Mysterious Revival: Starting by Controlling the Person-Hiding Ghost, Part 43

Most importantly, if he lost the Person-Treading Ghost for good, the supernatural balance within his body would gradually break down until it was completely disrupted.

If he found it quickly enough, he might still be able to regain control of it.

Feeling the terrifying mass of ghost flesh beneath his shoulder and above his chest stirring restlessly, he finally let out a helpless sigh.

"It looks like I have no choice but to leave the safety of this little grove and go back to that godforsaken place called the Nut Cave to find my Person-Treading Ghost."

"I hope the others aren't all dead. Otherwise, I, He Tianxiong, might really meet my end here today."

Chapter 66: The Ghost Crow That Flew Away (Please Keep Reading; Thanks to Daoist Dazhou for the Reward)

As soon as He Tianxiong slipped into the entrance, he shuddered involuntarily, his whole body growing cold.

He gritted his teeth and crawled deeper into the cave, praying that his fierce ghost could break free of the ghost inside's control.

He had not gone far when unfamiliar footsteps suddenly sounded ahead, approaching him at an unhurried pace.

A person, or a ghost?

He Tianxiong hesitated, stopping at once and preparing to act according to the situation.

If it was a ghost, he would use the ghost flesh's supernatural power to withstand its attack, then flee in another direction.

If it was a person, he would first find out who it was before deciding what to do next.

But the next moment, shock appeared on He Tianxiong's face once more.

A different set of footsteps sounded, this time from behind him, already quite close.

Just then, He Tianxiong suddenly noticed something strange on the face of the person ahead. It seemed to be a bird-beak mask, and it looked exceedingly eerie.

It seemed the one in front of him was a ghost.

So He Tianxiong immediately turned and ran, without the slightest hesitation.

After only a few steps, he saw Jiang Li's face, and his heart leaped with joy.

"Jiang Li, the ghost's behind me! Run!"

Yet the Jiang Li before him did not react at all. His face was black, and he looked stiff and numb, giving off an utterly unfamiliar feeling.

He Tianxiong thought nothing of it, assuming the cave was simply too dark, making his face look black.

But he soon froze, his face full of confusion and shock.

"That tickles. Why are you touching my chest?"

"Wait, you're not fucking Jiang Li?!"

A sharp pain suddenly shot through his chest. He Tianxiong's face twisted as he drew his gun and fired repeatedly at the person in front of him.

Several muffled shots rang out. Gold bullets lodged in the person's head, wisps of white vapor rising from them.

He Tianxiong knew full well that a few bullets would have no real effect on a ghost. All he could do now was stall for as long as possible so he could escape.

"Caw-"

A hoarse crow's cry rang out without warning, as deathly as a person's final wail before dying.

He Tianxiong felt the world spin, and his vision blurred.

When his senses cleared again, he suddenly saw that the bullets in the face of the ghost disguised as Jiang Li had vanished, along with the holes they had left behind.

He Tianxiong swallowed and forced himself to look down. A pitch-black hand had pierced his suit and was clawing at his chest, digging out the ghost flesh buried inside him.

"Fuck... get away!"

The figure seemed eager. No matter how He Tianxiong punched and kicked it, it remained unmoved, slowly digging out the lump of crimson flesh.

Just as He Tianxiong felt his end drawing near, the hand digging into his chest suddenly stopped and moved no more.

"He Tianxiong? I didn't expect you to still be in this cave. I thought you'd fled before the battle began."

Jiang Li's voice came from beside him, seemingly devoid of emotion.

Jiang Li had the pitch-black figure in a death grip by the throat, while its pitch-black eyes stared fixedly at He Tianxiong.

But when another deathly pale hand joined in, it quickly turned into a large mass of pitch-black feathers and a severely decomposed male corpse.

Seeing this, Jiang Li immediately understood.

No wonder there was more than one of these things in the cave. Some had been duplicated using the dormant fierce ghost inside.

Their original was probably the one that had first escaped his body.

He had only touched the mass of black feathers lightly when they suddenly plunged into his arm as though alive, then spread across it in broad patches of deathly gray.

He Tianxiong looked at Jiang Li in his crow mask and could not help hesitating.

"Are you... Jiang Li? How did you end up looking like this? I almost didn't recognize you."

"You're lucky to be alive. There are people you'd still recognize, but they've gone cold." Jiang Li spoke quietly. "If you've got nothing to do, find a corner and crouch there. I don't need your help for now."

"Caw-"

Another crow's cry rang out, and the pitch-black Ghost Domain extending nearly ten meters around them immediately began to disperse, giving way to the cave's ordinary darkness.

Now, even with the mask on, Jiang Li could clearly see most of his surroundings without turning on a flashlight.

As the surrounding darkness receded, two pitch-black figures fell silent for a moment, then pulled another figure with them into the deeper darkness.

In the darkness, that striking scarlet qipao swayed gently, still utterly alluring, but the figure wearing it had her eyes tightly shut and lay motionless.

After the darkness receded, Jiang Li frowned and glanced at the bloodstains on the ground, then set off toward the darkness again.

Several crows were still hiding there.

He Tianxiong reached up and pushed the throbbing flesh back into his chest. At the same time, an inexplicable hint of fascination appeared in his gaze as he looked at Jiang Li.

A third supernatural power...

