Double happiness (III)

Dachang City.

Yang Jian was lying on the sofa, holding a book. Its cover was extremely plain, bearing only the title and the author's name.

They were "Research and Exploration of Ferocious Ghosts" and "Bruce Pi," respectively.

Although it was a book, most of its contents were presented obliquely, and its chapters often ended with questions.

Rather than an instruction manual, it was more a collection of heuristic approaches headquarters provided to those in charge for resolving the problem of ghost revival.

This oblique style was clearly intended to keep those in charge from misjudging the characteristics of "ghosts." After all, each of them controlled a different ferocious ghost, and their circumstances varied enormously.

Headquarters' intention was obvious. They hoped those in charge could use their own judgment to forge a path unique to themselves.

In this era, there was simply no one who could guide this generation. Everyone could only grope their way forward through the darkness.

Yang Jian happened to reach the following passage:

"In nature, there is a creature called the horsehair worm, which survives by parasitizing insects.

Could the relationship between ghost controllers and ferocious ghosts be imagined as that between horsehair worms and insects? While borrowing the power of the ghosts within them, they are also being eroded by those ghosts every moment. Perhaps we should consider this problem from another angle.

Biological evolution is, in essence, a mechanism for adapting to the environment and increasing the chances of survival. Just as humans evolving intelligence was not an inevitable step in evolution, but an evolutionary accident and adaptation.

If an insect evolved an organ specifically for housing horsehair worms to adapt to their invasion, could humans control ferocious ghosts in the same way...

Or, thinking from the perspective of how humans view ferocious ghosts, an insect could be modified from the egg stage, or its evolutionary process could be artificially manipulated.

The insect and the horsehair worm could gradually merge through symbiosis, so that once the insect was born, it would possess the horsehair worm's abilities. At the same time, horsehair worms would mistake it for one of their own and would not invade it. However, humanity's exploration of ferocious ghosts has only reached the tip of the iceberg..."

Just as Yang Jian was reading and pondering, an urgent ringing phone interrupted his thoughts.

Jiang Yan's anxious voice came from the other end. "Yang Jian, A Wei's in trouble..."

The next second, a dense red light suffused the entire room. Looking toward the sofa again, Yang Jian had already vanished, leaving only a book that had yet to be closed.

Dahai City.

"President Ye, Miss Jiang has been put on the plane, and the investigation team's intelligence has been sent to your phone."

"Mm." Ye Zhen nodded, looking at the intelligence displayed on his phone as he continued:

"This place on the map appeared out of nowhere?"

"Yes, President Ye. After receiving your message, I immediately sent people to investigate. This location in Dahai City was originally a stretch of wasteland. I suggest..."

"Click." Before A Wu could finish, Ye Zhen hung up.

Ye Zhen and Zhang Wei were standing at the entrance to an old village.

A blazing sun hung overhead. The midday sunlight fell on them without a trace of warmth. A wooden sign stood at the village entrance, bearing indistinct writing that looked as though it had been carved in blood, though it had long since dried and blackened. Their surroundings were terrifyingly quiet.

"Brother Ye, I just remembered I might've forgotten to turn off the gas at home."

Zhang Wei looked as miserable as if he had eaten shit.

"Brother Wei, I told you, I'll guarantee your safety within Dahai City."

Just as Ye Zhen was about to act.

Suddenly, behind them, an eerie expanse of scarlet spread across the distant sky at tremendous speed.

In a single instant, an intense scarlet radiance enveloped the area, followed closely by an enormous, sky-filling wave. Then cold water began constantly seeping out of the ground, with several deathly pale corpses faintly visible floating within it.

Ye Zhen shielded Zhang Wei behind him, staring at the sudden change.

The sky-filling wave did not stop, sweeping straight past them and surging toward the village ahead.

Something eerie happened. After the icy wave washed past, the village seemed to have shifted out of alignment with reality. Its interior remained completely unaffected by the lake water, as peaceful as ever.

"A Wei."

