Abnormalities in the Coffin

"What time is it now?"

On the fifth basement floor of the laboratory, Wang Xiaoming had just woken up. After washing his face, he heated up a packet of emergency food with an alcohol lamp and ate it while asking questions.

Wei Jing remained standing in the nearby laboratory, watching the activity inside. He was like a corpse, needing neither to eat nor drink, nor to sleep, and he never felt tired, able to work continuously for 24 hours.

"It's already eight o'clock in the evening. According to the previously agreed time, the music box's curse will break out in four hours." He answered curtly, his tone devoid of any emotion.

"The operation against Ghost Painting should have already begun by now." Wang Xiaoming's expression shifted slightly as he continued eating. "How's Guo Fan doing?"

"He seems to be asleep. He lay down in the coffin five hours ago and hasn't moved since. I can't see what's inside," Wei Jing said.

Wang Xiaoming pulled up the surveillance footage and quickly reviewed it.

Indeed, five hours ago, Guo Fan controlled Yang Jian's body to yawn, stretch, and lie down in the ghost coffin.

"If Guo Fan hasn't woken up by 11 o'clock, wake him up." Wang Xiaoming frowned.

"Okay," Wei Jing nodded.

"What's the situation with Dr. Chen? Is he dead?" Wang Xiaoming asked.

Wei Jing said, "We confirmed the situation with Headquarters. There is indeed a ghost wandering in the building. The level of danger is unknown, but Gao Ming has had contact with the ghost. In addition, the ghost's appearance was captured by the surveillance cameras. The information is on the computer next to you, Professor Wang. As for Dr. Chen, he is still alive for the time being."

"Let me take a look."

Wang Xiaoming turned on the computer again, and indeed, a new folder had been added.

After opening the folder, you'll find surveillance videos and photos that have been digitally altered.

The photo shows a corridor in a building. In this corridor, a child dressed in a burial shroud with a bluish-black complexion holds a rotting human head in his hands. He looks up at the surveillance camera, and his eyes have no pupils, appearing eerily red, almost like a pair of Ghost Eye.

"A starving ghost?" Wang Xiaoming's gaze sharpened.

Have you checked the relevant information?

Wei Jing said, "We've checked. The ghost is wearing the same Ghost Shroud that Jiang Shangbai wore before. After Ghost Shroud Jiang Shangbai died, Yang Jian stripped it off. The rotting head is a ghost left behind by a Ghost Tamer Liu Dong from our social circle. The archives Headquarters has also taken it in. That rotting head is extremely dangerous. Living people can't be stared at by that head, or they'll die within seconds. Similarly, if that rotting head is staring at a ghost, the ghost will be suppressed."

With the help of the Ghost Tamer and the collection of information about the ghosts, the ghost child's characteristics alone will reveal many details to the naked eye.

"Furthermore, we checked Yang Jian's file and found that this ghost looks almost exactly like Yang Jian when he was a child."

Wang Xiaoming nodded and said, "I saw it."

He found a childhood photo of Yang Jian in his folder, and after comparing them, he discovered that the ghost and Yang Jian looked exactly alike, except that the ghost child was a supernatural version of Yang Jian.

Wang Xiaoming's eyes flickered. "Yang Jian is deliberately raising this ghost. He's put other supernatural objects and ghost puzzle pieces on it, increasing its terror. Putting aside the ghost itself, the shroud and the dead man's head alone are enough to contend with the top Ghost Tamer."

"Gao Ming must have suffered a loss after making contact, otherwise Dr. Chen wouldn't still be trapped in this building."

"Incredible, absolutely incredible! How did Yang Jian manage to command this thing?"

The existence of the ghost child successfully piqued Wang Xiaoming's interest.

If Yang Jian can truly control it, then as more pieces of the puzzle are added to this ghost, it will eventually become an unsolvable S-class vengeful ghost.

Most importantly, this ghost doesn't need to worry about the resurgence of vengeful spirits, because it is a ghost itself and there is no possibility of resurgence. The key is control.

If left unchecked, this brat could be a huge potential disaster.

"Should we dispose of it?"

Seeing Wang Xiaoming deep in thought, Wei Jing assumed he was worried and spoke directly.

Wang Xiaoming smiled slightly, "Deal with it? Why deal with it? It's a very interesting existence. It's an anomaly among anomalies, a product of the clash between supernatural events. It belongs neither to the starving ghost nor to Yang Jian. Although I don't know how he controlled this ghost, I know he succeeded. Otherwise, according to the starving ghost's killing pattern, Dr. Chen and the others would already be dead."

"I didn't expect Yang Jian to have such a trick up his sleeve; he's given me a pleasant surprise."

Wei Jing said, "Professor Wang, this is not the time for research. If Yang Jian gains control of this thing, it will be extremely dangerous in the future. If it gets out of control, it will become another S-class supernatural event."

"You said it was out of control, but what if it wasn't? So it has value in being left behind, and that thing isn't so easy to deal with, there's no need to take the risk now."

Wang Xiaoming thought about it very calmly and concluded that the value of keeping the ghost child was greater than the value of destroying it.

"Have the relevant files handled by Headquarters; don't leak them out."

However, just as the two were talking and discussing...

Bang! Bang!

Suddenly, a dull tremor echoed through the laboratory. Although the sound was blocked, it still reached the ears of the two people, and even the alcohol in the alcohol lamp on Wang Xiaoming's desk rippled.

Um?

Almost simultaneously, Wang Xiaoming and Wei Jing looked towards the experimental room.

