Mysterious Revival: Starting by Controlling the Person-Hiding Ghost

But the ghost opposite him clearly wasn't going to wait any longer. It opened its "mouth," which could practically be called a set of mandibles.

Crack, crack.

The corners of its mouth split open little by little, stretching all the way to its ears. Rows of ghastly black teeth reached Zhao Kaiming in the blink of an eye.

A few drops of foul-smelling liquid fell onto his face, a mixture of saliva and fluids from a rotting corpse.

The figure's mouth began to move bit by bit as it eagerly gnawed on the head cradled in its hands, scraps pattering onto the ground.

The sight was so horrifying that the eyelids of the two watching from not far away twitched.

"That's disgusting, but there's only one ghost left to deal with now. At least there's one less target," Yang Jian said.

"No, the ghost inside Zhao Kaiming still hasn't appeared."

Jiang Li frowned. "That ghost has the supernatural ability to restart its surroundings and reverse time. Once it leaves Zhao Kaiming's body, it'll become an incorporeal, idealistic hostile ghost. Then it'll be able to restart everything whenever it wants."

Things went just as he had expected.

A figure that belonged neither to the crimson nor the bluish-black stood silently beside the Hunger Ghost, remaining motionless for a long time, as if hesitating over something.

Its existence was so peculiar that even the Hunger Ghost, standing right beside it, was completely unaware of it.

At that moment, it studied the Hunger Ghost before it, seemingly still dissatisfied with something.

After looking back and forth, it glanced at the Hunger Ghost's dull black eyes, then at the Ghost Eyes on Yang Jian.

In the end, it made its decision.

The bluish-black before them began to recede, replaced by a restless crimson.

At the same time, everything before them gradually grew blurry. Even Zhao Kaiming's mangled corpse slowly vanished.

"My Ghost Domain suppressed the Hunger Ghost's Ghost Domain?" Yang Jian was utterly baffled.

"No, the Hunger Ghost's bluish-black Ghost Domain is receding on its own. The hostile ghost's restart has begun," Jiang Li said quietly. His body gradually grew indistinct, until he vanished completely.

Soon, all the strange changes came to an end.

Zhao Kaiming was gone, and so was the Hunger Ghost.

Then Yang Jian noticed that the severed hand's thumb on his forehead, which had nearly begun to bend, was slowly relaxing. It had almost returned to the state it had been in when he first used it.

But there was no trace of joy on his face. Instead, his expression grew even uglier.

"Everything was restarted. Doesn't that mean everything we just did was for nothing?"

Jiang Li glanced at his finger, then took out his phone and said calmly, "It wasn't for nothing. Although Zhao Kaiming's hostile ghost restarted time by forty minutes, sending it back to ten thirty, I did my best to preserve a few things."

"There's one piece of good news and one piece of bad news. But the bad news isn't very important, so this time I'll be a magpie that brings good news and keeps the bad to itself."

"The good news is, when the restart happened, I hid inside my own supernatural power and wasn't affected. The stacked supernatural attacks are still stored in this hostile ghost's finger of mine. With you restarted as well, we can use the same trick again and stack the supernatural power one more time."

"What about the bad news?" Yang Jian asked.

Before Jiang Li could answer, Yang Jian's satellite positioning phone suddenly rang.

Yang Jian answered the call and frowned.

"Liu Xiaoyu, didn't I tell you not to call me during the operation?"

A reply soon came from the other end.

"It's Wang Xiaoming."

Chapter 15: Zhang Han's Reinforcements

"Wang Xiaoming? Why are you calling at a time like this?" Yang Jian asked.

"I heard from Liu Xiaoyu about the supernatural item you just acquired, so I'm calling to let you know while you're out of danger," Wang Xiaoming said.

"Wait as long as you can before coming into contact with the hostile ghosts again. I've already sent Zhang Han to reinforce you."

"Zhang Han? An ordinary ghost controller whose hostile ghost is close to reviving? He'd just be throwing his life away. What use would he be?" Jiang Li asked.

"The two of you are facing two hostile ghosts. If you're going to use that Double-Headed Ghost Rope, you'll need a third person present to help. I believe using that ghost rope is the key to this operation," Wang Xiaoming replied, hitting the nail on the head.

"Zhang Han isn't one of headquarters' persons in charge you can order around. He even has a wife and child. How did you get him to come and throw his life away?" Yang Jian couldn't help asking.

"Just a few dishonorable methods. As long as we succeed, any price is worth paying," Wang Xiaoming replied mildly. "Even if I have to sacrifice myself, that holds true. But for now, there's no need for me to make that sacrifice."

"Tsk. You still like treating living, breathing people as cold, expendable supplies. That's what I've always found so annoying about you."

With that, Yang Jian hung up.

"Wait, my eyesight isn't very good. Take a look for me." Jiang Li looked down from the edge of the third-floor corridor. "Who is that figure near the school gate? A ghost or Zhang Han?"

Hearing this, Yang Jian immediately looked toward the school gate.

It was a slightly hunched man, leaning against the gate.

Looking closely, Yang Jian could make out a high bulge on the man's back. He suddenly remembered that this seemed to be what Zhang Han looked like when the Tattoo Ghost he controlled was on the verge of revival.

