The Eerie Porcelain

"Captain Zhang, the situation has been confirmed."

In the lobby of Shangtong Building, a staff member was reporting the situation over a walkie-talkie.

Several special personnel dressed in suits were waiting nearby, surrounding a safe, which appeared to contain something particularly valuable.

The staff confirmed this after informing Zhang Hua.

"You can go up, but this contact is a private matter, and we will not be responsible for any consequences arising from it," the staff member said very seriously.

"Thank you for your trouble, thank you very much." The leader bowed deeply.

The top floor of the building.

Zhang Hua put down the walkie-talkie and said, "Captain Yang, the identity of the person downstairs has been confirmed."

"Who is it?" Yang Jian asked while eating his breakfast.

"They're staff from the Ghost Tamer Headquarters in Japan, and the team leader is a man Wang Xin," Zhang Hua said. "I met him once before on a work trip; he's a rather unique person."

Wang Xin?

Yang Jian thought of someone he had killed before, a person Wang Ye.

The names are all similar, which is probably a fake name chosen for convenience when moving around here, and of course, there is also the factor of confidentiality.

"Has Captain Yang had contact with other Headquarters staff before?" Zhang Hua asked.

"We haven't had much contact, we've only met once," Yang Jian said.

Zhang Hua said, "In the island nation, their Headquarters are also called the Spirit Extermination Society. Although the name is different, the nature is the same. However, they do not implement the Captain Plan there. They still divide it by the person in charge. And there was an S-class paranormal event there, which is still unsolved."

"I heard they suffered heavy losses as a result, losing more than one team. This time, their visit to deliver gifts might be partly an attempt to ask Captain Yang for help. Therefore, I hope Captain Yang will reconsider and, if necessary, refuse to meet with them."

"I've seen the files on the Ghost Temple Incident. They reveal very little information and the level of danger is extremely high. I won't get involved in those kinds of paranormal events, let alone help others."

Yang Jian said, "I only agreed to meet with them to dissuade them from trying to take advantage of me again in the future."

Zhang Hua nodded, agreeing that it made sense.

It's common for Headquarters in different countries to recruit their respective Ghost Tamer; everyone is aware of this, and no one has stopped them, which is tacitly accepted.

After all, major powers have an advantage in this area and can offer higher terms, so they naturally won't prohibit it.

"Boss Yang, would you like Jiang Yan and I to excuse ourselves for a moment?" Zhang Liqin walked up to him and said in a low voice.

Yang Jian gestured. "Go to the safe house next door and wait for a while. Come out when I call you. What follows will probably be a bit complicated, but it has nothing to do with you. It's best not to show your faces."

"Don't worry, we promise to stay far away." Jiang Yan nodded repeatedly, then pulled Zhang Liqin into the safe house next door.

This safe house was left behind by the previous company president, and Yang Jian has now gotten a good deal from it.

In no time at all.

A group of unfamiliar people dressed in black suits appeared on this floor.

The leader was a man in his forties, not tall, slightly thin, bald, with deep wrinkles on his face. He immediately gave people a sense of authority and ferocity, but when he walked to Yang Jian's office, he immediately put on a smiling face, appearing very enthusiastic and excited.

"This must be Lord Yang Jian, known as the Ghost Eye.' Hello, it's an honor to meet Captain Yang today."

As soon as he entered, Wang Xin bowed deeply.

Not only him, but also the seven or eight subordinates behind him, all dressed in suits, bowed in greeting.

Neat etiquette gives people a sense of being treated at a high level, making ordinary people at the bottom of society feel flattered and easily satisfying their great vanity.

Yang Jian sat on the sofa, sipping his soy milk through a straw, and slightly raised his eyelids. "I recently killed a man Wang Ye. Do you know him?"

Wang Xin's smile froze slightly.

He naturally knew about this. Team Leader Wang Ye was a very intelligent person in the gang, and he himself admired that man. When he received the bad news about Team Leader Wang Ye a few days ago, he also felt very incredulous. Later, after finding out, he realized that he had been killed by this Ghost Tamer codenamed Ghost Eye.

"Wang Ye is the leader of our club's second group. He must have offended you in some way. We hope that Captain Yang will not misunderstand us because of his personal mistake. We have come to visit you with the utmost sincerity, and we also want to apologize to Captain Yang for what happened with Wang Ye," Wang Xin said.

Yang Jian said, "Waiting for me to return in Dachang City for a dead man, and then coming to apologize? That's something you can only fool a three-year-old. I don't have a very good impression of your country, except for certain lovely women, of course. So you'd better get to the point."

"I don't want a few more people to die here by accident later, because if too many people die, it's easy for the place to become haunted."

