Mysterious Revival: Starting by Controlling the Person-Hiding Ghost, Part 28

"We're honored to have Professor Wang, as well as criminal police officer Yang Jian, who made a great contribution this time, and the independent ghost controller Jiang Li here to share their views. Please give them a round of applause."

As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Li felt countless gazes fall on him. Most were unfriendly, filled with scrutiny and disdain.

"Yang Jian, is there anything you'd like to say? Feel free to come up and speak," Cao Yanhua said.

"I don't have much to say, and I wasn't the main force in resolving this incident," Yang Jian said. Then he crossed his legs.

"Ahem."

"In that case, let's have Jiang Li, who made the second-greatest contribution in this incident, speak." Cao Yanhua cleared his throat a few times. "Come up and tell us how you restrained that ghost. Were there any techniques or experiences worth learning from?"

"..."

Jiang Li walked over to Cao Yanhua and spoke with a calm expression:

"There's nothing worth learning from. I just used a few tricks and methods. Professor Wang made the ghost's patterns at each stage public, and the other ghost controllers who sacrificed their lives in this incident contributed as well. Only then were Yang Jian and I able to successfully contain the ghost in the end."

"So your success was actually built on other people's sacrifices and contributions? Any other person in charge could have taken your place and contained the ghost in the end?" a ghost controller with a sallow complexion asked.

"Perhaps. I won't deny it," Jiang Li said indifferently.

"That's the whole course of events. I have nothing more to say. I'm sure that if any of you present had been there, you could have done better than me."

With that, Jiang Li walked straight off the stage.

Although he had done his utmost to make himself less conspicuous, Wang Xiaoming, who stood nearby, had never taken his eyes off Jiang Li.

Then Wang Xiaoming looked around at the people in charge and stood up.

"Since they've finished sharing their views, I'll say a few more words myself."

"This incident was not as simple as you might imagine. At the very least, it was definitely not something that just anyone else could have resolved. In my opinion, aside from Yang Jian's and Jiang Li's own strength, the key to the entire incident was the use of supernatural items."

Wang Xiaoming paused, then continued:

"The supernatural item I'm talking about did not come from my laboratory. It wasn't a red Ghost Candle. That item cannot currently be mass-produced, so it cannot play a decisive role in the supernatural incidents constantly breaking out across the country."

"But during this incident, Jiang Li produced something revolutionary. It can use ghosts to mass-produce supernatural items."

Chapter 44: A Tense Meeting

"Professor Wang, you can't be serious?"

Cao Yang couldn't help raising his hand and speaking up.

"At present, there isn't a single organization in the entire supernatural community capable of mass-producing supernatural items. How could an independent ghost controller with no backing possibly do it?"

"That, too, is a manifestation of the uncertainty of the supernatural. The fact is, he did it. He used something to turn ghosts into supernatural items."

Wang Xiaoming spoke calmly.

At his words, an uproar broke out among the audience. Almost everyone wore an expression of surprise and disbelief.

"That really is incredible. In the past, we spent all kinds of resources containing ghosts, and after using everything up, all we got was a ghost lying in a box, serving no purpose whatsoever," said Li Jun, a special forces operative.

"If we had this thing that converts ghosts, the people in charge at headquarters would no longer have to worry about having no supernatural items to use when facing ghosts in the future."

Hearing that, Cao Yang immediately cried out in surprise.

"Good grief, wouldn't that make us all invincible? Everyone could have three or four supernatural items, and the moment we saw a ghost, we'd throw a few pieces of equipment in its face."

A woman with a ponytail beside Yang Jian thought for a moment, then spoke:

"Indeed. If we had enough supernatural items to use, the death rate of people in charge during supernatural incidents would surely drop significantly. Something like that ought to be donated free of charge for every person in charge of a city to use."

"Heh, yes," Yang Jian said with a laugh. "People should be made to donate their own things for free, and then headquarters can send them a great big commendation banner afterward to praise them."

The people in the audience began speaking up one after another, and the room immediately descended into chaos.

