Mysterious Revival: Starting by Controlling the Person-Hiding Ghost

As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Li appeared silently in front of Guo Fan, a gun in his hand aimed at Guo Fan's head.

Guo Fan froze, then stepped back and cried in alarm, "You fucking trying to shoot me dead?"

"What, I didn't say a word when you hit me, but now it's my turn and you're already yapping? Haven't you heard you're supposed to stand at attention when you're getting beaten?" Jiang Li pressed the cold muzzle against Guo Fan's forehead. "Come to think of it, this is my first time handling a gun. Don't blame me if it goes off."

"Whoa, now this'll be a good show. The mighty criminal investigator Guo Fan, humiliated by a high schooler pointing a gun at him."

The surrounding investigators whispered among themselves, but none intended to intervene.

The reason was simple: as a veteran ghost controller, Guo Fan was highly unlikely to be killed by a mere handgun. Since he still hadn't used his supernatural powers after the gun was taken from him, everything was evidently still within controllable limits.

But Guo Fan had clearly lost his head, and he couldn't swallow this humiliation.

"Fuck, you want to show off by trampling on my face? You really think I'm a soft persimmon you can squeeze just because I haven't shown you what I can do?"

With that, he ripped open his shirt, exposing his hollow abdomen.

His entire belly was empty, without a single organ inside. There was only a sinister wooden spirit tablet, giving off the foul stench of decay.

As Guo Fan pulled out the tablet, the aura radiating from him instantly turned as chilling and terrifying as that of a corpse.

"Guo Fan's getting serious. Everyone, stand back and don't get caught in the crossfire," an investigator said quietly.

The investigators immediately scattered, leaving only Jiang Li, Yang Jian, and Zhao Jianguo near Guo Fan.

"Guo Fan, you..."

Zhao Jianguo took a step toward Guo Fan. He seemed unwilling to see things turn into a fight to the death and was about to try to persuade him to stop using his supernatural powers.

But Yang Jian put a hand on Zhao Jianguo's shoulder and quickly pulled him several meters back.

When Zhao Jianguo looked up again, he discovered that Guo Fan had appeared at the spot where he had just been standing, though he had no idea when. Guo Fan's expression was vacant and numb.

What chilled Zhao Jianguo to the bone was that the loose half of Guo Fan's facial skin was still turned toward him, lending him an indescribably eerie appearance.

"Zhao Jianguo, ordinary people had better stay out of conflicts between ghost controllers, or they'll die a horrible death. After all, I might not be able to save you next time," Yang Jian said.

"That may be true, but the way they're going now, someone's clearly going to die. As captain of the criminal investigation team, I can't just stand by."

Zhao Jianguo gritted his teeth. "If this ghost controller Jiang Li dies at the hands of his own people, that would be a cruel irony. A hero who dealt with a malevolent ghost murdered by his own side-if word gets out, headquarters will lose all face and have no credibility left."

"If you're worried about Jiang Li, you can rest easy." Yang Jian folded his arms and looked in Jiang Li's direction. "He won't die, at least not at the hands of a loudmouth like that."

As soon as he finished speaking, a gunshot rang out ahead.

A gleaming golden bullet lodged in Guo Fan's shoulder, and black, foul blood immediately gushed out, but the wound quickly healed.

It was apparent that Guo Fan's face was growing paler and more sinister, making him look increasingly like a real ghost.

Clutching the spirit tablet, he stiffly started walking in a certain direction. At the same time, his slightly cloudy eyes slowly shifted, fixing on something.

But to everyone else, there was nothing in that direction, only a landscaped strip in the residential complex.

Just as everyone was utterly baffled, a figure gradually emerged in front of the landscaped strip.

"You could even find my whereabouts. Sure enough, no matter how poor a ghost controller is, you can't underestimate the malevolent ghost in his body."

Jiang Li spoke calmly as he reached out toward Guo Fan. "Luckily, I never underestimated you to begin with. The three-time rule has already been fulfilled."

"Though hitting you this way might be a little heavy-handed, at least it won't kill anyone. Consider it a lesson."

With that, Jiang Li suddenly appeared in front of Guo Fan, a bent, withered finger stopping against its forehead.

Snap.

The supernatural power contained in the malevolent ghost's finger activated, instantly suppressing the ghost inside Guo Fan.

Guo Fan froze for a moment, then toppled straight backward. A moment later, he began foaming at the mouth.

"Guo Fan used his supernatural power and still lost? Are you serious?"

Criminal investigator Zhong Shan couldn't help speaking up. He was friends with Guo Fan and had a general idea of his strength.

In his estimation, even if Jiang Li used supernatural powers too, Guo Fan would at worst win a pyrrhic victory; there was no chance he would lose.

