Double Happiness (I)

Dachang City, Guanjiang Residential Complex.

"Yang Jian, where did you go? Why are you soaking wet?" Jiang Yan came up to Yang Jian in a pink bathrobe.

"Nowhere. Took a bath in the lake and caught a little breeze while I was at it."

"Oh... so you're in the mood for a little leisure? Then take a look at me. Want me to blow a little breeze your way too?"

Jiang Yan hooked her arm through Yang Jian's and deliberately squeezed her cleavage together. Lately, she had secretly watched a lot of study material on Zhang Wei's computer, and even her way of talking had taken on his style.

"Sure," Yang Jian replied.

"Huh...?"

Jiang Yan froze. Usually, Yang Jian barely paid her any attention, so his straightforward answer caught her off guard.

But Yang Jian continued.

"The water on my clothes was spat out by a ghost. You can blow them dry for me."

"Ah!"

Jiang Yan immediately jumped back like a cat, patting at the water that had gotten onto her as she spoke.

"I still have something to do! I need to go to Dahai City to discuss business!"

With that, Jiang Yan dashed upstairs to change. She was going to burn this bathrobe, lest a ghost pop out one day and kill her.

Yang Jian paid her no mind and turned to head inside a clock tower.

At the top of the clock tower was a hidden compartment containing a cabinet in the style of the Republican era.

The bright red paint on the cabinet's surface looked as though it had been steeped in fresh blood. Though it was the height of summer, the surroundings were exceptionally cold and sinister, as if he were inside a hospital morgue.

Last time, the Ghost Cabinet had demanded that Yang Jian find the woman in a photograph within a year, but Yang Jian had not been certain whether it wanted the mummified bride or the source of the Ghost Painting, so he had put it off until now.

But after the incident in Dajing City spiraled out of control, Yang Jian could confirm that what the Ghost Cabinet wanted was the source of the Ghost Painting.

He took out paper and a pen and wrote a sentence: "I've found her. Now it's my turn to make a request. Tell me where the man who saved me inside the hurricane came from."

Gently placing the note inside the Ghost Cabinet, Yang Jian immediately withdrew his hand and stood motionless, his Ghost Eye quietly watching the cabinet.

After this transaction, Yang Jian intended to use the Human Skin Paper to find a way to reduce the number of transactions with the Ghost Cabinet, or, conversely, use the Ghost Cabinet to find a way to keep the Human Skin Paper in check.

In short, between the Human Skin Paper and the Ghost Cabinet, Yang Jian had to reduce the danger posed by one of them to a minimum. Otherwise, who knew when these two ghostly things might screw him over and get him killed?

While Yang Jian was thinking, something seemed a little off about the Ghost Cabinet before him. The note seemed to have been swallowed, and the Ghost Cabinet had remained silent for a little too long, without the slightest movement.

"This is taking too long..."

The billhook was already in his hand. If the Ghost Cabinet before him showed any abnormality, he would not hesitate to dismember it with the Ghost Lake and the billhook.

Time ticked by, and the sun slowly sank. Night would soon fall.

Yang Jian did not leave. He was afraid the Ghost Cabinet would welsh on its debt...

Yang Jian stared at the scarlet paint like that until a rooster crowed and the sun rose above the horizon once again.

He raised the billhook and pointed it at the Ghost Cabinet.

"No one has ever dared welsh on a debt to me..."

Yang Jian had ample patience when it came to the supernatural, but now it seemed the Ghost Cabinet was determined to stiff him.

Lake water dripped from the ceiling. Yang Jian intended to chop up the Ghost Cabinet right now.

Suddenly.

The Ghost Cabinet, which had remained quiet all night, abruptly shuddered, and one of its doors protruded slightly.

Yang Jian immediately pulled the cabinet door open. Inside was a note with two sentences written on it.

The first was what he had written: I've found her. Now it's my turn to make a request. Tell me where the man who saved me inside the hurricane came from.

The second sentence was written in twisted characters, with no handwriting to speak of: I don't know where that person came from. Make another request.

"Are you kidding me?!"

He had gone to all that trouble to resolve the out-of-control incident in Dajing City, only to get an "I don't know" in return?