"That's Zhang Han, leaning against the gate and waiting for us. I'll call him now and tell him to stay put. We'll go down to meet him," Yang Jian said, taking out his phone.

"Wait, the person leaning against the gate?"

"What my ghost sees is a figure walking toward the school gate. Are you sure we're talking about the same person?!"

Jiang Li reached up and touched a half-open, clouded white eye on the face on his neck. Realization struck him, and he turned and shouted to Yang Jian.

"No, the thing I see is a hostile ghost. Get Zhang Han away from there, now!"

"How is that possible? Zhang Han's the only figure who's been in the Ghost Domain this whole time."

Yang Jian tried to use his Ghost Eyes to see through the darkness near the school gate, but failed.

Whether it was the Hunger Ghost or the Wishing Ghost inside Zhao Kaiming that had never shown itself, their level of terror was more than a single tier above Yang Jian with his four Ghost Eyes.

Although he couldn't see Zhang Han clearly, the figure in his field of vision was already very close to the school gate.

Seeing this, Jiang Li said quietly, "It's too late to get Zhang Han away from there now. Use that Corpse Oil Soap."

"Okay."

Yang Jian took out the Corpse Oil Soap wrapped in gold foil, tore the foil open, and gripped the white bar of soap.

Its fine, smooth texture pressed against his palm, and an icy chill immediately seeped into his hand, beginning to soothe the restless Ghost Eyes and Headless Ghost Shadow.

The Ghost Eyes that had been darting restlessly about were affected at once, falling dormant one after another. The only Ghost Eye left was also under the severed hand's suppression.

"It instantly reduced the revival pressure from two Ghost Eyes. This soap really is good."

"If it doesn't have any side effects."

Yang Jian dug a dormant Ghost Eye out of his face and swallowed it whole.

The next moment, four new Ghost Eyes emerged from his face, half of them still soothed by the soap.

"So next up is a Ghost Domain opened with four layers of Ghost Eyes?" Jiang Li said quietly. "Let me see just how far you can see with a fourth-layer Ghost Domain."

"As you wish."

A Ghost Domain as crimson as blood erupted, then turned into a sharp, elongated rainbow that pierced through the darkness all the way to the gate of No. 7 Middle School.

In the gloom.

Zhang Han leaned against the school gate, warily watching the densely packed ghost infants and ghost children inside the school.

So many ghosts. How could I possibly fight my way in alone?

I promised Professor Wang I'd risk my life to help contain the Hunger Ghost, but charging in under these circumstances would be courting death. I'd better send Yang Jian a message and find out what's going on first.

With that thought, Zhang Han silently edged farther back toward the gate.

Just as he took out his phone to send a message, it inexplicably lost all signal. No matter what he did, he couldn't get it back.

Then he noticed a figure about Yang Jian's height standing beside a landscaped strip not far away.

The person also seemed wary of the countless ghost infants on the playground, and so had remained standing in place.

Although Zhang Han had taken part in the hospital exploration, he had never seen the Hunger Ghost with his own eyes, so he naturally assumed the figure was Yang Jian.

He stepped out and waved repeatedly at the figure, trying to get his attention.

The person soon noticed Zhang Han and walked toward him at an unhurried pace.

As Zhang Han watched the figure draw closer and closer, his confusion and unease grew.

Was Yang Jian's belly that big before?

Why is he walking so stiffly?

And wasn't Yang Jian working with Jiang Li, the other civilian ghost controller? Why have they split up without a word?

At that thought, Zhang Han stopped waving and edged back toward the gate again.

A chilling suspicion took shape in his mind.

Before he could react further, the phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated. It seemed to have regained its signal.

It was a call from Wang Xiaoming.

"Zhang Han, your position hasn't changed for several minutes. What on earth is happening?"

"Yang Jian is in a teaching building at No. 7 Middle School. Find a way to meet up with them there."

Wang Xiaoming's voice continued to come from the other end, but Zhang Han couldn't hear a thing. He could only stare helplessly, his eyes wide with despair, as the figure slowly approached him.

It's coming.

I'll never see my wife or our unborn child again.

Zhang Han lowered his head, suddenly remembering the day he became a ghost controller.

In that eerie tattoo parlor, the middle-aged man who tattooed him had once said that what he missed most in his life was not the luxury he enjoyed after amassing a fortune, but the time when his wife and child waited for him to come home by a warm kang bed.

Ghost controllers had no feelings, but a husband adrift far from home would long to return.

For some reason, the tears streaming down his face wouldn't stop. They fell, one drop after another, onto the bloodstained red vest he wore.

Zhang Han had never imagined that one day he would miss the woman at home, the one who shared her life with him, so much.

Is the child she's carrying a boy or a girl?

Either seems wonderful.

But twins, a boy and a girl, would be even more perfect.

It's just a shame I won't get to see them.

Chapter 16: The Supernatural Attack Used Up

"Don't resist. It's me, Yang Jian."

Zhang Han, who had already closed his eyes and was waiting to die, opened them again to find himself enveloped in a red glow.

"I... I'm saved?"

Zhang Han stood up in a daze, his face full of disbelief.

The figure not far away still stood within the bluish-black, impossible to see clearly, but it made no further move.

A withered, bony hand reached out and clamped tightly around its entire head from behind, almost completely restraining the hostile ghost.