The sound was coming from inside; specifically, it was coming from inside the coffin. It seemed as if a living person was struggling violently inside the old wooden coffin, banging against the coffin and making such a loud noise.

"What's going on?" Wei Jing immediately turned around and stared at the swaying ghost coffin in the room.

Wang Xiaoming checked the time again. There were still more than three hours until midnight when the curse would break out, so Guo Fan should still be controlling Yang Jian's body.

"Did something happen to Guo Fan? Or did the curse erupt at the wrong time, ahead of schedule?" He pondered.

I glanced at the music box on the other side.

It remains open, which proves that the curse is still in effect and has not disappeared; otherwise, based on the previous instances, the music box would have closed immediately.

Bang!

The loud impact continued, and even though the room was well-insulated, it was still very clear.

The Black Coffin was shaking, and cracks had even appeared in some places. It seemed that this ghost coffin had reached its limit and could no longer contain what was inside.

However, the ghost coffin has no lid because it doesn't imprison things through the sturdiness of the coffin itself, but through an incomprehensible and eerie power within. While the ghost coffin can suppress ghosts, it cannot suppress living people.

"Guo Fan, can you still hear me? If you can, stand up from the coffin." Wang Xiaoming turned on the walkie-talkie and transmitted his voice into the room.

But Guo Fan inside didn't reply. The heavy ghost coffin continued to shake violently, and the cracks on the coffin were increasing. He could even hear the sound of the wood splitting.

If this continues, the ghost coffin will be completely shattered and destroyed.

"Is it because they can't suppress the ghost inside Yang Jian's body?" Wang Xiaoming guessed.

He believed that during Guo Fan's rest period, Yang Jian's body underwent an inexplicable and bizarre change. This change led to the resurgence of the vengeful spirit, which then clashed with the power of the ghost coffin itself, thus causing this situation to occur.

As the coffin continued to shake, the room soon began to change again.

A pale hand suddenly emerged from the pitch-black coffin, gripping the edge tightly, its fingernails digging deep into the wood, leaving several deep marks.

It looked as if the person inside the coffin was struggling to climb out with tremendous force.

One hand seemed insufficient, so soon, another hand appeared on the coffin, gripping its edge tightly. The fingers were stiff from excessive force.

"It's not Guo Fan struggling, it's both right hands?" Wang Xiaoming's expression darkened slightly.

Having studied human anatomy, he immediately recognized that the two pale hands on the coffin were both right hands. Since a living person only has one right hand, the other hand was likely a ghost from Yang Jian's body, or perhaps both hands belonged to a ghost.

This is a sign of recovery.

Wei Jing's numb expression softened slightly. "Should I go in and take a look? Pulling Guo Fan out of the ghost coffin is no problem for me, and I don't need to handle him personally."

After he finished speaking, he glanced at the old, black straw rope hanging from his waist.

"There's no need. The time for the curse to erupt hasn't come yet. The experiment is still ongoing. There's no point in you going in. Even if the ghost in Yang Jian's body really does revive, we'll have to wait until the curse erupts before we can suppress it."

Wang Xiaoming's tone was quick and firm, without the slightest hesitation.

"Keep observing, just make sure Yang Jian doesn't run out from inside."

Although the room was specially built, he was still a little worried about whether it could contain Yang Jian in this state.

The tremors from the coffin continued.

But Wang Xiaoming chose to ignore it and continue to wait for the right time.

As time went by, the movements and anomalies of the ghost coffin became increasingly obvious.

Previously, he had only gripped the edge of the coffin with his two hands, but now the darkness inside the coffin seemed to be struggling and writhing, trying to spill out. Upon closer inspection, it could be seen that it was the outline of a human figure, like the deceased Yang Jian, or perhaps another unfamiliar face.

There was one hour left before the curse was set in motion.

The room where the ghost coffin was placed seemed to be invaded by supernatural forces. The surrounding environment suddenly darkened, as if shrouded in darkness. The cracks on the ghost coffin had increased, with many wooden planks breaking and revealing gaps, but each gap was blocked by blackened hands.

It seemed as if they were sealing off the ghost coffin, or perhaps preventing outsiders from peeping in.

As time went on.

Half an hour before the curse was supposed to break out, another strange thing happened.

The black and white portrait of Yang Jian, which had been left aside on the strange memorial tablet, was now constantly oozing blood. The blood was scarlet and viscous, and it quickly covered Yang Jian's portrait, making his appearance impossible to see clearly.

Blood flowed down, soaking the memorial tablet.

The originally dirty and blackened memorial tablet was also stained red, as if it had been coated with a layer of red paint.

The coffin began to shake violently again, even bouncing off the ground several times. The thick wooden planks shattered into pieces, leaving splinters of wood everywhere. The coffin had exceeded its limits.

If it weren't for an inexplicable supernatural force holding it together, this ghost coffin would have completely fallen apart.

"An incomprehensible anomaly." Wang Xiaoming's heart sank.

This experiment seems to be more complicated than I imagined, with some unforeseen potential problems emerging.

When did it start?

Several hours ago, Guo Fan started acting strangely after he went to sleep.

At the same time.

Inside this building on the ground floor.

The ghost child, who was wandering aimlessly in the corridor barefoot while clutching a dead man's head, suddenly stopped and tilted his head to look in one direction.

Immediately afterwards, the ghost child ran out quickly, heading towards the main entrance on the first floor.

It seemed to sense that something had intruded into the building, unknowingly triggering its killing patterns.