Wang Xiaoming lowered his eyes and glanced at the seated Cao Yanhua, then coughed softly a few times.

Cao Yanhua immediately understood. He stood up at once and slammed the conference table.

"Quiet!"

"Everyone, quiet down. Professor Wang hasn't finished speaking. If you have something to say, wait until the open discussion."

After the audience quieted down again, Wang Xiaoming spoke:

"On the night before the operation against the Hunger Ghost, I had criminal police officer Yang Jian's communications officer, Liu Xiaoyu, give me access to the monitoring of his phone calls. Although such conduct may have been rather offensive, I believe extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures."

"During the monitoring, Jiang Li made it clear that he possessed a strange wooden box that could turn any ghost placed inside it into a special supernatural item."

"Afterward, Yang Jian took out two ghosts he had previously contained and successfully used that wooden box to turn them into two different items. Later, when dealing with the Hunger Ghost and the traitor Zhao Kaiming, those two supernatural items played a crucial role."

At this point, Wang Xiaoming suddenly stopped speaking and turned his calm gaze toward Jiang Li, as though waiting for some kind of response from him.

"As I recall, Yang Jian and I are supposed to be the heroes who saved Dachang City. But the way this meeting is going, you've clearly treated me as a criminal waiting to be interrogated. You've even resorted to monitoring my calls and demanding things from me."

Jiang Li sneered.

Yang Jian, sitting to one side, couldn't help speaking up as well:

"As I see it, Jiang Li has been in the right all along."

"Wang Xiaoming, whatever you have to say, just say it. There's no need to keep us in suspense."

"Then I'll be direct," Wang Xiaoming said.

"I'm very interested in studying your wooden box. If possible, I'd like to make a deal with you here on behalf of headquarters. All I want is that wooden box. You can name any terms you like. Even for strategic resources like Ghost Candles, I can apply to headquarters and try to get you a few more."

As if he felt his offer wasn't enough, Wang Xiaoming added:

"If you want to join the Captain Plan, I can also help you secure a spot. It's an election plan of the highest secrecy within headquarters, and being selected would benefit you greatly. As long as you agree to this deal, I can pledge my honor that you will definitely be among those selected as captains in the end. What do you think?"

Hearing this, Li Jun frowned slightly.

The Captain Plan was the project headquarters valued most at present. Every captain nominee had been selected after a comprehensive assessment by headquarters.

Before joining headquarters, he had been a special forces operative and had resolved several supernatural incidents. He had also controlled ghost fire that possessed a Ghost Domain. Only then had he barely qualified as a candidate for the Captain Plan.

This Jiang Li wasn't even a person in charge. What gave him the right to enter the Captain Plan through the back door just by selling a treasure? Wouldn't making someone like him a captain make it look as though headquarters had no one capable to use? When supernatural incidents broke out, which person in charge would be willing to follow his orders?

Much like Li Jun, most of the people in charge present looked displeased, and their gazes toward Jiang Li grew increasingly hostile.

Before Jiang Li could respond, the woman in charge with the ponytail stood up and spoke with a serious expression:

"Professor Wang, making decisions on behalf of headquarters so casually is an abuse of your personal authority, isn't it? How can a place in a plan like that be traded away so casually?"

"In my opinion, this Jiang Li should donate that box to headquarters free of charge. We're all people in charge who have contributed to our respective cities. We've risked our lives dealing with supernatural incidents countless times without ever complaining about hardship or exhaustion. What's one box for him to hand over?"

As she spoke, the woman in charge held out a hand to Jiang Li and continued:

"If you're willing to donate that box, you'll be my friend from now on. I'm Tong Qian. When you come to ZS City, I'll treat you to a meal."

When she finished, no one paid any attention to her outstretched hand, and it remained suspended awkwardly in the air.

Jiang Li merely yawned, then sneered.

"Tong Qian? Who the hell are you? And what's your favor worth?"

"I didn't want to curse you out, but you just had to get in my face and push your luck, acting like I owe you something. You want me to voluntarily donate my own property? Why don't you donate everything you own to headquarters?"

