? We're not exactly remarkable people, and we even failed to secure the team leader position. Would Professor Wang really have time to pay attention to us?"
"It wasn't me, it was you." Zhong Shan shook his head slightly.
"This is troublesome. They're already at the door; something must have happened."
Guo Fan sighed, picked up a cigarette and took a deep breath before going to greet the distinguished guest.
Soon.
The door opened.
Wang Xiaoming stood alone outside the door, with only his driver and assistant behind him.
"Professor Wang, hello. What a rare guest you are."
Guo Fan forced an awkward smile, as if to appear more enthusiastic.
Wang Xiaoming didn't stand on ceremony and walked straight into the house. "Zhong Shan is here too?"
"Zhong Shan is my friend, of course he's here," Guo Fan said. "We even worked together on the Ghost Summoning Project a while ago. These days, it's not easy to find a trustworthy teammate. Professor Wang, you're not here to poach me, are you?"
"Sit down and let's talk?" Wang Xiaoming looked at him, giving him a once-over.
"Of course, no problem. I'm having tea with Zhong Shan right now, and Professor Wang can give me his opinion on my tea-brewing skills. I've received professional guidance from him," Guo Fan said with a smile.
"Hello, Professor Wang."
As Wang Xiaoming entered the room, Zhong Shan hurriedly stood up to greet him.
You can offend anyone here, but you can't afford to offend Wang Xiaoming.