After saying that, he lowered his head and continued drinking his soy milk.

Upon hearing this, Wang Xin tensed up instinctively, and a bead of cold sweat appeared on his forehead.

To be honest, dealing with a Ghost Tamer like this is an extremely dangerous thing, especially since Wang Ye had left a bad impression on him before.

"I would never dare to deceive Captain Yang. I have indeed come to apologize. This item in the box is my apology, and I hope Captain Yang will accept it." Wang Xin dared not continue to flatter him, lest it backfire. He gestured to his subordinate.

Immediately.

A safe sat on the coffee table.

"We checked it before; there were no explosives inside, nor any metal. We've confirmed there's no danger," Zhang Hua said in a low voice.

The security guards at Shangtong Building are all special personnel. Although it looks like an ordinary building, its security level is actually very high. Even several nearby office buildings have their own action teams, all to support Yang Jian in his ability to respond to various bizarre cases at any time.

Yang Jian put down his coffee cup. "Open it and take a look."

"Then I apologize for being rude." Wang Xin bowed again, then took out a cell phone and made a call.

Yang Jian couldn't hear what was being said on the phone, but it must have been a password or something. Soon, Wang Xin hung up the phone, entered the password he had just received into the safe, and then opened the safe.

"That's really tight security." He shook his head slightly.

The items and password are separated, so even if the items are lost, the device cannot be opened. However, this only serves as a deterrent to ordinary people. If you encounter Ghost Tamer, this device is useless, and all protection is meaningless.

"Captain Yang, please take a look."

Wang Xin turned the box around, revealing its contents to Yang Jian.

There was a porcelain piece inside.

The porcelain was strangely colored, a mix of black and red, giving it a dark and eerie appearance. Its shape was also unusual; it depicted a person with an open mouth, reaching out to grab the sky, looking ferocious and pained. The person seemed to be pleading for help, or perhaps suffering immense torment from which they could not escape.

"A piece of porcelain?" Yang Jian's eyes flickered slightly, and the Ghost Eye on his forehead slowly opened.

A vision filled with red appeared in my mind.

The Ghost Eye peered at the porcelain.

The vision of Ghost Eye is different from that of an ordinary person. Yang Jian can filter out some things that can be seen through, such as walls, coffee tables, and the ground, but there are also some things that cannot be filtered out, such as gold and vengeful ghosts.

Through his Ghost Eye, Yang Jian saw a cold, dark aura lingering on the porcelain. This aura formed a person, exactly like the porcelain.

The strange porcelain figurine's eyes darted around, its gaze fixed eerily on Yang Jian, as they stared at each other.

"It's not a ghost, but it's very eerie. It's as if a portion of a ghost's supernatural power has been intercepted and sealed away using some special method. It's similar to Ghost Slave, but it leans more towards a man-made supernatural entity."

Yang Jian thought to himself, analyzing and guessing for a while.

"It's a man-made supernatural object, similar to the ghost candle and the scapegoat doll. It's a product of the laboratory and should be mass-producible, but it can only be used once."

"What is this thing?" Despite his guesses, Yang Jian still had to ask.

"Captain Yang, you can call it Ghost Porcelain," Wang Xin said with a smile. "It's our club's greatest research achievement. So far, only a small number of our club's Ghost Tamer possess it. It's an extremely precious item, worth at least a billion on the market."

Yang Jian's expression remained calm. "I don't doubt that this thing is really worth a billion. I want to know what its specific use is. Since it's a man-made supernatural object, it should have some special characteristics."

"Yes, Captain Yang should have encountered something similar before. I won't keep you in suspense any longer. It can help the Ghost Tamer resist Ghost attacks and protect the Ghost Tamer's life," Wang Xin said.

"A protective item? Something like a ghost candle?" Yang Jian asked.

"It's quite different from Ghost Candle," Wang Xin replied.

Yang Jian said, "To be honest, I'm not entirely comfortable with this thing, so the best way is to give it a try. I'll give you half a minute to prepare. Once the half minute is up, I'll immediately have a ghost attack you and see if this porcelain in your hand can protect your life."

"If you can't, then please die; if you succeed, I'll accept this gift."

"What?" Wang Xin's eyes widened in surprise.

Yang Jian didn't speak, but simply checked the time. "Twenty seconds left."

"Such precious things shouldn't be used on an ordinary person like me. Only someone like Captain Yang deserves to use them," Wang Xin said immediately, his tone somewhat panicked.

"Ten seconds left." Yang Jian didn't answer, but behind him, a headless black figure slowly stood up.

The moment the ghostly figure appeared, even in broad daylight, the surrounding light immediately dimmed, and a chilling aura spread throughout the air.

"He's not joking; this guy is serious."