"Why don't you donate yourself to headquarters too? Then, whenever headquarters finds a person in charge who's been single for too long, they can assign you to him to have a kid. That's what you'd call fair, isn't it?"

Tong Qian was stunned.

"You..."

Spoiled by her family and colleagues in ordinary life, Tong Qian had never been treated so rudely and bluntly, except for the few times she had dealt with Yang Jian before.

Her condition had already been extremely unstable after the earlier Knocking Ghost incident. Now that someone had provoked her with words, the ghost within her immediately began to stir out of control.

Tong Qian's emotions fluctuated too violently, and the supernatural power within her slipped out of control for a moment.

The next moment.

A muffled, piercing laugh faintly emerged from her, as though a ghost were grinning maliciously from within her.

Soon, the hair at the back of her head parted on its own, revealing the face of a ghost wearing a bizarre smile.

That was the ghost she controlled, the Ghost Smiling Face.

Anyone who heard the laughter would gradually begin smiling involuntarily, then fall victim to a certain inescapably fatal curse.

In other words, if you smiled, you died.

That terrifying laughter seemed on the verge of becoming unstoppable, about to echo through the cramped conference room.

Everyone present immediately panicked. Several people in charge near the door had even opened it already, ready to flee at any moment.

"Tong Qian, are you fucking sick? What the hell are you laughing for in here? We didn't do anything to you."

"Fuck, they're all a bunch of lunatics," Cao Yang cursed with a frown, running toward the door as well.

"I... I can barely stop myself from laughing. Help me."

Xiong Wenwen clamped both hands over his mouth, but the corners of his lips still rose little by little beyond his control.

Even a smile gradually appeared on Wang Xiaoming's face, as though he would burst out laughing the next second.

As Wang Xiaoming's bodyguard, Li Jun grew somewhat nervous and asked him in a low voice:

"Professor Wang, Tong Qian's emotions are fluctuating too much. She's clearly having trouble controlling her own supernatural power. Should I activate my Ghost Domain to isolate the laughter?"

"No need. I won't die," Wang Xiaoming said.

"Let's wait and see."

Chapter 45: Li Jun's Ghost Domain

This Wang Xiaoming really is a lunatic. At a time like this, he's still staring at me.

Jiang Li had not wanted to deal with Tong Qian personally, but in this situation, he had no choice.

A circular black shadow immediately appeared on the conference room wall, covering Tong Qian's shadow.

The next moment, Jiang Li seized Tong Qian by the throat.

At the same time, a pale dead man's hand shot out of the black shadow on the wall and pressed firmly against the back of Tong Qian's head, covering the ghost face.

The covered Ghost Smiling Face fell silent, producing no more laughter. Tong Qian's ponytail fell back down over it.

The eerie laughter immediately grew quieter, and everyone present breathed a sigh of relief.

"I almost died here. I'm never attending another meeting with that woman again."

Unlike the other panicked people in charge, Yang Jian remained seated, seemingly watching with great interest. Right now, he only regretted not buying a bucket of popcorn on the way here.

Yet even with her throat in his grip, Tong Qian still seemed deeply unwilling to accept it. She glared fiercely at Jiang Li before her eyes rolled back and she fainted.

Jiang Li casually tossed Tong Qian's limp body onto her seat and said expressionlessly:

"So this is a city's person in charge who bears every hardship without complaint? I only said a couple of things to her, and she wanted everyone in this room to die with her. This isn't even the first time something like this has happened. How can I dare stay here and continue this meeting?"

"That wooden box actually isn't as extraordinary as you think. Even I haven't figured out how much longer it can be used or what the limits of its abilities are. Yet you're already so desperate to get your hands on it?"

"I'm afraid that even if I refuse to hand over the wooden box, you, Wang Xiaoming, would send someone to snatch it in the middle of the night, wouldn't you?"

At that, Cao Yanhua could no longer sit still. He slammed the table and shouted:

"Don't talk nonsense! How could Professor Wang possibly be that kind of person?"

"Perhaps I am that kind of person."