But what had happened before his eyes was that a veteran ghost controller really had been knocked flat by a newcomer just starting out, utterly humiliated by the thrashing.

Chapter 34: Zhang Wei in a Sorry State

"What are you staring at? Hurry up and carry Guo Fan back to the car. We also need to check on the coffin holding the Hunger Ghost. Get to work!"

Zhao Jianguo shouted at the people standing there in a daze, unable to resist taking a few extra looks at Jiang Li.

Though Jiang Li was also rather impulsive in his actions, he at least knew where to draw the line and hadn't tried to kill Guo Fan. Besides, Guo Fan had struck first, so Jiang Li was in the right by any measure. Perhaps he really was promising material. They couldn't rush the effort to win him over, or it would have the opposite effect.

With that in mind, Zhao Jianguo coughed a few times and tried to make himself look more amiable as he walked toward Jiang Li again, smiling.

"Jiang Li, you and Yang Jian made enormous contributions in this incident. Don't let a little friction leave you upset. Guo Fan has always been blunt and direct, and he's learned his lesson now. Don't take it to heart."

"It's nothing, but you'd better not come any closer." Jiang Li suddenly raised a hand, stopping Zhao Jianguo from approaching. "One more step and I'm afraid you'll be dragged into the ground like Guo Fan. Supernatural powers aren't so easy to control, after all. It's hard to get the strength just right."

Zhao Jianguo stopped in his tracks and instinctively looked down.

A round patch of shadow had appeared right in front of him and was writhing eerily.

For a moment, Zhao Jianguo even saw a terrifying arm in the shadow, making him break out in a cold sweat.

Was this another of Jiang Li's supernatural powers?

Counting the finger he had used to attack Guo Fan and the power that made him appear and disappear, that made three supernatural powers. He had probably taken control of at least two ghosts.

At the thought, Zhao Jianguo swallowed hard, and his gaze grew even more fervent as he looked at Jiang Li.

Normally, what ghost controller wasn't withered and sallow, with sunken cheeks? Most of them even had bodies that were already badly decomposed, giving off waves of stench as they walked down the street, their entire beings permeated with the aura of the dead.

But Yang Jian and Jiang Li appeared far too normal at the moment. Walking down the street, they would be no different from ordinary pedestrians, and they lacked the madness and brutality of ghost controllers.

Ghost controllers in such good mental and physical condition were already extremely rare, and Jiang Li had even taken control of two malevolent ghosts.

Perhaps he really was promising material who could be supported for the Captain Plan.

Zhao Jianguo knew that Wang Xiaoming was already recommending Yang Jian, so he didn't need to do much more. But Jiang Li was a new, independent ghost controller and surely had no backing. Headquarters was also more willing to help ghost controllers with no faction behind them rise to the top.

If he could help Jiang Li rise at this point and get him selected before the Captain Plan was finalized, that would be an enormous favor.

Perhaps he would even gain a headquarters captain under him who would follow his dispatches. Then, if another supernatural incident broke out, he wouldn't have to humble himself and beg people everywhere for help.

He absolutely couldn't miss such a good opportunity.

At that thought, the smile on Zhao Jianguo's face grew even stranger, and there was even a faint trace of drool at the corner of his mouth.

But Jiang Li wasn't looking at him. He was gazing worriedly at the heavy golden coffin being loaded into the vehicle.

He didn't know if it had been his imagination, but when the investigators had just lifted the Hunger Ghost into the coffin, its pitch-black eyes seemed to have moved.

Even if it was true, however, it couldn't move now, at least. If someone stole it out later, that would be a matter for later.

Jiang Li looked away, gave Zhao Jianguo a few perfunctory replies, and rode back to the Guanjiang Residential Complex with Yang Jian.

No one noticed that the instant the golden coffin's lid closed, countless figures identical to the Hunger Ghost were reflected in the gold inside, swaying densely together.

When Yang Jian and Jiang Li arrived at the entrance to the residential complex in the pickup truck they had come in, the complex was already brightly lit, with many vehicles and people gathered there.

The first to emerge from the safe house were two armed police officers, followed by a haggard-looking Wang Xiaoming. It looked as though he hadn't fared very well inside.

When Wang Xiaoming saw Yang Jian and Jiang Li, he opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to say something, but in the end he was too weak and was carried into an ambulance by medical personnel and taken away.

Jiang Li didn't have a very good impression of Wang Xiaoming, so he ignored him completely and continued watching the entrance to the safe house.

Jiang Yan, Zhang Wei, and his father Zhang Xiangui came out of the safe house one after another, none of them looking particularly well.

Zhang Wei especially was practically carried out by Jiang Yan and Zhang Xiangui.