Bathed in red light, Yang Jian approached step by step across the water, carrying a billhook.

Zhang Wei looked as though he had seen his savior.

"Brother Leg! Save me!"

Ye Zhen stared at Yang Jian on the water, the corner of his mouth twitching. "Little Yang, do you know how cool you look?"

This was already Yang Jian's second meeting with Ye Zhen. Knowing his personality, he ignored him and instead turned to examine the eerie, isolated village before them.

The Ghost Lake couldn't suppress it...

The scarlet Ghost Eye on Yang Jian's forehead swept over everything within the village.

In this abruptly appearing village, a tattered piece of red cloth hung outside every household, and large red "double happiness" characters had been pasted in many places. There must have been some happy occasion in the village recently.

There was nothing unusual. It seemed to be an ordinary village.

Just then, a hunchbacked old man suddenly appeared at the village entrance and walked toward the three of them. The Ghost Eye on Yang Jian's forehead abruptly fixed on this old man who had appeared without warning. Yang Jian had detected no trace of him at all. The old man seemed to have materialized out of thin air.

As though he had known all along that someone would come, the old man spoke:

"You're here. Just in time. I'm the village chief. Please follow me."

There was no expression on his rigid face. He merely opened his mouth woodenly to speak, yet his voice carried the emotional fluctuations of a living person.

"I didn't, I'm not, it wasn't me."

Zhang Wei turned to leave.

Yang Jian stared fixedly at the old man before him.

"A Wei, you can't run now. Go in."

Ye Zhen, emboldened by his skill, strode straight through the village entrance.

"Old ghost, lead the way."

Oppressive. Deathly still.

A stifling atmosphere enveloped the entire village.

Apart from the footsteps of the four of them, there was not another sound in the village.

A faint stench of corpses permeated the air. Even at noon, it still felt cold and sinister, as though a long-dead corpse lay inside every house.

The three followed the village chief through the village. The "double happiness" characters pasted all around were so red they seemed about to drip blood. Not a single figure could be seen in the enormous village, as though all that remained in this world were the three of them and the village chief ahead, who might be human or ghost.

"I keep feeling like someone's peeking at my ass," Zhang Wei whispered, his eyes darting around. He kept feeling countless pairs of eyes staring at him from behind.

"Brother Wei, don't panic. Little scenes like this are just everyday fare for me." As Ye Zhen spoke, he rested a hand on the longsword at his waist, adopting a stance ready to strike at any moment.

The scarlet Ghost Eye on his forehead surveyed the village surroundings. There was no trace of any living thing here. Yang Jian could not even sense the presence of ferocious ghosts.

"Stay here today."

Suddenly, the village chief stopped and stiffly raised a hand to point at a low house.

"Who's the groom?"

The village chief turned his head, his hollow gaze fixed directly on Zhang Wei from his wooden face.

Zhang Wei shuddered in fright and raised his right hand.

"What groom? Look at this hand. It's covered in signs of being single..."

"The groom's right here. I'm the best man." Ye Zhen grabbed Zhang Wei by the shoulder, his tone brimming with matter-of-fact confidence.

"Good, then. Remember to fetch the bride tomorrow." With that, the village chief turned stiffly and left.

Looking constipated, Zhang Wei turned to Ye Zhen and lowered his voice. "You're handsome, you do it. Even a female ghost getting married has to care about looks, right?"

Ye Zhen patted Zhang Wei's shoulder. "Brother Wei, you're wrong. A chosen one like me is destined to stand unrivaled beneath heaven. How could I lose myself in romantic attachments?"

Yang Jian had not spoken the entire way. His Ghost Eye had kept watching the village and the village chief's every move. Only after the chief turned a corner and vanished did Yang Jian speak. "Let's move in first."

Zhang Wei looked at the low, dilapidated house and said:

"Brother Leg, this place is creepily sinister. Are we really not finding somewhere else to stay?"

"How about going straight to the bridal chamber?"

"Actually, I think this place is pretty good. Cultivates the finer feelings."