An unusual look flickered in Yang Jian's eyes. In theory, uncovering a ghost rider's origins should not have been difficult, yet the Ghost Cabinet had given him this answer.

Unless merely telling him that man's origins was something the Ghost Cabinet deemed impossible, and the information was extremely dangerous.

Returning to the villa, Yang Jian did not continue tangling with the Ghost Cabinet. Since it wanted him to make another request, he needed to think it through carefully before proceeding with the next transaction. Only then would it be safe enough.

"Yang Jian! Your package!"

Just as Yang Jian was thinking, Jiang Yan's voice came from downstairs.

"I've left it on the table! I'm going to Dahai City! Zhang Wei's coming with me!"

Yang Jian went downstairs. Jiang Yan was already nowhere to be seen in the spacious living room.

He picked up a tightly wrapped parcel from the coffee table and opened the packaging. Inside was a thick, heavy book.

"Research and Exploration of Ferocious Ghosts"

This was a book headquarters had sent to every person in charge. It contained many insights and understandings concerning the supernatural.

Choosing a sofa at random, Yang Jian lay down and opened the cover...

Dahai City.

"Su Fan! You little punk, you're cheating, aren't you?! Did you use that ghost?! It's been three days and three nights! There's no way I couldn't win a single match!"

Ye Zhen jumped onto the sofa and shouted at Su Fan.

"No... I'm just really good at games. That's why a ghost latched onto me once when I was playing..."

"Again! I, Ye, have been invincible all my life. There's no way I'll lose to you again. I'm going to get serious."

"This is the thirty-second time you've said that..."

Three minutes later, Ye Zhen lay slumped on the sofa, staring blankly at the ceiling with vacant eyes, as though he had suffered a tremendous blow.

"How is that possible... How could a human possibly pull off moves like that...?"

A Wu watched Ye Zhen with a face full of black lines. Ever since the incident involving the three S-class ferocious ghosts running out of control in Dajing City had ended, Ye Zhen had dragged Su Fan to Dahai City to play games every day. Headquarters was in complete chaos, and apparently some place had even been engulfed by a strange storm, but Ye Zhen turned a deaf ear to everything outside his window, devoting himself solely to playing PS4.

Ye Zhen lay lifelessly on the sofa and waved a hand.

"This ends here. When it comes to gaming, I, Ye Zhen, am willing to call you the strongest."

Upon hearing that, Su Fan tossed down the controller, lay down, and went straight to sleep. Ye Zhen had dragged him into playing games for three days and three nights. Ye Zhen did not need sleep, but he did.

A Wu stood to one side and said:

"Mr. Ye, you should go out for a walk. Headquarters has almost fallen. The Circle of Friends has been helping headquarters deal with the ferocious ghosts in Dajing City that still haven't been contained. We should do something too."

Although Ye Zhen was in charge of the Supernatural Forum, he was a thoroughly hands-off boss who usually disliked managing things. The vast majority of affairs were still handled by A Wu. More often, Ye Zhen was like a symbol. As long as he was there, Dahai City would not fall into chaos.

Ye Zhen lounged lazily on the sofa.

"As long as I, Ye, remain in Dahai City, what ghost would dare run wild?"

A Wu was about to continue persuading him when Ye Zhen suddenly sprang up from the sofa.

"But you're right. I can't keep wasting away like this."

A Wu froze, thinking he had finally seen the light, but Ye Zhen continued:

"On this journey down the mountain, great fortune will surely accompany me, and fortuitous encounters will come one after another."

"Yes..." A Wu no longer had the strength to comment.

"A Wu, prepare my clothes! Oh, and keep it low-key. I don't want too many people discovering my identity this time..."

"Yes..."

Half an hour later, in a bustling square somewhere in Dahai City.

A young man in casual clothes, with a longsword hanging at his waist, stood in the very center of the square, holding a carton of milk and observing the passersby around him.

"As expected, the aura I give off has already frightened Dahai City's ferocious ghosts into hiding..."

Suddenly, a commotion came from nearby. Ye Zhen vaguely heard things like "Dachang City" and "top dog."