Zhang Wei had been listless, looking as though he would rather die than live, but the moment he saw Yang Jian, he grew excited. He even struggled over and threw himself at Yang Jian, one hand clamped over his backside.

"Brother Leg, you're finally back!"

"I'm back," Yang Jian said. Then he suddenly pinched his nose and frowned. "Why do you stink so badly? It's like you've been eating shit."

"They all ganged up on me. Jiang Yan deliberately waited until you weren't around to settle a personal grudge under the guise of official business, and she teamed up with my dad to bully me," Zhang Wei said, vigorously wiping his face on Yang Jian's clothes.

Yang Jian was about to comfort Zhang Wei, but suddenly noticed something wrong with Jiang Yan and Zhang Xiangui.

"Why do you two stink even worse than Zhang Wei? This is only your third day in the safe house, right?"

"It's all because of that bastard Zhang Wei!!" Jiang Yan had come out to see Zhang Wei hugging Yang Jian, and she immediately stamped her feet in anger, her face turning red. "That bastard scared me in there, so I had his dad spank him to teach him a lesson."

"He did need a lesson. Then what?" Yang Jian said, a bad feeling stirring in his heart. He had noticed some strange brownish-yellow stains on Zhang Wei.

"Then his dad beat the shit out of him! He didn't even give us any warning, so the nasty stuff got everywhere. There was barely any ventilation in the safe house, either. I almost suffocated!" Jiang Yan said angrily, retching a few times halfway through.

Even Zhang Xiangui kept shaking his head, his eyes vacant and his face full of despair and devastation.

"Having a dumbass son like this in my life, there's no point in going on. I might as well find a wall and smash my head against it."

Yang Jian frowned and pondered aloud:

"That's not right. Even if Zhang Wei really did crap his pants, there shouldn't be that much, uh, stuff on you two, right?"

"Uh, well, Brother Leg." Zhang Wei scratched his head awkwardly and spoke with his head lowered. "Didn't we play games together for a while before going into the safe house? Maybe I ate too much junk food then, because I kept feeling like I had diarrhea. Then my dad started spanking me. I told him to stop, but he wouldn't listen, so I had to let it out on him."

"He sprayed it all over his dad's face," Jiang Yan added, pinching her nose. "His dad went crazy with anger and kept spanking Zhang Wei, but every slap made another puddle come spraying out. It just wouldn't stop."

"I get it. Don't say any more." Yang Jian shook his head helplessly and pointed behind Jiang Yan. "Uncle Zhang's fainted from anger. Help him up first."

"..."

Jiang Li had only been passing by and had overheard a few words, but he immediately felt his ears had been polluted.

Chapter 35: A Conversation with Wang Shan

"Wang Shan, you still alive?"

Following the room number he had been given, Jiang Li found a small two-story villa near the safe house and knocked on the door.

"Burp."

The moment the door opened, a strong reek of alcohol hit him in the face, as though dozens of drunks had held a midnight revel all night long.

"Jiang Li? You really did make it back alive. I knew you wouldn't let us down, kid!"

Wang Shan opened the door, his face flushed red, and spoke excitedly as he took a hefty swig from the drink in his hand.

"Why does it smell so strongly of alcohol in here?"

Jiang Li sensed that something was off and leaned in to look.

There was barely a trace of light inside, and he could only see the room thanks to the searchlights outside the door.

Bottles, bottles of every kind, bottles all over the house-there was practically nowhere to put his feet.

The whole house reeked of alcohol and secondhand smoke. It was hard to imagine just how Wang Shan had spent the past two or three days here.

"What's going on?" Jiang Li asked. "I didn't ask you to do anything while you waited, but you didn't have to drink and smoke like this, did you? Besides, aren't all the things you're drinking and using someone else's?"

"This is nothing. It's not even a tenth of what I usually have." Wang Shan patted his belly proudly. "I've got enough money for drinks and smokes. I'll transfer every cent I spent here to that Yang Jian when the time comes."

"I believe you can easily take care of the money, but if you keep living like this long-term, I'll find it hard to trust your professional abilities."

As he spoke, Jiang Li entered the villa, stepped around the bottles on the floor, and switched on the living room lights and air conditioner before sitting down on the soft sofa.

"No one's ever questioned my professional abilities, whether I've been drinking or not. That's my strong suit. Those so-called operators for ghost controllers are weak as hell. I can easily do the work of ten of them by myself, and that's no boast."

Wang Shan took another small sip and said contentedly, "Besides, life is hard enough as it is. Those of us who deal with ghosts feel like we're walking a tightrope every day. Never mind you ghost controllers-even ordinary people like us are under a lot of mental pressure. How can we get by without finding something to make ourselves happy?"