He had thought that no matter how strong Jiang Li was, he was only a rookie who had controlled two ghosts, not much different from himself. That was why he had tested him earlier, while also hoping to bring him under his command.

But now it seemed that could only be a fantasy.

Besides the Ghost Hand from before and the Person-Hiding Ghost he was known to have controlled, he had now displayed a new Ghost Crow power.

With three different supernatural powers in him, he could probably rank among the very top ghost controllers in all of Asia.

Since bringing him under his command was no longer possible, why not swallow his pride and invest everything in his growth?

The more He Tianxiong thought about it, the more sense it made. A born businessman, he smelled a clear opportunity.

A rare commodity worth holding onto.

With that thought, He Tianxiong laboriously pushed himself up, took a short white Ghost Candle from inside his clothes, and said to Jiang Li:

"You seem to be looking for ghosts. This thing attracts them, so it could be useful. Besides, my ghost was taken from me, so I have to join you in taking down that ghost."

"I have a plan for this. I'll carry this ghost-attracting white candle, and you can seize the opportunity to contain whatever fierce ghosts appear. If the two of us join forces, won't the fierce ghosts in the cave be unable to escape even if they grew wings, with nothing left for them but to perish?"

Hearing this, Jiang Li paused.

"Are you determined to act as bait of your own accord?"

"When I, He, give my word, I stand by it. That was true in the past, and it's true now," He Tianxiong said, patting his chest.

"All right." Jiang Li took out a bell with an unusual design.

"This is Daoist Priest Simu's Three Purities Bell. You've seen it before. In a moment, you'll ring the bell with one hand and hold the candle in the other, and walk into that darkness with me. If you do that, I'll naturally do my best to stop the fierce ghosts and keep you alive."

He hesitated, but he had already made his boast. Whether he liked it or not, he had to follow through.

He Tianxiong gritted his teeth and accepted the Three Purities Bell, its surface marked with dried blood. Bracing himself, he lit the white candle and walked toward the darkness ahead.

A black flame flared up on the white candle, flickering and stirring constantly, giving off an extremely eerie and ominous feeling.

Even the dark Ghost Domain around them seemed affected, constantly closing in on He Tianxiong as he held the white candle.

Jiang Li said nothing, merely following quietly at his side.

Once they entered the darkness, they could barely sense each other's presence, even though they were almost within arm's reach.

Suddenly, Jiang Li raised his right arm and frowned.

Though he had done nothing to interfere, the gray-black patch on his arm seemed to be changing on its own, gathering together. It had already taken the shape of a crow, seemingly complete with details such as its eyes and beak.

A crow growing on his arm...

The mere sound of it was sinister beyond measure, let alone how it looked.

As though sensing Jiang Li's gaze, the crow on his arm suddenly stirred, then emerged from his arm as a three-dimensional crow and flew onto his shoulder again.

This time, Jiang Li was not particularly wary of it.

Although the Ghost Crow looked unchanged, in some respects it seemed to have become part of his body.

Perhaps it was like the Ghost Eyes on Yang Jian's body: even if he gouged one out, he did not have to worry about it suddenly killing its master.

The portion of the Ghost Crow currently on him was probably only a quarter of the original; the remaining three quarters were still scattered throughout the cavern.

"You've flown onto my shoulder again. What's that supposed to mean? Do you want me to eat you again?"

Jiang Li was somewhat puzzled, but he did not interfere much. He could not afford to be too distracted in the current situation and had to be ready at any moment for a fierce ghost's attack.

The Ghost Crows hiding in the darkness were probably still wearing his appearance. There was no telling what they were plotting.

Judging from the attack on He Tianxiong just now, he could make a preliminary assessment: the Ghost Crows' targets were very likely fierce ghosts too.

The Corpse-Dragging Ghost had set its sights on the Ghost Crow, while the Ghost Crow had set its sights on every fierce ghost, including the Corpse-Dragging Ghost.

For now, there was no telling which fierce ghost would keep the upper hand and have the last laugh.

But no matter which of them won the confrontation, the outcome would be extremely unfavorable to him.

What had just happened to He Tianxiong had sounded a warning bell. If the others in the group encountered Ghost Crows disguised as him, they probably would not be able to tell the difference at once either.

Jiang Li did not particularly care what happened to the others. After all, everything was fate; even if they died, it could only be counted as their bad luck.

But there was one exception.

Liu Qingqing.

There was too much uncertainty surrounding her. If she also came under the Ghost Crow's influence, it might produce results he was extremely unwilling to see.

The Republican-era woman within her should not awaken here-or rather, she should never awaken at all.

Although the Republican-era woman named Zhang Youhong possessed sufficiently terrifying strength herself, he had no need for someone like her to appear.

The best outcome would be for her never to awaken.

As he was thinking this, the Ghost Crow on his shoulder suddenly flew down and once again took his form before his eyes. Its exterior, however, remained pitch-black, and it still gave off an exceedingly eerie feeling.

He Tianxiong, who was ringing the bell, immediately stopped and said uneasily:

"What's that? Who is this now?"

Jiang Li glanced at the Ghost Crow that had taken human form, then said quietly to He Tianxiong:

"This is normal. Don't mind it; just keep doing what you're supposed to do."

He Tianxiong nodded and thought no more of it, continuing to hold the candle and ring the bell as he walked slowly into the darkness ahead.

Jiang Li looked at the Ghost Crow double standing in place and began to ponder.