Wang Xin broke out in a cold sweat. He wondered if the person in front of him had gone mad. They had been having a good talk just moments before, but now the person was willing to risk his life to test the authenticity of the porcelain.

"My ID, quick, give me my ID."

At that moment, he didn't hesitate, but shouted with a hint of fear.

His subordinate hurriedly rummaged through his briefcase and quickly found a document bearing Wang Xin's name, but it wasn't Wang Xin; it was Hasegawa Shin.

"Hurry up."

Wang Xin was extremely anxious. When he saw his subordinate take out the documents, he snatched them away.

"Time's up." Yang Jian's voice was cold. He meant half a minute, not a second more.

The ghostly figure moved.

Like a vengeful ghost, it moved swiftly toward Wang Xin.

The surrounding light was dimming, and the shadowy figure in front of him obscured his vision. A chilling aura seeped into his skin, making him shiver involuntarily.

Wang Xin ignored the rapidly approaching ghostly figure. After obtaining the documents, he immediately took out the porcelain from the safe and placed it on top of the documents.

The whole process was over, and he seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

"A medium?"

Yang Jian's eyes flickered slightly.

For supernatural objects to work, they need a medium; they can't work out of thin air. For example, a substitute doll needs a drop of your blood on it before it can die in your place. Ghost Scissors require your photo and name as a medium, and ghost hatchets require the footprints or handprints of a living person as a medium to trigger them.

Wang Xin's behavior just now should be considered as actively triggering the medium when certain conditions are met.

Yang Jian's Ghost Eye saw it.

The Wang Xin ID card, which was pressed under the ghost porcelain, was now being infected by a strange aura and was gradually moving.

It was as if something was controlling the document.

Finally, Wang Xin's identification document disappeared from beneath the porcelain. Although the porcelain had no cracks, the document appeared inside in an incomprehensible way, completely tainted by the supernatural power sealed within.

Yang Jian was observing, but the attacks did not stop.

The headless ghost grabbed Wang Xin's arm, without doing anything else, just gently tugging at it.

Ghosts can dismantle a living person's body and reassemble it into a new one. They are extremely terrifying vengeful spirits. Even a slight pull can easily detach a living person's arm after they come into contact with them.

However, the ghost's attack was ineffective.

Wang Xin's face turned pale. His arm seemed to have lost all feeling, but it was still on his body and had not been taken off alive.

"Captain Yang, watch your step. After all, they're from the overseas Headquarters. It wouldn't be right to kill them here for no reason," Zhang Hua, who had witnessed the scene, hurriedly reminded him.

Taking action is fine, but a reason is needed; otherwise, it will be difficult to explain to Headquarters.

Yang Jian remained silent, but now he was somewhat intrigued. This Wang Xin, an ordinary person, had actually managed to withstand the attack of the headless ghost while using this supernatural object.

Although it was just a probing attack, it was already quite good.

"Let's see where your limits are."

Yang Jian remained silent as the headless ghost began to invade Wang Xin's body.

Wang Xin's eyes widened. He discovered that the areas of his body where he was losing sensation were rapidly increasing, as if a vengeful ghost was seizing control of his body.

As the invasion intensified, Wang Xin's previously unresponsive arm began to move.

The blackened arm, covered by the ghostly figure, gradually twisted and deformed.

At the same time, the grotesque porcelain figure also began to move, with tiny cracks appearing on one of its arms.

"Click, click."

Wang Xin's arm was twisted and broke, making a cracking sound, while the arm of the porcelain figurine on the table was also cracking, the cracks growing thicker.

Wang Xin could clearly see that his arm was twisted, but he didn't feel any pain. He just watched helplessly as his arm deformed and his body went out of control.

"It can ward off attacks from vengeful ghosts to some extent, which is quite good." Yang Jian felt somewhat pleasantly surprised by this supernatural item.

This is much better than ghost candles.

Ghost candles must be kept in use at all times, and they will be consumed when there are ghosts nearby. Although they are extremely valuable, they are also very expensive. In critical situations, ghost candles may run out of energy prematurely. However, they are only consumed when attacked by ghosts, and they will not change when not attacked.

"Damn it, that's enough! Let the team leader go right now, or I'll make you regret it!"

One of his loyal subordinates, seeing Wang Xin being tortured like this, mustered up great courage and stepped forward, drawing his pistol and pointing it at Yang Jian.

Yang Jian didn't even glance at it; his gaze remained fixed on the strange humanoid porcelain object.

"Get out of here. This is none of your business. This is all a test for me by Captain Yang." Wang Xin could still speak, so he immediately reprimanded his subordinate.

Although he was terrified of dying here, he couldn't ruin the mission before he died.

The subordinate, who had acted impulsively, was calmed down by the shout. His face turned pale, and he quickly put his pistol away, not daring to take it out again.

Yang Jian then spoke up, "It is indeed a good item. It can easily withstand my ghostly attacks. An ordinary person with this item could easily survive a common supernatural event. However, I want to know, if this porcelain is damaged, will you also be harmed?"

After saying that, he picked up a fruit knife from the food delivery cart and slashed at one of the arms on the porcelain figurine.

The porcelain figurine, which already had cracks, had one arm severed immediately after Yang Jian slashed it.

At the same time, Wang Xin's arm shattered instantly, like porcelain, breaking into pieces. However, under the influence of the headless ghost, the fragments maintained a relative integrity. If it weren't for the ghost, his arm would have completely disappeared.

"My guess was correct. The porcelain was destroyed, and those involved would also suffer corresponding harm. Rather than being a protective artifact for the Ghost Tamer, it's more like a different kind of curse," Yang Jian said. "But it can be used in certain dangerous situations, at least providing an extra layer of protection."

"I just want to know if this alternative protection is temporary or permanent?"

If it's permanent, then it's dangerous. From now on, one's life will be tied to this porcelain. Moreover, this porcelain isn't the real source. The real source should be a ghost, and that ghost should be under the control of the island nation's Headquarters.

If it's temporary, then its availability is very high.

"We just need to remove the medium to break this state," Wang Xin said, suppressing his fear and unease.

Is that so?

Yang Jian's eyes flickered slightly. He took off his gloves and then reached out to grab something.

The blackened, ghostly hand forcefully pulled Wang Xin's identification document out of the porcelain.

With the disappearance of the medium, the protective function of the ghost porcelain also ceased.

The next moment, Wang Xin's arm was easily removed by the ghostly figure, as if it could be disassembled at will, like a plastic doll.

"That's enough."

Yang Jian put on gloves, and at the same time, the ghostly figure quickly retracted.

Wang Xin's arm fell to the ground, shattering into several pieces of flesh, but no blood flowed out; it was like broken porcelain.

"Once the ghostly artifacts are removed, his arm still can't recover; this damage is permanent." Yang Jian confirmed another piece of information.

Although the method was somewhat cruel.

But he felt it was worthwhile to use one of Wang Xin's arms to figure out all the information.

Zhang Hua didn't comment. He just wanted Yang Jian to stop killing Wang Xin and the others here. He wouldn't care about such probing and harm, and no one would cause trouble over a broken arm.

This is such a trivial matter that it's not even worth mentioning.

"Alright, I accept the gift and your apology. You can leave now." Yang Jian stood up and put away the broken porcelain.

Although it's incomplete, it can still be used next time.

Wang Xin had only just recovered from the shadow of death. Hearing Yang Jian start to shoo people away, he was naturally unwilling to leave. He couldn't dwell on what had just happened and gritted his teeth, saying, "There's a paranormal file that I hope Captain Yang can take a look at."

After he finished speaking, he gestured.

Immediately, one of his subordinates took out a folder, quickly opened it, and placed it on the table.

"I only accept your apology. As for the supernatural events, I have no interest in them right now," Yang Jian said coldly.

But before he could finish speaking, his gaze sharpened when he saw the picture in the file.

The file is written in Chinese, and the first page has an event code: Ghost Knocking.

The accompanying image is of a terrifying old man wearing a long robe, with a face covered in lividity and lifeless eyes.

He recognized the photo; it was taken through a glass window. It was probably a picture from a forum he had browsed before. He had thought the post had been deleted, but he hadn't expected that this information would still be unearthed.

This is the Ghost Knocking incident.

"Captain Yang has experienced this paranormal event before and survived, so I believe Captain Yang is familiar with it," Wang Xin said.

"Where is that ghost now?" Yang Jian asked directly.

He had considered finding the Door-Knocking Ghost before, but the timing wasn't right, and he also had his own problems, so he didn't dare to approach the old man. Even knowing that the old man had some secrets, he had to give up, because survival was the most important thing.

"Kobe City," Wang Xin replied immediately.

Yang Jian chuckled softly, his smile cold and devoid of emotion, "So this ghost went to your place. No wonder you were in such a hurry. Last time, Wang Ye also asked me to help him handle a level A paranormal event. Now it seems that must be the Ghost Knocking door incident."

"Can't your Headquarters' Ghost Tamer handle this? You actually have to go to great lengths to ask me for help."

He didn't believe the Ghost Knocking incident posed a threat to them.

The only possibility is that this paranormal event has escalated. The old man has become even more terrifying than when they first met.

I've finished 10,000 words; this chapter is over 6,000, and I don't even want to break it into chapters anymore.